#The relationship between those two men was that 'I would sell you to satan for one corn chip' meme

[the-busy-ghost]

I love how exceedingly, unashamedly Fake some mediaeval nobles and royals could be when they wanted something. For example, Edward III sending a letter in 1328 to the “magnificent prince Sir Robert, by the grace of God King of Scots, his dearest friend, greeting and embraces of sincere affection.”

[simeonstans]

OBEY ME BROTHERS AS CELEBRITIES

Sorry I haven't been active. Between schoolwork and just a lack of motivation and creativity, I really dont know what else I should've written. I'm sorry for abandoning this blog for a while haha.

LUCIFER

He's an actor. But later turned into directing and producing movies.

Has an entire room dedicated to his awards, one wall lined up with all his Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys.

Involved in plenty of rumors and scandals, usually where the media thinks he's dating an actor or found a non celebrity partner. But really, he asked them out to talk business.

Whenever he's acting, his character can go from the charming boy to the rich spoiled brat to even the badass detective. He's not a big fan of starring in hero or action movies with lots of effects. Nor directing those types of movies.

Directed a horror movie once and that quickly got taken out of movies for how scary they were. Psychological horror to the extreme.

His stans are usually rich and probably like Quentin Tarantino or Clint Eastwood. Lucifer has beefed with Woody Allen and his stans do as well. Truly iconic.

Philanthropist.

MAMMON

He's a model in canon but I feel he could also be a photographer.

He knows his aesthetics and has plenty of portfolios.

He's probably gonna act a lot smarter now that he's famous and knows plenty of people would want to scam him.

He does give out to charity sometimes but usually he models for campaigns or sells his pictures at auctions and donates away the money or a percentage of it.

Involved in some scandals but they're quickly debunked by his stans or his management. Nothing too bad, just a dating rumor that spirled out of control.

He does have a good relationship with his fans and likes to do podcasts or go on lives and interact and answer questions, even invites them on his lives to talk with them.

He's filthy rich and he dresses filthy rich. His style is very earthy and casual, but he does have that expensive Hermes™ watch and some Prada™ boots.

LEVIATHAN

He's a YouTuber. He also streams every Friday and Saturday from 10pm-6am.

He liked to cosplay but now that he gets invited to gaming cons and events, he probably doesn't have much time to make a good cosplay up to his standards so he'd probably wearing Tanjiro's earrings one day and then his Naruto jacket the next.

Whenever he goes to concerts, it's a thing that fans secretly take pictures of him if they're near him and there's plenty of content of him drooling over Zaramela.

There's YouTube compliations of him going shy whenever someone is nice to him or someone attractive goes near him.

Because he games a lot, he probably would sweat a lot if he becomes concentrated. So whenever he'd brush his hair back or put it in a ponytail, his stans go feral.

Don't mess with his stans, they're the type to call and email anyone so you have your life ruined. But I promise they're usually soft stans.

He dresses like the gamer boy of your dreams tbh.

SATAN

He's a painter.

The next Picasso. Van Gogh. Monet. He has talent.

Many would say he could be an author cause he reads but I headcanon he could have synesthesia. So whenever he'd read a book and go over a specific scene, it'd inspire him to draw or paint something.

If he's stressed, he plays classical music and paints whatever the music says.

He was probably a college student when this happened and he had a lot of paintings he didn't know what to do with, so he just sold them or gave him away to charities under a fake name.

Like some Hannah Montana shit, he lived a double life for a couple months and then he got outed by some journalist that was supposed to keep up with him.

He gets invited to plenty of events and has painted for celebrities and politicians. Despite that, he's probably the least popular of his brother's but his stans are very dedicated to him and surprisingly there's rarely any fights within.

He has money but the most expensive his he owns is a watch and his car. More dad or nerdy boyfriend type look.

ASMODEUS

Triple Threat. Model, actor, singer.

He frequently goes on tour and drops albums. His music ranges so one album can help you explore your sexuality when his next album mostly focuses on who he truly is and so on.

Like Lucifer, he has plenty of awards. Probably has starred in one of his productions, too.

Has collaborated with NikkieTutorials, Rihanna and her Fenty collection, Beyonce, the biggest stars you could think of. Whether music or beauty.

Has his own fashion line as well as his own perfume collection and beauty products. A good percentage does go to charities and organizations like homeless college students or pro-lgbt groups.

Has YouTube compliations of men having gay panics over him.

Has been involved in many scandals and relationships, but many wind up false. Surprisingly. He is honest, so he does confirm if there was any chemistry between him and someone else.

His stans are more open and accepting, they don't really attack you or ruin your life but they can damage your self esteem for good.

They've also trended "#AsmoIsOverParty" just to promote a new project from him.

BEELZEBUB

He's an athlete.

There's plenty of videos of him with his shirt off and he may seem scary to many people, he's our big puppy.

"Beelzebub being cute for 4 minutes and 48 seconds" compliations rival "Levi being shy as a serotonin boost" compliations

Has the most fans. He's mentioned wanting a family and being family oriented before which probably caused his fan base to expand.

If you don't understand the sport, older stans would explain it for you. He also made a YouTube channel where he posts videos explaining how the game works and the positions. There's 5 videos, each video almost an hour long. He hasn't updated his channel since then.

Has also starred in Lucifers movies and usually does his own stunts.

He only wears expensive shoes as long as they last long or are comfortable for him. He also sometimes buys expensive athletic wear but majority of the time he doesn't check how expensive it is as long as he's comfortable.

Every week, he posts a video of himself working out or making a healthy and inexpensive meal to promote a healthier lifestyle.

BELPHAGOR

Music producer.

Despite being known to nap a lot or to be in his room a lot, it's usually because he spends a lot of time making beats and working on lyrics.

He's collaborated with plenty of artists but usually collaborates with Asmo.

Belphie also has his own music company which Asmo is under. Of course there's other producers in so he works alongside them and other artists and he usually makes his own music or adds back vocals to some songs.

If you find the back vocals within it, he's usually growling or moaning. His voice is deep but it's very soothing.

His stans usually send him letters or ask Asmo how he's doing or if he's eaten yet. He is very respected and his stans are FERAL. No mercy, absolutely ruthless.

Once had his mixtape "leaked" by Asmo and it was on the charts for a good while and broke a record or two. He doesn't like talking about it much but he does appreciate it.

He doesn't dress up much but whenever he does, it's like he's a different persona.

[scenecipriano]

Curse of The Fold (3)

Chapter Three: Fate’s Hand 

Description: The year was 1692, a time where women, children, and men feared for their lives of possibly being accused of witchcraft. Two men though, don’t allow this mass hysteria to come between them. Even though the madness Janus and Roman manage to keep their relationship a secret…That is until the summer of 1692.“The only thing that could hurt us. Is the curse of the fold.”

Characters: Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Remus Sanders, Janus Sanders, Logan Sanders, Virgil Sanders, and Thomas Sanders

Relationships: Roman/Janus

TW: Unsympathetic Patton, Unsympathetic Remus, major character death, death by hanging, death by fire, executions, witch trials.

Other(s): Based on Salem Witch Trials and not fully historically accurate.

Chapter TW: mentions of hanging, mentioned anxiety attacks/panic attacks. 

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

February 20th, 1692 Salem Massachusetts

It was another warm day, Roman wanted to go on another stroll like he had four days prior, (He wanted to see if Janus would be by the stream again) but his father said he needed him to stay behind. Roman forces a smile as he passes out bread and wine to his father’s churchgoers, he would rather be doing anything else than this, his father never made Remus do this tedious task.

“Are this bread and a small bit of wine for me or are you going to crush it some more in those strong hands of yours?”

Roman felt his heart leap into his throat, he looked up from the ground and felt his face heat up. Standing in front of him was Janus, that same smirk plastered on his scarred and freckled face.

Instead of the white dirty looking long-sleeved shirt and ill-fitting brown pants, he had on the day before, Janus sported a nice button-up short-sleeve white shirt and black slacks. His shoes were polished and the buckles were done up nicely, a black hood attached to a cloak was over Janus’ head, partially hiding his strawberry blonde locks.

“Hello, earth to Roman Harford?” Janus teases.

Roman shakes his head and hands the smaller man the small piece of bread and the small cup of wine. He watches as Janus eats the bread and takes a tentative sip of the wine, Roman forces himself to hold still when a drop of wine is left on Janus’ bottom lip.

Roman looks away when Janus darts his tongue out to lick the last bit of wine away.

“I-I didn’t know that you attended my father’s church services, how have I not noticed you before?”

Janus smiles and lowers his hood, Roman still feels as if his breath has been knocked out of him from the shorter man’s beauty.

“I only attend on Wednesdays, I don’t have the time on Sundays because I travel to the next town over to sell the remedies I’ve made for all kinds of ailments. I know you’re not supposed to work on the lord's day, but it’s the only time I’m not busy,” Janus explains, he steps to stand next to Roman allowing the next person to take their bread and wine.

“That would explain it… Normally I’m not here on Wednesday, but my father’s hand-picked choir boy was… accused.”

Roman whispers the last part, not wanting to start an uproar for mentioning ‘witches’ during church time. He shudders at the memory of Virgil being dragged away last night by the Marshall, Roman hopes his father can save Virgil from the rope.

“Such a shame, is it not? These poor people… do you believe this choir boy should have been…” Janus takes a conspiratorial look around before whispering, “accused.”

Roman couldn’t help the small smile that broke out across his face, something was amusing about Janus making fun of the way he treats the trials and how he chooses to speak of them.

“No… He’s just… A little unusual. He has these attacks, you see. Virgil… that’s his name by the way… but… Virgil has these moments of not being able to breathe and sobbing uncontrollably while screaming. Before he was… taken away, he had an attack and lashed out hatefully against the stand-in priest for my father,” Roman pauses to offer a woman a small piece of bread along with her own cup of wine.

“The… The priest accused Virgil of allowing Satan in his body… came up with this whole tale of how Virgil made a deal… I visited him this morning and he was fine, still shaky due to the circumstances but he was fine…”

Janus nods as he downs the rest of his wine, he grimaces at the taste, ‘ Surely the blood of Christ would taste better than this,’ he thinks as he stuffs the rest of the bread in his mouth, chewing quickly before swallowing.

“I don’t believe this… Virgil was inflicted by Lucifer himself. A girl around our age is prone to those same fits, I was able to help her overcome them by giving her a remedy that had poppy’s and valerian mixed with some boiled water and sugar to add for taste. I still have some left if you would like a bottle to take to your friend.”

Roman blinks and stares at Janus for a moment, he couldn’t tell if the smaller man was being serious or not, but he decides to humor him.

“Okay… We’ll wait, you can give it to me and I’ll hold onto it. When he has another fit I’ll give it to him and see if it helps him.”

Janus smiles and bows his head, Roman fights the urge to tilt his head back up so he can stare into those beautiful mismatched eyes.

“Very well… Meet me tonight, by the stream where you first saw me. I’ll be waiting there with the mixture,” Janus hands Roman his empty cup and turns to leave.

He stops and glances over his shoulder, his pink lips tilted up into a small smirk, “Don’t keep me waiting, Roman Harford, I’m not known for my patience,” he says as he turns away pulling his hood back over his head.

Roman watches as Janus walks away, the smaller man doesn’t have to fight through the citizens to make a path for him, not wishing to be in Janus’ way as he makes his trek back into the woods from where he came.

“Roman? What’re you staring at, kiddo?”

Roman turns back, his father standing in front of him. The long line of parishioners now disbursed after receiving their bread and wine.

“Oh… Nothing, there were just some birds around is all,” Roman lies.

He wasn’t sure why he chose to lie to his father, but something told him that lying about Janus’ presence was the best way to go right now.

-----------

That night, Roman waits for his brother and father to fall asleep before setting out to meet Janus at the stream. Shockingly the night was warm, albeit not that warm but it was warm enough for Roman to not need all kinds of layers as he needed the days before and after he met Janus within the woods.

Roman slowly makes his way through the woods, judging only by his sense of hearing to make his way through safely. He thought about bringing a lantern with him but was scared the light would awaken someone.

“Some used to say that I’d never scale this mountain, now that I’m close they shut their eyes and draw their curtains~.”

Roman stops when he hears that angelic voice, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged on his face, ‘ Like a siren luring a sailor into a deadly trap…’

He trudges ahead as Janus’ singing fills the once quiet woods, “Those who don’t believe, will always encourage defeat~.”

The singing grows closer as does the sound of the trickling stream that Roman caught Janus at all those days ago.

Once the sound of the stream is practically roaring through his ears, Roman can’t help but take refuge behind the same tree he had four days prior.

“They’ll scream and shout and scold, for the curse of the fold~.”

Roman peeks out and inhales sharply, there stood Janus, in the same clothes from earlier next to the stream of water. Moonlight bathed him in its pale light, making him look even more breathtaking within the darkness of the night.

“I know you’re there, Roman. What did I tell you about keeping me waiting?”

Roman feels his face heat up as he steps out from behind the tree, he offers Janus a sheepish smile as he steps forward.

‘ Lord help me in the presence of this gorgeous man.’

