#French castles for rent

[luxury-excellence-group]

Rent Chateau Cendrillon France

Nestled amidst the picturesque Loire Valley, Chateau Cendrillon offers a serene escape for families seeking a week-long self-catering holiday. This family-owned château, conveniently located between Nantes and Cholet, promises a perfect blend of tranquillity and convenience. For those desiring culinary indulgence, arrangements can be made for a chef to deliver delectable meals or cater elegant dinner parties within the comfort of the château. Set within 20 acres of idyllic rural parkland, Chateau Cendrillon ensures guests a high degree of privacy, making it an ideal retreat for relaxation and rejuvenation. The fully heated outdoor pool, operational from May to September, invites guests to unwind and soak up the sun in a serene setting. Meticulously restored to an exceptional standard, the château exudes the charm of a traditional French estate while offering modern comforts and conveniences. Whether lounging in the elegant interiors or exploring the sprawling grounds, guests are enveloped in a sense of timeless luxury and refinement. Accessing Chateau Cendrillon is effortless, with Nantes airport just a 45-minute drive away. Well-maintained motorways ensure smooth journeys, with convenient travel times of 3 and a half hours from Caen, 4 hours from Le Havre and Cherbourg, and 6 hours from Calais. This seamless accessibility allows guests to embark on their enchanting getaway without hassle or delay. The château boasts 9 bedrooms, and 11 bath/shower rooms, and comfortably accommodates up to 15 guests (excluding infants in cots). A generously sized heated swimming pool (5m x 12m), exclusively reserved for guests, is nestled within the property, enclosed by hedging and gates for privacy and safety. Within the château, guests enjoy the convenience of a fully equipped kitchen, laundry room, dining room, and two reception rooms, including a dedicated games room. Additional amenities include a spacious entrance hall, a downstairs shower room and WC, a separate downstairs WC, and a lift facilitating access to a first-floor bedroom. A mirrored dance studio and two expansive porches cater to various recreational needs, providing ample storage for swimming gear, footwear, and bike helmets. The inviting outdoor pool area features abundant lounge chairs for relaxation, surrounded by hedging for added privacy and safety. Accessible through two gates, the pool is equipped with a key-operated electric cover. Guests can also make use of the built-in barbecue, with briquettes readily available from local supermarkets. While linen and towels for the château are provided, guests are kindly asked to bring their own swimming towels. The château offers a versatile accommodation layout, comprising 6 double bedrooms (including 1 super king, 1 king, and 4 double beds), 2 twin bedrooms, and 1 family room featuring a queen bed alongside 2 singles. This arrangement caters to the diverse needs of family groups. The first floor hosts 7 bedrooms, while 2 additional bedrooms are situated on the second floor. One of the second-floor bedrooms is a twin room without an ensuite bathroom, although a neighbouring ensuite is conveniently located. This particular room is thoughtfully adorned with a captivating underwater mural, making it ideal for children. The kitchen is a spacious and luminous area, comfortably seating 8-10 guests at the table, with additional seating available through window seats and a breakfast bar. Equipped with an electric range oven, gas hob, separate ‘croissant’ oven, and griddle plate, the kitchen ensures culinary convenience. Other amenities include a full-size fridge and freezer, microwave, 2 sinks, dishwasher, mixer/blender, and an array of saucepans, frying pans, and cooking utensils. A separate pantry offers ample storage space, while an adjoining turret houses a well-equipped laundry room, complete with a full-size wine fridge. A side porch adjacent to the kitchen serves as a convenient storage area for shoes, bike helmets, and swimming paraphernalia. Connected to the kitchen, the dining room comfortably seats 14 guests at a bespoke table, with room for 16 if necessary. An impressive glass chandelier adds a touch of sophistication, enhancing the dining experience. The first reception room invites relaxation with three comfortable three-seater sofas, complemented by two occasional chairs, ideal for unwinding after a day of exploration. A satellite television, equipped for DVD viewing, ensures entertainment, with a diverse selection of DVDs catering to both adults and young children. Additionally, an iPod docking station and speakers offer customisable music enjoyment, easily relocated to the kitchen or any preferred room at guests' discretion. In contrast, the second reception room transforms into a lively games haven, featuring a versatile table tennis/pool table for spirited competitions. A plethora of children’s toys and games, along with engaging puzzles and board games for adults, guarantee endless amusement. Conveniently, the lift access is situated within this vibrant space. Ascending to the second floor, guests encounter the dance studio, adorned with a mirrored wall, fostering an ambience of elegance and creativity. Complete with an ensuite shower room, this studio provides a private retreat for dance enthusiasts or those seeking serene moments of reflection. Beyond the château walls, the sprawling parkland beckons exploration, offering guests exclusive access to observe the region's diverse birdlife and wildlife in their natural habitat. With ample space for outdoor activities, including leisurely bike rides, the parkland promises memorable moments amidst nature's beauty. Please be aware that Chateau Cendrillon offers accessibility for those with limited mobility through a lift, conveniently installed in one of the turrets. This lift provides access to a first-floor bedroom, featuring a king bed and an ensuite wet room equipped with a shower, WC, and basin for added convenience. However, it's important to note that accessibility on the ground floor is restricted for wheelchair users. The doorway between the kitchen and dining room measures 60cm in width, which may not accommodate standard-width wheelchairs. In such cases, collapsing the wheelchair to navigate through the doorway may be necessary. Please be advised that all other entry points into the Chateau involve steps. For guests seeking provisions and amenities, the nearest village with shops is Villedieu la Blouère, merely a 2-minute drive away, offering a post office, bakery, and a small supermarket. Additionally, St Philbert en Mauges, located at a similar distance, lacks shops. However, St Macaire en Mauges, reachable within a 10-minute drive, presents a bakery, patisserie, and a larger supermarket for essential supplies. For comprehensive amenities, Cholet is a mere 20-minute drive away, boasting a hypermarket and an impressive leisure centre featuring several pools and an ice rink, ensuring a plethora of entertainment options for guests. In addition to savouring the idyllic atmosphere of Chateau Cendrillon and its environs, guests are spoiled for choice with an array of captivating excursions. Here are just a few enticing suggestions: Embark on delightful day trips to renowned cities like Nantes, Angers, Tours, and Saumur, each boasting majestic châteaux, ancient abbeys, and captivating museums, promising a journey through history and culture. Venture into the enchanting Saumur region, celebrated for its mesmerising troglodyte caves transformed into captivating tourist attractions. Perfect for inclement weather or scorching days, these dry caves maintain a constant temperature year-round. Explore the fascinating Zoo de Doué, nestled within an ancient quarry, where 500 animals thrive amidst the unique cave setting. Discover the innovative Museé du Champignon (mushroom museum) in St-Hilaire-St-Florent, showcasing mushroom production within the caves. Nearby, the Parc Miniature Pierre et Lumière offers a truly one-of-a-kind experience, featuring intricately sculpted tufa stone replicas of renowned Loire Valley sites, meticulously crafted by a skilled Breton sculptor. Be awed by the stunning bas-relief of Saumur, stretching 12 meters in length and 2 meters in height, depicting the town's essence in exquisite detail. Immerse yourself in the equestrian heritage of Saumur, home to Le Cadre Noir, one of the world's most prestigious horsemanship schools. Witness captivating performances by the renowned equestrian display team, showcasing unparalleled skill and artistry. Indulge in the renowned wines of the Loire region with visits to its myriad vineyards, offering wine tastings ranging from expansive commercial wineries to quaint family farms. Delight in the diverse flavors and aromas of the region's exquisite vintages, each sip is a testament to the rich viticultural heritage of the area. With these enticing excursions and more, guests of Chateau Cendrillon are sure to create unforgettable memories amidst the beauty and splendour of the Loire Valley. Chateau Cendrillon offers more than just a luxurious retreat; it serves as a gateway to a plethora of captivating attractions and activities. Here are some enticing options: Le Puy du Fou: Less than an hour away lies one of France's premier tourist destinations. The medieval-themed park transports visitors back in time with its grand Roman amphitheatre, featuring thrilling spectacles such as chariot races, gladiatorial combat, jousting knights, and mesmerising falconry displays. During the summer, the park dazzles with enchanting sound and light shows, promising an unforgettable experience. Seaside Excursion to Pornic: Just an hour and a half away lies the charming seaside resort of Pornic. Here, guests can bask in the sun, stroll along the sandy beaches, and indulge in delectable fresh French seafood, including the famed moules et frites. A delightful day trip offering relaxation and culinary delights awaits. Loire à Vélo: Cycling enthusiasts can explore the picturesque Loire Valley along the Loire à Vélo, a network of 400km of meticulously maintained trails and cycle routes. With plans to extend the route to cover 800km, cyclists can traverse the unspoiled rural landscapes and quaint villages at their leisure, renting bicycles from numerous rental places along the way. Clisson: This medieval town, renowned for its charming ambiance, hosts a popular food market on Fridays. Guests can meander through its picturesque streets, marvel at the ruins of the Château de Clisson, and immerse themselves in the town's rich history and culture. La Séguiniere: Shopaholics will delight in exploring La Séguiniere, home to an expansive factory outlet village boasting 80 major brands spanning fashion, sports, kitchenware, and more. Additionally, a tempting chocolate shop offers complimentary samples, adding to the shopping experience. Japanese Gardens at Maulévrier: Families with young children can escape to the serene Japanese Gardens, where children under 12 enjoy free admission. Originally built in 1899, these gardens have undergone meticulous restoration, showcasing Japanese architecture, tranquil water features, and traditional trees, making it the largest of its kind in Europe. Glissé Leisure Centre in Cholet: Adventure seekers can make a splash at the Glissé leisure centre in Cholet, featuring an array of spectacular sports facilities, including an ice rink and an 8-pool indoor/outdoor swimming complex complete with slides, diving pools, and a beach, promising endless fun for all ages. From bikes of different sizes to a diverse selection of books, Chateau Cendrillon caters to children of all ages. The swimming pool's shallow end and an array of floats and toys provide endless entertainment, while the sprawling lawn and woodland area beckon young adventurers to explore and play amidst nature's beauty. Whether seeking relaxation or adventure, Chateau Cendrillon promises an unforgettable family getaway. SUMMARY Sleeps: 15-18 Bedrooms: 9 Bathrooms: 11 OVERVIEW Pool Chateaux & Castles Heritage Collection Ideal for Kids Walk to Village Ideal for Parties ABOUT THIS PROPERTY Private Pool Child-Safe Pool Heated Pool Wi-Fi/Internet BBQ Bicycles Provided Gym/Fitness Room Games Room Indoor Games Outdoor Games Table Tennis Table Football Pool/Snooker DVD Working Fireplace/Woodburner Heating THE LOCAL AREA Walk to Village Rural Location Walking/Hiking Paths Wine Tasting Golf Nearby Horse Riding Outstanding Landscapes Outdoor Pursuit & Activities Tourist Towns & Villages KIDS Ideal for Kids Ideal for Teens Local Amenities NEAREST TRANSPORT Nearest Airport: Nantes (51-60 km) Nearest Ferry Port: St Malo (Over 100 km) Nearest Village: Villedieu la Blouère (1 km) Nearest Town/City: Cholet (4 km) Nearest Golf: Cholet (16-20 km) BABY AND TODDLER EQUIPMENT Booster seat Mattress protector Baby bath Bath toys Bibs Changing mat Baby monitor Pushchair Potty Plastic crockery Cot(s) High Chair(s) KIDS ACTIVITIES CLOSE-BY Walk to Village Horse Riding Outdoor Pursuit & Activities Tourist Towns & Villages ONSITE FACILITIES Xbox/Playstation/Wii Children's videos/DVDs Children's books Child-Safe Pool Heated Pool Bicycles Provided Games Room Indoor Games Outdoor Games Table Tennis Table Football Pool/Snooker DVD Toys Fenced Grounds Read the full article

