#**interests lourens**

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

What will be your biggest, most exciting "I CALLED IT" if it happens in FHH? (sorry I phrased this bad)

If Lady Hong or someone associated with her had a hand in the madness from TVD. Hands down.

Okay so I'm not sure how long Chloe has been planning on writing FLF, but she chose to name Rosalind Rosalind after the As You Like It character rather than naming her Rosaline after the character from Romeo and Juliet which hints that she may have been planning on writing the spin off since TVD was published. Which makes crazy connections between the plots more likely.

We know that Lady Hong worked at Oxford prior to the events of Foul Lady Fortune. I'm guessing that she started working there a few years prior to 1918 and stopped working there prior to 1926 because it makes sense for Orion to have been sent to London to study since it would've been close to her rather than to Paris with Oliver who was about to finish his studies anyway and she was building Warehouse 34 in 1926 according to The Priest and the Shepherd.

We know that the Dexters allegedly just found the mind control bugs from TVD lying around somewhere in England and just,,, magically knew how to control them and were like ah yes. You know what we should do with this? Imperialism. And while that is period accurate British guy behavior, it doesn't explain how the bugs got there or how the Dexters knew how to use them.

So knowing this, isn't it interesting that Lady Hong was probably working on mind control shit in England around the same time that Paul and Walter just,,, happened to stumble upon weird mind control bugs? Especially given all of the weird scientists who had connections to Lourens who gave Rosalind the immortality strain which is also somehow connected to this and the girls who were brainwashed into committing suicide by clawing out their own throats in LVC.

[reviewsthatburn]

*The linked review contains spoilers for the first three novels in the main series. LAST VIOLENT CALL is a pair of novellas best read after FOUL LADY FORTUNE by Chloe Gong.

[elliepassmore]

Last Violent Call review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: Chloe Gong, These Violent Delights, novellas, fluff, fun stories

These Violent Delights review here

Our Violent Ends review here

Foul Lady Fortune review here I am pleased to announce that I was correct!. I guessed Roma + Juliette were still alive at the end of OVE and felt it was quite obvious in FLF, but it's good to know for certain. Both novellas serve mainly as fun stories to catch fans up on some of their favs from TVD. There's lots of humor and fluff to go around. At the same time, each novella has a plot that directly ties into the goings-on of FLF (and assumedly FHH).

A Foul Thing I absolutely loved seeing Roma and Juliette's dynamic now that they're older and their lives aren't in danger all the time. They still work well together and are madly in love, but they're also able to cherish the peace they've built around themselves. I enjoyed getting to see them being blissfully domestic while still being knife- and gun-wielding business people. This novella also had a lot of humor to it, which I appreciated. It was nice seeing Juliette be the funny one. This novella takes place during FLF and Roma + Juliette's investigation has interesting connections to one Dr. Lourens. This Foul Murder Ben and Marshall are the stars of this one as they get into all sorts of shenanigans while trying to solve a murder. I actually thought the perpetrator was relatively obvious from the beginning, but it's not really the Point. Like A Foul Thing, the main purpose of this novella is to enjoy Ben and Mars being a cute couple while being involved in some low-stakes crime. I liked getting to see the two of them together more and enjoyed the playful, yet cherishing nature of their relationship. This novella takes place after FLF, but I'm a little unclear on whether it takes place before or during FHH, my bet is on during but I guess we'll see. The plot here also relates to Dr. Lourens...but also doesn't. I was decidedly pleased when the reveal happened and I thought it was a nice way of tying things together.

[nvrcmplt]

Talk about being blunt. Uemura looked up from his box of fresh breads. "Oh?" His lazy smirk was tickled by it all. Eyes sweeping over Louren's frame for a quick take in of their beauty. Couldn't say he wasn't heavily interested. This person really just tugged at Uemura's want to bed a few nights a week, no lie about it. But being professional with Marcus and Louren, he didn't try to mention it or make it seem like his bread was a bribe for a tango in the sheets with the frontman at the café. Sliding the box into place and smirking up at the other, he leaned against the surface between them. "Where we could go, doesn't need clothes, in my opinion… but, a little lacy lingerie would be nice to unwrap from those legs."

"Maybe it's about time you stop bringing me gifts and let me take you out on a date." Louren smiled, leaning themselves against the counter as if to entice the other. "I'll even wear something slutty if it makes you happy." Teasing yes but they would wear something mesh and see-through if Uemuraaa asked.

@nvrcmplt wanted something sweet and spicy

[valley-of-the-lost]

Okay, so I’m fresh off of reading These Violent Delights, and until under the cut it’s going to be spoiler-free but it’s all ramble.

Would definitely recommend this book, especially to people who had trouble getting into Romeo and Juliet or haven’t read it since a high school english class. It’s a significantly less strenuous read but nonetheless still full of depth and beauty and the soul of the original tragedy.

BIG spoilers under cut, if you haven’t already please enjoy the book first.

I did manage to loosely predict some things, like that one of the Dexters was probably the Larkspur, and that the Larkspur was the source of the insects.

The Larkspur being the source of the insects and then basically monopolizing the vaccine on it made me wonder if Chloe Gong is maybe a fan of Exoptable Money, Presentable Liberty’s lesser-known prequel. I saw very broad similarities between the plans of Paul Dexter with his insects and Dr. Money with his virus. It was actually those similarities that had me honing in on the Larkspur once he and his cure kept popping up beyond showcasing scammers taking advantage out the outbreak.

That being said, there was still a lot in the book to surprise me, some probably intended by the author and others were just me being slow.

Good twist by author: Qi Ren being the monster. More or less perfectly boils down the backdrop of the book’s setting where white westerners are continuously moving in to colonize Shanghai and either oust or control the Chinese people in their own city. Qi Ren was a victim of a white British guy who thought human suffering was not just acceptable but perfectly fine as long as his pockets were lined. Perfect thematically, really, and speaks to what was going on in Shanghai generally, just with maybe less insects.

That’s some nice, tight writing.

Me being dumb: Not realizing Lourens is Friar Lawrence until Juliette picks up the fake death stuff.

