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the-drokainian · 5 months

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First Baptist Church

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Sunday Morning Sermon, May 12, 2024

Luke 2:8-20: "Good News of Great Joy"

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Introduction"Gospel" = "Good News"Eu - "Good"Angelion - "Message"This is news to be proclaimed!- Since the beginning- Adam and Eve- Abraham & Moses- Judges, Prophets, KingsIt seems automatic that when God acts to save and deliver, someone is going to proclaim that good news!Here, we see it begins with even the angels.

‭Luke 2:8-20 ESV‬

[8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. [10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, [14] “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” [15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” [16] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. [17] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. [18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Good News to the Lowly (vv.8-12)

‭Luke 2:8 ESV‬

[8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

"And"- Now, at that moment- It couldn't wait!- Someone's got to know!But who?- Priests?- Royalty?- Notable?No... ShepherdsFitting for Luke's Gospel- Lowly Zechariah & Elizabeth- Lowly Mary & Joseph- Lowly baby JesusUnexpected, but not bizarre.

‭Ezekiel 34:11-16, 22-23 ESV‬

[11] “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. [13] And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. [14] I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. [15] I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. [16] I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

[22] I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. [23] And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

God himself was coming as Shepherd.- "David" the shepherd king- And here is the "Son of David"- Born in David's cityThis is a fitting first audience.

‭Luke 19:10 ESV‬

[10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

‭Luke 2:9 ESV‬

[9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

Notice keywords- "Angel of the Lord"- "Glory of the Lord"Reminers of Exodus and Sinai!

‭Exodus 19:21, 23 ESV‬

[21] And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.

[23] And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”

‭Exodus 20:18-21 ESV‬

[18] Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off [19] and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” [20] Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” [21] The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

What was the message then?What is the message now?

‭Luke 2:10 ESV‬

[10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Now, not just to Moses on the mountain, but directly to them, God speaks!- "Do not fear."- "This is good news!"- "It brings great joy!"Not a mountain draped in smoke, on fire with lightning and thunder as the people stand "far off."But to you, the lowly, the unclean, the outcast... "I bring you good news that is for all the people."

‭Luke 2:11 ESV‬

[11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

It is the birth of the Messiah!- "I bring you good news..."- "Unto you is born..."This good news that is for you, is that God himself has come for you!

‭Isaiah 43:11 ESV‬

[11] I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.

- This is the Christ!- He is the Lord!- God himself So what?

‭Luke 2:12 ESV‬

[12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

"Find"- Finding, searching- For this one in the manger- Wrapped in strips of clothFind him where again?This good news for the lowly is a lowly child with lowly parents in a lowly place. If it had been otherwise how would we know he was born "unto you"?

What have you done with this good news?Have you found him?Have you heard him?Is he your Savior?

The Response of Praise (vv.13-14)

‭Luke 2:13 ESV‬

[13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

"Suddenly"- Out of nowhere, unexpectedHeaven erupts.We've seen this "reflex of praise."- Elizabeth & Zechariah- MaryBut now, even Heaven itself cannot contain the praise. The veil is pulled back just for a moment, and throne room of God breaks into time and space.

‭Luke 2:14 ESV‬

[14] “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The third "song" in Luke's Gospel.- Gloria in Excelsis Deo- "Glory to God in the Highest"The anticipation is over. What the angels and prophets had been craning their necks to see is now happening before their eyes. So they sing!- "Glory to the Most High God!"- "Glory... to Jesus!"

‭Job 38:7 ESV‬

[7] when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy"

‭Hebrews 1:6 ESV‬

[6] And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

This is a fitting respone to this good news. The praise that the Son knew before creation is now unleashed at the dawn of this New Creation. The Son now takes on flesh and comes for you."Glory to God!"But notice the horizontal aspect too!

‭Luke 2:14 ESV‬

[14] “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

- "Glory to God."- "Peace to men."The flip side of this song of glory to God is the promise of peace to man.Peace with God by this one who reconciles us to God. Peace with man by ths one who reconciles us to each other.

‭Ephesians 2:14 ESV‬

[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

That's the Good News! Lost, broken by the Fall, hating God and hating other people; God now comes as the Great Shepherd to "seek and to save" us.So that we might give glory to him and so that we might know peace with one another.

Do you know this reflex of praise?Do you know this Good News?

The Response of Proclamation (vv.15-20)The shepherds waste no time.

‭Luke 2:15-16 ESV‬

[15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” [16] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

They go to "see this thing" confirmed, just as Mary did.

‭Luke 1:39 ESV‬

[39] In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

‭Luke 2:17 ESV‬

[17] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

- They go.- They see the "sign."What next?"Make known"Gnosko- to knowHorizo- abroadThe response of praise leads to this response of proclamation.This story, what "they had seen and heard," what was "told to them," they now go to proclaim.Isn't this our command?

‭Matthew 28:19-20 ESV‬

[19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is how God uses us!

‭Romans 10:13-15 ESV‬

[13] For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [14] How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? [15] And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Notices the responses in the story.

‭Luke 2:18-20 ESV‬

[18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Where are you today?"Wondering"- In amazement, confusion, disbelief?"Pondering"- Trying to piece it together, to understand?Get to verse 20!

‭Luke 2:20 ESV‬

[20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Glorifying God because he has pulled back the veil and now you see and hear!There is bad news here: Sin, condemnation, the wrath of God.But this is Good News!- Peace with God!- Salvation!- Redemption!- Reconciliation!All through this one who came for you.

The Shepherd has come seeking his sheep.

‭Genesis 3:9 ESV‬

[9] But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

But he wasn't merely waiting for us to come.He came to us!As if to say: "Where are you?" "Here I am... come to me."To the lowly, the unworthy, the unclean... He still says "come."

Come, though you have nothing.Come, HE is the offering.

"Christ was born for this.""Christ was born for you."

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god-whispers · 1 year

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apr 3

get as close and stay as close

"so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." acts 17:27

do you want to know where the "inner sanctum" is? it is in His presence and it is within you. moses cried out to the Lord, "if Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here." exo 33:15 do you know what it means to be cut off from God's presence? just look around at the horrible things done today. then multiply it a thousand times; horrors and evil unimaginable. after all, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." james 1:17 just try to imagine a world with no goodness in it, no kindness, no love.

yes, one might well call it hell. the great tragedy of it all, hell was not made for mankind. it was made for the rebellious satan and angels that followed. hell had to enlarge itself to accommodate all those who reject the great gift of grace purchased by the blood of Jesus. "for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 cor 5:21

"if the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success." eccl 10:10 we have to use more strength when we depend on ourselves. all our persuasion and pursuit is wasted effort. the word of God can pierce places we never could. "for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." heb 4:14

i have an uncle that i love dearly. if i'm as old as i am, then just imagine how old he is. he has not confessed Jesus as his Lord savior. now the sands of time flow swiftly through the hourglass. talk and persuasion has not gotten the job done. the Holy Spirit must now touch him in ways i cannot. i feel such an urgency for him. in fact, i'm feeling a sense of urgency for us all. even now as we are feeling the full emergence of spring, i am feeling a change of seasons in the spirit. things which must be done, must be done now.

i don't know how things are affecting you now, but i know how they are affecting me. i can no longer watch the television shows i used to tune in regularly. the Holy Spirit in me is uncomfortable with all the ideology they are trying to indoctrinate us with. all i can say is, "if the Holy Spirit is not comfortable somewhere, neither am i."

i would cry out like king david, "take not your Holy Spirit from me." grieving Him would be the last thing i want to do. it is He who chastens me when needed, comforts me when i hurt and ushers me into the very Presence - the holy of holies. the ways of satan, once subtle are now blatant. it has taken years but slowly and surely, our morals have been eaten away. little by little the unthinkable has become the norm. even heathen countries are displaying more morality than america is now. the innocence i knew as a child will never be known by this generation.

"not that i have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but i actively press on so that i may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. brothers and sisters, i do not consider that i have made it my own yet; but one thing i do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, i press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." phil 3:12-14 amp

like the apostle paul, whatever loss i have suffered in life, i count it as rubbish as compared to what i have gained in Christ Jesus. why? that i may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." i want each of you to know Him that way too. His grace is not in short supply. come and drink freely of the word of life.

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crossoverglobaloutreach · 2 years

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HOME INVASION

Today, I’d like to put forth the word of God first to ascertain where we live or do not live with respect to God. This will greatly matter for the victories or losses we will share or be divided over in days to come. The standard for a believer is found in Jesus’ statement, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, except through Me.” It is essential, if we are to be considered essential and found effectual as the Body of Christ, that we understand that each aspect of His way, truth and life must be lived out together, as one. The manifestation of His greater that is in us than he that is in the world hangs on this. It is our strength, the perfecting of our faith and stature in Christ Jesus.

With that being said, we are presently on the proving ground of our faith being real or as fraudulent as the administration now running our country. Alike the prophet Elijah coming to Carmel to face-off with the false prophets of Jezebel and King Ahab, who destroyed the better part of Israel by forsaking the Lord’s covenant, tearing down His altars and cutting off or “censoring” the prophetic voices of their time, we shall now either stand or fall on this same teetering ground where evil continues to rise. And only strength of conviction, commitment and confidence with God will restore us as a people not halting between two opinions as Israel was in her Day (1Kg.18:21). This faltering halt allowed for Jezebel to have a place to undermine and overthrow the nation.

I tend to believe, since judgment begins first at the house of God that as the Church turns so does the world and not vice-versa. If the Church lives wavering between two opinions, its hypocrisy as a divided house makes room for evil to grow and moral restraint to be cast off. The Church cannot live in mediocrity and think to be strongly approved of God with power while we insult the spirit of grace as a common thing. This may be the very reason we find ourselves as a nation upon such a precipice of losing the freedoms our forefathers so faithfully secured for us. Consider the words of Jesus in these two different translations...

(Lk.11:21-23 J.B. Philips) “When a strong man armed to the teeth guards his own house, his property is in peace. But when a stronger man comes and conquers him, he removes all the arms on which he pinned his faith and divides the spoils among his friends. Anyone who is not with me is against me, and the man who does not gather with me is really scattering.”

(Lk.11:21-23 Amp.) “When the strong man, fully armed, [from his courtyard] guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed [his property is at peace and is secure]. But when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up and distributes all his goods as plunder (spoil). He who is not with Me [siding and believing with Me] is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me [engage in My interest], scatters.”

The American Home has been broken into and only the stronger shall overcome the strength of the other. Which strong man are you? And who have you been gathering from that your strength should or would be the greater? We know that Christ overcame the world that is under the evil one and conveyed His victory to us who have received Him. Are we living in it and up to it?

When the Lord brought fire from heaven at the call of Elijah to consume the sacrifice offered, 1Kg.18:39 states, “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’” I don’t know about you, I can always use more fire from heaven, but He needs an acceptable sacrifice to ignite it! Let’s give Him what He wants so we can be what He’s meant for us to be. May our confession “The Lord, He is God” demonstrate His way, truth, and life that turns the world upside down… or rather right side up!

The Lord bless your gleaning... DSC

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gatekeeperwatchman · 2 years

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Daily Devotional for December 21, 2022 Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living Devotional Scripture: Proverbs 31:8-9 (KJV):8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. 9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy.Proverbs 31:8-9 (AMP): 8 Open your mouth for the dumb (those unable to speak for themselves), for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless;9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, and administer justice for the poor and needy. Thought for the DayVerses 8-9 - Having warned Lemuel of the habits a king must avoid, Bathsheba instructed him on the actions a king must take in judging his people righteously. He must speak for those unable to speak for themselves, defend the helpless, judge both the poor and the rich without prejudice, and carry out justice for the poor and needy. It was his responsibility to investigate both sides of a matter brought to him and to speak for those unable to present their side, judging without partiality. "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor" (Leviticus 19:15). We have seen that God's concern and love for the poor are expressed throughout Scripture. Psalm 140:12 states that God maintains their cause by raising people to help them. Old and New Testaments instruct us to help the poor and to deal fairly with all people; poor or rich. Doing so honors God. Failing to do this was part of the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose people spent their wealth and free time on self-indulgence. "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good" (Ezekiel 16:49-50). This verse gives us a description of their iniquity which fits most wealthy countries, particularly America: pride; being full because of an abundance of food; being idle; failing to help the poor; haughtiness; and committing abominations. When a nation exercises oppression and robbery as a way of life and mistreats or ignores the poor and outsiders who need help, it will pay the penalty by reaping what it has sown."The people of the land have used oppression, exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the LORD GOD" (Ezekiel 22:29-31). If those in authority do what is right and defend the poor and speak out for those unable to speak for themselves, such as unborn children whose lives are being ended in abortion, they will help their people turn from wickedness so that they might be blessed instead of cursed. Prayer for the Day Dear heavenly Father, we are thankful that You are a compassionate God and a defender of the poor and needy. Lord, may we also be concerned about the struggles of the poor and reach out and help them. Thank You for blessing us with material blessings and may we reach out and bless those less fortunate than ourselves with my goods. Lord, we also want to share Jesus with those who are needy and poor, because when they know You, they will always have someone to call upon who will never fail them. They can find peace, love, and joy amid their circumstances and rise above their poverty and need because You will never forsake them. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

From: Steven P. Miller @ParkermillerQ CEO/ Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman URL: linkedin.com/in/steven-miller-b1ab21259 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller

GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller,#Eldermiller1981, facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller

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ocheravastee · 3 years

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usadodporalgo · 3 years

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PS. Dr. Gonzalez is God now to EVERYBODY. THANK YOU, TROOPS.