“I apologize… I just wanted to hear the beautiful singing that I’ve missed for the past four days,” says Roman, trying his best to put on a smooth tone in hopes of flustering Janus for once.

Janus fights off a blush as he plasters on a smirk, “Well… Maybe if you come to visit me more often you’ll be blessed to hear my singing. Until then, I believe I owe you something for your friend's ailment, yes?”

Roman nods, if he were being completely honest, he had forgotten that the intentional reason for this meeting was for Virgil.

Janus pulls a small bottle from the pocket of his cloak, the liquid on the inside was pale pink, it was sealed with a normal brown cork.

“When you give this to him, make sure you only give about a tablespoon and that’s it. Too much could make him sick if it helps him and you need more than just let me know.”

Roman takes the bottle and stuffs it into the pocket of his pants, he hesitates for a moment before speaking again.

“How will I find you, if he needs more? You’re not always going to be at this stream… and you won’t know when I’ll need some more.”

Janus smirks and turns away from the taller man, “You’ll find me… All you’ll have to do is let fate guide you. I hope your friend comes out of this alive, Roman, have a safe walk back.”

Roman watches as Janus heads off into the woods, the red-head couldn’t help but bite his lip. Janus was a strange one, Roman couldn’t help but feel himself being pulled to him, wanting to find out more about this mysterious man who lives in the woods.

He takes a breath and turns his back, Roman looks behind him once more before making the quiet trek back home.

The one thing they both missed was the pair of green eyes that were watching them behind the bushes close by.

They both missed the manic smile that spread across a mustached face.

“Well, Ro-Ro seems to have a new friend… I wonder how this is going to play out.”

---------

A/N: Early update boop! 

~TAGLIST~ @imma-potatoo

[uzumaki-rebellion]

“Wet Sugar” [Part 21 of 30]

Summary: Erik has doubts about what he has done...

Mature Audience. NSFW. 

"Gotta be careful, I know, I know You and me can't be nothing no more I've been lookin' for something from you I've been gettin' nothing at all You're such a fuckin' woman (woman) But deserves the fuckin' world, yeah…"

Lucky Daye—"Love You Too Much"

The saltwater in the pool soaked Erik's sunburned skin as he floated on his back. He would've preferred to swim at the cove, but going there was all her. Too much her.

That woman he tried to ignore became a specter before his eyes. He would catch glimpses of her around the compound, but she was like a rumor whispered in hushed tones. They were able to work around each other, but sometimes he caught her lingering above the gun range when he was there firing the new weapons with the other mercs. He acted like he didn't see her in the distance when she did that, or when he caught her slipping out of the kitchen when they all came to eat. He felt her eyes on him even when he couldn't directly see her.

He did the same, often hanging back after meals, sipping on dinner espresso and waiting to hear the side kitchen door open with her bounding in to help Leona clear away dishes and leftovers. Or he would stay out by the pool for a long time and catch the sound of leaves rustling as she snuck down to the cove using the secret path no one else knew about. She would sometimes cuss at Jerome while heading there and he would stifle a laugh while thinking about the first time he heard her talking to the iguana. The sound of her voice still thrilled him. It was the girlish softness of it mixed with the smart-ass personality behind it that still made him excited about her.

He dreamed about her. And Sydette.

Those night visions were often a replay of the earlier days of them alone at the compound. He'd wake up suddenly in the middle of the night clutching at his side hoping she was there. When he heard movement from Linda in the room next to his, he would pretend it was Sweet Pea sneaking out of her bed to crawl between him and Yani.

He knew from jump Yani despised Linda.

But that was to be expected because Linda tended to rub people the wrong way and of course...he had fucked the woman. Linda could be condescending to people that she felt were inferior to her. She treated a lot of the other mercs that way and they couldn't say shit because her skills were so tight and she proved it to be true time and time again. She never tried it with him. His game was tighter than hers and she respected that.

He never saw Yani act funky in front of Linda personally, but Linda often commented on how Leona was very nice to her, but Yani was just direct and spoke very little.

"She's efficient and like a damn ninja around here…but I can't get more than two words out of her when I ask her for stuff. It's like I'm bothering her own personal things. She acts like Klaue's house is her house. I had my feet on the coffee table and she walked past me with the laundry sucking her teeth."

Erik knew the reason why Yani was acting that way. It wasn't because of no feet on the furniture.

Klaue moved Linda into his house and her bedroom was next to Erik's. She was sleeping in Sweet Pea's old room. She was sleeping too close to him.

Yani wasn't the only one feeling irritated by new interactions.

He was feeling a way about her and Zachary.

Erik still lurked on her social media to see how she was doing. At first, it was to keep tabs on Sweet Pea from afar, and he could also see what Yani had to say about her classes. She was acing school like he knew she would, but it was the posts about her social life that had him uptight.

As expected, Zachary pounced on her, and Yani seemed open to the rekindling of some type of relationship because Erik saw pictures of them together at clubs and group gatherings. Yani had big smiles on her face when she posed with Zachary, and apparently, they took a trip to Jamaica together for a concert Kendall performed at. He saw pictures of them posing in front of a waterfall together in swimsuits holding hands while facing one another. Yani's eyes were closed and the grin on her face told him that they had either kissed before the picture was snapped, or they were about to kiss.

He couldn't even be all that mad on a certain level if he were honest with himself. He would've done the same thing. If he'd lost a bad bitch being stupid, he wouldn't waste time snatching her back up.

She looked happy in that picture. Zachary looked…enamored with her. Erik wondered if she was sleeping with him. Getting new dick to forget the old dick. Erik scoffed a bit while staring at them. Ain't no way Zachary could handle what Yani had. Fire pussy needed bomb ass dick. That was the only thing that kept Erik from going off seeing her with someone else that soon.

What nigga could compare to him with her?

He used to make that bitch's pussy jump when he called her on the phone. He could snap his fingers and have her pulling open her slit for him whenever he wanted it, had her cumming and crying and begging him not to stop until she couldn't hold onto him anymore. Made Yani sit anywhere he wanted—indoors or outdoors-with her legs wide open while he watched her slam a thick blue dildo in her pussy just to amuse him before he picked her up and stretched her walls out all night. He made her cum in her sleep with just the thought of him fucking her. She would lay in bed next to him having multiple orgasms that woke her ass up and made her beg him to fuck her wide awake. What could that civilian do for her?

She looked good though. Damn good. She had lost some weight from running around again, but shit was looking hella tight.

Shit.

Thinking about her in that picture made Erik want to fuck.

He climbed out of the pool and took himself a long shower. Afterward, he drove himself to a barbershop in Havensight and had his locs cut off and his beard trimmed and groomed. He needed the change. His mother had done it often when she needed a fresh start. At least two times in his life with her he had witnessed his mother shaving off her hair. Shedding old energy to welcome the new.

He felt a few eyes on him in the shop. Maybe they recognized him from being with Yani.

Before meeting up with Linda and Klaue in the main house he shot off a few emails to his grandfather and his Uncle. He also loaded more money onto Yani's credit card. She didn't use it all that much anymore, probably because she didn't want him tracking her purchases, but more than likely not wanting to stay connected to him. No matter what happened between them, he wanted her to have some sort of back-up support if she ever needed it. If not for herself, then for Sydette at least.

Strolling into the main house, both Klaue and Linda gave him a double-take when they saw his hair.

On the viewscreen in the living room, Erik posted up a picture of the C.I.A. agent that he was tracking for Klaue. The man had a mousy face and the strait-laced look of one who believed in toppling other governments in service of making America great again. A weak-looking yes man by the name of Everett K. Ross.

"U.S. Air Force. Decent pilot. Currently the Deputy Task Force Commander of the Joint Counterterrorism Center. He reports to the Secretary of State. That good ole boy, Thaddeus Ross."

"He's taking nibbles from me. I've been dropping hints at wanting to sell vibranium," Klaue said, "the U.S. wants their hands on all they can find. But he's a bit skittish right now."

"No one likes to look like they're in bed with mercs and terrorists," Linda said.

"The U.S. fucks with them all. They must be under scrutiny," Erik said.

"Any sales aren't going to be done in the U.S. The Great Satan needs to come where I say," Klaue barked.

"Nowhere in Europe," Erik said.

"Definitely not Africa," Linda added.

"What a wimpy looking oaf," Klaue surmised.

"That's what makes him effective. A milquetoast-looking face can get away with anything anywhere," Erik concluded.

"Well, the moment you find me a chunk of the good stuff I'll set up the sale," Klaue said.

The three of them sat around drinking until dinner. There was to be no meal at the house that night. Klaue took everyone out to a restaurant on the Northside of the island. The food was exceptional and Erik didn't get into any arguments with Neal or Huntsman. Surprising. There were great bars to crawl around and when Shipley let them toke on some blended weed, Erik felt pretty mellow. He actually wanted to hang out a bit.

Klaue caught a cab back to the compound but the rest of their crew stuck together. Linda was really floating, acting like the Snow White to their ragtag team of six non-Dwarfs. Shipley was trying to run game down on her, but Linda wasn't interested. She put up a front of being all business. But not with him.

He kept it friendly between them. Even when she sunbathed topless on the porch of Klaue's house, he treated her like his colleague.

It wasn't easy at times.

When his sexual urges came on strong, he was tempted to seek her out in her bed, but he didn't want the headache of Neal or Shipley. They were both jockeying for some play and there was nothing worse than working with hard-up men and the tension that jealousy brought.

Linda would give him looks sometimes and he hoped that no one else caught on.

Some really hard-sounding island music caught their attention and they stumbled upon a boisterous club that excited Linda. Shipley got into the spirit and they were all sucked into the space ordering drinks and watching the spectacle of winding hot bodies and good sounds. Linda grabbed Shipley's hand and dragged him out among the crowd. The place was a lot bigger inside than it looked outside and there was an actual stage on one side with a D.J. spinning tunes with a massive sound system. No wonder they could hear it blocks away.

Erik found a honey with loose hips and he followed her out onto the floor. Neal sprang for drinks and by the time it turned midnight, Erik had a good sweat and copped a few feels on some Grade A ass that seemed to come from an endless supply throughout the space. He found another shorty that made his temperature rise, and he was getting her number when she and a few other women swarmed the stage. The music was thumping and there were a few eager men on stage where a solitary chair sat in front of them.

Erik bought himself some Henny and walked closer to the stage with Neal and Shipley in tow.

"What's happening?"

Huntsman eased up beside them, his voice loud over the music.

"I don't know," Erik said.

"I think they are about to…ah yeah…we about to see some rump-shaking," Neal said.

A man with a chiseled chest poking out of his half-unbuttoned shirt sat on the chair as an MC talked to the crowd.

"What's the point of this?" Huntsman said.

"Watch and see," Neal said.

Erik sipped on his drink.

The music got a little buck and several women, even the one Erik was trying to mess with climbed on stage and took turns dancing with frenzied athleticism on the lap of the man who sat in the chair.

"Man…I couldn't do it!" Neal squealed.

Linda found her way over to them. Her face was flushed from dancing and drinking.

"Poor guy!" she said.

"Be right back, gonna refresh my drink."

Erik left them and headed to the bar. He could see the different women trying to out-dance one another, and by the time his new drink finally got to him, a new dude was in the chair getting his junk pummeled.

"Shit," Erik whispered.

These women were not playing. He grinned when he saw Linda reach up to the MC and he helped her on stage to take her turn at grinding on a stranger. She stood out with her light gray booty shorts and half top. Kicking off her sandals, she made the man sit on the floor of the stage as she did the splits and pounded her groin on him. Her wild cascade of curls covered part of her face. The audience went into a frenzy and Erik could hear Shipley and Neal cheering her on.

"Did y'all dare her to get up there?" Erik asked when he returned to his entourage.

"Nope. She said they needed an expert up there," Shipley said.

The woman could move, and she played to the audience while she awaited her chance to dance on the next guy in the chair.

"This gyal is on fiyah!" the MC shouted.

Linda wiggled her hips fast, throwing her cheeks in a wild circle. She dropped down and grabbed her ankles letting the audience watch her cheeks move.

"She too much, man…too much!" Shipley shouted.

"Goodness gracious," Neal said.

Erik looked around the stage to see who he was talking about, but then he saw Twyla moving near the front.

"Twyla!" Erik shouted.

"You know her?" Neal asked.

Twyla looked his way. She saw who was calling her and she smiled.

"Big nigga. Where yuh hair go?"

Twyla's hand rubbed his head.

"God damn…she thicker than a pot of grits," Neal barked looking toward the stage again.

"That girl is small—" Shipley answered.

"Not that one…her. Oh my damn. That's…shit. That's Klaue's girl," Neal said.

Erik saw Yani staring at the stage. He recognized a couple of her friends with her that saw him fuck her in a club.

"Don't be scared to say hello," Twyla said.

Her eyes regarded Erik's face.

"Yuh can't hide back here."

"I'm not hiding—"

"Lookin' like yuh back at Juvay," Twyla teased.

One of Yani's friends jumped on stage and stood next to Linda.

"How is she?"

His eyes were sheepish looking at Twyla.