Marshall (for now) dodging the mirror fate of Mercutio gives me hope Roma and Juliette can do the same, though I suspect it might end up along the lines of how the Anastasia Broadway play ended, with them having to fake their deaths and leave Shanghai and change their names to live in peace.

I noticed we still don’t know who the White Flower spy in the Scarlet Gang’s inner circle is. I’m guessing its Rosalind. The book’s been dropping hints that she’s not as close or loyal to Juliette than Kathleen, and honestly while I understand her reasons for being stressed, my opinion of her is hovering low right now for putting Kathleen’s life and identity in danger. I’m also sensing a thread where she’s maybe not got her twin’s best interests in mind considering Juliette was the one who intervened on Kathleen’s behalf regarding Amethyst and Rosalind was willing to leverage Kathleen’s precarious position against her. Which is... something a good sister doesn’t stoop to, but I’m curious to see where it leads.

OOOOOO I WANNA PUNCH TYLER IN THE TEETH OOOO. I hate smugass men with no tact who make situations worse because they’re too narrow-minded. Perfect little shit to crawl under my skin and I hope Juliette becomes his worst nightmare.

Speaking of Juliette and Roma I love them. “Cute” seems to be the wrong word to describe them, considering the “cute” era of their relationship is long over, but they’re pain and longing and they got me invested enough that I want to see them happy together. We got like a blip but that was it. Both of them honestly deserve their own little blurbs but I feel I’m cultivating a Juliette bias.

My copy of Our Violent Ends is waiting for me, but I’ve got an obligation to finish Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor first. But I’m so glad I picked these books up when I was at the bookstore, and in hardcover too. Hoping to get them signed maybe someday.

[percontaion-points]

TVD chapters 4 & 5

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 4

And when Lourens crossed himself, Roma finally realized the unearthliness of what they were dealing with.

Chapter 4 summary: Roma is out at the first crime scene with his cousin, Benedikt, and a random member of the gang, Marshall. He knows that his father sent him out there in order to occupy his time so that daddy can do some actual business… along with the boy he actually wants to be his heir, rather than his own son. 

He tells his friends about his father sending him to get answers from the Scarlets, and about the man killing himself in the middle of the club. However, they’re more curious about how Juliette is back from America than anything. Roma and Juliette used to be friends when they were younger, but now that she’s come back, he feels like the old Juliette is dead. (Which yes. That’s what happens when you don’t see somebody for four years.)

They’re about to give up for the day when they discover a bunch of dead bugs in one of the crates nearby. Then they hear voices and jump into the water to avoid being spotted by a couple of Scarlets. In the water, they find a shoe, and Roma recognizes it as one being worn by the man who had died at the club. (He’d been wearing mismatched shoes, and it struck everybody as being odd.)

They take the bugs to the White Flower’s lab, which is a front for them making drugs to be sold. The scientist there puts some of the bugs into a petri dish, and then lights some of them on fire, even though he says that it shouldn’t have happened. He eventually says that god didn’t make these insects. 

And again, this chapter was so fucking long (14 goddamned pages) but the actual plot probably took up like 4 pages. I’m convinced no actual editor got anywhere near this. 

Chapter 5

“I already told you—” 

Paul smiled. “Can I see you again?” 

Juliette slammed the door shut. “Absolutely not.”

Chapter 5 summary: Juliette sits in her room with her cousins, Kathleen and Rosalind. Juliette is still fuming about Tyler’s shitty behavior earlier. This prompts her to think about how the Scarlets are losing their ground in the gang world… and about how the Chinese are being forced out from their own country by foreigners because the country is too financially wounded following the war. 

A maid comes in, which prompts Juliette to think about how every servant has a month-long stay before being asked to leave (so that nobody can get attached to them). Juliette thinks about how she had a nurse when she was a child. But then somebody (coughCoughTheWhiteFlowers) bombed the house, and nurse died. After that, Juliette was sent away to America for her own safety. 

Anyway, the maid tells Juliette that there’s a visitor for her downstairs, and her parents are out. But as Juliette goes, she’s upset to see her parents are quite clearly at home… they simply don’t want to deal with this guy. 

The man is the son of the wanna-be drug dealer from the night before. He again tries to sell Juliette on partnering with his family to sell drugs, but Juliette is like “as I told your father last night, we’re not interested. Since you’re so intent to go sell your drugs to the White Flowers, go talk to them. Good day. I SAY GOOD DAY.” Before he leaves, the guy tries to ask Juliette if he can see her again, and she’s like “fuck no.” 

[crtalley]

for anyone interested in TGOED details, I now have a whopping total of 40 named characters before even writing a single official word on this draft and my dramatis personae list barely fits on my screen at 50% zoom

the important ones, of course, are: → ophélie lourens de constans → everett mathyse, formerly d'argent et altenwald → alaisine d'argent et corant → sevestre aubelin d'argent → colombe de ruy → renard de constans → margretta altenwald of clarin → andrie martin de fessain → helaire andrion d'argent et fessain → robert vincens d'argent et fessain because robinet makes every list of every important character ever

and then you have the thirty (THIRTY) others, including the dead royals, all of Heliot's siblings, Colombe's and Cate's ladies, some household staff at Grisencourt featuring Alaisine's childhood best friend turned personal physician Lady Tièce, a few more Spicers Decadent, staff and students of the Marshal's Academy that Sevestre maintains in the Grand Palaces, and finally Ophie's overprotective downstairs neighbors who are at least partially responsible for her relative independence after her father's death.

who dies? oh, wouldn't y'all like to know c:

[evanescent-tranquility]

Merge: Power Reveal

I get a lot of questions about what y/n's power was in Merge and was reminded of it recently by @louren-hash so here it is, the little snippet I wrote for it forever ago!

(Name) glanced at her opponent who stood wreathed in fire, a triumphant smirk on his face. She couldn’t blame him, it was an impressive showing, and she now understood why Portgas D. Ace was considered among the strongest of Whitebeard’s sons, and why he’d been so confident coming into this match.

Still she wasn’t without a trump card of her own, and with the audience they’d gathered, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to show off for her allies. Reaching within herself she found the core of her magic. Normally she reduced its’ output to a trickle, however at times like this she flung the doors open wide, embracing her magic and the inner spirit animal.