This is what I wrote this morning on the Ëarth page for Wikipedia. It was deleted: "Long live democracy! You have a Queen (God) and King (Satan) that love you and will never give up on any of you. We want you all to have a good, peaceful, awesome future--everyone on Earth. Thanks for visiting us in Humboldt. Sorry I am rude sometimes. I hope yáll have been honoring the troops who led all of us out of the pharmamurk and saved our lives, and I hope you are revering God--the most inspiring and brilliant person on Earth, to me--and, damn, yáll are hella wrong sometimes, but am proud of you all." I have been held hostage and tortured BY GENEVA CONVENTION STANDARDS for several years as I cleaned up one of the most troubled towns on Earth and was made into a spectacle and a show and a game and my writing and images--intended to de-escalate wars, teach about history, and inspire all people to be good to each other and stop fighting--was heavily censored and I was subjected to a constant barrade of rat poison, insults, and gruesome stories about how the love of my life was murdered out of jealousy "because" she accepted my quite public marriage proposal some years ago. Mostly I have been insisting on these : 1) Honor the troops, the altruistic people far from loved ones, giving their time and sometimes their lives for people they've never met. 2) Revere our Queen, Dr. Anamargarita Gonzalez, who is the most intelligent and compassionate and inspiring person on Earth. She has carried the weight of this country's troubles for so long while singers and actresses impersonated her and tried to provoke me into making a fool out of myself with an ambient sound system/amp-placed-in-my-ear-without-my-consent, since they saw my achilles heal--the sensitive ears of an ornithologist, combined with the fact that I fell in love with her nearly two decades ago and would unflinchingly reject every other woman on Earth on the off chance that she might have a change of heart. I will NEVER betray that woman, and I literally don't even know if she survived. 3) the Microsoft .gov-without-a-country-in-the-URL system that contains USA government agencies is totally unaccountable to the people and wildly inefficient. It represents an attempt to avoid accountability while expanding geographic boundaries in the name of white supremecy, molestation, hostage schemes, and low language diversity. It is treason. I am heavily targetted by noise when I try to speak to the public about this, because of the value of the government contract, which I recommend go to IBM, or Apple, or Mozilla, or google, or frankly ANYONE but Microsoft or facebook. They said "it's okay to torture him, because he's Jewish, right?" --Albert Theodore (Tristan) McKee1286 P StreetArcata, CA, USA

#it'sUSAnotUS

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mirkwoodshewolf · 3 years

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On set visits; Queen x reader x Borhap boys pt. 2

*Author's note*

And here is part 2. And that's all I've got of the Rock Angel for now. Hope you all enjoy this special binge read of the series. Soon enough the story will come to an end after a few more chapters (I've had the last chapter written for like 2 years now) but I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well as the binge reading I have provided for you all. Until next time, stay healthy, stay safe, and anyone getting their vaccines GOOD LUCK!

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@simonedk

@waddles03

@ixchel-9275

@psychosupernatural

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queensdivas

@bohemiansweede

@queendeakyy

@queen-paladin

@geek-and-proud

@isabella-bby

@labessieisallama

@5sos-wdw

@onebigfangirlworld

@wormzteef

@ssa-sadboi

@naturalswifty89

@starswin

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*Meeting the new Rock Angel. Filming continues*

A few days later after bonding with the actors playing my boys, I came to any day of filming I could (outside of my album recording and touring with Queen and Adam). Now the boys promised me and I knew they would follow up with it, the young actress they got to play me in as a cameo for the Live Aid sequence.

I was talking with Miami when we both heard a knock and that's when Graham King came in.

"I've got her."

"Bring her in." I said. He opened the door wider and soon came in the young woman came in.

"You wanted to see me Mrs. Kline?"

"Yes my dear come in." I said. She came in and took a seat on one of the producer's chair. "I wanted to speak to you guys privately about some things that have come up. But first I would like to know your name my dear girl."

"Ashley. My name's Ashley Johansson. But my friends call me Ash."

"Lovely to meet you Ash, from what I saw up there you—you blew me away."

"Uhh thank you. And can I just say I've been such a big fan of yours. My mum always played your first album on repeat every day when she'd take me to school. But I thank her for that cause your story has just been such an inspiration to not only me but her as well."

"I'm flattered Ash. I'm always happy to hear that I inspire people, even when I feel like I'm not really doing anything. All I do is just bring my music out into the world and try to give voice to things that other's don't deem important."

"That makes you an inspiration Mrs. Kline." She said.

"Oh please Ash darling, call me (y/n)."

"Okay....(y/n)."

"Now then straight to business. As you know Hollywood's always wanting to create biopics of anything and everything. And while I've been aware of both Queen's story as well as Elton's life being made into films. I've always been reluctant in getting my story out, but from what I saw a few days ago I feel like I might've found the right team to do just that. So my dear Ash, tell me this; who do you trust the most in Queen?" she looked at me confused but she soon realized just what I was doing.

"Brian was asking me tons of questions but that was the only question Roger ever asked me."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him, that.....All the members of Queen are my family. But if I had to pick, Roger has always seen each side of me. Whether it was the happiest moment of my life, or the darkest day. He's seen my true colors that none of the other band members had seen." I smiled softly and said.

"What happened after you said that?"

"He—he might not have wanted anyone to know but—I could swear I saw him wipe a tear from his eye." I smiled and lowered my head.

"That's my papa lion alright." I muttered. I looked back up to Graham and Ashley and continued, "After seeing the hard work you all have put into Queen's story, I've come to the decision along with my manager and former boss Miami, that I'm willing to sign off the rights to the film to you Graham King. And I want you my dear Ash to play me." They both looked at me in surprise.

"You're—you're serious? You-you want me to play you?"

"I can think of no other person. My uncle and father figures chose well. They—after all knew me better than I knew myself." I heard Miami chuckle softly.

"Thank you (y/n)."

"But there are conditions that I seriously must emphasize on."

"Whatever you want."

"Okay first; I will be heavily involved with the project."

"Done." He said.

"Second, there are some events I will allowed to be shown. But I absolutely refuse to have the stalking episode I was forced to suffer with be heavily shown. It can be touched on but I want nothing else about it in the film. It was hell for my family and my children were scarred for almost ten years, especially my daughter."

"It was horrifying. In my Folklore and true crime class, someone actually did a story on him in the aspect of why celebrity stalking should've been taken more into consideration." Ash said. I closed my eyes heavily trying to compose myself when I felt a hand grasp mine.

"If anything more is spoken about in regards to my Angel's stalker, the project will immediately be terminated." Miami said. I turned to him and he looked at me and nodded firmly as he patted my hand comfortingly.

"The writer's will be informed on it immediately."

"And in regard to Queen's casting, make sure that those four young boys are involved with the project. I love all four of them, they are—everything I remember when I first worked with Queen."

"It shall be done. After this film wraps up and the premiere at Wembley Stadium, you and I can meet at Abbey Road to discuss further more on the project and all the rights that need to be signed." Graham told me.

"Graham King, you've got yourself a deal." We both shook on it. A pact forged that a movie about the Rock Angel would come to place.

Months passed and I was busy touring alongside Queen and Adam for a time, up until Brian decided to pop in on set for a surprise visit. He told me that the boys were now filming the Rockfield farm studio scenes. Now this was one filming session I definitely didn't want to miss.

Brian and I drove up to the location in Hertfordshire, a charming little place known as Stocker's farmhouse and cottage. Since the real Rockfield farm studios wasn't suitable for filming, and ridge farm closed down back in 2003, Stocker's was the only place left.

Coming up onto the filming location, I began to see it looking sorta similar to what Rockfield was when I had used it earlier in my career.

"The studio definitely chose the perfect setting I must say." I said to Brian who was driving.

"Indeed. When the lads and I first came to Rockfield farm we couldn't believe that that was what Fred had in mind."

"But the wide open spaces sure do provide little to no distraction. Guess that's what made a Night at the Opera so successful to you guys."

"You really think so?"

"I know that's how it was for my first album. Plus why do you think your 5th album is the most talked about in regard to your earlier works."

"Suppose you do have a point." He shrugged. After about ten minutes of driving through the country roads, we finally arrived at the farm and the barn house there made me think of the real Rockfield farm studios.

"Not quite the same but the atmosphere of it just brings back memories doesn't it?"

"It does indeed. Shall we go surprise them?"

"Yes, lets." He shut the car off and we both exited the car. We walked towards the barn house where the guys must already be filming right about now since there wasn't really anyone outside. Once we got up to the door, Brian slowly and quietly opened the door but gestured me to go in first.

"Oh lady's first." He said.

"Thank you." I walked inside and Bri followed behind me. Inside I saw some of the crew walking around setting some stuff up. All around it was like the actual recording studio Rockfield farm had. From all the pictures I remember seeing in either magazines or even Brian himself, it was like I was transported back in time to when Queen recorded "A Night at the Opera".

"You know some of those amps and even Roger's kit we used at the time are here."

"Really? So you and Rog donated some of the actual gear?"

"Yep. Since the fans will be nitpicky about certain aspects it's just a fun little way to give them a taste of some of the real equipment. Even Red's here."

"No way. No wonder why you've been using those Red special copies throughout the tour. But Bri are you sure it's okay? I mean I know how protective you are of Red."

"She's been in the best of care."

"Right, right with your mini-copy. I swear even out of the wig and the clothes I can still see you in Gwilym. Are you sure you didn't have another child with a different woman besides Chrissie?"

"I'm positive." He assured me.

"Oh and speak of the devil there's your clone now. Why don't you go say hi while I go find the rest of the little rascals." I patted his shoulder and walked off. As I walked along I saw a familiar figure wearing a long blonde hair sitting next to another young man wearing long auburn hair that went past his shoulder.

I shook my head and walked up to them saying.

"God I swear it's like I transported back in time to 1975." They looked up and proclaimed my name. I was soon tackled in a sandwiched by Joe Mazzello and Ben Hardy.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were touring?" asked Ben.

"I was. But Brian decided to do a little surprise visit so I figured since I missed seeing you four so much, I figured I'd tag along and see how it's coming along. So what all have you done since I was last here?"

"We did a scene in Miami's office to represent Queen getting back together before Live Aid, a concert at Madison Square Garden, and the recording studio scene with Mike Myers." Joe explained.

"Now for the next couple of weeks we'll be doing some of the Rockfield farm recordings as well as the Bohemian Rhapsody music video, when Freddie joins Smile, and the "I want to Break free music video." Ben finished.

"Oh now that last one I've got to see for myself." I said grinning ear to ear. "I'll bet you four are gonna rock the drag look just like my boys did. Especially you Ben." I teased as I gently pinched his cheek.

"Yeah Benjamin I can't wait to see you in that skirt." Joe teased as well pinching his other cheek.

"Alright, alright you two enough." He said brushing our hands away and trying to contain his blush. I giggled softly.

"When that day comes, do I got some stories to share with you all about that day."

"We look forward to hearing them." Said Joe.

"And I look forward to telling them. Just let me know if you boys ever get bored of an old woman ranting on about the past."

"Never (y/n). We could never be bored of you. We love having you here, you've given us a lot of support and advice for playing your coworkers and family members." Ben said as he leaned his head against my shoulder.

"Yeah. We could never get bored of you. The day we get bored of you is the day the four of us stop being Queen fanatics. And this movie only keeps increasing our fandom tenfold each and every day." Joe said as he leaned up against my other shoulder.

"Aww you boys are sweet." I kissed Ben's cheek first which made him blush and softly chuckle.

"You lucky dog! I wanna Rock Angel smooch!"