[evans23]

Falling

Pairing : Hans Gruber x Reader OC

Summary : In the remanence of winter, Hans makes an unexpected encounter, which will bring a bit of peace in his chaotic life. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending for a man like him. 

Tag(s)/Warning(s) : Smut. Angst. No happy ending here.

A/N : Enjoy dear reader 😁

Also read on AO3

It was a chilly afternoon in the middle of Spring in Kensington Park. It was your favorite park, even though you didn't really know why. After all, according to your parents, all the parks in London looked the same, but you disagreed with this assumption.

Also, you were slightly biased as you worked as a saleswoman in the little shop adjacent to the palace. You didn't like your job, but you loved the castle and its history. In fact, your dream was just in front of the park, in the form of a school called Royal College of Art. Unfortunately, after having got your A-level, you didn't succeed in getting a scholarship and your parents were unable to finance your study. Therefore, you started to work for a local McDonald's, and then, you found yourself lucky to get a job in the souvenir shop of the castle, thanks to a relative who ceaselessly reminded you what you owed him as the job was well-paid and not as tedious as your previous one. More than often, the customers, tourists for most of them, were far more agreeable than the ones who frequented the fast food, and you didn't stink of the greasy fries each night when you came back to your cramped apartment.

Also, the uniform was more comfortable and flattering than the horrendous one you had to wear and you could let your curly hair hang down your back without being reprimanded by your boss who was afraid of seeing one of your unruly hairs in the middle of a bag of fries. On the other hand, what should have been temporary had become permanent and while all you're friends were breezing through their plan life, you struggled to keep your own life on track.

That day, you had finished your shift in the early afternoon and as you weren't ready to face the loneliness of your life, all alone in your small apartment with a too expensive rent for so few rooms, you had decided, despite the coldness, to sit on a bench in the Walk of Flower to read one of your favorite book: "Notre Dame de Paris" from Victor Hugo.

You didn't notice the stranger who sat on the bench next to yours. You were too engrossed in your book for that and anyway, the park was well frequented by many people, locals, residents, or tourists for you to really notice them. 

However, there weren't too many tourists at this time of the year. It was still too cold and rainy. It will change in less than one month. The park, the street, and the castle would be crowded for six months or more until the winter settled anew, a welcomed calmness around the venue but also in the busyness of your work.

During the summer, you didn't have any time for your hobbies as it was busy as it get at each hour of each day. You often worked more than eight hours a day as you were always willing to help your overworked colleagues either in the shop, the little coffee, or at the reception, diligently searching the bags with your little flashlight, looking for anything suspicious or sharp.

“Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being, and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin,” said the stranger in a thunderous voice and with a perfect French if it hadn’t been for his slight accent.

Startled, you looked up at him. He was tall, his broad shoulders and his black hair adding something quite intimidating to his natural charisma. He also had a hooked nose which was nothing short of engrossing.

"I apologize," he said, now speaking in English, "it wasn't my intention to frighten you..." 

"[Y/N]," you said, your voice shaking a little bit.

He chuckled at that. He knew what effect he had on women.

“Nice to meet you, [Y/N]. I am Hans.”

He didn't know why he had given you his real name. Not that he was hiding in London. Actually, he owned a humongous and beautiful property only 30 minutes by car from the park. It was a secure place where he came after a rough mission or when he needed to vanish into thin air for his own sake.

“You're not from here,” you said, having recognized a foreign accent.

