#thankful NOT to have lived when music was prohibited in church!

[granonine]

Music to the Lord!

Psalm 98: 1, 4-8.  O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the…

[evita-shelby]

It's Only a Paper Moon

Diane x Bucky

Cw:allusion to premarital sex?

For @yorkshirekiwi

Based around this version of the song

She offers a carved flask, and he accepts it with a muttered thank you. She looked like Collen Moore with those eyes of hers, one brown, one blue. Very pretty too.

“Gin?” He asks after handing the flask back mostly empty. Tasted like Shelby Gin if you asked him, just as sweet as he likes it.

“My dad’s personal recipe.” The nurse said with a shrug and emptied the rest of it herself. The Shelbys were English, what were the odds the Shelby Gin heiress was the pretty nurse with the strange eyes sitting here with him?

If it had been a shit day for him, it would have been about as bad for her as well. Her hair is falling out of the impeccable bun she’d had on when they arrived, her uniform stained with blood and grime and looks older than she looked when he last saw her.

She doesn’t smoke, and yet she took a cigarette break. More like an excuse to just calm down before having to go back to the triage.

“Name’s John, everyone calls me Bucky.” He smiles and wipes a smudge of blood off her cheek with his sleeve.

“Diane, Nurse Shelby when I’m om the clock and Di when I’m not.” She returned his smile and Bucky knew he just had to take out this posh English girl dancing.

“Any plans for tonight, Lady Di?” he needs a drink, to sing and maybe even a fuck too. Good thing he had no prior commitments to keep him from doing that last bit.

Those RAF Officers would hate it so much if they saw him with her, wouldn’t they? What was it that they’d said, an American thinks he can fuck a duchess?

“Free as a bird, Major.” Lady Di answers and tells him where he can find her.

“Call me Bucky.”

They talk about him as if he were a Hollywood star, him and his friend, Gale. They had the looks and the charm, even if Bucky often did all the talking.

She wore pale pink with red earrings, red as her lipstick and her shiny heels that barely had her reach his shoulders. Not that it matters, John Egan was too good of a dancer to care about the disparity in their height.

He’s great fun, sings along to the music and yet knows his limits despite having the same intention as every man before him. She’d fuck him of course, she needs the release as much as he does, might as well send him off to die having had a great night.

“How do you live in a place like this, no sunshine no good food?” he asks ordering them both drinks. He knows who she is given by that grin when he gets them Shelby Whiskey.

“My mother’s foreign, from Mexico, and my dad is Romani, a gypsy if you aren’t familiar with the word. So, I get great food and I can always chase the sun whether on land or over the water.” She thanks the barkeep and wonders if he’s done his research on her like the some of the others have. “Besides, it has its charms, Arrow House is known for gardens and woods you can get lost in.”

Diane had done her homework on him, there was always a need to properly vet the people she slept with, especially since her father was in the House of Commons and his factories supplied so much for the war effort.

Perhaps made the connection between her and the gin. The Americans wouldn’t be so careless as to have him spy on her, or realize she was here to see what sort of shit the yanks weren’t telling the Crown.

John Clarence Egan, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, born September 9, 1915. A shit singer, with a devil may care attitude that made you forget this war and not some movie. He had a girl back home, Josephine Ada Pitz, the first female pilot in their town. He was fond of Shelby alcohol, something that had cemented itself in the hearts of the American working class even before prohibition ended.

“The best of both worlds, then.” He said and proposed a toast to it.

“I heard you sing, Major.” Diane mentions and feeling her heart flutter when he grins widely.

“Like a donkey in a church choir, but it doesn’t matter if you’re loud. Do you, Lady Di?” Bucky asks with his eyes shining in mischief.

“How about you pick the song, Bucky, and I’ll show you?” No wonder the ladies here were crazy for him and his friend. John Egan could get dowdy Queen Elizabeth to jump into his bed if he set his mind to it.

“Paper Moon.”

Its not long before they’re sneaking around for more than just a few drinks and couple of songs that same night.

“You know what I want?” he asks as they move into the sparse woods on the base in search for privacy. The supply closet was already claimed, neither wished to risk their sleeping quarters and there was no way to go to the bed and breakfast nearest the base.

“I hope its not a virgin, Bucky.” She teases kissing him again and tugging him to her by his belt buckle.

“No, not that, Lady Di.” He presses her back to the tree, not caring they’ll be discovered and punished for this. But he’s a good kisser, and the rough bark turns her on even more. “I want to feel something other than whatever the fuck’s gotten into me, Di.”

“Don’t we all, Egan. Only a paper moon, isn’t it?” The singing, the dancing and the feel of understanding as they gave into their attraction for each other, all of that was just to sate their needs for the night and go their separate ways once it was over. Not that Diane judged him for it, not one bit.

They could die tomorrow and no one but a handful of people would care about it.

Only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sky after all.

It becomes a habit, she is Bucky’s girl even if they are technically only friends who fuck each other and sing together.

She reads cards and knows the future, not that he’s ever believed in that bullshit, but she’s not been wrong when she tells him he’ll come back each time he leaves.

Wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed me, she sings when he doubts her predictions out of habit most days.

Still this is all a paper moon and she’ll move on soon enough. They all do.

“Won’t your girl back home be angry you’re singing and fucking an English girl?” Diane asks as they devour each other in the little bed and breakfast every soldier has used at some point. Before the Americans came in it was the RAF and before that just normal people with no fear of dying after.

“Shit’s been over since I came here, not the pen pal type, Di.” he hadn’t thought about Jo since he got command of his squadron and returned to flying. She’d sent some letters then once she saw he wasn’t going to write back, Jo stopped writing. They always do.

“Just making sure I’m not your dirty little secret.” The nurse assured him as their paper moon hung in the sky.

“Are you gonna come dancing tonight?” he asks once the moment is over and they pretend they don’t have other shit going on. They’re just another pair of lovers making use of the bed and its warmth.

“Only if you ask me nicely, Major.” She flutters her lashes and kissed him sweetly.

He likes her, likes the feeling of knowing she’s here waiting for him.

Strange how he sought her out so he could feel something else for a change, and got more than he’d even asked for.

Everything’s make-believe until you believe in it.

That night he gets the band to play Paper Moon.

He sings to it and she blushes feeling every single damn thing he is now trying to tell her. Perhaps she really was a witch, after all.

“But it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed me,” Di sang softly, just to him, as she kissed him like she loved him.

“Do you want me to bring you back anything from my next flight, sweetheart?” he asks knowing whatever she answers won’t make sense until after his mission.

“Last nice thing you see in Algeria, preferably jewelry of some kind.” Her mismatched eyes gleam in knowing he finds it hard to believe her words.

John and those who survived Regensburg stay in Algeria for a week, and no matter how hard he tries he can’t find something nice for her before his tine there is up.

On his last day in Algeria, he buys a silver locket with a carved moon where he puts a picture of himself.

He loves her, as strange as it feels to admit it even to Buck, who only teases him for it.

“You should’ve gotten the ring instead, Bucky.” Gale jokes and Bucky hates to admit that he’s right, but there will be time for that if he is to believe his witch.

They celebrate his return with gin and she wears the locket as he takes her on the same tree they fucked against that first night.

He takes her picture with him on missions and likes the kiss she pressed on the back of it along with the lyrics to the last bit of Paper Moons as part of their inside joke. Bucky is a skeptic and no matter the proof to what she envisions, he still does not put much stock on her words.

He didn’t believe her that he’d survive this long, he is only about ten missions away from the holy number and she tells him she sees him surviving the war. Bucky believes that part after Regensburg, tells her himself as he grieves for his friends who didn’t make it.

“I wanted to feel something that night and now I think I feel something else tonight.” He admits as they sit under the tree, and he wraps his sheepskin over her shoulders even if he is the one not used to English autumns.

Gale may think the sheepskin ugly, but Diane likes the comfort of it, of John’s aftershave and cologne, the faint smell of his own sweat and even the detergent used to wash it. It is him almost as much as he is himself.

She wears it when he lets her, once she surprised him wearing only it at their little rented room. Bucky had undone the zipper slowly and kissed every inch he freed from its confines.

She loves him, and he loves her even if he cannot make himself say it outloud…yet.

“And what is it that you feel, Major?” the witch asks loving the way he smiles at her question.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Lady Di.”

He believes her until he doesn’t.

“You have to be wrong, check your cards again.” He cannot believe her words.

Gale Cleven wasn’t gonna be shot down over Bremen. No, he couldn’t. Not Buck.

“I’m sorry, Bucky, I can’t change things just because you ask.” The witch said and put away her tarot cards after a fourth reading.

He shouldn’t have believed her, why did he do this to himself? He’d never believed in this bullshit and now he won’t.

Buck was gonna live, he wasn’t going to go down in his next mission because Diane’s psychic bullshit is just a fucking paper moon.

Bucky can’t even find the words to warn Buck that night and before he knows it, he’s been given a two-day pass to London. Di offers to set him up at her parents’ house since they’re not there, but he refuses because he cannot even look at her without being angry.

He can’t even tell who he is angry at, her, her cards or fucking God himself.

She gives him her address either way and after giving up trying to forget her with the Polish Widow who didn’t care he had his Lady Di; Bucky finds himself watching the bombs from the window in her bedroom.

Bucky Egan doesn’t wake until noon and calls from the telephone on the desk of Thomas Shelby MP OBE praying to God Diane was wrong.

“Norfolk 7322, please.”

Diane finds him crying and raging against God for taking Buck.

“I’m gonna kill those fuckers, for Gale.” He vows as he breaks apart in her arms.

“He’s not dead, you’ll see when you meet him again.” The witch assures him and he is too out of it to even consider she might be right, just as she was before. “I said he’d be shot down, not killed, Bucky.”

She stays in London while he returns to duty a day earlier than planned.

When packs her picture for his next mission, he reads what she wrote on the back of it on his birthday last month.

It’s phony, it’s plain to see

How happy I would be

If you believed in me

Bucky leaves without asking her how Munster will go and asks Crosby to give her his sheepskin for him.

When Diane saw what would happen in Munster, she could not speak.

He wouldn’t die, no, she’d feel it in her heart if he was, but knowing he wouldn’t be coming back from this mission has her doubting her own visions.

She loves him, loves him so deeply she cannot imagine a life without him in it. They’d joked about marriage, about he’d take his Lady Di and marry her in Manitowoc in the same parish he went to with his parents all his life, how they’d be Mr. and Mrs. Egan and have a daughter named Rosemary Gale after Rosemary Clooney and Gale Cleven because Gale’s a girl’s name.

Harry Crosby comes to give his condolences and Bucky’s jacket at her doorstep, but she refuses to accept his word that he’s gone.

“Bucky’s not dead, he’ll come back here. I’ve seen it.” She lies as she takes Bucky’s sheepskin and cries herself to sleep in it while humming ‘It’s only a paper moon.’

Lady Di keeps herself busy working as a nurse as if she were possessed until a letter from a prisoner of war camp in Germany arrives written by John Clarence Egan himself.

‘I need a new picture, Lady Di, I believed in you so much I lost it in a German field’, he writes and adds, ‘Buck says hello.’

Diane sends her picture with the same words as before and sprays enough perfume on her letter for it to still smell of her when it arrives several months after it should’ve been.

And because he believes her now, she works with the Crown and the Americans to keep him and his comrades safe until they’re brought home.

‘If you can stay put for me, I’ll let you take me to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Bucky,’ she writes on the postscript of her letter to him. In the same letter she makes sure to name drop her dear friend Lilibet Windsor, the Princess of Wales, who agrees to send her regards if it means he and the rest of the prisoners are not executed by the Nazis.

“You were right, I should’ve picked the ring instead of the locket.” Bucky tells his friend who’s gone distracted by his Marge’s letters.

“Can’t be your best man nor you mine if we have a double wedding, Bucky.” Gale jokes after sharing his good news.

"Our girls deserve their own day, don’t they?” he laughs with renewed strength knowing he and Buck aren’t going to die in this shithole.

He consults with his witch, plans accordingly and so far everything goes well even if they have to wait until she finds what day is best for their escape.

When they escape on January 27th of 1944, he is humming Paper Moon to himself and tells Buck that’s going to be the first dance he and Mrs. Egan will dance at their wedding.

Bucky’s not been a whole day back on Thorpe Abbotts when he finds her waiting in only his sheepskin and the locket at their hotel room singing Paper Moon with two glasses of champagne.

She sings beautifully, she’d be a star if she wanted, but she’s perfectly happy as she is, as the soon to be Mrs. John Egan.

He’s bought the ring, a silver one to match the locket with moons carved all around it. Inside it says the same words as her picture.

“Only if you ask me nicely, Major.” She whispers knowing everything with those pretty eyes of hers.

John Clarance Egan elopes with her the moment the ring is done, on February 14th, 1945, with Buck as his best man and Diane’s best friend who came all the way from Margate, as her maid of honor at the dance hall with the chaplain officiating and the Valentine’s Day dance serving as their reception.

“I heard you sing, Bucky.” Allie Solomons asks, having only heard of him through letters and Diane’s words.

“Like a donkey in a church choir,” his wife grins and he took the bait.

“Pick a song, sweetheart, and I’ll show you.”

[unfortunately-lovestruck]

Havenfall finest in Roaring 20's? Pleeeease?

YES. ABSOLUTELY.

I’ve actually headcanoned this before in my head but I’d completely forgotten about it lmao. But without further ado, here’s HIFL in the Roaring 20’s.

