#that means that he had the whole thing planned out for decades that's low-key insane to me

[franeridan]

can't stop thinking about that one post tumblr put on my dash that was like the main difference between luffy and teach is that teach is luffy without a dream..................... i mean it's cool to have our own understanding of the characters and all but how did you erase teach's introduction from your memory that thoroughly

[softyoongiionly]

Fear and Dumplings: Chapter Seven

Confronting your fears for a final grade sounds unappealing but, with Yoongi as your partner, things might not be so bad.

Summary: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi.

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Genre: College Au, Underground Rapper! Yoongi, Soft!!! Yoongi, Fluff!!!, some moderate angst (later), smut (later later), slow-ish? burn

Word Count: 6.9k (haha)

A/N: I’m so sorry this took so long! I hope you guys like it! 😊

Warnings for this Chapter: swearing (as usual), this chapter is surprisingly chill, Yoongi is too hot for his own good, mentions of alcohol, Jimin is wild as per usual. 

Warnings for the Fic: mentions characters confronting their fears, characters in uncomfortable situations, emotional moments between characters, mentions of bad parenting, explicit language throughout the fic, moderate angst, and very explicit smut later in the story.

Chapter 7: Mai Tai’s and Money

 The kiss that occurred on your couch three days ago was etched into your brain. You couldn’t shake the feeling of Yoongi’s soft hands pressing into your skin, his heavy breathing, his plush lips moving against yours, it was unbelievable. But, that was it. Yoongi had stayed for an hour or so after the two of you kissed. The lights were turned back on, your portion of the research journal was tended to and, although Yoongi’s eyes had softened significantly, he said nothing of the kiss. To be fair, you didn’t say anything either but, up until that point, you had been doing most of the flirting anyway.

You’re sitting on your couch, a cup of coffee steaming on the side table, the low buzz of the television occupying your apartment, while thoughts of Yoongi swam around your mind.  Had he kissed you? Had you kissed him? It was so dark. The only thing you remember was the feeling of his breath getting closer to yours. You couldn’t recall who had made the first move, the situation was so riddled with tension and desire that, it felt like some sort of hazy dream. Your Thursday lecture had come and gone with ease and, although you did notice a new level of comfort between the two of you, nothing else had really changed. Yoongi still avoided your gaze most of the time, he still seemed rather underwhelmed with most of what occurred and, this normally wouldn’t be an issue but, you felt…odd. The truth is, you liked Yoongi. You did. You couldn’t deny it anymore. The question was, did he like you? You both shared what you considered to be, the best kiss you’ve ever had and, then neither of you spoke a word of it. It was almost as if, it never happened.

The two of you had went to the beach Thursday night, Yoongi looked up terrifying facts regarding the ocean, one of them being that the average depth of the ocean was 14,000 feet. This terrified both of you. Neither of you had left the sand; you just sat there and, enjoyed the ocean breeze all the while, relishing in the sound of Yoongi’s raspy voice. It was nice but, the uncertainty that bubbled in your stomach the entire time wasn’t pleasant.  Your phone buzzes to life and yanks you from the recesses of your mind as you see Jimin’s face light up your screen. A smile immediately pops onto your mouth as you swipe to answer his call.

“Jimin….” You whine before he can even say hello, flopping back onto your couch.

“Y/N…” He whines back as he giggles through the phone. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m experiencing… emotions.” You state bluntly, sighing out in distress causing Jimin to erupt into another fit of giggles.

“Yoongi?” He guesses correctly and, you can literally hear the smirk in his voice.

“Who’s Yoongi?” You feign disinterest as Jimin scoffs on the other end of the line.  

“Oh ok, is that what you’re going with now? The denial has gotten so bad, that you’re just going to pretend you don’t know who he is?” Jimin jests, his tone one of teasing and suspicion.

“Yes.” You reply, your features set in a deep frown.

“That’s stupid.” Jimin retorts, a slight giggle catching on the end of his words.

You let out a groan in response, your face scrunching up in frustration.

“Anywayyyyy.” Jimin continues over the sound of your groan. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I have plans with my TV and my takeout menus, why?”

Jimin snickers on the other line before responding.

“No, you’re coming out with me. There’s an amateur competition at Glacier and, me and a couple of friends are going.”

Your brow furrows, as you cock your head, wondering briefly what sort of competition an inner city club would be putting on.

“I’m not really big into the club scene,” You counter before smirking lightly. “unless you’re performing.”

“I’ll still dance for you if you want, as long as you tip me well.” Jimin retorts playfully, his twinkling laughter crackling through the speaker.

You laugh heartily in return, fondly remembering your freshman year when Jimin had taking up a night job as an exotic dancer. He worked at a pretty high end club downtown for nearly a year before giving it up when he met his former girlfriend. He obviously excelled in that area of dancing as well and, was so sought after, that rival clubs continuously fought over him. Park fucking Jimin: Making boys and girls swoon since 95’.

“I don’t think I can afford you Minnie.” You tease, giggling as you finally push yourself off of your couch.

“I’ll do it for free, Y/N, just please come outttttt.” Jimin breaks your banter, his satoori prominent as he whines.

You let out a long drawn out sigh, frantically searching your brain for a valid excuse to decline but, found yourself powerless against Jimin’s whining. Park fucking Jimin: Leaving you powerless against his charm for the past decade.

“Alright, fine. I’ll go but,” You pause to emphasize your point as Jimin already gets excited on the other line. “only for a little bit.” You finish, giggling as Jimin cheers through the speaker.

“Yesssss! My girl is coming out! We’re gonna have so much fun, I promise.” He insists excitedly and, honestly, you believed him, fun is wherever Jimin is.

“I can’t wait.” You express genuinely, a fond smile on your face.

“Me neither so, go get ready, I’ll pick you up at 8! I love you!” Jimin practically cheers through the phone and hangs up before you can say anything in return.

“Love you too.” You say out loud to no one, smirking at your best friends antics.

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

Before you knew it, it was eight o clock and, you found yourself sitting on your couch, waiting for Jimin and his friends. You decided on a simple black bodycon dress and an oversized black utility jacket as your outfit, it was dressy but, it was still casual enough that it didn’t exactly scream formal attire. Glacier was a newer nightclub downtown that was known for hosting amateur musicians and, serving cheap liquor. It had quickly became a popular hangout spot for many of your fellow classmates but, you, yourself had only been a few times. Clubbing was something you did occasionally but, it was usually to celebrate something, like a birthday or a good exam result. However, you had come to the conclusion that you had spent a great deal of your time worrying about the situation with Yoongi and, you needed a night to let loose and enjoy yourself. Roughly ten minutes later you receive a text from Jimin.

 JIMIN: WE’RE HERE!

 You smile excitedly as you respond, moving from your seated position and towards the door.

 You: ok, be right there!

 You turn to your end table to grab your keys, your wallet, and your lip balm before moving to the front door. You turn towards Marzipan, who was currently dozing in and out of a nap, and waved in her direction.

“Don’t wait up.” You call, giggling as she yawns in response, her soft paws stretching out in front of her.

An angel.

You make your way out of your building and spot a taxi that’s parked across the street with a frantically waving Jimin, hanging out of it.

“Y/N! Over here!” He calls and you giggle, shaking your head at his eagerness before carefully crossing the busy street over to him.

The first thing you notice when you get into the car is the pungent scent of vodka, wafting throughout the backseat of the car, followed by the insane amount glitter decorating Jimin and his two friends. Jimin was dressed in a pair of tight black (faux) leather skinny jeans that he paired with an equally tight black mesh top. His neck was adorned with a diamond choker and his pink hair was perfectly disheveled atop his head. Park Fucking Jimin: he was going to bring the whole club to its knees. His two friends looked somewhat familiar, both of them wearing different variations of club attire.

“You look amazing!” Jimin calls over the sound of the music that he and his friends undoubtedly begged the cab driver to play.

“Me? Have you seen yourself?” You call back, giggling as you settle in next to him, kissing his cheek before leaning over to extend your hand to the man on the other side of Jimin.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, nice to meet you.” You smile pleasantly as a man with black hair shakes your hand, returning your pleasant smile.

“Jackson, nice to meet you too, I have to agree with Jimin, you look incredible.” He says smoothly and Jimin rolls his eyes, smirking at his flirtatious friend.

“Jackson is a rapper, he’s performing tonight.” Jimin explains as Jackson nods proudly, puffing his chest out slightly.

“Don’t you mean, I’m winning tonight Jiminie?” Jackson retorts fondly and you promptly hear a scoff from the front seat, a younger looking boy with reddish orange hair turns in his seat, looking at Jackson in amusement.

“Please, old man, I’m going to obliterate you.” He insists, chuckling before turning towards you, extending his hand. “I’m BamBam, nice to meet you.” His tone changes to one of sincerity as you shake his hand, smirking at their antics.

“Nice to meet you too, are the both of you rapping tonight?” You inquire, as the taxi approaches the entrance of the club.

“Yeah, Glacier called it the Rap Royale, it’s the first annual rap competition that’s open to the entire city. That, I, am most definitely gonna win.” Jackson shoots a playful glare towards BamBam who chuckles in response.

“Don’t worry Hyung, I’ll buy you dinner with the prize money, I wouldn’t want you going hungry on top of being defeated…by me.” BamBam promises casually as Jackson throws his hat at him, the two of them laughing heartily as Jimin shakes his head.

“Oh there’s a prize too huh? I figured the street cred alone would have been it. How much?” You ask giggling, feeling comfortable around the two boys already.

“5 G’s.” BamBam and Jackson say at the same time, their expressions cocky and full of pride, causing you and Jimin to erupt in another fit of laughter before, you all feel the cab slow to a stop in front of the club.

 There was a line all the way down the street full of eager patrons waiting to get inside. Jackson and BamBam walk up to the front and show ID before the bouncer nods to you and Jimin.

“Are these your guests?” The bouncers booming voice carries over the noise of the crowd as both Jackson and BamBam nod.

“Yeah they are with us.” Jackson confirms and, the bouncer motions for you and Jimin to show ID.

“Alright, you’re good to go, guests and rappers are on the left side of the divider tonight; have fun.” The bouncer unclips the barrier and ushers the four of you inside. You thank him before looking at Jimin, who had linked arms with you as you walked into the nosy club.

“We got to skip the line?” You murmur, impressed, as Jimin giggles in response.

“Cool, right? It’s the only reason I made friends with these rascals.” Jimin jests, nudging BamBam as the two boys look at him in mock offense.

“I’m hurt Park Jimin and, here I thought you were here to watch me grind it out on the stage.” Jackson calls over the bass that was assaulting the entire club, the four of you laughing as you look for a spot to sit.

The club had definitely been upgraded since the last time you had been there. The walls were painted with a shiny white lacquer, complementing the icy blue lighting that made its way to ever corner of the club. The furniture was brand new, modern, and mainly white. All of it pointed directly towards the stage, which, had tripled in size since the last time you had been there.  You nodded, impressed with the clubs makeover as Jackson and BamBam led you and Jimin to a private booth that was situated directly in front of the stage.

“We have a few other friends that will probably make their way over here during our performances but, for the most part, this is all yours. “ BamBam explains as he pours the four of you a shot of vodka. You grimace slightly as you watch the clear liquid trickle into the shot glasses. Vodka was certainly not your favorite but, you figured a few shots wouldn’t hurt, you couldn’t remember the last time you had gone out.

“You guys let me know if things are getting bad up there, I can start dancing on tables if you need a diversion.” Jimin offers, smirking, his eyes glinting as they normally are.

“Pshhh I won’t need a diversion, it’s gonna be all eyes on me, I can promise you that.” Jackson boasts as the four of you prepare to take your shots.

“Yeah, it’s like a car accident you know? When it’s bad but, you just can’t seem to look away? BamBam offers causing you and Jimin to snicker as his comment, Jackson nodding in understanding, his lips pursed.

“Ok, you can talk shit all you want chingu, you’re gonna be sorry when I win the 5 g’s and, you’re stuck doing my laundry for a month.” Jackson responds, unbothered, causing BamBam to throw his head back in laughter.

“To the two,” Jimin emphasizes the word, looking pointedly between the two boys. “best rappers in the whole city, you guys are gonna do great!” Jimin calls over the music as the four of you raise your glasses and clink them together before throwing your shots back.  The alcohol burns but, whatever brand of vodka they bought is surprisingly smooth.

“We gotta head backstage soon; I think they want us back there like 10 minutes before the comp starts.” Jackson says, his eyes looking at the stage.

“Are you guys battling it out, like 8 mile style or, did you prepare something?” You ask, feeling the alcohol relax you as you settle into the plush couch behind you.

BamBam and Jackson both chuckle at your question, BamBam shaking his head.

“Nah, we all had to prepare something. It had to be 2-3 minutes, with a minimum of 20 bars. There were actually quite a few entries into the comp so; they had us go through preliminary rounds. Tonight, the top 10 are performing for the grand prize.” He explains and you nod, impressed that both of them had made it to the final night.

“How many entries did they start with?” Jimin asks, taking a sip of Soju that he had somehow managed to get a hold of without any of you noticing.

“Eh,  I think it was over a 100 right?” BamBam asks, looking towards Jackson for confirmation. Jackson nods.

“Yeah, I think like, 180 or something like that.” Jackson confirms as Jimin’s eyes widen.

