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thisisarcanereverie · 1 year ago

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Cutting Ties (Dark! Moon Knight x Reader) Part 2

A/N: This is Part 2 of a 3 Part fic. (Here is Part 1!) This is also a dark fic so please DNI Minors and others. (I got a little carried away with this idea Anon so thank you for the suggestion)

Now if you can interact or want to, please do! Like, reblog, reply!

DISCLAIMERS/WARNINGS: kidnapping, angst (like a ridiculous amount of it), light cursing, I've never been to London or England in general so I'm going based off of what I've seen, English is my first language I just suck at it. I do not own the picture above but i DO own the header below, it's something that I made. I might make a few others idk. Enjoy!

Summary: You're a former Widow on the run, only in London for a year you meet Steven Grant, a goofy gift shoppist. But is there more that meets the eye?

For as long as you could remember you were not your own. Your name, your face, your mind, your body, even your own autonomy was not your own. It had always belonged to Dreykov and to his Red Room. Then, suddenly, the very color that controlled you, freed you. The red powder burned your eyes for a moment before suddenly it felt like you could breathe again.

It was strange how one’s life can completely turn on its head in a matter of moments.

One moment you were another Widow, easily expendable and replaced and the next you were…new. At least that’s what it felt like, you no longer existed at the whim of another. You weren’t a chess piece on the board, you were now a player.

You remembered the day the Red Room fell as the best day of your life.

There were so many things you could do, there were so many possibilities.

You just weren’t prepared for the reality of it.

That despite the mind control and the lack of autonomy, you still hurt people, at the end of the day it was your finger that pulled the trigger. You would wake in the middle of the night still haunted by those faces with a red mark between their eyes. It felt like you couldn’t escape from the Red Room you concocted in your mind, that no matter how hard you tried you will always be a Widow. So instead of fighting it, you gave in.

You had offers, from SHIELD to Tony Stark himself. Which surprised you, but in the end you decided you didn’t want the spotlight on you and were a merc for a while. It was gritty, but it was work you knew well. You thought you could do it but the first time you were ordered to kill you couldn’t. They were innocent, they were just there at the wrong time. So you killed your boss instead, grabbed what you could, and left. You made enemies that day, one that would love to see your head gifted to them on a silver plate.

You called Natasha after that, you weren’t sure what else to do. You didn’t know anyone else, you were completely alone. She gave you this guy's number, said that he would help you disappear and with whatever else you may need. You could feel her wink on the other end of the phone as you wrote down his information.

Since then you’ve been running, changing addresses and identities every couple of years to stay ahead of people who may want you dead. Her friend would give you new identities and you would exchange with money that you earned at jobs you would work. For a while you were content with being alone, working everyday and coming back to your place to eat food you previously were never able to eat and watching tv. Then you met Steven Grant, Marc Spector, and Jake Lockley. Then suddenly you realized how gray your life had become, how long you had merely survived and what living actually meant—even if you were merely living a lie. All at once you were no longer alone, someone held you at night and kissed your blood-soaked hands.

For the first time in your life…you felt clean.

But that had all been a delusion.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

You woke up in pain, your head throbbed and your limbs felt weighted down, as though someone had thrown two weighted blankets on top of you. You willed your eyes to open and was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling. You squinted your eyes as you looked toward the open window, watched as the powder blue curtains danced gently as the breeze blew in. You weren’t sure how long you’ve been asleep, last time you remember it was nighttime and….

Rain

Pinching

Jake.

You took a sharp breath in and shot up from the bed as your hand went to the side of your neck, Jake had drugged you–and from the look of things–abducted you as well. Why would he do this? Did he act alone or did Steven and Marc help him? All these questions swarmed your mind but one question stood out.

Have you been blind?

You shakily made your way to the open window, sure enough it was morning, and sure enough you weren’t in London. As far as you could tell you could be miles away from the nearest village let alone London. How long had they been planning this? To already have a second place squared away, ready, were you the first to be here or the latest addition.

“You’re up.”

You swerved your head as you looked beside you, your skin crawled and blood turned into ice as you looked at him. Upright posture, hair a little less unkempt, and a twinge of a chicago accent dripped in his voice.

Marc.

You opened your mouth to speak only for a small, pathetic squeak to sound instead of words. Your hand reached for your throat and realized for the first time how absolutely parched you were. Like you hadn’t had any water in days.

“Here,” he handed you a glass of water which you greedily accepted, you didn’t bother breathing as you chugged the glass he gave. After the soreness in your throat subsided a little and hummed to warm up vocal cords that had not been used in a while. You put the glass on the window sill and looked at him and at the tray he was previously holding. Turkey Bacon and Eggs, it was Marc's favorite breakfast, one he had made you dozens of times whenever he was sorry for something.

You were silent as you looked at him further, he wore sweatpants and a t- shirt, both clearly slept in. The tan of his skin glowed in the morning light and it looked like he ran his fingers through his dark curls once or twice. There was something unsettling about him though, one that made the hair on the back of your neck stand, something that wasn’t there before.

Those eyes.

You flinch a little as he raises a hand, only for him to retract it.

“Sorry,” he apologized, his voice uncharacteristically small. You debated on what to say, what was there to say? You had so many questions and yet you could not speak. You weren’t even sure if you were just dreaming, it almost seems like a dream. A house far away from everything and everyone, and your boys were right there with you bringing you breakfast in bed. You were partially worried that you would wake up and find yourself sleeping in a plane seat millions of miles away from them, but the other part of you worried that you would never wake up.

“How long?” you finally spoke, voice still hoarse. A moment of silence fell before he answered.

“I can’t tell you.” Marc says lowering his eyes, something he does when he has something to hide.

“Did Steven or Jake tell you that,” You fidgeted with the sleeve of your shirt.

“Neither.”

“You have to let me go,” You finally said, voice getting a little less hoarse the more you speak. “Please.”

“Stop,” He said looking at you finally with a hard look in his eyes, “Stop saying you have to leave. You don’t need to leave.”

“Yes I do,” you emphasized, you held his face in order to hold his gaze, “there are a lot of things you don’t know about me, things that I’ve lied about. That person you fell in love with isn’t me, I’ve done horrible things-”

“I know-”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes,” he said, grabbing your wrist with an intense look in his eyes, “I do.”

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on you and stuck a fork in an outlet all at the same time. There was no way he could know, at least, not everything.

“I know that you used to be a Black Widow,” he said, taking a step towards you, the grip on your wrist tightening, “you’ve killed, lied, and stole from many people including me.” his nose brushed with yours as you tried to steady your breathing.

“How could you know all that?” You asked, whispered, your mind was pounding in time with your heart as he leaned closer to your ear.

“I also know you used to be a mercenary,” you heard him whisper in your ear, his breath ghosting over the goosebumps that formed on your skin, “that’s how we met.” you stopped breathing as he leaned slightly away from you, far enough for you to look him in the eyes. Dark eyes that held the sun in them.

Oh.

The last job you went on you worked with a team, you never saw his face and he was never much of a talker. You just remember his eyes as he held a gun to you ready to shoot…only to lower the gun and let you get away.