“Indeed,” said Hans who got up.

You looked at him from your bench. He was more intimidating up in front of you than before.

“May I?” he asked, gesturing towards the bench where you were comfortably settled.

“Of course,” you answered, moving your bag to make room for him.

“So, you read in French,” he said as a matter of fact.

“I don’t understand everything,” you admitted.

"I believe so, Victor Hugo is a convoluted author, even for a native speaker."

“And where are you from?” you insisted, wanting to know where this delicious accent came from.

He chuckled at your persistence, yet he told you he was from Germany. Hans was able to imitate the British accent perfectly, but he hadn't felt the need to deceive you. You looked quite innocent, and you were. Anyway, how could you have guessed you were talking with a thief, a mobster, a criminal ?

He talked with you the whole afternoon. You understood very quickly that he was an educated man, with a lot of culture and a perspicacity you could envy him for.

As you parted, he kissed the back of your hand like a true gentleman, the one in your romantic books. You didn't know what had got into you to confide so many private things about yourself to a stranger, but talking to him was easy, and there was so much on your heart that you needed to confide. Maybe because you knew he was just a stranger that you would never see again had made things easier. You felt lighter but also disappointed to know that you would never see him again.

But Hans wasn't indifferent to you either. Hans was intrigued by you. He had already noticed you a few days before when you were walking in the streets to reach the metro station. You were wearing your work uniform, that's how he knew that to find you, he had to go for a walk around Kensington Park.

Hans didn't really know what had caught his attention about you. Your face was certainly pleasant to look at but it didn't stand out from the crowd, your stiff gait spoke volumes about the pressure you felt in your life and you had a disillusioned pout that probably didn't make many people want to get to know you.

However, there was something about you that had intrigued him. Enough to want to meet you at least once. He hadn't expected to see you sitting all alone in the Walk of Flowers. Walkers rarely sat for too long, the cold quickly numbing their hands and feet. And yet, there you were, reading your book, a book that Hans had read many times in its original version too.

He had been surprised at how easy it was to talk to you. You were intelligent, not as much as he was, but not everyone could come up with escape plans and high-flying heists, you had wit and a dry sense of humor that he appreciated. You also had that disillusioned look of those who had already seen too much to still be truly surprised by existence. Hans knew this expression well for having experienced it himself. 

It was a long time ago when he was a teenager dragged from home to home, separated from his brother, missing a father who died when he was only eight years old, and a loving mother. Their mother to Simon and him was an alcoholic who beat them for yes or no. It was often his big brother who suffered their mother's anger because he was not afraid to defy her or to come between her and his little brother. He remembered a day when his mother who had drunk more than reason and had just been dumped by her umpteenth boyfriend had destroyed the model airplane he was building for no good reason other than to make her son suffer as much as she suffered. She had raised her hand to hit him, but Simon had stepped between him and her, taking the slap instead of Hans.

Hans shook his head as if to make all those bad memories go away. It was a long time ago. When he was just a weak little boy. It was before the army that he had met an important man who was a member of German high society. Thanks to him, after his military service, he had been able to join the university where he had received a solid education in history, foreign languages, economics, and politics. Hans was intelligent and able to absorb thousands of pieces of information in no time. His eidetic memory was a real gift that had allowed him to join the Volksfrei where he had definitely hardened himself. So hardened that his ruthless behavior had earned him being kicked out of the organization.

He had worked as a mercenary for a while after that, but tired of having to answer to other people's orders, Hans had decided to become his own boss by carrying out his own terrorist activities with a group of trusted men in his pay. It had been a long time since the weak little boy had disappeared in favor of the man he was today.

And yet, your presence this afternoon had awakened something vulnerable in him. He wanted to see you again. He was going to see you again. He was going to make you his, whether you wanted it or not.

He thought about it, developing a plan to make you fall into his nets. He wanted to be subtle to give you the impression that you had had a choice. Little did he know that you were already partially won over to his cause. Indeed, the man with the imposing stature, the broad shoulders, and the nose of a Greek god had not left you indifferent.

He returned to Kensington Park two days later, waiting for your service to end. He watched you from afar to see you following the same path as last time to join the Walk of Flowers where you sat on the same bench as last time, another book in your hands.

"Did Victor Hugo get the better of your determination?" he asked, a teasing smile on his lips.

You jumped, which made him chuckle.

"Hans," you said, a hand on your chest, "you scared me."

"Sorry, that wasn't my intention."

He sat down next to you without asking your permission, not that you minded.

"So, Victor Hugo?"

"Finished last night."

Hans arched an eyebrow, surprised. You had finished one of the most difficult books in French literature in two days and after admitting that you didn't always understand the formal language of the book.

"Test me if you don't believe me," you had challenged him when you saw the doubt etched on his features.

He didn't need to be asked twice and had to admit that you had read the book, which make you be more surprising and impressive than he thought you were at first glance.

This little game of cat and mouse had lasted several months. Hans could afford it, his last heist, the robbery of a Russian bank, had earned him enough to live on for the next ten years. Of course, he wouldn't sit idly by for the next ten years. He wanted more. Much more. Millions to be able to disappear forever and live the great life he had always dreamed of. Except that now, he wanted you to be part of his dream.

However, how could he involve you in his life without putting you in danger ? And how could you never find out who he really was ?

Some of his men had a woman in their life. One of them was even married and had a child, but was it really a life to have to hide who you really are from the person who shared your bed ?

Of course, Hans had had many women in his arms, but never a woman he wanted to spend more than one night with.

Six months after your first meeting, he had invited you to his secluded house. A large mansion that could have contained your apartment, your parent's house, and your big sister's house all in one. Hans had cooked for you and charmed you a little more with his words that flowed like honey in your ears and his German accent that made you shiver constantly.

A year later, you were an official couple, much to Hans's delight, who for once in his life hadn't had to fight too hard to get what he really wanted. And God may be his witness, he wanted you, loved you and he would never let you go. You lived at his place and while he didn't hide the fact that he was a rich man, you didn't really know where the money came from.

Officially, he had introduced himself as a businessman. But you knew that something wasn't right in what he had told you. The designer clothes he lavished you with and the one he wore every day, the jewelry he showered you with at every opportunity, the luxury cars and the incessant business trips, something didn't add up to what he was telling you.

Yet, he was a passionate lover and even if you had already seen his bad temper surface when something displeased him, with you he was nothing but tenderness and patience. A trait that no one would have granted to Hans. He himself was amazed at how much he could be another man with you. You brought a calm to his life that he had ignored he had needed until now. You were the calm in his tumultuous life as a gangster.

You had tried to question him several times, but each time, he had turned you down, sometimes harshly and you had ended up understanding that what he did for a living was a subject not to be discussed. You were not totally stupid and even if you didn't know exactly what he did to earn all this money with which he flooded you, you assumed that he must be part of the mafia. Or something like that. Something that should have made you run away, but you were already too much in love with Hans, too captivated by his mysterious aura and the danger that surrounded him to be afraid of sharing your life with a mafioso.

The fact that with you, Hans allowed himself to be softer, and more vulnerable, only made him more endearing. Your parents didn't approve of the relationship between you, your mother having immediately had doubts about Hans' intentions. But neither he nor you gave any importance to what others might think. You wanted him more than you had ever wanted anything else in your life, more than you had wanted to study at a prestigious art school or become the next greatest painter in the United Kingdom. You were hopelessly in love with the mysterious German man who had captured your heart and soul.

Although Hans was less demonstrative in his feelings, he felt the same way about you. You were the calm, the peace, in his hectic life. He found solace in your simple presence. Many times he had told himself that he had to end this union, that he had to push you away, but each time he had tried to do so by being cold and distant with you, your confusion and incomprehension at his sudden coldness towards you had made his heart melting and he had always come back more in love and tender than before, doing his best to be forgiven for his harsh behavior towards you during the day with a crazy and passionate night of love.