…~oO*Oo~…

Marco watched with interest as (name) took in Ace’s logia form, and wondered if the match was finally over, that is until he caught a glance of Nami’s face out of the corner of his eye. The Witch Coven’s second in command hadn’t bothered to head back up into the arena stands after her own match, stating her legs were far too sore.

Now he wondered if it was because she wanted to be close to the action, because this was apparently far from over, if the wild, almost feral grin on her face was any indication.

He could feel magic and anticipation rising through the air, and a strange wind began to pick up throughout the stadium. Glancing over he noted none of the Magic belonged to the weather witch, and thus it must be coming from (name). Dark clouds were gathering overhead again, much more ominous than Nami’s had been dark with rumbling thunder.

The anticipation was so high he nearly jumped from his skin, as a wild scream, akin to a hawk or an eagle wrent the air, and (name’s) form disappeared in a flash of golden light shooting upwards. Thunder burst overhead nearly deafening him, as a golden shape flitted in and out among the dark clouds.

Finally the shape dove into view, hovering off the ground in front of Ace. At first he thought it was a streak of lightning, but upon closer inspection, he noted it was a winged shape, the wings spanning almost twenty feet across, it was enormous. As the strange cry echoed again huge branches of lightning tore their way out of the sky, burning deep trenches along the ground accompanied by a clap of thunder so loud the ground shook.

“The fuck is that?” Sabo asked dazedly from where he stood near Nami, his eyes glued on the figure wreathed in lightning.

“That’s (Name),” Nami informed him smugly as thunder continued to rumble overhead, in a never ending roll, “that’s her magic, her spirit animal.”

“She’s a thunderbird,” Marco whispered awed, because of course he recognized her, as a phoenix he’d done his fair share of reading on mythical birds. Never had he ever anticipated meeting another one in real life though.

[aion-rsa]

Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Reframing fairy tales has long been a common subgenre of fantasy fiction and, at the end of 2020, three authors put their own spins on stories (or fairy tale structures) familiar to most Western audiences by incorporating Asian mythology and settings. S. L. Huang combined European fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood with the Chinese tale of Hou Yi the Archer to form a story of redemption, love, and family in Burning Roses. Chloe Gong cast tragic English characters Romeo and Juliette as gangsters in 1920s Shanghai—pitting them against a Lovecraftian monster rising from the depths of the Huangpu River in These Violent Delights. And Nghi Vo continued her Singing Hills cycle, set in a world inspired by Imperial China, with an original story reminiscent of Middle Eastern folktale The Thousand Nights and One Night in the novella When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. While none of these books are intended to be read together, all three make an excellent combination of courses for your literary meal, especially if you’re looking to dive into more fantastical tales written by Asian American authors.

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Fairy tales frequently feature young protagonists, especially young women, in peril. Some are able to evade dire fates through their own wits, while others must be rescued. Readers seldom see what becomes of them in their middle age, but that’s exactly what Huang takes on in her novella, Burning Roses.

Red Riding Hood, here called Rosa, survived the wolf attack that killed her grandmother. The event convinces her of the evil of the grundwirgen, speaking animals whom her grandmother had tried to teach here were just as much people as humans, but whom her mother had raised her to hate. Her mother’s point proven right, she sets off on a quest to rid the world of grundwirgen, teaming up with Goldie (whom she rescued from bears, and whom she later realizes is a thief and a con artist). But by the time readers meet Rosa, she’s left that life long behind, and now accompanies Hou Yi, the famous archer of Chinese lore, on a quest to keep people safe from unthinking monsters. (Hou Yi is traditionally described as male; here she is female, and she complains that Westerners from Rosa’s lands “insist on calling me a man.”)

Hou Yi, like Rosa, has her own demons to slay, and not just the literal ones. As Hou Yi and Rosa fight off a group of sunbirds, nearly dying from the smoke and fire, Hou Yi is confronted by her own past—the apprentice who turned against her. That apprentice is now a sorcerer, and has raised the sunbirds against Hou Yi in a twisted act of revenge.

But of course, it’s not that simple, either. Hou Yi and Rosa both acknowledge their own troubled pasts, and the wrongs they’ve both done, especially to those they love, weigh them down so heavily they almost cannot bear to move. The relationship between these two women, who truly see each other because they recognize a kinship of regret and repentance, is powerful. Without revealing too much in the way of spoilers, the feeling of the novella is that even in the midst of despair, it is possible to hope—especially when someone else can help carry the burden of your past.

Along with nods to Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood, there are additional mentions of Western fairy tales like Puss in Boots and Sleeping Beauty. Hou Yi’s story also closely mirrors the traditional tales, but familiarity with them isn’t required; those who already know the story may catch hints in the story earlier about where the tale will end, but Huang’s use of folklore from both Europe and China is complete within the story, and no additional outside sources are needed to get full enjoyment from the tale.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

What happens when you mix 1920s Shanghai with The Sopranos, Lovecraftian horror, and Romeo and Juliet? With Gong at the helm, the result is a chillingly violent romance that readers may hope, despite the source material, will come to a happy ending.

In These Violent Delights, Juliette and Roma are the heirs to the two gangs of Shanghai, crime families who once controlled the city but are both losing ground as more foreign interests—and communists—rise to power. Juliette Cai is the future leader of the Scarlet Gang, the only remaining Chinese power in the city. Roma Montagov is a White Flower, son of generations of Russians who fled the Bolsheviks, and now in a dangerous predicament as his father has begun to favor another Montagov over his own son as the possible heir. Years ago, Juliette and Roma met in secret, determined to defy their parents, pledging that together they could bring peace and prosperity to Shanghai.

But those years are long past, and now nothing exists between them but hatred—or so each of them claim. They would continue to be solely enemies if not for a contagion sweeping through the city, hitting Scarlets and White Flowers with equal severity, that causes the victims to rip out their own throats. The contagion seems to follow sightings of a monster—a creature that witnesses claim drives people mad. Investigating on their own, they are chasing their own tails. Together, they could be unstoppable…

Before you say that the story isn’t really a fairy tale—it long predated Shakespeare’s play—and while it includes no fairies, the element of the poison that emulates death borders on the supernatural. Gong’s addition of a monster that rises from the river and compels people to suicide brings in enough additional supernatural elements (mixed with a healthy dose of 1920s science) to include it within the genre. At the same time, the novel is just as much a crime drama; the feuding criminal families are vibrantly, violently drawn, and their ruthlessness makes it difficult to consider heroes (even while readers root for Roma and Juliette’s romance).