“Holy shit, I didn’t know there were so many rappers in this city.” Jimin says, looking towards the stage in curiosity.

“Honestly, there’s probably a lot more than that, it’s a pretty big city and, everybody is trying to be a rapper these days.” BamBam notes as Jackson’s face lights up in a smirk once again.

“Yeah but, most of them are trash so, the competition doesn’t scare us.” He boasts, once again, his confidence seeming to fill up the space around you.

You giggle to yourself as your pesky brain picks out a detail that reminds you of Yoongi. You remembered him saying something about selling his beats to SoundCloud rappers and, you wondered how many of the performers would be rapping over his beats tonight. The thought made a small smile creep onto your face as you thought of producer! Yoongi making money off of the city’s rappers so, they could fight for the grand prize. You weren’t sure if that’s how it went down but, the thought made you smile none the less.

Before the conversation can continue, the music comes to a halt as a voice echoes over the club’s PA system.

“Attention ladies and gentleman, I need all performers backstage to get checked in, I repeat, I need all performers backstage to get checked in.”

An eruption of applause is heard throughout the club as BamBam and Jackson perk up at the announcement.

“That’s our cue, wish us luck, not like I need it but, BamBam might.” Jackson smirks as BamBam pushes him, the two of them rising from their seats.

“Good luck guys!” Jimin cheers enthusiastically, throwing back the rest of his Soju.

“Good luck! Let Jimin know if you need that diversion.” You joke, giggling as Jimin nudges.

“Food is on me guys! I’m gonna be $5,000 richer the next time you see me!” BamBam calls as Jackson is dragging him towards the stage.

You shake your head, smiling at them as they disappear behind the curtains. Jimin has already ordered another Soju and, you’ve already accepted that you’ll be nursing his hangover tomorrow morning.

“They’re really cool.” You comment, signaling the waiter to order yourself something to drink, eager to get the bitterness of the vodka out of your mouth.

“Yeah, they are, they just moved to town not too long ago, I met them at the arts camp I went to last month and, we all became friends really quickly. I knew that you guys would get along.” Jimin expresses fondly, the music in club lowering slightly, no doubt in preparation for the performance.

You return his smile after ordering a Mai Tai from the waiter.

“Have you heard their stuff at all? Do you think they’ll win?” You ask, smoothing your dress down as you scoot closer to Jimin.

Jimin purses his lips before nodding eagerly.

“Yeah, they are pretty good actually, I would say they have a fair shot, I know they’ve been practicing a lot lately so, fingers crossed.” The glitter on Jimin’s face reflects one of the lights that are above your table and you can’t help but notice that he looks like a goddamn fairy.

“Yeah, $5,000 is a lot of money, I wish I was I rapper.” You lament, as Jimin erupts into a fit of giggles.

“You have many talents Jagi but, sadly, I don’t think rapping is one of them.” He responds, his eyes gleaming as you giggle in return.

“Speaking of talent, I am literally counting the days until your showcase. I’m so fucking excited Minnie, you have no idea.” You express, thanking the waiter as he brings your drink to you. At your comment, Jimin’s cheeks turn pink and his smile grows.

“Oh stop, I’m sure you’re swamped with finals and everything.” He mumbles, smirking but, his eyes are glinting, clearly enjoying your praise.

“I have a countdown on my phone, are you kidding me? This is going to be your best one yet, I already have a feeling, I’m gonna cry like 5 times.”

Jimin is exuding delight as you speak as the boy practically lives off of compliments. His arms hug you to him as he giggles.

“Stooooop. You’re not gonna cry…” He pauses and smirks. “5 times…” He finishes

“You’re right; it will probably be more than 5 times.” You insist.

“I do think you’ll like the theme I went with though…well I hope you will.” He amends, biting his lip.

“Jimin, you could walk out in a chicken suit and, I would still throw flowers at your feet.” You assure him, the liquor from your Mai Tai, relaxing you further.

“Uh huh sur-“ Jimin begins to respond before the lights go up on the stage and applause erupts, once again, throughout the club as your attention is pulled toward the stage which is now flashing several different colors as the lights dance across it. You and Jimin settle into your seats as a man wearing black skinny jeans and a long yellow hoodie, steps onto the stage.

“What’s up Glacier? How you feeling?” His voice carries over the crowd as everyone cheers in response. “I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight, we here at Glacier have always wanted to showcase local talent and we are so pumped to bring you our first ever, Rap Royale!” The MC announces as the club cheers in response, your eyes locked firmly on the stage.

“Our contestants have made it through several preliminary rounds and a whole lotta shit talkin.”  The MC jokes and you giggle in response, knowing that the banter between BamBam and Jackson was surely a fraction of the smack talk that likely occurred during the course of the competition.

“These are 10 of the city’s finest, ladies and gentleman and, they are all competing, not only for the clout, but for $5,000.” The MC moves throughout the stage, his demeanor relaxed and confident as he hypes up the crowd. “Now, this is how this is gonna work, some of our assistants are passing around ballads with numbers and names, our competitors backstage are gonna come out here and show you what they’ve got and, when it’s all said and done, you, the fine people of Glacier, will decide who the winner is, sound like something you can do?” He calls out, smiling as the crowd responds with enthusiasm.

“Alriiiiiight, so up first we have a fine young lady from the Northside, everybody please give a warm welcome to D-TRIP!” The MC runs off of the stage before a young girl, who was probably in her late teens runs up onstage and starts to perform.

You and Jimin both looked at each other in awe as she blazed through her performance, getting the crowd pumped up and absolutely crushing her song. The crowd went wild after she finished performing whilst you and Jimin shook your heads at each other.

“She was amazing!” Jimin yells through the applause as you nod eagerly in return.

“Right??? Holy shit!” You call back, taking another sip of your drink as the next performer takes the stage; a young man, who is completely covered in tattoos. Once again, he does a stellar job and you couldn’t help but, wonder if BamBam and Jackson actually had a fair shot at winning the grand prize. Everyone had been top notch so far. Performers 3, 4, 5, and, 6 were not nearly as good as the first  two and, the crowd seemed to agree with you, although, everyone seemed to be pretty enthusiastic regardless of the performance. The MC runs back onstage to announce contestant number #7 and you were hoping it was either BamBam or Jackson that were on next.

“You guys having fun so far?” The crowd applauds “Good to hear, good to hear, alright, next up is lucky #7, give it up for Agust D!”

At this, your eyes perk up, Agust D…where have you seen that before? The drums in the performers song gives you no time to think as a man wearing an oversized green utility jacket rushes onstage. His hair…is platinum and his….holy shit. Your mouth goes dry as you feel your stomach drop, your eyes widen in absolute shock as you realize that, Yoongi, is rapping onstage.

“Oh shit, that’s Yoongi!” You can barely make out Jimin’s twinkling voice beside you, too distracted by the man who is quite honestly, dominating the stage before you.

Yoongi was spitting out his verses like a goddamn dragon, his tongue and lips curving and shaping perfectly around every syllable, his demeanor loud and confident, a side of which you had never seen and, holy shit was he incredible.

“A to the g to the u to the s t d, I’m D boy, because I’m from D!” Yoongi’s song had the entire club on its feet, including you and Jimin, as everyone was completely mesmerized by the man before you. He was playful, confident (cocky?), aggressive, passionate, and so unbelievably sexy, you found yourself actually pressing your thighs together. He’s smirking at the crowd as a group of girls near the front absolutely lose their shit when he motions to his dick during a line that says something about “tongue technology.” You smirk up at him in amazement. So the man, who looks like a kitten, may not be as innocent as you had previously thought. You logged that away for later as you are quickly pulled back into the ending of his performance. His lyrics were taunting, prompting him to keep a smirk on for most of the song as he moves about the stage. By the time he was finished, the entire club felt as though it was shaking with applause and Agust D, as he called himself, quickly become Yoongi once again, smiling softly, bowing his head in thanks as he hustled off of the stage. The duality of this man is absolutely insane.

“Well…that shit is going to be hard to beat.” The MC says bluntly as the crowd continues to cheer even though Yoongi had already left the stage.

“Wow…I bet you’re absolutely drenched right now…” Jimin snickers from beside you, pinching your side as you smack his hands away playfully.

“Shut up…” you mumble but, you don’t deny it, taking a big sip of your Mai Tai as you contemplate whether or not to order another one.

“I sure as fuck am…” Jimin says crudely giggling, his eyes glossed over, no doubt from the 4 glasses of Soju he’s already consumed. “That was incredible.”

You can’t lie. You tried your best to focus on the rest of the performances and, from what you could gather, which wasn’t very much, BamBam and Jackson did a great job. However, Yoongi’s performance played over and over in your head and, you couldn’t stop thinking about good he was and how good he looked. You distinctly remember him saying he raps ‘sometimes’ and, you could not believe that someone with that level of talent, only did it ‘sometimes.’ There was just no way.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell BamBam and Jackson who you really voted for.” Jimin winks as you open your mouth to deny it before, nodding and scribbling ‘#7-Agust D’ onto your ballad causing Jimin to laugh heartily.  

“Who are you voting for then?” You nudge accusingly with your foot and he leans to pretend to bite it, causing you to giggle and yank it away.

“Honestly? I’m gonna right down both of their numbers, I feel bad and, there’s a shit ton of people in here. They will either throw out my vote or, give them each a vote and, either is fine with me, I wish everyone could win.” Jimin pouts, slightly drunk as he writes down ‘#8-BamBam and #10-Jackson.’

You felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of your stomach; Jackson and BamBam were really nice guys and, you felt kinda bad for giving your vote to Yoongi but, there was no way you could possibly ignore his incredible performance. Besides, they both had pretty great reactions from the crowd so, it was a possibility that, one of them could win. 

Moments later, the MC ushers the ten rappers onto the stage and your eyes quickly scan the group before landing on Yoongi, who was talking to one his fellow competitors. You sat up straighter, trying to see if BamBam and Jackson had made it onto the stage, Jimin shooting them both a thumbs up when they wave in his direction. You smile fondly, your eyes flickering back to Yoongi, only to realize that he was already staring at you, his face one of surprise, his teeth nibbling on his bottom lip as he nods towards you. You smirk back at him, before mouthing the words ‘Good Luck’ to him and, at that he smiled before turning his attention back to the MC. 

“Ok the votes are in everybody, once again, thank you so much for being such a great crowd tonight, we really appreciate it. Also, shout out to our performers tonight, you guys killed it. We hope to make this an annual thing so, if you don’t win tonight, there’s always next year. With that being said, I have the results right here.” The MC pulls out a black envelope and looks up toward the crowd. “The winner has endured 6 weeks of intense competition and has, by popular vote, been named the winner of Glacier’s first ever Rap Royale, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the winner of tonight’s competition and the proud new owner of $5,000 is...” He pauses and you can hear the drum roll echoing from the back of the stage, your heart elevated much more than it should have as you eagerly awaited the results. 

“Agust D!”  

Boom. The crowd goes wild, everyone, including you and Jimin is up on their feet, clapping as the mini hype man himself, steps to the front of the stage, beaming with excitement. You had never seen Yoongi look so youthful before, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning and, you couldn’t help the wide smile that stretched across your face as you clapped for him.

“Alright, we the tiny conqueror himself here…congratulations man!” The MC cheers, the crowd following suit as he puts an arm around Yoongi, and hands him the trophy. Yoongi beamed further as his grabby hands secured the trophy close to his chest, as if someone was going to take it back. He bows his head and mumbles his thanks, his expression one of humility and pride. Not an easy combo.  The MC asks him if he has anything to say and Yoongi nods before, taking the mic from the MC.

“Yah! Thank you so much, this is an honor to receive this award from the people of my community. I couldn’t have done it without my brothers, Namjoon and Jay,” He gestures to the crowd where two men are standing and cheering for him, they bow their heads toward the crowd as Yoongi continues. “They supported me and listen to me perform this song more times than I can count and, as promised, hyung will be buying the meat for the next month.” Yoongi lets out a glimpse of his rickety laugh and you feel your heart flutter at the sound. Jesus, you really liked this boy. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to partying, thank you again!” He cheers, holding the trophy up once more as the crowd cheers for him one last time. Yoongi/ Agust D leaves the stage, shaking the hands of the rest of his competition before, disappearing behind the curtain.

“Are you gonna offer him a celebratory blowjob or are you just gonna stand there?” Jimin snickers, clearly tipsy, his hip nudging yours as you laugh in response.

“Shut up.” You whine, clearly amused at his suggestion but, well aware that offering to suck Yoongi’s dick in a night club, probably isn’t your best first move. Even though, he definitely deserves it after that performance.

“For the record, I came in second!” You hear a loud voice make its way into the booth as you look up to see Jackson, already drunk, leaning on BamBam as they both attempt to sit down. BamBam snickers, shaking his head.

“No, you didn’t old man, be quiet and drink your Soju.”

“Guys! You did so amazing, I’m sorry you didn’t win but, there’s always next year right?” Jimin slurs his words slightly but, as usual, Jimin’s twinkling voice immediately lightens the mood.

“Please, by the time next year comes around, I’ll be the most successful rapper in the country!” Jackson proclaims, once again causing BamBam to snicker, taking a sip of his drink.

“That’s right hyung, the most successful rapper in the country, you tell em.”BamBam mocks him but, Jackson is too inebriated to catch on and, instead, he nods vigorously in agreement.

