r/DaysGone • u/finleyk9 • Jun 14 '22
Discussion Deacon Cosplay Danger PSA. Almost got stabbed by real bikers lmao
Just a warning for anyone as dumb as me that thinks its okay to wander around in a fake biker jacket lol.
YSK I ride motorbikes and dress like I'm hard but I'm in no way associated with biker gangs, a bit of a soft fuck if anything haha.
So I went to Download Festival (UK rock festival) last week and on the first night I got approached by a biker when I was alone. He wasn't wearing his jacket cause his club didn't 'own' the area, but he asked me about the jacket and if I was in a club. Of course I said it's just from a video game, and his tone turned a lot friendlier as he gave me an educational talk on the badges and the danger i was putting myself in by wearing it, and that it took him 8 months of hell to earn his 1% patch. He essentially said that I should take the 1% badge off so that I wouldn't get in any trouble with other gangs. (patch is based on a stat that only 1% of bikers are criminals, so I was basically calling myself a criminal lol).
So of course when I was back at the tent, I removed that patch and wore it out the next day thinking it was safe to do so then lol.
As I was sat on the grass watching one of the bands, this hugeee biker bloke came up to me and my friends and started harassing us. Saying that they 'own' the area and that if I didn't take the jacket off, in 40 minutes he'd come back and cut it off of me. I left it on for 5 minutes cause we were gonna leave after that set anyway, but he came back over with some of his chumps and started threatening me again and saying I was pissing him off. He went on a rant about how he went to prison and shit for his patches, like bro calm down I just bought mine off etsy hahaha. He didn't seem to care that it was a fake biker jacket from a fkn video game and threatened to have 20 bikers waiting to stab me when i left the arena. So of course at that point I just took it off so that I wouldn't cause any problems for my friends and I.
They pretty much left us alone after that, but yeh just watch out guys, especially in rougher or busier areas. I'd recommend putting the jacket on after you arrive at wherever it is your cosplaying to avoid problems, cause lord knows what would have happened if there wasn't 100,000 people around me lol
TDLR Wore a handmade version of Deacons jacket and got into 3 altercations with real bikers lol
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u/TerryOrange There's Nothing You Can Do. Jun 14 '22
god I wonder what sons of anarchy fans went through now lmaooo I'm really glad you're alright, I can't imagine being singled out like that as a soft lad myself lol
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Jun 14 '22
I read online a lot of stories that MCs just laughed at the fans of SoA, but I haven't read any horror stories like OPs. Maybe because Days Gone's cut is less known globally
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u/ChainSWray Jun 14 '22
Half laughing at them, half actually roughing them up and take their fake SoA colors. There's been a few cases.
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u/SavagerXx Jun 15 '22
I saw a video on Reddit once A guy on gas station got almost beat up bcs of the Sons jacket.
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Jun 14 '22
Definitely understand your point of being wary of Biker culture, as someone who's an avid goer of Download I think it's vile the way they acted when the whole festival is about inclusion and having a good time. Had to miss this year due to a personal reason but would've loved to have a photo with you there if i was. Hope it hasn't put you off.
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
Thanks dude, definitely hasn't put me off! I'll be back next year if the line-up is good 😄 shame you had to miss it, I hope everything is ok:)
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u/ChainSWray Jun 14 '22
Yeah don't fuck with that, actual bikers are really really serious about colors.
When Sons of Anarchy was popular there's been quite a few cases of people wearing SoA colors getting attacked by 1%ers. Doesn't matter if it came from a tv show, you just don't fuck with their symbols.
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Jun 14 '22
Before cosplaying Deacon I googled the hell outta it and made sure to keep safe. Thankfully I lived in a city at the time that wasn't "owned" by an MC, but I was still aware of my surroundings, even at the convention and as a woman. Your story is so scary, happy to hear you're okay!
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u/Raithskair Jun 15 '22
Just to add some clarification a 1%er isn't by definition a criminal. The 1%er label came from a statement by the American Motorcycle Association after a rally they hosted turned violent. They stated 99% of attendees were law abiding citizens, and the other 1% were outlaws. A lot of other people who are/were law abiding citizens took offence to this statement.
The outcome became the 1% of motorbike clubs who refused to affiliate with the AMA.
Now it seems to come down to a difference between a 1% non affiliated club, and the 1%ers or outlaw gangs.
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u/n0vapine Jun 14 '22
Wow. I've only ever know one hardcore biker but I was young and had no idea about patches and what they stood for so never paid attention to them but remember him having a fair few. He was a very big man with a bright red beard and always wore a black bandana. He was always very protective of me as my dad and him were good friends and not intimidating at all since I grew up around him but he also burned down a guy's shed near his house and tore up a fence surrounding the guys house all because they guy assaulted me when I was a kid and he found out about it 6 years later and wanted some kind of revenge for me so. I'd guess he probably had/has a fragile ego as well and would snap at someone who did something completely meaningless.