That had been Marc.

Without a second thought you ripped your wrist from his grip and grabbed the glass laying on the nightstand throwing it at him. Your heart pounded as you made your way through the open door, sure to close and block it before he had time to reach it. You were sure by now you were on the verge of a heart attack with how loudly your heart was pounding. You could hear Marc on the other side banging the door with his fists. You had no plan, your heart was breaking all over again and your entire body has gone into a fight and flight zone. You made your way down the wooden stairs skipping every other step, unafraid of the small fall you have on the last step before you regained balance and ran straight through the front door. Even from outside you can still hear him banging and screaming, you tried to decide where the best place to run to when the banging stopped. It wasn’t in Marc's nature to give up so you look behind you, he wasn’t coming down the stairs either. What the hell?

Then you heard a familiar grunt and footsteps above you.

The open window.

All at once it didn’t matter where you ran to as long as you ran. Your feet carried you swiftly into the tree lining of the woods surrounding the house. The adrenaline coursing through your veins hid the pain of the cuts and barbs that scratched you as you pushed them aside. Your goal was to run, or to find a pointy enough stick or a sharp enough stone to throw at him, but mainly run and hide.

You weren’t sure how long you ran, all you knew was that your lungs were on fire and you couldn’t feel your limbs. You knew you couldn’t run much further, at least, not at full speed. So you went to the nearest, sturdy tree you could find and climbed, you grabbed one branch after another. The bark dug into sensitive parts of your hand but you didn’t care, you could see your arms shaking as they pulled you up to that final branch. It seemed strong enough to hold your weight and shielded enough to provide cover.

One of the things the Red Room taught you was to assess weakness and who had the advantage. Marc had the advantage when it came to muscle mass, but you had experience–granted those were mainly espionage missions that required more brains than combat prowess. You always carried a gun on you, but if he was smart (which you know he is) he took that away and was carrying it with him now.

All this time, you thought he loved you and that you were protecting him. You never even suspected the truth, he seemed so familiar and you had that gut instinct that something was up but you ignored it. All this time everything had been a lie, he didn’t love you, he was finishing the job. How long did he have his eye on you before he made a move?

Stop! You didn’t have time to mourn, you had to focus on surviving.

You halted your greedy intakes of air as you heard rustling in the leaves. Careful not to make the slightest sound as you saw him run past, calling your name. You waited until you slowly couldn’t hear the crackling of the leaves before beginning your descent. Time was of the essence, at some point Marc will come back to retrace steps, so you had to make another break in a different direction he had gone. Maybe back to the house and hotwire the beat up jeep you saw in the driveway. Once there you would make it to the second nearest village because the nearest would be the first place he’ll look, use one of those grimy old payphones to call in your ID guy.

Your feet had barely touched the ground before you felt the wind being knocked out of you as you tackled the ground. You were pinned before you could push Marc off of you, unable to do much but struggle in his grip.

“Do it,” you growled while still fighting, “I’m not going to stop fighting but if you’re going to do it, do it now.”

“Do what now?!” His eyes wide and intense, his grip becoming tighter on your wrists again.

“Kill me!” You yell, “that’s what all this has been for, hasn’t it? I killed your boss and stole a lot of money and relics from the people who hired us. A lot of different people want me dead, a lot of powerful people who can make things happen want me dead for more than this. Once you kill me you’ll have your pick of the litter. Whatever you want.” You see his brows furrow as you feel his breath ghost over your lips.

“Have you ever thought that maybe what I wanted was you?” He pecked your lips once before continuing, “that I intended to keep you for myself rather than sell you to the highest bidder.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Cause I love you,” Marc said, pinning your hands above your head with one hand while the other caressed your cheek, “I have since we met on those desolate dunes, that has never been a lie.” you can feel his heartbeat as he lays his weight down on top of you, like so many times before, as his words swirl around your head. Your first thought was that he was lying, how could he not be? Deep down, however, as you looked him in the eyes you were reminded that Marc was many things–but a good liar was not one of them.

“You can love me,” you say, “and still betray me.” you hear him let out a frustrated groan as he drops his head to your shoulder. You can feel his grip tighten before he lets your wrist go, and his weight on you is gone leaving you strangely cold. For a moment you think he’s letting you go, a foolish thought, one full of hope.

You were wrong.

No sooner had you gotten off the ground yourself, your feet were dangling above the ground as you were swung over his shoulder like you weighed nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Had this been ANY different situation your knees would be weak for a different reason.

Once again you fought, kicking and screaming. He wasn’t going to kill you, not yet, but you were honest when you said you weren’t going down without a fight. You didn’t even register entering the house until he sat you on the couch with an unceremonious plop, his hands gripping your shoulders and a frustrated look in his eye.

“What is it going to take to get you to believe me?” He said, voice low edging on a growl.

“Give me one good reason to believe that you wouldn’t give me up.” You said, eyes narrowing, “a reason that I would believe.'' There was a beat of silence, you see his brows furrowed together as his brain itches for an answer that you know he wouldn’t have. He has betrayed you and has all the reasons in the world to sacrifice you to the altar.

Then the lights starting flickering,

The hairs on your neck stood on end as you felt a shift in the air, the lights flickering and a hum of something else. Something you’ve never encountered before. Then you see the bandages wrapping themselves around Marc like snakes and his eyes were no longer the dark color you used to adore. They glowed now like moonlight reflecting off of water.

Of course.

You’ve seen the small articles in the paper passing by or clickbait news in the media about London’s vigilante who called themselves Moon Knight. You usually never paid much attention to it, you rarely were out past dark anyway why would you? Maybe you should’ve.

“If I wanted anything that they have,” You hear him say as the mask unbound itself to reveal his face, “I would’ve just taken it, and they couldn’t have stopped me.”

“You’re moon knight.” Of course the first person you fall in love with is not only a mercenary, but also a superpowered vigilante. Your life hasn’t been ordinary, why would your love life be?! You groaned in frustration as you leaned your head back against the couch, “well that explains why you always look exhausted and always came back home at weird hours.”

“You knew about that?” He asked, you gave him a deadpan look, “...of course you did.” You look at him for a moment and replayed every moment in your head leading up to this, he had a point. With these powers he really could have walked into any place, taken what he wanted, and left. He wouldn’t have needed you, but why keep you?

“Ok,” you start, “so you don’t intend to sell me or kill me or whatever.”

“I’ve been telling yo-”

“But why keep me?” You ask, “Why bring me here? Based on this house and location it is-”

“Everything you ever wanted.” Marc finished, his grip softening on your shoulders, “a small house with a sunroom, far away from everyone, a place to plant flowers and a lot more sun than what you got in the city…A home.”