"She's as good as can be expected from a bad break up. Doing well in school—"

"Sydette?"

"A busy body. And you?"

Erik shrugged.

"Still hurts, yeah?" she said.

He didn't answer.

"I see it on your face. Hers too."

Twyla glanced back at her cousin.

"She say yuh leaving the island."

"Yeah."

His eyes were focused on Yani.

"Big man…if there are things yuh still need to say to her, best tell her before yuh bounce. End it the right way with she, yeah?"

He decided to suck it up. Test the waters.

He sipped on his drink again as he walked over to her.

"Yani."

She turned to look at him and he realized it was a mistake. He should've kept his ass in the back and ignored her.

"Killmonger."

Damn.

He got goosebumps hearing his name on her lips despite the coldness. Her eyes took in his new appearance and he couldn't tell if she liked it or not. Indifference settled around her toward him.

The crowd surged and she turned back to watch her friend on stage. He stood behind her and could only concur with Neal's words. Lil Mama was thick as fuck, and the tight black pants she wore did not hide a damn thing. His body yearned for hers. He stepped closer, close enough to feel her body heat. He wanted to kiss the back of her neck and trace his tongue around her tattoos again. Erik had to fight his own hands to keep them from circling her waist and pulling her back toward him. As far as she was concerned, he wasn't even there.

"She doin' too much."

He heard one of Yani's friends talk about Linda.

"She gwine break his dick if she keep that up!" Another one cackled.

Yani giggled and covered her mouth.

Erik's eyes swept back up to the stage. Linda was living it up in the spotlight, and she was getting plenty of rousing support from a lot of men and women.

The current man in the seat had a serious expression on his face, like all that ass pounding his dick from different women wasn't affecting him in any way. Stoneface.

"Go up there, Yani."

She shook her head as her friends cat-called her name.

The D.J. changed the song to a track that had been remixed to death over the years. But it revived the crowd and the women on stage. Linda received some more cheers when she had another turn at bat, and for the first time, Stoneface reacted a little bit. The audience laughed and the MC teased the man about losing his cool.

Yani and her friends walked away and Erik felt himself actually deflate a bit. Yani straight ignored his ass. He watched the lights of the club hit the bronze of her top with them titties sitting, her platinum fade lined up tight, and that ass just being totally disrespectful in public.

He felt absolutely proud to see her not giving a fuck about him.

Gulping down the last of his Henny, he saw the MC bend down to the crowd trying to catch Yani's attention. She stopped with the rest of her homegirls to listen to him. Her hands flew up waving him off, but her friends nudged her arm. She put a hand on her waist and said something to the MC, and Twyla sauntered over pushing her up toward the steps leading upstage.

Fuck.

She went up the steps and once the full lights hit her, Erik had to stop and take inventory of what he had once. That used to be his woman, but there was something different about her that was turning him on in a way that made him feel out of control.

Linda saw Yani approach the chair and the look on her face told Erik that she was in a bit of shock recognizing the woman who cleaned her room and cooked her food.

The MC let Linda and a couple of other women do their booty shakes again, but then Yani stepped over the man, spread her legs wide and did the slowest drop down onto his lap that put the audience in a tizzy. Unlike the other women who moved with hyped up energy, Yani slowed it all the way down until her cheeks were popping in a way that had the man's legs jerking.

Erik felt his jaw get tight when Yani turned her head to look back at everyone as she let each ass cheek bounce in syncopated rhythm. She rolled her hips and the MC, along with several other people on stage started laughing hard and slapping arms. The MC started jumping up and down and pointing.

"Lawd -a-mercy! She done made this nigga buss in his pants!"

Yani lifted up and stepped away from the man with his eyes glazed over and his left hand grabbing at his protruding erection. Eyes watched Yani sashay away, and even Linda gave a painful-looking laugh as her eyes watched Yani leave.

"She dangerous. That gyal dangerous!" The MC shouted.

Yani's friends laughed with her as the entered back into the fray of bodies swaying to the music. A few men tried to get Yani's attention, but she was focused on her friends.

A song they used to listen to at the house came on and Erik took long strides to get to her.

"Come dance with me," he said touching her hand.

She pulled back from him as if he stung her.

"I don't want to dance with you."

Her friends surrounded him and their eyes were ready to cut him in two.

"It's just a dance, cuz," Twyla said nudging her cousin's arm as she walked past heading to the floor herself along with other people. The lap dance show was over.

Yani shoved past him and her friends followed.

Bet.

He headed back to the bar and ordered a couple of shots. Shipley joined him and they drank and talked, watching people dance on the floor. Erik tracked Yani's movement as she danced with different men.

"Can't believe that's the same chick at the compound," Shipley said.

"Yep," Erik answered.

They watched Neal approach Yani and she wasted no time sending him on his way. The way her friends swooped in to protect her, Neal had no chance of harassing her further.

"Whew, I gotta slow down," Linda said.

She plopped down on a stool next Erik and asked for water from the bartender. Twyla walked past him and gave him a look. Erik shrugged his shoulders at her and Twyla rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Had no idea Yani was a regular Cinderella," Linda said.

"She fine," Shipley said.

Erik found that surprising since he never showed interest in women built like Yani before.

"Thought you didn't like thick bitches," Erik said.

Linda eyed Shipley with amusement.

"She could be the exception," Shipley said gulping down a shot of tequila with lime.

"He'll fight you for that," Neal said.

Erik watched Neal grab a beer from the bar.

"What?" Shipley said.

Erik felt his face harden.

"That's Killmonger's pussy."

"Shut the fuck up," Erik snarled.

"You're fucking the help?" Linda asked.

She tossed her head back and laughed at him.

Erik stepped off the stool he sat on and left the bar in a huff.

"Killmonger…hey….hold on…."

Linda followed him and tugged on his arm.

"Hey…we're just drinking and pulling your chain. Calm down."

She steered him to the dancefloor.

"Relax. Loosen up."

Linda swayed in front of him and tried moving his arms. His eyes darted about looking for Yani again, but he had lost track of her.

"How can you not dance to this?"

Linda moved around him, bumped her hip into his and he eventually gave in and danced a little.

"Oh, come on now. You're better than this. We fucked it up in Jo'burg. You remember that club with the roof that was caving in!"

Erik smiled. He remembered. The music was hot, fast, and so were the club patrons. That was a good night. Right before the raid…

"…fucking her?"

Erik missed what Linda said. The confusion in his eyes made her repeat the question.

"Is it true? You and Yani?"

"Nah. Neal had been bothering her and I put a stop to it."

"He is aggressive. Nasty piece of work."

His eyes flicked around. Searching still.

"You want to fuck her?"

His eyes glared at her like she was insane.

"It's just a question. She watches you all the time—"

"I barely have time to—"

"I'm just telling you…I think she has a thing for you. I hear her cleaning your room and she stays in there for a long time. You are a neat freak, so there's no reason for her to be in there so long."

Yani in his room lingering?

"I catch her watching you at the gun range…"

Erik dismissed Linda's words when he felt his cell vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out.

A text from Twyla.

Yani is alone in her apartment this weekend. Chez has Sydette. Roommate gone too. Chance to talk?

Erik stopped dancing.

Unger ran up and grabbed Linda's hand to dance.

"I'ma head back to the compound," he said.

Linda nodded her head.

"I'll catch a cab."

"I'll let the others know."

He watched her and Unger head further into the crowd on the floor.

###

Looking around his room, Erik tried to see what Yani would see.

A clean room. Sterile almost without her there anymore. Two boxes of condoms on the dresser. One empty and the other half used. She would probably think he had been with Linda. He hadn't. But he was seeing women outside the compound again. He couldn't help it. It kept his mind off of her.

But seeing her that night brought up all the things festering in his mind about her. Was she okay? Was Sydette fine? Did Yani hate him? How would she react if she saw him in public?

If Linda was able to glean Yani's feelings for him around the compound, maybe she still had a soft spot for him. Maybe he could…

No.

It was stupid to think of going to her. Even with Twyla's encouragement. He hopped into his bed fully nude. No one was at the compound. The secret tracker he placed in Klaue's arm told him the man was on the other side of the island. Inside a hotel. Probably with a woman.

Staring up at the ceiling, his mind settled on Yani again. Seeing her wind her body on that man onstage made him groan as he felt on his dick.

He reached for his cell again and read Twyla's text two more times.

It wasn't worth it.

What could he say to her? I'm checking to see if you've been able to salvage your life after I blew it up?

But damn…

She was so beautiful on stage. Her whole demeanor was just…sexy…bold. She used to make him cum in his pants all the time. Maybe she did that because she knew he was there watching.

He slammed his fists on his bed.

He wasn't going to get any sleep. He would think about her all night.

He reached into his nightstand and pulled out some weed. He smoked a bit and felt his muscles ease up from the tension he carried in them after seeing her.

Killmonger.

His name on her lips sounded so dead to him. There was no malice in her eyes, but they seemed clouded like she was really and truly over him.

That's what he wanted, right? He told her to focus on school and to forget him. But faced with it, faced with true indifference…he didn't want her to forget him.

Taking a long drag he thought of Linda and what she told him. She noticed Yani keeping her eyes on him. She had to still feel something. Lingering in his bedroom had to mean something. Too many good memories in the place. All the things they did to one another. All the time they slept together in a pile with Sydette between them.

Twyla was right. He had to have a final conversation with her that didn't come from a place of anger, but one of love. They still had to part, but he wanted it to be on better terms. He did have things he wanted to say to her. Secret things. Maybe even promise her something that he didn't think he had a right to.

Stubbing out the joint in an ashtray, Erik jumped out of bed and put on some loose sweatpants and shirt.

He borrowed one of Klaue's smaller cars, a blue Beemer with a moon roof.

He let air flow through from the roof of the car as he drove to Yani's place. Every few minutes he thought about turning around, but once he pulled into the parking lot of her small complex, he was fully committed to talking with her.

After a bit of deep breathing in the car, Erik walked up the stairs and tried to find the right words to say. Once he was in front of her door on the far end of the floor, he felt a bit calmer, less afraid. He debated about texting or calling her. It was too late. He was already there and high as fuck…

He pressed his ear to her door.

Noise.

Talking.

No…not talking.

Moaning.

Shit.

"Yes, Baby!"

The seductive mewling in her voice raised his blood pressure.

She was fucking someone.

Zachary.

Erik removed his ear from the door. His hands pressed against the door frame and he closed his eyes. His body burned with rage. That little punk bitch.

He heard a loud male groan erupt from behind the door.

Erik clenched his fists.

The weed had him spinning scenarios. Bust the fucking door down and drag her off that nigga's dick. Or wait for Zachary to leave and pound on the door and…and do what?

Yell at her for getting dick when he had empty boxes of condoms in his room that she saw? Two days prior he was guts deep in some bitch with big ass titties making her holler out his name. Nutted all in that woman's face and didn't even think about Yani while he did it.

But that's your woman in there. Giving your pussy away.

Erik walked away from the apartment.

Back in the car, he pulled out his cell.

Call her. Break up their little party.

Fuming in the car, he sat there for a long time until he could think straight. The weed still had his mind spinning, but he was able to drive back to the compound and crawl into his bed. The sun was rising when he finally fell asleep.

###

"Hey, lazybones."

Erik blinked his eyes.

Linda looked down at him.

"You were out for a long time. Thought I'd check on you," she said.

Erik sat up.

He was still wearing his sweats.

"What time is it?"

"Two."

"Shit," he said.

"Stay in bed. You looked worn out last night."

Erik leaned against the headboard.

"You want anything to eat?"

"Nah. I'm just gonna chill. I feel tired still."

She touched his forehead.

"Are you feeling sick?"

He shook his head and pulled off his sweatshirt and pants. Crawling under the covers he tucked himself into a ball.

"I'll be up in an hour or so."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything. I have to get some things in town. Klaue is still out."

"Cool."

He pretended to go to sleep and Linda left his side.

When she opened his bedroom door, Yani was using a soft bristle broom to sweep the floor in the hall.

"Don't bother him. He's sleeping in," Linda said.

Erik saw Yani's eyes sweep over Linda's short house dress, and then her eyes caught his on the bed before Linda shut the door.

"Bring him some of that soup around three," Linda said.

"Him sick?"

The lilt in Yani's voice had concern.

"No," Linda said.

"Does he need medicine?"

"No. Just bring him the soup to the kitchen like I asked and he'll be fine."

Erik stayed curled under the covers until he saw from his bedroom viewscreen that Yani had left the house. He jumped in the shower and cleaned up, shaved, and threw on some light cologne. He pulled on some beige loungers and hopped back on the bed.

Exactly in one hour, he saw Yani heading down to Klaue's main house with a covered tray. She entered the space and headed to the kitchen.

He hopped on the intercom.

"Can you bring that here, please? In my room?"

He watched Yani's face look perturbed as she stood in the kitchen. She knew he was watching her.

"Yuh not sick. Get it yourself."

She left the kitchen.

"Bring it here please."

He watched her calculate her next move. Unlike the time when they were together at the compound alone, Klaue had everything watched. If she refused to do her job, Klaue would see it. The bedrooms were pretty secure because Klaue did allow that privacy. He wanted her in his room.