“Jimin’s right, you guys both did an amazing job, there was a lot of good performers tonight, the fact that you guys even made it through the competition is something to be proud of.” You encourage as BamBam nods, smiling warmly.

“Thank you Y/N. We,” He emphasizes, nudging Jackson lightly. “…think so too. We’ll both be back next year, hopefully the prize has doubled by then.”

“Yeah, and hopefully that Agust D dude won’t be competing, for your sake that is…” Jackson gestures to BamBam, “I’ll be topping the charts but, I’m sure you’ll be back to win the whole thing.” He says, sure of himself, even as he spills some of his cocktail onto his shirt.

“Ok, maybe it’s time to get going huh? You’re gonna get yourself kicked out for being too wasted.” BamBam suggests, causing you to giggle and look at your own drunk friend, who had been making eyes at the bartender for the past 20 minutes.

“Yeah, I think we should probably head out too, I don’t need this one trying to bring half of the club back his apartment.” You smirk as you observe the bartender, who had clearly already fallen for Jimin’s antics. You couldn’t blame him though, if Park Jimin had looked at you that way, you would have fallen for it too.

“But he’s cute…”Jimin whines, leaning on you, Soju on his breath.

“Yes he is, and you’re wasted. No more drunken sex with strangers, that was one of your resolutions remember?” You remind him, giggling as both you and BamBam help your drunk friends up.

“Rules are meant to be broken Jagi.” Jimin retorts in an almost sultry voice as you usher him through the crowd of people, Jimin’s hand waving at the bartender, who looks genuinely disappointed that Jimin seems to be leaving.  You shake your head at him, holding him up as the four of you make your way to the front of the club.

The scene outside of Glacier is much calmer than when you had initially arrived. The lines were mostly gone, the streets weren’t as congested and, there were only 4 or 5 people that were waiting for their rides.  

“Alright, I called two cabs, they should be here soon.” BamBam tells you, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

You nod, thanking him as you usher Jimin onto the bench, his body leaning against yours.

“Jagiiiii, I’m tired.” He whines and you giggle as you wrap your arm around him.

“It must have been good Soju then, only the good stuff makes you sleepy.” You respond, your voice softening as you pat his arm. Jimin may be small but, he was no lightweight, the soju Glacier served must have been strong because, normally, your best friend would have invited half of the club out for an after party.

BamBam and Jackson say their goodbyes moments later and, stumble into their cab. You smile fondly, happy to have met them before, looking down at Jimin who had started to fall asleep.

“Are you hanging in there?” You say softly, stifling a small giggle, your hand rubbing his arm as he nods in response.

“ ‘m sleepy…” He mumbles and before you can respond, you feel a light tap on your shoulder causing you to whip your head in that direction. Your heart stalled in your chest momentarily as you see Yoongi standing there, trophy in hand, with a small smile on his face.

“Hey.” He says softly, his eyes locking with yours. You return his smile, shifting slightly, causing Jimin’s head to fall into your lap.

“Well, if isn’t the rap champion himself,” You jest, causing a slight flush to decorate Yoongi’s cheeks.  “…congratulations Yoongi, you did an amazing job.”

Yoongi tended to shy away from compliments but, he seemed to fully accept yours, the familiar look of pride returning to his face.

“Thank you.” He responds, shifting slightly in his stance.  “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”

You smirk, laughing lightly, “I could say the same for you….Agust D.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, waving you off before nodding to Jimin, who had fully passed out on your lap.

“Boyfriend had a little bit too much huh?” He asks, his expression shifting slightly.

You shake your head quickly, patting the top of Jimin’s head.

“Best friend.” You correct him first before continuing, “But, yeah it looks like it. He usually keeps the party going well into the next morning but, tonight, it looks like the Soju definitely won.”

Yoongi’s expression shifts once again as he chuckles and looks down at Jimin momentarily.

“We’ve all been there.” Yoongi concedes and turns his attention back to you, a glint in his eye. “So, who did you vote for?”

You let the smirk find its way back to your mouth, “I voted for the best.” You answer simply, leaving it at that.

Yoongi’s cheeks grow pinker as he lets out a breath he seemed to be holding.  He looks as though he wants to say something else but, he averts his eyes and keeps quiet. Your cab pulls up in front of the bench and, you nod to it as you start to help Jimin to a standing position.

“This is us but, hey seriously,” You lock eyes with Yoongi once more, a soft smile on your face. “You were incredible. I really hope to see you perform again.”

Yoongi chews on his bottom lip, nodding at your comment, his cheeks on fire at this point before rushing to the cab to open the door for you.

“Thank you.” You murmur, helping a half asleep Jimin into the cab.

Yoongi nods, smiling softly and, he really really looks like he wants to say something. You stand up, facing Yoongi, the door separating the two of you. You tilt your head and purse your lips, attempting to suppress yet another smirk.

“I hope you buy yourself something-“Your comment is cut off as Yoongi pipes up, his voice slightly timid but, smooth.

“I can take him home, if you want, and then uh…”He pauses, mid-sentence, as he looks for the right words to say.  “…and we can, hang out for a bit. Have you eaten? There’s a good 24 hour noodle place by my house, if you want to…we can sit for a little bit and…”

“…hang out?” You finish for him, smirking fondly as you hold his gaze. He seems to loose himself in your eyes for a moment before, nodding, his rickety laugh making an appearance.  

“Yeah…unless it’s too late for you that is, I don’t want to keep you up.” He amends politely.

“She’s fine!” Jimin pipes up from the backseat, giggling to himself as he gives his two sense. “You better give her something juicy to talk about, my girl’s been using that vibrator of hers for too long.”

Yoongi’s eyes widen but, you just nudge Jimin and laugh, shaking your head at his comment.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s just projecting.” You explain but, you feel your cheeks go hot momentarily.

“Driver, 7th and Oak Tree pleaseeeee.” Jimin slurs, smiling like an idiot at the now impatient taxi driver. “Y/N go have fuuuuun. Yoongi! Be nice to my friend, or I’ll have to murder you in your sleep. You kids have a good time, I love youuuuuuuu.” Jimin practically yells, pursing his lips toward you and, you giggle, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

Yoongi just nods, blushing as he shifts in his stance, averting his eyes away from Jimin.

“I love you too.” You reach into your wallet and, pull out a crisp $20, handing it to the driver. “Can you make sure he gets in ok?”

“No problem.” The driver mutters, happy to accept your money. You move to the side, making sure Jimin is strapped in before going to shut the door.

“Y/N….” Jimin mumbles, smiling like an idiot, as his hand grips yours.

“Yes, Park Fairy?” You respond, smiling back at him.

“Have fun.” He blows you a kiss before closing his eyes and cozying into the seat.

You shake your head, letting out an airy laugh as you shut the door of the cab.

“He seems nice…” Yoongi notes but, he doesn’t look fully convinced by his own comment.

“That’s one way to describe him.” You remark, smiling fondly as the cab drives off.

God Bless Park Fairy

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

[violetsmoak]

Appetence [1/?]

AO3 Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251420/chapters/47997634

Blanket Disclaimer

Summary: Red Robin is investigating the disappearance of a friend and stumbles into a spot of supernatural trouble. He doesn't expect to be saved by Jason Todd, miraculously alive five years after his death and now with the inexplicable ability to commune with the dead. Meanwhile, when Jason returned to Gotham he meant to maintain a low profile and not get involved with Bat business. That was before he found out how hot his Replacement is.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

JayTimBingo Prompts This Chapter: #cemetery #haunting #relics

Canon-Compliance: Alternate Universe; Jason still died but was not found by Talia when he was resurrected. All other events mostly follow the same chronology as New Earth continuity, with mentions made to events in New 52

Author’s Note(s): My attention span was really terrible today and I couldn't focus on either of my two other fics even though the next chapters of both are completely planned out. So I'm posting the start of the third (and final) story that I'm doing for the JayTimWeek/Month challenge. Also, I'm really excited about this one. I spent more time planning this than either of the other two and I can't wait to hear what you guys think!I've got work stuff to do tomorrow so there may not be anything updated until Friday.

Beta Reader: I’ll get back to you on that.

________________________________________________________________

The Bat-Signal cuts through the dark and hazy clouds lingering above Gotham City, and for a split-second, Jason Todd has the urge to drop everything and race for the roof of the GCPD Headquarters. It’s hard to ignore the nervous jump of excitement in his stomach, the phantom sensation of a domino mask on his face and the heavy drag of a cape at his shoulders.

Which makes no sense, since it’s been at least five years since I even wore that shit.

Taking a drag of his cigarette, the smoke mixing with the familiar summer smog, Jason turns his back on Gotham’s literal beacon of hope and steels himself against nocturnal threats of his own. The city is for the caped crew—because apparently, the Bat has a posse now, he thinks with only a hint of a bitter sneer—and Jason has been fighting in a different arena for quite some time now.

He takes a final drag of the cigarette, and then grinds it beneath his boots, and shoves his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. It’s a weathered and worn thing that reminds him of one Willis Todd wore in one of the few memories Jason has of him that doesn’t involve alcohol or fists. He thinks it’s less pretentious looking than a trench coat and probably gives off fewer ‘creepy motherfucker’ vibes like the sartorial choices of certain other people. It’s also less likely to snag on things when he needs to make a quick exit while digging up graves.

Yeah, it’s a thing in his line of work.

Gotham Cemetery is a sprawling necropolis, as dark and forbidding now as it was the night he dug himself out of his own grave. Half a decade of Gotham-style tender, loving negligence has left the somber green hills overgrown and the majority of the old tombstones fallen or rotting.

You’d think in a city with the highest homicide rate in the country, the mayor would spring for better maintenance. Then again, it’s Gotham. The dead don’t pay taxes, so fuck ‘em.

Which…enough said.

Gotham and the world think Jason Todd-Wayne is dead and has been for five years now; in a way, it’s the truth. He’s no longer anything like the boy that was beaten to death by a psychotic clown, no longer the shrimp who fastidiously dyed his hair black and jumped into someone else’s cape and pixie boots just so he didn’t have to be his own screwup self anymore. He outgrew wanting to be Dick a long time ago, outgrew wanting to be Bruce, too, and embraced a whole new other set of skills to put him apart from them.

Most occultists and even homo magi need to put conscious effort and intent into calling up or even seeing a spirit. Ever since Jason died and then mysteriously got better, the dead appear to him as blatantly and a solid as the living.

John told him he was a fool to come back here.

“Someone with your gifts, they’ll drive you bloody mad,” his mentor warned him when he left London. “And I ain’t talking about the dead ones, neither.”

“You’re just saying that because Batman wouldn’t hold your hand that one time,” Jason retorted, shrugging off the concern. He is Gotham born and bred, his blood is in those streets, and he has always wanted to come home, even if it wasn’t necessarily to a stately manor or its inhabitants.

He clenches his fists.

Inhabitants that wasted no time in replacing him after he died. Jason was rotting away in fucking Arkham, and Bruce was shoving another kid into the tights.

If it didn’t involve seeing him, I would hunt him down and break his jaw.

He surveys the graveyard proper. The everyday observer considers cemeteries to be places of peace and eternal rest; quiet, if a little bit spooky. To Jason, they’re as gruesome as any major battlefield.

Spirits pack the way before him; some of them look relatively normal if dated by their clothes; many others are disfigured and bloody from whatever killed them, whether natural or unnatural. They clamor and crowd, eternally shouting to be heard, or screaming as they relive their deaths in their own personal purgatories.

In the beginning, that din almost drove Jason insane. Bruce’s teachings kept him rational as long as it could in the months after he woke up, and then John’s training helped him temper his own awareness further. By now, he can function almost normally, automatically filtering the voices out as he goes about his daily business; it’s only in places like this, where the dead outnumber the living, where it’s harder.

Jason reaches up, adjusting the noise filters in his ears—mechanical devices that need regular winding but are still more reliable than anything running on electricity of batteries. They’re like steampunk hearing aids, only instead of magnifying sound, they drown out the constant moan of the ghosts when he can’t do it himself. Just one of many methods of protection he’s learned over the years. Some are physical, like the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist or the bottle of holy water in his pocket; others—spells and symbols and mantras—are carved all over his body in tattoos and blood writing. Anything to keep the otherworld away.

“Personal space is a key to a medium’s sanity,” John told him once. “That and a good bottle of single malt scotch.”  

Jason ignores the moss-covered path that winds through the larger and more prominent mausoleums. He deliberately doesn’t search out the one in the distance bearing the Wayne crest—

(Still remembers the feel of his fingernails splitting against the wood of the coffin, choking on clumps of soil and insects.)

—and instead seeks a small structure much farther away. It’s in the furthest part of the cemetery, the shabby section almost hidden by overgrown willows. Half of the name above the doorway is obscured by vines, but it’s easy for him to make out the name etched into the stone with bold letters.

HAYWOOD.

According to the public record, Sheila Haywood’s body was returned to Gotham at the same time as Jason Todd’s. Bruce paid for her funeral and internment, which was just as well since she had no other family, and then she was promptly forgotten about.

By everyone except Jason, it seems.

It took some doing and a few weeks tracking down everyone that had worked at the same refugee camp as his mother, but he’d finally managed to collect what possessions she left behind. A colleague of hers had put them aside when there appeared to be nothing of actual monetary value in them.