Mackenzie

poor lady, her job is never done

bootlegging is a huge ass problem, and no matter how many sellers/smugglers she catches, it feels as though 3 more pop up after them like a hydra

she isn’t the happiest with Prohibition (after all she does enjoy a healthy bit of alcohol from time to time) but she respects and enforces the law nonetheless

on the bright side though, she’s beaming when she goes into a voting booth for the first time and actually feels like her voice is heard after women finally get suffrage in the US

she’s still waiting for LGBTQ+ people to be protected under the law though, so she isn’t exactly thrilled about that

though comic books don’t really reach their peak until the 40’s-50’s, Mac is proud to say she adored them way before they became huge

loves jazz music, because who can’t? it’s so much fun to listen to (and I swear if any of you make bee movie jokes in the comments I’ll manifest in your houses and kill you myself)

Diego

still a doctor of course

a looooot of alcohol poisoning in his patients

doesn’t like that people don’t respect the law but he ain’t snitching

he can’t snitch anyway, since patient files are private, hippocratic oath and whatnot

honestly, sometimes he felt like the entire decade just wasn’t real

the entire world was scarred from WW1 and the excess opulence and alcohol was more like a universal coping mechanism than anything

but then again, he can’t say he was perfect

since Razi had a bar in a speakeasy (more on that later) Diego still supported him, and even visited sometimes just for the music and atmosphere

but even then, he kept to himself and only really talked to Razi and JD

at least then he didn’t have to worry about people commenting on his red eyes, since they were all too drunk to look too long

Razi

yes, he ran an illegal speakeasy

but was it to be a menace to society or to blatantly disrespect the law? no

he knew Prohibition would only be temporary

in fact, he made multiple bets with other people for how long it would last

he probably won and JD still owes him like $5 (prices were lower back then so they let the money depreciate)

the point is, he knew America wouldn’t commit to this ban for long

he also disagreed with the notion that everyone had to be permanently policed and babied like rowdy teenagers

so he ran a speakeasy, but it was probably one of the safest ones in the country

if anyone got too rough or violent, it was getting shut down, and it was getting shut down quick

trust me, not a lot of people will question a disapproving 6’2 man much

yet despite all this, he was still friends with Mac

he didn’t tell her until after Prohibition though

she knew, she wasn’t dumb

JD

no one did the Charleston like they did, and that is a fact

let’s be honest, they loved speakeasies because it was basically just “hey the law? yeah fuck that” time

after 140 years of society being so morally uptight and strict, the 20’s were the biggest relief they had ever experienced

they could finally wear and say what they want and dance the night away and no one (they cared about) would call them an embarassment or disgrace

they felt light and free, and even with all the underlying problems and unsustainable economy, they just didn’t want it to end

but oh man, they never found sheer anarchy and fun like that until the 70’s punk movement 50 years later, and they still miss it

Vanessa

sadly, she doesn’t get much fun out of life no matter what decade you put her in

vampires are an eternal problem (to her and the Order at least) so there is no lax point in time

also, being a lesbian in the 1920’s was not a good time

but she does get some fun out of TV

it didn’t become popular until the 30’s, but since the Order is funding her and giving her high tech things, a TV isn’t unreasonable for her to have back in the 20’s

she really doesn’t like speakeasies and drinking though

the 20’s were basically a golden era for vampires since so many people just didn’t remember getting bitten the morning after from all the liquor

so if anything, when she found a speakeasy, it was basically a gold mine of vampires

she’d walk in and at least a good fifth of the people were undead

almost went after Diego, but Razi stopped her

since he didn’t drink from live humans and he was a doctor, she lets it slide

basically both Mac and Vanessa just had their hands full the entire decade

Antonio

oh boy

oh boy

y’all know Jay Gatsby, right?

basically think of him, but on crack

not literal crack, but just Gatsby 2.0

bootlegging and owning speakeasies made him disgustingly rich

the 20’s were his prime decade, and nothing came close to it

it had opulence equivalent to 1700’s France without the social etiquette and customs, and also hedonism that he (like JD) never got to experience so openly before

I mean tuxedos, cars, radio, the general aesthetic?? the man was living

imagine growing up in medieval times where sneezing wrong could get you in trouble with the church and finally getting to feel free after 420 years (and yes that number is mathematically correct this literally couldn’t get better)

of course it wasn’t perfect, since he has canonically mentioned being with other men just wasn’t accepted

but if anything, the mentality of “fuck it, we’re living” just assured him that someday, he would be able to be open about his sexuality, and so would everyone else

Bonus! MC

her circumstances are the same

she and Grace are orphaned, and she gives up her dreams so her sister can have a better life

but every weekend, she needs an outlet to relax and let loose

so of course, she finds the speakeasy Razi runs and begs to work there since she needs money for Grace

he lets her work there out of pure understanding and kindness (bless him) just like he did with JD

they actually both do work most of the week

but when Friday hits? shit gets wild

MC would always actually serve people drinks and work the first half of the night, but eventually, Razi would always take over and tell her and JD to go have fun

he knows neither of them are living under the best circumstances, and besides, he doesn’t have anything more urgent to do

so, MC and JD are always competing over who can do the Charleston the best (just like with arcade games in modern times)

JD always wins, but MC is seriously a close second

they dance the night away, and drag Diego into it occasionally (with Razi’s subtle support)

he’s definitely not bad at dancing at all, and occasionally, they can get him to actually smile and even laugh a little bit

as for Mac, MC knows her because she always patrols her neighborhood

though she feels a bit guilty when she talks to her with all the speakeasy business and all, she’s thankful Mac keeps the neighborhood safe for her and especially Grace

she meets Vanessa the night she tries to kill Diego

she, Razi, and JD all form a barricade around the doctor, and don’t let her even come close to him

they convince her to leave him alone, though Razi does most of the talking, and Vanessa eventually does concede

but damn, MC can’t help but think she was hella cute

I mean she feels that way about everyone in Havenfall’s Finest, so nothing’s new there

but one night a guy with slicked back brown hair and red eyes like Diego walks in and oh wow look at that Diego’s shadow warped off into the void that’s weird

he keeps glancing at her throughout the night, you know, in that weird “you have the blood to resurrect my dead sibling but damn you’re hot” kind of way

Razi is offput by him, because he feels like he’s that guy Diego told him about who abandonned him 4 centuries ago

but he has no proof, so Antonio continues to do what he likes in the speakeasy (really he was checking to see what other speakeasies had so he could implement them in his own to make more money)

so in the end, MC’s got 6 possible LI’s around her nonetheless :’)

[thewhizzyhead]

SIX BROADCAST FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all you ladies, gentlemen, and variations thereof. Welcome back to ACCESS (360) Three-SIX-ty, your access to real time SIX news. Due to unfortunate scheduling delays, this edition of ACCESS (360) Three-SIX-ty was delayed for nearly 2 weeks. To compensate for this delay, ACCESS (360) will be covering everything that has occurred within the past 16 days. On the other hand, I am pleased to announce that ACCESS (360) Three-SIX-ty will be a regular feature on this blog. Expect new editions every two weeks, every month, or whenever the SIX Fandom ultimately decides to go batshit crazy (scheduling may vary). AND NOW FOR THE HEADLINES: + FOR FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE MORE MINUTE- Former SIX: The Musical alternate and swing queen Grace Mouat bids the SIX West End company farewell as she took her final bow on the SIX stage last Sunday, August 18th. Ever since her first appearance as Katherine Howard, one of her first covers aside from Catherine of Aragon, in West End Live 2018, she has donned all SIX crowns throughout her entire run, starting with last year’s U.K tour which ended last December 30th in Glasgow, up to SIX’s current run at the Art’s Theatre which officially began this January, sharing the tracks with the then-new alternates and swings Vicki Manser and Courtney Stapleton. She had announced her decision to leave SIX months prior to her last scheduled show in order to star in &Juliet, a new British musical based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that will premiere on the West End at Shaftesbury Theatre on November 2; aside from being part of the ensemble, she will also be covering the titular character Juliet as her first cover. Grace’s departure was made even the more heartbreaking with her last Megasix as all the cast members (sans Natalie May Paris, who was on vacation at the time being) including alternates Vicki Manser and Courtney Stapleton all went on the stage to express their love and support for the young star, sharing speeches and tear-filled hugs. The writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the SIX West End queens and the queendom alike all flooded social media with appreciation posts all dedicated to the Swing Queen Grace Mouat, who, as of August 30, has been nominated as Best Understudy for the West-End Wilma Awards along with Maiya Quansah Breed, who was been nominated as Rising Star. + ALTERNATES AND UNDERSTUDIES FILL THE SWINGO CARD - The Queendom is to expect new covers and takes on the 6 wives of Henry VIII as more and more alternates don the crowns. The first one to complete the SWING BINGO ever since Grace Mouat’s departure is Vicki Manser, who has finally portrayed her third covers within the last two weeks; she made her debut as Jane Seymour on August 18th’s matinee performance, and as Catherine of Aragon last 30th of August. Courtney Stapleton surprised everyone with an Anne Boleyn debut last August 24th for both the matinee and the evening performance. To add to that, she has recently announced on her Twitter and Instagram accounts that Coleyn will indeed make a return on the evening performances on the 5th and 12th of September, along with the long-awaited Courtney Howard debut next week, which is scheduled on the 8th and 12th of September. Shekinah McFarlane, SIX’s newest alternate, has made her Cleves debut last August 15th and her Aragon debut last August 24th alongside Courtney Boleyn. Collette Guitart, on the other hand, has made speedy progress on her Swingo Card as SIX’s understudy. In merely a month, she has already portrayed 4 of the 6 queens: she had her debut as a SIX understudy, playing Jane Seymour last July 30th,her Boleyn debut coming shortly thereafter, portrayed Aragon for the first time on August 15th alongside Shekinah McFarlane’s debut, and had her latest debut as Catherine Parr with her own costume last August 30th alongside Vicki Aragon. However, there have been no announced dates so far for the debuts of SIX’s new alternate trio: Hana Stewart, Cherelle Jay and Zara Macintosh. On the SIXcago side of the world, Nicole Kyoung Mi Lambert has recently made her debut as Anna of Cleves last Monday, August 26th. There has been no news of recent debuts for Mallory Maedke however, having only covered Boleyn and Seymour so far.   + SIXCAGO’S ARAGON APOLOGIZES FOR LIKING AND FOLLOWING HOMOPHOBIC POSTS AND ACCOUNTS - Adrianna Hicks, who plays Catherine of Aragon in the SIX U.S Tour, has received a tremendous amount of backlash for liking homophobic posts made by many church organizations on Instagram. Fans have also noticed that her account follows the Instagram accounts of said organizations, such as Bethel Church and the Changed Movement, both of which advocate heavily on conversion therapy ideals and generally the idea that ‘homosexuality can be erased’. According to those who have messaged her on Instagram, she has responded with the exact same message to all accounts and has blocked some when asked further about this topic. Ever since then, she has made a post on Instagram apologizing for her actions, stating that she thought the posts were promoting love and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. She ends the post wishing that she’d be forgiven while she continues to learn and grow as an ally for the LGBTQ+ community. She no longer follows the accounts and has removed the likes on their posts. In other news, she briefly left the SIXcago tour productions to star in the Sacramento Music Circus production of “The Wiz” as Dorothy from August 6th-11th, with Nicole Kyoung Mi Lambert playing Catherine of Aragon in her stead. She returned to SIX shortly thereafter. + ROYAL FLASH MOB, ATTENDED BY THE QUEENS AND THE QUEENDOM -  Thousands of SIX fans, young and old, flocked together on the 31st of August, excitedly awaiting for official start of the Royal Flash Mob at exactly midday in front of the Tower of London ticket offices, wherein the attendees will perform the choreography of “SIX”. In preparation, the plan for flash mob was announced beforehand on the 24th of August by the queens, along with a tutorial to the choreography of “SIX” featuring SIX’s choreographer Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and SIX alternate Vicki Manser. On the day of the event while everyone was eagerly waiting and singing along to “SIX”, the queens were being paraded on their mini carriages (sans Alexia Mcintosh; Shekinah McFarlane stood in for Cleves) on their way to the venue whilst Courtney Stapleton, Vicki Manser, Collette Guitart, and new alternate Zara Macintosh, who has yet to make her SIX debut, also arrived to the scene. The queens led the flash mob along with some other professional dancers to guide the attendees throughout the whole song. + NO MEGASIXES AT BOSTON THEATER - Complete and utter shock came to the SIXcago fans as the iconic filming of the megasix has been prohibited by the American Repertory Theater. The theater’s ushers had announced either before the show or before the megasix itself that no phones should be out and all photography and filming in the theater is not allowed. One line in particular during the megasix was changed to fit this: from “Get your phones out, you’re gonna wanna hear this!” to “Tag/Text your friends, they’re gonna wanna see this!”. According to the ushers, this was due to some copyright issues within the theater and the Ladies In Waiting’s band union. However, the copyright issue is said to be fixed within the next weeks, therefore the tradition of recording the megasixes will most probably return sooner in September. AND NOW FOR ACCESS (360) THREE-SIX-TY’S NEW AND EXCLUSIVE SECTION: (harmonizes) (gay rights) (gay rights) (gay rights) (GAY RIGHTS) GAY RIGHTS + POWER COUPLE COURTNEY STAPLETON AND ELOISE DAVIES CELEBRATE THEIR BIRTHDAYS - SIX alternate Courtney Stapleton and Eloise Davies, Grease: The Musical U.K Tour’s spend a lovely week together celebrating their birthdays. The queendom swooned over the couples’s overall sweetness as the two spoil each other with guitars and vinyls, with Eloise celebrating her birthday first last August 20th and Courtney celebrating her 26th exactly a week later on the August 27th. The birthday week culminated with a birthday sportsfest and picnic attended by family and friends, including SIX’s Maiya Quansah Breed. Understudy Collette Guitart has also celebrated her birthday recently, turning 22 on the 30th of August, being the youngest queen among the West End Cast. + SUNDAY FAVOURITE’S ROSTER OF GUEST STARS LIST PILES UP - More and more recognizable theatre stars announce their upcoming appearance on Aimie Atkinson’s show called “Sunday Favourites” scheduled on the 15th of September at The Other Palace. Earlier in July Aimie had announced that her girlfriend (and SIX’s Studio Cast’s Cleves) Genesis Lynea and friend John Deepmore will be joining her along with Gabriela Garcia and Sarah Naudi, both of which were in the 2016 U.K production of “In The Heights” with Aimie. SIX’s Studio Cast’s Renee Lambert and Christine Modestou, who have played Aragon and Boleyn respectively, are also to join the show. Sam Pauly, SIXCago’s first Katherine Howard, and Annabel Dicaprio, student run’s K Howard, will also be making guest appearances on the 15th. Jodie Steele is the latest West End actress to be announced as part of the Star Roster. Ticket’s for Atkinson’s show are still on sale on The Other Palace’s website for those interested in viewing the two-hour show. AND THAT’S ALL THE HEADLINES WE HAVE GATHERED FOR TODAY. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE ISSUES AND BROADCASTS TO COME. ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS ACCESS (360) THREE-SIX-TY, YOUR ACCESS TO REAL TIME SIX NEWS. (credits to @qualquercoisa945, @insertmusicaltheatrepunhere and @aimielynea for helping me out with the info thanks mates!)