One of the delights of the story, for those familiar with Shakespeare’s telling of the tale, is watching Gong’s naming conventions give clues to the role the characters play. Lourens, a scientist working with the White Flowers, is an analog to Father Laurence; Benedikt and Marshall are Romeo’s friends Benvolio and Mercutio, while Juliette’s hotheaded cousin Tyler is Tybalt. But though they don’t always play into type (and they have their own motives far beyond the traditional tale), readers will still be waiting for that moment when Tyler and Marshall face off, and Marshall lays a plague on both their houses. That the story, while self contained, leads directly into a subsequent volume will have readers waiting to find out if fair Shanghai will one day see a glooming peace, and whether Roma and Juliette must both be sacrificed to achieve it.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Vo’s novella is the second story featuring scholar-cleric Chih, who collects stories from far off places in order for them to be recorded for the archives at Singing Hills. In Chih’s first story (The Empress of Salt and Fortune), they and their recorder bird, Almost Brilliant, had an adventure; now Almost Brilliant is tending a clutch of eggs, leaving Chich to journey on their own. Luckily, Chich has guide Si-yu, a mammoth corps scout, to lead them through the mountains.

Unluckily, there are three tigers hunting in the mountains, and a lone mammoth and a few humans seem like a tasty meal. Si-yu and her mammoth, Piluk, reach safety, and Chih calls an uneasy truce with the tigers: Chih knows the tale of Ho Thi Thao’s marriage, and they ask the tigers to correct it for Singing Hills. The tigers refuse to tell their version—the true version—but they’re willing to let Chih tell the version they know, and correct the cleric when they get things wrong.

And so Chih tells the story of Ho Thi Thao and her human wife, Scholar Dieu—all the while, during the tale, keeping the hungry tigers from eating the humans. Chih weaves elements of ghosts—and the tigers add fox spirits, correcting the story; Chih gives a version in which human Dieu has most of the agency, and the tigers correct the tale to make Ho Thi Thao the hero. The story always feels very tightly organic to the Singing Hills cycle: the mammoths are a particularly delightful element of the setting, and the talking tigers, who can take the form of humans, feel a true part of the setting once readers (and Si-yu) become accustomed to the idea of conversing with them. In fact, Si-yu often takes the side of the tigers, preferring the details they give the story to Chih’s version.

But while the world is very much its own, the story is very reminiscent of the traditional tale of Scheherezade, who staved off death with her stories night after night. While When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain feels very much a new story, it also feels familiar, the way that being tucked in with a familiar bedtime story might, especially for readers accustomed to bedtime stories with the threat of being eaten by tigers.

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For the two stories with already familiar characters, the Chinese (or Chinese-inspired) settings offer a new perspective for readers less familiar with East Asian mythology, and help readers to see those tales in a new and different light, enhancing the old tales with a new point of view. For the original story, embracing the feel of older tales lends it the feeling of being at once both new and comforting. In all ways, these three tales offer the sense of meeting old friends for the first time—and coming out the other side enriched by the experience.

The post Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2OPnTxF

[maanling]

HC: THE LUPIN FAMILY GENEALOGY.

[ I didn’t think this would get so lengthy so I put most of it under a “read-more”! Please don’t feel obliged to read all of this -- I just felt like rambling about the Lupin family history ]

          The first known records of Remus’s ancestors are from 15th-century Scotland, when muggles Radulph Creich and Rhona Brothaigh wed. Unbeknownst to either of them, Rhona carried magical blood in her veins that did not become apparent until their youngest child Mairi (b. 1489) reached the age of nineteen. 

        Mairi, only just married to Carrick Lippincott, tried her utmost best to hide her powers for two whole years, but was eventually found out by her husband, who tried to have her imprisoned. By then, their family was already expanded with two children, named Greer (1508) and Dunbar (1510), who never saw their mother and were raised by maids.  Carrick, who was nearing his fifties and would be unlikely to find a new wife, hoped that his children could live as ordinary heirs if only he were able to suppress the magic that they possibly got passed on from their mother. However, both son and daughter displayed signs of their powers at the ages of twelve and fourteen, respectively. 

                Greer, like her mother, tried to hide her magic, but Dunbar saw his own potential and wanted to explore his skills and their limits. He travelled a lot, experimenting with spells, and eventually found out about the magical community that existed amongst the ordinary people. Dunbar began attending several courses at Hogwarts at the age of 26, which was not uncommon at that time, and was sorted into Ravenclaw house. Gradually, he became further removed from his father and sister, taking on the surname Lupin as a shortened version of Lippincott to ensure he would no longer be associated with the muggle name.  In 1540, he married Florence Fawley (b. 1520), an early ancestor of the Fawley pure-blood wizarding family, and moved to Glasgow. 

                        Florence and Dunbar got a total of seven children: Hilda (1542, Ravenclaw), Agnes (1545, Hufflepuff), Symon (1547, Ravenclaw), Gaufrid (1548, Ravenclaw), Morogh (1553, Gryffindor), Jonet (1555, Gryffindor) and Lycidas (1559, Ravenclaw). Morogh Lupin lived together with several Gryffindor friends after graduating, including a woman named Mariella Carmichael with whom he fell in love and had a son, Coire (1585). Although he never married Mariella, Morogh openly acknowledged his son and gave him his surname. 

     Coire Lupin, sorted into Ravenclaw like many of his aunts and uncles, became renown for his elaborate theories on arithmancy, even teaching the subject at Hogwarts for two years. He married a Dutch witch named Antonia and lived in the low countries for several decades before moving back to his family home in Glasgow in 1621. The pair had five children on the continent: Lourens (1610, Slytherin), Dierdre (1611, Ravenclaw), Angus (1613, Ravenclaw), Lyall (1615, Ravenclaw) (not to be confused with his later relative), and Alida (1618, Ravenclaw). Their move back to Scotland had been partly because of the unrest caused by the muggle Eighty Years' War, but also because their eldest son was to attend Hogwarts. 