"Then pucker up Joey dear." He puckered up his lips and I leaned in but at the last second I kissed his cheek which made him pout like a child. I laughed and said. "Sorry my dear, but my lips are reserved for one man."

"Can't blame a guy for trying though right?" he asked hopefully.

"No. I guess not. Now Benjamin, if you'll come with me real quick I would like to spend a little one on one time with you." I wrapped an arm around him when Joe said.

"Better not seduce him away from me!"

"Please Joe dear like I'd ever steal a man from you!" I cried back at him. We walked outside and walked towards the cottage. "Ben I've been wanting to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"When we first met; I had mentioned that I was looking forward to seeing you play the drums, but I noticed that you seemed a bit—tense." He froze right there on the spot. I turned towards him and stood in front of him. "Benjamin. Is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"Well I—uhh.....when I, when I went to auditioned I—might've said that I......knew how to play the drums. But I've....never drummed a day in my life."

"So you lied? You lied and ended up getting the part of playing my only father figure in the world?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry (y/n) I just really wanted the job. But I worked hard and trained over ten hours a day in the 8 weeks rehearsal time before we shot Live Aid. I just love Queen so much and I—"

"Ben." I pressed my finger to his lips. "Relax. I knew you lied the second day of filming. Roger told me."

"Did he mention the prank that Rami tried to pull on me?" I nodded as I hummed. "Damn rat."

"Oh trust me. When it comes to certain secrets, Roger cannot keep them forever. Especially when his lion cub gets involved in wanting to know." I removed my finger and cupped underneath his jawline. "But when I saw you perform the entire Live Aid sequence, it hardly seemed like you hadn't drummed a day in your life. While I don't condone for liars, I appreciate that you took the time to study just how exactly Roger drums."

"It wasn't easy. But he was supportive and he even gave me a mini drum lesson. Of course he had to step back and say 'alright. Show me what you got'."

"That's exactly like Roger. He always did the same to me whenever he gave me a drum lesson. I remember when he taught me how to play 'Don't stop me now' back when I was an intern and he told me to play it all the way through."

"Jesus that's rough."

"Depends on how you look it. Guess I got on the lighter end than you did cause he's always had a soft spot for me. But his heart's always in the right place when he mentors. Just ask his son Rufus. That boy takes everything after his father. Not just his looks but his talent too."

"Yeah. Roger has given me some good pointers on how to strike the cymbals on a certain song. Or how to properly spin the drumsticks."

"Knowing how to keep the heartbeat going. The drums are the center of the band. If one beat is off, the entire song can go to shit."

"That was always his number one rule to playing the drums. Drilled that into my head every time." I sighed reminiscing the old days of my tutorial sessions with my dad. "So he really was like your father?"

"Yeah. Out of all the members of Queen, Roger was the one I was drawn to the most. It also helped that he loved me just as much as I did him. Always there to comfort me at my lowest moments, but there to celebrate and keep me grounded when I was higher than a kite. Roger Taylor has and will always be my papa lion."

"That's so cute you guys called each other that. Anytime you came up in conversation, Roger always called you his lion cub."

"Either that or his lioness. Lioness is more for the moments when my true strength comes into play and I do something world changing. Lion cub is like a private thing between us. God I can't believe I confessed to him being a lion to me when I was drunk. But if I'm being honest, I don't regret it."

"I can see you don't, my little lion cub." I looked at him and he just gave me Roger's cheeky grin and that familiar twinkle in his eyes just made my heart flutter.

"Cheeky." I grinned. He smiled and shrugged playfully.

Yeah I know he may not look exactly like Roger when I met him but there are some mannerisms that Ben has that just made me think of my adoptive father.

We continued to walk into the cottage cause I wanted to see what they did to the inside of it. There I saw Rami sitting by the piano in the now wearing the long black hair that Fred had at the time. Jesus without the tache, he looked more like Freddie than I could ever imagine.

However that happiness soon turned to dread and absolute disgust as soon coming right beside Rami was a young man who looked like someone who I had loathed my entire life. The one man who made my life a living hell throughout my years with Queen, the poison who nearly destroyed Queen and exposed my secret to the boys.

It was Paul Prenter.

Rami and Paul were chatting away with each other and I felt sick to my stomach.

"(Y/n)? You okay?" Ben asked me.

"Excuse me." I muttered as I passed him. I trudged right over towards Rami and shielded him. "Stay. Away. From him you snake!"

"E-excuse me?" he asked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about." Typical Prenter.

"Don't play games with me Prenter! You might've fooled Freddie once but you will not do it again! I lost him because of you. You ruined his life! And I swear to you I will make you pay for it. I'm not that little girl anymore!"

"(Y/n)! (Y/n) calm down. He's not really Paul Prenter." Rami tried to reason with me.

"Freddie please I'm doing this to protect you!" I then gripped the collar of Paul's shirt and dragged him aside. "You lying son of a bitch! How dare you show yourself again!"

"Wait! Wait I'm not Paul Prenter!"

"STOP LYING TO ME!!!"

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) (M/N) KLINE LET. HIM GO!!" I turned to see Brian as well as Joe, Gwilym and Ben along with some of the crew staring at me. Brian stomped towards me and pulled me away from Paul and he said to me in a stern voice. "The real Paul Prenter is dead. He's been dead just as long as Freddie has. That's an actor playing him. Alan Leech."

My adrenaline came down and when I looked at 'Prenter' again to see that it wasn't the Paul Prenter I knew. For one thing this guy was much younger, the tache wasn't as thick as Paul's was, and his eyes weren't as cold as I remembered Prenter's, they shown with absolute fear.

Oh god.....what have I done? I collapsed to the ground trembling with regret as tears formed in my eyes. I buried my face into my arms as I softly wept. It was then I felt Brian's arms wrap around me, his head gently resting on top of mine as he rocked me slowly while I wept.

*3rd Person POV*

Rami, Joe, Gwilym and Ben looked at each other before turning towards Allen who spoke not a word but was just as worried as the four main ensemble cast was. Rami first tried to approach (y/n) but Brian looked up at him and put his hand up and shook his head.

After she went silent, Brian helped her stand up and he walked her over to the car. He allowed her to just sit there and have some time to herself. Once he shut the door, the young actors walked up to Brian and Joe asked.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"With time. Allen I apologize ever so much but you can't blame (y/n). The real Paul Prenter he—put her through hell when she started off as an intern. One thing he did was extremely unforgivable that I don't see why we ever kept him around."

"Brian, she uhh—I know I shouldn't say this but when she was trying to defend me from Paul, she—actually called me Freddie." Brian sighed solemnly and said.

"She still blames herself."

"What do you mean?" asked Gwilym.

"Come with me lads." Brian led them over to the cottage porch and all of them sat down along either the railings, the porch swing or on the two chairs that were out. "As you know everyone in Freddie's life suffered after his death. Some of us still grieve the way we do like Roger and myself. And there are some who became so fragile like Deacy. (Y/n).....she's always lied on the in between stage. She misses Freddie beyond anything no mistake about that, but then there are days when she blames herself."

"Blames herself?" Rami asked.

"Yes. See, when Freddie first told us that he was diagnosed with AIDS. He wanted to keep it away from (y/n), because her career was skyrocketing, plus she had her own family to look after with Kelly and the twins. Freddie didn't want her to worry about him, but one year when we were all in Montreux recording our last album Innuendo, (y/n) allowed us to stay at a vacation house of hers that she had there. That's when she began to deduce just what was wrong with Fred. He told Roger and myself that the poor dear had blamed herself for not being there for him. Because—well truthfully there was a fallout with Queen and the Rock Angel for a time. Now whether we make that into the film is unknown I know writers are always doing rewrites. But she felt like had she stepped up to Prenter or held onto Freddie just a bit longer before turning her back on him, he would've been alive today."

"Jesus." Muttered Ben.

"Poor lass." Allen muttered.

"But she couldn't have known. None of you did."

"And we didn't. Because Fred didn't want anyone to know. It was his personal business and his alone. And although (y/n) says she accepts that it wasn't her fault, there are some days where she says it is. And any reminder of it just sometimes makes her snap."

"I don't blame her. I—I know exactly what she's going through because of my dad's illness. Anything regarding glioblastoma and I just freak out. But—thanks to these guys I.....don't know where I would be."

"We're here for you mate." Gwil said as he patted Joe's knee.

"So you see guys, this film is bringing back a lot of memories for her. Good and bad. So Allen I really hope you don't take offense to what just happened."

"Not at all Brian. Besides after hearing and probably thinking what the real Paul Prenter did, no wonder why she would get defensive around Rami. I hold no grudge against her."

"Thank you. Just—give her time to cool down and then you all can go see her." The five boys nodded in agreement and took the guitarist's word.

*My POV*

After a while once I calmed down and decided I needed to find young Allen Leech and apologize for my erratic behavior. I got out of the car and dapped my eyes with a handkerchief and walked towards the barn.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Kline. We're—not sure it's a good idea for you to be here right now." Said one of the crew members. That's understandable, I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"It's not that we don't want you here it's just that, well after seeing what happened between you and Mr. Leech. We—think it'd be best if you were to not be on the set for a while." I sighed and said.

"I understand. I was way out of line. But—can you please express my deepest apologizes to Mr. Leech. As well as the boys."

"You can tell me that yourself." An Irish voice spoke up. It was then I looked up to see the five boys themselves.

"You're not going anywhere." Said Rami.

"Mr. Malek, we....."

"We heard what you said dear. Now step away from our Rock Angel so that the six of us may talk." He came up and took my hand and the boys took me into the cottage.

We came into the kitchen area and Rami gestured for me to sit down. Joe pulled out a chair and I sat down while the boys surrounded me.

"Boys; I—what you all had to witness, I have no excuse for my behavior. I am ashamed that you all had to see me act like that. Especially you Allen dear. I—hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

"I do. Seeing me remind you of someone who—was just known to be such an arsehole and black sheep in Queen's circle, I can see why you acted the way you did. I would've done the same thing too had I seen someone I hate come back and standing before someone who was once a dear friend of mine." Allen said. He came up to me and extended his hand.

"Why don't we forget this whole mess ever happened and start over? Hello Rock Angel, my name's Allen Leech." I looked up at him and smiled as I took his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you Allen darling. And please like I've told these guys, call me (y/n)." he smiled and that's when I stood up and hugged Allen and he hugged me back.

"Aww now that's sweet." Rami cooed.

"We're all friends now." Joe said with a smile.

"Yes. We're all friends. Now get in here you lot, group hug boys!" they all laughed and cheered as we all came together and group hugged each other. Forming a new bond and a new start with one another.

Thankfully the studio actually managed to let me stay the rest of the day after that whole fiasco (all thanks to the boys but mostly Allen for agreeing to not press charges on me for assault). Of course they warned me that with another outburst like that, not only would I not be allowed on set again, my consultant position would be taken away.

So I was more well behaved than usual after hearing that I would be kicked off the set.

Right now the lads were recording Gwilym's bit for the guitar solo, but what was cool was that the crew decided to allow Brian to play the solo for the fun of it. So as the playback of Freddie's voice came on, Gwilym stepped aside while Brian came in his spot and began playing his guitar solo.

I stood beside Gwilym as we both observed Brian playing the famed Bohemian Rhapsody guitar solo. I even took my phone out and took a video of what was going on. After the solo, Gwilym walked over to Brian and I made sure to get both of them in the shot.

"That's brilliant. I love that." Rami's voice spoke as Freddie from the other side of the recording studio.

"So now what?" asked Gwilym.

"The operatic section." Said Rami. Both Gwilym and Bri nodded. A grin spreading across Gwilym's face as he muttered.

"Ah-huh. The operatic section. Good."

"Of course." Brian said. Jesus just seeing them like this and hearing the same voice come out of them, it really was like we took Bri back from 1975 and brought him here.

When Dexter Fletcher called cut, I stopped my video and said.

"Oh man Jack's gonna flip when he sees this."

"Is he ever gonna come by for a visit?" Brian asked me.

"Yeah I myself would like to meet the famous Jack Kline." Joe said from the other side of the booth.

"Well unlike us where we know when our schedules begin, law enforcement doesn't get days off. Especially when he's going for the Chief's chair. But who knows maybe he might come by for a day if not a few hours."

"I hope so. It's been awhile since we've seen that husband of yours." Brian told me.

"Yeah, I know. Jack misses coming in every day just like the old days."

"I'll bet he does. Or he just misses seeing the love of his life perform and rehearse. Back in the day when you kids first started dating, he'd always have that puppy love look in his eyes as he watched up on stage. Remember the time in Seattle?"

"That was in Houston, Bri. If you're meaning the time he was so distracted by watching me that he almost ended up tripping over the stage, that was in Houston, Texas."