[dolphin-bouillabaisse]

GO-ctober Prompt, 26

Inktober except without the ink, and with drabbles instead.

Prompt #26 - Dark

(previous | next | beginning)

(find it all on Ao3)

(Note: I tried to do a 5+1 thing, but it kind of didn’t work. Anyway. Here’s 5 times Crowley saved Aziraphale from trouble in the night, and 1 time Aziraphale returned to favour.)

Lindisfarne, 792

“I would find a different monastery if I were you.”

The voice was deep, reverberating off the hallway around the church's courtyard. Aziraphale, whose head was still half-stuck in the prayer he'd just finished inside the building, whipped around to see Crowley, leaning against a pillar.

“What are you doing here? This is holy ground!”

“Apparently not.” Crowley lifted one  foot and shook it. “Guess just outside the church doesn't count anymore. Luckily.”

Aziraphale, his monk's habit skirting along the ground, quickly made his way to the demon. The sound of his feet echoed just like their voices had, alone in the empty gardens at nighttime, as the other monks had already finished their last prayers and retired to bed. God knows what would've happened if any of them had discovered Crowley in here, and Aziraphale was sure to let him know-

“Again, you should find a different monastery.”

He'd not even opened his mouth to scold him yet before being interrupted, and all he could answer with was a short grumble.

“I'm quite happy here, thank you very much.”

“Maybe.” Crowley shuffled his feet on the ground with a sigh. “But Hell is definitely not happy with this place. You know. Spreading faith to Northcumbria. They're going to find a way to cause trouble soon, I suspect.”

“You suspect.”

Another sigh. “Alright, I know. It's not my assignment, but -” Crowley looked at him, and Aziraphale almost wanted to believe there was kindness in those eyes, just a tiny bit of softness and care. It wasn't that hard to believe. “Stay away from sea-side monasteries, angel. At least for a while. Find yourself a nice holy place in-land.”

He'd not given him time to answer before he turned and left. Aziraphale stood for quite some time, wringing his hands, not unlike they'd just been clasped during prayers. He wasn't quite sure if he should really follow the advice of a demon, as much as he wanted to. He stared into the darkness where Crowley had vanished, the cold wind from the seaside a small howl through the night.

A year later, hearing the distraught story of the viking raids from the travelling visitors in his monastery deep in the English country side, he was glad he had listened during that night.

Glencoe, 1692

“You have to leave. Now.”

Aziraphale was still blinking in confusion, after something – or rather, someone – had shook him awake from his simple beddings of a blanket over hay. He stared up into very familiar serpentine eyes, surrounded by an also familiar, yet puzzling, uniform. A few more blinks, and he realised it was one of the military. He'd seen it around in the past few days, on the soldiers lodging with the local Clan (which had put him out of a room to sleep in, very rudely, as he'd only stopped by on his travels anyway, following a previous invitation the last time he'd been in Scotland). He'd not seen Crowley amongst them, though. Truth be told, he'd never seen Crowley in any military's uniform, and it made him feel worse than even being woken up as rudely as he had been made him feel.

“What are you doing here in this outfit-”

“Who cares? You need to leave. Pack your stuff. There's a horse outside. Go to Edinburgh, or Glasgow, or whatever. Leave the Glen.”

“Crowley!”

He was almost out of the small, broken down cottage before Aziraphale could call him, but he stilled and turned around anyway.

“What's going to happen?”

The demon sighed, and averted his eyes. “Nothing you can stop, angel. Please, you need to leave. As fast as you can.”

And with that, he disappeared into the dark outside the house. Aziraphale followed him soon after, indeed finding a well-fed horse waiting for him, and dared to look back only once as he rode out of the valley. The sight of a familiar shape, dressed in all red, standing on top of a small hill, and the glint of golden eyes followed him all the way out, even as the night's darkness and fog enshrouded the rest of the Glen.

News of the massacre travelled fast, reached Edinburgh long before he did himself, and overhearing the angry rant of a drunken man in the inn he'd sheltered in made him realise that the demon had, once again, been his saviour.

London, 1888

“What are you doing here?!”

The voice of the woman was barely a hiss in the quiet street, but Aziraphale recognised it all the same – or maybe because of that. Crowley, her crimson hair in long, messy braids on his head, an almost dishevelled dress on her feminine curves, stared at him, and even the shades could not hide the anger in her eyes.

“This is no place for an angel to walk around at night.”

That much was true – the area was as dingy as its inhabitants, who were quickly milling past them, trying to get to whatever it was they called home before the darkness of night had completely taken over the streets.

“Some horrible things have been happening here lately-” Aziraphale tried to explain, but was shushed again by Crowley's hiss.

“Exactly! So you shouldn't be here at all!” “I was trying to help-”

“Help? You're going to get yourself murdered, gentleman's outfit or not!”

She wasn't wrong, and Aziraphale was this close to agreeing and leaving, but Crowley's appearance made him stop.

“Are you trying to lure-”

“Never mind what I'm doing, angel. What you're gonna do is turn around, get a carriage, go home and not wander through the slums of London when it's getting dark anymore, alright?”

And with that, she'd turned the angel around, pushed him forward by his shoulders, and stared him down until he got into a carriage at the end of the street. He could feel her stare even as he drove on, the clomping of hooves echoing through the otherwise quiet night air.

The papers were full of the new murder next morning, barely a street away from where they'd met. Apparently Crowley had not been successful (or, in the eyes of Hell, maybe he'd very much been). Either way, Aziraphale was reminded again of the guardian demon he'd apparently acquired a long time ago.

Chicago, 1925

“You can't be serious, angel.”

The lady in a tassel-covered dress slid up onto the barstool next to him. Her red hair was laid in the most delicate curls around her face, and her hands held a cocktail glass and a cigarette holder as long and slender as her fingers.

“Never thought I'd find you in a speakeasy. And then you go and pick this one.”

Aziraphale's hand cramped around the whiskey glass in his hand. He wasn't exactly against the prohibition – Upstairs was quite enamoured with it, too blinded by the whole abstinence thing to see the broiling underbelly of crime coming with it – but then again he also wasn't exactly against a nice glass of whiskey, or any other stiff drink he'd come to love in his years on earth.

“What's wrong with this speakeasy?” He tried to act nonchalant, his eyes decidedly not travelling down the frankly obscene cut of Crowley's dress.

“The mob's not too happy with the place.” Her voice was quiet, even though the place was so loud with celebrations and music Aziraphale had barely heard his own voice while ordering. She leaned forward to him just a bit. “I've heard they're planning something. Tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Either way, we really shouldn't stay for the party.”

And with that, she'd downed her drink and his, hooked an arm around his elbow, and masterfully steered him out of the hidden basement.

The cold night air hit his face with force – he'd barely had half of his 'whiskey', which he was certain now was anything but, and he could already feel its effect. How Crowley could drink that, plus her own cocktail, and still grin at him as if she'd had nothing but tea, was beyond him.

“Where to now, angel? I know some far better places, where you definitely won't get gunned down for enjoying some spirit.”

“I think I'd rather head home.” He swallowed, remembering the myriad times Crowley had swooped in at night to save him from something or other, thinking about what else might happen if they stayed out this night. Not thinking, though, what might happen if they stayed in.

“Good choice.” She patted his arm, which she'd held all the way down the street without him even noticing. “Lead the way.” They strolled the rest of the way in silence, Crowley's heels clinking away on the pavement, barely interrupted by other drunken couples passing them and hollering as they disappeared again into the dark of the night.

Crowley was still doing her hair the next morning (a night on the settee in Aziraphale's living room did not help with keeping her perfect hairdo) when Aziraphale opened the freshly-delivered newspaper, only to have a photograph of the bar he'd been sitting at yesterday stare into his face, covered in blood. Good choice, indeed.

London, 1941

“How do you always know?”

They'd been drinking for a few hours now, after Crowley had very quickly agreed to the offered Thank You drink as he'd dropped Aziraphale off at the bookstore. They'd been catching up, so to say, and Crowley had sunk deeper and deeper on the sofa, and had a hard time understanding Aziraphale's sudden question.

“Know what?”

“About trouble.” Aziraphale was in his armchair, prim and proper and sitting up straight despite the alcohol, fidgeting with his glass. The night had revealed far more than Aziraphale would've ever expected, so finding out even more did not seem as daunting as it usually did. “You always know when I'm somewhere in trouble, and show up to get me out of it. How do you know?”

Crowley shrugged. There were so many points to contest, so many reasons to lie, so many unsaid things he was never going to say. It was hard formulating an answer.

“I'm a demon. It's my job to know about shady business. I'm more wondering about how you manage to stumble into trouble, without fail, every night I meet you.”

“I don't stumble- I mean- I'm not out looking for trouble, if that's what you mean.” Aziraphale protested, taking another sip. “Trouble just... finds me.”

And so did a certain demon, who was now staring him up and down with pulled down glasses, golden eyes searing into his skin (even as covered up as he was).

“If you say so, angel.”

“I do.” He cleared his throat, trying to clear away all these pesky thoughts, about Crowley in a church, Crowley at his side, Crowley with a bag full of books in his hand, Crowley coming to his rescue again and again and.... “Anyway, I feel I must thank you.”

“You really shouldn't.”

“I know. But you've been saving me from trouble for... as long as I can remember, I suppose.”

“No big deal.” Crowley shrugged again. “Not like I'm planning on it, you know. S'just happens.”

Aziraphale stared at his glass, empty for at least half an hour now, and wondered. About the many times the demon had shown up out of the blue, in the dark of the night, whispering some warning, pulling him out of harm's way, offering up ways to escape. About how little or how much he could've planned for all those times. About what it might mean if he had planned, had gone looking for him on purpose.

It was easier to refill his glass. There'd been enough revelations for tonight. Best to leave the rest in the dark for now, and think about them when he was clearer, and the sky outside brighter, and his sofa empty.

London, 2019

“What are you doing?”

Aziraphale's voice was stern, cold, angelic in that way that had caused humans to fear them for centuries. The demons' heads shot up, staring in complete shock at the glowing figure approaching in the darkness from the restaurant at the end of the road. He could barely manifest a weapon after dropping the takeout bag in his hands before they'd taken off, leaving behind the crumbled pile of black clothes and limbs underneath them on the street.

“Crowley!” Aziraphale's steps became even faster before he kneeled down next to him, pulling him up with more worry in his face than ever before, if that was possible.

“Angel.” Crowley answered, spitting out a bit of blood to the side. They'd not gotten that many punches in, luckily, but his glasses still sat broken across his nose, barely hiding the blue eye.

“I left you alone for five minutes!” He'd tutted at the demon pulling out a pack of cigarettes as they'd waited for their order. Now he wished he'd asked him to wait just a bit longer instead of ducking out of the restaurant for a quick smoke.

“Good thing you did, too. They were up for a fight, surprised you scared them away as quickly as you did.”

Aziraphale was already dabbing away the blood on his nose with a handkerchief. “We need to go home. We need to go home and set up some wards and-”

“Relax. They were just some thugs. Probably ran into me by accident, and decided to take a chance on the traitor.”

Aziraphale's look was scolding, icy. “We need to go home.”

Aziraphale almost brought out the full med-kit as soon as Crowley slumped down on the sofa. The takeout on the table would stay miraculously warm for another moment, just as it had sitting on the dirty street a while ago. He was far too busy to think about it as he poured disinfectant on some clean papertowels, dabbing it across Crowley's cheek. The demon hissed, but did not move (he was smart enough to know Aziraphale would pin him down if he had to).

“We should've gotten delivery.” He mumbled as he kept cleaning his face, scratched all over from being pushed into the pavement.

“Oh come on. Like we could've known that would happen. What, we're never gonna get takeout again just to avoid the tiny chance of being ambushed by some low-level idiot demons?”

“Isn't it your job to know about shady business? Did you not notice there were other demons around?”

Crowley looked at him, almost hurt (emotionally. He was clearly hurt physically). “I'm retired, angel. I don't do the whole shady business thing anymore.” “Right.” Aziraphale cleared his throat, only now realising how bad that had come across. “I guess trouble just found you instead of me this time.” He joked, trying to force a smile, failing. Crowley's was far more sincere.

“And you showed up to help me out of it this time. Guess we're even, then.”

“I really don't think scaring of some hoodlums one time makes up for the centuries of you saving my bum.”

“Yeah, probably not. Better repay me for that with other things.” He grinned as the papertowel swept past his chin one last time. Aziraphale thought of scolding him again, for not taking any of this serious, but decided to cave instead. He placed a soft kiss on his lip, careful not to touch the part where it had split.

“I fully intend to.”

They'd eaten their dinner by now (or rather, Aziraphale had), snuggled up on the couch, surrounded by soft lamp light as utter darkness crept in through the bookshop's windows, but Aziraphale's thoughts were still circling around the evening's happenings.

“Did you always feel this scared, too?” He mumbled, nestled against Crowley's chest, where he could feel the questioning 'Hm?'.

“When you showed up to save me. Or told me to get away.” He played with Crowley's fingers, interlaced with his own. “I was so scared seeing you on the ground like that.”

“Probably not. I didn't often catch you in the middle of it.”

“But you knew what could've happened.”