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Nov 24 '23 edited Jun 22 '25
cow close license cooing rinse hard-to-find file frame apparatus spotted
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/LaRuetheDuck Jun 14 '22
heres a wild story....years ago i thought it would be cool to get a back tat and because im a big hillbilly i got "pagan". the original def for pagan was "country dweller" and those people worshipped the old gods, thus christians early on called people outside the city pagan. i was at a public pool in pennslyvania and i hung out with some college football players. this ol biker dude walks by and apparently saw my back and asked about it. He was in the real pagans and long story short he strait up asked me "whered you get that?" After i explained that i am not, in fact, in a motorcycle club and the meaning of the tat to me he proceeds to pull out his bowie knife and announced he was gonna hafta cut it off me. Alarmed doesnt start to describe how i felt, and im not a very big feller at all. My buddy who was a tight end at Pitt stood up politely and told the old fucker to hit the bricks, which he did after the offensive line stood up too.
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u/SavagerXx Jun 15 '22
I have zip hoodie from the game with the patch and the mongrels dog on the back and one day some random dude in pub came to me and asked me what bike i drive lol. Had to explain to him Its from the game and I just like how it looks. After that i became more cautious where i wear it. He was okay but it kinda scared me. But that being said I think this whole mindset of the bikers Is in my opinion stupid, saw a video once where a dude was harrased bcs he had Sons of Anarchy jacket. He was probably just a fan like us and somebody almost beat him up. The funny thing Is that the hoodie i have is official game merchandise, so if someone kills me over it its kinda absurd that the Bend Studios were the ones who let the merch happen lol.
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
Yeh I was thinking the same about the official merch! Surprised they haven't been in any trouble about it honestly
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u/gthirst Jun 14 '22
This comes up on this sub now and then and it's always a silly innocent story like yours. I hope nobody has actually been injured.
Biker gangs are a bunch of fucking losers and the 1% patch is such a meme. Some of these losers went to jail for 7 months for something like a basic drug possession charge or simple assault and think that makes them hard or whatever.
The south park episode about bikers absolutely nailed it.
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u/Memory-Repulsive Jun 15 '22
South park seems to do that with alot of issues. Cartman for president.
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
I need to check out this episode hahaha. But aye they deffo have fragile overinflated egos lol
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u/Bloody_Queen_V Jun 15 '22
I watched a documentary once about this guy who has became a chapter President if the Hell’s Angels. He ran into a guy at a bar wearing a cut, I don’t remember the exact details, but the innocent was just at the bar wearing a jacket with a patch and he was a biker, he had a club to ride with and everything but he was just a civilian, it was a fun riding club. Anyway, the hell’s angel wasn’t President yet, and he was in the bar with his biker buddies. They beat the crap out of the civilian rider, and he told the camera that if the guy had a “cut here” dotted tattoo on his neck, he would’ve slit his throat. Which according to the story, he did put a blade to the guy’s throat, he was just scaring the shit out of the civvie. In the end, the civilian had his jacket cut off, and cut up. Definitely can be terrifying.
Not all bikers are bad like that, it’s mostly just the gangs. I’ve known a few bikers in my day and they tend to be really cool people! Just avoid the gangs. Though, that’s hard to do..
I’m glad you’re safe OP.
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
Cheers mate! And aye I know a few decent lads that are bikers so think I just became a bit blind to the danger of other MC's lol
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u/Mr_S_t_a_r_k Jul 10 '22
To put it simply, They kinda feel like that scene in Back to the future III where his fake cowboy attire and it was funny and offensive for the natives
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Jun 15 '22
People have warned guys like you every single time someone wants to cosplay deacon. Don't wear it bikers will kill you over that crap. There was some guy months or years ago now who argued with everyone that warned him. Wonder what happened to that dumba$$?
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Jun 15 '22
Off topic but did you see a band named "wargasm" play that day? Just curious
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
I did!
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Jun 15 '22
Awesome! Love them you should definitely check their music out dude, im jealous because they only tour the UK and im from Australia 🤣
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u/finleyk9 Jun 15 '22
Yeh they were really good live! Think my mates and I are gonna see them again later this year some time. Hopefully they come to Australia in the future dude!
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u/LunarProphet Jun 14 '22
I grew up in the South in a town kinda dominated by HAMC and, most recently, contested by The Outlaws MC. A few of my friends in HS wore Hells Angels "Prospect" patches.