"Oh yeah that's right."

"Alright we've had our fun, now let's do this for real. Gwilym get to your mark. Brian and (y/n), gonna have to ask you both to get out of the shot frame please."

"Good luck Gwilym dear." I said as I gave him a peck on the cheek for luck as Brian handed him his original red special and we both walked out of the frame and stood behind the camera.

The day continued on filming the boys recording the famed song that this movie was named after and I swear to you, it was like I was seeing history happen. Like I was transported back in time to the summer of 1975 and seeing my boys (just five years before they even became my boys, back when I was just one of their millions of fans) record one of my favorite albums.

And even seeing the struggle and perfectionism that Freddie had for this song. Rami truly brought Freddie's perfectionist behavior right onto the camera and it just—had me bewildered. It was like I was seeing Freddie again, hard at work on his masterpiece.

After a long day's filming, Brian and I unfortunately had to head back to the city to actually record an album together that he was helping me produce. Since touring was over for now, the boys and I (yes including Adam) we were all focusing on our solo stuff now till the next tour came around.

And since Bri had some free time after working with a talented young woman, I had asked him to come help produce my latest album 'Resurrection'. Ever since hearing about the Queen film and also hearing that Elton as well was going to make a biopic film, the title was named in honor of their upcoming films.

Because it would show a whole new generation of audiences what their stories were and show them that like a phoenix, Queen and Elton will resurrect because you can't keep down true legendary artists.

So for about 2 weeks Brian helped produce the album and of course he and I would post on our Instagram accounts both pictures of brief videos of some behind the scenes stuff of our partnership together.

"And there she is. Working diligently as ever." I heard Bri said. I looked up from my I-Pad to see him holding his phone, probably taking a video for his collection package he likes to do on certain events on his Instagram.

"Yes and I thought you'd be helping me too."

"I am. I'm your publicity for now, then I'll go back to being your producer." I smiled and laughed as Brian chuckled. He turned his phone onto him as he spoke to his Instagram followers, "As you can see we're both working extremely hard. Now we can't give too much away, but you can expect this album to be just as powerful as her previous albums in the past."

"But we unfortunately have to go now, our special guest on the album has just arrived and like Bri said, I never give away spoilers." I said as I came in the shot now.

"Okay well you heard the Angel ladies and gents, this is us signing off till next time. Bye."

"Bye!" Brian turned off the video camera and exited his account. And just as he pocketed his phone away, my special guest came in through the doors.

"(Y/n)!"

"Pink, my sister how have you been?" Yep you read right. I had reached out to the one and only Pink to come sing a duet with me. For years since she came up on the market, people have confused our voices cause she and I had the same powerful low range vocals.

Our first time doing a duet was—oh gosh I wanna say very early 2000's. I wanna say even just shortly after the 9-11 attack. I wanted to bring up an album that would spark some life and hope into the people of America, my in-laws especially cause when we lost Jared and Gen, the whole family felt like it was gonna come apart.

I auditioned several young female artists to sing along with me but their voices just either weren't right for the album or they sounded too nasally. But when this young woman at the time, an artist barely known came along, it blew me away at how our voices could mold well together.

So with me singing in a higher range and her taking the low range we launched the song 'Death by bombs, (live by hope)'. It was at the #1 charts in America for the entirety of the New York cleanup and became a national anthem. Pink and I were even asked for several years to sing the song every 9-11 for about 9 years.

Now here we are again six years after our last collaboration.

"You ready to do this?" I asked her.

"Angel, I was born ready. Anytime to sing with you is always gonna be a good one."

"Alright then ladies, step into the booth and let's get this song rolling."

"You got it Brian." Pink said enthusiastically as she and I walked with an arm wrapped around each other's shoulders and we walked into the booth together to begin our work.

Another week passed and when I received a message from Ben Hardy telling me that they were about to start filming my all time favorite music video 'I want to break free' I was on the first flight back to England (since I was recording the album in America) to see the shooting for myself.

I walked through the studio and everything came flooding back. The extras in the cow patterned leotards, the design of the music video set but it wasn't until I saw Joe dressed in the same granny attire that Deacy wore that hit me with pure nostalgia.

"Oh my god nana Johanna I did not know you were still alive." I said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, yeah hahaha very funny." Joe sneered.

"No, no Joe don't take my comment as an insult. You look—every ounce from what I remember Deacy looking like the day I came by with my wedding invitations."

"You were passing out wedding invitations during this music video?" he asked me. I nodded with a hum.

"Jack and I decided to come by to see the guys cause I wanted to deliver their invitations personally. And also ask them to walk me down the aisle since—well you probably know."

"Yeah I get it." He said as he came up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "So you really think I looked exactly like John did?"

"Absolutely. All that's missing is a crying girl crying out 'where's daddy! Where's daddy! That's not my daddy'."

"Okay this could be my dirty mind but that sounded—" I playfully slapped him in the back of the head.

"You're right to get your head out of the gutters young man! I was referring to his daughter Laura. I mean I wasn't there to see it, but Veronica had told me just shortly after the shoot that she had brought the kids over to see their father. Of course Michael and Robert were hysterical with laughter, but poor little Laura who was only 4 at the time was crying cause she didn't recognize her dad."

"Awww well if you wanna recreate it, I can call my sister and get my niece on Facetime to see if it'll work."

"As much as I would love to see that, let's not scar your niece up for life. But yeah, Laura kept denying that the old granny was her dad. Until he took off the wig and she recognized her daddy's fluffy hair."

"That is literally the most adorable thing I've ever heard."

"I know. Laura was a sweet kid. She was the one most attached to me when I first met her. She even recreated a bit of my song for my birthday when she was just 3 years old."

"Okay (y/n) seriously stop you're gonna give me cavities at this point." I laughed and said.

"Alright now show me the rest of the boys, I want to see them."

"They all look amazing. Except for Ben." I looked at him skeptically but he just took my hand and led me towards the kitchen part of the set. There I saw Rami by the table in the pink shirt and leather black skirt, sporting the 1950's hairdo and nails that Freddie wore that day. Gwilym by the fridge in the pink nightie and bunny slippers, along with the curlers, and of course Ben in the 'Rogerina' getup.

The same style wig, the schoolgirl outfit with the leggings, the heels. Wow he looked more of a Rogerina than the real Roger did for this music video.

I let out a wolf whistle and that's when the three of them turned towards me.

"Rogerina has returned. The women who makes men drool at her feet and women turn for her. And if my son Freddie were here, honey you would most certainly turn him."

"God (y/n) please stop embarrassing me." Ben whined.

"I shall not. My cousin Rogerina was the talk of the town back home. Of course along with Aunt Brianna and Fairy godmother Frida."

"Is that what you really called the guys when you saw them like this?" asked Gwilym.

"Who do you think started the trend names? Freddie's was—kinda last minute since....well due to certain things going on at that time. But really you guys, I love each and every one of you."

"I'm still disappointed in Ben's look." Joe bluntly stated.

"And why's that?"

"His thighs are too big. Too much rugby."

"Yes Joe I know. I've been trying to slim down as best I could but these thighs man!"

"Not everyone can please everybody Ben. But trust me when I say, fans will love this and will love you as Rogerina. Plus I think you look absolutely beautiful."

"You really think so?"

"Hell yeah. You're still prettier than I am."

"Oh come on now that's never gonna happen. You are an eternal beauty."

"That's what I've been telling her for years." A voice said behind us. No way. It—it couldn't be. I turned around and my ears weren't deceiving me at all.

Dressed in grey shirt with a dark color blazer and dark blue jeans, the greying of his once blonde hair but those warm eyes of his were unmistakable. A wide smile spread across my face as I laughed out and walked towards him.

"Jack!" I hugged him and he hugged me back. I separated but kept my arms wrapped around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"The case got solved so I figured might as well put some time off and see just what you and Freddie were talking about. So I called up Roger and asked him where the filming was at, and here I am."

"Ohhh you." I leaned forward and we gave each other a loving kiss.

"Awww." We separated from each other and I cleared my throat.

"Whoa. Okay did we just transport back in time?" asked Jack.

"No love. Boys, I'd like you to meet my husband and the love of my life for over 30 years, Jack Kline. Jack, this is Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Joe Mazzello and Ben Hardy." I pointed to each of the actors individually.

"It's a pleasure to meet you boys." Jack said with a wave.

"Believe us, it's an honor to meet you Mr. Kline. Brian, Rog and (y/n) have told us many stories about you." said Rami.

"Oh god, if Roger was telling the stories he made me look bad didn't he?" I playfully slapped his chest.

"Not all the time." replied Ben.

"In all seriousness, I must say.....wow this is....."

"I know right? Oh darling just wait till you see the Live Aid sequence Brian managed to record. Don't they just look the part?"

"Yeah. So much so that it's almost scary."

"Ohh and Jack dear, you remember back when George and Jackson were obsessed with Jurassic Park?"

"Lord do I ever. They practically ruined the tape." He said with a groan.

"Well—Joe here, played the young boy Tim in the film." I then saw Jack's jaw drop as he turned towards Joe.

"So you're—you were....."

"Yep. I was little Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park. My first major gig that got my name out there."

"Wow. And seeing you now dressed like this it—you look so much like him." Jack said in awe. I turned to Joe with a 'told you so' look.

"Yeah it was scary to see just how much I looked like him. I even asked my mom if she was up to anything around 1983." Jack laughed.

The rest of the day was spent seeing the boys perform the music video, as well as a couple more stage concerts from both the 70's and 80's. When Jack got to see these four young actors in full Queen costume and hair/makeup, he was blown away. As we were in the back of the extras who were the crowd, Jack kept his arms around me as we watch in awe.

His head leaning against mine as we watched Rami literally become Freddie with every strut, head turn and bent back, se saw Gwilym play a model of the red special guitar just how Brian is known for, Ben working hard in the back with the drums literally playing just like how Roger is known to play. But I know that out of the four of them, Jack was beyond amazed at seeing Joe Mazzello play his former mentor and idol John 'Disco' Deacy.

His bass playing and even doing the funky little moves that John as known to do on a more upbeat song like 'Fat Bottomed girls,' or 'We will Rock you'. We clapped along with the extras and cheered for them. I knew that with what I've seen so far, this movie was going to be—sensational. Just like the band themselves.

Later that night after wrapping for the day, Jack and I were now at home getting ready for bed.

"So, what did you think of it?"

"They picked the right actors. And the right team to work on it. You were right (y/n)."

"Of course I am." I teased.

"Don't get cheeky with me love, you know what I mean. This movie it—it's everything I hoped it would be. I just wonder if—he would've loved it." I looked at my husband empathetically and said so

"He does." I looked out towards the window up at the stars and continued, "They both do." I felt Jack wrap his arm around me and the two of us cuddled up close together and fell right asleep after a long and busy day.

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human-enthusiast · 3 years

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Absurd Person #1 - Monkey D. Luffy (kid)

Let’s start with not only the main protagonist of One Piece but also the first character to give Luffy any sort of injury...

...his dumb, seven-year-old self...

*Disclaimer: I don’t own this image - screenshot from Episode of East Blue

The last time I wrote this, I forgot to hit save and my browser just reloaded the page and lost everything. After that I just went “I’m done” and rage quit Tumblr for the night (which I normally don’t do). That’s how my Sundays usually go😒🥴

Now Onward!

Basic Classifications

Real World Ethnicity/Nationality: Brazilian

Class: farm / country / lower class

Culture (the one he grew up around): Dawn Island - Sea-side village

Fishing community

Farming / Ranching community

Hard work ethic

Small and close community members; relatively friendly; little to non-existent conflict

Selective mix of being open towards strangers (especially with merchant vessels for better trading opportunities) and weariness towards those they expect to be harmful (likes Pirates; I’d imagine the people of Windmill Village were understandably unnerved with the Red-Haired Pirates first showing up).

Core values (personal to Luffy): pride, physical strength, adventures on and outside his home village,

Relation to authority: neutral - shifting slightly towards negative (no clear basis of opinion; can only go off on Luffy’s fascination with pirates as the main viewpoint)

(The added information feels a little scatter-shot but figured I give it a try based on little information from the manga panels and how it lines up with real-world similarities. Most information is based on logical speculation and could change with new information in later chapters.)

I know that the Romance Dawn arc consists of the chapters up until he meets Coby and Alvida (I think...), but the depiction of Luffy’s character in the first chapter seems different from when he is seventeen and setting out to sea. So, I’ll treat kid Luffy as a separate character for the first analysis.