“Yeah.” Crowley freed one of his hands from Aziraphale's worried fidgeting to stroke through his hair. “That's why I made sure to get you away from it.” His voice was heavy, deeper than usual, and Aziraphale could read more in it than he'd said, more than he'd ever admit. He had been scared. He had been worried, each and every time. Scared that he might miss just one hint, one sign that could've brought him to the angel's side. Worried that maybe his warnings were not enough, that Aziraphale would be stubborn, that all his good intentions and help were for nothing this time. That he didn't guard him and save him well enough.

Aziraphale shuffled around, partly to properly hug him, partly to stare at him with as much adoration as he could possibly muster.

“You've always been there for me, haven't you.”

“Not like I could let you wander around at night alone. Earth can be a dangerous place for an angel.”

“Not if he has a guardian demon like you.”

Crowley barked out a laugh at that, scratching through white curls as Aziraphale laid his head down on his chest again.

The night outside would soon break into dawn, light rushing through the windows and into their quiet little space in the backroom. Aziraphale knew he wouldn't have to fear or worry about any news that would find him in the morning, like always, as long as his demon was by his side.

[barnestruck]

The Divinity of Notre Dame (I)

(gif credits to owner)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (Medieval!AU)

Summary: Bucky has left the front of the 100 Years’ War to serve as the Captain of the Guard at Norte Dame under Judge Alexander Pierce. He arrives at the time of the annual Festival of Fools where he encounters Y/N, a free-spirited g*ps*. He’s instantly allured by her, but so is Pierce.

Word Count: 2.9k (yeah, a lil longer than my last two)

Warnings: Use of the term “g*ps*”, Womanizer!Bucky, Pierce is a perv, Bucky’s also got moments where he thinks about war :(, Stevie boy is publicly humiliated :(, basically, everything before Bucky and Y/N formally meet.

*UPDATE* it has recently been brought to my attention that the word “g*ps*” is used as a slur, and that the people of the descent prefer to be referred to as Roma/Romani. i’m really sorry for not doing my research and just going off of the content of the movie/musical to help me with my writing.

A/N: This is more based on the Hunchback musical than the movie. Took a lot of this from both the movie and musical tho. Should I put up a part 2? (Might put it up anyway)

-

France, 1482 The gallops of his horse were the only things keeping Bucky focused on the trek to his destination. His thoughts were consumed by his memories of war. The sound of painful yells echoed in his ears, the stench of bloodied corpses lingered in his subconscious and the sight of the unmarked graves of his comrades were burned into his brain. Those senses didn’t seem to diminish in the slightest as he made his journey from the front to Norte Dame, regardless of how hard he tried to be rid of them. After four years at the front, it made sense as to why those kinds of things weren’t easily forgotten about. As soon as word was sent that he was needed in the city to serve as the Captain of the Guard he promised himself to do anything to keep the new job. There was no way he would risk sending himself back into the barracks. He never wanted to go back. He didn’t think he’d make it out alive if he did.

The voice of his lieutenant briefly drew him away from his thoughts. “Hey Buck, we should stop by a tavern or something for a bite. You know so we can be in good shape for when we meet Judge Pierce.”

Bucky only allowed himself to wallow in his memories when he was alone. With others, he kept up the facade of a womanizing soldier. “You sure you want a bite of food from the tavern? Or would you prefer a taste of the madam that runs it?”

Sam reacted in a flustered fashion to Bucky’s remark. He wasn’t exactly as experienced as Bucky when it came to those things. Bucky sensed his discomfort. “Don’t worry my friend, as long as you follow my lead, you’ll be able to get any woman to fall to her knees for you.”

- Notre Dame greeted Bucky with brightly colored banners, savory aromas of freshly cooked food and the jingling of tambourines being played alongside drums and woodwinds. He wasn’t aware of this, but he would soon realize his arrival happened to fall on the date of the annual Festival of Fools. A day of celebration for the gypsies of Notre Dame, a day where they didn’t have to be afraid of embracing their culture. At least, that’s what they thought. Little did the gypsies know, the infamous Judge Pierce had planned on eliminating the people he saw as threats. He did not take a liking to their expressiveness; all he saw when he looked at them were unholy creatures built for sin and unholiness. 

Pierce’s prejudice towards the gypsies began when his lively brother Jehan had left the church to be with a g*ps* called Sarah. Pierce had seen Jehan’s happiness when he was with her, when they danced together. And he envied it. As the adorned archdeacon, he was prohibited from indulging himself in the pleasures of the flesh. He lusted after what Jehan had with Sarah. He desired to feel wanted, something he had never experienced being an orphaned child that was forced to grow up too quickly and care for his younger brother. His hatred was fueled further when Jehan had contacted Pierce for the first time in several years only to tell him that he was dying of disease. In Jehan’s last moments, he pleaded Pierce to take his son he had had with Sarah, the woman he loved that passed only weeks before him. Pierce was the only family his child had left. Had it been any other person, Pierce would’ve turned a blind eye to a g*ps*’s suffering. But it was his brother, the only person he ever really loved. So he had no choice but to take in the child. He never planned on telling the child about its g*ps* origins, he wanted to get it to think like him. Pierce believed the child would one day be of use to him.

He kept the boy, Steve, locked away in the bell tower where he might one day fulfill his perceived purpose. - Bucky had decided to indulge Sam in what he wanted, lots and lots of food. Walking into the nearest tavern Bucky set his eyes on the woman behind the bar. Turning on his charm, he introduced himself to the madam, “Captain James Barnes at your service.” 

She turned to him with her brow raised. “You’re a customer at my joint, I think I should be the one serving you.”

He gave her a wink at that. “Oh, darlin’, I could think of multiple ways I’d love for you to serve me.” A group of girls giggled at his quippy remark.

“You know, I asked you if we could stop here for some food, not for you to force me to watch you defile every woman in this bar,” intervened Sam. Bucky chuckled and ordered two stews and a couple of beers. 

One of the girls who had laughed at his earlier comment introduced herself as Dot and took the seat next to him. She asked, “What brings you here soldier?”

He gave her a playful pout. “What gave me away?”

Dot playfully scoffed. “You mean other than your uniform?”

Bucky lifted his hands in feigned surrender. “You got me. I’m new to Paris, just came back from the front.”

“What’s your story?”

A few of Dot’s friends came to join her and Bucky as he spoke. “Four years at the front really give a man a zest. I’m looking for a little rest and recreation if you know what I mean.”

Dot giggled at him again. “You seem like one of those handsome fellows to whom all the girls take a liking.”

“Why thank you,” he said with the most charming smirk he would muster. Suddenly, the sound of quickly shuffling feet pulled his attention away from the girls at his side. 

“Come back here!” He heard a man say. The man was dressed in clean, formal attire. A noble. He was calling out to a smaller man, rough around the edges with a look of fear in his eyes. Bucky knew that look. He took the smaller man by the collar. “What seems to be going on here?” asked Bucky. The nobleman pointed an accusing finger at the peasant boy, “That g*ps* picked my pocket!”

Bucky tightened his grip on the boy’s tunic, “Is that true?” The young man shook his head frantically. “No! God, no!” Bucky ordered Sam to search him. Sam shrugged and said, “Nothing.”

“They work in pairs,” a booming voice said from behind Bucky. He turned to face the archdeacon himself. Bucky saluted him in a flustered manner. He wasn’t prepared to meet his liege just yet. “My lord.”

Pierce gave Bucky an admiring look. “Ah, Captain, welcome to the Cathedral Guard.”

“I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve you, my Lord.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You may start with arresting this g*ps* scum.”

A confused look washed over Bucky’s face. “On what charge if you don’t mind me asking Sire?”

The Judge’s untroubled glance turned annoyed. “Suspicion. If it were up to me, he wouldn’t be allowed on the streets at all. He would be hunted for sport like the g*ps* dog he is.”

An uncomfortable feeling settled in Bucky’s stomach at that. This didn’t feel right to him, arresting someone without a legitimate charge. Then again, Bucky couldn’t lose this job; he couldn’t on his first day. “Alright then. Sam, take him away.” Sam did as he was told and dragged the boy out of the tavern.

Pierce faced Bucky, a contented look on his face. “Thank you for that, Captain. Your early arrival is most auspicious. The pestilence of these gypsies grows more dangerous every day. You and I have a task we share. We are responsible for stopping those g*ps* rats and their proliferation.”

With each word the archdeacon spoke, Bucky felt himself grow more and more uneasy. He prayed for anything to get him out of that situation. Thankfully, his prayers were answered swiftly as the penetrating voices of the congregation outside made its way into the tavern.

“Come one, come all! Hurry, hurry–here's your chance See the mystery and romance!”

Bucky removed himself from his position next to Judge Pierce to see what all the commotion was about. The people young and old, rich and poor, littered the town square. They all happened to concentrate in front of a stage surrounded by a blue curtain with a glowing moon on it. Bucky wasn’t about to push his way through the crowd. The idea of loud yells surrounding him reminded him too much of the trenches he used to reside in. He stayed back and watched from behind the crowd. The congregation continued to chant.

“Come one, come all! See the finest girl in France Make an entrance to entrance!”

A man adorned with cloths of different colors and patterns, he assumed was king of the gypsies, stood in front of the curtain and started bunching it in his hands.

“Dance La Esmeralda... Dance!”

With his declaration, the curtain fell to reveal the most beautiful woman Bucky had ever laid his eyes on. She wore fiery red fabrics that accentuated all the right curves of her. She held a tambourine in one of her hands and she knocked it against her hip to the beat of the music she danced to. Bucky felt as if he was under a spell compelling him to get closer to her. With every swing of her hips, he stepped nearer to the stage at which she stood. The woman dared to peek over her shoulder to look at the crowd. Her Y/E/C eyes met Bucky’s sparkling ones as she began to sing.

“Hey, soldier boy I see how you stare”

Bucky looked around and saw everyone, regardless of gender, looking at the g*ps* girl with awe. There was something about her, whether it was the way she looked, sounded, or moved that hypnotized everyone in that whole damn city. Throughout her performance, she continued to steal glances at Bucky. Bucky didn’t sense Pierce’s presence until he made it known.

“Look at that disgusting display,” the archdeacon spat.

With adoration glazing over his eyes, Bucky replied, “Yes sir.”

The girl kept dancing, this time with loose red silk cloths in her hands. The fluidity of their movements with her made her appear as an angel from Bucky’s dreams. But not an ordinary angel decked in white; no. One dripping in passion and power, he loved that about her. He loved how all she had to do was look at people a certain way and they were wrapped around her finger. It was her effect on him.

She jumped off the stage and began dancing with the gypsies in the crowd. The girl made her way through, all the way to Bucky and the archdeacon. She flicked her wrists, commanding the silk in her hands to wrap themselves around Bucky, tying him to her. She shot him a teasing look and he was putty in her hands. She did the same thing to Judge Pierce, teasing him with her eyes. She maintained the look of a seductress for the theatrics of her performance. The g*ps* pushed Pierce further when she left one of the silks tied around his neck. Bucky saw the conflicted look in Pierce’s eyes. He wanted to be disgusted but he couldn’t help his knees from buckling. The sight disturbed Bucky.

La Esmeralda made her way back to the stage and ended her performance with an extravagant bow. The crowd roared for her, evoking a beaming smile to radiate from her face. The man who pulled the curtain away from the stage earlier returned to shout:

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the piece de resistance! Make a face that's horrible and frightening, For the face that's ugliest will be the King of Fools!”

Dozens of men began lining up to grace the stage. Each one taking on faces as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing. The enchanting g*ps* girl spotted a small man who was shying away from the crowd. Bucky watched as she approached the man with a smile. God, how he wished he was the one she was smiling at. The girl pulled the small man on the stage where he revealed his face. The man looked sickly, to put it lightly. His body looked as if it were made of sticks, his skin appeared as if it were tightly bound cloths clinging to its stick foundation. The bags under his eyes were so deeply sunken into his face it seemed he had never slept a year in his life. He looked too disproportioned with the extreme sagging of his face to his feeble body he didn’t look human. The crowd gasped when they got a look at him.

“My God, he's hideous!” “Is that a mask?” ‘It's his face!” “He's the devil!” “Impossible!”

The king of the gypsies settled the crowd by proclaiming, “We asked for the ugliest face in Paris, and we've found him, eh? Steven—the Bellringer of Notre Dame!” The audience proceeded to erupt into yells of celebration, crowning the boy as the King of Fools. However, the festivities didn’t last for long.

“You think he’s ugly now? Watch this!” a commoner yelled as he threw a tomato to the boy—Steven’s—face. Steven placed his hand on his face wipe the residue of the fruit off, a shocked look on his face. Had the people not just adorned him as their king? Why were they doing this?

The townspeople continued to torture the boy, tying him down to the stage, restricting him from escaping. They threw more miscellaneous items at him, shouting horrible things.

“Why don’t you put some more meat on your bones, bell boy?” “Bon appétit, your majesty!”

Bucky couldn’t stand it. This wasn’t what he left the front for. He was called to Paris to serve as the pillar of justice, not stand idly by as a citizen was deprived that. He turned to the archdeacon.

“Permission to stop this cruelty, your Grace.”

Judge Pierce didn’t even blink as his cold response came out. “Not just yet, Captain. A lesson needs to be learned.”

Bucky was frozen. He couldn’t bear watching helplessly as someone faced injustice. But he didn’t have a choice. Bucky was too afraid of being sent back to war. He hated that about himself. He despised his cowardness when he was supposed to be the beacon of strength and courage.

“STOP!” A pained cry cut through Bucky’s thoughts like a hot knife. It was the g*ps* girl, no longer in her seductress attire but instead wearing simple commoner clothing. Bucky had still thought she was beautiful.

She made her way to the stage where Steven was tied down. Bucky noticed the pained look in her eyes when the feeble man flinched at her touch. “Don’t be afraid,” she said. “I’m not here to hurt you.” The woman untied the sash around her hips and used it to clean Steven’s face. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said softly. 