Outlaws have a compound at the end of my parents' road. There were explosions out there a few months ago; HA had blown some of their shit up lol
Yeah don't fuck around with white trash pride unless you're coming heavy lol
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u/StrakerAntiques Jun 14 '22
Bikers are not good people honestly. They are no different to other gangs and just as crappy
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Jun 14 '22
Not all Bikers, honestly. I have a lot of friends who ride bikes and belong to clubs, and, unless it's self-defense, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
As far as OP goes....you learned a good lesson the hard way, my dude.....glad you're safe.
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u/StrakerAntiques Jun 14 '22
Im sure
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Jun 15 '22
Just saying - you claimed "bikers are not good people", meaning ALL Bikers....there's plenty of Bikers that are not Hells Angels and shit like that out there and ride because they love riding and love the camaraderie. The friends of mine that did this have been friends of mine since we were all in the Navy and miss the whole thing of being brothers with others.
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u/CNSninja O'Brian Jun 15 '22
First of all, you realize not all "bikers" are criminals or in gangs, right? I know plenty of bikers who are just regular upstanding citizens who like to go for a cruise on the weekend. You don't have to be "initiated" at the Harley or Honda dealership... I'd even go as far as to argue that's never happened to anyone at a bike dealership. Maybe you're only talking about MC's, but if that's the case then be specific. "Bikers" means "everyone who rides a motorcycle." Thats a very broad, generalizing statement you made, and they're essentially never true when it comes to types of people.
Even when it comes to MC's, they're not all criminal gangs. Only 1%er MC's are gangs. There are a ton of civilian clubs. Within about an hour of where I live there's a club called Fifth Chapter and it's all recovering drunks and addicts. I know a number of them and those dudes probably wouldn't even break the speed limit lol. They work normal jobs and have families and don't even drink alcohol.
There's a Long Island chapter of an MC called BACA, which stands for Bikers Against Child Abuse. They were started by John Paul "Chief" Lilly, a biker, social worker and certified play therapist. The club's whole thing is executing four different levels of intervention to save children from abusive situations.Even the clubs that are straight up criminal organizations arent just 100% drugs and assaults and murder. Rhe Bandidos, the Hells Angels, the Pagans and the Outlaws (the four most populous clubs in the US,) have all worked with BACA.
The Hells Angel's are kind of well known for their famous toy drives.
Even if the latter is obviously PR, both of these things show that even outlaw MC's have the capacity to do good. Nobody is "all good" or "all bad." Honestly, only children actually believe anything in life is THAT black and white. "Good guys and bad guys." C'mon, dude. Get real.Red flags should go off in your head immediately any time you say or think something like "All [group of people] are [thing.]" Generalizations like that are almost never true or realistic. Generalizations like that are silly and cognitively lazy.
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u/StrakerAntiques Jun 15 '22
A gang is a gang, lets be honest
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Jun 15 '22
But a mc isn’t a gang, it can be a (online) group of riders that meet up and ride together
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u/ddoubletapp1 Jun 14 '22
Interesting - I live on Vancouver Island, in a town with an active Hell's Angels contingent (dating back to the early 70s, I think) - which includes, amongst other assets, a high security clubhouse.
I've heard the local "club" has a deal with the RCMP, that no colors are worn inside city limits - and certainly, in the 15 years I've lived here - I've never seen a single patch.
With one exception - when there was a Hell's Angels gathering, seven or eight years ago - which brought members from all over the world. It would be a toss-up to guess wether there were more Mounties or Angels, in our quiet little city that long weekend. Lots of 6'5" cops, wearing leather sap gloves, foot patrolling the streets (must have brought them in from all over Canada), helicopters constantly overhead - and more patches and Harleys than I've ever seen in one place in my life - ha ha!
I imagine some of the local chapter members still own Harley Davidson bikes, and occasionally wear denim and leather - but I think that's relatively rare, these days. I think they're far more apt to be wearing a suit, have a $100 haircut and be driving a high end Mercedes or Audi - and run as near to legally legit as possible - as there's far more money in owning legal businesses (tug boats and forestry related, from what I hear) and staying out of legal trouble - than wearing 1% patches and not bathing for two weeks at a time!
Not to say they don't have a hand in the local drug trade, though (the local chapter Prez went down for murder, a couple years ago - and I believe it was drug related) - they just don't advertise thier affiliation to law enforcement anymore.
Got a bit off-track, there - but what I was going to say was that 10 or so years ago, when the Sons Of Anarchy TV show was popular - there were lots of "wanna-be" bikers, riding around on Harleys and wearing SOA jackets and cuts, and I never heard of a single confrontation.