A gold coin, small bone carvings of stylized animals, dainty trinkets of garnets, amber and lapis lazuli, a compact mirror, some seashells, a decorative fan, quartz paperweight, and a brightly colored feather. There was a picture of Willis in there, too, young and almost Jason’s double. No picture of Jason, though, but he hadn’t expected it.

He kept the picture but left the rest in the small wooden box, which he now removes from his messenger bag and sets down in front of the stone bearing his mother’s name. He follows that with various tools and ingredients. Black candles arranged in a star shape around the box, a chalice, a jar of detritus—teff seeds, driftwood and soil, all from the place where she died—that he sprinkles around in a circle, a handful of smooth obsidian stones to mark a pentagram joining the candles, the dagger John gave him for his last birthday, vials of oil and holy water.

Murmuring a few protection oaths, he shrugs off his jacket, leaving his arms bare, and then digs out a pack of matches to light the candles; flickering shadows dance across the mausoleum walls. He takes up the chalice to combine the water and oil, and then reaches for the dagger.

Hate this part.

Training to ignore pain doesn’t mean it goes away, and he grits his teeth a little as he draws his blade across his forearm, not deep enough to nick anything vital, but enough that the blood runs easily into the chalice. Without bothering to bandage the wound, Jason holds up the chalice in front of him and centers himself.

“Phantasma inrequietum, te voco,” he intones. “Eloguiorum mei audi: Sheila Haywood, te nominas!“ The stagnant air in the mausoleum starts to pick up. “In nominee creatricis, te impero, hic locum decede.” Hand over the top of the chalice, he swirls the liquid within, and then tips it into the open keepsake box. “Per sanguinem hominis et per sanguinem filii tui, non remane et apage! ”He strikes a match and lobs it into the box, not even flinching as the whole thing flares into flame; he intends to watch it until it burns to nothing.

“That’s not going to work, you know.”

“Jesus fuck!” Jason explodes, whirling to the right and glaring at the interrupter. “What did I say about sneaking up on me? Or just—showing up around me in general?”

The apparition in front of him doesn’t look impressed.

Sheila is still beautiful—or, at least, the side of her body that isn’t covered with third-degree burns and sections of pulverized bone—and still sharp. Cold, untouchable and self-interested.

But unlike the way she was before, she’s all-too present in Jason’s life now.

“Goddamn it,” he snarls, and against every lesson John has ever given him, lashes out and knocks the candles and detritus hard enough to send it skidding across the floor. “What the hell. I’ve done everything. You had last rites, your body was cremated, I just torched the things that had any value to you, why the hell won’t you just move on?”

“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Sheila replies, as always.

Jason scowls. “And of course, you can’t just tell me.”

She gazes at him balefully, and he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Sheila, we’ve been over this. You can’t stay here. One, you know spirits that stick around past their time go Dark Side, and I really don’t want to have to exorcise your spectral ass. Two, it’s fucking creepy for a twenty-year-old guy to be followed around by his mother wherever he goes. What the hell is keeping you here? What more do you want from me?”

“Your forgiveness,” she tells him patiently.

“I already forgave you. Years ago.”

“You still call me Sheila.”

“That’s your name.”

“I’m your mother.”

“Who sold me out and got me murdered.”

“See? You haven’t forgiven me.”

“I have. I’m just stating a fact, Jesus…”

“Apparently the cosmic balance doesn’t agree enough to let me move on,” the ghost says dryly. “And to think, I used to be an atheist.”

“This is total bullshit,” Jason snaps, grabbing his jacket and stalking out of the mausoleum in frustration.

Three years of this mediumship crap, and neither he nor John have ever been able to figure out why the ghost of Jason’s dead mother won’t stop haunting him. Wards and sutras that keep even the nastiest spirits away from Jason don’t even phase her, and she’s inexplicably coherent.

And persistent.

As Jason stalks back through the cemetery, he can sense her in his periphery, gliding along beside him, unconcerned with his irritation.

“Can you just…stay away from me? Like you did in the beginning?” he grumbles.

“You were just learning how to communicate without going insane. I wasn’t about to disrupt that.”

“How considerate of you.”

“I try.”

“Look, I’ve had enough of the ghost-stalker thing for today. I went out of my way for this, you know. I didn’t even want to come back here. And now I’m back to the fucking drawing board.”

“It may not have been a waste of a trip,” she replies and vanishes.

“Oh, you can fuck off when it’s convenient for you,” he grumbles, though he already senses what she was speaking of.

Several yards away, a small boy, maybe eight, is clinging forlornly to an angel headstone. Translucent tears stream down his cheeks, but every now and again his face shifts, like a television caught between two channels, and his mouth widens into an unnatural smile.

Jason could have gone the rest of his life without seeing that smile again.

Still, he sighs and heads toward the kid.

“Hey,” he says, keeping his voice low and maintaining a safe distance from the boy, whose head whips up to stare at Jason in sudden fear.

“Who are you?” he asks, voice thick with tears.

“I’m Jason. You okay, kid?”

“I can’t find my mom,” the boy murmurs, wiping at his face. “I keep going looking, but I forget the way home. And then…I always end up back here.”

He sounds on the verge of tears again; it’s something Jason can understand.

With the puzzling exception of Sheila, who appears to come and go as she pleases, most ghosts are stuck in certain patterns and paths when they die, frozen in an infinite loop until they break themselves out of it or until some arbitrary higher power decides they’ve suffered enough. And for some reason, Jason can break them out of it.

“You could always try again,” he suggests. “I think you’ll manage it this time.”

The boy shudders. “There’s scary people here.”

No arguing with that.

“I know. I see them, too.” Jason glances at the headstone, scanning the name and dates. “Your name’s Cole?”

“Yeah.”

“If you’re missing, there are probably people looking for you. They might have posted something online about it. I’ll check it out, but it could take a bit.” He holds up his phone, glad to see it’s at full charge and bars; that’s hit or miss around so many ghosts. “Can you hang around here until I’m done?”

The boy nods, silent, face flicking back and forth between sadness and the unnatural smile.

Fucking Joker…

Jason does a quick search of the kid’s name, pulling up obituaries in the Gotham Gazette in the past year. It doesn’t take long for an article to pop up concerning the Joker’s latest escape and a list of the dead.

He narrows his eyes, startling the kid.

“It’s fine,” he lies. “The internet is just really slow.”

“Or our phone is really bad,” Cole tells him with the blunt honesty of a kid that grew up constantly surrounded by functional technology.

“Everyone’s a critic…”

Another quick search for the parents, phone lists and social media, and he’s got an address. Crime Alley, of course. He brings it up on his map and enables a view of the street, holding the phone out to the boy. “Is this your house?”

Relief settles and settles over his face. “Yeah.”

“What if I helped you find your way home?”

Cole makes a suspicious face. “I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”

“Which is really smart. But you see, I’m not really a stranger.”

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Well, I’ll let you in on a secret.” Jason bends down, conspiratorial, and Cole’s eyes gleam the way any kid gets when hearing a secret. “When I was a little older than you…I was Robin.”

The boy gapes. “Like…Batman and Robin?”

“Exactly.”

“No way!”

“Way,” Jason smirks, crossing his arms. “And I’ll tell you all about it on the way to your house. Including the time that I stole the wheels off the Batmobile.”

“No way!”

Despite his scandalized disbelief, the kid is obviously hooked.

Jason’s heart clenches a bit at the open curiosity on Cole’s face, the reality hitting him that this boy will never have a chance to do anything mischievous or fun ever again.

From one dead boy to another, this sucks…

As he leads him out of the cemetery, Jason starts to tell the little ghost about his life. He edits out the less pleasant bits, like dying and returning to life half brain dead with the ability to see and hear ghosts.

He figures a good story is the least he can do for the boy.

⁂⁂⁂

Next Chapter

[docsamurai]

THE ONLY JOKER STORY I WILL EVER WRITE

Before I get to the story itself, I want to explain what this is about. This is mostly a response to the new Joker movie and how it’s already getting Oscar buzz. Also the fact that I know in the pit of my stomach that we’re in for a solid decade of delusional fuckboys completely misunderstanding everything about the character so that they can have a convenient pop culture touchstone for the vague sense that somehow society has somehow let them down. So yeah, this is basically a response to them and what I actually think of The Joker as a character.

I put in a break so that you can scroll past this easier if it shows up on your dash repeatedly but that does mean you’ll have to click through to read the whole thing.

Sirens wailed off in the distance, echoing through alleys and almost drowning out the screams and cries of a thousand tiny tragedies happening around every corner. Just another night in Gotham.

The Batman had tracked The Joker to one of the countless deserted warehouses and fought through a small army of goons in cheap masks. Just another night in Gotham.

The Joker had a plan to dose half the city’s water supply with a chemical that could induce insanity but now his plans lay in ruins as a hulking figure cloaked in shadow stood over the broken, bleeding, giggling man. Just another night in Gotham.

The Batman freed The Joker’s hostages and turned to talk to his clandestine contact on the police force when a shot rang out behind him. The Batman whirled around, raising a batarang when he saw one of the hostages, a waitress still in her uniform, a nametag reading Anne. Anne held a smoking revolver and a bloody pool spreading around The Joker’s head.

Her hands were shaking and tears were streaming down her cheeks but the gun was already lowered and her face was blank. Slowly she looked up and met The Batman’s eyes. She gave a small sniff and spoke softly. “Someone had to, and you weren’t gonna.” Anne let the gun clatter to the ground and curled up onto the ground hugging her knees to her chest.

The Batman finally turned away to answer the voice in his ear and after a short, terse conversation flew away on a grapnel line to leave the police to clean up the mess.

---[SOME TIME LATER]---

The Batman sat at the console in his cave, countless images streaming past as he took in an impossible amount of information relying mostly on his intuition to tell him where the missing piece was out of place. An impeccably dressed butler appeared at his side with a silver tray. “I have prepared duck confit on a bed of seasonal greens with a side of glazed carrots. Will you be eating tonight Master Bruce? Or will it simply be coffee again?”

The Butler placed the tray next to The Batman who gave no outward indication of noticing until he finally spoke. “He’s still out there Alfred.”

Alfred sighed and poured a fresh cup of coffee. “I know how you feel Master Bruce, but it’s been months. You saw them burn his body. I understand that he was a most resilient and cunning foe, but I don’t see how he can come back from this one sir.”

The Batman, still not tearing his gaze away from the monitors furrowed his brow even further. “It could have been a body double. A clone. An alternate dimension doppelganger. I’ve personally seen a dozen ways he could have convincingly faked his death. I have aliens, sorcerers, and time travelers in the contacts on my phone. There’s more to this Alfred.”

With a keystroke the Batwing engaged and prepared for take-off. Alfred sighed and followed the Batman to the waiting jet. “And where are you heading off to now?!”

Pulling a cowl over his face The Batman yelled over the roar of the engines. “TO FIND ANSWERS!” and leaped into the cockpit.

---[SHORTLY]---

Anne Allen said goodnight to her boss as she pulled her out her car keys, clenching the largest one habitually between her first and second knuckles. It was only about 10 feet from the front door of the diner but it still helped her nerves. As she turned to her car Anne saw a shadowy form drop from the sky next to her car and in an instant she went from terrified to furious. “NO! FUCKING NO! I ANSWERED YOUR FUCKING QUESTIONS AND I’M DONE WITH YOUR BULLSHIT! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!”

The Batman stepped closer, silently looming over the waitress. Anne clenched the keys harder, every instinct she had was to grab him by those pointy ears and keep punching until his stupid bullshit stopped. Rationally she knew that it would be pointless though and would probably just wind up with her nursing a broken arm. Still though, she matched his glowering with a resolve that most Arkham inmates would envy. “I know what you’re about to say so skip it Bat, we’ve been over this. I have no contacts with any criminal organization, secret society, or international assassins guild. As you yourself put it, I’m just a waitress trying to put myself through school and hopefully one day get a job in a city where I’m not in constant danger of being abducted by some sociopath with a grudge.”

The Batman finally spoke in a low growl. “The Joker was a criminal mastermind and one of the most devious psychopaths -”

“FUCK OFF! He was a serial killer who had murdered hundreds and was threatening millions! Every time you put him away and he *somehow* got out a few months later he managed to kill at least a few more before you put him away again. At some point, that shit is on you! Any halfway competent law enforcement agency would have locked him away and kept him there or simply put him in the ground! I don’t give half a shit about your conspiracies. IF he somehow comes back, do us all a favor and just END the little shit already!”

The Waitress and the Batman stood in silence, each waiting for the other move first. Anne could just barely hear a muffled voice from the inside of the cowl and a slight twitch in his eye betrayed that his focus was elsewhere. Without looking away he backed into the shadows and flew away on a grapnel line. Still shaking from adrenaline Anne unclenched her keys and got into her car.

Sirens wailed off in the distance, echoing through alleys and almost drowning out the screams and cries of a thousand tiny tragedies happening around every corner. Just another night in Gotham.

[tailahjanbash]

Maker Of My Dreams

My name is Tailah. I was practically born in a church pew, and God has played a significant role in my life as far back as my memory will take me. You’d think after 21 years of being in the church I’d either be some kind of minister or insanely bored of hearing the same stories over and over, but neither of those happened.

After serving Jesus for nearly a decade now, I’ve found that doing life with him is nothing short of an adventure.