                                   Lourens Lupin showed no interest in his father’s field of study, but was rather fascinated by darker forces and ways to counteract them. This interest led to his untimely demise in 1637, when he interrupted a druidic ritual involving black magic and was killed on the spot. Lourens left his modest estate in Glasgow to his wife Elspeth and their three children Lourens II (1630, Slytherin), Finnea (1633, Gryffindor), and Ranulf (1637, Slytherin).

             Ranulf Lupin lived quite a solitary life with his wife Nairne, who sold potions for a living on the local market or to the occasional traveller. Their wish for children lasted many years but was not fulfilled until they attempted a fertility ritual, and were finally blessed with twins in 1685. Rafe and Laire (both Gryffindor) were eager and adventurous, yet their frail health prevented them from doing many energy-draining activities. Rafe passed away aged 20 due to a flying incident and a pregnant Laire was abandoned by a man who had promised to marry her. Ranulf, a proud man, did not recognize her son Eachan (1707) as his grandchild until he was on his deathbed.

        Despite trouble with her parents, Laire loved and protected Eachan and ensured he never had to wish for anything. The shy boy was sorted into Ravenclaw and proved an apt yet quiet pupil. After graduation, he married Isobel MacLennan, the daughter of a renown bookbinder that specialized in educational spell books, and was taught to continue this family business. The two got a total of eleven children, two of which passed away during or shortly after childbirth. Their second-youngest son, Lorne (1750), soon became the odd one out as he was the only one of his siblings to be sorted into Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw.

   Lorne was a talented duelist and was often punished at school for engaging in battles against classmates. He strove to make a living off duelling, but his parents believed there would be no money in it and discouraged him to do so. Determined and stubborn, Lorne signed up for the auror program, introduced by the ministry only a couple of years before he was born. That very same month, he eloped with a witch named Paisley, promising her riches from his future job. Although his duel technique was "worthy of sincere admiration", his temper was a failure and he was not admitted into the training program. Paisley reminded him that he could always find another job, which utterly harmed his pride and caused him to turn quite bitter for the rest of his life. They got four children: Tavon (1771, Gryffindor), Wynfreda (1774, Gryffindor), Murdoch (1780, Gryffindor), and Neilan (1785, Ravenclaw).

                                Although practically all his ancestors resided in Scotland, Murdoch moved to Liverpool in 1815, which had become both a muggle and wizarding hub due to the increasing industrialisation. The magic community still very much had to live a life of secrecy and found that Liverpool was a suitable location for magical trade. Not soon after he had set up his trading business, Lupin Purveyors & Co. ( “ supplier of the freshest ingredients & latest spell books ” ), he wed Viola Firmstone. The pair was blessed with six children: Karter (1818, Gryffindor), Remington (1820, Gryffindor), June (1823, Ravenclaw), Eloise (1825, a squib), Godfrey (1830, Gryffindor) and Tidus (1835, Ravenclaw).

                                                  Godfrey Lupin continued the family business along with his older brothers, but despite the fact that Liverpool had grown as a trading port for the wixen community, Lupin Purveyors & Co. did not make the family incredibly wealthy. Godfrey figured that their connection with Diagon Alley in London should be strengthened in order to flourish, for their main clients were now only owners of smaller shops in Liverpool and its surroundings. He owled frequently with several stores in the busy shopping street and managed the advertisements for their company. By 1860, the purveyors had grown somewhat in status. One year later, Godfrey would meet Meriel Hopps, with whom he fell hopelessly in love, and get two children: Ives (1862, Ravenclaw) and Leopold (1866, Ravenclaw).

                Even though neither sons wanted to take over the family business, having more ambitious goals in life, Ives Lupin owned the business for five years. In 1889, he got into financial trouble with Gringotts and was forced to sell Lupin Purveyors under a new name. Leopold, in the meantime, still lived in Liverpool, but worked as an Obliviator at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes in London. He was married to a Hufflepuff named Cindy Shires, with whom he had three children: Fiona (1890, Ravenclaw), Harris (1892, Ravenclaw) and Elsie (1904, Hufflepuff).

                            Harris soon followed into his father’s footsteps and became an assistant-Obliviator in 1914, shortly before the start of the First World War. He was sent to the front-lines, tasked with obliviating muggle soldiers whenever involvement of magic occurred. He came back home in 1917, having lost his left leg as the result of a severe hex by an enemy wizard. Shortly after the war ended, he married the witch Coralie Bicknell. They pair had two sons: Bryce (1923, Gryffindor) and Lyall (1928, Ravenclaw).

                                The youngest son grew up with a fascination for ghosts and creatures, and eventually became “a world-renowned expert on Non-Human Spirituous Apparitions”. While Lyall was chasing a particularly violent boggart in the Scottish Highlands, he met Hope Howell, the daughter of a muggle pharmacist. He saved Hope from said boggart and eventually married her after she fell pregnant of their son Remus (1960, Gryffindor).  The pair moved into Lyall’s apartment in Liverpool, where they lived for five years.

         Remus’s youth started off happily enough, until he was bitten by werewolf Fenrir Greyback at the age of five. The boy would be cursed for the remainder of his life and rarely got in contact with strangers until he began attending Hogwarts in 1971. During the Second Wizarding War, Remus fell in love with the younger auror and metamorphmagus Nymphadora Tonks, both of whom were part of the Order of the Phoenix. Even though he tried to talk her out of starting a relationship with him, since he was older and dangerous due to his lycanthropic condition, they married and got a son named Edward “Teddy” (1998). 

[nwarrior777]

FLOWER GIRL: QUESTIONS EVENT answers time!

So here i made some mini-event in wich you sended me questions about my web comics “Flower girl” and i wupposed to choose one and answer on it but i decided to answer on every wuestion! >W< 

1. How many characters are there in the story? The structure of this comics is simple, so story concentrates only on adventures and the love path of two main characters. + there are 4 episodic characters.