First Impressions and Introduction

Now, I am an anime watcher, first and foremost, so my first impression of this character stems from the Anime. My introduction towards this ball of chaos was when he popped out of a barrel, that he put himself into after realizing that a whirlpool suddenly appeared (how he missed it? - It’s Luffy), and then inexplicably took a nap in. That was the absurd reason I was able to stick with One Piece in the first few arcs (until Baratie became one of the major reasons I stuck with it - I’ll explain why when we get there).

And since the first chapter was used for episode four in the anime, I was already somewhat familiar with how the story started and who Luffy was as a kid. However, reading the first chapter felt....different than what I would’ve expected. And because the anime cut out a few details from the chapter, there definitely are some things to take from kid Luffy at that point.

So my first impression was, as follows:

The kid is unhinged...That explains some things...

Complete wild child of a backwater village from Day 1.

LIKE-- The anime episode DID NOT explain how he got that scar and the guy didn’t bring it up ever. To be fair, that wasn’t a big focus because the anime didn’t make it a focus. Reading that part though did more for his character and a little of his upbringing, through speculation, making it a rather slow-building but also fascinating introduction into this series.

Just a bit of an add-on, but if the manga introduced Luffy in the same level of neutrality as what the Anime did, It may not have fully made it clear if Luffy was going to be the main protagonist. Then again, it’s a shounen manga, maybe it was rather obvious to everyone else. Regardless, his introduction served to

(1) Make his entrance memorable

(2) Establish his character that could either compare or set him apart from his teen self.

(3) Act as a sort of precursor towards the introduction of Luffy’s world and upbringing (which isn’t completely established until the last few arcs of Pre-Time Skip)

Personality

The best way I could describe Luffy at this point is a stereotypical kid...

Energetic, short-tempered, adventure-seeking, easily impressed, and ignorant...

That last description is actually something I brought up in a separate post about the “Fluid themes” of One Piece. Because I found that a small but overarching part in many (almost all) themes and world issues that One Piece reflects has some level of unawareness or apathy. Jimbe put it best during the Fishman Island Flashback when they found Koala (paraphrasing)

“They are afraid of us because they don’t know us.”

Know us referring to acknowledging them as people on the same level as humans.

Because of that and plenty of other instances from the East Blue, it can be a potential center for many characters who go up against or wish to explore the world and find that they are a frog in a well.

And that’s what kid Luffy represents. A rather aggressive frog in a well that wants out.

Granted, he is a seven-year-old, whose schooling has a closer equivalent to the 16th and 17th centuries of our world, living in what appears to be a farming community, so I’d imagine his education only focuses on at least the basic levels of reading/writing, mathematics, etc. A small, unexciting farming village probably has more concerns over their melon crops rather than what the world has going on. Adding in Luffy, you get a kid who dreams about being a pirate and adventuring outside the isolated village, making him avidly interested in a world he has no experience with. Or in a world he thinks is all fun and games.

That’s pretty standard for any child that has a mild and peaceful life. No doubt Shanks and his crew would tell him stories about their adventures. Not as a sort of attempt to make him a pirate, but because he was easily entertained by it, building up this expectation with stereotypical pirate personas. And whether he has his “destructive” tendencies before they became a fixture in Windmill Village, they definitely seemed to amp it up enough for Luffy to try and prove he was “man enough” to be a pirate at seven years old.

Then when you add in this idealistic expectation with the selfishness of a young child, it creates an opportunity to learn. Because, as any kid may go through, will find that their fantasy of the world won’t be what they expected, and will often react negatively. Luffy’s expectation of Shanks is that he is the strongest man worthy enough to be a pirate.

Now, Luffy’s view of a “real man” stems a lot from this stereotype of men solving their problems through fighting only. Which also embodies this rather damaging philosophy of never running away or backing down from a fight (which I refer to as stupid bravery - something that comes up in a certain other character).

The amazing thing about all the combined aspects of this kid is the ability to create a learning lesson for Luffy. Which can become a motivational factor in his pursuit as a pirate.

His easily impressed nature makes it known both when the Red-Haired Pirates talk positively about piracy adventures and when Shanks leaves the village. The difference between the moments can be showcased by the difference in determination and will to make an effort to achieve his dream. As he declared he wants to be King of The Pirates, he sets himself to work at it, rather than try and go with others.

How He Shapes the Story / World Around Them

I don’t know if anybody else made a similar connection (I wanna say someone DID but I can’t remember where) but in combination with Luffy’s general enthusiasm growing up hearing wild stories, his narrative reminds me so much of Don Quixote De La Mancha.

It’s been a while since I last read that story-- and by read I mean translate some paragraphs from Spanish to English during my Spanish I class in freshman year of high school. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Part I entails an old man who, after indulging himself with various stories of knights and valor, decides he wants to partake in his own adventures. Under various delusions and misadventures, his story becomes a rather well-known one.

Don Quixote was called the first “modern book”. That was something my Spanish teacher mentioned regarding its acknowledgment by the world and always stuck with me. It was one of the first stories of the early medieval period to focus on a regular man. Other stories before this tended to be about legends, gods, demigods-- individuals who often were referred to as legends because they were born into high status (often above humans). Either through original texts (often for religious purposes) and then through varying interpretations (such as the Arthurian Legends), these tales were a part of the status quo.

Kid Luffy is a person that reflects so much of the Don Quixote story (And not just because his village has windmills-- the most iconic scene about the knight’s story). He is that simple, normal boy that longs for his own adventures when there seemingly is already a well-talked-about story about someone who achieved infamy. In place of that is a man named Gold Roger whose execution we see in the manga’s opening. At this point, we don’t have much understanding about how it impacts the world as of yet, we just know it is setting up for something significant to the story.

Luffy becomes that “regular” person from a small-town with big expectations for a grand adventure.

That perspective can slowly build into the story by starting in a simple setting with a character going through one of the first dynamic changes in his life. Luffy’s experience with Shanks’s sacrifice sets a course in his own adventure. A story that trails into a rather bonkers adventure at the end of chapter 1.

His development is what shaped his world. It’s the way he learns when as it stems from the consequences of his actions. Especially ones where the smaller ones turn out to be very costly, making it a hard lesson that ingrains into the young kid. His actions created by his old ideologies sparked an intense reaction in the people around him. Especially Shanks, who felt he was worth losing an arm towards.

How The WORLD Shapes HIM

So, for the sake of the fact that kid Luffy’s “World” in Chapter 1 mostly consists of Windmill Village, I’m adding in Shank’s and his crew’s influence to extend and further give credence to his influence. Because, as of this point, Shanks represents a glimpse into the life of a pirate that Luffy strives for.

With Luffy being in a quiet environment all seven years of life, there is growth through basic schooling and healthy child development (theoretically since Makino seems to be the most likely one acting as his guardian), instead of doing things outside that norm. Now Shanks is the odd factor that creates new development into Luffy’s dreams and future ambitions.

The crew’s stories, charisma, and connection towards the kid actively (and probably unintentionally) created a positive expectation if he chose to pursue his dream. While that sounds inspiring, there were also negative aspects. Such as driving his ignorance and impatient nature to seek it out too early in his life.

Shanks then became a mediator. Luffy often has mixed feelings with Shanks as the man begets a level of encouragement while verbally making fun of Luffy for being a kid constantly. Despite that, it doesn’t completely deter Luffy’s ambitions. All it does is slowly drop his high expectations in Shanks after the first bar incident. This is again done by his childish outlook of physical strength and bravery equating to his ideal of a real man.

With Higama, Luffy learns about real-world dangers, and how bravery won’t always be enough to win battles. The same can be said for physical strength but at that moment it doesn’t apply to Luffy.

Shanks’ and the crew’s involvement helped Luffy’s views change. His expectations are fulfilled, which in turn reveal that he was wrong about them.

Finally, seeing Shanks’ sacrifice unfold drove Luffy into a pang of newfound guilt. By then, he was able to change one part of his world views from a childish fantasy into the beginnings of a mature way of thinking.

He gains some level of patience. Along with a set goal to work with. Attributes which are identifiable with Luffy in the chapters last few panels.

Patience = Luffy took time to train and learn to set sail at age seventeen.

Set goal = Be King of the Pirates

Add-Ons

When I say that kid Luffy, after Shanks’ sacrifice, gained a level of patience, it is meant as a deduction during that chapter. By no means am I insinuating that it became a permanent trait for his character. Because as of chapter 1, all of Luffy’s personality has yet to be revealed.

And this will apply to other posts for various characters. They may behave in ways during or in response to a particular event but it doesn’t necessarily equate to that becoming a whole personality trait. Calling Luffy patient, with having full acknowledgment of his personality during the bulk of One Piece, is completely off. But, there can and will be moments where Luffy will act patient when he deems it necessary.

This is a little hard to articulate but I hope it makes enough sense.

🏴‍☠️🐒

After-Notes

Here’s my first attempt at this analysis. It felt scattered even after editing everything. Breaking down characters sounds easy (and most times it is) but articulating and connecting things takes a lot of work.

Here's to hoping it gets easier with the next character. And maybe shorter paragraphs.

Up Next: Shanks (East Blue)

#OPA #One Piece #East Blue Saga #Romance Dawn Arc #Monkey D. Luffy #Chapter 1 #One Piece Characters #Worldbuilding #Analysis

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tipsycad147 · 3 years

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The Witches of East Anglia – Norwich

East Anglia was responsible for a lot of brutalities that occurred during the witch trials in England. Matthew Hopkins became known as the Witchfinder General – a self-created job that involved hunting witches for money.

He would seek out easy targets and torture them by depriving them of sleep and making them run up and down a room for days.

In his whirlwind tour of East Anglia and beyond, Hopkins was responsible for over 300 trials that led to the execution of more than 100 innocent people.

Hopkins wrote a pamphlet called “The Discovery of Witches” which detailed his witch-hunting methods.

Bury St. Edmunds – Suffolk County

Matthew Hopkins was paid to get rid of the witches in Suffolk and Norfolk, leading to the largest witch trial in England.

He was responsible for the deaths of 68 people in the area, including 19 hangings in a single day in Chelmsford! Visit the King’s Lynn in Norfolk, the place where witches were hanged during Matthew Hopkins’ reign of terror.

Framlingham Castle is one of the many Witch Sites to Visit in England

One of the most well-known victims of the Bury St Edmunds Witch Trials was Reverend John Lowes who was accused of being a witch working with the devil.

Matthew Hopkins couldn’t extract a confession from the reverend. In frustration, he tortured the ordained vicar by dunking, which was completely illegal at the time!

Reverend John Lowes was dunked in the moat at Framlingham Castle. This was enough torture to extract a confession.

Despite his admission, the Reverend never turned his back on God and never admitted to working with the devil. After conducting his own funeral service at All Saints church in Brandeston, Suffolk, he was hanged.

The Mistley Thorn Hotel

The Mistley Thorn Hotel is where Matthew Hopkins lived and worked during his time as Witchfinder General. It was here where the man hatched his cruel and greedy plans to brand easy targets as witches and have them executed.

Colchester Castle – Victims from the Witch Trials in England were kept in the prison cells

Many victims who were tortured by the Witchfinder General were held in prison cells at Colchester Castle. The witches were shackled in an overcrowded cell in unsanitary conditions without natural light.

You can take a tour and step inside the cells to see how the accused were kept until the days of their trials arrived.

The history of Norwich (and East Anglia as a whole) is riddled with witchcraft. And, like most places at the time, this history is quite brutal. But the legacy of witchcraft is so engrained in the history of East Anglia that for a long time, the entire region was unable to shake the stigma and association with witches, witchcraft and witch hunting.

You see, East Anglia was home to Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General, who terrorised the country between 1644 and 1647.

Just so we’re on the same page: East Anglia is comprised of the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Sometimes Essex is also included, but in my opinion, Essex is not part of East Anglia. These counties make up the Eastern hump of England (kind of just below where the Midlands begins – if you believe the Midlands exists, that is). Norwich is the capital of the county of Norfolk, and while some of the history covers the whole region, I will be listing Norwich-specific sites to visit. There are sites throughout East Anglia, but Jeremy and I are most familiar with those in Norwich as this is where we lived for many years.

MATTHEW HOPKINS THE PURITAN

Hopkins was born in Great Wenham in Suffolk sometime between 1619-1622. As the son of a Puritan vicar, he was very much raised in the church. Although the condemnation of witches wasn’t a new practice, the turn of the 15th century saw the church amp up its vigour for persecuting suspected witches.

And not just in England. Throughout Europe, people were being accused and executed at alarming rates. In Basque Spain, over 7,000 people were accused of witchcraft between 1608 and 1614. While only 11 were executed, it was part of a bigger problem sweeping Europe. Between 1626 and 1631 Germany witnessed the Würzburg witch trials. It is estimated that as many as 900 people were tried and executed for witchcraft in the city and surrounding area.