Hans wasn't naive, he knew that if he wanted to build something serious with you, he would have to put an end to his activities and disappear with you. At some point, he would have to confess the truth to you even if he was well aware of your suspicions and how close you were to the truth.

It was on September that he had a brilliant idea. An idea that would earn him millions. Enough to ensure a comfortable life for both of you in Fiji or anywhere that would please you. He was going to attack the CEO of Nakatomi Tower. A high-flying theft worth more than $600 million if he and his men played their game well.

But it was not going to be easy and his sharp mind had to prepare the best of plans. He had already worked out dangerous, complicated, risky cases, but this one was the most important of his entire gangster career. When a man steals $600, he can just disappear, but when a man steals $600 million, he knew that the police and secret agencies of the whole world will be after him. Unless they thought he was dead. However, he was no longer alone now and he had to think of you, which made the whole organization of his plan more difficult than usual, even for a gifted person like him.

His brother had warned him that getting emotionally involved with you was dangerous for him, but he had not listened to him, sure of himself as usual. Except that for once, Simon was right. The love he had for you was worse than all the enemies he had faced so far.

"Another departure Hans ? You've already disappeared all of October," you said wearily.

It was the first week of December and he had just told you that he would have to be away until the end of December on business trip.

"Work is work. You're happy to have nice clothes, to parade around in beautiful jewelry, to wear designer perfume, and to live a life of luxury. Without me, you would never have been able to quit this job that made you unhappy and to treat yourself to these art classes that you wanted so much," he pointed out more harshly than he had intended.

But he was tired of your reproaches. It had been the same for a few months every time he had to leave. It was stronger than you. You wanted to know the truth, a truth that he refused to tell you and it hurt you. Yet, you loved him too much to have the courage to leave him.

"If you think I'm with you for the money, then you don't know me very well Hans. Keep your clothes and your jewelry. I never asked you for anything! If you did it, it's because you wanted to!"

"Exactly! The best for you is everything I want and nothing else. We've been together for two years, you're an intelligent woman [Y/N], and you know that this life that I allow you to lead doesn't come without sacrifice."

You didn't answer because somewhere, somewhat, you knew he was right and even though you were frustrated by his unspoken words, you loved enjoying the life of luxury he was lavishing you with.

You sighed, closing your eyes and rubbing your forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Hans came closer and took your hands in one of his while the other gently massaged your lower back.

"Mein leibe, I promise you that after that everything will change."

"How?"

"You'll see. In the meantime, don't give me the cold shoulder. I don't want to go to the United States knowing that mein pearl is mad at me. I won't be able to concentrate if I know that you're angry with me," he coaxed you.

"I'm not angry Hans, I'm just... worried and... I'd like you to be completely honest with me."

"Mein leibe..." Hans sighed, "everything will change, I promise, but no more questions for tonight, okay?"

You nodded, still a little frustrated by his silences that separated you more than they brought you closer. Sensing the distance that your disappointment was putting between you, Hans placed a series of kisses along the back of your neck.

"Bitte, mein leibe, bitte, don't be angry with me."

"Hans..."

"Bitte," he whispered in your ear.

You turned your head and he took the opportunity to capture your lips. Very quickly, your kiss turned into a fiery passion. He hoisted you easily and you instinctively hooked your arms around his hips. He led you to the bedroom where he gently laid you down on the bed.

"You can't always get away with a quickie, even if sex with you is better than a pizza from Rudy's," you said jokingly.

"Mein leibe, I'm sure that my cock inside your tight pussy is the best way to have you under my control," Hans whispered with a predatory smile.

You gasped and your breath got caught in your throat. Hans's smile widened even more and with an expert gesture, he removed your t-shirt. You weren't wearing a bra to his great pleasure and he immediately went in search of your chest to suck on one of your nipples. You moaned in pleasure, your hands running under his t-shirt to caress his firm chest.

"Tell me you want me," Hans whispered.

"Hans..." you moaned under his caresses.

"Say it!" he ordered while walking two of his fingers near your entrance, delighting in your pussy swollen with arousal and your wetness that wet his fingers even though they weren't penetrating you.

"I want you, Hans. I need you, I need you inside me," you said breathlessly.

It didn't take much for Hans to help you getting rid of your skirt and stockings. You unbuttoned his pants and he helped you take them off, while with a quick gesture of his hand, he got out of his t-shirt which joined the rest of your clothes on the floor.

He didn't bother with the foreplay, entering you directly. You were already so wet that he had no trouble sinking all the way into your tight pussy, moaning as he felt your walls tighten around his cock.

"Your pussy has been made for me, just for me," he whispered in your ear.

"I only exist for you," you replied, biting his earlobe.

He pushed himself deeper into you, the sound of skin meeting skin with each thrust echoing through the room, mingling with your panting breaths and Hans' deep voice whispering words of love to you in both German and English.

"[Y/N], my lovely [Y/N], if you knew what you're doing to me, you and your tight little pussy... HAAA... [Y/N]," he groaned, making you hornier still.

As you reached your climax, Hans pulled out suddenly, making you hiss at the feeling of his cock being lost in your cunt. With a deft gesture, he turned you around and, your stomach pressed against the bed, he pushed in as hard as he had pulled out of your little cunt, tugging gently on your hair while his other hand was on your throat. He thrust faster, again and again until he felt the two of you approaching your climax. He then turned you to the side with one leg between yours and the other above yours, one hand still on your throat, the other cupping your breasts as he continued to thrust into you at a frantic pace.

"Hans, please, don't stop... I'm gonna... I'm gonna..."

"Come meine leibe... Come, come for me," he whispered in your ear.

It didn't take him more than two thrusts for your orgasm to shake your entire body with pleasure. Feeling your tight walls contract against his cock, Hans was quick to come in turn with an animalistic growl.

He pulled out carefully and you immediately snuggled up against him, finding solace between his arms, basking in the afterglow of your encounter. You quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the passion shared with Hans who stayed awake almost all night watching you while caressing your nipples with his fingertips, taking pleasure in seeing them harden under his caresses.

The next day, you woke up alone with a note on Hans' pillow.

Ich leibe dich. Hans.

Three weeks later

You were in front of the TV watching the Nakatomi Tower attack, tears flooding your eyes when you recognized Hans. In the end, he was not a mafia boss but a gang leader, a gangster, a thief, a criminal. And despite this revelation, your love for him didn't weaken.

You couldn't help but scream when the roof of the tower exploded, leaving the building on fire, and when the journalists announced that all the hostages had gone and the terrorists were out of control by a hothead working for the police. Later, the man named John McClane told reporters that Hans had fallen to his death from the top of Nakatomi Tower.

You fell to the ground screaming before curling up into a ball, sobbing and screaming Hans' name until you fell asleep. The next day, a man came to your house. He introduced himself as Simon and claimed to be Hans' brother. You knew your lover had a brother but he had never told you anything more about him. However, something about this man inspired confidence in you. The same confidence you had had in Hans. He returned the next day with a man with a gaunt and severe face, a lawyer who had papers for you to sign. Hans, afraid of not getting out of this, had prepared everything to ensure your future without him. Considerate, he had left you a fortune that could have benefited you for your next three lives. Except you didn't want a single one of these lives if Hans wasn't by your side.

A year later

Wrapped in a thick coat, a woolen scarf eating your face, you stood in front of a headstone, in the middle of a small, poorly maintained cemetery, in the town with the unpronounceable name of Schkeuditz.