"I have some laundry to be picked up too," he said.

He saw her lip pout and he smiled. Her cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" she answered.

Erik waited. A smile came across her face and she started to giggle into the phone. Flirty-like.

"Mi can't tonight…can't. I'm working…"

She hung up and put her cell in her back pocket. Her smile left her face when she picked up the food tray and carried it to his room. She kicked the door with her foot softly.

He opened it.

"Thanks," he said taking it from her hand.

She turned away.

"Wait, the laundry, my sheets—"

"You do your own cleaning, remember?"

Her eyes were petulant looking up at him.

"Yeah, but um…I'm not feeling great—"

"Linda said you were fine…can I go?"

Mean.

She wasn't with the shits.

Her mind was on giggling over Zachary.

He walked slowly over to his bed and climbed in balancing the tray. She moved over to help him.

"Thanks," he said.

Her eyes took in the room and when they glanced at his dresser, he made sure the condoms were gone. She went to the hamper in his bathroom.

"There's nothing in here," she said, annoyed.

"I need these sheets changed," he said.

"I'll come back then, or you can have Linda change them for you—"

"Yani, wait a minute."

He lifted up too fast and the tray tilted. He spilled some soup on the covers.

"You did that on purpose," she said.

"No, I didn't."

"What do you want, man?"

He hated the sound of her voice at that moment. She didn't want to be around him.

"I miss you," he said.

"I don't think so."

"I do—"

"You got Linda and whoever else…"

Her eyes drifted toward the dresser.

"And you have Zachary."

Her eyes regarded him with suspicion.

"I heard you on your phone."

"You don't know who I was talking to."

"You're not with him?"

She left the room.

Erik jumped off the bed and ran after her.

"Hold up—"

"I don't have time for your shit—"

He grabbed her hand. She snatched it back.

"Clean up your own fucking mess!"

She stormed out of the house and he let her go.

"Whoa. That was…awkward."

Linda walked into the room, coming in through the back door.

Shit.

"So…um…the help…" she said.

Erik stomped back to his room and slammed the door shut.

###

Chp 22 Here

Tag List:

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[guardianreadersofthegalaxy]

Dom’s mini Who reviews - the rad episodes

Blink – Overrated? Yes. But I can’t deny how much this scared the crap out of 14 year old me. Moffat holds off on characterisation to focus on what he does best: stacking enough interesting sci-fi concepts on top of one another to fill 45 minutes of television.

Daleks In Manhattan/ Evolution Of The Daleks – Hugely underrated! Human Dalek Sec may have dicks on his head but I didn’t notice that at first. Huge credit goes to director James Strong, who does some really inventive camera work. The costume and set department too.

The Eleventh Hour – Matt Smith comes straight out of the gate with his quirky, unpredictable take on the Doctor. Moffat establishes the fairy tale tone of the series before pivoting into a more familiar, Davies-style invasion plot. My only complaint would be that the first 15 minutes feel like a prologue.

Flatline – The TARDIS shrinking is both a great opportunity for physical comedy and a way to save money by keeping Capaldi on one set. Pair that with a body horror, Lovecraftian alien design and Clara taking centre stage and you’ve got a really great, tense monster story.

The Girl In The Fireplace – This gets unfairly forgotten among Moffat’s early episodes. The clockwork droids are hella creepy and the juxtaposition of the space ship and Versailles is a great use of the show’s premise. The ‘love’ between the Doctor and Reinette does comes out of nowhere but Tennant and Myles do their best to sell it.

The God Complex – The hotel setting gives this a Shining-esque, claustrophobic atmosphere. The minotaur looks great and is wisely semi-obscured for most of the episode. The supporting cast are excellent, particularly Amara Karan. Best of all, there are real consequences for the Doctor’s relationship with Amy & Rory

The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit – NuWho’s first base under siege story and still one of the best. Like many Davies era two partners, all the good stuff’s in part 2. TIP focusses on setting the scene, getting you to care about the characters and building mystery. TSP is all payoff and boy is it good.

Mummy On The Orient Express – The Doctor goes a bit too Sherlock here for my liking, but his scenes with Clara are lovely, particularly the last one. The scenes with the Mummy are all brilliantly tense. I think they could have left it ambiguous as to whether the Doctor really saved everyone, but that’s a small gripe.

Oxygen – Another great base under siege with a horrific dystopian concept. Top notch satire and an anti-capitalist message. I’d say more but I need to save my breath.

Rise Of The Cybermen/ The Age Of Steel – Like Series 2’s other great two-parter, all the good stuff is in the second half. Still RotC does a good job establishing the world and teasing the Cybermen so it’s all the more satisfying when they show up. TAoS is a rip-roaring action story and Mickey’s departure actually beats those of many other companions.

Tooth & Claw – This doesn’t get nearly enough praise. It’s running down a corridor from a monster perfected. The shaky cam and spooky cinematography make for a great tone and Victoria’s stoicism contrasts brilliantly with The Doctor & Rose’s blasé attitude. Oh and the music rules.

Under The Lake/ Before The Flood – The production design and watery cinematography are all spot on. BTF does a nice riff on Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s an interesting change how the supporting characters have a chance to leave and actually decide to participate. The only drawback is it’s another Doctor-death fake out.

Utopia – What’s better than a man in a long coat sprinting down a corridor? Two men in long coats sprinting down a corridor! This deftly juggles so much, Jack’s reintroduction, a standalone story about humans at the end of time, the return of the Master and one of the best cliffhangers ever.

World Enough & Time/ The Doctor Falls – After five attempts, Moffat finally wrote a great finale. A trademark timey-wimey concept, body horror, the culmination of Missy’s arc and 12’s heroic last stand. My only issues are 12’s speech to the Masters (I don’t like speeches) and that TDF suffers from an over-extended runtime. But the gorgeous music makes up for that.

[ofbcywonder]

╰    cody  fern  ,  american  horror  story  .     ╱     welcome  to  castle  rock  ,  MICHAEL  LANGDON  .  you’ve  just  blown  out  TWENTY - FOUR  candles  on  your  most  recent  birthday  cake  ,  and  rumour  has  it  that  you  had  your  last  birthday  in  HAWTHORNE  SCHOOL  FOR  EXCEPTIONAL  YOUNG  MEN  .  now  ,  you  can  be  found  loitering  around  MADAME  DAPHNE'S  .  why  did  you  leave  there  again  ?  was  it  something  to  do  with  ESCAPING  FROM  THE  LOSS  OF  MS.  MEAD   ?   regardless  ,  we’re  glad  to  have  you  .  i  hope  that  CHARMING  ,  CRUEL  ,  QUICK-WITTED  &  UNPREDICTABLE  behaviour  of  yours  doesn’t  cause  too  much  trouble  here   …   it’s  funny  ,  you  remind  me  of  SOULLESS , DEEP  SET  BLACK  EYES  &  PALE  GHASTLY  SKIN,  A  DEEP SATED  YEARNING  FOR  BELONGING  WITH  THOSE  THAT  WILL  ONLY  EVER  SEE  YOU  AS  A  MONSTER ,  FLUID MOVEMENTS  CHARGED  WITH  POWERFUL  MAGIC  THREATENING  TO  OVERFLOW  AND  DESTROY  THOSE  WHO TOOK  EVERYTHING  .  perhaps  i’m  going  mad  .     ╱     male  ,  he/him  .  

as foretold by billie dean howard, the child of a union between a spirit and human would bring about the anti-christ, the ender of days

michael was born of such a union. though his birth parents were tate langdon and vivien harmon, his true father has always been satan himself

don’t let his appearance fool you as it’s not what he truly looks like. michael, in his true form, has a pale white face and black eyes. he’s referred to as the white face demon by two individuals

he has the mark of the beast behind his right ear

taken in by constance langdon, the darkness began out in small little things. small animals would show up dead, as gifts to his grandmother, who would end up burying them and planting rose bushes. eventually things begin to get worse and as michael grew as a young child, he began to kill the sitters put in charge of him

as a young child michael was unaware of just how wrong all of this was. and then one day, when constance came to check on him, michael had grown a decade in a single night. though he had an older body michael still had his childlike innocence and couldn’t understand why the dark deeds he did were wrong

then came the day that michael tried to strangle constance in his sleep, which prompted her to bring a priest into the home who was ultimately killed by michael

these events prompted constance to realize michael would eventually kill her as well, and to avoid having him be the one to kill her, she went to the murder house and killed herself to be rid of him

once michael realized what had happened, he went to the house and broke down upon seeing her body. that was when ben harmon appeared and informed michael that constance didn’t wish to see him. this only caused him further grief and ben offered to help michael through it. he began therapy sessions with ben and the two slowly began to develop a father-son relationship.

it was at this point in his life that michael had begun to take a shift and turn away from the darkness, desperate to be good

at least until the fateful day he met his biological father, tate, who rejected him. this only had michael spiraling down once more, the darkness enveloping him once again

ben, finding michael mutilating the ghost of the black dahlia and killing the new residents of the house and destroying their souls, told michael that he could have never helped him

then the fateful night came when a group of three satanists arrived at the house after witnessing the events that foretold the arrival of the anti-christ. they kidnapped a young woman and performed a satanic ritual in which they killed the girl and had michael eat her heart. that moment a demonic shadow appeared and it was then that michael truly became one with his father. and the night that vivien chose to attempt killing her son

michael, aware of her coming upon him, attempted to destroy her soul though tate managed to save her in time. he was gone that morning from the house, instead going to live with ms.mead, one of the satanists that had come to the house

ms.mead became his mother figure and the two became incredibly close. one day at the supermarket when the butcher wouldn’t sell her a goat’s head, michael killed the man with his magic

after the incident, michael was taken into custody and pleaded that he hadn’t meant to kill the man. the interrogator only continued to push and Michael lashed out, killing the other man with his dark magic

a video of this incident fell into the hands of the head of hawthorne academy, a school that trained warlocks. ariel, the head of the school, visited michael in jail and took him back to the academy to study

only after a month of studying at the academy, he was tasked with completing the levels, his instructors hoping that he would reach level 4 which would put him on par with the supreme. michael passed every single test with flying colors, proving he was as powerful as the supreme

a meeting was set up with the witches to demand that michael be given the test of the 7 wonders in order to determine if he would be the next supreme. this test was only given to females, as only females were granted the right to be the supreme

in order to prove a point, michael set out to save queenie from the hotel cortez, a feat cordelia couldn’t manage herself. he also brought back madison from hell. that was when the decision was made by cordelia for michael to take the 7 wonders, which he passed with ease despite her wanting him to bring back misty from hell during the final test

though michael passed the 7 wonders, cordelia was suspicious of him and sent two people to the murder house to learn what they could of michael, and it was there that they came across the knowledge that michael was, in fact, the anti-christ

the witches quickly found out that two warlocks and ms.mead had killed another warlock, and the three were sentenced to burn to death. when michael learned of this, he completely broke down and refused cordelia’s offer to come with her and refuse his destiny, determined he would kill all the witches

at the moment michael feels very lost and alone, no longer certain of his path in life or what he is to do next

let me know if you’re interested in plotting

[dfroza]

renewal. rebirth.

it all points to all things being made right in A grand end of time

and wouldn’t you like a new body that will never die? it begins with the rebirth of the heart (inside, Anew)

it is an act of grace.

even the heavens and garden earth are destined to be reborn. everything will be made pure and True. no more deceit plaguing this world. no more lies.

for it is impossible for a lie to be found in Love. because Love is pure Light. it is True illumination.

and we see this (the nature of truth vs. the lie) reflected in the reading of the Scriptures for the first day of january to begin 2020

chapter 5 of the ancient book of Acts:

Once a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira fully cooperating, committed fraud. He sold some property and kept some of the proceeds, but he pretended to make a full donation to the Lord’s emissaries.

Peter: Ananias, have you allowed Satan to influence your lies to the Holy Spirit and hold back some of the money? Look, it was your property before you sold it, and the money was all yours after you sold it. Why have you concocted this scheme in your heart? You weren’t just lying to us; you were lying to God.

Ananias heard these words and immediately dropped to the ground, dead; fear overcame all those who heard of the incident. Some young men came, wrapped the body, and buried it immediately. About three hours had passed when Sapphira arrived. She had no idea what had happened.

Peter: Did you sell the land for such-and-such a price?

Sapphira: Yes, that was the price.

Peter: Why did the two of you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Do you hear those footsteps outside? Those are the young men who just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out as well.

She—like her husband—immediately fell dead at Peter’s feet. The young men came in and carried her corpse outside and buried it beside her husband. The whole church was terrified by this story, as were others who heard it.

Those were amazing days—with many signs and wonders being performed through the apostles among the people. The church would gather as a unified group in Solomon’s Porch, enjoying great respect by the people of the city—though most people wouldn’t risk publicly affiliating with them. Even so, record numbers of believers—both men and women—were added to the Lord. The church’s renown was so great that when Peter walked down the street, people would carry out their sick relatives hoping his shadow would fall on some of them as he passed. Even people from towns surrounding Jerusalem would come, bringing others who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, all of whom were cured.