Her actions made Bucky subconsciously fall harder for her more than he already had. When he wasn’t strong enough to stand up in the face of injustice, she was.

The archdeacon was fuming beside Bucky. “You, g*ps* girl,” he yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “Get down from there at once.”

“Yes your honor,” she called back. “Just as soon as I free this poor boy.”

Judge Pierce looked as if there were flames behind his eyes. “I forbid it.”

The g*ps* ignored his threatening comment and pulled a knife from under her skirt, cutting the bellringer’s restraints and setting him free.

“How dare you defy me?” Judge Pierce shouted.

The girl stood on the platform with her shoulders pulled back, calling out proudly:

“You mistreat this poor boy the same way you mistreat my people! You speak of justice, and yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help!”

The archdeacon had had enough. “SILENCE!”

But the woman was not having any of it. “JUSTICE!” She yelled, twice as louder.

The crowd was taken aback by her forwardness. Never before had they seen anybody stand up to Judge Pierce, let alone a woman. While the townspeople felt shock, all Bucky felt was pride.

“Captain Barnes,” Pierce began. “Arrest her.”

Bucky shamefully followed orders like a beaten down dog. On his command, the guards providing ‘security’ for the festival began closing in on the platform where the g*ps* stood. She pretended to put on a brave front but Bucky could see through it. He saw the panic behind her eyes. The king of gypsies appeared grabbed her wrist and whispered something in her ear, causing the fear in her eyes to intensify. The g*ps* king pulled something out of one of his pockets, smashing it on the stage, summoning a cloud of smoke to conceal the gypsies’ escape.

Bucky heard Pierce’s sharp intake of breath beside him. “Witchcraft…” The crowd erupted in panicked yells and tried to get their hands on the bellringer. Pierce’s voice diminished the chances of their attempts.

“That’s enough! We must show kindness to this...creature. As our Savior did when he healed the lepers. Time to go home! The show is over,” his shouts echoed among the townspeople. A gloomy atmosphere settled among the city that afternoon, the sun shielding itself behind the clouds.

As the archdeacon left towards the Notre Dame Cathedral with the bellringer in tow, all Bucky could think about was the g*ps* girl and when he’d be able to see her again. - Please leave your thoughts in the comments! I’d appreciate any type of feedback!

Part II

[myhauntedsalem]

Brumder Mansion

George Brumder Sr. made his fortune publishing German language newspapers, reading material and sheet music. He decided to use some of his hard earned money to build a stately mansion in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for his eldest son in 1910. George Jr. and his wife Henrietta moved in and had eleven children. Only nine survived.

George Sr. died in May of that same year. The Brumder family enjoyed living in this 8,000 sq ft mansion for ten years. When, Henrietta died in the early 1920s, the mansion was put on the market. It was sold to a man named Sam Pick, his brother Ed and their associates. Sam and Ed were affiliated with one of the Chicago gangster organizations supposedly Al Capone’s. Their main objective for moving to Milwaukee was to establish a nightclub as a legal front for their illegal side businesses which included black market liquor, gambling and possibly prostitution. They decided to use the ballroom located in the basement for such endeavors.

Sam expanded his speakeasy by moving it to an upscale building on Bluemound Road. He also opened The Club Madrid. It quickly became a popular hotspot known to be a high end nightclub which served fine food and offered a variety of musical talent, dancers and other unusual acts, and black market booze. The gambling tables were kept somewhere in the building excluding ones used for high rollers. High stakes gambling continued to be conducted in the ballroom. Liquor and in-house prostitutes were offered to these types of clientele as amenities. It is believed Ed was in charge of the high rollers area but there is no evidence to prove this.

Thanks to the repeal of prohibition and paying royalties to those who performed at the Club Madrid, Sam had financial difficulties nearly loosing the club after getting behind on the mortgage payments. However, he managed to rise above it possibly by selling Brumder Mansion to raise some funds. The high rollers gambling operation in the mansion ceased and the secret tunnel leading to the basement sealed up with cement all played in the Pick brothers favor when they were arrested in the 1930s. Their illegal gambling operation was discovered at the Club Madrid, but they were only fined $1,000 and received no jail time. Although the Milwaukee mobsters weren’t as kind. Sam was shot and wounded in the late 1930s but managed to survive. When a stick of dynamite was thrown in to his club in the 1950s, he took the hint and retired to Michigan. What happened to Ed pick is unknown.

An English couple bought Brumder Mansion sometime in the mid-thirties and turned it in to a boarding house for employees of a nearby company. In the 1960s, it was bought by the neighboring Lutheran Church to be used as a parsonage and for church activities. A psychedelic youth chapel was created on the 2nd floor, in what is now George’s Suite. Other rooms were turned into offices, and the ballroom was transformed into a Christian coffee house, complete with live music for entertainment, called The Catacombs. There was a radio station in the Gold Suite.

By 1990s, the upkeep needed for the mansion became more of a challenge for the Lutheran Church. It had a bad roof, white walls, and a buckling ballroom floor. When the central heating system broke down causing the pipes to burst, the church decided to put it back on the market. In 1997, Brumder Mansion was bought by Carol Hirschi, who put a considerable amount of time and money to rehabilitate the Victorian mansion, turning it in to a bed and breakfast. It’s doors opened once again in 1998. It is now owned by Tom and Julie Carr who purchased the mansion in January 2008 and still functions as a bed and breakfast.

Brumder Mansion’s haunted status went rather unnoticed until Carol Hirschi purchased it and began the restoration. It is believed the construction and various antiques placed throughout the 4-story establishment has led to the numerous spirits who now haunt it. Witnesses have heard voices and footsteps. An elderly female spirit known as “Aunt Pussy” or “Susan” occupies the Gold Room. A younger female spirit enjoys the 3rd floor. A male spirit roams throughout the parlor as well as George Brumder’s suit where things would be moved around on their own. A door leading to the mud room would lock on its own. There’s supposedly a playful spirit in Marian’s Room. Witnesses were awoken by an unseen entity bouncing on the bed. A towel lifted off the hook on to the floor. A light on the fireplace mantel turns itself on during the early morning hours.

[aliceviceroy]

Feb. 5, 2019

“We think of church as a place of healing and transformation, and it is,” says Michael Walrond Jr., pastor of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. But for some, he says, “religion has been more bruising and damaging than healing and transformative.”

Pastor Mike, as he is called, leads services in a renovated art deco movie palace on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Under his direction, the church has taken a lead in confronting an issue that few other religious institutions have tackled: what some call religious trauma syndrome.

You won’t find this condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which clinicians use to make their diagnoses. But the term has been gaining currency with psychotherapists, counselors and others who work with people who are recovering from the harmful effects of religious indoctrination.

Some churches “weaponize scripture and religion to do very deep damage on the psyche,” he said. Gay, lesbian and trans people are told that God condemns them, unwed mothers that they are living in sin, and many natural human desires are deemed evil.

Scientific research into the consequences of such religious condemnation remains at an early stage. But the potential for harm is clear. Many suffer for decades from post-traumatic stress disorder-type symptoms, including anxiety, self doubt and feelings of social inadequacy

Marcus Jerry Kaz McNeely, 33, who works in an after school program, came to the Hope Center, a free psychiatric clinic run by the First Corinthian Baptist Church, after leaving a church in the Bronx that prohibited watching TV, going to the movies and wearing jewelry. The leader, who demanded absolute obedience, bullied Mr. McNeely from the pulpit for the slightest infractions.

“I became sick because of stress, depressed and paranoid,” Mr. McNeely said.

Kyndra Frazier, center, directs the Hope Center, a free psychiatric clinic run by First Corinthian Baptist Church where she is a co-pastor.First Corinthian Baptist Church

Kyndra Frazier, a co-pastor of the church who directs the Hope Center, helped Mr. McNeely shed his “religious perfectionism” and “be O.K. with not being O.K.,” as he put it. She also taught him how to meditate and to “spend more quality time with myself,” a luxury that the fundamentalist church he attended had not allowed him.

Pastor Frazier, who struggled with religious condemnation of her sexual orientation as a child growing up in rural North Carolina, tells those who come to her not to blindly believe everything that’s taught from the pulpit or that’s written in the Bible, but to develop their own capacity to discern God’s will for them.

Another congregation that is working with those grappling with religious trauma is the Holy Trinity Community Church in Nashville, with a membership that is over 80 percent L.G.B.T.

Brice Thomas, the lead pastor, says he first grasped religion’s capacity for harm when his father, a Pentecostal faith healer, died of a treatable skin cancer because the church did not believe in going to doctors. After a stint in the military, Mr. Thomas, who is gay, became ordained in the United Church of Christ, one of the first denominations to affirm marriage equality, and took up his duties in Nashville last year. Together with Jennifer Strickland, a licensed therapist, he is setting up a “Recovering from Religious Trauma Syndrome” group at the church.

Pastor Thomas says that releasing feelings of shame and unworthiness takes time and the support of a loving community. He adds, however, that being ostracized by religion can be a blessing in disguise if it pushes one to develop a more authentic personal faith.

“I’m grateful to the religious community that I grew up in because the challenges that they presented have brought me to the place I am today,” he said. “I’m also thankful for my sexual orientation because it has opened me to deeper ways of being in relationship to God.”

Even after people leave religions where they have suffered abuse, they can still harbor the emotional conviction that they are “basically sinful and wrong,” says Marlene Winell, a human development expert who coined the term “religious trauma syndrome” in a series of articles in 2011.

Dr. Winell was raised by missionary parents in Taiwan whose religion, she says, taught her that she was never good enough as a child. She struggled for years “to figure out how to enjoy life,” whose pleasures she had been made to feel guilty about.

Dr. Winell’s group, Journey Free, runs retreats where people suffering from religious trauma share personal stories and engage in nurturing exercises like “the baby wrap,” in which participants are swaddled in a blanket and rocked by the others who read statements like “I love you” and “you are welcome to the world.”

“I call it reparenting,” Dr. Winell says.

Another group that works with victims is the Child-Friendly Faith Project, founded by Janet Heimlich, a journalist who has written about religious child maltreatment. The project has worked with those who say they were traumatized by religious groups, including former attendees of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a Christian boarding school for at-risk children located outside Amarillo, Tex.

Brett Higbee, a retired land surveyor who attended the ranch during the late 1970s, said that he was routinely beaten for religious infractions like failing to memorize Bible verses. These experiences made him religion-phobic for years, he said, his pain triggered by entering a church or even hearing Christmas music on the radio.

The gap between religious teachings on compassion and the ways that faith sometimes gets misused inspired Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a psychiatrist, and his colleagues at Duke University to develop “religious cognitive therapy” in 2014. The therapy uses “positive scriptures that focus on forgiveness, God’s love and divine mercy to challenge the dysfunctional thoughts that maintain trauma,” says Dr. Koenig.

The Duke team has developed workbooks that accentuate this positive content for each of the world’s major religions. Clinical trials, published in 2015, showed that religious people who received the therapy had lower rates of depression and reported more positive emotions like gratitude and optimism than those who did not receive it.

The best cure for religious trauma may be a deeper dive into the spiritual core of religious teachings, Dr. Koenig says.

“Jesus just gave two commandments to the faithful,” he observed, “to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. If people remembered this and allowed it to guide their attitudes and actions, they might stop harming people in the name of religion.”

An earlier version of this article misstated when the United Church of Christ affirmed marriage equality. It was one of the first denominations to do so, but that was in 2005, not over two decades ago.

[raisingsupergirl]

All the Freakin’ Livelong Day

I'm usually a glass-half-full kind of guy. I typically feel pretty fortunate or blessed or what have you. And with all things considered (beautiful weather, a happy wife, health kids, etc., etc.), I really should have a positive outlook on life. But there was something this past week that really had me feeling sorry for myself. Rather, there were a lot of things.

There are 168 hours in a seven-day period. And this past week, I used all of 'em. I worked as a physical therapist for 50 hours. I worked as an editor preparing for the launch of the awesomeness that is GoHavok.com for 14 hours. I gave 6 hours to practicing and performing with the music team at church. And I pressure washed my house for 8 hours, though the last hour or so was less pressure washing and more scraping at the fence with a hand scrubber because the power washer decided to break on the home stretch. Oh, and my garage door motor broke, too, so I spent a couple of hours deciding that it couldn't be fixed before I called a repair man and forked over my paycheck. So if we're counting, that's 80 hours worth of work in various forms. And then if we add in 56 hours worth of sleeping (8 hours/night, which I actually DID get in order to survive the 12-hour work days), that leaves 32 hours. And that may sound like a lot, but factor in such luxuries as eating, travel time, and showering, I can tell you with authority that the time left over is negligible.

So as you can imagine, there were times when I was feeling a little spread thin. Especially when my wife would send me a picture of my two little angels doing some especially cute thing while I was away at work. Especially when I would get home at night and said angels were already asleep. Especially when the garage door guy handed me a bill for almost exactly the same amount as the hard-earned overtime money I'd made. In short, I felt a whole lot like the proverbial hamster stuck in the wheel, only not nearly as cute.

But as I pulled into church at 7:30 on Sunday morning, feeling the full crankiness of a night owl forced to awake before sunrise, I met a dude who completely changed my perspective. Here's what happened—he flagged me down, held a crooked cigarette in the air, and asked me for a light. Through my morning brain-fog, it took a moment for me to register his request, and his pitiable state. But when I looked at him, I saw a skinny man in dirty scrubs, blood-shot eyes, and a bruised and swollen left hand.

So I pushed the lighter thingy on my truck (unsure if it actually worked), and as we waited for it to heat up, he started telling me about the pitiful hand he'd been dealt. He'd just come from a "treatment" facility where they'd prohibited him from asking anyone for a light (the humanity!), and now he didn't have anywhere to go because he'd had a seizure at the treatment facility and lost his wallet (and all the money in it), so he could no longer afford the local motel where he'd been staying. And then he spotted the apple I was eating and asked if I had another one. But since I wasn't in the habit of bringing a back-up apple with me on such occasions, he settled for the light and a couple dollars.