“This would’ve taken at least half a year to build,” you say, “and another few weeks to a month to draft up the plans. So that means that you have been planning on bringing me here since-”

“Since fate decided to give us a second chance,” he said, “I couldn’t follow you before and lost you, trust me I tried to follow you but you were so damn good at running and hiding that I couldn’t find you. Then, one day, I see you on the bus. I was a fly on the wall, Steven was in charge, but I saw you. You have no idea how badly I wanted to talk to you, but seeing how you fled before, I knew I had to be patient. I told Steven everyday to talk to you, building him up until he eventually sat next to you.” You see him laugh a little, “I really shouldn’t have kept him up the night before, but it all turned out alright.”

He was sick, you knew this from the beginning, you just never looked below the surface of it. He needed help, something you couldn’t give him here.

“Baby,” You said softly, holding his hands as he knelt down in front of you, kissing the tops of his still bandaged covered hands, before leaning your forehead against his, you had to be calm. You had to convince him with honey and not vinegar. “Thank you so much for doing this, it must have been so much work.” You start, lowering your voice to barely a whisper, already sensing the tension leaving his body, “you must be so tired.”

“I am.”

“I’m just worried for you,” you said brushing your nose against his, “maybe we should see someone hmm? Like a specialist or a doctor, get you some melatonin or some medicine to help you sleep.” You feel him shake his head before you gently shush him, bringing a hand to cup his stubbly cheek, “just to help you sleep.”

“I don’t need them.” He says definitely, “I have you.”

“And you’ll always have me.” You promise, “let’s just call and make the appointment, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help.”

“No,” he mumbles quietly at first, “no” a little louder, “I don’t-”

“Do it for me?” You ask, fluttering your eyelashes and giving him a small smile, “please baby.” gently moving your hand to scratch the nape of his neck you knew he was putty.

“Ok,” he agrees.

“Ok,” you quietly repeat, trying to keep your tone even, “how about we call them right now and make an appointment?”

“No.”

“Ok,” you say, rubbing soothing circles on the back of his neck, “we don’t need to call them right now but in a short bit here, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You breathe in, “yeah.”

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years ago

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The Justice Department is ending its sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., without charging the congressman with any crimes, his attorneys and congressional office told NBC News.

“We have just spoken with the DOJ and have been informed that they have concluded their investigation into Congressman Gaetz and allegations related to sex trafficking and obstruction of justice and they have determined not to bring any charges against him,” Gaetz attorneys Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner said in a statement.

Gaetz’s office added, “The Department of Justice has confirmed to Congressman Gaetz’s attorneys that their investigation has concluded and that he will not be charged with any crimes.”

Prosecutors had spent months investigating Gaetz's personal conduct and, specifically, allegations that he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. At the core of their investigation was testimony from a former Gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg who worked as a Florida tax collector.

A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment. CNN was first to report the news.

In 2021, Greenberg pleaded guilty to six charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official, and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators as part of his plea agreement. He was sentenced in Dec. 2022 to 11 years in prison.

NBC News had reported in October that the investigation into Gaetz had stalled. That was according to attorneys who have represented witnesses, people who have been subpoenaed or have spoken to investigators. The attorneys briefed on aspects of the case said the probe had stalled over concerns about the credibility of two key witnesses or a lack of direct evidence implicating Gaetz, who has denied all wrongdoing.

Gaetz had long denied the allegations against him, including that he had sex with a minor, that he transported the alleged victim across state lines to engage in prostitution or that he obstructed justice in an effort to cover up his actions.

The DOJ's decision lifts an enormous legal cloud off of Gaetz who has been dogged by the allegations for more than a year. The outspoken Florida congressman, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has become a thorn in the side of the new GOP majority.

Gaetz was part of a faction of Republican holdouts to support Kevin McCarthy in his bid for Speaker. He finally relented and voted “present” on the 15th ballot to allow McCarthy the threshold he needed to secure the position. McCarthy recently quietly appointed Gaetz to the new GOP subcommittee on the "weaponization of the federal government."

#us politics #news #republicans #conservatives #gop #rep. matt gaetz #florida #department of justice #sex trafficking #biden administration #2023 #Joel Greenberg #nbc news

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six-costume-refs · 3 years ago

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2020 to 2021 Broadway Costumes Changes

We finally have enough good photos of the Six Broadway costumes that I was able to write up this post! Shoutout to @lightleckrereins for spending lots of time trying to figure out all of these with me over the last week and reading a draft to correct the things I missed.

EDIT: updated with some additional things from the GMA performance and info that @gavinckss learned from @theboycostume at Showstoppers.

Overall changes and notes: - The big news: all of the 2020 costumes were apparently rendered unusable due to the (lack of) storage environment during the pandemic. All costumes were remade as a result. Explanation here. - One of the changes as a result of this was made to the number of layers of PVC. Sofia and I had been wondering in the past if there were two layers (a regular in that color and a clear over top) for at least one or two of the costumes. @gavinckss was able to confirm this about the 2020 Howard costume via a visit to the Showstoppers exhibit, which supports our theory that all or most of them had this for the 2020 costumes (potential exceptions noted below). However, this was one of the things that caused issues with the storage (information from @theboycostumer and relayed by @gavinckss) and was cut from the 2021 costumes to just keep the solid PVC layer. - All of the principal queens (and possibly the alternate queens) now seem to have two separate pairs of boots: the pair they wore in 2020 and a new, second pair added in 2021. There are also some noticeable design exceptions, noted below. - All of the alternates will have costumes that are identical or mostly identical (possible exceptions noted below) to the principal costumes. The one major exception to this is in the boots: they will all have a different principal crystal design but all in black and white that they wear for 5 queens and then a second pair that they wear for Cleves in the same style as principal Cleves. I made a post here with photos and info on those. - Six used to have sequin and mesh pieces on all of the costumes. However, sequins tend to be really difficult and time consuming to work with. At some point in 2020 or 2021, Six changed all of the sequin material to a new spandex with holographic dots custom printed on to mimic the look of sequins. - While some of the designs previously had stretch panels on the sides, all of the costumes now have one to improve fit and movement. Specifics noted below. (post with additional info about this will also be incoming from me or @lightleckrereins) - Most of the Six materials are not washable in a way that can be done regularly, and the materials can also be affected by things like sweat. To prevent odor and other issues, Six has always attempted to incorporate some system of layers/undergarments to protect those materials and help separate the fabrics from the skin (post about this is upcoming). Several changes were made to address this issue. - While @lightleckrereins and I were able to notice some of these changes there are also quite possibly some smaller details in construction or material that were introduced to help deal with that and to prevent future issues with the storage scenario that aren’t as visible (could be even things like changing the material used for lining or changing the number of layers inside the costume, which we wouldn’t even be able to tell). - The studding was changed from individual glued-on studs to pre-made studded trim (info from @gavinckss) - I previously made a post about the in-ear monitors.