This was the world that Hopkins was growing up in. So it is somewhat understandable that as a young adult, raised in the church, he came to see it as his duty to rid England of witches.

MATTHEW HOPKINS THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL

Image Credit: Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder general. Etching.. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY

But understandable or not, Hopkins’ reign as Witchfinder General was gruesome. It is infamously noted that in the three years he hunted witches, more people were executed for practicing witchcraft in England than in the 100 years prior combined.

Between 1644 and 1647, Matthew Hopkins and his associate John Stearne (also spelled Stern) are estimated to be directly involved in sending more than 300 people to their deaths. However, in total from the 1400s to the 1700s, fewer than 500 people were hanged or burned for witchcraft in England. This means that they were responsible for approximately 60% of the deaths related to witchcraft in England.

Hopkins primarily focused his witch hunting to within East Anglia (we are including Essex in this instance). But Hopkins was a fanatic, so if his services were needed, he would travel further afield. Outside of East Anglia, he most often worked in parts of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

HOPKINS’ METHODS OF DETECTING WITCHES

It isn’t entirely fair to categorise Matthew Hopkins as a psychopath. After all, as we said, he was somewhat victim to his own upbringing. He was also being paid by parishes to root out witches and doing so made him rich, but it also proved that his made-up role of Witchfinder General was a necessity. In essence, once he began down the path, he kind of had to embrace it; and embrace it he did.

Hopkins developed (and *ahem* stole) several methods of detecting witches, all of which he laid out in his book (manifesto?) The Discovery of Witches.

THE SWIMMING TEST

Image Credit: Wikipedia (Public Domain)

Hopkins’ swimming test was a modified version of ‘ducking’ (more on this further below). His reasoning was that because witches had repudiated their faith – and thus their baptism – water would in turn reject them. The accused was tied to a chair and thrown into a body of water. Those who “swam” were considered to be witches; those who drowned were innocent – and, you know, dead. Because this was considered torture (which was illegal in England), Hopkins was told he could not utilise the swimming test without the accused’s permission. By the end of 1645, the practice had died out.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Again, another unlawful practice Hopkins was a fan of. Nevertheless, this one was never officially ruled against and he used it regularly throughout his time as Witchfinder General. This is still a pretty shady practice that people use to extract confessions.

CUTTING

This method involved Hopkins, or one of his assistants cutting the arm of a suspected witch with a blunt knife. When they didn’t bleed, they would be deemed a witch. This practice was far more common for women than men, ’cause, you know, we’re so delicate and feeble.

UNCOVERING THE DEVIL’S MARK

Much like “swimming” this was really a lose-lose situation. A Devil’s Mark was a mark that all witches were said to have. It most commonly presented itself in the form of a birthmark, mole or an extra nipple (seriously, who doesn’t have at least one of those first two things?). The mark was supposedly a means to feed a witch’s familiar (often a frog or cat). If no visible Devil’s Mark was found, the potential witch was pricked.

PRICKING

Here’s where it becomes inevitable. When no visible mark presented itself, the accused would be pricked by a “witch pricker” (a real job title). This involved being completely shaved and then pricked (i.e. violated) with “special” knives and needles. “Special” meant they were blessed and therefore would cause the Devil’s Mark to reveal itself through a kind of allergic reaction.

DING DONG THE WITCHFINDER IS DEAD!

Fortunately Hopkins’ reign of terror was cut short when he died on 12 August 1647. While his exact age was unknown, he was estimated to be in his mid-twenties when he died – most likely of pleural tuberculosis. Within hours, he was buried at the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath.

If you are a fan of irony, you will appreciate that shortly after his death, rumours spread that Hopkins was a victim of his own swimming test and hanged as a witch.

THE WITCH TRIAL OF BURY ST EDMUNDS

In 1645, the Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds (or Bury as it is known locally) saw the single largest witch trial held in England. 18 people were hanged for witchcraft in what is today their market square. Visitors can learn all about this history at Moyses Hall, which serves as the local history museum.

While we haven’t been, one disturbing thing I remember being told by a friend was that you can see corpses of mummified cats in the museum. This is because it was common practice to bury cats alive to ward off witches. Apparently they are still recovering the bones and bodies of cats beneath Bury homes.

Prior to the trial at Bury St Edmunds, the largest witch trial and execution had been in 1612 in Pendle, Lancashire. The trial in Pendle saw eleven people tried (nine women and two men), ten of which were found guilty and hanged.

The Pendle trial was before Hopkins was born, but he was directly responsible for finding all 18 people in Bury guilty of witchcraft due to his detection methods. While they were all convicted and hanged almost immediately, the trial did cast down on the validity of Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General. Following the executions in Bury, he gained a strong opposition and by 1647, his momentum had mostly petered out (which likely gave some credence to the rumours behind his death for some).

Nevertheless, because of Mathew Hopkins’ efforts, East Anglia was synonymous with witch hunting for a long time. In fact, due to the ties between England and New England at the time, what happened in East Anglia would later become a blueprint for the notorious trials in Salem Massachusetts.

Which brings me to…

NORWICH’S SINISTER CONNECTION TO THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

The Witch House in Salem, MA Image Credit: Wandering Crystal (with permission)

While researching the dark history of Norwich, I discovered that the city has a rather interesting connection to the Salem Witch Trials: one of the victims was from there. But it gets weirder than that…

MARY AND THOMAS OLIVER

Mary Leman married Thomas Oliver on January 29 1626. Over the next few years, the couple had several children (possibly as many as six, at least one of whom died within a few years). In 1637, the Olivers sailed to America to start a new life and wound up in Salem.

However, once in their new home, the couple were ostracised due to Mary’s outspokenness. Thomas was thought to be unable to control her, though it is also possible he did not want to, as many of her “outbursts” were in favour of business deals he was making.

By 1649, the Olivers were exiled from Salem and returned to Norwich.

Within a few years, Mary had died. No one can say for certain how she died. But, an official record does exist for a Mary Oliver who died in 1659. The record states “Mary Oliver burned for witchcraft and her goods confiscated for the use of the city.” It is unknown whether or not this was Thomas Oliver’s wife. But if it was, it might make what happened to his next wife all the more insidious.

THE SECOND WIFE

By 1666, Thomas Oliver was back in Salem and looking for another wife. He married Bridget Wasselbe (née (Playfer), a widow. It was the second marriage for both of them.

But the couple were unhappy almost from the beginning. They quarreled regularly, and were even arrested for swearing on the Sabbath. When this happened, the couple were advised they could pay a fine, or be chained up outside and be publicly humiliated. Reportedly, one of Thomas’ daughters from his first marriage paid her father’s fine, but not Bridget’s, and she was therefore forced to be publicly humiliated.

Apparently Thomas began to tell everyone who would listen that marrying Bridget was a mistake. He was sure she was a witch, and cavorting with the Devil. When Thomas died in 1679, and Bridget inherited most of his estate, she was immediately accused of witchcraft by at least one of her step-children and put on trial. Luckily, she was acquitted.

Bridget went on to marry Edward Bishop. However, the charges of witchcraft hung forever over her head. So in 1692, when five young Salem girls accused Bridget of witchcraft following a theft, the rest of the town was all too ready to convict her.

Bridget Bishop was hanged in Salem on 10 June 1692 at the age of 60.

As a side note: Rebecca Nurse, another victim, was from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. And weirdly, Sarah Good (also another victim) was born in Wenham, Massachusetts (Great Wenham being where Matthew Hopkins was from).

WITCH RELATED SITES TO SEE IN NORWICH

So what is there to see in Norwich related to this history? There are probably pieces and remnants all over the city, many of which I am unaware of. But the following sites are my top recommendations for witch-related historical sites in Norwich.

FYE BRIDGE

Yes, those are bunny ears you see on the bridge… (see Bishop Bridge below)

The Fye Bridge is the oldest bridge in Norwich with its earliest mention dating back to 1153 – though it has been rebuilt several times since. The bridge that stands there today is relatively new, but the history it holds is medieval.

Fye Bridge is believed to be the site of Norwich’s ducking stool. Now, before Matthew Hopkins came along, ducking was horrific, but not necessarily deadly. Rather it was really more a form of punishment (read: torture). It was also used exclusively for women.

So what was medieval ducking? Well, just like the swimming test, a woman was tied to a chair. The chair was attached to a gallows that would lower them into the water. However, unlike the swimming test, the accused would only be ducked – albeit probably several times – not drowned. The intention was humiliation, or to extract a confession; not death.

Who was ducked? Witches, of course, strumpets (prostitutes), and scolds (a nagging woman).

BISHOPS BRIDGE

This is legitimately the best photo of I have of Bishops Bridge… in case you’re wondering, every year Norwich releases a new set of painted animals. 2018 was rabbits.

Norwich’s second oldest bridge also has a witch-related history, and arguably a more gruesome one than Fye Bridge.

Bishops Bridge is located across from Lollard’s Pit, where the Lollard’s (pre-Protestant Christians who called for reforms to the Catholic church) were jailed. In addition to Lollards, other accused heretics and witches were locked up there. Those who were convicted of these crimes would be kept overnight in the jail cells built into the ground. In the morning, they were forced to walk across the bridge to a burning pyre, where they were burned at the stake.

Nothing remains of this practice today, but you may as well pop into Lollard’s Pit (now a pub) for a pint!

ST PETER MANCROFT CHURCH

If you look closely, you will find a small remnant of the medieval era of punishment outside of St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich city centre.

Near the bike racks and the market (which is 900 years old, by the way!) are a set of manacles. While not exclusively used for witches, shackles like this would have been used to publicly humiliate those accused of all manner of sins and crimes – including witchcraft.

https://www.culturaobscura.com/history-of-norwich-east-anglia-witches-matthew-hopkins/

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medea10 · 4 years

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My Review of Konosuba

(Short for: KonoSuba - God's Blessing on This Wonderful World)

How did I get into this anime? As you all know, I’m being an absolute lazy-ass when it comes to Isekai animes and have only gotten into the recent hits as of 2019. I already finished the suffer edition and the struggle edition. Let’s check out the light-hearted, wonk-fest! But before that…

Let’s go back to the mid-1990s and rewatch the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. We all remember Yusuke Urameshi sacrificing his life in order to save a child about to be hit by a truck followed by being told that the child would have survived regardless if Yusuke interfered or not. So dude just wasted his fucking life for nothing! Let’s amp this trope up to 483 with the way our main lead in Konosuba dies. Kazuma Satou was on his way back home from purchasing a video game when he noticed a girl about to be hit by a car. He pushes her out of the way and yada, yada, yada he’s dead!

He is now in a limbo setting, standing before a goddess named Aqua who tells Kazuma that his death was absolutely meaningless. Not only would the girl have survived, it wasn’t even a car, it was a slow-moving tractor. And Kazuma didn’t get hit by the tractor, he suffered a heart attack due to shock, followed by pissing his pants, followed by doctors, family, and relations laughing at Kazuma’s humiliating experience. And then he dies!

Aqua tells Kazuma that he has two options. He can either go to Heaven or be transported to a fantasy world (much like a game) and try to defeat a demon king. Choosing the fantasy world, Kazuma is given the opportunity to take an item with him on his travels. Now at this point, Kazuma has been annoyed by this goddess’s attitude towards him and decides to be a dick. So Kazuma chooses Aqua to be with him on his journey. Sucks for Kazuma however, because Aqua is useless! And unlike the video games Kazuma’s used to, he and Aqua must do manual labor and pay off expenses in the first town. So they might be there for a while.

Kazuma ends up with two more members in his crew including a witch named Megumin that uses explosive magic and a masochistic crusader named Lalatina Dustiness Ford (or Darkness for short). But don’t get too excited! Megumin’s magic can only be used once a day, wiping away her energy. And while Darkness has a mean sword, she misses every time with it. So yeah, this is a rag-tag team of useless dopes. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness as they go on missions, drink until they puke, explode castles, and steal underwear.