Of course, this popularity elicited a response: the high priest and his affiliates in the Sadducean party were jealous, so they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But that night, a messenger of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them to freedom.

Messenger of the Lord: Go to the temple, and stand up to tell the people the whole message about this way of life from Jesus.

At dawn they did as they were told; they returned to their teaching in the temple.

Meanwhile the council of Jewish elders was gathering—convened by the high priest and his colleagues. They sent the temple police to the prison to have the Lord’s emissaries brought for further examination; but of course, the temple police soon realized they weren’t there. They returned and reported,

Temple Police: The prison was secure and locked, and the guards were standing in front of the doors; but when we unlocked the doors, the cell was empty.

The captain of the temple police and the senior priests were completely mystified when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened. Just then, someone arrived with this news:

Temple Messenger: You know those men you put in prison last night? Well, they’re free. At this moment, they’re at it again, teaching our people in the temple!

The temple police—this time, accompanied by their captain—rushed over to the temple and brought the emissaries of the Lord to the council. They were careful not to use violence, because the people were so supportive of them that the police feared being stoned by the crowd if they were too rough. Once again the men stood before the council. The high priest began the questioning.

High Priest: Didn’t we give you strict orders to stop teaching in this name? But here you are, spreading your teaching throughout Jerusalem. And you are determined to blame us for this man’s death.

Peter and the Apostles: If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death. You killed Jesus by hanging Him on a tree, but God has lifted Him high, to God’s own right hand, as the Prince, as the Liberator. God intends to bring Israel to a radical rethinking of our lives and to a complete forgiveness of our sins. We are witnesses to these things. There is another witness, too—the Holy Spirit—whom God has given to all who choose to obey Him.

The council was furious and would have killed them; but Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the council respected as a teacher of the Hebrew Scriptures, stood up and ordered the men to be sent out so the council could confer privately.

Gamaliel: Fellow Jews, you need to act with great care in your treatment of these fellows. Remember when a man named Theudas rose to notoriety? He claimed to be somebody important, and he attracted about 400 followers. But when he was killed, his entire movement disintegrated and nothing came of it. After him came Judas, that Galilean fellow, at the time of the census. He also attracted a following; but when he died, his entire movement fell apart. So here’s my advice: in this case, just let these men go. Ignore them. If this is just another movement arising from human enthusiasm, it will die out soon enough. But then again, if God is in this, you won’t be able to stop it—unless, of course, you’re ready to fight against God!

The council was convinced, so they brought the apostles back in. They were flogged, again told not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released. As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His name. And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 5 (The Voice)

and another mirroring of untruth that points to the purity of God’s Word is seen in these lines of Psalm 12 for the 12th day of Winter:

A David Psalm

Quick, God, I need your helping hand!

The last decent person just went down,

All the friends I depended on gone.

Everyone talks in lie language;

Lies slide off their oily lips.

They doubletalk with forked tongues.

Slice their lips off their faces! Pull

The braggart tongues from their mouths!

I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!

Our lips manage the world.”

Into the hovels of the poor,

Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:

“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way

To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”

God’s words are pure words,

Pure silver words refined seven times

In the fires of his word-kiln,

Pure on earth as well as in heaven.

God, keep us safe from their lies,

From the wicked who stalk us with lies,

From the wicked who collect honors

For their wonderful lies.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 12 (The Message)

to be joined by the lines of Psalm 1 for january 1 of 2020:

Book One

The Genesis Psalms

Psalms of man and creation

The Tree of Life

Psalm 1

God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn:

when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,

When you avoid sin’s highway,

when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.

For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness.

It is your focus—from dusk to dawn.

You are like a tree,

planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.

Your fruit ripens in its time;

your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun.

No matter what you do, you prosper.

For those who focus on sin, the story is different.

They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone.

In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment;

the guilty will be separated from the innocent.

Their road suddenly will end in death,

yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1 (The Passion Translation / The Voice)

Instead you thrill to God’s Word,

you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 1:2-3 (The Message)

and we see the same mirrored in chapter 1 of the book of Proverbs for the first day of the new year:

The Prologue

Here are kingdom revelations, words to live by, and words of wisdom given to empower you to reign in life, written as proverbs by Israel’s King Solomon, David’s son.

Within these sayings will be found the revelation of wisdom and the impartation of spiritual understanding. Use them as keys to unlock the treasures of true knowledge.

Those who cling to these words will receive discipline to demonstrate wisdom in every relationship and to choose what is right and just and fair.

These proverbs will give you great skill to teach the immature and make them wise, to give youth the understanding of their design and destiny.

For the wise, these proverbs will make you even wiser, and for those with discernment, you will be able to acquire brilliant strategies for leadership.

These kingdom revelations will break open your understanding to unveil the deeper meaning of parables, poetic riddles, and epigrams, and to unravel the words and enigmas of the wise.

How then does a man gain the essence of wisdom?

We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God.

Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.

[The Wisdom of a Father]

Pay close attention, my child, to your father’s wise words and never forget your mother’s instructions.

For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions.

When peer pressure compels you to go with the crowd and sinners invite you to join in, you must simply say, “No!”

When the gang says—“We’re going to steal and kill and get away with it.

We’ll take down the rich and rob them. We’ll swallow them up alive and take what we want from whomever we want. Then we’ll take their treasures and fill our homes with loot.

So come on and join us. Take your chance with us. We’ll divide up all we get; we’ll each end up with big bags of cash!”—my son, refuse to go with them and stay far away from them.

For crime is their way of life and bloodshed their specialty. To be aware of their snare is the best way of escape.

They’ll resort to murder to steal their victim’s assets, but eventually it will be their own lives that are ambushed. In their ungodly disrespect for God they bring destruction on their own lives.

[Wisdom’s Warning]

Wisdom’s praises are sung in the streets and celebrated far and wide.

Yet wisdom’s song is not always heard in the halls of higher learning.

But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life its lyrics can always be heard above the din of the crowd.

You will hear wisdom’s warning as she preaches courageously to those who stop to listen:

“Foolish ones, how much longer will you cling to your deception? How much longer will you mock wisdom, cynical scorners who fight the facts?

Come back to your senses and be restored to reality. Don’t even think about refusing my rebuke!

Don’t you know that I’m ready to pour out my spirit of wisdom upon you and bring to you the revelation of my words that will make your heart wise?

I’ve called to you over and over; still you refuse to come to me. I’ve pleaded with you again and again, yet you’ve turned a deaf ear to my voice.

Because you have laughed at my counsel and have insisted on continuing in your stubbornness, I will laugh when your calamity comes and will turn away from you at the time of your disaster.

Make a joke of my advice, will you? Then I’ll make a joke out of you!

When the storm clouds of terror gather over your head, when dread and distress consume you and your catastrophe comes like a hurricane, you will cry out to me, but I won’t answer.

Then it will be too late to expect my help.

When desperation drives you to search for me, I will be nowhere to be found.

Because you have turned up your nose at me and closed your eyes to the facts and refused to worship me in awe—because you scoffed at my wise counsel and laughed at my correction—now you will eat the bitter fruit of your own ways.

You’ve made your own bed; now lie in it! So how do you like that?

Like an idiot you’ve turned away from me and chosen destruction instead. Your self-satisfied smugness will kill you.

But the one who always listens to me will live undisturbed in a heavenly peace.

Free from fear, confident and courageous, you will rest unafraid and sheltered from the storms of life.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1 (The Passion Translation)

And the reading of chapter 5 of Acts in the New Testament is paired Today with the reading of chapter 3 of Nahum where we see a time when the lies and injustices of Nineveh were exposed by God:

Hopelessness and despair,

that’s the destiny of the city that shed so much blood,

That perfected its use of lies,

that overflows with stolen treasures,

Leaving behind endless victims.

The Book of Nahum, Chapter 3:1 (The Voice)

[Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth]

Doom to Murder City—

full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!

Horns blaring, wheels clattering,

horses rearing, chariots lurching,

Horsemen galloping,

brandishing swords and spears,

Dead bodies rotting in the street,

corpses stacked like cordwood,

Bodies in every gutter and alley,

clogging every intersection!

And whores! Whores without end!

Whore City,

Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,

luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.

“I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—

I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!

I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes

and expose you on the world stage.

I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth

of who you really are and have been all along.

I’ll pelt you with dog dung

and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’

Everyone who sees you will gag and say,

‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:

What on earth did we ever see in her?

Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’”

[Past the Point of No Return]

Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,

proudly invincible on the River Nile,

Protected by the great River,

walled in by the River, secure?

Ethiopia stood guard to the south,

Egypt to the north.

Put and Libya, strong friends,

were ready to step in and help.

But you know what happened to her:

The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,

Her babies smashed to death

in public view on the streets,

Her prize leaders auctioned off,

her celebrities put in chain gangs.

Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.

You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,

Wondering what hit you,

looking for a place to sleep it off.

All your forts are like peach trees,

the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.

One shake of the tree and they fall

straight into hungry mouths.

Face it: Your warriors are wimps.

You’re sitting ducks.

Your borders are gaping doors, inviting

your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?

Store up water for the siege.

Shore up your defenses.

Get down to basics: Work the clay

and make bricks.

Sorry. Too late.

Enemy fire will burn you up.

Swords will cut you to pieces.

You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.

Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,

for you yourselves are a locust plague.

You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—

more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!

A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood

and then flying off.

Your bureaucrats are locusts,

your brokers and bankers are locusts.

Early on, they’re all at your service,

full of smiles and promises,

But later when you return with questions or complaints,

you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.

King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,

in charge of caring for your people,

Are busy doing everything else but.

They’re not doing their job,

And your people are scattered and lost.

There’s no one to look after them.

You’re past the point of no return.

Your wound is fatal.

When the story of your fate gets out,

the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”

Your cruel evil has seeped

into every nook and cranny of the world.

Everyone has felt it and suffered.

The Book of Nahum, Chapter 3 (The Message)

[married-world-blog]

After PayPay’s announcement, the entire room is unbelievably silent. You can hear a pin drop. I am looking at Nkosinathi to handle this situation but that turns out to be an incredibly difficult task for him.

“Satane! Phuma la! Voetsek!” Mrs Buthelezi Senior attacks PayPay. She jumped from her seat to PayPay in a split second. Her husband has now assumed the position of his son: silent with his head in the palm of his hands.

“Hai bo mother-in-law, yini inkinga yakho?” Patience genuinely confused. I think she expected resistance but she definitely did not expect to be called the devil.

“Ubolile nondindwa ndini. Ufuze unyoko! Phuma la!” Mrs B.

I think the Buthelezi family knows something we all don’t know here.

“Nkosinathi, are you going to let this old hag talk to me like she has just been vomited out of a zoo?” PayPay. Yho guys, I want this girl’s balls.

“Mkhwenyana, this is what you disrespected my daughter with?! You took my daughter from esibayeni sakwaMageba to subject her to disrespect of this calibre?” My father says, genuinely disgusted.

“Nkosinathhi open your damn mouth and say something”, PayPay.

“Mommy, hit him. He only understands when you hit him”, Unathi adds her little two cents.

Hai cha, umhlolo kaZulu phela lo. Ithini le ngane?

Nkosinathi stands up and attempts to walk out. PayPay shoves him back in the house and he falls in between his parents. Nkosinathi’s mother loses her mind, goes from zero to 100 in a split second. She beats PayPay up like a real bull-fighter on the streets of Esinqawuqawini. Nkosinathi pulls his mother off his fiancé and the mother is breathing heavily. Her eyes show tell us that she wants to see PayPay bleed, paying for a sin only she knows about.

“Nkosinathi, khuza unyoko!” PayPay doesn’t back down neither. She rises from the ground and charges towards Mrs B.

Nkosinathi lets go of his mother and then shoves PayPay out of the house. He shuts the door, shutting PayPay and Unathi outside. Then he yells at his mother (because he is bewitched like that) saying, “mama yini ngawe?! Since when are you Baby Jakes?!”

“Ungazongijwayela kabi wena slima ndini. Sikutholela inkosikazi enengqondo wena ulanda i-last number yesifebe!” Mrs B yells.

“Come say that to my face you old bitch!” PayPay yells through the door while banging on it.

“Patience, awuthule man nawe. Jeez!” Nathi yells back at PayPay through the door.

My house has officially turned into umuzi wotshwala. I don’t know how to translate that into English.

“Nkosinathi Buthelezi, le nto odelela inkosikazi yakho yasebukhosini ngayo, beyilala nobaba wakho. Le ngane ayigudula yonke indawo ingane kababa wakho; that child is your sister. That is the kind of woman you are dealing with”, Mrs B says with tears in her eyes, and then walks off into one of the bedrooms in the house.

My mom is three minutes away from being on her knees and praying for the Holy Spirit to intervene. Mr B walks after his wife but we hear a door shutting in his face. The TV room is silent. To say that Nkosinathi is broken would be the understatement of the year. I don’t know if he will ever recover from this.