Aragon (L-R: Jade Marvin, Bliss 2.0, sixbliss2.0; Adrianna Hicks, Broadway 2020, mallorymaedke; unknown 2020 alt on display at Showstoppers, Broadway 2020, wintersnowfl8ke; Adrianna Hicks, Broadway 2021, 17 Sep 2021, Marc J Franklin) - The top is now separated from the gold oversleeves. - The construction and general shape of the skirt and peplum has changed: the peplum is much more separated from the bottom layer of the skirt and the shape is slightly different (hard to tell in the photos we have of Adrianna, but you can very clearly see the difference in shape between the 2021 Adrianna and the earlier version in the Jade Marvin photo) - The exact pattern of the diamond cut-outs on the center front panel differs from costume to costume. A change has been made between the 2020 and 2021 Broadway design so that the diamond cutouts stay consistent over the whole panel. - There are stitches in a diamond pattern on the vacuformed panels of the 2021 skirt. @lightleckrereins pointed out that they’re most likely structure stitches. Some or all of them may also line up with the location of the crossed boning in the skirt as described here. - Black stretch panels were added to the underside of the oversleeves (very thin panels were on the 2020, but they were so thin as to be unnoticeable. These are much wider).

Boleyn (Courtney Bowman, West End, 3 Dec 2020, @/courtneybowman_; Andrea Macasaet, Broadway 2020, @/andrea.cesyl; Unknown Showstoppers costume, 2020 or 2021, @/wintersnowfl8ke; Andrea Macasaet, Broadway 2021, 16 Sep 2021, @/andrea.cesyl on Tiktok) - The green PVC has switched from the lighter pea green to a darker emerald shade. The shade change seems to have been slowly in process for Andrea Macasaet’s 2020 costume as well as Kala Gare and Lucy Aiston’s costume, all of which have a fabric between the 2018/19 and 2021 Boleyns. The updated 2021 shade is also in use for the Showstoppers costume. - The cap sleeve on the Boleyn top under the tab sleeves has been gotten rid of entirely (you can see it well on Courtney Bowman’s costume but it is on all of these except for Andrea’s 2021). - The tabs on the bottom and sleeves are lined with the green PVC - this was a change made either for both the 2020 and 2021 Broadway or for the 2020 alt costumes and all 2021. - Small black stretch panels were added to both sides of the top.

Seymour (L-R, top to bottom: Abby Mueller, 2020 Broadway, unknown; Carly Mercedes Dyer, carlymdyer; 2020 alt at Showstoppers, @/wintersnowfl8ke; Abby Mueller, 2021 Broadway, 17 Sep 2021, Marc J Franklin for Playbill; Abby Mueller, 2021 Broadway, 16 Sep 2021, Jamie McCarthy for NBC) - This one is the possible exception when talking about a white PVC and a clear PVC on the original. It’s certainly possible but with the non-holographic white base it’s much harder to confirm that theory. Either way, the white fabric on the bodice is much more shiny in the 2020 photos and more matte in the 2021, which could be because of a second clear layer of PVC or could be because they just changed the white fabric entirely. - The 2020 costume had the usual transparent black stretch panels on the sleeves. This has been replaced by a nude fabric overlayed with the same mesh that is used on the rest of the costume (also want to note that the Showstoppers dress did not have any stretch panels and was purely for that event). - The mesh and spandex part of the cups rises much higher on the 2021 costume, and the trim on the cups better matches most of the other Seymour costumes than it does the 2020 one. - The sleeves on the Showstoppers costume had studding at the end, but neither the 2020 or 2021 Broadway costumes had this. - Abby Mueller has two-three pairs of boots, as explained here.

Cleves (L-R: Brittney Mack, 2020 Broadway, Bryan Derballa for the New York Times; Unknown 2020 Broadway alt, 11 Apr 2021; Brittney Mack, 2021 Broadway, 17 Sep 2021, @/bwaysho; Brittney Mack, 2021 Broadway, 16 Sep 2021, Jamie McCarthy for NBC) - The fit of the jacket is different, and it looks great! That isn’t a design change, it’s just fit differently. - A small black spandex stretch panel was introduced to the side of the jacket - We saw some differing silhouettes for some in-progress Cleves leotards/reveal outfits in the background of photos taken at the costume studio. No idea what the deal with those is. Could be a scrapped design, a small re-design to better flatter one of the alts, or a complete re-design for all of the queens. We may not get answers on this any time soon as the Six costume team has asked that people not share photos or boots of that costume.

Howard (Samantha Pauly, 2020 Broadway, @/sampauly; Showstoppers display costume 2021, @/theboycostumer; Samantha Pauly, 2021 Broadway, 17 Sep 2021, Marc J Franklin for Playbill; Samantha Pauly, 2021 Broadway, 17 Sep 2021, @/klphotographynyc) - Black lacing was added to both sides of the corset as a form of stretch panel. This replaced the prior mesh and spandex stretch panels as seen on the 2020 and Showstoppers costumes. - The hot pink PVC changed in color to become slightly darker; the undertones are now more monochromatic than they previously were. - Studs were added to the criss-crossed elastics. - There are also now two layers of elastics: The bottom one attached to the mesh leotard with a snap in the middle, and a top one attached to the corset with studding on it that snaps into the bottom. The one with studding is attached to the corset rather than the leotard since the leotard acts as her undergarment and is washed regularly. - The closure on the Howard skirt is a tab that is hidden under the mic holster. This was the case for the 2020 and Showstoppers costumes as well, but is different from all other Howard skirts. - The fitting of the skirt is slightly different. On the 2020 costume, the panels on either side of the opening are mostly parallel and with only a slight angle to them. On the 2021, they’re at more of an angle so the bottom of the opening is now much wider than the top (this is presumably for movement).

Parr (Costume: Anna Uzele, 2020 Broadway, @/Joan Marcus; Anna Uzele, 2021 Broadway, 16 Sep 2021, Jamie McCarthy for NBC; Anna Uzele, 2021 Broadway, 17 Sep 2021, Marc J Franklin for Playbill; Anna Uzele, 2021 Broadway, 14 Sep 2021, Sara Krulwich) (Boots: 2020 pair, Anna Uzele, 11 Apr 2021; 2020 pair, Anna Uzele, Jimmy Fallon performance, 16 Sep 2021, Jamie McCarthy for NBC; 2021 pair, Anna Uzele, 14 Sep 2021, Sara Krulwich) - There may have been a change in the color of the blue PVC. - New boots design in addition to still wearing the old ones as well (per the two pairs of boots with one old and one new). The 2020 pair has two wide straps that both split into two smaller straps, leaving four smaller ones visible from the side. The 2021 pair has three straps with buckles from what we can see of the side, but we don’t know what the straps look like in front. They could be like her 2020 boots, which look like two wide straps in the front and only look like four from the side. The 2020 are also taller (similar in length to Aragon’s) while the 2021 are shorter (similar in length to the rest of the queens). - The bottom front corners of the peplum are now rounded rather than the previous 90 degree angle. - The top is much longer and with a steeper point in the center front than it was in 2020. - The sleeves seem to be separate from the top. - There are some black panels on the side of the top. We’re trying to figure out exactly what those are for. First, they seem like the stretch panels as are standard for the rest of the 2021 costumes. However, they also seem to have a zipper in addition to the zipper closure in the back. @lightleckrereins is theorizing that since the sleeves are now separate, those side zippers are so that they can unzip the sides, put the top on over the shoulders after the sleeves have been put on, and then zip it closed on the sides to make it easier to put on. - The stretch panels on the bottom of the sleeves extend through the vinyl section of the sleeve as well.