I think Christians get a bad rep. They supposedly aren’t allowed to have fun, go out, or live life fully—the world paints a picture of people in turtlenecks and pilgrim skirts, trapped in a stuffy chapel while the rest of the human population experiences freedom. Christians are slaves to their impossible standards of righteousness and trapped by their pious morals. The rest of the world is free to act upon their every desire and chase happiness to their heart’s content.

In my opinion, this is one of the biggest lies and delusions Satan hides behind.

People who act upon every compulsive desire or sin actually enslave themselves under the delusion that they are free. They are slaves to their desires, appetites, and emotions. Jesus offers us freedom from guilt, shame, sin, and death. He provides hope when we see no way out, refreshment when we cannot go on, and peace when everything around us is falling apart.

These were some of the things I grew up hearing in church, but it wasn’t until my faith met my actions that I truly experienced this.

Today, I want to talk to you about the latest adventure Jesus and I went on, in hopes to inspire you and remind you that God is the maker of your dreams.

This past summer, I was feeling trapped and unhappy with where I worked. Simultaneously, I was feeling a strong pull in my heart to pursue a job working in the music industry, which has been my dream since I was twelve years old.  After a lot of hard decisions, The Lord basically set up circumstances so I had to leave my job. I was scared of the unknown, but I knew in my heart it was time for me to stop meeting everyone else’s expectations for my life and chase my dreams.

I reached out to my friend Alyssa who had worked for a local record label. She forwarded my resume to a few contacts. I prayed for a month. Nothing happened.

I continued to pray and refused to give up—I babysat, sold paintings, and took some odd jobs in the meantime. The whole summer went on like this, until a few weeks before the start of fall semester.

I spent one Sunday night deep in prayer. I had been worshipping, praying, breaking things over my life. Then I spoke God’s favor, blessings, and open doors over myself and into existence.

Suddenly my phone lit up. Alyssa texted me in that moment and asked if I had found an internship yet. I quickly responded and told her that I hadn’t had any luck. She informed me that she had two more contacts and she would follow through with them both.

Long story short, I sent both companies my resume and immediately got booked for job interviews. I realized the power and importance of prayer. All the while, the Lord was reminding me that He opens and shuts every key and open door in my life.

There was one company that was super glamorous—they worked with high profile celebrities in Pop and Rap music and offered me a position with them on the spot. Everyone told me to take it.

The other company was a Christian artist management company. God made it super clear to me years ago, that my calling and vocation was in Christian ministry and entertainment, not secular.

As if that choice weren’t hard enough, there was one more problem: there were other people interviewing for the Christian company, and they were not able to give me an answer for at least a few more weeks. In other words, I had to choose on the spot, not knowing if I would get the internship I desired in my heart.

I wrestled with faith and doubt. With what I could see with the calling and dreams that God had placed in my heart.

After spending (a LOT of) time in prayer, I decided that I had to step out in faith. I called the company that offered me the job in secular music and politely declined their offer.

I was terrified that I had ruined my career before it even began, but in my spirit, I felt a sense of relief.

I had just sacrificed my Isaac, and I was low-key expecting a call from the Christian company effective immediately. I mean, I had just sacrificed SO much for God. He can’t keep me waiting forever, right?!

But then crickets.

And some more crickets.

I prayed daily and before I knew it, a month had passed.

I accepted the fact that maybe this wasn’t for me, released it, and thanked God anyways because He is always good, even when we don’t get what we want how we want it.

I kid you not the very. next. day. I got the phone call! They offered me the position and when I say God worked out every single detail, I’m not kidding. I had some issues registering for classes and could only sign up for Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes, which were the days I wanted to work. But the company ended up needing me for Tuesdays and Thursdays! Every last detail—down to my daily schedule to the hour—fell together perfectly, because when God does something, He goes all out. He fine tunes every detail and orchestrates every aspect so that He may receive the glory!

That fall I got to work for an amazing company called Redjett. My co-workers were the kindest ever and I learned so much about the industry I love. I got to work for Lauren Daigle, Hollyn, Sadie Robertson, Cody Carnes, and Chris McKlarney! I got to see behind the scenes of touring, worship events, music releases, huge ministries, and so much more. I will never forget the feeling of walking into those offices every morning, looking at the platinum records on the wall, and feeling that bliss excitement and song in my heart screaming, “You are exactly where you need to be.”

And to think… I almost settled because of doubt. I almost missed out on an amazing opportunity that affirmed my calling.

What are you holding back from due to fear of failure? Don’t let that stop you in 2019.

When people see the favor, open doors, and fullness of our lives as Christ followers, they can’t help but ask—what is it about you that makes you so different?

How are you so peaceful in the face of life’s storms?

How are you so full of joy in such painful circumstance?

The truth is we have a hope and a freedom that surpasses anything that this world can offer. The sooner we latch on to that, the easier it is to leave fear behind, trust God, and step into the fullness of your calling.

God not only cares about your dreams, He’s actually the author of them. He planted those dream-seeds in your heart. It is our decision what we do with them. When we do not wait for His perfect timing—His proper seasons, pruning, growth, and rain, we prematurely uproot and abort our dreams. If He allows the dream to grow, because we insisted on growing them ourselves, we fail to use the plant to its proper ability and design, and the harvest is lacking or unfulfilling. But when we allow The Father to give us the proper instructions, we grow beautiful, healthy crops that reap a harvest that exceeds our highest expectation!

Remember how I told you the people who live for their own desires are actually slaves to them? They are unfulfilled because they are trying to fill a God-sized hole in their heart with themselves. Their own dreams or desires. When you worship yourself and your own dreams, they actually never satisfy you.

This is because God created your dreams, calling, and heart. Therefore, He is the only one who understand how to satisfy and fulfill it. So today, trust in the promise that He is the maker and the keeper of your dreams and when you fix our eyes upon Him and not what He can give, He will exceed your wildest imaginations.

I want you to picture yourself standing before God, with your dreams in your hands. Now imagine yourself reaching up, and handing those dreams over to Him. God looks at you, with the warmest smile, then takes the dreams in His hands. He turns around, puts them inside of a beautiful treasure chest, and picks up something else inside that he has been waiting your whole life to give you. What He pulls out, is radiating light, ten times bigger, and tailor made just for you. They are His dreams and plans for you that He hand-crafted all the way back when you were being formed by Him in your mother’s womb!

These are the dreams and plans that will fulfill your purpose and calling on this earth. They incorporate every aspect of who you are and the special, uniquely designed you! And they are better than any dream you could ever imagine. But in order to receive them, you first have to hand over your will and the dreams you have. He won’t throw them away. He will be gentle, and place them in His beautiful treasure chest, and give you something even better!

Why do we have to surrender our dreams to the Lord? Well, sacrifice is God’s love language. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, to show that the gift was not more treasured in his heart than the Gift Giver. Jesus even sacrificed his own life for you on the cross so you wouldn’t have to experience separation from God the Father.

Even the king and creator of the universe is not exempt from the sacrificial nature of love and relationship. The remarkable thing, is that in every case, God rewards the hearts of those who gave up themselves and their dreams up for His sake, and gave them back more than they could ever fathom possible!

Rest in the goodness of God. Rest in the fact that He is LOVE and will never hurt you, keep your dreams from you, or control you. Don’t let any fear bully you or keep you from the wild, crazy, God-dreams of your heart.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” Ephesians 3:20

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

You can access more posts, devotionals, prayers & more on my website:

http://thechosengirl.info/

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Interview with Joe Pernice — 2005

Sunday Interview with PERNICE. There’s been a bunch of 1998 music chatter lately, but for my money, the Pernice Brothers’ Overcome By Happiness should be dominating all such chatter. Anyway, this talk took place a few years later ...

Over the past decade, Joe Pernice has established himself as one of the most reliably great songwriters of his generation. From his days in the not-so-alt-country collective, the Scud Mountain Boys, to side-trips into the Chappaquiddick Skyline, to his ongoing role as frontman for the Pernice Brothers, Joe's stirring storytelling skills and his distinctive way with a gorgeous melody have remained firmly in place. The Pernice Brothers began life as an orch-pop project, but the band's last two records, 2003's Yours, Mine & Ours and this year's Discover A Lovelier You, see them taking their cues from such '80s luminaries as the Smiths, New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen. Whatever direction Pernice takes his music in, the results are always worth hearing. He chatted with Junkmedia from his hometown of Holbrook, Mass.

At your recent show in Denver, you encored with "Doll On A Music Box," a song from [the semi-obscure mid-60s flying car movie starring Dick Van Dyke] "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." I was curious as to how you chose that song to cover.

On the tour for the last record, we used that soundtrack as opening music, and we decided to work it into our set. We're just fans of it. We actually recorded a version of it in Europe a little while ago. We had been doing these kind of heavier covers -- stuff like New Order and the Pretenders -- and we thought we should do something a little more low-key. James [Walbourne] my piano player, was going through a heavy spell of listening to that soundtrack, as well as the "Willie Wonka" soundtrack. Those records are just unbelievable -- there's no irony there in our covering that song.

I was surprised to see that Thom Monahan (bassist/co-producer) was missing from your touring lineup. Where'd he go?

He's taking a leave. We've been together for 10 years now, but he recently moved out to L.A., got married and has been working on a bunch of different recording projects. He just needed a break. We haven't made any big decisions, it's just that he had been working with some other bands, and it turned out that if he came out on tour with us, he'd have something like a single day off in between.

Like you said, you and Thom have been making records together for ten years. Why is he such a good collaborator for you?

[Pause] I don't know. [Laughs] We just hit it off. We've been working together since the second Scud Mountain Boys record in 1994, I think. We're both pretty headstrong guys, but we've learned how to not let things escalate if there are arguments in the studio. And there are arguments. But all of the guys I work with, we like working long hours. It's just fun for us. [Guitarist] Peyton [Pinkerton] and James, those guys would stay in the studio forever if they could. Time goes by so quick in there -- it'll feel like two hours and it'll actually be nine hours. Even when it's a pain in the ass, it's still fun.

Can you imagine making a record without Thom?

Oh, sure. It would be different, but I think different can be good. There are a lot of good people to record with out there. The more musicians I meet, I find that there are more people who are like us -- people who love to spend a lot of time in the studio. I haven't given it too much thought, but a change could be good. As a songwriter, it might be a good thing to have a little change.

From the liners, it looks as though you recorded the new album all over the place.

Yeah, we did some tracking in New York when Thom and I were both living there and then I did some on my own in Boston and Toronto and then we finished it up in Los Angeles.

Was it challenging to make a record in such a piecemeal fashion?

It wasn't a problem. It's good to get away from it sometimes. I think if we had done it all in one place, I still would've wanted to have the breaks that we had because of moving. Having some time off from a record can give you some space, some perspective on it.

The other mainstay in the band is Peyton Pinkerton, who's played on all the Pernice Brothers records. How'd you originally hook up with him?

We were all living in Northampton at the time. I was in grad school and Peyton had his band the New Radiant Storm Kings. It's really a kind of small town, so everybody sort of knows everybody. When I was putting together the first Pernice Brothers record, I asked him to come along and it's evolved from there.

It seems as though he's taken a more prominent role on the last two records. Do you pretty much give him free reign in the studio, in terms of guitar parts?

Sometimes. It's both. Sometimes there'll be a set idea I have for a guitar part. I'm a hack at best on guitar - no matter how much I practice, I'll just never be that good at guitar. I can hear guitar parts, but I can't play 'em. So I'll hum a part to Peyton, or I'll say "Can you do something like this?" And he can play it and change it a little and make it better. But he'll show up with a lot of ideas, too, so it's both. There's a lot of editing and forming that goes on in the studio.

Is it safe to say that a song on the new record like "Amazing Glow" -- with its mentions of changing cities and lifestyles -- is autobiographical? Or do you shy away from that sort of songwriting?

Oh no. Most everything that I've ever written comes from a real event or thing. But I try to step back from it at some point. I try to see what's the better story I can tell, even if it's not necessarily true. It's fun to see where a song can go, just to step back and let it take a left turn, regardless of what really happened or not.

Personally, I think it'd be pretty boring if I was just up there spouting the truth all the time. But that particular song did come out of something real and true. And it probably is true.

Another song from the new record, "My So-Called Celibate Life" -- is that your commentary on Los Angeles? (Sample lyric: "All the stars out in disguise / Look at all the money that money buys.")

Yeah, it's something I finished while I was out there. It's crazy, you go out to eat at a diner or something there and literally everyone there is working on a script or a project or something. I don't know if I was just going to places that were script workshop places, or what?

Have you caught some of that bug yourself? I was just reading that you're working on a script based on your novella (Meat Is Murder, a fictionalized memoir centered around the titular Smiths album).

Yeah, I've been working on a script for that with someone for about a year. It's getting pretty close to finished. But I'm not interested in selling the script. The plan is to produce it in a real DIY kind of way. It's almost done, and the hope is that early next year, we'll turn up the heat in terms of organizing the whole thing.

So you've got a book of poetry, a novella and now a film script. Can you foresee a time when these concerns might take precedence over music?

If I start to enjoy those things more, sure. I really take the path of least resistance. If sitting around alone in my house writing a book is more fulfilling than making music with people, than that's what I'll do. I just have to go with what I love.

We mentioned the Scud Mountain Boys earlier. It's been a decade since you put out those records. How do you view that band and that era?