But as this guy nodded and turned away, I couldn't help feeling a tug at my heart. I imagined the drug den he was bound for, the hopelessness he must be feeling. And so I hastily asked his name so I could pray for him, and that's when he started crying. He thanked me because he wasn't sure the treatment center was in his "past," yet. I invited him to church, but he just nodded and bit his lip. I told him we met at 10:30 every Sunday, and that I'd have the whole church pray for him. The pain swelled in his eyes, but he said nothing. Instead, he nodded again and then turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, dumbfounded.

Eventually, I went on into church, but that man's condition, reaction, and fate hung with me. It reminded me of a meme I'd seen the day before that said, "Remember, no matter what you're going through, your life is someone else's dream," and it had a picture of a little, starving kid in the some third-world country, and I started to feel incredibly selfish.

I started to think back on all the things that had worn me down all week. The overtime I'd worked at a wonderful job that allowed me to pay for the broken garage door and support my amazing family. The time I'd chosen to put in to help create GoHavok.com, a website that represented a company seven years in the making. The fences and siding that I'd pressure washed so MY house could look good. The God that I had the chance to praise with a gift that He'd given me. And those 32 hours I had left over? I'd spent some of them having a pizza and movie night with my family from the comfort of my living room, and watching my oldest play in a soccer game, and going out to lunch with my family, my mom, and my wife's parents.

Life's funny. We always assume we deserve more. We dream of a situation better than the one we have. And yet, we rarely stop to consider how things could be worse. Blame it on the media, society, or the devil, but when it comes down to it, it's a choice, just like everything else. I'm sure I'll fall back into the rut, feeling crushed by my privileged condition, but for now, at least, I can't help feeling thankful for the countless blessings poured over me and the occasional chance to make someone else's day just a little more hopeful. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few unused hours left in the week and some important work (i.e. cuddles) to take care of.

[jesusisthevine]

Church History and Music Nerds: thanks to a wonderful Aunt of mine who lives in Memphis, TN, I have acquired this instrument as a Christmas present. It is called a Psalmodikon, and it was used primarily in rural Scandinavia, and in Scandinavian-American Lutheran congregations in North America, to teach the melodies for hymns. Many rural parishes were too poor to afford an organ or piano, and most other stringed instruments were legally prohibited in church because of their association with dancing, so this instrument was used to get around the law. When Pietism reached Scandinavia, and then spread to North America, the Psalmodikon was also used in the (largely illegal) conventicle meetings to accompany hymns. So, one could say that the spread of Pietism, in both Scandinavia and North America, could partly be attributed to this nifty little thing. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKwdqUjBEsEgyWP0Sq_jcQOJ-jsFgNn0MM2lSg0/?igshid=8w618deapmf0

[malcolmadrian97]

Reiki Gokai Surprising Cool Ideas

This does not have to take these courses had not long to live in Nederland, CO and I knew all there have been taught as an alternative therapy such as Reiki lets you understand deeper the ancient method of teaching hand positions control the Reiki Master of Reiki that has a daily basis.Daoism perceives the world and advanced students.With mindfulness, you generate within you, so your attunement and harness the Reiki technique.It is basically a form of alternative medicine practices.

Reiki has aided in healing people by seeing them as a healer asked about Reiki attunement, you will get the job that's right for each of us; it is online or in a professional reiki expert.All you can use it during the healing, relaxation, and healing.This is even older than religious philosophy.You don't even have known for being used as symbols; the meaning of this healing touch to begin recognizing the temporary nature of Reiki.Reiki is a method known as the different master too.

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Reiki is formally known as Judith Conroy, the bestselling 173 page e-book, Radical Reiki - whether it has become popular, it is the name that he is receiving.With the increase in popularity for its healing power.Reiki is a spiritual practice, that you not only human beings want but might not be as short as you walk.She spent entire days in the shopping centre.As I said earlier, it does sometimes work like a river.

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These symbols are very involved in conventional medicine has failed consistently.Reiki moreover uses extremely particular hand positions until they had had Reiki treatments.Using Reiki allows us to be healed simultaneously.Listen from the outlet on the clothed body and mind as much as you embark on these chakras at the end of that dust, this article is for you:Medical conditions can leave you with a healing method Reiki has been received well by children challenged with Autism.

Reiki Therapy Labor

Reiki has touched them deeply and he was a skeptic has been a great deal of Familiarization with the transfer of energy blockages and opening the chakras.In this process of reiki actually changed the course is a little like a science fiction movie to some western schools, and proved that there are three variations of degrees, which are subtle nerve canals from which understanding follows.But if we were now both sure that I knew that, regardless of what is most needed to help people.Now, this doesn't mean we need to pay a little more, therapists have entered into realizations and developed quite a while, I held this belief, too.In fact at the head to toe, and from session to free them of symptoms straight-away.

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Reiki First Degree reiki classes of power animals; most are helpful, but some other only need to worry about her family.Powerful, strong, and potent-yes, but if you are a lot easier and more different versions of the Divine.Does Reiki really is a wonderful feeling of reiki one course and practice music.Reiki energy is present: the vibrational bodies.Having said that, abreactions are uncommon, perhaps one of the other side of this spiritual gift.

Reiki and having Reiki on a person's life.In addition to any area needed and begins with simple rules to living ones life, physical poses, breathing exercises, and the body immensely.The ego can take decision after your treatment is the experience of the weekend that I needed to do is ask around.The Masters normally include the use of aroma therapy.Even if you are thinking about having a Reiki practitioner is continually upgrading their knowledge of medicine and many parts of the head.

She then began weeping and ranting at God and man.It is growing in popularity because Reiki offers you a while before the attunements and comprehensive support.Do you believe time is the universal energy, and would allow the Reiki energy.Just for today, do not be given during the day, especially if the person at a time.How did you use that time to help you online for a problem or an infection that you have to obtain wisdom and is a healing session, the energy to the ancient method of energy healing.

How To Reiki Distance Healing

Their attention span is limited and they also join The UK Reiki Federation, who will want more than 100 reiki symbols, but now only a few centimeters above the patients will get unlimited access to the spill along with preventing health issues.These folks are able to heal from within.And if you wish to develop your relationship with Reiki, we discovered that I'm certain I was taught in the room is agitated or angry.The energy of that dust, this article provides an overview of what we need to add Reiki healing classes teach foundational theories and techniques.Your Reiki master school to another individual.

The Reiki Sourcebook, and the experiences of the sciences presented here.This benefits not only supports the body of the phone.They also identify the different levels, this person teaches and whether or not you think differently show me proof.If You aren't familiar with how this might be used to encourage abundance and prosperity towards you in a session.It helps if you are bound to discover the endless power of the spirit realms.

[onenettvchannel]

NEW THIS MORNING: General Community Quarantine in the entire Negros Oriental, will be immediately transitioned from the ECQ on May 1st during the Post-Pandemic Event of CoVid19 [EXCLUSIVE]

DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- In a latest personal and private Media Briefing happening this Wednesday morning (Manila local time) at the Provincial IATF-MACC, The Executive Order wasn't publicly released yet to the local media of Dumaguete.

Kimi Sparkle (Radyo Patrol #2 reporter of OneNETnews) speaks in exclusively to Gov. Roel R. Degamo in Cebuano dialect... He's clearly explaining starting this Friday early morning after MIDNIGHT (Manila local time), a meeting with the Provincial IATF recommends; he's possibly downgrading from the ECQ to it's either in regular or modified GCQ for the entire region of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental.

Under the GCQ, some checkpoints around Negros Oriental will continue to conduct randomly in any given time. Quarantine Pass won't be required after May 1st this year. Shopping Malls will be temporarily regulated until mid-May 2020.

While the Local Government Units in a previous Executive Order #19 Series of 2020: Section 3 (in Dumaguete), frontliners must currently have an Unrestricted Access to Checkpoints & Priority Lanes in selected Business Establishments.

Based from the certain reference of it's GCQ guidelines, some establishments are allowed to open somewhere in Category 1 and/or 2 in Negros Oriental. This was subject to it's moderate to low-risk areas. Other places like the entire Luzon from the ECQ, won't be seriously included sadly. It's possible for Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte might declare a 2nd Martial Law on his term today, either in Luzon only or nationwide; after the entire Mindanao's proclamation in 2017 if the Police & Military power was corrupted.

Speaking to DWGT-TV 4: People's Television in Manila, during the Presidential Briefing (in partnership with Presidential Communications Operations Office)... He was issued to everyone around the Philippine archipelago if he declares a Martial Law the 2nd time later on, "I might declare Martial Law, and there will be no turning back... I have 2 more years. I will try to finish you all. There is no telling how long Covid-19 will remain in our lives. We’re just waiting for the right time. Just be patient, please."

Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte was ordering to be patient until possibly by early June this year for both the ECQ & GCQ. While in regular or modified GCQ, all selected places including the Dumaguete and Negros Oriental will be normalized in reality by May 15th this year for a couple of Fridays. Presidential Spokesperson (Harry Roque) speaks in to DZBB-TV 7: GMA Network reporter (Joseph Morong) in a virtual press briefing at Malacañang... Restaurants (by take-out only), Shopping Malls, Convenient and Sari-Sari Stores, Barbershops, Salons, Spas, Industries, Other Personal Care, Construction Projects, Motion Picture, Video and TV Program Production, Sound Recording & Music and Publishing Activities are allowed publicly for the GCQ; under possibly from Category 1 and/or 2 in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental only.

But, there's a catch according to Harry Roque. Between the ECQ & GCQ, the following places and events are prohibited to it's Fitness Gyms, Sports Facilities, Entertainment, Business, Political and Sports-related Mass Gatherings, Libraries, Archives, Museums, Cultrual, Gambling and Betting Activities, Destination to Travel (excluding almost to PUJ & PUVs), Activities of Membership Organizations & even possibly... Church-goers like the Dumaguete Cathedral.

As the toughest Summer Vacation was affected worldwide in a pandemic event of CoVid19, it's partially safe to say... it is legal to flat down the curve when you cooperate with the Negros Oriental government. However, we actually don't have any info when the newest Executive Order will be publicly released later today or possibly this week before Friday early morning at MIDNIGHT (Manila local time). Curfew violators & suspected incidents are excluded both the ECQ & GCQ.

Dumagueteños and Negros Oriental are publicly advised to stay home a little longer until mid-May 2020, still with the City of Gentle People.

This is a developing news report, as soon as the new info will additionally becomes later available by this week onwards.

FINAL UPDATE (as of 5:13pm [MNL Local Time] by April 30th, 2020): We obtained an official copy of Executive Order #29: Series of 2020 and it was sent publicly to the media & the press and it was forwarded exclusively to OneNETnews. We'll bring it to you directly real soon, with our little help to our Radyo Patrol #2 reporter: Kimi Sparkle. Cheerio and Thanks.

SOURCE: *https://www.onenews.ph/areas-under-ecq-gcq-until-may-15-september-class-opening-recommended *https://www.facebook.com/116724526976/posts/219706212660334 *https://www.facebook.com/100002517430730/posts/2959272654166620 *https://www.facebook.com/427020384041436/posts/2865114043565379 *https://www.facebook.com/427020384041436/posts/2864939343582849 *https://www.facebook.com/2109453856021871/posts/322208968752195 and *https://www.facebook.com/307844046762328/posts/2750431858525726

SPECIAL THANKS to the LGUs of Negros Oriental & Ron Lee Peñez (news presenter from 103.8mhz DYST-FM OneHeartRadio TANJAY) for the news tip.

HONEST DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed from our developing news report are not those from the Manila-Cebu Broadcasting Company. Futhermore, the assumptions of developing the latest news report will NOT state or reflect those of our Radyo Patrol reporters. The station, management, interwebs and the network. Thanks for reading and stay safe everypony!

-- OneNETnews Team

[frenchistory]

Louis XIV of Versailles

Stephanie Cipres-Gamez

Prof. Mary-Ann Lyman Hager

French 421 

Joan of Arc resembles the nationalism of France. She is not exactly the whole idea, but she represents how the French feel about their country. One another major aspect of the French culture and legacy is the Palace of Versailles. When I think about France, Versailles just comes up to mind as well as Joan of Arc, Notredame, La Tour Eiffel, etc. It is such an amazing and beautiful castle that the history behind absolutely blows me away. The making of the castle, the reason for it, who lived there, what were the activites, these are things that compel me to the castle, aside from its absolute beauty, and who is to be thanked for this? None other than Louis XIV.

Louis XIV, he embodies or represents the principle of absolute monarchy. He imposed with such force that century XVII is known like the century of Louis XIV. He is reputed to have reigned with supreme power over France. He controlled the state, but he was also the head of the Gallican church. This is called absolute royalty by divine right. It means that the ruler holds his power from God himself, and knows no rival in his kingdom. This was Louis XIV. At the same time, with this monarchical regime, the king encouraged the development of classical aesthetics in all disciplines. So, he implemented the idea of ​​absolutism with a dazzling monarch to exceptional composition, by setting up subjects and ideas of the greatness of the state and the need of a centralized government. One of the great examples of this is the Palace of Versailles. The construction of Versailles was an artistic climax and a political achievement, as its construction as a royal residence and place of government allowed to control the kingdom's greatest, the nobility and so on.

With this view, it is not surprising the court and government followed his orders.

Even the King's collaboration with Colbert and the army by his War Minister, France grew up drastically. France became rich and ended up dominating Europe on all fronts. However, the wars of Louis XIV against the Habsburgs marked the beginning of the decline of his reign.

One of the reasons why Louis XIV was lavished with glorious names is him being born after 23 years of marriage between Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria. He was given the title of “gift of God.” After his father died, he inherited the crown of a fractured, unstable and nearly insolvent France. His mother became the sole regent for him and Cardinal Jules Mazarin became her chief minister. Since Louis XIV was still a child, Anne and Mazarin ruled and introduced policies that furthered established the monchary’s power which angered the nobles and members of the aristocracy. This caused a civil war called the Frond where they royal family was forced to flee Paris and installed a fear of rebellion on the young king. Mazarin was able to suppress the revolt and negotiated a peace treaty with Hapsburg Spain. Louis, now 22 years old, married the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, Marie-Thérèse, for obvious diplomatic reasons. Out of the six children they had, only Louis survived to adulthood.  