“Thandeka, thatha okwakho ngane yami. Siyahamba. Sidelelwe impela abakwaButhelezi. Ngizabe ngingeyena ubaba oqotho kuwena uma ngikushiya lana nabo la bantu. Asambe!” My father demands.

I hurry to me bedroom. I don’t have much to pack anyway because most of my stuff are in KZN. I pack what I can. I see my phone has a few whatsapp messages. It is Ikaneng checking up on me. I tell him that a family emergency has come up and I have to go back to KZN with my parents. He tells me that he will let Zelda know. Shooo, thank you Jesus. That one would have ate me up and spat me out.

“Ngicela ungahambi”, a voice creeps up on me. I turn around. It is Nkosinathi.

“Kumele ngihambe Nkosinathi. Ubaba usekhulumile”, I tell him.

“Ngizohlawula, khona manje”, he says.

“Umndeni wami is not for sale. You don’t just throw money at us and then my parents sell me to you. Who do you think you are? What do you take us for?” I tell him.

He is silent. He nods his head and then leaves the bedroom.

I take my bags and meet my parents in the TV room. I tell them I will drive in my car behind them. My dad insists that he will drive with me, my mother will drive back with our family driver. I do not hesitate.

When we step out, we see PayPay still standing outside of our door.

“Uphi uNkosinathi?” she asks me, giving me heavy attitude.

“Ungazongijwayela kabi wena”, me. I have strength now, my parents are here. Also, Mrs B is on my side because she has walked in my shoes before because of this unstable heffer.

“Uthini?!” PayPay out here trying to scare me with tears in her eyes and desperation of trying to ensure that she still has a man in Nathi.

“Ngithi ungazongijwayela kabi. You have done enough damage to this family. Go find your next victims”, I tell her.

“Mxm, ngizodelelwa yinto nje ayingasho lutho kimi nakuNathi. Awusuke endleleni yami”, she says as she pushes me out of the way.

“Don’t talk to my wife like that”, Nkosinathi comes to my rescue for the very first time.

“I am your fiancé Nkosinathi”, PayPay still trying to beg for a position in Nathi’s life.

“Not anymore. We are done. I don’t ever want to see you again”, Nkosinathi tells her.

“Nkosinathi”, PayPay tries to plead her case.

“Please leave”, Nkosinathi becomes even colder.

PayPay cries, he looks at Nathi in disbelief.

“Before everyone leaves…” Mrs B walks in and commands our attention.

“Nkosinathi, this woman is a prostitute. I am not sure if you are aware of that. She gave your father HIV. If you had unprotected sex with her and then also slept with umakoti, I strongly suggest that you both get tested”, Mrs B drops that bomb on us, face full of tears still, and then walks away.

“Baby…” PayPay trying to explain.

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Nkosinathi yells this time.

I start crying. I am genuinely sad for him. Now I suddenly want to stay and be here for him.

“Asambe ngane yami”, my dad interferes with that intention.

We, oMageba, leave.

…

It took me the entire trip to explain to my father that I need to go to Durban and not eMnambithi (back home). It took me an hour after arriving in Durban to explain to my parents that they cannot sleep at my flat because it is a one-bedroom flat. They finally left and now I am by myself in my own space, trying to understand the intersections episode that has taken place between my husband, my father-in-law, and PayPay.

I call Ikaneng.

He picks up after two rings.

“Hello beautiful”, him.

“Hey”, me.

“What’s wrong?” him.

“It’s been a long day”, I say.

“I have been invited to a gala dinner tonight. How about you come out with me and we talk about it after we have drank the night away”, he suggests.

I giggle and say “sure”.

“I was hoping you would say that. I will pick you up in two hours”, him.

We hang up.

I start off by plaiting my own hair into simple cornrows so that I can throw on one of my wigs; yes, I do the wig life too.

I shower and get ready. The only nice “gala” like dress I have is black. I suppose one can never go wrong with black. I dress up, apply my make-up with the assistance of the YouTube make-up professionals, and I put on my wig. I am ready.

Ikaneng arrives just on time.

“You look incredible”, he tells me.

He looks delicious too. Let the truth be preached.

We go out, bump into senior management colleagues who are now side-eyeing me. Zelda was the sourest towards me. I guess I should have known that this would be coming out party for us.

I dont even remember what the gala event was all about. The only thing vivid in my mind is the hostile treatment I received and the careless whispers about me every corner I turned.

“You alright?” Ikaneng asks me as he notices that I’m not okay anymore.

“I think coming here was a mistake. I need to go”, I tell him, looking around and realising that I’m still being side-eyed. He follows my eyes and sees it too, except this time, when people see him look at them, they smile and look away.

“Let’s go. I’ll deal with this tomorrow”, him.

We leave the gala dinner and head to his house in Ballito. It’s a beautiful house. It’s twice as big as my flat with Nathi in Paulshoff.

It’s also one of those houses where you can tell that you are not the first woman to come in here. I can see it be a party house. But I also see it as a “loft” from that “the loft” movie. Girls chill here, dance here, sleep here, etc. As for men… this is Vegas for them.

“Drink?” He offers me a glass of wine.

I smile.

I accept the drink and we chill in the TV room and engage in a DMC.

“I don’t think anything outside of a professional relationship will work between us. The entire senior management team was on not too accepting of seeing us together tonight”, I express.

“Don’t worry about them. Let me be the one to deal with that. I want you to relax now. Please”, him.

After a few drinks, we make our way upstairs to his main bedroom. We make out and this time, I actually want to have sex with him. I’ll probably never have sex with Nathi and I don’t want to die a virgin.

“Make love to me”, I tell him.

He looks me, unsure of what to say.

“Are you sure?” He asks me.

I nod my head.

He lifts me off the ground and kisses me against a wall. My legs are wrapped around his waist as he keeps twirling me around the room, making my body connect with all sides and corners of the walls of this bedroom.

He is so hard. I can just tell that there is no turning back now.

I’m on the bed now. He is on top of me.

“Are you sure?” He asks me one more time.

“I’m sure.” I confirm.

He makes his way inside of me. It hurts a bit. But it’s not an excruciating kind of pain. My body flinches though.

He takes it easy. He is gentle. Eventually, my body curves at his penis and we are both comfortable. This is everything I thought it would be… from the movement, to the feeling, to our connection…

I have no regrets.

I feel him reach his happy ending.

I am happy.

I’m finally a woman.

I couldn’t have chosen a better man to share such a sacred part of me with.

We both passed out.

…

We are woken up by our cellphones vibrating out of control.

I have missed calls from my parents and Nkosinathi. He has missed calls from his brothers and Zelda. I also have a missed call from Zelda.

“Good morning”, him.

“Hey”, I say smiling.

We smile at each other.

“How are you feeling?” He asks me.

I giggle.

“Great”, I say.

We kiss.

“Ready for round 2?” Him.

I laugh.

“The whole world is trying to get hold of us. Can we at least find out why”, me.

“Fine”, he sulks a bit.

I laugh at him.

We take a shower together. I dress up in one of his tracksuits; baggy but I can work with it.

We go downstairs and find his brothers there.

“Ike, we have a problem”, Obusitse.

“I’ll give you guys some space”, I say.

“Good morning Thandeka. Sorry to disturb you guys so early in the morning. Its lovely to see you though”, Obusitse.

I smile.

I attempt to leave but Ikaneng holds my hand.

“What’s going on?” Ikaneng asks.

Obusitse gives us a newspaper.

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Shadows on Rev. Moon’s beams. Politics and religion interwoven. A 1974 article

Chicago Tribune – Sunday, November 10, 1974

By John D. Marks  

John D. Marks is an associate of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington and co-author of “The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence.” This article is excerpted with permission from The Washington Monthly magazine.

This is a cut down version. Full article HERE on pages 17-18

Sun Myung Moon interweaves politics and religion in the best tradition of the medieval popes. His Unification Church operates a vast network of affiliate organizations in more than 40 countries…

With the formidable task of selling a new messiah to the world, the Moonies (or “the Family” as they call themselves) are extremely media-conscious. Perhaps for this reason the American branch of the Victory over Communism effort has taken on the less strident title of the Freedom Leadership Foundation (F.L.F.).

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES in this country are not nearly as developed as those in South Korea, where Moon operates a training school to which the government annually sends hundreds of thousands of civil servants, local officials, and military men for a course in militant anti-Communism.

Even as other Korean religious leaders have turned increasingly against President Park Chung Hee’s authoritarian rule. Moon has stayed an enthusiastic backer of the regime. Moon’s avowed interest is in fighting Communism, not preserving democratic niceties, and, as F.L.F. Secretary General Gary Jarmin asserts, “Even if Park got more dictatorial, we would support him.” Jarmin is a 24-year-old ideolog…

POTENTIAL CONVERTS come to the sect largely from the ranks of disaffected young people, and there is no shortage of those. They exist all over the country—chafing under an unhappy lifestyle and looking for meaningful purpose in life.

So far, at least, only the young have been willing to make the full-time commitment that the sect demands and move into the communal living centers where the Family lives in all 50 states.

Being a Moonie is not easy: forbidden in practice, if not by formal rule, are smoking, alcohol, and drugs. Absolutely taboo is premarital sex, which Moon rails against as “fornication.”

For what do [members] make these sacrifices? Nothing short of “the kingdom of heaven on earth,” as promised to it by its leader, who claims to have found the way thru a series of revelations he received from Jesus Christ between his 16th and 26th birthdays. The sect’s bible, called “Divine Principle,” is the fruit of these “revelations,”…

“Many of us believe that Reverend Moon is the messiah, but we consider this a personal matter.” Moon, for his part, is perfectly aware that “many” of his followers regard him as the messiah, and he has apparently never made any attempt to convince them that this is not the case.

“Divine Principle” is more explicit about the reasons for the sect’s fierce opposition to Communism… In a lecture on the doctrine, Michael Beard, one of their preachers, explains that there are only two major blocs on earth, “The Communist and the Free World,” and they are locked in a “Cain and Abel-type” conflict, and that Communism represents the forces of Satan.

The fact that Moon’s “revelations” reflect this early Cold War simplicity may be accounted for by the virulent strain of anti-Communism to which he was exposed in Korea for more than 20 years and also by Moon’s own imprisonment by the North Koreans for several years prior to 1950 (Just as the “Divine Principle’s” reliance on intricate diagrams and concepts like “the law of polarity” to explain all relationships may reflect Moon’s training as an electrical engineer).

FOR WHATEVER reason, the sect’s Freedom Leadership Foundation opposes detente and works to “roll back the Iron Curtain.” …

Lobbying. According to Jarmin, the F.L.F. is “already spending a lot of time” on the Hill trying to influence” congressmen and senators on national security issues.

Since the F.L.F. (as well as the Unification Church) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Service’s rules, it is forbidden to actually lobby for specific legislation, but Jarmin states it carries on “educational” programs especially for legislative aides. …

He says there are 5,000 F.L.F. members, including the 2,000 hard-core Moonies whose names were automatically inscribed on the organization’s rolls when they joined the Unification Church.

Several rank-and-file Family members with whom I talked had no idea that they also belonged to the F.L.F., and indeed were almost totally ignorant of the movement’s political side. In listening to roughly 12 hours of religious lectures at a weekend workshop designed to attract new recruits. I heard no mention of any of the group’s political activities.

When I questioned Jarmin on why the political aspect of the movement was not mentioned, he admitted the omission was no accident: “People who attend the workshops have more concrete ideas about politics than about religion.” he said. “We try to avoid politics. If we came on strong about Viet Nam, it would chase people away. Our anti-Communism is religious, so until we convince people of a belief in God, it is to our disadvantage to politicize.”

THAT MOON’S religion comes complete with its own brand of rightwing politics seems to bother only outsiders. Once newcomers are fully converted, they are all-accepting about every aspect of the sect.

Presumably in keeping with “Divine Principle,” Moon took out an immigrant visa and moved permanently to this country in 1972. Working out of a posh, 22-acre estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., he apparently intends to use America’s potential as the Free World’s most powerful and god-blessed nation as his base for establishing the “kingdom of heaven on earth.” His effort moved into high gear last October when he launched a 21-city speaking tour, and his followers believe he is now making great progress in winning American hearts and minds.

…

In Korea Moon is a virtual conglomerate holding, besides the tea business, air rifle, pharmaceutical, titanium, and still other companies. His empire is worth well over $10 million, but William Torrey (the sect’s 25-year-old financial adviser) insists that all profits go into the Unification Church and affiliate organizations.

TORREY MAY well be correct, but there are those who do not think so, especially in the Korean exile community. Lee Jai Hyon, who was a top diplomat in South Korea’s Washington embassy until opposition to the Park regime caused him to detect to the U.S. in June, 1973, equates Moon with another Korean messianic leader, Park Tae-seon, who, Lee says, also raised large sums of money from fanatic believers and grew rich from his business holdings.

Lee and his colleagues in the Korean democratic opposition see Moon as an opportunist who has supported the present government in return for personal gain.

The Park regime of course welcomes the backing offered by Moon, but its interest in his movement may well extend into the murky world of espionage.