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black-streak · 5 years ago

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Waiting for the Worms - Outside the Wall

Part 19

Hey guys, very short, laid back chapter. I finished up writing my timari spitefest work and then immediately had a 6 month old puppy brought into my life. She likes sleeping on my hand. If you guys want, I'll post a picture of her, but the point is that writing may slow down significantly due to training and cuddles. Sorry this is almost more of a filler.

Wonderfully patient CLOSED taglist: @northernbluetongue @thethirdwheelfriend @shizukiryuu @theatreandcomicfreak @michellemagic @karategirl119 @moonlightstar64 @my-name-is-michell @mystery-5-5 @zalladane @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @miraculousdisapointment @dorkus-minimus @jardimazul @allthebooksandcrannies @g-arya @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @persephonescat @mycupisbroken @luciferge @18-fandoms-unite-08 @dawnwave16 @alwaysreblogneverpost @kris-pines04 @emjrabbitwolf @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @weird-pale-blonde-person @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @kokotaru @naclychilli @slytherinhquinn @clumsy-owl-4178 @ladybug-182 @darkthunder1589 @evil-elf16 @dast218 @lysslovsanime @emilytopaz @naoryllis @iloontjeboontje @thepeacetea @danielslilangel @finallyaniguana @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @vixen-uchiha @yuulxd @bleeding-heart-romantic @magic-inthe-stars @st0rmy-w1th1n

~---~

Walking through the portal, Jason took in the sight of his team dropping their transformations one at a time, taking no mind to the kid who walked in behind him. Guess it didn't really matter. What are the chances he would recognize them in any manner that mattered? Plus, they wanted the kid to feel comfortable here. That he could trust them.

Marinette walked over to him, barely glancing at the awkward Robin standing out of place.

"Alright, reprieve is over. You'll never adjust to your body this way," she said with an apologetic smile, lacing their fingers together and both loosening their crushing grip on their bond they'd been holding for the last two hours. As they both relaxed their minds, they slipped back into their own bodies, souls settling happily into their rightful place.

Placed properly, Jason turned towards the Robin in the room, offering a lopsided smirk, "Welcome to the shitshow."

He shuffled his feet, "I don't plan…"

"On staying. Yes, we know Timothy. It's okay," Marinette helped him out, smile soft.

His shoulders tensed and narrowed eyes stared them down, staying quiet.

"Look, replacement, we're not trying to intimidate you or anything. We know Bruce's identity. Comes with being one of his charity cases, you know? It's not difficult to figure out which kid ended up in his care next," he intoned, trying to help Timothy see their lack of intentions towards revealing his identity.

"We only thought it fair you should be made aware of what exactly we know. I imagine it would be quite unsettling to think you had the upper hand on us only to find out later that we knew the whole time," Marinette chimed in next.

They watched as his face screwed up with an off put expression only to nod his assent, "That would bother me more, yeah."

"My name is Marinette," she put her hand out towards him, waiting patiently.

"Tim," he carefully shook her hand, staying almost formal despite the informal correction, "So the part about you getting stuck in the former Robin's body during his death. That's why you share the madness you mentioned before?"

"Lazarus Pit insanity. So fun. Definitely recommend," Jason decided to butt in, noticing the way Tim focused on Marinette the moment they switched bodies, "we were both dipped in a way, though she got the short end of the stick. My body, her soul."

"So some of it transferred due to it contaminating her soul then?" Tim asked, finally looking at him.

"Pretty much. Splitting it up this way makes it easier to handle," Marinette answered.

Tim seemed to consider this for a moment, "why are you answering me so willingly?"

"What purpose would hiding it serve?" He countered, receiving a surprised silence in response.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that out there. I'm sure that couldn't have been pleasant," Marinette slowly brought her hand to his shoulder, leaving plenty of time to move if the kid decided the contact was unwanted. When Tim allowed it, eyes still almost glaring, she smiled up at Jason and led the boy further into the room while he followed behind.

Zeroing in on where Marc stood on the phone, he gave a curious look only for Marc to end the call and curiously glance at the screen before turning back to the room at large, "That was Alfred. He can't make it here for a few days due to the giant man baby that's currently throwing a fit, but apparently someone else will be coming by tomorrow to speak to you two," This was partially directed towards Tim, but mostly to himself, "Said one would know her as a bat, the other as the eye in the sky."

"Barbara's coming? Oh great! It's been entirely too long since we've seen her!" Mari perked up, "did he say when to expect her?"

"Around eleven," they easily replied, picking their way over towards the trio, "sorry about holding you down by the way. Couldn't let you get caught up in that mess. My name is Marc," was directed at Robin.

"So… you were the mice?"

"They were the mice, yes. I'm Juleka. I was the one who brought you to the portal."

"The fox then, and you were likely the cat?" Tim directed towards Kagami.

"Kagami. In the next room over is Chloe."

"The one who opened the portal."

Jason felt a strange sense of appreciation for how quickly Tim placed the identities together. As well as a sense of dread. This kid was too bright, too sharp, based on what Mari told him, to be so easily fooled by Bruce. To not see how toxic that environment was. What happened to his replacement to make him so willing to overlook it all?

At this point a small hand slipped into his as Chloe introduced herself to the boy, having entered the room a moment before. Looking down, he took note of Damian huddling closer to him, watching the scene unfold.

"Another one?" The kid grumbled, tightening the grip on his hand and looking none too pleased, "I know you said I'd have to adjust to new people, but isn't this a bit much?"

"I don't know, kid, you seem pretty accepting of me," Jason tilted his head, watching the kid stiffen slightly, a blush overcoming his face.

"I hadn't realized you changed back yet," Damian replied, though he remained gripping his hand as they watched Tim interact with the others, "Will they all leave already?" The kid added, drawing his eyes back down to the uncomfortable shifting. Glancing at the clock, he figured he might as well indulge Damian every now and then.

"Chloe, lead the herd, would you?" He asked, maintaining eye contact to get his point across.

"Alright you lot, time to head out. Surely Robin won't be too comfortable around all of us for very long."

There was a touch of an argument over this, but eventually the team picked themselves up around the apartment and headed out, saying they might stay away for a few days. Jason caught the grateful smile on Marinette's face and took his small victory in how Damian pulled him back a little when he moved, as though afraid he might leave as well.

When the apartment quieted down and everything went still, he took a deep breath and led the kid over towards the kitchen, feeling Marinette move behind him to follow. He set a pot onto the stove and filled it with milk to heat up, turning to look through the cabinets while it heated up, "Have you ever had Hot Chocolate, kid?"

"You mean melted? Once. I was given a piece to hide, but it melted a bit," Damian answered, sounding disappointed, though at only having it once or having to admit letting it melt, he wasn't sure, "Why?"