I haven't listened to the records in a long time. The last time I did, I remember thinking they sounded pretty good. It was a really brief burst, when I think about it now. We put out three records in about two and a half years, maybe less than that. More like 15 months. But I think we made three good albums, we made our stamp. It was an exciting period. I felt I had hit upon something really good in terms of songwriting. I wrote most of those songs really quickly, in a matter of months, I think, with a few exceptions. I was writing a ton of songs back then, because I had just started really writing and taking time with it. It was just a really inspiring time. And everything started happening really quickly.

What's funny is that back then I was going through a heavy Jimmy Webb thing, and I had just started listening to Nick Drake and Burt Bacharach, too. So even though those early records have some undeniably country elements, that had a little more to do with the set up of the band, with pedal steel and mandolin taking such prominent roles. In fact, I remember the two records I listened to the most around that time might have been Dinosaur Jr's Green Mind and [Guided By Voices'] Bee Thousand.

Yeah, I was listening to Massachusetts recently and though the knee jerk reaction to that record would be to label it "alt-country," there were a lot of songs that didn't really fit into that category at all.

Yeah, I mean, going back to Jimmy Webb -- he's known for his country hits with Glen Campbell, like "Wichita Lineman" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix." But you listen to those songs, and they're not country at all. They just happen to be set in Texas or something. They're insane. They don't really have any of the trappings that we think of as "country." They're so damn complex and a lot of times they don't have any choruses! They just go on and on without choruses. And they're amazing.

[ramajmedia]

Avengers Endgame: 10 Time Travel Memes That Are Too Hilarious For Words

Whenever a new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is released, the world seems to collectively lose it's mind. Every inch of social and mainstream media is occupied by said movie. And unsurprisingly, each movie spawns it's own personal memes. That's the modus operandi with every single Marvel movie, but the release of Avengers: Endgame was like every other Marvel movie release on steroids. Endgame was the culmination of over a decade of development and over a dozen films, so the entire film-going world understandably brought the hype to an insane level when it finally came out.

RELATED: Harry Potter: 12 Ravenclaw Logic Memes That Are Too Hilarious For Words

And in case anyone didn't know by now, a key aspect of the story line in Endgame revolves around time travel. Time travel is the linchpin that allowed the Avengers to, you know, avenge, and understandably that aspect of the story has ignited a lot of creativity within the MCU fandom. Namely in the form of memes. So here are 10 of the funniest Avengers: Endgame time travel memes!

10 No Wonder The Budget Was So High

Much ado has been made about Paul Rudd's magical inability to visibly age, but it all makes sense now! Surely most people can hope that taking care of themselves plus some luck with their DNA might stave off the biggest signs of time and wear on their face and body, but clearly no one can compete with the support of millions of dollars and the biggest media brand in the world. Is it possible that Paul Rudd is just lucky and barely aged since his Clueless days? Sure. But a Marvel Cinematic Universe conspiracy is obviously the much more believable theory.

9 Back To The Future Battle

If you told anyone a few years ago that one of the main film canon vs. film canon debates would be between Avengers: Endgame and Back to the Future, most people probably wouldn't have believed it. And yet, here we are. Back to the Future isn't exactly the be all and end all of time travel movies, but it is one of the most famous. And while Marty McFly's exploits in the past pale in comparison to what the Avengers did, at least Marty seemed to have a much more pleasant time in his visit to the past (creepy possible romance with his own mom not included, obviously).

8 Terminated

Avengers: Endgame is a film achievement unlike any other for a lot of reasons. And one of the biggest reasons is that it managed to unseat James Cameron from the top grossing film of all time throne (although Cameron will always get deserved props for managing to unseat himself when Avatar surpassed Titanic).

RELATED: 10 Rumored New Heroes That Could’ve Changed Avengers: Endgame

Cameron was undoubtedly proud of being able to hold on to that title for decades, and presumably wasn't thrilled to see the MCU finally defeat his accomplishment. Not to mention, James is pretty accustomed to the idea of using time travel to go back and change the past, so perhaps the MCU crew should have been a little more worried about taking him out.

7 It Doesn't Take A Gene To Figure Out

When it came to the Avenger's whole plan to use time travel to their advantage and essentially undo what Thanos had done when he killed half of the living world it seems like Thanos was pretty far behind the curve. With the infinity gauntlet you'd think that he could just go to the time in which they were going off on this whole mission and stop them, but he shows up right when every Avenger and everyone who has ever met an Avenger has assembled and is ready to lay the smack down on him. Thanos did show up in the nick of time, but he just didn't come up the winner.

6 Thanos Time Fail

Memes kind of feel like those half-assed thoughts that everyone has manifested into the most low rent artwork any person could possibly conceive of, but this time travel meme really has a point. The infinity gauntlet is supposed to essentially grant unlimited power to whoever possesses it, and the whole Avengers squad undoing Thanos' apocalyptic snap is something that Thanos himself should have been able to foresee and presumably prevent from happening.

RELATED: Avengers: Endgame - 10 Most Surprising Changes After The Time Jump

It's possible that Thanos wasn't clever enough to predict it or that he just assumed that the Avengers were too weak or too stupid to actually do it, but when you consider his obsession with eliminating half of the living universe you'd think he'd be more on top of things like that.

5 Reminder To Be Kind To Fellow Fans

Memes are just fun and games and should absolutely be taken as such. But they can also be a nice reminder to be kind and considerate to fellow fans who don't have the ability see into their own futures and know how Endgame is actually going to end. Presumably anyone who cares even a smidge about this magnum opus of the MCU has seen it by now, but when Avengers: Endgame was first released it seemed like it was easier to dodge a land mine or evade the Thanos snap than it was to avoid spoilers for the actual endgame in this Endgame.

4 He's No Marty McFly

One thing that a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and action movies don't like to confront when it comes to their off the wall ideas and experiments is that often times things don't go as planned when you're the first monkey being launched into space. Obviously that is the case when it comes to Scott Lang.

RELATED: MCU: 10 Things We've Learned About Avengers: Endgame Since Its Release

Ant-Man's journey to and from the future obviously doesn't match up with what he had probably seen in TV and movies for most of his life, and even if he imagined some timey-wimey shenanigans he undoubtedly didn't expect to turn back into an incontinent baby.

3 Suspension Of Disbelief Matters, Okay?

Let's be real, half the fun of poring over every frame of a certain movie is being able to debate the minutia of every plot point and concept within that film with other rabid fans. And the internal logic of time travel in Avengers: Endgame is good enough, at least. But there is also the point where a debate devolves into an argument, and no matter how much everyone loves the MCU movies they're still just silly popcorn flicks about superheroes. Undoubtedly these debates will roll on forever, but even the now deceased Tony Stark is probably sick of them.

2 Did You Even Watch The Movie Though?

Is everyone laughing or crying? Most Avengers: Endgame memes are good for a laugh (and this one probably is too), but this particular time travel meme is a harsh reminder of what MCU fans have lost because of the latest installment in the Avengers series. And I mean, considering the story line of Endgame it's safe to assume that no MCU character who dies has to necessarily be dead for good, but when you look at what a heart-wrenching send off Tony Stark was given in the film it seems more likely than not that he's gone permanently. We're always open to some hope, though.

1 Memeception

Memes are in large part so popular because they're so simple and easy to understand for everyone. If you have any knowledge of the source material you only need to glance at the meme and you'll likely understand it immediately. That's what makes memes so funny, and it's presumably why they go viral so easily. However this little gem of an Avengers: Endgame meme adds an extra layer of awesome by taking one of it's most popular "time travel" memes and making the meme about memes themselves. And this one definitely would have elicited a chuckle from Bruce Banner himself.

NEXT: Avengers: Endgame: 5 Ways It's Better Than Infinity War (& 5 Ways It's Worse)

source https://screenrant.com/avengers-endgame-time-travel-memes/

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

I love modern technology, particularly the electronics that allow me to communicate so quickly and easily. Even so, the loss of that capability – for whatever reason it’s lost – doesn’t have to be entirely devastating. We communicate not only without our electronics, but without noise all the time.

//

I tap my wrist, hold up my hand with my fingers splayed. Across a room, instantly, I’ve told someone they have five minutes, or that I need/want five minutes. I tap beside my eyes, point in a general direction, and then point lower or higher in an aisle of a store. It tells somebody at the other end that I found what we’re looking for, or that I want them to look at something, and then where more specifically that something is.

We do it nearly instinctively, some of us more than others. While hand gestures especially change meaning culture to culture, the ability to communicate without speaking is inherent to our species. It has been since before the first cave painting.

Recently the topic of communication without radios came up. The possible reasons for a non-radio life are pretty varied – a generator or solar panels with significant damage, low winter light, extended-time crisis when even rechargeable batteries are exhausted, seasons and locations when it’s hard to get messages through, EMPs and solar storms, neighbors who have the skills to survive but don’t have the same EMP-proof stockpiles we do, newer homesteaders and preppers who can survive but haven’t moved into serious “thrive” supplies yet.

There are also times we want to communicate, but don’t necessarily want to be heard. Hunting and tactical reasons are two of those.

History and modern technology have given us a lot of options to work around those possibilities and needs. Here are a few.

Morse

Morse code can be applied to a lot of communication options. While it’s primarily associated with radios, it was once a common ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication method using light instead.

Navy signalman using Morse –

It wasn’t until I started looking for an image online that I realized how dependent people are on the blinker-clicker features of their flashlights for light-transmitted Morse. If you have a milspec light that can take that abuse, great.

If not, cover and uncover your flashlight with your hand.  It’s still fast and easy.

For some of us with broken and aging fingers, and for people who are turning their lights on and off to get the same effect, it’s not only actually easier, sometimes faster, it’s also going to save your light a lot of wear and tear.

You can use a laser pointer for it as well, or cover and uncover a battery-candle-oil lantern with a box (or an oatmeal tub, coffee can, small ones with your hand).

Containing Light

Light stands out like it’s cool at night. Even a little green-red-blue laser light. It travels a long way when it’s dark-dark.

If you’re only trying to not stand out to everybody with one of those insane fifty-yard beams and you’re working from a set, expected position, you can signal by flashing the laser light or a flashlight into your palm or onto your chest, onto a tree or certain wall that’s visible from another location but not most of the property.

If you anticipate the need to really not be seen by anybody but your LOS partner, carry a flattened toilet paper roll wrapped around your small flashlight. (Flattened but tube, not sliced.)

When you’re ready to send a message back to the house, to the other side of a building, along the length of a wall, or down a roadway, cup the tube in one hand so you’re blocking the back, and stick the front of the light just inside it. Or, hold a laser sight/pointer just outside it.

The roll contains the light, so only somebody facing you sees it. If you want, add a mirror or a white disk to the palm to make it a little easier for that person to see.

I pretty much prefer those two general methods, regardless, because you stand a really good chance of blinding the person you’re trying to signal, or at least giving them dots in the eyes, especially with a pointer.

  Ship Flags

The sea services have been using specific flags to communicate since some of the earliest days, from pirates warning about trying to run from them, warning others that illnesses are aboard, to requesting assistance. This site has a list of international signal flags, their phonetic name, and the navy/maritime meanings.

The phonetic name becomes valuable, because some of the meanings at sea translate directly or with minor modification to things we face on land, too. The Morse, semaphore, or ASL of the phonetic name can be flashed or signed to convey a whole thought or message, just as a flag would.

The flags can be made – painted on boards or drawn on cards to use in windows or to be flashed, or drawn in chalk on a wall or sidewalk as needed. It doesn’t have  to be fabric, or flying in the air.

Any flag, banner, or windsock at all can be part of group and neighbor communication.

If we all normally fly the local team’s colors, but somebody puts it at half-mast or upside down, they could be saying they need help – or they’re ready for harvest/planting assistance. One person with a weather station might say rain, so a blue banner goes up. A black cross on yellow might mean a woman went into labor and the local sheep keeper would be welcome as a midwife. A black dot might mean there’s sickness – don’t come calling.

A flag might also just mean all’s well here, and a quick snip to drop it on the way past alerts all the rest that the gunfire wasn’t practice, it’s real, or that there’s a fire-fire, not burning waste or smoking out bees.

We can get as creative or simple as we want.

Semaphore Flagging

Another powerful tool in the box for sending messages visually, with the same alpha-numeric capabilities of Morse, is semaphore signaling – that signalman out there with the two bright flags or cone lights. Semaphore flag signaling was also once done using a single flag in just four positions (you can find it called wigwag signaling as well).

  With two flags, there are fewer combinations to remember, but you also have to have two flags – and hands – available. For both, a larger line-of-sight space is required so the flags can be seen.

Established Shorthand Codes

Radio Q codes  and 10 codes have a lot of value for quickly sending messages.

Various established codes provide shorthand communication for “Suspicious vehicle” (10-37), “your keying is hosed and hit every branch of the ugly tree on its way down” (QSD), “Report to [location]” (10-25), “stand by” (QRX), and “Be super-duper quiet” (“Do not use siren or flashers”) (10-40).

Those are all phrases we might use, from communicating across a yard or across a farm, as a simple survivor with a neighbor or family, or as a group with defensive and patrol forces. 10-codes especially have a lot of preexisting elements that are of use in many situations.