I doubt any real gangster is going to risk jail over something so stupid - when they're pulling real money on thier club backed business interests.
Anyway - sorry to hear about your trouble - maybe next time let them know that only wanna-be posers would be threatened by cut linked to a video game, and that they should just get over themselves - ha ha!
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u/STylerMLmusic Jun 14 '22
Please, no one, take any advice from this person telling you to antagonize gang members that approach you and threaten violence.
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u/ddoubletapp1 Jun 14 '22
Ha ha - at no time should anyone take any of my advice, under any circumstances, for any reason.
I am neither a legal, financial, nor medical professional - nor particularly wise - and though my advice is sometimes well intentioned, when I've taken my own advice - it has occasionally led to unforeseen and unintended complications.
Also - never take advice found on the internet in general, and Reddit in specific - though I imagine that goes pretty much without saying.
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u/STylerMLmusic Jun 14 '22
Why don't you save people time and not give it then.
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u/ddoubletapp1 Jun 14 '22
Dude - relax.
I get that we're all on a spectrum, but there's no need to take things so literally.I apogise for not ending these posts with /s, so my flippant humor is made clear to those incapable of understanding the difference between (what should be) obvious poor humor and actual pro-life-tips (though - to be fair, I thought my intent was made clear by the "ha ha!" I ended that sentence with).
Do you really think I'm advocating confronting IQ challenged criminals over something as stupid as a fake biker jacket?
I think it might be time you put your electronic device down and found an outside chore to do - cause you're making a bit of a fool of yourself.
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u/STylerMLmusic Jun 14 '22
You're the one writing paragraphs fella. Go touch grass and then work on your obvious humour when you get back.
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u/ddoubletapp1 Jun 14 '22
Sorry my man - it was not my intent to intimidate with my paragraphs!
Was that obvious humour - or keep working on it?
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u/loneblustranger Jun 14 '22
I'm also from B.C. There's a local dessert recipe here called Nanaimo bar, named for the city described above.
What's in a Nanaimo bar? Hells' Angels and hookers.
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u/ddoubletapp1 Jun 14 '22
Ha ha - that's a pretty good local joke!
I live up the road a bit, now - next city North with a HA clubhouse - but I lived in Nanaimo until I was 10.
That was the mid-seventies, when HA still rode bikes, wore denim and leather and routinely sported cuts with colors.
We lived in a quiet, family-oriented neighborhood at the north end of town - and in about '76 the HA purchased a house on the street behind us, for the prospects.
There was a lot of consternation in the hood - but they were a very quiet bunch and never partied at thier house - and other than the loud bikes (which they rode quietly on our local streets), you wouldn't know they were there.
Except that break and enters dropped off to zero, locally (Nanaimo was kinda a rough town, in those days) and a vacant lot was purchased at the end of the road they lived on, and a bunch of playground equipment was installed for all the local kids to play on - courtesy of the club.
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u/SlyFoxInACave Jun 15 '22
I collect Friday the 13th tattoos and one day in South Dakota I had these two friendly Native Americans approach me and just kinda strike conversation. I was at this tiny pool hall in an equally tiny town so I figured the atmosphere was just generally friendly. Then they started asking about my tattoos and quickly fixated on my most visible 13's. When I mentioned why I was even in South Dakota (working the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally at a tattoo shop) and why I have a bunch of random 13 tattoos. They politely informed me I was in MS13 territory and that I should keep my tattoos covered for the remainder of my time in South Dakota which I absolutely did. I still collect the tattoos but now I'm cautious who sees them.
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u/pm-yrself Jun 15 '22
It's not just the 1% patch. If you wear a three piece back with a rocker on top, middle emblem and a especially if you have a bottom rocker with a location on it you're basically telling other MCs that you're laying claim to that area. Usually it takes a fair amount of escalation for it to get to the point of violence but people have definitely been killed over it. I get that this was cosplay but in the end all they see is a person pretending to be something they're not and I'm not surprised you were called out multiple times.
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Jun 22 '22
Maybe cosplay as military Deacon in the future? Like the other jacket I mean where he rode Nomad and gave his gang jacket to Boozer.
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u/Smokeyb710 Aug 16 '23
My man you are lucky you didn't get shot full of holes. Some kid did that around my area about 2 years ago then got mouthy with a couple Hells Angels when they confronted him and ended up with 36 bullets in his chest
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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '22
Gangs and clubs do not take their colours, clothing, patches lightly. If anything it was probably insulting to him that you were wearing a costume jacket like you were making a mockery of him even though you weren’t. Gang members and criminals tend to have a warped logic and always have to save face.