It had taken you a while to make up your mind and come say a last goodbye to him, but the closer the anniversary of his death had got, the more you needed to be close to him, even if he had left you a gift that would allow you to keep him by your side forever and ever.

There was only a first and a last name on the grave. Hans Gruber. No words in his memory, no flowers. Just an unfortunate headstone in the middle of a thousand others. A name among many others, a name that no one would remember in a few years. No one except you, until your own death relieved you of the pain of losing your great love. You would never be able to get over Hans' death, you would never be able to love as you had loved him and you knew that no man would ever be able to offer you what Hans had offered you. You didn't think about the money and the luxurious life you continued to lead thanks to his thoughtfulness, but about his charismatic presence, the strength he gave you with just a look and the unyielding love you shared. The intimate moments that had made you closer than ever and how, even when you had tragically learned who he really was, you had loved him even more.

"[Y/N]," a baritone voice said.

You turned to acknowledge Simon's presence.

"You shouldn't come here."

"It's been a year today. A year since he... Nakatomi Tower... A year," you said, crying.

"I know. But coming here to mope won't bring him back."

"I know," you said through a sob.

"You're not supposed to be associated with him. Ever. Not now that a part of him is alive."

"No one knows he's his," you pointed out right away.

"And no one must ever know. Go home, [Y/N], grieve as much as you need, then start a new life, forget what you went through with Hans, pretend he never existed, and never come back here," Simon said coldly.

You knew Simon was saying that to protect you and the precious passenger waiting for you in the back seat of the car you'd rented to drive here.

"Go get to him before he wakes up and sees you're not here. I don't want my nephew crying. It's Christmas, and on Christmas, he should be the happiest little boy in the world."

You nodded and walked away, but not before kissing the tips of your fingers that you then placed on Hans' grave.

You got into the car and turned to the back seat, smiling fondly, though your smile didn't reach your eyes.

"I promise to be strong for both of us," you whispered so as not to wake the child who was fast asleep in his car seat.

Your heart was broken by the death of the man you had loved more than life itself, but as a testament to your love, he had left you with a good reason to live and fight. An eternal love that would live forever in the heart of your son. His son. Your son.

[lunastryinc]

Hello angels! We've been teasing it, but below the cut is a list of all the things we have planned for this October. This is just an outline to let you know what's coming your way, but more information on each event will be posted closer to the actual event start date, so be sure to keep a close eye on the main and our "linc.event" tag. This post will also be added to our pinned post at the top of the page and will be updated with links for each event as they are posted.

OCTOBER 12 & 13: LINVILLA PUMPKINLAND Located out in Media, Pennsylvania, Linvilla Orchards is the quintessential fall experience. Pumpkin and apple picking, corn mazes, hay rides, a petting zoo, a variety of games and activities for both children and adults alike, a farmer's market- what more can you ask for, really? Lunastry Inc has rented out the farm for this entire weekend.

OCTOBER 13-18: PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST (WINNERS) This year, Lunastry Inc is partnering up with Eclipse Media Magazine for a seasonal contest. We want to see your pumpkin creations, whether that means something scary, or cutesy, or silly, or anywhere in-between. The mod team will act as judges and our favorite 3 entries will be granted temporary immunity from the gossip blog. Submissions will close on 10/17 and the results will be shared on 10/18. We'll post a tag for everyone to use closer to the actual contest so everyone can share their creations*. (*aka finding photos online for pumpkins you think your characters would create)

OCTOBER 19-20: HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS For all our horror aficionados and terror seekers, Lunastry Inc has booked Universal Studios Hollywood for a weekend for one of the most anticipated events of the year, Hollywood Horror Nights. This year, the park is hosting 8 different haunted houses and 4 sinister scare zones full of costumed actors. Come hang out and get the fright of your life.

OCTOBER 26-31: MASQUERADE BALL AT CHATEAU DE MARCAY Finally, to wrap up the month, Lunastry Inc has organized a week long stay for everyone at Chateau de Marcay, a former castle turned hotel out in the French countryside. Join us on Halloween night for a banquet and masquerade ball held in the castle's ballroom- that is, if you think you can make it until then. Did we mention that this castle is considered to be one of the most haunted hotels in all of Europe? We're sure some of you will consider this a perk instead of a drawback, so don't worry, we'll be sure to let you know which rooms have the most reported activity.

If you are participating in the Masquerade/Chateau event, we are kindly requesting that you please fill out this form. This is to help us determine the rooming situation and to gauge who is interested in more creepy/spooky mini events during the week.

As always, if you have any questions, you can send us an ask, slide into our dms, or message us directly on chats @ lunaincmods x

[strawberry-milkbunny]

I really don’t understand the people here who don’t like the smallfolk/are mad about the Storming of the Dragonpit. In Asoiaf dragons are not mystical creatures with dog like personalities, they’re flying nukes.

Like besties….its giving bootlicker. It’s giving defending nepo babies and feudalism. It’s giving so you WANT to be oppressed?

You are not from House Targaryen or even House Crane. You are a bread baker from the Stormlands. You are sheep farmer that Aegon is using to feed Sunfyre. You are at MOST a ship pedaler or doing Helaena’s laundry. If you’re from the Riverlands good luck because there’s a 90% chance a random lord is going to terrorize your house for fun. Daemon Targaryen would land Caraxes on your father and scoff if you told him that was your dad.

I’m asian so I realistically I’m probably a rice farmer in Yi Ti.

Sansa irl would be your really nice delusional friend who romanticizes about living in an apartment while her parents pay her rent and wonders why you have a job while in school.

It’s literally Jon’s first arc when he gets to the wall. Yeah he’s a bastard and got emotionally neglected but like…he grew up in a castle and was trained by Winterfell’s master at arms like sir your life really was NOT that hard. Same with Arya and her whole journey in the Riverlands and how being a servant is not rlly that different than being a slave. And Jaime during FoC aka the AFTERMATH and consequences of war and how it utterly fucks up the smallfolk. Love the main cast but I’m not delusional enough to not see: that if you’re not a nepo baby you are utterly FUCKED in Asoiaf.

Maoism would go crazy in Westeros. Karl Marx would be the equivalent to Jesus to Gendry. The French Revolution is a fairytale spread by Mysaria that starts the Storming of the Pit. Malcolm X would be a prophet in Essos and is Dany’s final boss fight against Valyria’s history of enslavement and colonization.

Anyways ✨Stan Smallfolk✨ and eat the rich

[hoppityhopster23]

Facts about Frederick VI that live rent free in my head (that I simply must share) ft. a super sleepy Hopster

One of my current interests is a Danish King by the name of Frederick VI. I'm currently really tired, but really wanting to post about him. so this wont be as organized as i normally do. i'll try to avoid making it a wall of words, but this is probably going to be a word vomit.

Family/Romantic Life

this guy was a pretty caring dad, and I love that for him. This man fathered. generally a great dad. dare I say the epitome of a good dad from the time. especially given his less-than-good start in life.

his romantic life was one hell of a ride. like- he had a long-time mistress (of like- 30 years) with whom he would have an affair. but, during the Congress of Vienna, he cheated on both his wife and his long-time mistress with another woman. his mistress, Rikke, then cheated on him. That led to ever more soap opera-like stuff happening.