They can be transmitted with clicks, whistles, a pipe smacked with a hammer, marker on a dry erase board, flashed/blinker lights, or using semaphore flag(s) and hand signals.

We can also easily modify or truncate existing codes.

“QRO” (are you troubled by static noise) can become “do you hear anything”.

10-81 (breathalyzer report) becomes “just a drunk”.

10-90 (bank alarm) can become a prefacing code for an audio or visual alarm, with the location following it.

As with cop and amateur radio codes, there are hospital codes that can apply or be readily modified to fit life without radio communication. Heavy equipment operators and divers also have signals we can steal and modify. Knowing the common motorcyclist signals can be applied to daily life as well as serious disasters.

Military Hand Signals

Whether we’re ever planning to clear a house or a yard with another person or not, military and police hand signals also have applications for many situations. The numbers alone are useful. There are also action-information signals that are pretty handy.

The difference between “stop” and “freeze” gets used with my dumb dog 20 and 200 feet from our house with some regularity. I prefer to just go extract her or the ball from my pots and planters, but sometimes I just want her to stay generally where she is while a car passes. “Go back” translates to “out/away” in our world – I want her to back away from me, usually while I’m playing with sharp things or might squish her.

I originally thought it was just my quirky father telling dogs, the rest of the family, and hunting buddies that we were going to the vehicle with his “steering wheel” gesture. For a while I though the military had stolen the “down” signal from hunters with dogs.

Turned out, not so much. He just modified them from his military days.

Even without need for silence, it’s just really easy to whistle or clap a hand once, tap a window, ring a triangle, and then make a quick gesture, as opposed to shouting fifteen times or hiking out to somebody.

The gestures themselves are rooted in military hand signals we each learned (decades apart). In most of my lifetime’s applications of them, they’ve had no military bearing at all. But like the ability to say “I love you” a last time from a window, or immediately flag a distress signal in a boating-savvy community, they entered into our world and stayed in use.

ASL

American sign language has some of the same benefits as the everyday-everyone useful military signals. There are a world’s worth of truncated single-gesture shorthand signs, for everything from “man” or “female child” to “taking lunch”.  Deaf-mute people are able to hold the same sophisticated conversation as speaking and hearing folks. The addition of spelling and broader concepts to military hand signals allows ASL signers to be more specific across even distance, silently.

It’s also just a handy skill to have and might increase your employability when you stick it on a resume.

Written Word

As with flags and hand signals, we can take cues from history and modern eras with leaving drawn symbols – or flashing cards and posters – as well.

Here’s a fairly comprehensive listing of WWII symbols. It wouldn’t be completely crazy talk to go with another nation’s symbols, such as German or Russian, if you want to keep the information a little more segmented, although there tends to be a lot of commonality.

The old hobo symbols can be a little tricky. I can think of three or four for “safe water” alone. It also means adjusting from “black spot of death” and “X marks the spot” to slashes and X’s are bad, and dots are good.

However, from “dangerous man” and “vicious dogs” to “rickety bridge” or “avoid this in rain”, there are many apply, whether we’re planning on a community, thinking “Kilroy” situations, or just making notes for family or a core group.

The symbols also allow us to quickly and easily annotate our own maps for areas of concern or resources.

Limitations

The limitation to all of these is line of sight. But in some to many cases, being able to communicate even from a driveway to the house, the length of a hall, or stacked in a ditch, without making noise or taking a lot of time, makes them worth considering. There’s a good reason many of them have never faded from use, even with today’s technology.

If you want to communicate at range in the dark, you’ll need flashlights or pointers, (or oil-candle lanterns if your non-radio needs are expected due to long-duration interruptions in shipping). For us, that’s balanced, because we have lights on us, almost always, but not always a cell signal and not always a radio. That might not hold true for everyone.

Hand and flag signals are limited in range, while light carries longer distance. However, blinker-light comms is only really reliable at night. I may be able to use red boards, car windshield heat reflectors, or white flags to increase range in the daytime.

The number-one piece of gear for longer-distance communication without electronics is going to be binoculars or a scope.

Day or night, if I can’t see what you’re sending, clearly, we have delays or miscommunication. They’re inexpensive enough and should be part of most preparedness closets anyway.

If you’re mostly in brush country and are only talking about distances of double-digit yards, don’t break the bank there – there are more important things. If you’re looking at using blinker lights and somebody climbing a windmill or water tower daily or weekly to do a neighborhood-town flag check, a simple scope should work.

It’s also a lot to learn.

Instead of planning to use all of them, maybe take notes, print guides, but cherry pick. The very basic hand signals (heard, saw, numbers, armed or unarmed, child, adult, animal, danger, recover/relax, say again) and basic Morse code would take priority. 10 and Q codes can be added on. A few flags or graphics to represent ideas or situations follow.

Radio Silence Backups

The point is not to discourage anyone with fifty-five million more things to learn or buy. It’s that we have lots of options even if electronics-driven communication becomes unavailable. With any luck, there are some ideas here that can add some resiliency and redundancy to existing plans.

And, since a lot of it is learning based, not resource based, non-radio comms can be a way to improve preparedness with free-inexpensive skill building while saving up for purchases.

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from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

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It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like Transformers, Transformers/Ghostbusters, The Crow, Disney Afternoon, My Little Pony, and more! All coming your way for June 26th!

TRANSFORMERS #8

Brian Ruckley (A) Cachet Whitman, Bethany McGuire-Smith (CVR A) Anna Malkova (CVR B) Casey Coller

As Megatron seeks to bring about change to Cybertron, he meets with Termagax, a living piece of Cybertronian history and founder of the Ascenticon movement. Will she set him on the path to peace, or lead him to an unrepairable rupture with the Senate?

•   A bold new era! •   Transformers-now shipping twice-monthly! •   All your favorite Transformers characters as you’ve never seen them before!

TRANSFORMERS/GHOSTBUSTERS #1

Erik Burnham (A/CVR A) Dan Schoening

“GHOSTS OF CYBERTRON” PART 1! After years of civil war, the Autobots fled Cyberton, leaving their home planet in the evil clutches of Megatron and his Decepticons. Years later and millions of miles away, the Autobots pick up a Cybertronian distress signal from a mysterious planet called Earth. The ghostly signal shouldn’t exist, and it’ll bring Optimus Prime and his team-including brand-new Autobot ECTOTRON-face-to-face with… the GHOSTBUSTERS!

•   Crossing the streams after 35 years! •   Written and illustrated by the long-time fan-favorite Ghostbusters creative team of Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, and Luis Antonio Delgado! •   Five action-packed interconnecting covers from series artist Dan Schoening! •   The series will also include covers from superstar artists like Nick Roche, Alex Milne, Paulina Ganucheau, Priscilla Tramontano, and more!

CANTO #1

Greg Preslicka, Heidi Preslicka

Canto’s adventure begins! Enslaved for generations, Canto’s people once had hearts. Now they have clocks. When slavers damage a little tin girl’s clock beyond repair, Canto must brave his strange and fantastic world to bring back her heart. Can he overcome the dangers that await to save the one he loves?

•   An all-ages fable inspired by Wizard of Oz and Dante’s Inferno! •   Part fantasy. Part adventure. All heart.

THE CROW HACK/SLASH #1

Tim Seeley (A) Jim Terry (A/CVR A) Tim Seeley

The crow flies. A soul is brought back. But something is wrong.

Angeles Cero won’t stop killing on her quest for revenge, and the bodies are piling up. Now, slasher hunter Cassie Hack and her monstrous partner Vlad are on the trail of the Crow Killer, assuming her to be one of the masked murderers they’ve hunted for years.

But they aren’t the only force trying to make the universe right again.

•   From writer/artist, Tim Seeley (Green Lanterns, Nightwing, Shatterstar). •   Featuring an all-new Crow unlike any you’ve read before!!

DESCENDANTS GN VOL 01 TWISTED FIELD TRIP

Carin Davis, Delilah Dawson (A) Egle Bartolini (A/CVR) Anna Cattish

Advance solicited for May release! After their second film, the children of classic Disney characters like Maleficent, Belle and The Beast, and the Evil Queen take on an all-new adventure from Auradon! Evie, Mal, Ben and friends begin taking classes in Sherwood Forest with other Auradon Prep students. In the forest, they discover that some of the skills they learned on the Isle of the Lost will come in handy, but the other students have talents of their own to match. And when they’re split into pairs, they’ll be reminded that teamwork is the key to success… AND survival!

Descendants and Descendants 2 are two of the most watched Disney Channel original movies of all time!

DIABOLICAL SUMMER HC

Thierry Smolderen (A/CVR) Alexandre Clerisse

A groovy spy thriller and coming-of-age tale set in the Go-Go days of the 1960s, done in a chic, retro style sure to charm readers. For 15-year old Antoine, the summer of 1967 will prove to be an unforgettable one full of new discoveries: a secret agent from nowhere, a mysterious troubled girl, and the disappearance of his father-all happening within two days! These events and more conspire to turn his life upside down and into something he could never have imagined.

•   Advance solicited for April release! •   The Atomic Empire creators turn their vintage-inspired style to the spy-thriller genre, recalling a time when James Bond was the biggest action-hero in the world.

DICK TRACY FOREVER #3

Michael Avon Oeming (A/CVR A) Michael Avon Oeming

Dick Tracy is Sisyphus, pushing the law boulder up the hill as he struggles for reason and order in a world with none. His attempts at law and order are met with crime and chaos in the form of unpredictable and absurd villains. But Dick Tracy will never give up trying, no matter the era or incarnation. Join Eisner Award-winning creator Michael Avon Oeming on a startling case through time and space!

•   From the mind of Eisner Award winner Michael Avon Oeming, co-creator of Powers! •   Each issue has an exciting new take on one of the most iconic comic-strip heroes of all time!

DISNEY AFTERNOON GIANT #5

Ian Brill (A) Leonel Castellani, James Silvani, Ricardo Garcia (CVR) Magic Eye Studios

The return of Darkwing Duck begins this issue with chapter one of “The Duck Knight Returns”! Where did Darkwing Duck go, and what crisis has sparked his sudden reappearance? Find out in this issue! Then, Chip ‘n’ Dale and the Rescue Rangers are back for another thrilling adventure in “Stranger Danger”!

EVE STRANGER #2

David Barnett (A/CVR) Philip Bond

Eve Stranger can do anything thanks to the nanotech that she has to inject every week to stay alive… anything except remember who she is or where she’s been. Her talents sold by the shadowy E.V.E. Project to the highest bidder, Eve’s latest mission takes her to history-drenched Prague to face a monster who must be stopped. High-octane adventure, weird science, and doomed romance meet the jet-set in “Retrograde”!

GHOST TREE #1 3RD PTG

Bobby Curnow (A/CVR) Simon Gane

GHOST TREE #2 2ND PTG

Bobby Curnow (A/CVR) Simon Gane

GHOST TREE #3

Bobby Curnow (A/CVR A) Simon Gane

A sinister force grows in strength as Brandt discovers more secrets about his past and his family’s connection to the Ghost Tree. Will Brandt be able to discover his true purpose in Japan in time to save himself?

A touching drama with a hint of horror!

GLOW #3

Tini Howard (A/CVR A) Hannah Templer

Based on the hit Netflix show! The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling quickly realize that there’s no way they’re going to be able to beat these real, muscle-y professional wrestlers! With morale low, Ruth has to come up with a new plan, and she’s going to make sure they win-even if they have to lose!

MARILYN MANOR #1

Magdalene Visaggio (A/CVR A) Marley Zarcone

Where were you in ’81? When the White House goes dark for 17 days in August, the president’s spoiled daughter and her best friend Abe-who claims to be possessed by the spirit of Abe Lincoln-throw a rager at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, unearthing long dead historical figures and government secrets that are better off buried. Sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll séances, and secret passageways lead to time-bending mystical romps where past and present collide. But at what cost to Marilyn Kelleher, the world at large, and music television?

Uniting the red-hot Eisner-nominated talents of writer Magdalene Visaggio (Eternity Girl, Kim and Kim) and artist Marley Zarcone (Shade, the Changing Girl, Effigy) for the first time, MARILYN MANOR explores identity, classism, appropriation, and friendship. It’s a rollicking, neon party gone out of bounds when we need it most-set just in time for the greatest pop cultural marriage to date: MTV.

“We’ve been trying to capture the feel, the excitement, the energy of the rise of the New Romantics, of the decade that embraced excess and excitement in hugely over-the-top ways, and filled it with chaos and insanity. This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever written in the best way possible, like an apocalypse directed by John Hughes.”

MY LITTLE PONY SPIRIT OF THE FOREST #2

Ted Anderson (A/CVR A) Brenda Hickey (CVR B) Tony Fleecs

Strange things are happening in the woods around Ponyville! When ponies start seeing weird shapes, hearing unknown sounds, and losing the tools they need to work, all signs point to a mysterious monster! But it couldn’t actually be the Spirit of the Forest-right?!

PUNKS NOT DEAD: LONDON CALLING #5

David Barnett (A/CVR A) Martin Simmonds

It’s the moment the whole story has been building to… Fergie comes face-to-face with Billy, the dad he’s never met. Or should that be Beleth, banished prince of hell? But before that, have Sid and Fergie actually found a way to stop being stuck together? And finally, Dorothy and Asif return to London with Natalie in tow for a battle royale unlike any other. Don’t miss “To the Underworld,” the smashing conclusion to our sophomore arc!