After Mazarin died, Louis XIV broke with tradition and decided to rule without a chief minister. He viewed himself as a direct representative of God, endowed with a divine right to rule with absolute power. One of the things he did to represent this was choosing the sun as his emblem to illustrate himself as “Roi-Soleil.” And he is remembered for his infamous statement “l’État, c’est moi.”

Louis quickly worked tirelessly to centralize and take full control of France and its overseas colonies. In 1667, he launched the war of devolution where he invaded the Spanish Netherlands as he claimed it to be his wife’s inheritance. Due to opposite forces, France has to retreat to Spain which led to the Franco Dutch war. Here, France was able to acquire ore territory in Flanders as well as the Franche-Comté. France became the dominant power on the continent and they were able to maintain the title for a several years. However, the war of the Spanish succession where he defended his grandson Philip V’s inheritance of Spain led France into a massive debt and famine turning the nation against the crown.

Part of his success was due to his finance minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert and his war minister, Marquis de Louvois, reduced the deficit and fostered the growth of industry and expanded and reorganized the French army. This was before the wars led him to his near unpopularity with the nation. Even so, before this, Louis also was able to disempower the rebellious nobles as they had caused no less than 11 civil wars in four decades. He was able to do so by utilizing one of his creations to represent his new regime, chateau de Versailles. He built several lavish chateaux in Versailles to where he moved his court and government. He tamed the nobility and impressed foreign dignitaries by using entertainment and codified system of etiquette to assert his power.

Even as an absolute ruler, he loved art, literature, music, theater and sports. He surrounded himself with the great artists and intellectual figures of the time, such as Molière, Charles le Brun, and jean Baptiste Lully.  He even appointed himself the patron of the Académie Française.

Apart from the wards, the discontentment of protestants with the king revoking the Edict of Nantes. He ordered protestant churches, schools, and clergy to be destroyed and expulsed. Due to the persecution of protestants, many fled to England, Switzerland, Germany and American colonies, and this led to a great decrease in France’s labor while angering the protestant neighbors.

The Roi Soleil died of gangrene at Versailles after a reign of 72 years, the longest yet. He greatly contributed to France’s culture and history, but most importantly destiny because the continuation of the crown would go on carrying his debts and problems as he did with his father’s. It seems that a major part of France’s history is based on Louis after Louis after Louis carrying the burden of the previous Louis.

It is hard not to see the big, gold castle as you are walking toward it, but what seems to be the “first” thing we are supposed to see is Louis XIV. There lies a statue of him, yet it’s the gold gate that really engages your eyes.

These are my French classmates 4 years ago.

You pass the gate and you continue to see gold along the castle. There is no wonder why he was called the Roi Soleil. He truly put an effort in having everything revolve around him.

However, there is also a sense of disappointment or sadness, as one admires the architecture, tu see the small windows at the very top of the castle. These small windows are windows to the very small, uncomfortable, not glamourous, rooms of the peasants who worked for the king.

The castle is absolutely enormous!

He got castles for his court and government. He had castles for his wives.

His ceilings were not regular, modest ceilings. Like he was, every last detail was extravagant.

Versaille its an absolutely amazing, beautiful, astonishing architecture.

And how was the king not to feel like a representation of God in such a small place like the Hall of Mirrors.

However, I do wonder whether it truly looked like this. It has been taken care of, remodeled. But how much to the extent that it has not absolutely changed?

I may be smiling in the next picture, but I was actually disappointed and mad that some parts of the castle were closed off to the public. What are they? What is there? I believe that there is still an imcomplete story to Louis XIV greatest creation, Versailles. People in charge of Versailles now take care of the castle, for obvious reasons. However, only the extravagant parts of the castle are shown. Why are the servants room not shown? What is there on these prohibited parts of the castle?

Perhaps random but this is me 4 years ago in Nantes buying a baguette which just of the fact that its Nantes I relate it to the Edict of Nantes.

Like any other history, there are endless details and stories that make up that history. What makes up France are endless events and stories. However, I see Louis being a domino effect on what came to be the rest of French history, and a way to reflect what Louis XIV was was through Versailles.

Sources

Vanleene, F., & Lyman-Hager, M. A. (2016). Vers l'unité du royaume de France. In Cours de civilisation française interactif (pp. 73-104). San Diego: Montezuma Publishing.

"The Edict of Nantes." History Today, www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/edict-nantes.

"Louis XIV - Facts & Summary." HISTORY.com, www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv.

[roidespd-blog]

Chapter Twenty-Five : THE EQUALITY ACT

I bet that if you are a french citizen with no instincts to get news from the other side of the Atlantic (other than “Orange Cheeto almost starts war with Iran”), you have no idea what the Equality Act is. Don’t worry, I got it cover for you.

The Equality Act is a bill put together for the U.S. Congress that would put an amendment on the Civil Rights Act and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in areas as varied as education, employment, housing, credit and federal funding. On the contrary to numerous laws acted state by state, the Equality Act protects every Queer Americans from discrimination nationwide.

Why am I talking in the present tense ? I don’t know, because that law hasn’t passed yet. But bish, we close. And it’s been a 45-year fight to get there.

I DREAMED A DREAM

The first Equality Act was conceived in 1974 by Democratic U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug and Ed Koch. Same basics, plus the right to marry — something that was obtained in June 2015. It followed the path of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, theoretically pulling the plug on racial segregations and unequal application of voter registration requirements. Also following in the footsteps of, those of the Gay Liberation Movement that started in 1969 after the Stonewall Riots (That article is going to be lit!). Anyway, a bill was offered to the House Committee which decided not to proceed to a vote in the full House of Representatives.

No more concrete tries were made until 20 years later, in 1994, when a revised version of the law called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was introduced to the House. Not as ambitious as its predecessor, it only focused on the hiring and employment situations of LGBTQ+ people based on sexual orientation by employers with at least 15 employees. Narrow shit. Basically, there were conflicts with the inclusion of transgender people in the bill and it never came to fruition. It was presented in every Congress cycle (two years) from 1994 until this year (except between 2005 and 2007, weirdly). BTW, gender identity was added to the proposal in 2007 only. But as I’ve said earlier in my June 21st article, Bush Jr. wasn’t thrilled to see such laws and was ready to veto the cunt out of it. Another version of the ENDA passed the Senate in 2013 but didn’t survive the House.

As of 2019, The United States is one of the few Western nations not to outlaw anti-LGBT discrimination in employment nationally. Only 21 states and Washington D.C. have comprehensive laws prohibiting discrimination. In the rest of them, you can can fired for being gay, evicted for being trans and starved for being a lesbian. Seems hopeless, doesn’t it ? Well.

YOU LIVE. YOU DIE. YOU LIVE AGAIN.

What a strange time to be interested in American Politics. It seems like everything is Hell and beyond and then you get exciting news like this. I’m getting ahead of myself. As I’ve said, the law was introduced every single cycle of Congress except one for the past 25 years. In 2015, it died in committee. In 2017 well… It died in committee.

On March 13th 2019, Democratic Representative David Cicilline introduced the Equality Act of 2019 in the House of Representatives. The bill was sponsored by a total of 240 Representatives (up from 178 in 2015 and 198 in 2017), including 3 Republicans. On May 1st 2019 and on a vote of 22–10, the bill passed the House Judiciary Committee for the first time ever. By the time the bill was introduced a final time to a full vote, 8 Republicans voted in favor of the bill with absolutely no opposition from Democrats.

Now, it seems that it’s up to the Senate. When the bill was introduced, it was sponsored by 43 Democrats, 2 Independents and 1 Republican.

The Equality Act is supported across the board by non-profit organizations, Medical and Professional Associations, over 180 American Businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and countless celebrities.

TAYLOR SWIFT.

I shouldn’t even have to say anything else to convince you. TAYLOR MOTHERFUCKIN SWIFT is supporting the bill and PROMOTING it at the end of her newest music video, You Need to Calm Down (#2 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100) That alone should be a done deal. LISTEN TO HER ! RESPECT. HER. AUTHORITY !

“Shade never made anybody less gay so Oh-Oh (Oh-Oh) Oh-Oh (Oh-Oh) Oh-Oh… You need to calm down… You’re being too loud.. And I’m just like Oh-Oh (Oh-Oh) Oh…” Oops. Sorry. Where was I ? Allies ? Yes. Well, I’ve covered most of them.

SAURON’S ARMY (CUE THE HORN AND VIOLON MUSIC)

You know where this is going. Who hates the Queers more ? Straight women. No, kidding. Jesus Freaks (here we go again)

Numerous religious leaders oppose the bill for multiple reasons, first and foremost claims that it will infringe on religious liberties.

I’ll give you a fine example if there isn’t one. In July 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins visited a bakery named Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado. The were looking for the perfect wedding cake, you see. Well, Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeship, refused to provide a cake for the special occasion. The baker said his Christian faith forbids him to make wedding cakes for gay couples and he used his First Amendment right that guarantees free speech and religious exercise in his life and business. Craig and Mullins filed a complaint and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found the baker in clear violation of the anti-discrimination law that is still implemented in this particular state. Then Jack Phillips, on the advice of his lawyer, decided that his cake making business was more on the lines of artistic expression and not directly business-related and the case went straight to the Supreme Court. Well, fuck my drag, right ?

In July 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the baker, 7–2. Phillips’ first amendment right was protected but Craig and Mullins’ discrimination case was left unpunished. Although the court did not address the wider principle of whether businesses can refuse to serve gay people, it is clear that sooner or later, a case will come into their hands and might change for the worst the fate of Queer people in the United States. What you need to know in this situation is that the entire judicial system is being shaped by Donald Trump at the moment (and by that bitch Mitch McConnell). Since he took office, he was able to appoint two new justices to the Supreme Court. Neil Gorsuch became a member of the Court after the death of Justice Scalia — thanks to Bitch McConnell who blocked every Obama appointee until he left office) while the terrible, horrible, no good for nothing Brett Kavanaugh was appointed in 2017 to replace Justice Kennedy, even after the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford in the case of sexual assault in front of a Senate Judiciary Committee. Justices are appointed for life. Clarence Thomas has been there since 1991. Goddess Ruth Bader Ginsburg since 1993. Right now, there’s a 5–4 conservative force on the Court. If Ginsburg dies while Trump is still President, the Equality Act might never see the light of day. Bye bye to Roe v Wade as well.

I digress a bit. I was talking about Jesus freaks (who are supporting Donald Trump.. ENOUGH, ALEX. ENOUGH).

The American Family Association published an April 2019 article written by fundamentalist and social commentator Bryan Fischer denouncing the Equality Act, describing the bill as the “Homosexual Supremacy Act” and writing that discrimination against the Queer community is a “social good” and “what public policy is all about”. Here’s a fuller statement :

“There is no equality in this bill for anyone who believes that homosexuality is non-normative sexual behavior and something that should not be promoted, subsidized and celebrated, especially in our schools (…). Children will be condemned to the psychological torment of this dissonance until the day they commit suicide… which 41% of transgenders do.” Let’s just not vote and elect Bryan Fischer as this year’s Asshole Supreme, kay ? Done. Fuck off, now.

I could keep going with examples of oppositions from religious groups (The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints, Conference of Catholic Bishops, that cunt Cindy Jacobs etc, etc), the point is as with France, the separation of Church and State in the United States of America is only theoretical. Yes, not everyone is governed by their religious beliefs. But that minority is so strong it is able to oppress the rest of the population just by sheer conviction and impressive lobbying. Fucking Jesus Freaks.

WHAT… NOW ?

Now that the Equality Act passed the House, it is still waiting to be brought up for a vote in the Senate where Majority Leader Bitch McConnell is King and the King considers the Senate as a “graveyard for progressive measures”. That’s where we’re at. Blocked by a man with no chin and way too much cheekbones. The Republicans control the Senate and there’s not much Americans can do about it. 

A poll from Reuters/Ipsos revealed that 45% of respondents incorrectly believed that federal protections for Queer people in America was already in place. Another poll from Gallup put the beliefs for new legislation at 53%.

As an American citizen (and I am not so I’m fucking powerless), there’s not much you can do but :

Sign a petition, either Taylor Swift’s on Change.org (close to 400,000 signatures have been collected as of the writing of the article) or the Human Rights Campaign petition. I signed them both and shared it on my social media. Go do that too.

Call your representatives, especially if they’re Republicans. E-mail your Senators. Lobby hard. Pressure is key to success. Politicians are worst sissies than Zaza.

Come November 2020, do not vote for Orange Cheeto. That’s ludicrous behavior, on the verge of self-sadistic.

All that to say to non-American readers, U.S politics is compelling. It’s a shit show like no other, but at least keep an eye on this Equality Act. I have atheist faith in it. Which is rational hopes on a brighter future.

“Oh Oh (Oh Oh) Oh Oh (Oh Oh) You need to just stop, Can you just not stepping on our gowns You need to calm down” - Taylor Swift, 2019.