According to both Lee and State Department sources, the Korean government is actively concerned about improving its dictatorial image in this country, and they do not doubt that its intelligence organization, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), has on occasion secretly subsidized ostensibly private organizations for this purpose just as the American CIA has done for the last 26 years.

If there is any intelligence connection between Moon and the Park regime, it is almost certainly limited to the very top level of the Moon organization in lobbying or public relations work for the Korean government and not intelligence collection.

None of the American Moonies would be likely to know of any intelligence relationship. Their interest in the movement comes from Moon’s charismatic appeal and the message of salvation he preaches.

IT WOULD be wrong to take the Family too seriously as a political movement, but the ease with which its young members have overlooked or accepted the group’s political aims may have its importance.

The standard complaint against movements like Guru Maharaj Ji’s is that they distract people from all political concerns. But as Moon’s story shows, politics can chase them down and, when they’re not looking, put them on the wrong team. When you can’t even count on religion to ignore politics, then it is time to pay attention to the political beliefs of the religious.

Chicago Reader Weekly – Friday, November 22, 1974

Howling at the Moon

… Last April when Park saw his government [in Korea] was endangered by Christians, students, and newspapers, he imposed restrictions that were permitted under the Constitution he wrote in 1972. Pure and simple, it declared that dissenters could be punished with death and, further, “any person who defames the present emergency measures shall be punished by death, life imprisonment or imprisonment for not less than five years.” It’s funny how democracy works sometimes, and its even more frightening when it’s hooked into the spirit. …

Moon’s followers refuse to deal with the political world as distinct from the spiritual. They prayed on the Capitol steps for Nixon because God meant him to lead the United States and only God should remove him. The Christians in South Korean jails are either communists or leftists. There is no contradiction in their slick use of the media in this country while similar freedoms have eroded in Korea. And if hecklers appear at a Moon rally to question his moral acquiescence to Park (only four such souls at the Arie Crown), there are only whispers about communist conspiracies.  LINK page 19

Moon and the Bushes American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush by Kevin Phillips  (September 7, 2004)

It is rare to find an article that gives a sense of proportion and depth to the life of Sun Myung Moon. His life still seems to be a subject of mystery. He was a convicted felon, though his conviction on tax evasion did not fully convey the depth of his sick and twisted life. Recently we’ve had a few articles that have begun to reveal more of the madness Moon embodied, and inspired in his followers. This article by Frederick Clarkson, written just after Moon’s death in 2012, covers the long criminal career of global felon Moon. Missing Pieces of the Story of Sun Myung Moon

Rev. Moon and the United Nations: A challenge for the NGO community

United States Congressional investigation of the Unification Church

Moonie “Dirty Tricks” against Donald Fraser

Gifts of Deceit: Sun Myung Moon, Tongsun Park, and the Korean scandal

The Identity of Sun Myung Moon (1) by Myung-hui Kim

The Unification Church: Christian Church or Political Movement? by Wi Jo Kang (Professor of Missions and World Religions, Concordia Seminary in Exile, St. Louis, Missouri.) in Japanese Religions Vol. 9   July 1976   No. 2  A magazine issued by the NCC Center for the Study of Japanese Religions

[almighty-god-saved-me-blog]

Living abroad, we are quite busy with our work and with things at home and sometimes we don’t have time to read God’s words or attend meetings. I feel that this is not putting God first, however, and I feel in my heart that I owe God. I’d like to ask how we can find a better balance between our work, our families and seeking the truth?

Bible Verses for Reference:

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mak 8:36-37).

And he said to his disciples, Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment (Luk 12:22-23).

Relevant Words of Almighty God:

Awaken, brothers! Awaken, sisters! My day will not be delayed; time is life, and to seize time is to save life! The time is not far off! If you take exams for entrance into college and you do not pass, you can try again and cram for the test. However, My day will have no such delay. Remember! Remember! I urge you with these good words. The end of the world unfolds before your very eyes, great disasters rapidly draw near; is your life important or is your sleeping, eating, and clothing important? The time has come for you to weigh these things.

from Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning

On this road, many men can speak of much knowledge, but at their time of death, their eyes brim with tears, and they hate themselves for having wasted a lifetime and lived for naught to old age. They had only understanding but never the opportunity to glorify God. They spent their entire lives fighting and journeying to and fro, yet upon their hour of death, there is regret in their hearts. Only in their dying hour do many come to their senses and realize the meaning of life. Is this then not too late? Why do you not seize the day and seek the truth that you love? Why wait until tomorrow? If in life you do not suffer for the truth or seek to gain it, could it be that you wish to feel regret in your dying hour? If so, then why believe in God? In truth, there are many matters in which man, if he devotes just the slightest effort, can put the truth into practice and thereby satisfy God. The heart of man is constantly possessed by demons and so he cannot act for the sake of God. Rather, he constantly journeys to and fro for the flesh, and profits nothing in the end. It is for these reasons that man has constant troubles and afflictions. Are these not the torments of Satan? Is this not corruption of the flesh? You should not fool God by only paying lip service. Rather, you must take tangible action. Do not fool yourself; what is the meaning in that? What can you gain by living for the sake of your flesh and toiling for fame and fortune?

from “You Ought to Live for the Truth Since You Believe in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

People always tend toward the world, harboring too many hopes, wanting too much for their future, and having too many extravagant demands. They are always thinking about and planning for their flesh and never interested in seeking the way of belief in God. Their hearts have been captured by Satan, they have lost their reverence for God, and they are devoting their heart to Satan. But man was created by God. Thus, man has lost the testimony, meaning he has lost the glory of God. The purpose of conquering mankind is to seize back the glory of man’s reverence for God. … You do not feel the preciousness of light when you are living in it, but you will be cognizant of its preciousness once you are living in the dark night. You will be sorry then. You feel fine now, but the day will come when you will be sorry. When that day comes and darkness descends and light is nevermore, your regrets will be too late. It is because you still do not understand the present work that you fail to cherish your time now. Once the work of the entire universe begins, meaning when everything I am saying today has come true, many people will be holding their heads in bitter crying. Is that not falling into the darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth?

from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

God laments the future of mankind, and grieves the fall of mankind. He feels sorrow for mankind’s slow march toward decline and the path of no return. Mankind has broken the heart of God and renounced Him to seek the evil one. None have ever given thought to the direction in which a mankind such as this will move. It is precisely for this reason that none sense the anger of God. None seek a way to please God or try to become closer to God. Moreover, none seek to comprehend the sorrow and pain of God. Even after hearing the voice of God, man continues on his path away from God, evading the grace and care of God, and shunning the truth of God, and he would rather sell himself to Satan, the enemy of God. And who has given any thought as to how God will act toward an unrepentant man who has dismissed Him? None know that the repeated reminders and exhortations of God are because He holds in His hands an unprecedented disaster that He has prepared, one that will be unbearable for the flesh and soul of man. This disaster is not merely a punishment of the flesh but of the soul as well. You must know this: When the plan of God is made void and when His reminders and exhortations beget no response, what anger will He unleash? This will be like nothing that has heretofore been experienced or heard by any creation. And so I say, this disaster is unprecedented and will never be repeated. This is because only one creation and one salvation are within the plan of God. This is the first time and also the last. Therefore, none can comprehend the kind intention and fervent anticipation of God for mankind’s salvation.

from “God Is the Source of Man’s Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Man must pursue to live out a life of meaning, and should not be satisfied with his current circumstances. To live out the image of Peter, he must possess the knowledge and experiences of Peter. Man must pursue things that are higher and more profound. He must pursue a deeper, purer love of God, and a life that has value and meaning. Only this is life; only then will man be the same as Peter. You must focus on being proactive toward your entry on the positive side, and must not submissively allow yourself to backslide for the sake of momentary ease while ignoring more profound, more specific, and more practical truths. Your love must be practical, and you must find ways to free yourself from this depraved, carefree life that is no different from an animal’s. You must live out a life of meaning, a life of value, and you must not fool yourself, or treat your life like a toy to be played with. For everyone who aspires to love God, there are no unobtainable truths, and no justice for which they cannot stand firm. How should you live your life? How should you love God, and use this love to satisfy His desire? There is no greater matter in your life. Above all, you must have such aspirations and perseverance, and should not be like those spineless weaklings. You must learn how to experience a meaningful life, and experience meaningful truths, and should not treat yourself perfunctorily in that way. Without you realizing it, your life will pass you by; and after that, will you have another opportunity to love God? Can man love God after he is dead? You must have the same aspirations and conscience as Peter; your life must be meaningful, and you must not play games with yourself! As a human being, and as a person who pursues God, you must be able to carefully consider how you treat your life, how you should offer yourself to God, how you should have a more meaningful faith in God, and how, since you love God, you should love Him in a way that is more pure, more beautiful, and more good.

from “The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

As someone who is normal, and who pursues the love of God, entry into the kingdom to become one of the people of God is your true future, and a life that is of the utmost value and significance. No one is more blessed than you—and why do I say this? Because those who do not believe in God live for the flesh, and they live for Satan, but today you live for God, and live to carry out the will of God. That is why I say your lives are of the utmost significance. Only this group of people, who have been selected by God, are able to live out a life of the utmost significance: No one else on earth is able to live out a life of such value and meaning.

from “Know the Newest Work of God and Follow the Footsteps of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

How can one maintain their relationship with God? By what means can they maintain it? By means of imploring, praying and having the communion with God in their heart. This kind of relationship will allow you to live always before God, and so you will be a very peaceful person. Some people are always doing external things and they busy themselves with external affairs. After a day or two without engaging in the spiritual life, their heart has no perception, and after three days, or five days, it still has no perception, or it still has no perception after one or two months. This means that they do not pray or implore for anything, and they don’t engage in spiritual communion. Imploring is when you encounter issues, you ask God to help you, to guide you, to provide for you, to enlighten you, to allow you to understand, to allow you to know God’s will and to know what the truth is. Praying has rather a broad scope. Sometimes it is saying the words in your heart, speaking with God when you encounter difficulties and saying the words that are in your heart to God when you become negative and weak. You may also pray to God when you are rebellious, or you talk with God about the issues you encounter every day, both about the ones you can see through and the ones you can’t see through. This is praying. The scope of praying is basically having a chat with God, sometimes at fixed times and sometimes at unscheduled times, and it can be done at any time and in any place. Spiritual communion does not really hold to a certain format. Maybe there is an issue, maybe there isn’t; sometimes there will be something to say, and sometimes there won’t. This is spiritual communion. When there is a specific issue to talk with God about, then you can pray. When there is no issue, you just think about God, “How does God love man? How does God care for man? How does God reproach man?” “Oh God, I feel I have done this thing wrong. If I really have done it wrong, then reproach me and make me aware of it.” This is spiritual communion, and it can be done at any time and in any place. Sometimes you’re on the road and you think of something that makes your heart feel really sad. You don’t need to kneel or close your eyes, but instead you just immediately say to God in your heart: “Oh God, I pray that You guide me with this issue. I am weak and I can’t overcome it.” Your heart is stirred, and with these few simple words God knows all about it.

from “Those Who Cannot Live Always Before God Are Unbelievers” in Records of Christ’s Talks

First begin with the matter of prayer. Be single-minded, and pray at a fixed time. No matter how pressed for time, or how busy, or what comes upon you, pray every day as normal, and eat and drink God’s words as normal. As long as you eat and drink God’s words, no matter what your surroundings are, your spirit is especially pleased, nor are you bothered by the people, events, or things around you. When you normally contemplate God in your heart, what goes on outside cannot bother you. This is what it means to have stature. Begin from prayer first: Praying at peace before God is most fruitful. After that, eat and drink the words of God, and ponder God’s words and try to obtain the light, find the path to practice, know what the aims of God’s utterances are, and understand without deviation. Ordinarily, draw close to God normally in your heart, contemplate God’s love, and ponder the words of God, without being disturbed by external things. When your heart is at peace to a degree that you are able to muse, so that, within yourself, you contemplate God’s love and truly draw near to God regardless of what environment you are in, and you have ultimately reached the point where you give praise in your heart, and it is even better than praying, then in this you will be possessed of a certain stature. If you are able to achieve the states described above, then this will prove that your heart is truly at peace before God. This is the first step; it is a basic exercise. Only after they are able to be at peace before God can people be touched by the Holy Spirit, and enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, only then are they able to truly commune with God, and able to grasp God’s will and the guidance of the Holy Spirit—and in this, they will have entered onto the right track in their spiritual lives.

from “On Quieting Your Heart Before God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

Life in a democratic country is busy! If you don’t make money, there are taxes you can’t pay, and you have to pay your rent, maintain your car, and pay your electric and water bills, that all takes money, so of course you have to work, don’t you? That presents a problem. It’s as if believing in God presents an extra burden, especially performing your duties. But would you be free of burdens if you didn’t believe in God? You would be just as burdened, if not more so. Some people ask, can there be a burden more tiring? I guarantee there is, because you’ll be suffering. Your days will be a struggle to feed yourself, a fight for survival, and there will be many difficulties and troubles, because the world is unfair and people are wicked, there will be many interruptions and hardships, and nothing will go smoothly. But through your belief in God and your growing understanding of the truth, you will gain wisdom and see paths, you will no longer contaminate yourself with devils, and you will be more sensible toward them, which will spare you much of your suffering, … You spare yourself so much suffering because you believe in God, you eat and drink God’s word, and you pursue the truth, which gives you spiritual comfort, and you enjoy the peace and happiness granted by God. Consider that one day, the great disaster will strike, and you will be calm. The unbelievers will lose their minds in panic and fear for the days ahead, feeling that this is the end of the world. But when the same disaster falls upon us, we believers in God will feel differently than the unbelievers. God is with us, and we have shares in the kingdom of Christ. What great comfort that knowledge affords us! Is this comfort not a happiness of the spirit? This is the truest happiness. We gain it because we, while believing in God, have understood the truth, known God, and become qualified to receive God’s promises. This spiritual happiness, comfort, and yearning is humanity’s most genuine happiness, and it cannot be gained without believing in God! So, when you say, “Believing in God is so busy, I have to make money and take care of my family, and on top of that I have to believe in God, read God’s word, and live the church life and go to meetings. It’s so much of a burden!” That’s not wrong, but how many blessings have you gained, and how many disasters and how much suffering have you averted?! … What is true happiness? This is true happiness! Only those who believe in God and pursue the truth find happiness, only they have that peace, that joy, that yearning, that enjoyment, that comfort, only those who gain the truth can experience these pleasures.