“…razor-sharp dialogue, black humour … dripping in punk rock…” –Tripwire

“…a riot of technicolour and tentacles…extraordinary…” –Hero Collector

ROAD OF BONES #1 2ND PTG

Rich Douek (A/CVR) Alex Cormack

ROAD OF BONES #2

Rich Douek (A/CVR A) Alex Cormack

After weeks battling the cold, freezing tundra and a dwindling food supply, tension runs high between Roman, Sergei, and Grigori as they flee the horrors of the Kolyma Gulag. Their one hope is reaching a hunting lodge in the mountains where they can replenish their supplies-but the rocky path grows more treacherous with every step. Even so, Roman has yet to discover the true meaning of treachery-until he learns what Grigori and Sergei’s true plan for survival is. The dark tale of survival at any cost in the Siberian wilderness continues in ROAD OF BONES #2 from writer Rich Douek (GUTTER MAGIC) and artist Alex Cormack (SINK).

Survival drama at its finest!

  Join the IDW Hasbro Shared Universe related conversation here in our Comics Discussion and Reviews section and here for all other franchises, superheroes, or general comic book discussions! Not a member? Join our community by creating your own free account here! Or jump right into the live chat on our Discord server or our Facebook Group!

IDW Comics Shipping List for June 26th! It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like…

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10 Reasons We Should Be Scared of Russia

Russia has been talked about in the news a lot in the past several years, and has garnered an incredible amount of attention in the USA of late. They have been accused of hacking a political party’s files in order to favor one over the other. They have been accused of blackmailing our politicians and planting their own agents. They have been accused of spreading a huge amount of fake news throughout our country, in order to change the course of the general election.

On top of that, some in Europe believe that President Vladimir Putin was pushing for Brexit to weaken the EU, because he would like to take back more of Eastern Europe. While it would be nice to consider this alarmism, he has already taken Crimea, half of Ukraine, and doesn’t seem interested in stopping anytime soon. Below are 10 reasons why we should keep a careful eye on Russia and their actions over the next several years.

10. They Shut Down Estonia’s Internet Infrastructure For Almost a Month

Estonia is an Eastern European country near the Russian border, and they are actually quite unique when it comes to any country in the world, because they rely on the internet for almost everything. They use the internet for paying parking fines, voting, paying utility bills and taxes, and almost anything else you could imagine. Children in Estonia are taught to use the internet properly in school at a young age, and it is considered one of the most tech savvy countries in the world.

That’s why, in 2007, Estonians understandably freaked out when their internet infrastructure was hit by a cyber-attack that managed to keep the entire system down for three whole weeks. Estonians are understandably worried that it was a test for a possible Russian invasion down the road. Estonia was once part of the Soviet Union, is seeded with ethnic Russians so Putin could attempt to pull something similar to Crimea, and with their infrastructure down, it would be hard for them to resist the chaos Putin could create. With the recent aggressive moves by Russia both in terms of cyber-crime and their continuing ventures in Ukraine, Estonia fears they may be next and is preparing for war.

9. The Russian Mock Invasion That Would Take Key Islands From Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

Some may think that Russia would never dare go that far into Eastern Europe, or really keep pushing at all much beyond Ukraine. However, people back during WWII said that Hitler would stop after he took the Rhineland, and they were very, very wrong. The truth is that Putin has no reason to stop unless someone makes him, and he has already taken Crimea and roughly half of Ukraine. While some may be skeptical, back in March of 2015, Russia conducted a mock set of invasions that were set on the rather insane and clearly made up idea that the West was trying to physically overthrow Putin and pull off some kind of coup.

In response to this fake threat, the test invasion conducted would have them take away key islands from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, making it almost impossible for the NATO allies to come to the rescue. While the Russians tried to give a flimsy pretext that it was in response to a Western based attack, that doesn’t really hold water, because the real strategic value of those islands is that it would cut off the Baltic States from NATO. This means that Russia would be able to easily take Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia and force them back into the Soviet Union, and it would be almost impossible for NATO to provide any kind of proper support or help. The fact that Russia put so much time and effort into practicing such an attack is troubling, to say the least.

8. With the EU Increasingly Weakening, Russia is in a Stronger Position to Invade Eastern Europe

When the Brexit vote occurred, Putin tried to remain indifferent on the surface, but many experts believe he was very excited. The main thing that stops Putin from taking back the former Soviet States is a strong European Union and a strong NATO, which kind of coincide in a lot of ways right now. Unfortunately, both NATO and the European Union are in historically weak positions, and it seems like that problem is only going to increase as time goes on. With the United Kingdom out of the EU, it is possible more people could leave, and it may be much harder for the Western Europeans to mount any kind of proper defensive support if Putin rolls into Eastern Europe.

This also hurts the sanctions put on him by the United States and the European Union, as the sanctions are only as strong as the united front the countries performing them keep up against the Russians. If the European Union continues to dissolve, Russia will have more negotiating power with individual states, and will find it easy to bully small European countries with their comparatively large economy. In the end, both in terms of potential invasions and in terms of negotiating power, the Russians win big whenever Europe becomes weaker. To make matters worse for the Eastern Europeans, we have a US president who knows little about NATO and campaigned, in part, on it being obsolete (though he’s finally coming around on its importance), and cares about our agreements to protect small countries even less.

7. Russia Today is Kremlin Controlled and Russian Fake News Propaganda is a Global Machine

President Putin tries to dance around the issue, so it isn’t quite as obvious to everyone, but the truth is that Russia Today might as well be Putin’s personal blog. It is funded, owned and operated by the Kremlin – in other words the Russian government. The government claims that it is not totally government controlled, but Putin also admits that it should kind of be expected that they will say things that are positive about the government and its agenda. While not saying it outright, it is clear the purpose of Russia Today is simply to spread the Kremlin’s propaganda all over the world. It is perhaps one of the most unreliable sources on the planet, but many people who see Russia Today in other countries do not realize just how unreliable it is.

To make matters worse, a lot of fake news regarding the US election was traced right back to Russians, and there is reason to believe many of them were even paid trolls. Despite America’s best efforts to handle its own elections, it is scary to think how easily the Russians have managed to manipulate emotions and decisions simply by posting fake stories. If that wasn’t enough, there is reason to believe that a lot of similar propaganda is being spread in Europe as well, in order to weaken support for the EU and bolster the image of Vladimir Putin around the world.

6. We May Call Putin a Tyrant, but He’s Extremely Popular in Russia

Putin may be a man who is very interested in conquest, and he has some very grand plans. For this reason, many people like to put him in the realm of comic book villain, and look at him as a truly evil individual. While he does support a lot of draconian laws, especially against gay people, the truth is that Russia has always had very fascistic laws and very little freedom. The Russian people are fairly used to hardship, rationing, and not having a particularly strong say in government. When it comes to being a fascist, if anything Putin is lenient compared to some of the leaders of the past. What this means is that while he is dangerous to us, when we act is if he is horrible to the Russian people and posit the possibility of them one day rising up against them, it shows a fundamental lack of understanding of our Russian rivals.

We assume that they have the same priorities we do, but they simply don’t. Americans are more concerned with individual freedoms and don’t particularly care about refighting old battles. However, when Putin took back Crimea, it came with a great surge of popularity back home, because he was bringing back a certain amount of Russian pride as well. The Russian people felt stronger, and better to know that Putin was bringing back the old Soviet Union. Many of them now see him not as another politician, but as a transformational figure that has helped bring Russia back to what it once was. Russians still complain about politics and the country in general, but Putin still keeps his approvals in the low 80s, and even watchdogs from other countries believe the polls are at least mostly accurate. We aren’t saying Putin is a nice guy, but it is important to understand the people you are up against. We may not like Putin, but the fact that he is popular at home is not just Russian propaganda.

5. Putin Has Consolidated Power and May Very Well be President for Life

One of the things that makes it harder for a country like Europe or the United States to deal with threats from dictators is that the dictator has the advantage of remaining in power forever, consolidating his holdings, making him capable of carrying out truly long term plans. On the other hand, countries like the USA have regular elections that change our governmental leaders, which means we constantly have to refresh our policies to deal with the latest threats. Every president will have a different idea on how to deal with our foreign enemies or rivals, and that means an entirely new road map. In the meantime, someone like Putin can remain in office for nearly two decades, ensuring he can slowly work on his goals.

Putin was first term limited, then made a new position for himself that was above the president to get that problem out of the way. Then, he managed to become president again after taking care of the pesky term limit issue. And, while he hasn’t said he will run yet, many expect him to run again next year, and with his popularity, it would be hard for him to lose unless something catastrophic happened to Russia to completely tank his poll numbers. And with calls from some within the Russian government for Vladimir Putin to remain president for life, it seems clear that has been the plan for quite some time now.

4. There’s a Possibility They Have Blackmail Material on the US President

While we know that Donald Trump has business dealings in Russia, which have been the subject of much suspicion and rumor, and that many in his campaign were said to have contacted Russia during the campaign, which has led some to believe that there is far more to the story. According to a dossier of information, much of which is hard to verify, Trump visited Russia as part of a beauty pageant, and while staying in a hotel room, he got up to some antics that were quite risqué and embarrassing. He allegedly had prostitutes pee on a hotel bed that had once been used by Barack and Michelle Obama.

And according to the dossier, the Russians had been monitoring this room, and now have incredible dirt on Trump. Due to his many business dealings with them, and this blackmail they had, they decided to push him toward politics, and did their best to help him succeed, because they believed that they could use their blackmail to get sanctions lifted or other pro-Russia policies put in place. Of course, there is no proof that this blackmail exists, or that the event occurred as alleged, but the thought that they have blackmail on our president is very troubling. And even if they do not have that kind of blackmail, the fact he once admitted to having a large amount of business dealings with Russia, and would not disclose his taxes, still makes things suspicious for other reasons.

3. The Gay Concentration Camps Currently Operating in Chechnya (Part Of Russia)

Right now in Chechnya, a region which is now part of the Russian Federation, gay people are being rounded up like dangerous animals and either tortured for days on end or killed. These men are being held in what are essentially being described as concentration camps for gay people. Bounties are being paid for gangs of mercenaries to round up gay men wherever they can find them. This includes their homes, secret gay hangout spots, and they will even perform sting operations to find gay people.

There are reports that they are receiving beatings and electric shocks, and are sometimes even being released simply so they can be re-caught for sport, and so that the hunter can double dip on the bounty for the captured gay person. Some are blackmailed and threatened with much worse torture or death if they don’t pay large sums of money – because being gay is illegal in Chechnya, these men are all too eager to agree to avoid even worse punishment. Unfortunately, the only group that really has the power to stop this is the Russian government, and they are denying that there is any purge going on. Considering their knowledge of what happens in their territories, it boggles the mind that they do not know. And when you look at their own reputation when it comes to gay people, the sad truth is that the Kremlin likely understands what is happening and approves of it – gay people are not welcome in Russia.

2. Russia Currently Has the Largest Active Nuclear Stockpile in the World

When most people think of the most powerful nuclear country, they tend to immediately think of the United States. But the truth is that Russia actually has a slightly larger stockpile of nuclear weapons than the US does – this includes both stockpiled warheads and those that are fully operational and ready to go. The United States has close to 7,000 nuclear warheads, but Russia has over 7,000, beating the US by a small margin. They also have about forty more active nuclear warheads than America does, with both countries having close to 2,000 that they are ready to launch. Some may think China is close, but they actually don’t have any operational warheads at the moment. The next closest countries are actually France, with a few hundred, and the United Kingdom, with a little over 100 in terms of operational nuclear weapons.

For this reason alone, Russia has to be respected. With one of the largest economies, areas of sheer territory, and that many nuclear weapons, they are a very strong force to be reckoned with. A ground invasion of Russia has already been proven to be all but impossible, and a serious air battle would lead to them threatening nukes against the US. In the meantime, it is hard to prevent Russia from taking back countries in Eastern Europe without starting some kind of full blown war, or threatening the use of nuclear weapons – an empty threat because we know Russia could respond in kind. Due to being such a strong nuclear power, apart from fighting proxy wars over the ground Russia is trying to occupy, there isn’t a lot we can do to slow them down.

1. Military Service is Compulsory for Young Men, so Nearly All Russian Males Have Military Experience

The Russians are also dangerous because nearly every male of any decent health has at least a few years of military service under his belt. The Russians have made it compulsory for young men between the ages of 18 and 27 to serve in the military so that every capable citizen will be ready if necessary, and also to keep the military strong, full, and well-disciplined at all times. Now, draft dodging is fairly common for this reason, as not everyone wants to join the military, but it can actually be quite hard to do. Without a legitimate medical reason, you often need to pay thousands of dollars for fake documents to forge your way out of it. And you may still be caught and forced into service anyways, especially if you try tricks like staying at a different address than the one you put down officially.

And despite the draft dodgers, this means Russia still has a very, very large portion of its healthy young men learning the ways of the military lifestyle, and how to fight and die for their country if needed. With a percentage of men with military training much higher than that of other countries, they have a very large pool of capable people to pull from if they end up in any extended wars or conflicts spread throughout the world. Some countries near Russia, such as Sweden, have recently added compulsory military service in order to prepare for the potential threat they see coming down the road. The world has to be very watchful of Russia, and those who live in Eastern Europe have the most to fear.