"Not quite what I meant. But I'll take it as a no. We're gonna have some tonight then," Jason responded, pulling down a bag of milk chocolate chips. They'd have to do. He pulled his hand up to ruffle the kid's hair, chuckling as he yanked back with a sneer, shuffling over to duck into Marinette's side, who'd been holding easy conversation with Tim all the while, carefully not commenting on the way the Robin pulled off his mask carefully and was beginning to calm down now that there weren't as many people. Jason chose this moment to eavesdrop, now that he no longer had to occupy Damian.

"Why's the new one still here?"

"Damian, this is Tim. He needed a place to stay."

"Why does it have to be here?"

"The same one who wronged Jason and I has wronged him as well. I imagine being around people who understand his position and won't judge him helps."

Jason chose to speak up now, "Marinette took you in when you had no one. When the two of you understood each other and felt connected for it. That's how you came to be family. He and I have a similar understanding."

"So he is family to you?"

"Nah, think more like when you first met her."

"You are… Wanting to protect him despite not personally knowing him. Instinct."

"Now you got it," he responded, pouring four mugs of the beverage, ignoring the calculating gaze between his shoulder blades. Then went about handing them out despite Tim's reassurance that he was fine, "drink it or don't, won't bother me either way, but I'm not going to leave you out."

Damian remained silent up until this point, observing the young teen curiously before passing his final judgement, "okay, as long as he sticks with you," the unspoken threat to keep away from Marinette did not go unheard.

"No one will take your place in my heart, little one. That place was created for you. If I become close to anyone else, they'll have to find their own place. Yours is occupied," she assured, as they both pretended not to hear his unbelieving grumbles. That lesson would be learned with time.

Through it all, Tim kept to himself, sipping slowly and watching their interactions. Jason couldn't know what the boy thought, but if he had to wager a guess, he probably felt suspicious over how open and honest they were. Confused by their relation to Damian, but unsure if it was safe to ask. Likely, the teen just wasn't sure what to make of it all and wouldn't for quite a while.

It'll take time and reassurance, probably even multiple visits from Alfred and Barbara to convince Tim that this was a safe place for him, but they had time to spend.

#maribat #jasonette #ml x dc #WFTW #part 19 #Alfred and Barbara will be in part 20

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coinprojects · 3 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://coinprojects.net/an-ethereum-blockchain-upgrade-crypto-regulatory-battles-and-bitcoin-price-discussion-hodlers-digest-aug-1-7/

An Ethereum blockchain upgrade, crypto regulatory battles, and Bitcoin price discussion: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 1-7

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Square to acquire Australian fintech Afterpay in $29B deal

Jack Dorsey’s digital payments firm Square entered into a $29 billion stock deal to purchase Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay this week.

Just like the name Afterpay implies, Square will essentially be buying the firm now and paying later, with the transaction set for the first quarter of 2022 and to be paid out entirely in Square common stock.

Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Anthony Pompliano was pleased with the news, noting on his web series The Best Business Show that Square is one of the only stocks he owns, as he forecasted that the firm’s valuation will explode following the acquisition.

In an Aug. 3 YouTube video, Pomp went for sheer and utter clickbait with the title “SQUARE is going to be worth 1 TRILLION dollars,” and he emphasized the potential of rolling out Afterpay’s BNPL services to 70 million Cash App users and 2 million Square merchants.

Ethereum London hard fork goes live

The London hard fork arrived almost on schedule on Aug. 5, ushering in Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559. An interesting feature of the upgrade is that it also ushered in some bullish sentiments from Ethereum (ETH) proponents and some sour grapes from Bitcoin maxis.

Ethereum has now transitioned away from a bidding-based fee market to a fixed price-and-burn mechanism, which may see the asset become deflationary if more ETH is burned than issued in block rewards. However, this may be more likely after the switch to proof-of-stake with ETH 2.0. If the asset does become deflationary, it would reach the status of “ultrasound money,” which is a term that has also been a long-running meme in ETH communities that mocks Bitcoiners’ description of BTC as sound money due its capped supply of 21 million.

BREAKING: White House confirms support for minor changes to crypto tax proposal

The White House officially backed a last-minute amendment to the controversial U.S. infrastructure plan that proposes expanded cryptocurrency taxation to raise an additional $28 billion in revenue. The amendment maintains stringent reporting requirements for blockchain developers and validators while exempting miners.

However, the amendment’s vague wording and lack of clearly defined terms suggest that crypto developers and proof-of-stake validators would still be subject to expanded reporting and taxation that some have described as “unworkable.”

For some reason, members of the White House seem intent on cracking down on tax evasion in crypto without understanding the nuances of the industry. They also seem to overlook the blatant rorting of the system from multinational giants who essentially vacuum capital out of the people’s pockets while paying zero tax.

Mike Novogratz blasts US officials for poor grasp of crypto industry

Amid the backdrop of looming crypto regulations that will most likely increase taxes and decrease profits, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has come out swinging in response to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s remarks calling cryptocurrency “the wild west” of the U.S. financial system.

The billionaire crypto proponent’s jabs were, of course, delivered through social media, with Novogratz taking to Twitter on Aug. 3 to assert that most U.S. officials have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to crypto:

“Crypto is the future of our financial system and our citizens deserve officials that do their homework to understand this new technology. Most of our leaders haven’t done that yet. We also need regulators and politicians who understand that new ideas need room to grow.”

Circle and Unstoppable Domains to introduce username-based USDC payments

Circle and Unstoppable Domains are working to introduce username-based addresses as an alternative to long-winded alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses to aid the not-so-tech-savvy, a.k.a. newbies and boomers.

According to an Aug. 4 announcement, blockchain domain name provider Unstoppable Domains and stablecoin issuer Circle are collaborating to release readable “.coin” usernames for USD Coin (USDC) transfers.

As part of the partnership, both companies will collaborate to enable support for .coin username extensions across wallets and crypto exchanges that list the number two-ranked stablecoin.

Under this arrangement, USDC transfers will become akin to sending an email, likely mitigating the problem of transferring coins to the wrong address, losing funds forever and living with regrets over one’s lack of due diligence.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $42,651, Ether at $2,867 and XRP at $0.74. The total market cap is at $1.73 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Voyager Token (VGX) at 94.22%, THORChain (RUNE) at 50.69%, and Ravencoin (RVN) at 44.13%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Amp (AMP) at -14.97%, XinFin Network (XDC) at -4.74%, and Telcoin (TEL) at -1.66%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“We can see Bitcoin on the balance sheets of cities, states, governments, companies, small [and] big investors.”

Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy CEO

“We’re now moving into a world where we have these nonfungible software objects that have unique identities that can actually accept money, pay money and can participate in governance, either in decentralized autonomous organizations or potentially other kinds of governments that can govern themselves.”

Joe Lubin, ConsenSys founder and CEO

“I’m spending five hours a day on everything from regulation to licensing and everything in between.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX CEO

“Primarily, crypto assets provide digital, scarce vehicles for speculative investment. Thus, in that sense, one can say they are highly speculative stores of value.”

Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

“Crypto is a bit like the parable of the blind men and the elephant. People touch it from different sides. They get distracted and carried away and energized about these different topics.”

Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz general partner and co-founder

“If you put a gun to my head, and you said, ‘I can only have one.’ I would choose gold.”

Ray Dalio, billionaire hedge fund manager

“Just so we’re all clear here, the SEC has no authority over pure commodities or their trading venues, whether those commodities are wheat, gold, oil….or #crypto assets.”

Brian Quintenz, U.S. CFTC commissioner

“The more people with stablecoins in the pocket, the more people who can participate in decentralized finance.”

Matthew Gould, Unstoppable Domains CEO

Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin chart fractal suggests BTC price will have rallied to at least $80K by September

If this latest bullish BTC prediction turns out to be true, Bitcoiners may soon be able to start driving their lambos on the moon.

Nunya Bizniz, an independent market analyst, posted a bullish prediction on Aug. 1, as they highlighted that the recent rally of around 40% in late July included 10 consecutive days of lovely green candles, and not those horrible red ones that bears love so much.

The analyst noted that each of BTC’s previous 10-day bull runs has ended up with at least a 100% price increase within 30 to 60 days. Therefore, if history repeats itself, Bitcoin’s price may double and surge to new all-time highs around the $80,000 mark.

FUD of the Week

South Korean regulator to reportedly shut down 11 crypto exchanges

Crypto regulations in South Korea may become more stringent after news circulated this week that South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, or FSC, is reportedly planning to shut down a dozen local cryptocurrency exchanges amid accusations of fraud.

The FSC will suspend operations of at least 11 mid-sized crypto exchanges in South Korea due to alleged illegal activities and fraudulent collective accounts, according to local media outlets.

The publication cited anonymous industry sources claiming that the names of the exchanges were not yet disclosed, so Koreans will not know exactly what to FUD over until the names come to light. The sources argued that the mentioned crypto exchanges will be unable to get approval for operation by the FSC.

The report also notes that the authority is planning to implement stricter regulations for smaller crypto exchanges in South Korea, meaning that anyone firm that wants to partake in illegal behavior will have to do it on a large scale.

Monero’s former maintainer arrested in the US for allegations unrelated to cryptocurrency

Speaking of alleged illicit behavior, Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer of the Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency, was arrested last month in Nashville, Tennessee, but not for anything related to crypto.

Spagni is facing fraud charges tied to alleged offenses in South Africa between 2009 and 2011, during his time serving as an information technology manager at a company dubbed Cape Cookies.

Spagni allegedly fabricated additional invoices from a supplier of Cape Cookies, which included inflated prices for goods and services, along with his bank details instead of the suppliers’. He now faces a hearing on Aug. 5 to determine whether he is held, pending trial. If convicted in South Africa, he faces 20 years in prison.

Breaking: BSV reportedly suffers ‘massive’ 51% attack

Bitcoin SV reportedly suffered a “massive” 51% attack on Aug. 3 that resulted in up to three versions of the chain being mined simultaneously.

Speaking about the attack, Lucas Nuzzi, a network data product manager at Coin Metrics, stated on Twitter that “someone is seriously trying to destroy BSV,” and added that:

“For over 3 hours, attackers were able to take over the chain. All exchanges that received BSV deposits during that time might have been double spent.”

Best Cointelegraph Features

BlockFi faces regulatory heat, a sign of possible crypto lending regulations?

The crypto lending giant BlockFi is facing regulatory scrutiny from a handful of states in America ahead of a proposed public listing.

Civic engagement and crypto: Miami unveils its own digital coin

MiamiCoin is not just a cryptocurrency, but rather a decentralized application that can function as a developer platform for cities.

Ready to deploy? Amazon’s Bitcoin acceptance can prime a payments future

Amazon denied reports it will accept BTC payments soon, but seemingly, it’s only a matter of time before the tech giants embrace the token economy.

Source link By Cointelegraph By Editorial Staff

#AltcoinNews #Bitcoin #BitcoinNews #BlockchainNews #CryptoNews #Monero #MoneroNetwork #WeeklyUpdate #XMR

#altcoinNews #Bitcoin #BitcoinNews #BlockchainNews #CryptoNews #Monero #MoneroNetwork #WeeklyUpdate #XMR #CryptoPress #Weekly Overview

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leftpress · 8 years ago

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THE LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES OF ANTI-FASCISM

January 19, 2017 | It’s Going Down

There’s no doubt that IGD has spilled buckets of internet ink on the far-Right since we launched in the summer of 2015. Now, ironically on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, even the Left is starting to take notice, however this recognition was never our goal. We set out to tie the various ends of the autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian movements and struggles together and present them on a common platform. Despite more people coming around to what we are saying, a few weeks ago an essay by come comrades in Bloomington made us sit up, think, and reflect. As they wrote in a retrospective on the prison strike:

[W]ith the election of Donald Trump and an increasing focus on the Alt-Right, it appears that most anarchists have moved on to Antifa (anti-fascist) activities. Without comment on that terrain of action, it feels as if anarchists have a very short attention span, constantly moving between movements and struggles. But lacking an anarchist project of our own, does that just make us insurrectionary ambulance chasers?

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This is an important point to make. In the case of the prison strike, which in many ways was the culmination of years of organizing, groundwork, letter writing, and relationship building, there is now barely a trickle of information coming from inside the prisons into the outside world through the anarchist movement. While this has much to do with State repression and the moving of ‘political’ prisoners, we have to wonder if people were really prepared for the long haul after the initial wave of action. In the case of the #NoDAPL struggle, while a wide range of resistance camps have sprung up across the US, news coming from Standing Rock has also slowed, as attention has drifted towards Trump and the inauguration.

If our point is really to not only fight Trump, but also the systems and the very world that he represents, then in many ways, the struggles that we engage in, nurture, and exist within are our biggest weapons. For they allow us the ability to grow, learn, and interact with a base of other people who are not only fighting but building new forms of organization, life, and ethics.

Our point here then is not that anti-fascism should be the only thing that everyone should be doing, far from it. Instead, we think, as a recent guest on our podcast pointed out, that anti-fascism should grow to inform all of the work that we do, but that in no way means that this becomes the only thing that we do. Moreover, in recognizing the possibilities of what a resurrected anti-fascist presence means for the over all anarchist movement, also means coming to terms and overcoming the limitations as it currently exists.

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THE FAR-RIGHT?

Why should we care about the growth of the far-Right, in any of it’s various forms?

We believe that the far-Right presents several threats, not only to various communities already targeted by the State and exploitative forces, but also towards the revolutionary movements in general. Also, as the far-Right has grown in size and scope, in many ways it threatens to take over space that used to be inhabited by us.

First and foremost, the far-Right is a threat because it seeks to re-strengthen white supremacy and patriarchy on both a social level and a level of State power. For instance, in the case of Gamergate, Men’s Rights Activists threatened women in the video game industry with rape and violence, to the point of some women leaving their homes, in order to silence them from speaking out about sexism in the video game industry. This event signaled a major crossover point between the ‘manosphere’ and the Alt-Right, while also propelling the careers of Alt-Lite trolls such as Milo Yiannopoulos. For this segment of the far-Right, their aim was less to establish a new system, or change policy, but to smash feminism and threats to patriarchy within a subculture that celebrates it.