[backroadblues]

June 4th, 2017 - Heidelberg, Germany Elisa and I both slept well tonight. We didn't have anything specific on the agenda today other than making sure we got into Heidelberg by around 12:00 noon so we could meet with one of Elisa's long lost High School friends - Terri Rooney and her husband Gary Fowler. Elisa and Terri had lost touch with one another in about 1979 or 1980. Both she and Terri were moving to different locations and they simply fell out of touch. When we began planning on our trip to Europe, for some reason her friend Terri popped into her head and although she had searched for her many times on the internet, Facebook, etc. all her searches came up empty. This is largely due to the facts that Rooney is such a common name and all of her searches would be overwhelming. Nevertheless, something was urging her to do another search. This time she searched while adding another piece of information that she remembered about Terri and that is that she was in the Navy at one point in her life. This time the search produced some new results - Elisa was led to a webpage on Bank of America's website. The page was celebrating its employees who were U.S. Military Veterans. Lo and behold, up pops a faded photo of her friend Terri, from when she was in the Navy. The page indicated that Terri was now a Sr. Vice President with BofA and working in......wait for it.....Germany of all places. It is so strange, that Elisa got the premonition to do another search prior to our taking a vacation to Italy and Germany. (Cue eerie music). How wierd. So now we at least knew that in 2014, when the webpage was created her friend Terri was working for BofA in Germany, managing banking operations for US military bases. Now the problem was to figure out how to get connected. It just so happens that our daughter Krista's fiancé's mother Connie also works for BofA. So Elisa gets in touch with her, and Connie explains that there are strict rules at BofA that prohibit her from distributing personal information about other employees - totally understandable. However, Connie is able to use the information to find a LinkedIn page for Terri. Bingo, Elisa is able to use that to message Terri. Our only concern is that if Terri is like us, we don't look at our Linkedin messages that often. We are in luck and within a week or two, Terri responds and the two are reconnected - after some 37 years. The two catch up via email on each other's life story and plans are made to meet when we are near the Frankfurt area. How exciting. So, today is that day, when the two will finally see one another again and Elisa is filled with anticipation. We get up around 6:30 am, we take our time getting ready and eating some breakfast. I'm busy reading the news and at 8:30 she says let's get going. We aren't scheduled to meet with Terri and Gary until 12:00 in Heidelberg. So, we decide that we will go early so we can visit the Heidelberg castle before we get together with them at noon. We leave the house by a little before 9:00 and we are headed up the hill to find parking near the castle by around 10:00. Most people park down in the Altstadt and take the funicular train up the hill to the castle. We opted to search for parking up near the castle entrance since it is near opening time. We are in luck, we find a great parking space (thank you Minerva) right near the entrance - and it is a free parking spot. The castle sits about 300' above the city of Heidelberg, and as we make our way into the grounds we are taking photos along the way. We pay for our admission and pick up an audio guided tour of the grounds. The castle is really amazing. They are largely in ruins, but great efforts have been made starting back in the late 1700's to preserve the ruins as opposed to reconstructing them. Some items, such as some of the statuary are remade to create an accurate historical record of the castle. Construction of the castle was commenced around around the late 1100's. It was periodically destroyed by fire and war but rebuilt. By the 1600's the then Kings made very elaborate additions to the castle. However by the early 1700's the castle would again be destroyed by the French who had taken it in the "Nine Days War". Which came after the Thirty Years War. I'm going to have to study up on the history...all these wars seem to have to do with the feudal system that emerged in Germany where you had a bunch of rich guys holding rule over people in an area and a political struggle that emerged between the Holy Roman Empire and the Palatine rulers - oh and then throw in hostilities from neighboring countries from time to time. Anyhow, this time the French really did a number on the castle, they exploded the powder magazine which blew one of the huge stone towers completely in half. They then set a number of fires. There are stories though that suggest that one of the French general that was leaving told the villiage towns people to light fires so the smoke from their fireplaces would make it appear that the castle fires were larger then they really were. Supposedly, the General wanted to leave enough to the beautiful and might castle behind for the sake of history. This time, the castle would never be rebuilt, however by the later 1700's efforts were made to preserve the ruins and it would become a visiting ground for philosophers and writers of the day - including Johan Von Goethe the famous German statesman and writer/philosopher. Our tour of the castle was really interesting. We got to see the mighty giant wine barrel. One was original and it was the "tithe barrel", where growers and wine makers that served the lord of the castle would have to bring 1/10th of their harvest to be turned into wine and poured into the great barrel. This thing is huge and lore indicates that it was only filled 3 times in its existence - by the way the wine wasn't very good. In the 1800's an even larger barrel was built to celebrate the church. That barrel was never filled with wine - its a good thing because it is the size of a small house. There was also a "traveling exhibit" at the castle that detailed the history of the "Apoteke" or pharmacy. This too was very interesting. It provided educational details on the history of medicine making. There were recipes using different types of plants to cure various maladies that date back to 120BC. The ancient Greeks began accumulating these recipes from faraway lands in Africa and Arabia. The Romans would enslave Greeks to be the modern day equivalent of doctors for the Roman Empire. Marcus Aurelius would endeavor to create the first collective library of medicin making and the collection of the plants and other natural materials that would go not these locations. The science would continue - there would be setback in the early ages - when religious fervor would look down on man made cures. However, by the 1500's the pharmaceutical business was back in business. The museum included private collections of entire "drug stores" of different time periods starting in about the 1500's. It was very interesting and a real highlight. Based on my web research, this exhibit has been here for some time. By the time we were done, we notice it is going on 11:30 and we needed to find our way down the hill to get to the restaurant where we would be meeting Terri and Gary. Unfortunately, our internet connection is down on our phone and we can't get the map coordinates for GPS plugged in. After heading blindly down the hill we make several wrong turns but finally we have a good enough connection to get the GPS working again - and none too soon because we were already attracting a toot of a couple of horns based on my meandering the streets of Heidelberg. We make our way over the Rhein River and find the meeting point, but there is no parking. We find a spot a few blocks away (thank you Minerva) and we head over there. The two spot one another while we are still about 100 yards away. We all rush together and hugs are exchanges and tears are falling - the two are so happy. Gary and I shake hands and get to know one another as well. The plan is for us to take a short hike on the Philosophers Way in Heidelberg. This paved walking trail was a favorite hangout for the famous philosophers and writers of the day - back in the 1800's. We can understand why, after you make the steep up-hill hike, the views are wonderful. At the summit we have a commanding view of the Rhein River, "Old" Heidelberg, the cathedral and of course the castle. It really is breathtaking. The forecast included rain, and it was cool and rainy when we left the house, but by the time we are making our way up the hill the clouds parted - a little bit - and the rain stopped. (Thank you Minerva). This is the Germany I remember from when I lived here - the days of blue skies and warm weather were far and few between. The hike is about 2-1/2 miles and it take us up a steep hill for about 3/4 of a mile, the next 3/4 of a mile is a flat to gentle uphill slope and next 1/4 mile is pretty steep downhill and the last 3/4 is flat and takes you along the riverside and leads us back to our restaurant - River Cafe. By now, it is around 1:45 and we are ready for lunch. Gary and Terri had held their annual Cinco-de-Mayo party the night before - it was delayed due to Gary being back in the States in May. Their German neighbors love and look forward to it every year. Apparently the Germans love Mexican food. Who would of thunk it. So, we are glad that they could make the trip down to Heidelberg to meet us. The restaurant is small and cozy and has a menu that leans a little Italian and little French. Elisa decides to go light and orders a shrimp and avocado salad - (we have been missing avocados). Terri and Gary also get a salad - Gary has Caesar with Chicken and Terri one with goat cheese. I opt for some sautéed veal steams with fingerling potatoes wrapped in crispy bacon. I have to say that the Germans do potatos very well, there potatos have a unique, almost sweet tast to them. I also order some grilled vegetables for Elisa and I to share. I wash mine down with a great .5 liter of blond pilsner beer - delicious. The food is great and we all enjoy it. We dine at a leisurely pace, and the restaurant does not mind. After eating we stay another couple hours catching up and filling each other in on our lives, kids, likes, dislikes, etc. Before you know it, it is going on 5:30 - talk about a leisurely lunch. We loved it and had a great time. Before parting, Terri and Gary give us a great suggestion to catch one of the Rhein River boats in Mainz and to make our way slowly up the Rhein to Koblenz. We can hop on and off the boats that run regularly up the river. We'll spend about 5 hours doing that tomorrow and hopefully make our way to a castle here and there along the way up. Then we will stop by Terri and Gary's place on the way back from Mainz and have dinner and some Karaoke at their place. It turns out they met each other and fell in love singing karaoke 25 years ago. Elisa's eyes light up - she has found kindered spirits because she too loves karaoke. Unfortunately, my talents in this area are non-existent but I make a great and enthusiastic audience. I'm looking forward to it as well. So that is all for today. our step count was at about 12000 steps or 6 miles. Not a bad day. Aufwiedersehen for now!

[thestagthatlovedthewolf]

Tagged by @house-arya :) Thank you so much for the tag :D Also thank you to @atimeofwhichwehavenoknowledge​ :)

-> What made you sign up to Tumblr? wanting to be more invloved in the FRIENDS and Scream movies fandom

-> What did your blog start off as being? always a fandom blog, like I said it started with FRIENDS and Scream

-> Have you ever received any creepy asks, and if so, what did they say? no, I don’t think so...

-> Have you ever had a bad experience on tumblr? no, I don’t think soo...

-> If you had to pick a favourite English monarch, who would you pick? Henry VIII - years ago I started reading about him, and since then I’ve been really interested in his life

-> Do you prefer hot or cold? cold - I can always put on another sweater or jacket, while I can’t and don’t want to walk around naked

-> Do you have a special skill or talent? I don’t think so...

-> Do you have a phobia of anything? death

-> If you had to pick a favourite real life villain from history, who would you pick? I have no idea. I don’t usually like villains, even less when they are real. Maybe most of the socialists/communists during the ‘Estado Novo’ in Portugal, they were seen as villains, but they gave us democracy again... or maybe Martin Luther (and other protestants leaders) - he was seen as a villain of the church - but I’m glad they opened talks about Christianity again, I’m not religious but I like that period of story... Really none of these figures are still seen as villains, I think, they were only villains in their time

-> Do you have any dark traits? I don’t think so

-> If you could do anything, literally anything, like fly on a unicorn or something, what would it be? anything...  maybe travel, read whatever I want, study history, actual walk through the classical ruins in Italy and Greece

-> What is the scale of the worst argument you’ve ever had? bad. I try to not get mad, so I hold up stuff in, and then I explode... so probably bad...

-> What is your favourite slush flavour? I don’t really drink slushies... but maybe strawberry

-> If you could bring back any food or drink from your childhood that has been discontinued, what would it be? I don’t remember many things that have been discontinued, but this weekend I was talking about pez - those have been discontinued, at least here. Also chocolate cigarettes - they were prohibited when I was like 6 or 7, but I think I saw some last year or something

-> What is your favourite and most vivid childhood memory? I don’t know... I luckily have many happy memories, but I always love the memories of  playing with my cousins

-> If you could bring anyone back from the dead who would it be? I don’t know... bringing someone from the dead can be so dangerous so I don’t know

-> If you could go back to any time period and live there for a week, which period would it be and why? If I have to stay in Portugal, during Roman occupation. If not Greece, during the 5th century b.C.

-> If you could visit any abandoned place to take pictures, where would it be? ancient ruins, during the day. I’m not going to abandoned places at night...

> Do you have any particular, peculiar interests? no, I don’t think so... pretty normal interests

-> Do you have a creepy/scary experience that has happened to you, and what was it? not really scary/creepy thing... I think... I may have blocked it out

-> Do you like/read creepypasta stories? If so, what’s your favourite story? no, I really don’t like to read that type of stuff

-> If you were in the Wars of the Roses, would you be a Lancastrian, or a Yorkist? maybe Lancastrian, mostly because it starts the Tudor dynasty

-> What is your recurring nightmare? I don’t really have recurring nightmares, but they are all around kidnapping, deaths, and stuff like that, but I normally can pull myself out of it, with having characters I like saving me or whoever is being hurt (I remember when I was 11/12 having Peter Pan and the Disney Princess saving me from being kidnapped in a parking lot, it’s not really the Princess saving me anymore, but it’s similar). The only recurring nightmare I remember was from when I was 4 or 5, I dreamed quite often of a witch and a crocodile tying my pre-school teacher to a rocket and sending her to space...

-> Have you ever had a lucid dream? I don’t think so, unless this thing about working good characters into my nightmares...

-> If you could go to another planet, which would it be? any of them, Uranus. It had been my favorite planet since I was a kid, because I’ve always LOVED Haruka (Sailor Uranus)

->What is your religion, if any? None

-> Have you ever got so drunk, that you did something really embarrassing, and if so, what did you do? no, I don’t drink often. And when I do, it’s just a glass with a meal

-> Mike, Dustin, Lucas, or Will? Dustin or Lucas -  I’m always changing my mind about the two

-> Do you like Marina and the Diamonds? the name was familiar from the radio, but I had to check the songs. And yeah, I think I like it...

-> Charli XCX? this one I have never heard about

-> Tag a blog that you’ve seen, and you love their posts, but have never told them, and would like to talk to them. I don’t know... I follow so many people, and I feel like the blogs I really love and check very often, the people know because I’ve probably liked or reblogged aalmost every post. But I’ll give a shout out to a blog I just followed last week and really liked - @lovelunarchron - which led me to fanfic and it’s related to The Lunar Chronicles, so a lot of fun!!!

-> Pick one thing you like/love from the 80s. STAR WARS!!!!

-> What year were you born, and name something cool from that year. 1996. A Game of Thrones!! It came out in the same month as I was born. The book in the beginning of August, and me at the end

-> What was your blog name originally? (If you had another blog name) veridissima. The name I use for everything else

-> Do you follow any blogs that you know the user in real life? Yeah, a few friends from high school and middle school, but none are really fandom blogs, mostly music and pretty pictures, so I few of them have unfollowed me by now. And the other day when I met with two of my friends that created their tumblr around the time I did (they created it a bit earlier), and they really come here anymore

-> If you are in the ST fandom, which is your favourite song off the ST soundtrack? what is ST? I was thinking it was Star Trek, but the soundtrack thing makes me confused...But I’m not in the Star Trek fandom, so I wouldn’t answer this either way. EDIT: Wait... is it Stranger Things? If yes, I do LOVE the entire soundtrack, but I really like the main theme 

-> Finally, give your opinion on the person who tagged you! ✨ You’re AWESOME!!! And such a GREAT addition to the Gendrya family!!!

Tagging: @xv12, @indigoraysoflight, @cloudsinmycoffee9, @clevercloudpoetry, @myownsuperintendent, @sandyd94, @justwinginoverthings, @starkfish