2.  Which character is your favorite?

Awww, i love them all >W< 

3.  Which character ended up being the most like you? Hmm. In this comics i didnt want to show me, i just wanted to make something cute. If i would make something with character, who similar to me, it would be drama with tons of angst :”D

4.  Who do you think will get the best reception? Oh, i cant deside for audience, but i hope people will like Louren’s (Louren is the character in anoncement picture, one of the main characters) girlfriend, she is very cute! ^U^  But i am interested in this question too actually XD

big thanks to @snailcomicz and @hollyspiess for questions <3 <3 <3 p.s. i hope i understood questions in right way, sorry if my english is bad qwq””””

[golocalinternetmarketing]

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[capelog-blog]

Cape Log

In Search of Elegance in the Cape

So I was at a Sommelier Association tasting (I’m not a sommelier just a nerd) earlier this month to taste some of current and older auction wines from the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG). As these wines were presented by some of the CWG members they shared about how the wines being produced have been evolved over the last decade or so. The CWG gives a good bearing of where we are headed as an industry, they are seen by many as the pinnacle of quality in South African wine. As with the rest of the world there is a shift away from over extraction and big oak influence wines to more terroir expressive and elegant wines. Hurray!

One of the organizers commented that South Africa seems to lack a point of identity that can be translated to the international market. Traditionally for us I guess this has been Pinotage but he made the point that the Cinsault blend that has been popping up is pretty unique to the Cape. It got me thinking about this, as the expression of wine being produced evolves to something more elegant what will be our stand out wines?

It is fair to say that with an industry as diverse as we have in the Cape it is questionable to have one thing that stands out singularly. However if we are going to evolve to produce a more sleek and defined expression of terroir that are distinctive on a world platform, the Cinsault blend would be a valid contributor to this. For me these blends are some of the most dynamic wines being produced.

Cinsault is a variety that has already had a lot of noise being made about it. It is also a prominent part of the Cape’s winemaking history. Traditionally it was used to bulk out blends with fleshy fruit and was at one point the most planted vine due to its high yielding ability. We are now starting to see people treat it with care and have lots of quality examples emerging. We also have a small store of old vineyards and these are being utilised by the younger generation of winemakers that handle it lightly. Although it was previously the most planted variety, it’s total planting throughout South Africa currently is just over 1%!

Typically, Cinsault is light bodied, has a soft purple fruit profile and is very perfumed. These attributes are like a breath of fresh air when you are moving away from blockbuster wine. (You can of course still achieve softness in other non-typically soft varietals; see David and Nadia’s Contour Pinotage or loads of amazing softer styled Syrah’s out there). 

So cheaper single variety Cinsault can be a bit flimsy, more suited to chilling and slopping back at a braai (nothing wrong with that). But in blends it works as a buffer to balance the more focused or tannic flavours. This creates elegance, balance and complexity. If you needed confirmation that the Cinsault blend had arrived it comes from the newly announced Winery of the Year, The Mullineux’s. The new Dry Red, Leeu Passant has nearly 1/3 Cinsault making up the blend, coming from the two oldest red vineyards (115 and 93 y/o vines) in the Cape. Sad to see it being priced so high at R975, for mere mortals and budgets like mine it’s not a realistic purchase (maybe one day!) but also really encouraging that we have strong brands that can now demand a price for the quality being produced.

Some absolute killer blends have been made with Cinsault as the lead component, which is a relatively new trend (JC Wickens’ Jasper Swerver, Duncan Savage’s Follow the Line and the Smiley NV Red). These blends are amazing value for money and have been making waves; Follow the Line has already gained a cult like following and top scores from international press.

Anyway all this waffling to say that these wines have the ability to be hauntingly beautiful, aromatic, interesting, balanced and almost endlessly drinkable. Such a dangerous combination! For me some of the most exciting wines being produced that South Africa can be proud to put on display.

Here are a couple of great examples. I have to say I really enjoyed drinking these beautiful wines side by side. They are both still very young and deserve more time in the bottle but here are my notes.

Duncan Savage / Follow the Line / 2016 / 41% Cinsault (Darling), 35% Grenache (Piekenierskloof) and 24 % Syrah (Noordheok) / 13% alc vol.

The nose for me has the more typically delicate and floral fruit that Cinsault brings when handled lightly. A medley of blueberry jam, jasmine, violet, sweet strawberries and creamy richness. There is also a lingering herbiness.

The mid palette is fleshy and so fresh. Plums, nectarines and cherries. It manages to be rich and focused but so light footed and elegant.

Long dry finish and has the satisfying grip that brings you back to the glass. So much fruit with a smidgen of peppery rosehip and crabapple on the exit. Incredible craftsmanship and integrity. 17.7/20

Lourens Family Wines / Howard John / 2016 / 43% Cinsault (Darling & Stellenbosch), 43% Carignan (Wellington) and 14% Grenache (Bot River) / 12.5% alc vol.

A more subtle rounded nose that took some time to open up to a glorious dark smokeyness with fynbos, rosemary, shrubs, bramble and  blackberry.

Incredible clean fruit juice though the middle. Slightly thicker texture, round mid palette that is sweet with juicy strawberries and black cherry. Fantastic fine acids and delicate chalky grip. Also has a meticulously dry finish.

Its all about this perfectly tangy finish laced with some rolling tobacco spice in the background. Captivating. It’s fuller than Follow The Line but still incredibly elegant with only12.5%vol. 18.2/20

[oblivionspeakk]

In recent moments, patio addresses have been used by handful of folks to produce extended porches in an place that would in any other case be ineffective. In a entire world where it is really increasingly probable for members to personalize” news alternatives and limit their accessibility to news stories of particular relevance and desire, it really is important to research the romance amongst the self-relevance of stories and the possible influence (or lack of influence) of social media sites on the perceived effects of related stories.