In a much different context, the Malheur occupation in Oregon at the start of 2016 was an attempt by the militia movement to remove the federal government from park lands and hand it over to ranchers who could then open it up to ranching, mining, and logging. Beyond that, the militia movement also wanted eventually to return power back over to the hands of local county level authorities, as advocated by Neo-Nazi groups like Posse Comitatus.

In the case of the Alt-Right, they see supporting Trump’s presidential run as a chance to give themselves more space to enter the mainstream, as they push for a white ethno-state ruled along fascist lines. Barring that however, they are happy to push for policy decisions which attack non-white immigration, and so on. The point in all of this is that the far-Right seeks to strengthen white supremacy and patriarchy in wider society and the State and push towards the creation of new forms of State power.

This is the exact opposite of what we are attempting to do, which is to destabilize these systems of power and control and also create new forms of living that can ultimately destroy State power and the economy. Because of this, the far-Right often acts as an auxiliary force to the State to attack social movements and struggles while at times, works to defend the State and its police forces; often as a way of defending white supremacy and patriarchy.

This is a reality that we have seen play out time and time again, such as on the streets of Olympia where Neo-Nazis supported the police who were under fire for shooting and almost killing two young African-American men, because they saw policing as an institution that upheld the power of whiteness. Currently, at the Trump inauguration, we now see groups such as Bikers for Trump acting as a de-facto auxiliary guard for the police and the military. Along the border, we see heavily armed 3%ers head out to patrol for Mexican migrants. In all of these examples, the far-Right acts as an auxiliary force to the State in order to uphold institutions such as whiteness, the border, and the police.

We also see this reality leading both to violence, as occupiers in Minneapolis were shot at, and stabbings took place in Anaheim and Sacramento, and also in the far-Right taking up more physical space through through organizing and ideas, as groups like American Vanguard and Identity Evropa have attempted to build a presence on campuses across the US. The far-Right has had 8 years to fest and grow, in everywhere from paramilitary training campus, Alex Jones podcasts, and Neo-Nazi message boards. Now, they are hoping to stretch their legs.

But beyond this growth, the most radical on the far-Right hopes to achieve much more; to essentially take over the role of autonomous anti-capitalists in speaking to the anger and frustrations of everyday people and outflank us, becoming a revolutionary force which can overthrow the existing order and create something new along authoritarian lines.

UNDERSTANDING THE LIMITS AND POTENTIALS OF ANTIFA

If we only understand anti-fascism to be just the struggle between antifa and Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and the Alt-Right, then in many ways, we’ve already lost.

Some of the biggest examples of auxiliary ‘white power’ are not found in the Alt-Right, or even in white nationalism, and in many cases, far-Right groups are not just solely comprised of white people and at least on paper, reject racialist politics. This reality has played itself out in a variety of ways, as Milo, from the standpoint of a far-Right gay man, attacks feminism, and Sheriff Clark goes after Black Lives Matter, even calling Marc Lamont of CNN a “jigaboo.” Even parts of the Alt-Right have softened; as the fall-out with Mike Peinovich shows many wavering on the issue of “the Jews,” as well as many opening their arms to people like Tila Tequila. This shows that whiteness in itself is of course not about biology, but all about power and deciding who gets to wield that power but more importantly: against what.

Just as the concept of whiteness was invented to ensure a cross-class relationship between poor whites and wealthy ones, or how the vote in the U.S. was extended in early American history to include white men that did not own property, or further back to the Roman empire, when the army began letting in men that were not wealthy and owned land in order to grow the size of the army to fight against the ‘barbarians,’ these positions of power, privilege, and State agency at times change. We must change our understanding as well.

Further still, we must contend with organic far-Right groupings that form in reaction to both crisis within capitalist civilization and popular struggles from below. Examples of this are bands of racist whites who killed black people during the aftermath of Katrina, supporters of the police and DAPL North Dakota who are organizing against #NoDAPL protesters, and groups of bikers ready to rumble with protesters in support of Trump. In short, we have to deepen our scope of the far-Right beyond just those that share an affinity for Neo-Nazism, pepe the frog memes, and Klan robes.

On the other hand, antifa has huge potential in the US right now to bring in a new generation and radicalize them with militant, self-organized, and hands on activity that betters themselves, their organization and technical skills, and benefits their communities. The basis of antifa as community self-defense is key, especially at a time when liberal notions of free speech and ‘fighting fascism is the real fascism’ has been destroyed by the waves of literally thousands of hate crimes that have happened during this election cycle. Self-Defense, including armed and at times violent self-defense, is not only justified, but at this time extremely fucking needed. Let’s take it and run with it, but not forget the revolutionary politics that should inform it or the wider struggle it is apart of; meaning, let’s not become single-issue militants.

Lastly, we have to move the skills most associated with antifa and generalize them in all areas where we struggle. Why aren’t we mapping and doxxing the local police? The developers? The people on the city council? People in the government? Antifa shows a model that should be applied everywhere, not just contained just ‘for the nazis.’ Let us apply these tactics of social mapping and research of the enemy to all areas where we are fighting and organizing. That way, when shit does go down, we are better prepared to organize and respond.

LEAVE NO STRUGGLE BEHIND

White nationalists have stated that Trump is their last chance to electorally reestablish white supremacy in the US and make whites the power holding majority in this country. If Trump would have lost, or much more likely, fails to live up to their standards, then the Alt-Right claims that revolutionary tactics need to be picked up. While we expect the wind to move out of their sails with Trump taking power, this isn’t over by a long shot.

But in stating that, our point is not that we should all stop what we are doing and just focus on anti-fascist organizing, but that all aspects of our struggles and organizing need to take on anti-fascist considerations in the work that we do. Meaning, how does the potential threat of fascism and white nationalism inform our other organizing work? How do we defend ourselves from potential threats? How do we begin to incorporate security into our event planning? How do we deal with the spread of fascist gangs and ideas in our prison organizing? How do we confront racism at work? How do we deal with a far-Right media that wants to demonize us to the rest of the world? Simply put, whether you are up all night going through facebook profiles searching for fascists is besides the point, we all have to take these broader considerations into our organizing.

And it is in this organizing that we must reaffirm again and again what it means to be an anarchist and why our movement exists. The question is not what basket to put all our eggs into, but how to begin to defend ourselves, our spaces, and our struggles against both the State and a far-Right that continues to see us as a central threat.

As the institutional and electoral Left in the United States has shown itself to be not only completely ineffective, but also unable and unwilling to confront and fight not only the rise of fascism but also in even holding onto the gains made by everyday people on an institutional level, this failure opens up opportunities for revolutionaries to move in. Liberals have lost a huge amount of social capital now, and we must exploit this, run with it, and take over that room that has been created.

The stranglehold of nonprofits is at an end. The age of liberalism is dead and buried. The rule over class struggle by the Democratic Party and other bureaucrats is finished.

It is our time now.