Man not only had legitimate (2) and illegitimate (5?) kids but took on another nine kids. Well, some of them were adults at the time, but still. basically, when his brother-in-law (a duke) died, he and a friend of said duke became the legal guardians of said kiddos. and from the sounds of it, it wasn't just throwing money at them. he actually interacted with them to a certain extent.

to piggyback on no. 3, he had agreed with his sister-in-law that one of the boys, Christian, would go to Copenhagen and attend the land cadet academy. Christian would go to Copenhagen one year after the decision. he didn't live with the monarch but did spend a fair amount of time with them. it is said the king was fond of him. unbeknownst to all of them, Christian would turn out to be Christian IX, the father-in-law of Europe.

he was a parsimonious guy, at least when it came to himself. he would wear his clothing until they were worn out. only then did he get a new one? two of his desks, both his personal one and the one for his aide are simplistic, and so are his things in general. even his rolling chair- which is in Fredericksborg castle, is worn out looking. hell- what I'm pretty sure was his own bed was nothing but an Iron camp bed! granted, he only spent a few days a week in it, as he was staying with his mistress. or his wife.

regarding his mistresses, he took really good care of them. I'm only uncertain about one- which is the French one he had at some point, which did produce a daughter. For the other two, however, it's pretty clear. the one woman he met in Vienna, Caroline Seufert, was granted a large pension from him. his long-time mistress, Rikke Dannemand, was given an apartment near him, and enough money to live a bourgeoise life. That was a far cry from Rikke's former life in Nyboder. My only problem with this was the sheer age gap between them. with Rikke, there was a 22-year age gap. with Seufert, it was 29 years. both women were under twenty when all of this started.

Political

he tended to not threaten people's lives. there was a case where one of the members of the chancellery, Anders Sandø Ørsted, who was a prominent critic of Frederick, and would often write about such criticisms. instead of exiling, punishing, or hell- even executing the guy, he just gave him the choice of his job or his pen. Ørsted chose his job.

was a gruff man (likely due to his upbringing) but quite generous with his people. notably, some of the most realistic small gifts I've seen in assorted Danish museums were given by him. For example, there is a little golden snuff box sitting in the National Museum of Denmark that he had given to somebody as a reward. It is small, intricate, and made of gold. but most of all, it was usable.

His reaction to the July Revolution was good. the November after it, constitutions were made for Schleswig and the Kingdom of Denmark- but the absolute monarchy was still in place. on top of that, 4 Advisory assemblies were created. One for each major region of Denmark. this was a very primitive version of what was desired (and what would come not long after) as the king still appointed a number of the members, and only 3% of the population got the right to vote.

He tended to overwork himself. sometimes until he got sick (like during the Vienna congress). he died still working. he also had the belief that no matter was too small for the king. this meant that he stuck his nose into a lot of paperwork he didn't necessarily need to worry about. this tended to elongate the completion of paperwork, but it did make him more aware of what was going on in the country, so there was some benefit.

Other

he built one of the finest gardens I have ever strolled in in Copenhagen. If you are on any servers with me, there's a 99% chance you've seen the pictures.

It's obvious that his strongest gene was his hair. In every portrait I've seen of his children, they're blonde. like- super blonde.

The man was stubborn as hell, not wanting to change too much. this tended to rear its ugly head from time to time, but he wasn't too stubborn to not kind of acknowledge his mistakes.

that was a word vomit... I do apologize. but thats all my sleepy brain can think of. I'll likely have more when i wake up tomorrow. and if i actually find the time, I can go into more detail. I just need to check the copyrights on a few of the books i have.

[crushedgraham]

Could you do pre-Widowmaker Amélie x fem!reader headcanons where her gf is an author who works from home? Just some things about what it’s like dating the French ballet dancer Amélie and maybe some smut headcanons too? 🤭💗

NOT YALL BEING A WATTPAD POWER COUPLEEE

when you moved to paris, you were expecting it to like...smell like croissants and love or something

but the romanticized version of paris online LIED TO YOU.

there was trash covering the streets and it reeked of piss

rent literally costed you three limbs and your liver

the sole reason that you moved there was for your writing career but it was pretty hard to find inspiration in rats and trash

though everything changed when your editor sent you a ticket to a ballet show after your book hit number one in the U.S

even though you devoted your life to writing cheesy love stories, what you felt when you saw her was something so surreal that no amount of words could do it justice

your heart pounded and fluttered in your chest as she floated across the stage

when she was taking her bows, that's when her eyes found you

Amélie smiled at you and you swore you could've passed out

as she walked off stage she winked at you and blew a kiss

the weeks that followed were plagued with thoughts of Amélie

so you did what you were good at; you wrote about her

you were sat on a blanket at a park, scribbling quickly with a dip pen to hurriedly get all your thoughts on the paper

that is until a feminine voice cleared her throat

when you look up, you're sent back to that night at the ballet

somehow, she's even more beautiful in her casual attire

you snap out of your trance when she waves the paper in front of your face

"Mademoiselle? I believe this belongs to you. Your writing's quite beautiful"

god, the small smile on her face tells you that she knows you were writing about her

you rush out a quick "thank you" while hurrying to take the paper back

though you're too embarrassed to notice the cursive phone number and kiss of lipstick on the bottom of the page

and that's how your relationship starts

you moved into Amélie's castle when she found out you were lowkey a starving artist (she thought it was absurd how much of your revenue from sales were cut and distributed before being sent to you)

she's pretty quiet, on dates it's mainly you talking while she rests her chin in her hand, sipping lazily on her wine and nodding along to whatever you're saying

Amélie enjoys the fact that words don't need to be exchanged between you two, just being in each others presence is enough

which means that a lot of the times you're writing in her practice room while she goes through different routines

it's pretty luxurious, there's a modern couch tucked into a nook in the back, a large tv in the upper corner and a statement piece chandelier in the middle of the high ceiling

Amélie loves catching you staring instead of writing while she practices or stretches

but on the other hand, she loves watching you type

something about the way your fingers glide across the keyboard just ignites a fire in her

this means that neither of you are very productive bc "work sessions" lead to something a little more fun 😉

just kneeling behind Amélie while shes bent over the wood railing along the mirrors; your tongue buried inside her dripping cunt and your hands firmly squeezing her plump ass

or in your office, she'll smile mischievously at you from the space underneath your desk while eating you out or sucking on your strap; if its the latter then you'll drag her up by her hair to fuck her in your lap, on the desk or hell even against the large window

your work will get knocked off the desk, papers sent flying across the room but you could care less when you're 8 inches deep inside of her

but when y'all aren't acting like horny savages, Amélie'll lean over your shoulder with her arms draped over you to read your newest works

she inspires you a lot, you even wrote a book inspired by your relationship ☹️

Amélie doesn't know this (or at least you thought she didnt) but you have a folder of poetry specifically dedicated to her

one day she comes across it hidden away in your drawer and she decides that youre the one shes gonna marry.

when you're seen at an event together with matching bands on your ring fingers the press and your fans go crazy

you may or may not have dragged Amélie to the bathroom...

but who could blame you when she was dolled up and whispering dirty little remarks in your ear

pictures of you two leaving the event early with messy hair and lipstick and hickeys staining your skin were released but you could care less

having her by your side was all that mattered

[courtingevil]

This thought has been living rent free in my head since S07E05 (Unmortricken) aired. Spoilers below the cut.

When Rick, Morty, and Evil Morty are framed to look up at Prime Rick when they track him down, it looked really familiar to me. After a bit, I realized it reminded me of this scene from Monty Python and The Holy Grail:

It's probably not intentional, but that whole short scene reminded me of King Arthur & his knights approaching this castle and being mercilessly taunted by the French occupying it.

Next thing you know he'll be throwing a goose at you

[nancypullen]

Riquewihr and Kaysersberg

Today was utterly lovely. Strasbourg is snug up against the French/German border and the mix of cultures is obvious everywhere. We decided to rent a car at the train station and journey a bit south where Switzerland gets involved. We picked up the keys (they gave us a BMW suv for the price of a compact!) and drove through more beautiful countryside.

Aha! JUst what we were looking for- Riquewihr! The enchanting village that inspired Beauty and the Beast. We drove through vineyard after vineyard and found our way to the magical spot.