This may well just have been a reaction to that to be able to Chat to electricity, you need to have a phone, not only social media, but it is this accessibility which is confined, and it is why I wrote about the addictions of Facebook, considering that the experience on Facebook for several is lonely, dour and are incarcerated by the shenanigans of US World-wide-web protection, which has Zuckerberg annoyed. Are the ones attacking and berating us, abusing our females, breaking our strikes versus the federal government; accusing us of xenophobia in the stop, we then settle for a stage again as Africans of South Africa, and say: You might be checking out have to hear us now, by hook or crook. Lourens Schlebusch, of the Nelson Mandela Higher education of Medicine in Durban, suggests that "teenage depression could end result from many causes, incorporating weak school performance, or academic failure(with resulting stress from parents), interpersonal problems, which include failed associations or crack-up with a partner worst patio furniture (boyfriend or girlfriend), and strain in the household because of to economical complications, domestic violence or child abuse… Indications bundled sudden adjustments in behavior, concentration, university performance or a decline of interest in social routines.

These are the throw-again and creation of Apartheid, and from individuals enclaves, we discover related scenes and realities that I am conveying under in is news that isn't really news in the typically White owned media and nor in the dialogue going on inside of the nation. Picket decks patio floors will not retain heat the way paved floors do, and considering the fact that they are readily available in a variety of grades, species, and engineered woods (even occur how to clean outdoor furniture cushions pre-reduce and pre-assembled), they are going to in shape easily into any spending plan and design and style concepts.

[royal-red-asks]

How a lot time have you used safeguarding various elements of your household from problems this winter season? This could come about or may not, but that is not what is actually the issue for south Africa, which is just not doing work very improperly on tourism ever since, whilst it could possibly have been improved, were being it not for the bungling leadership in the governing of the nation as they are dysfunctional-farce they are doing the job now.

In order for you to get pleasure from your wicker furnishings for a for a longer period interval of time, you need to the right way care for it. Wicker cloth might not need as a lot cleaning as other outdoor furniture elements, but this isn't going to indicate that you will never take actions to assure that it looks its ideal all the time. Are the ones attacking and berating us, abusing our females, breaking our strikes towards the governing administration; accusing us of xenophobia in the stop, we then take a action back as Africans of South Africa, and say: You are going to have to hear us now, by hook or crook. Lourens Schlebusch, of the Nelson Mandela College or university of Medicine in Durban, says that "teenage depression could final result from various factors, introducing weak university efficiency, or academic failure(with resulting pressure from moms and dads), interpersonal challenges, together with failed associations or break-up with a companion how to make outdoor furniture (boyfriend or girlfriend), and strain in the household due to economical challenges, domestic violence or boy or girl abuse… Signs or symptoms bundled sudden variations in practice, concentration, college or university general performance or a loss of interest in social routines.

Those people are the throw-back and creation of Apartheid, and from all those enclaves, we locate identical scenes and realities that I am detailing down below in is news that just isn't news in the customarily White owned media and nor in the dialogue going on inside the place. To look upon this colonial order as a purely African entity and dismiss its back links to Europe is to discover an African class of chiefs, insignificant do you need outdoor furniture bureaucrats and traders tying the toil and lives of the inhabitants to the pursuits of the ruling white administrators, businessmen, missionaries and settlers.

[ianfaulkner1-blog]

​By Roxanne Reid It’s like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole to a wacky world where there’s no front door, walls are made of books, friendly ghosts walk the passages, and you’ll meet a character just as intriguing as the March Hare. Find out why to visit the Royal Hotel, Bethulie, Free State.

​Bethulie lies in sheep-and-cattle country in South Africa’s dry heartland. Call it the Free State or even the Upper Karoo, no one will argue. Founded back in the 1830s, it sits on the northern banks of the Orange River about 50km from the massive Gariep Dam. At first sight this dusty little dorp looks like it has little to offer a visitor. You might wonder what the hell you’re doing here and whether you should turn tail and run – especially when you can’t find an entrance to your accommodation at the Royal Hotel. Litter and dry leaves scuttle across the pavement and the midday heat beats down as you walk the length and breadth of the hotel’s facade. Not a door is unlocked. Eventually you’ll go round the back, through an eerily empty parking lot and hear voices through a half-open door.

The hotel faces the street on two sides yet you have to go round the back to find the entrance

​Yes, the young woman told me, I was in the right place. If I just went to that door around the back and waited, someone would let me in. I did and before long the hotel’s owner, Anthony Hocking, was beetling his bushy brows at me, smiling a Cheshire Cat welcome and gesturing me in. Down the rabbit hole. One step inside and all you see are narrow wood-floored passages lined with books. More books than you’ve ever seen in one place outside a library. (Probably more books than inside a lot of libraries.) This is the reason I’m here. Because I’ve heard about it. And I love books.

The book passage, your first sight of the Royal Hotel's interior

There’s a rabbit warren of dimly lit reception rooms stuffed with books and vinyls too (or LP records to the oldies among you). You see, Anthony is a bit of a pack rat, but with very specific tastes. He reckons his collection totals about 120 000 books and 80 000 records, but only a fraction of those are on display in the hotel. The rest spill over into his house across the road, and one or two other buildings he owns nearby.

No, it's not wallpaper - books, books, books everywhere

The collection is eclectic. Some of the books may be valuable, others he perhaps used for research when he was writing his own books, a medley of works about the paper and mining industries, the Oppenheimers, a few about Canada. The collection includes history and biography, travel and art, as well as a ton of fiction paperbacks, some of them bought for a pittance as job lots to fill the boundless spaces. The tale of the Royal Hotel Back in the 1860s the building that was to give way to the Royal Hotel was a trading store owned by JB Robinson who later made a big splash in diamonds and gold. The hotel itself was founded in the 1880s and has seen its share of well known people, like the infamous Lord Kitchener and Boer President Marthinus Steyn. Anthony has had a home across the road since 1983 so he watched as the Royal Hotel slid into shabby dilapidation. After it was auctioned and the deal fell through he bought it for song in 2005, not quite sure what he was going to do with it. Luckily, he soon struck a deal to fill the rooms with people manning road works in the area. That brought in some income for about 18 months. Later, a Spanish tour company expressed interest in adding the hotel to their stopover route if he’d restore it. And that’s how the Royal Hotel’s renaissance began.