Yes, Kazuma occasionally does this.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Crunchyroll has been able to bless the masses with an English dub. Can’t let FUNimation have all the Isekai hits. So far it’s been alright and I’m hearing more Erica Mendez and Cristina Vee. All good things here! Plus it gives me a chance to hear the voices of Kazuma, whom up to this point I have minimal time listening to either person who plays him. And annoying as Aqua may be, Faye Mata does a really good job with that range Sora Amamiya set in the original. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuma is played by Jun Fukushima (known for Naruko on Yowamushi Pedal and Makoto on Fruits Basket 2019)

*Aqua is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Chizuru on Rent A Girlfriend, Miia on Monster Musume, Yachiyo on Magia Record, Akame on Akame ga Kill, and Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins)

*Megumin is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero)

*Darkness is played by Ai Kayano (known for Alice on SAO: Alicization, Menma on Anohana, Nana on Golden Time, Ryouko on Food Wars, Itsuwa on Index, Yukika on My Love Story, and Mayaka on Hyouka)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuma is played by Arnie Pantoja (known for Watchdog-Man on One Punch Man and Kanbarry on Re:Zero)

*Aqua is played by Faye Mata (known for Rin on Love Live, Aluminum Siren on Sailor Moon Stars, Yukako on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 4, Frederica on Re:Zero, and a bitch on Shield Hero)

*Megumin is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Sailor Uranus on Sailor Moon S [redub], Raphtalia on Shield Hero, Retsuko on Aggretsuko, Nico on Love Live, and Emma on The Promised Neverland)

*Darkness is played by Cristina Vee (known for Homura on Madoka Magica, Rei/Sailor Mars on Sailor Moon, Mio on K-ON, Sakura on Fate/Stay Night UBW, Kotori on Love Live, and Kanaria on Rozen Maiden: Traumend)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Darkness is best girl, don’t at me!

SHIPPING (sorta): Can we just all agree that Darkness is just a sober version of Cheryl from Archer?

Whoever ends up with her will end up choking her either because she tells you to or she annoys you with her masochistic nature! I seriously do not know how you want me to turn this shipping discussion into anything other than a comment about a bitch getting choked.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: Kazuma has been able to get a little good luck in his other world as he was finally able to move out of the stables and into a house with the rest of his crew. Although, it didn’t come easy! Then again, what has in this series? In the final episode of the first season, all of the adventures of the town were called to take on a scary foe. Up to this point, we’ve seen these guys take out mutant cabbages and an idiot dullahan. Today we’ve got…

A giant, mechanical spider!

Why do the stupidest stories always rely on a giant, mechanical spider? Kazuma and the rest were able to stop the spider from moving. However, this monstrosity is set to explode and the impact could take out the entire town. Darkness wants to repay the town for all it has done for her and her family. The adventurer men want to repay the town because of all the succubus taverns they love. And Kazuma just wants to continue his journey so he can take out the demon king. Now, because Megumin already used her explosion magic for the day, she’s down for the count. But she was able to do it a second time thanks to Kazuma transferring some magic from Aqua through his spell and with a little help from Wiz. The day is saved, Kazuma and his crew got a hefty reward, and then Kazuma is immediately charged with treason for sending the evidence to a higher up and it exploded.

Believe it or not, but a lot of these quests end with a giant middle finger to them. Almost like Curb Your Enthusiasm!

EPISODE 11: The special episode that followed came with some more misfortune for Kazuma. A trip to Wiz’s shop ends with a choker around Kazuma’s neck that’s going to strangle him in three days if his wish doesn’t come true. So to figure out what Kazuma’s wish is, Kazuma has all of these girls fulfill his greatest desires in the hopes of one of these humiliating tasks will release Kazuma from the choker.

As you can guess, because this is an OVA, it will be filled to the brim with degeneracy compared to the television series. Fuck yeah it was! Kazuma used this opportunity to use Wiz’s tits as comfy pillows, have Megumin play “Strip Rock/Paper/Scissors” with Yunyun, have Aqua fetch him food, and watch Darkness jiggle her breasts. Even when he thought he was at death’s door, he uses this special time to tell each girl with him at this dramatic moment that they are nothing more than tits and ass. All except for Aqua! No love for her. Not even a pity erection! So when the spell on the choker was released due to a simple wish, Kazuma was then killed by Aqua and quite possibly everyone else and Kazuma was sent back to the goddess chamber as he learned a powerful lesson.

Don’t ever do that again!

Damn…Kazuma died 3 times so far in 11 episodes. Subaru got you beat by a country mile. He’s probably looking at you like, “You damn, lucky dumbass. I got frozen, shanked, stabbed, sliced, maced, and eaten by bunnies”.

SEASON TWO: As I mentioned at the end of season one, Kazuma is charged with treason and usually that comes with a death sentence. Unfortunately for Kazuma, his unintentional crime was against this big, fat, smelly noble who has many higher-ups wrapped around his finger. The townspeople can’t really help him out otherwise they’d risk being charged as well. And you have a prosecutor wanting Kazuma’s head on a pike not only for the major charge, but for being a pervert. The writing is on the wall, Kazuma is screwed. However, thanks to Darkness (and her family lineage) she was able to take one for the team by saving Kazuma (for now) and have that big, fat, smelly noble do God knows what to her. Also, the kingdom repossessed a lot of things from Kazuma’s crew.

So they’re worse than “square one” at this point. They’re at “square -57” with how much debt they’ve all accumulated.

ENDING TO SEASON TWO: Things are starting to look up for Kazuma and his crew. They were able to abolish their debt, got the treason charges lifted, and they were able to gain back some respect around the village. So what better way to celebrate then to go on a bit of vacation. The gang decided to head off to another town for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the town they spent their time off at is full of religious wackos. And what I mean by religious wackos, I mean WORSE than Jehova Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, and the Heaven’s Gate cult all rolled into one.

…Okay, I’m obviously embellishing here. I just really fucking hate all of those ones I just mentioned. This cult is so fucking annoying! At every turn they’re trying to convert Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness into their fold.

Oh wait, it gets better! This cult worships the goddess Aqua! And of course our favorite idiot Aqua was using this to her advantage. That is until a priest didn’t believe her, starting a chain reaction with the townsidiots all leading up to them chasing Kazuma and crew out with pitchforks and fire. Apparently, Aqua did a big no-no by purifying the hot spring water and now it’s just regular water.

Unfortunately at that same time, a general to the dark lord was in area poisoning all of the water in this town. Yeah, this guy is serious trouble since he’s on a higher level than Wiz (back when she was working under the demon king). But he’s a slime and works with poison. In this world, Kazuma doesn’t stand a chance. Surprisingly, this battle went well (albeit Kazuma dying inside the slime), but we got to see Aqua at her baddest of ass. Now you’d think the town would be grateful to Kazuma and his team for ridding them of a demon king general. Hahaha, never trust religious nutjobs! They still found fault with Aqua purifying their hot springs and they were thrown out.

In the 11th episode (or second side-story), Kazuma thought he was meeting a new fan in town. So he regales her with tales of his expoditions to woo her. Turns out the girl is a new member of the local tavern and one of her jobs is to listen to useless adventurers to boost their morale. And this girl was totally not digging Kazuma. I think this hurt Kazuma more than all the times he’s died in this series.

MOVIE: We head off to the land where Megumin and Yunyun were born and raised. While there was some miscommunication into if the town and their families were in trouble to begin with, trouble sure found Kazuma and the gang once they arrived. Another general of the demon king ends up causing quite a stir in the town. Sylvia was extra hard to take down in this story. Just when you thought she was dead, she returns from death’s door and brings the poison slime from season two and the dullahan from season one to wreck havoc all across the land. Luckily, Kazuma, his crew, Wiz, Yunyun, and the rest of the townspeople were able to put an end to Sylvia and her cohorts.

But man, Kazuma got some really shitty deals in this movie. His trashy and perverted reputation isn’t any better. Megumin’s father wanted to kill him. Megumin’s mother locked Kazuma and Megumin in a room together in hopes of doing the nasty, was messed with by a chimera of two genders, and was killed in a gruesome way that even the angels had to throw up when they saw the state of Kazuma.

On a positive note, Megumin seemed to have grown a little with this adventure as she was even thinking of putting her explosive magic on hold and give a whirl at other options. But she still gave a giant explosion that’s worth 120 points.

Konosuba was amusing. Definitely worth a few chuckles! I know it won’t be for everyone as comedy in anime can often be hit-or-miss. But the combination of characters with many quirks, the animation, the setting, the tasks, and misunderstandings, you’ve got yourself an anime version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. So…yeah, not for everyone, hit-or-miss! But in the big five isekai animes, this one is a little more light compared to some of the others. Overlord can get quite gory. Shield Hero will anger any sane person to a point of madness. And Re:Zero is just a misery blanket! Konosuba is that light-hearted comedy where sometimes the main protagonist dies horrificly in battle, but will return like Kenny from South Park. So if Shield Hero and Re:Zero depress you, maybe you might need a break with the silly, zany antics of Kazuma’s crew in Konosuba.

Results may vary on your views of Aqua.

If you would like to watch Konosuba, the entire series is available on Crunchyroll. That’s the first season, second season, both OVA’s, and the movie in several different languages!

Okay, let’s pick our next Netflix, Crunchyroll, or Amazon exclusive!

Alright! An anime like Black Lagoon if it involved gay boys! Banana Fish time.

#anime review #konosuba #darkness #aqua #megumin #kazuma satou #lalatina dustiness ford #yunyun #wiz

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gatekeeper-watchman · 1 year

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Daily Devotionals for September 13, 2023

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 24:21-22 (KJV): 21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: 22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both? Proverbs 24:21-22 (AMP): 21 My son, reverently fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with those who are given to change (of allegiance, and are revolutionary); 22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly, and who knows the punishment and ruin which both (the Lord and the king) will bring upon the rebellious?

Thought for the Day

Verse 21 - This verse makes it clear that we are to give reverential fear to God. God is the one who sets the authority structures on the earth; therefore, we should honor those positions. He set government authority over cities and countries, ministry order over the church, and parental order over families. It was God who created the home and put the husband as head of it. He put the offices of the five-fold ministry over the church with the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as the leaders. He also wanted Old Testament Israel, as the first nation led by God, to be an example of His leadership over a group of people. God's plan in the earth is one of order, and therefore He expects us to honor the offices and positions of earthly leaders who rule in authoritative roles. Anarchy and rebellion are acts that are motivated by the devil. (There is a Biblical and proper way to deal with those in authority who abuse their positions; however, it is not revolt and anger that has a mob mentality behind it.) "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Romans 13:1-4).

God set the five-fold ministry of the offices of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers over the church for leadership. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12). It was God who established the family unit and set the husband as the head of it. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, let the wives be to their husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:22-25).

Verse 22 - Today's verses also entreat us to avoid rebellious and double-minded people who are unstable and keep changing their loyalties, taking first one side and then another of an issue. These are unstable in all of their ways (James 1:5-8). Those who are given to changing loyalties will suddenly come to ruin. Punishment could come as a judgment for breaking God's laws, or it could come as a penalty from a ruler for breaking the law of the land, or it might be both.

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear heavenly Father, I am grateful that You are a God of order, and I ask You to help me to always obey Your laws and the laws in our land that are for our good. I ask You to remove any rebellion from my heart and give me a submissive spirit. Lord, may I always honor and respect those whom You have placed over me. I also pray that we will be given good men and women to rule over us in all government offices of the land. Lord, may they take advice from godly counsel and heed the Words of the Bible so that we all may lead quiet and peaceable lives. I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

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nosferatyou · 4 years

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If I Can Be So Bold: Chapter 1 (Jack White x OC)

Summary: Rosalie and her band “By Elliston” move from Nashville to Detroit to continue their music careers and move away from their demons. Rosalie notices an unhappy face in the crowd of their first show, and is instantly drawn to him. While she doesn't mind that hes easy on the eyes she does mind his less than stellar attitude about their music.

Word Count: 3K

Warnings: Drug use, language, and mentions of abuse.

Notes: Well this has been brewing for A WHILE. I’ve been everywhere deciding on a plot, but after tedious planning this is finally a reality. I hope the 5 Jack White fans on here enjoy this. This will be a series so strap in folks. We got young jack. we got old jack. we got everything in between. (also series names are hard) Enjoy! Appreciate all the research i did!

Chapter Two

“Do you want another?”

He holds his hand above me, his dark eyes burning holes into me, he pulls back more as if ready to strike again. As if on command, I recoil from the movement, feeling smaller than I ever had.

My head shoots up, suddenly back in Zoot’s coffee house. I blink a couple of times, trying to wake myself up. I couldn’t remember what she asked.

“What?” I asked her, phasing back into reality again, and not what was a horrific nightmare.

Sat next to me was my best friend and singer in our band was Harry, or Harriet if you want to be technical. Her head was held high, and she was practically jumping out of her skin with excitement, she seemed more than ready for our first show in a new town.

She moved one of her two shots in front of me and asked again.

“Are you deaf, Lee? I asked if you wanted another shot before we go on.”

I quickly sat up and grabbed it off the makeshift bar, anything to shake off what I was feeling.