Cobblestones, medieval buildings, and old wells and fountains down every street.

The Alsace region is home to a large population of storks. The legend of storks bringing babies started here. Children who want a baby brother or sister leave a sugar cube on their windowsill hoping to lure a baby-carrying stork. So there are stork souvenirs everywhere, and as sweet as the legend is, I don't need stork hot pads, magnets, coffee cups, or statues. BUT, another symbol that appears everywhere that i just love is...

hearts! They're all over the place. These late blooming geraniums on the front of a crackled 15th century building are accompanied by a trio of sweet hearts.

Window boxes, shutters, curtains, fences - even cookies and pastries were heart-shaped. It put a smile on my face.

After a few hours wandering around beautiful Riquewihr we decided to ease on down the road. Again, over the river and through the vineyards we go. Pardon my photography, these were taken through the windshield.

This time we were looking for Kaysersberg, and we found it! I liked it even more than Riquewihr.

We roamed and roamed, eventually stopping for a late lunch.

I had a delicious quiche and a salad. The mister chose another tarte flambe. He's hooked.

After satisfying our tummies, we continued to explore and uncover more information about Kaysersberg. "The name is German for Emperor's Mountain. The high fortress that dominates the town serves as a reminder of both its strategic importance and its warlike past." The town was first mentioned in 1227, when Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor purchased the castle and began to refortify it. During the Middle Ages, Kaysersberg prospered. In 1648, the city became a part of France, although most inhabitants continued to speak German. From 1871 to 1918 (and again from 1940 to 1944) Kaysersberg belonged to Germany. It's now part of France again and lucky for us, still so very beautiful. Before we turned the car back toward Strasbourg we decided to gather the ingredients for a yummy charcuterie dinner in our apartment. We scored cheese and sausage in this shop.

Nuts and sweets in here,

and even found a bag of delicious local grapes. Oh my, what a feast we had tonight! Is there anything better after a long day than snacking in your pajamas? Anyway, that's it from me tonight. I should have given you a bit more info on Riquewihr, and I'll probably do a bit of a summary of this trip when we get home. But I'm pooped and I took wayyyy too many pictures to wade through tonight. Tomorrow is a light schedule. We'll get up whenever we get up, walk to train station and hop on a train going to Colmar. We've read good things and would like to see it for ourselves. It's a quick 30 minute train ride which leaves us the bulk of the day to wander. Trains between Colmar and Strasbourg run all day so we can return as we please. Isn't that a nice, hassle-free day? Exactly what a vacation should be. Until tomorrow, dear pals. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[my-deer-history]

Francis Kinloch in Müller's letters to his family: Part 3

These extracts are from Johannes von Müller: Sämmtliche Werke, volume 7 (1810).

My translations here, original German transcriptions below the cut. Müller and Kinloch have set off on their tour of Switzerland!

21 Aug 1775, to his brother

From there a narrow, steep path leads between sheer drops and vertical mountains into the Weissenburg hot spring, travelled only by pedestrians. Imagine the most terrible rock faces, with water rushing down and partially breaking up into dust and mist; between these rocks, a forest river flows noisily over rocky ground, over trees that water and wind had torn away from the slopes, and the rubble from the mountains that had broken them loose and thrown them down. A strong servant from the baths carried Mr. Kinloch and me on his back through this river to the healing spring.

21 Sept 1775, to his father

We drove in a Bernese carriage through Freyburg to Affry Castle, where the awful roads necessitated us to send the carriage home. After 2 hours, we came to Cicogne, where with some effort, we managed to interpret out of the patois of the people that we had taken the wrong road. An old farmer’s wife led us back on track through the muck by moonlight. Beyond the Saanen the path became entirely too difficult. There we rented a miller’s cart. Imagine: our suitcases, me and our dog on this cart, Mr. Kinloch beside us, the servant with a pack on our horse.

[...]

On sunday, Mr Boissier arranged a ball for the whole town in our honour, where everyone had to dance - the farmers and their wives and all sons and daughters, and Mrs Boissiere, and Mr von Castela and Mr Kinloch and even Mr Boissier himself - though he is lame - and even I - though I cannot dance very well. This day I translated an Italian opera into French. I forgot to mention the letters that we received at Berne, Mr K one from America, I one from England from Mr Thomas Boone

Undated, 1775, to his brother

My dear brother! I cannot describe my contentment to you enough. [...] I am loved, and friendship is the joy of my life. My Englishmen, my American,* Bonstetten, Tronchin, Bonnet!

*Kinloch

20 March 1776

At the moment, Kinloch and I are reading Tacitus for the second time (me, for the third) [...] Mr Bonnet is giving us 2–3 lectures a week on psychology. But don’t imagine him as an ordinary professor, he does not allow himself to be paid except in the attention and friendship of his audience, and these are only two, Kinloch and me. We go to him at 4pm, his psychology lesson starts at 5 or 6, and we stay until 11.

June 1776, to his brother

Letters from England have convinced Mr Kinloch to move his planned journey forward to the autumn.

21 Aug 1775, to his brother

Von da führt ein schmaler abhängiger Weg zwischen Abgründen und senkrechten Bergen in das warme Bad Weissenburg, niemanden als Fußgänger. Stelle dir die schrecklichsten Felswände vor, mit Wassern, welche da herunter stürzen und sich zum Theil in Staub und Nebel auflösen; zwischen diesen Felsen wälzt sich mit großem Geräusch ein Waldwasser über einen felsigen Grund, über Bäume, welche Wasser und Wind ab den Gebürgen gerissen und Trümmern von Bergen, welche sie abgelöset und herabgewälzt hatten. Durch dieses Wasser trug Hrn. Kinloch und mich ein starker Badknecht auf dem Rücken zu der heilsamen Quelle. 

21 Sept 1775, to his father

In einer Bernerkutsche fuhren wir über Freyburg nach dem Schloß Affry, woselbst die schlimmen Straßen uns nöthigten, die Kutsche heimzusenden. Nach 2 Stunden kamen wir auf Cicogne, wo wir mit Mühe aus dem Patois des Volks erdollmetschen konnten, daß wir den unrechten Weg eingeschlagen. Eine alte Bauersfrau führte uns durch den Koth beim Mondschein zurechte. Jenseits der Saanen wurde nun der Weg allzu arg. Daselbst mietheten wir einen Müllers - Karren. Stellet Euch vor, unsre Mantelsäcke mich und unsern Hund auf diesem Wagen, Hr. Kinloch neben her, den Bedienten mit einem Pack auf unserm Pferd.

[...]

Am Sonntag gab Hr. Boissier unsertwegen dem ganzen Dorf einen Ball, wo alle Bauren und Bäurinnen und alle Knaben und Töchtern, und Mad. Boissiere, und der Hr. von Castela und Hr. Kinloch, und Hr. Boissier selbst, ob er wohl estropirt ist, und selbst ich, ob ich gleich nicht wohl tanzen kann, tanzen mußte. Diesen Tag übersetzte ich eine italiänische Opera ins Französische. Ich habe vergessen, der Briefe zu gedenken, welche wir zu Bern erhalten, Hr. K. einen aus Amerika; ich einen aus England von Herrn Thomas Boone

Undated, 1775, to his brother

Mein lieber Bruder! Ich kann dir mein Wohlbefinden nicht genug beschreiben. [...] Man liebt mich, und die Freundschaft ist meines Lebens Lust. Meine Engländer, mein Amerikaner, Bonstetten, Tronchin, Bonnet!