Just a few of the vinyls in the extensive collection

It makes a good base for visitors who want to explore the historical sites of Bethulie. And although nothing was happening when we stayed there, you might strike it lucky and visit when a music recital, poetry reading, wine weekend or murder mystery weekend is on the go. The rooms are nothing fancy, but they’re clean and have all the bits and bobs you need, including a life-saving portable fan to cope with the summer heat. It’s enough for anyone who’s there chiefly for the deluge of books. Stories, stories, stories A collection that’s more subtle, less in-your-face than the books or vinyls is the anthology of stories that Anthony has on the tip of his tongue. He styles himself a storyteller and raconteur and can certainly spin a good yarn, whether it’s about the town’s history or his own life adventures. Over dinner, as we sat dwarfed by books from floor to ceiling, we discovered he’s a keen Bethulie historian and a bit of an Anglo Boer War buff. He drenched us in stories of the war and of his days as a dishwasher in Montmartre or working on a ship during his university holidays. Over breakfast he told us more about ‘the war’ (which around here always refers to the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902) and about the hoax debutante ball he and some friends at Oxford threw together for a lark. ​He tells a ripping ghost story too. Inset into the walls of books are a few panels where paintings hang. Four of them in one of the reception rooms are blank white spaces. Those, he insists, are portraits of ghosts, who he describes in great detail – like war correspondent Edith Dickenson whose ghost helps to keep the others upbeat. Generally, they’re a peaceful lot so there’s no need to be afraid.  

Portraits of two of the 'ghosts'

Stories come burbling out non-stop. If you look interested and he’s not busy he might volunteer to take you to see historical sites around the town, all the while relating tales about shenanigans and perhaps some bad behaviour in the old days. His Duracell-bunny energy and tendency to jump from story to story can be exhausting, battering your brain with new information at breakneck speed. But if you can keep up, you’ll learn a lot of fascinating stuff. Things to do in Bethulie Obviously, experiencing the Royal Hotel’s book and vinyl collections and meeting its colourful owner are hefty reasons to stay over in Bethulie. But they’re not the only things to do in this small town. Here are some others. 1. Visit the oldest house in the Free State. Back in 1828 there was a London Missionary Society station here to convert the San, until Jean Pierre Pellissier of the Paris Missionary Society arrived in 1832. The Pellissier House museum dates back to 1834-35 and now has displays that include old furniture, photos, clothes and war relics. 

Pellissier House, the oldest house in the Free State

2. See the house where actor and storyteller Patrick Mynhardt lived as a boy. He is most well remembered for his renditions of Herman Charles Bosman’s character Oom Schalk Lourens and for his autobiography The Boy from Bethulie. 3. Visit the Louw Wepener monument on a farm 10km west of Bethulie on the Springfontein road (R715). Wepener led the Free State commandos during the second Basotho War and was killed in 1865 while trying to storm Moshoeshoe’s mountain fortress of Thaba Bosiu.

Louw Wepener monument

4. If you’re interested in San rock art and fossils, you’re in luck. Talk to Anthony or Bethulie Tourism for more info about a guide who can take you to see them. You probably need to arrange this ahead. 5. Pay homage at the Bethulie concentration camp cemetery, Kamp Kerkhof. When it was thought the Gariep Dam was going to flood the original Anglo Boer War concentration camp site, bones were exhumed and reburied on higher ground just out of town in 1966. (Later it was discovered there was too much dolerite rock where they planned to put the dam so it was built in its current position instead.) At one place in the monument it says 1737 people died here during the Anglo Boer War, in another place it says 1714. Either way, it’s a lot. At the back, under lock and key, are some of the original rough gravestones. The monument is made of austere grey stone and when we visited a blistering wind made for an appropriately grim atmosphere. 

Kamp Kerkhof, the Bethulie concentration camp cemetery and memorial

​We also went to the site of the actual concentration camp with Anthony, finding a desolate piece of veld and some remnants of broken gravestones. As many as 5000 people were interred here at full capacity. It was the worst of all 33 camps around the country – largely because the Brit running it was young and inexperienced. He put the tents too close together so disease spread quickly. Water rations were short and the inmates used stream water that was contaminated by cattle that had died of rinderpest and been buried upstream. Typhoid spread like wildfire in the cramped conditions. At the original site there’s also a strange blockish monument that looks like a ruin but in fact was never finished. British women funded the monument that was started in 1918 in solidarity with Boer women but the Boer women were in no mood to accept the gesture, so it was never finished.

Unfinished monument at the site of the Bethulie concentration camp

6. Take a drive to the Gariep Dam about 50km from Bethulie on the R701. It was completed in 1971 and is the biggest in South Africa, with a surface area of 374 square kilometres and storage capacity of 5,340,000 megalitres. Here you’ll find activities like water sports and game viewing in the adjacent nature reserve, where you might spot wildebeest, eland, kudu, red hartebeest, springbok and other antelope. Word is that the dam is silting up and there’s a plan to raise the dam wall. 7. At sunrise or sunset feast your eyes on the arched sandstone bridge across the Orange River. Known as the Hennie Steyn Bridge, it’s the longest road-rail bridge in South Africa. At 1.2km, it connects the Free State to the Eastern Cape.

Longest road-rail bridge in South Africa

8. If you’re a history buff, there are many more old buildings and monuments to discover in Bethulie, from an ox wagon monument and a monument to honour the role horses have played in South Africa’s history, to the Dutch Reformed church completed in 1887 and now a national monument.

What's left of an old water cooling plant on a hill above Bethulie

​9. Visit the old railway station at the edge of town. It’s an atmospheric corrugated iron building dating back to 1894 and painted a sun-bleached red. It has a connection to the Bethulie ‘book hotel’ too. When it was slated for demolition, Royal Hotel owner Anthony Hocking, who loves a bit of history, bought it to save it from destruction. For his efforts in preserving this small piece of heritage, the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (an organisation dedicated to preserving Afrikaans culture and heritage) recently gave Anthony (a dyed-in-the-wool Englishman) an award. He’s understandably chuffed.

The old railway station

10. If you’re looking for something more action-packed, there’s hiking, cycling (on-road and off-road trails), fishing, star-gazing and ghost hunting. If those don’t appeal to you, just sit back and do bugger all – it’s equally exhilarating. ​Like it? Pin this image! 

You may also enjoy 15 things to do in Clarens in the Free State Maliba Lodge: a romantic & honeymoon getaway ​ Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za