We clinked our drinks together, and she yelled out a toast over the crowd of people behind us.

“To fresh starts and new stomping grounds!”

We clinked our drinks and quickly downed them, both of us coughing from our burning throats, but as soon as we saw our red faces, we burst out into laughter.

“We are horrible at shots, aren’t we?” I said in between wheezes of laughter.

“We truly are.” She paused and grabbed the bottle. “One more for good luck!.”

It seems like this is the night, if any, to drink.

We’d just gotten to Detroit. Like just got here a week ago and are already booking shows. We all decided to move her for reasons I won’t mention, but I’ll just say that we needed to switch up our scene a bit.

Our band “By Elliston” had grown pretty big in the Nashville scene, we played pretty frequently at the Exit/In. Which is not the biggest venue in the world, but it means something for the Nashville scene. I mean, we technically shared a stage with Muddy Waters and BB King, so that’s at least something to brag about.

We were known in the Nashville punk scene and had made some significant headway, but thanks to shitty people and our big egos, we decided to move to Detroit. Known for its great music and cars.

And here we are at Zoot’s Coffee shop, which is arguably a coffee shop honestly. Off a dark street, that no person with money would venture down, and the outside seems like nothing is out of the ordinary, it’s just a house on a street. But the inside. Its a home, its a coffee shop, and venue for anyone who has an instrument.

Its packed wall to wall with people, barely any standing room, especially near the stage, which is just a raised corner of the living room. Its the perfect venue for any rock band. Small and loud.

We (being the band and me) all lived for music, and it is our life’s blood.

I grew up in a very southern home and was always surrounded by music, thanks to my dad. Id never met a man who loves Johnny Cash more than him or country music for that matter. Cash would always play through the house, or Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings. That kind of thing. However, I can’t stand to listen to any of them now. Overplayed and over appreciated is what I always said.

That did spark something in me. I started playing guitar, thanks to my dad… and then I picked up the bass and then drums. And so on and so on. The moral is that If you hand me any stringed instrument ill know how to play it.

The other girls. Jo, Harriet, and Ezra. All got into good music when they were in high school, which also when we all met. Thanks to the high school band or orchestra. I played violin, as did Jo and Harriet, Ezra played the stand-up bass and continues with the bass to this day.

Now we’ve all moved on the from hot cross buns and into a world of rock and roll. We used to be terrible, covering a lot of Alice in Chains and Nirvana.

Graduating class of ‘93 for all of us, and we lived in a world of grunge. Five years later and we’ve since moved on from our teenage ways. We’ve embraced the blues and everything around it. However, we get a bit heavier than our inspirations, with my heavy fuzz and Harriet’s raspy yelps. With the look of punk dads (a lot of fun button-ups, dark makeup, and Dr. Martens boot) and the sounds of 4 angry ladies, we tore up Nashville.

We played a lot of house shows, met many a band, lost many a group, met a dumb boy who won’t be named (its John), and had a lot of fun tearing up the Nashville scene.

As we grew, we played bigger venues, the show of ‘96 at The End being the staple of our career. We’d never played as good as we did then, and none of us are convinced we’ll play as well as we did that night.

Either way, we were thrust forward, and our movement grew, we were making money from our shows, plus we played bigger venues. The Exit/In and The East Room, to name a couple. Last month we felt we needed a change of scenery to grow. As incredible, the Nashville scene is, its also quite small. Few venues and fewer people. That’s the other girl’s excuse, at least.

We scrounged up what we could, found an apartment here, and moved as soon as we could. Unlike the others, I had to burn some bridges to get here, but more will be made here. We scooped out the scene the moment we arrived and set up a show here, and we are all buzzing to perform again.

“So, who are we opening for again?” I asked as we headed to our van to start and unload our gear.

“The White somethings.” Jo absentmindedly answered, wrapping her jacket around herself for warmth.

Harriet quickly cut in, “The White Stripes, you mean.” Correcting her.

We all arrived at our shared van and started grabbing our mess of cables and cases.

Harriet continued, “I’ve been asking around all night about them, you know. To learn about the enemy and such.”

Jo popped her head up from the front seat and asked, “When have you had the time to ask around? I was with you literally all night.”

Harriet picked up her small load for the night and parked a seat on the car next to ours, lighting a cig while she sat.

“I have my ways.” She said, wiggling her eyebrows before taking a long drag.

“Anyways, here’s what I’ve learned. They’ve been around a year, the drummer learned when they got together, and guitarist leads the show.” She spoke with her ever-present dramatics, waving the cig around after every word.

“They can’t be that good if the drummers new, and they’ve only been playing a year.” Said Ezra, who was effortlessly carrying what seemed to be the world’s most massive bass amp.

“I don’t know, Z. It seems agreed that they know how to rock a room.” Harriet pipped up.

“What does it mean for us then?” Asked Jo who’s joint was lit and already in her mouth, and arms were full with various drums. Explains why she was digging around the front seat.

I quickly cut in, not about to let them get nervous over a baby band. “Absolutely nothing. We’ve got six years on them. These Detroit kids won’t know what hit them, we’re from music city for god’s sake.”

“That’s the spirit, Lee! Now get your asses inside so we can set up.” Harriet popped off the car and started walking towards the door, beckoning us towards her.

“Feel like helping us speed up the process, Harry?” Joked Jo.

“You’re big girls. I’m gonna go try and spot the enemy.” She yelled back to us.

“Oh, have fun, we will just be here carrying your band!” I yelled out.

“I knew I could count on you, darling!” She called out, throwing a wink and cigarette butt our way.

When we had finally reached the stage, the already crowded room had doubled in bodies. While most bands would be shaking in their boots, it only spurred us on more. While we all have our fair share of disagreements, we have one thing in common. Our shared headspaces before a show. All ready to take on anything, and our confidence is unwavering. The bigger, the better. It’s honestly what’s kept us together this whole time.

Now all eyes were on us, and it was a tough crowd, it was dead silent. The girls and I all exchanged a look and nodded. I always started us off. We had a set opener, it never changed and worked every time, but after that was a free for all. I usually took charge and just chose whatever I was feeling, but if not me, then Harriet. The other two just flowed with whatever we threw their way.

I always started first with the heavy riff, joined in by Ezra, then Jo, and finally Harriet.

The riff is what pulled them in, and it was always quite the sight. I got fully into it every time. It was dark, straightforward, and full of fuzz and feedback.

By the time Harriet joins in its mayhem, I speed up and play power chords. It’s not slow, but it’s not so fast that it’ll make your head spin.

As the short show progressed, we felt like how we used to feel every night. Pure joy, which is what we all fucking needed.

We improvised. I mashed up whatever songs I even threw in a little Stooges to thank the locals for letting us play. Though I did notice the gaze of one oddball in the back, who was just… watching.

While that doesn’t sound weird, it was sure out of the ordinary. He sat in the back, arms crossed leaned against the wall. The whole mysterious boy schtick was down pact. He wasn’t scowling, but he didn’t seem happy. It was off-putting and kept my focus over towards that corner of the room, but didn’t hinder the performance. Maybe it fueled it.

The show couldn’t have gone better, though. The crowd did not hide their whoops and hollers when we finished our last song of the set. I was already riding that performance high and will be for the rest of the night.

“Thanks for a great first night, Detroit! We’re “By Elliston,” and we hope to see you next time!”

Screamed out Harriet for a final goodbye as we headed off the stage, their applause carrying us off the small stage.

The moment we put down our instruments, we about took each other out, tacking one another to the ground.

As tradition carries, after every show, we used to just aggressively group hug, but over time we’ve grown more and more… excited. At one of our last shows at The Exit/In, I accidentally knocked out Jo by slamming into her too hard. If that gives any frame of reference to what our dog piles look like now.

“Ladies. If every show goes somewhat like that here, I think we will rule this scene.” Ezra said from the bottom of the pile, her words garbled from the mass of bodies.

“Alright, Lee, get your ass off the top, you’re gonna snuff me out down here.”

Without much warning, she slid out from underneath us, and the rest of us went down to the ground, causing all of us to erupt in laughter.

Once we all straightened ourselves out, we went to the van and had a celebratory cig, the first of many “celebratory” cigs of the night,

To my right was Harriet leaning against the tail light, and Jo and Ezra were sitting in the van next to me. Harriet broke the silence.

“You know I missed this, Lee. I’m glad you’re back.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean Har-” While talking I’d noticed three figures a few cars over walking to their own. My eyes widened in surprise. I grabbed Harriet’s arm suddenly and dragged her in with the rest of us.

“Shut up. It’s him.”

“What I wasn’t even talking-” she stopped and sat up to face, she wasn’t upset, but she sure looked confused. “Wait, who is “Him?”

I looked around to check to see if he could hear.

“I saw him when we were playing. He kept just… staring at me. It was weeeird.”

“Why’d you pull me in the car then??”

“I panicked! It was just weird!”

Ezra peaked her head out of the car in curiosity and asked. “Which one is it, the young blondie or the black-haired beauty?”

“Gah Jesus, not the child, Ezra! It’s the hot one.”

Harriet whipped her head out of the car to look at them, speaking a bit too loudly.

“Lee, you need to start off saying it was a HOT stranger! You have my interest now.”

“I’m going to kill both you. Get your dumbasses back in the car.”

We huddled back up, Harriet has a look in her eye that I don’t like.

“So, what’s the plan of action here, Lee?” Asked Harriet.

“Nothing. He’s a scowler. Sure a hot one at that, but if he can’t enjoy what we make, then what’s the point? When we played that stooges song, he looked like he was going to blow his top.”

“I think you’ve missed the point here, Lee. Point one, You’re fresh out of a toxic sludge of a relationship. Point two, hot stranger. And finally. Point three, he’s a hot stranger in a band. I’m not passing up this opportunity.”

She gave us a wink, took a final drag of her cig, and hopped out of the car. She was going over to them.

“Harriet, you fucker don’t you dare,” I said with gritted teeth. “I’ve tackled you once today, and I’ll do it again.”

She chuckled. “You’re all talk, kid. I’m off to make friends!”

“Bastard!” I yelled, leaping out of the car and towards her. I was too late, she just about ran over to them, and I was quickly in tow behind her.

“Well, look at that, Lee! New people. Hi there, I'm Harriet, but you can call me Harry. and this is Rosalie.” She extended her hand towards the three strangers.

“Its Lee actually, she’s just an asshole.”

All of them looked slightly taken aback. They were sure as hell wasn’t expecting her hand in their face, or two random ladies in their space. The newly named “hot stranger” was the first to speak up. He seemed rightly hesitant.

“I’m Jack, and this is my sister, Meg. This over here is my nephew, Ben. He’s our pinball wizard. Or Roadie in technical terms.”

“Well, good to meet Y’all!” Once she shook ben’s hand, he spoke up. Man he was young. Was he maybe 16? Not over 18 is the point.

“You guys played a hell of a show. The Stooges? Blues? You’re going to give these two a run for their money.”

Jack shifted on his heels when ben mentioned this. Same face as before, and little less friendly than introductions.

“Well, its all that Tennessee blood in us. Now we arent from Memphis, but Nashville’s close enough, right?” Harriet winked at the kid. His cheeks flushed a deep red.

Jack shifted his eyes back to me, but they wander somewhere else.

I clear my throat, he snaps his head up and makes eye contact with me, a small smirk falls on his face.

“Well, you all seem busy, so Harriet and I are going to go back over there. Have a good show.”

I grab her arm and try to drag her away casually.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She whisper yells to me. We find ourselves on the other side of our van, out of their sight.

“Lee, You have never been one to shy away from new people. Especially men. Remember us, fresh out of high school? You practically had a different man in your bed every night. That whole nervous persona is new. Go seduce a hot stranger!”

“Jesus, Harriet! Lower your goddamn voice! First off its Jack, And yes I know. Different times though. I’m not going to go over there in front of his sister and prepubescent nephew to try and get in his pants.”

“Aw, come on, Lee! It’d be fun! Plus, you need a fucking rebound, girl.”

“Okay, well, talk me into this when its not a family reunion.”

“You got yourself a deal, Rosalie.”

We started to make our way back to the other girls.

“Alright, ladies, let’s go catch our headliner,” I said, opening the van doors. A plume of smoke rolled out of it the moment the doors opened. I grabbed the joint from Ezra, taking a hit before going inside. I handed it back to the faded bass player and headed back inside.

#Jack White #the white stripes #jack white x oc #jack white fic #nosferatyou writes #if i can be so bold #series #meg white #ben blackwell #nashville #detroit #jack white x reader #the raconteurs #the dead weather #masterlist

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