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, B8 Volume 130

No one, in all of corrupt mankind now throughout the entire world, can say for sure what happiness is. Only those who have genuinely gained the truth know what happiness is, and what the true way is. Aren’t all the advantages of the world and of the flesh gone in the blink of an eye? Wealth is gone in the blink of an eye; to have too much becomes a burden and is useless. Aren’t fame and gain empty? Nowadays, some people live for their husbands, some live for their children, and some people live for a house or for a car—is there any meaning to living like this? There is no meaning. Some people ask me: ‘Then do we really want to keep living? What would you have me base my life on?’ Does what you base your life on have anything to do with what I say? Aren’t these two entirely different things? Just because I say you shouldn’t live for those things, it doesn’t mean that I stop you from going to work. Do I say that you cannot make a living? This is entirely different from the problems I talk about. Some people consider problems in an illogical way, always asking questions irrelevantly, and not understanding the meaning of what I say. This kind of person severely lacks the ability to understand. What job you should look for or what job you should do poses no obstacle, as this is so you can survive; we cannot live for the sake of wealth, however. Are these two problems one and the same? The intentions are different here. Some people work a job, and why do they do this? They do it to live. Why do they believe in God? To find a genuine human life. These words are good and real: ‘I need to find a job to live, to survive.’ So the purpose of working a job is to earn a little money to maintain your life. ‘Why do I need to live? How should I live? How should I get to the end of the path of human life? Where are the mysteries of human life to be found? I must seek the truth. Even after eating my meal and feeling full, I must still seek the truth.’ If you lived for the sake of living a better physical life, would someone like that have a human life? What would the difference be between that person and an animal? One aspect of living is to maintain your own life and resolve the problem of survival; another is that you also need to resolve the problem of human life. Man is the spirit of all things, the master of all things, and they must resolve their problem of human life. Exactly what manner of person should man live out? What image should they live out? What path should they walk? Man first needs to understand these questions—they are fundamental. … Why does man live? That is, what exactly is a genuine human life, and how can one live a life of meaning and value? This is the first problem. The nature of this problem is to do with principles, it comes down to God’s will, and if you can solve this problem, you will then know why God wanted to create man, the meaning of human life and how man should live in conformity with God’s will. When you can solve this problem, then the path, the truth and the meaning of human life will all be solved. Those who can solve this problem will, in the end, be praised by God and will be left over, therefore herein lies the significance of God’s work.

from “Only Entering the Reality of the Truth is Genuinely Understanding and Gaining the Truth” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (VIII)

Recommendation: Where Does Eastern Lightning Come From?          Copyright © 2018 the Church of Almighty God All rights reserved

[dfroza]

A tragic lie.

which illuminates the need for honesty in life, since Love is always pure and True. and we only really find our True selves in Love’s truth.

we simply cannot allow ourselves to live a lie, to be taken captive by its power. we have to surrender to the grace that sets the heart free.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 5th chapter of the book of Acts:

Once a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira fully cooperating, committed fraud. He sold some property and kept some of the proceeds, but he pretended to make a full donation to the Lord’s emissaries.

Peter: Ananias, have you allowed Satan to influence your lies to the Holy Spirit and hold back some of the money? Look, it was your property before you sold it, and the money was all yours after you sold it. Why have you concocted this scheme in your heart? You weren’t just lying to us; you were lying to God.

Ananias heard these words and immediately dropped to the ground, dead; fear overcame all those who heard of the incident. Some young men came, wrapped the body, and buried it immediately. About three hours had passed when Sapphira arrived. She had no idea what had happened.

Peter: Did you sell the land for such-and-such a price?

Sapphira: Yes, that was the price.

Peter: Why did the two of you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Do you hear those footsteps outside? Those are the young men who just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out as well.

She—like her husband—immediately fell dead at Peter’s feet. The young men came in and carried her corpse outside and buried it beside her husband. The whole church was terrified by this story, as were others who heard it.

Those were amazing days—with many signs and wonders being performed through the apostles among the people. The church would gather as a unified group in Solomon’s Porch, enjoying great respect by the people of the city—though most people wouldn’t risk publicly affiliating with them. Even so, record numbers of believers—both men and women—were added to the Lord. The church’s renown was so great that when Peter walked down the street, people would carry out their sick relatives hoping his shadow would fall on some of them as he passed. Even people from towns surrounding Jerusalem would come, bringing others who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, all of whom were cured.

Of course, this popularity elicited a response: the high priest and his affiliates in the Sadducean party were jealous, so they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But that night, a messenger of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them to freedom.

Messenger of the Lord: Go to the temple, and stand up to tell the people the whole message about this way of life from Jesus.

At dawn they did as they were told; they returned to their teaching in the temple.

Meanwhile the council of Jewish elders was gathering—convened by the high priest and his colleagues. They sent the temple police to the prison to have the Lord’s emissaries brought for further examination; but of course, the temple police soon realized they weren’t there. They returned and reported,

Temple Police: The prison was secure and locked, and the guards were standing in front of the doors; but when we unlocked the doors, the cell was empty.

The captain of the temple police and the senior priests were completely mystified when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened. Just then, someone arrived with this news:

Temple Messenger: You know those men you put in prison last night? Well, they’re free. At this moment, they’re at it again, teaching our people in the temple!

The temple police—this time, accompanied by their captain—rushed over to the temple and brought the emissaries of the Lord to the council. They were careful not to use violence, because the people were so supportive of them that the police feared being stoned by the crowd if they were too rough. Once again the men stood before the council. The high priest began the questioning.

High Priest: Didn’t we give you strict orders to stop teaching in this name? But here you are, spreading your teaching throughout Jerusalem. And you are determined to blame us for this man’s death.

Peter and the Apostles: If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death. You killed Jesus by hanging Him on a tree, but God has lifted Him high, to God’s own right hand, as the Prince, as the Liberator. God intends to bring Israel to a radical rethinking of our lives and to a complete forgiveness of our sins. We are witnesses to these things. There is another witness, too—the Holy Spirit—whom God has given to all who choose to obey Him.

The council was furious and would have killed them; but Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the council respected as a teacher of the Hebrew Scriptures, stood up and ordered the men to be sent out so the council could confer privately.

Gamaliel: Fellow Jews, you need to act with great care in your treatment of these fellows. Remember when a man named Theudas rose to notoriety? He claimed to be somebody important, and he attracted about 400 followers. But when he was killed, his entire movement disintegrated and nothing came of it. After him came Judas, that Galilean fellow, at the time of the census. He also attracted a following; but when he died, his entire movement fell apart. So here’s my advice: in this case, just let these men go. Ignore them. If this is just another movement arising from human enthusiasm, it will die out soon enough. But then again, if God is in this, you won’t be able to stop it—unless, of course, you’re ready to fight against God!

The council was convinced, so they brought the apostles back in. They were flogged, again told not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released. As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His name. And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 5 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 4th chapter of Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) that points to the significance of the marital bond between husband & bride:

Him (to her): You, my love, are beautiful.

So beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves

nestled behind your veil.

Your hair moves as gracefully as a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are pearl white like a flock of sheep shorn,

fresh up from a wash.

Each perfect and paired with another;

not one of them is lost.

Your lips are as red as scarlet threads;

your mouth is beautiful.

Your cheeks rosy and round are beneath your veil,

like the halves of a pomegranate.

Your neck is elegant like the tower of David,

perfectly fit stone-by-stone.

There hang a thousand shields,

the shields of mighty men.

Your breasts are like two fawns,

twin gazelles grazing in a meadow of lilies.

As the day breathes its morning breeze

and shadows turn and flee,

I will go up your myrrh mountain

and climb your frankincense hill.

You are so beautiful, my love,

without blemish.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;

come with me from Lebanon.

Journey with me from the crest of Amana,

from the top of Senir even the summit of Hermon,

From the lions’ dangerous den,

from the mountain hideouts of leopards.

My heart is your captive, my sister, my bride;

you have stolen it with one glance,

caught it with a single strand of your necklace.

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

Your love is more pleasing than the finest wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume brings more delight than any spice!

Your lips taste sweet like honey off the comb, my bride;

milk and honey are beneath your tongue.

The scents of your clothes are like the fresh air of Lebanon.

You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride, open only to me;

a spring closed up tight, a sealed fountain.

Your sprouts are an orchard of pomegranates and exotic fruits—

with henna and nard,

With nard and saffron,

calamus and cinnamon—

With rows of frankincense trees

and myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.

My bride, you are a fountain in a garden,

a well of life-giving water flowing down from Lebanon.

Him (to the winds): Rise, you north wind;

come, you south wind.

Breathe on my garden,

and let the fragrance of its natural spices fill the air.

Her: Let my love come into his garden

and feast from its choice fruits.

The Song of Solomon, Chapter 4 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

What does he mean by “my sister, my bride”? Is this a sudden revelation of an incestuous relationship? No. He is describing how sexual expression can bring two people intimately together, as close as two people can be; the man and woman are now family. This image would have been particularly meaningful in ancient Israelite society, where life was centered on familial relationships and calling someone “brother” or “sister” was a sign of deep intimacy and care. Blood relatives lived together, worked together, traded with each other, and were buried together. By calling the woman “sister,” he is declaring they are now blood relatives. In the covenant relationship called marriage, blood is drawn during consummation, bonding the two parties together as man and wife, as brother and sister, forever.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, june 4 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about discovering True identity in Light and in Love:

“Wherever you go, there you are...” You can’t escape from yourself; you can’t run away from who you are, and therefore your relationship with yourself is as inescapably eternal as your relationship with God. Indeed how you relate to yourself expresses your relationship with God (Luke 15:17). If you are self-abusive, if your life is a “living hell,” you must first of all face yourself and quit denying the condition of your heart. The LORD delivers through the wound; he does not offer you “Nirvana” to extinguish who you really are... If you have a critical spirit, if you cast eyes of suspicion upon others, then understand how this reveals your own self-rejection and leads to the hell of never accepting yourself... Perhaps you learned to reject yourself through your earliest experiences, or from your family’s secret pain, but regardless you must be delivered from the fear of who you are, and only God in his mercy can heal you from that wound... Only when you are rightly related to God in the truth are you able to become a healed self; only by God’s power can you come alive from the dead to know the truth of God’s redeeming love. [Hebrew for Christians]

6.3.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

June 4, 2021

Marital Problems

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Colossians 3:17)

Marriage has always had a high place—a high calling. In the beginning, God’s stated purpose in marriage was to propagate children (Genesis 1:28) and to eliminate solitude (2:18). Such a state was deemed “very good” (1:31). But sin entered through Adam’s rebellion, and the universal Curse resulted. Out of this came a new marital relationship, one full of potential problems, for “he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (3:16). It is safe to say that the many excesses on both sides of a marriage that we see today are the legacy of sin.

Not only is marriage affected by the Curse, Satan himself delights in destroying marriage. Immediately after the Curse, we see that he introduced numerous practices that are detrimental to a proper marriage. The ungodly lineage of Cain began to practice polygamy (4:19). Later, Noah’s son, Ham, indulged in sexual thoughts and innuendoes (9:22). Even godly Abram participated in an extramarital affair that, even though not specifically condemned, was harmful to his marriage (16:1-3).

Soon after this, we read about all sorts of immorality, including homosexuality in Sodom and Gomorrah (19:1-10); fornication, rape, marriage to unbelievers (34:1-2); the practice of incest (35:22; 38:13-18); prostitution (38:24); and seduction (39:7-12).

What is the solution for this age-long attack on the family? We must heed the guidelines given in Scripture for a godly marriage. Passages such as those surrounding our text are well worth our study. JDM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: With your prayers and gifts, the Sambla people will gain access to Scripture in their Seeku language!

Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3vLe6Jb

6.4.21 • 12:04pm • Twitter