20 March 1776

Gegenwärtig lesen Kinloch und ich zum andern (ich, zum dritten) Mal den Tacitus [...] Herr Bonnet giebt uns wöchentlich 2–3 Lectionen über die Psychologie. Stelle ihn dir aber nicht als einen gewöhnlichen Professor vor, er läßt sich nicht anders bezahlen, als durch die Aufmerksamkeit und Freundschaft seiner Zuhörer, und dieser sind nur zwei, Kinloch und ich. Wir gehen um 4 Uhr zu ihn, um 5 oder 6 fängt er seine psychologische Stunde an, und wir bleiben bis um 11 Uhr

June 1776, to his brother

Briefe aus England haben Hrn. Kinloch bestimmt, seine vorgehabte Reise auf den Herbst zu verschieben.

[aoawarfare]

Easter Rising

Easter Rising is one of the most well-known Irish rebellions. It caught the British by surprise (despite the Castle knowing all there was to know about the planned uprising) and lasted for five days before being defeated by the British Army. The Rising was concentrated in Dublin, with only a few countryside engagements. While the rebellion itself was a failure, the execution of its leaders and the determination of its survivors, turned it into a spiritual and political victory that set the stage for the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.

And it nearly didn’t happen.

Daniel O’Connell and the Young Irelanders

To understand why the Rising occurred, one most first familiarize themselves with Ireland’s long struggle against British colonialism.

In 1798, the United Irishmen coordinated a massive rebellion in Ireland that would clear the path for a Napoleonic French invasion. They would help the French overthrow the British Empire and earn their freedom. The rebellion was brutally suppressed by the British forces and served, in the British and Protestant Irish minds as a nightmarish example of what the Catholic Irish were “capable” of.

This rebellion was followed by another rebellion in 1803, led by Robert Emmet. He also coordinated with the French, but was forced to move the date of his rebellion up, jeopardizing any support he has previously organized. He issued a proclamation of the Provisional Government and expected the people to rise. It only lasted for a day before it was defeated by the British. Emmet was executed by the British.

After the failed rebellions, a modicum of progress was achieved in the 1820s/1830s when one of Ireland’s greatest statesmen, Daniel O’Connell campaigned for Catholic Emancipation i.e. the right for Catholics to sit in Parliament. This was granted in 1829.

Daniel O'Connell

O’Connell tried to repeal the Act of Union and asked that Ireland be allowed to govern itself independently while acknowledging the Queen as the Queen of Ireland as well as of England. However, O’Connell’s failing health and his refusal to do anything that would lead to bloodshed weakened his support and the repeal fell apart after he died.

Out of the ashes of O’Connell’s attempt to repeal the Union, rose the Young Ireland Movement. This group led the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, which was defeated by the British. Many of the organizers were shipped off to prisons all over the British Empire, including Australia. One Young Irelander, Thomas Meagher migrated to America in time to volunteer for the Union Army’s Irish Brigade when the American Civil War broke out,

Another Young Irelander, James Stephens created the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a secret organization that would be responsible for Easter Rising and fill the ranks of the IRA.

Charles Parnell and Home Rule

Although O’Connell failed to repeal the Union, he paved the way for greater independence in Ireland. He proved that the British could be engaged through their own parliamentary government and that more could be achieved through negotiations than through violence. Charles Parnell took these lessons to heart and used his own position within England’s parliament to push for Home Rule.

Parnell was a politically astute Irishmen, associating with well-known nationalist organizations such as the IRB, while also using parliamentary procedures such as obstructionism to drew England’s attention to Irish issues. Parnell was able to capitalize on Irish resentment over land ownership and landlords to increase his party’s power within parliament, leading to his arrest.

While in prison he made a deal with Gladstone’s government, promising to quell violent agitation if Gladstone allowed renters to appeal for fair rent before a court. This, combined with the backlash following the Phoenix Park killings, broke the IRB’s power until the early 1900s. Parnell used his power to reintroduce Home Rule which combined a request for independent rule with agrarian reform. He also won the support of the Catholic Church. He reshaped his party, renamed it the Irish Parliamentary Party, and introduced a new sense of professionalism into its members. Other British parties would base their organization on Parnell’s tightly run party. He also helped passed several Land Acts that abolished the large Anglo-Irish tenant owned estates.

Just when Parnell was at his highest point of power and Home Rule seemed destined to become reality, a personal scandal ruined his political career. It turns out that Parnell was involved in an affair with a currently married woman. The Catholic Church, who had grown to distrust Parnell, used this to break his political power and even Gladstone turned his back on him. Parnell was defiant, splitting his party into the Parnellites and anti-Parnellites. John Redmond, another important Irish statesman, was a Parnellite. Parnell died shortly after, taking Home Rule with him.

John Redmond

After adjusting to the social change demanded by Daniel O’Connell in the 1820s/1830s and the trauma of Parnell’s scandalous fall from grace, Ireland’s future seemed bright. The mystical and ever elusive Home Rule seemed to be within the grasp of John Redmond, Parnell’s political and spiritual successor.

John Redmond

This bill promised a bicameral Irish Parliament to be set up in Dublin, the abolition of Dublin Castle (the center and reviled symbol of hated British colonialism and authority within Ireland), and a distinctive Irish representation in the Parliament of the U.K. This bill passed the House of Commons three times and was defeated in the House of Lords three times and was postponed indefinitely when WWI broke out.

While Home Rule’s fate was up in the air, Ireland itself was undergoing a social transformation. R. F. Foster’s book Vivid Faces does a fantastic job capturing the social experiences of the members of Irish Volunteers and IRA that I cannot recapture in this short post. However, it is sufficient to say that the members that crowded the language revival leagues and sports leagues wanted more than Home Rule. They wanted a revitalized and progressive Gaelic culture and identity.

The Irish, mostly Protestant, in, what is now, Northern Ireland were alarmed by the very idea of Home Rule and this renewed interest in Gaelic culture. They responded by creating the militaristic organization called the Ulster Volunteers in 1912. Their goal was to pressure the British government to nix Home Rule and to defend themselves from the Catholic “onslaught” should Home Rule pass into law.

The Irish nationalists in the rest of the Ireland responded by creating their own military organization: the Irish Volunteers in 1913. It was created by Eoin MacNeill and included members from the Gaelic League, Sinn Fein, and the Irish Republic Brotherhood.

Eoin MacNeill

The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was a secret organization dedicated to Irish independence. Bulmer Hobson (who co-founded the Fianna Eireann with Constance Markievicz) combined the two organizations into the Irish Volunteers.

Redmond knew about the Irish people’s frustration. He promised the English that he would rally the Irish about the British cause and enlist in its armies if England promised to pass Home Rule. During a speech, Redmond-eager to prove that he was a man of his word-passionately encouraged Irish to enlist in the army and fight in France. This was the final straw for many nationalists and Redmond lost what little power he had over events. Redmond would try to regain control by co-opting the Irish Volunteers with assistance from Bulmer Hobson, but this only angered the nationalists. Tom Clarke, who was great friends with Hobson, considered it an act of treason and never spoke to his friend again.

Irish Volunteers and the IRB

The Irish Volunteers were never completely united and the battle for Home Rule drove a split within the organization between those who trusted Redmond and those who decided that Home Rule wasn’t enough anymore and that a bloody uprising was needed. Of the men who wanted to wait, Eoin MacNeill and Bulmer Hobson are the most famous. They believed that it was better to wait for British provocation before leading the people to the slaughter. They were also doubtful of their chances of success and did not believe in the glorious sacrifices that Patrick Pearse exalted in his speeches and writing.

The more militant group kept the name Irish Volunteers, even though many of them were also IRB members, and consisted of men such as Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Joseph Plunkett, and Eamonn Ceannt. They believed that England’s difficulties meant Irish opportunity and they wanted to enlist German help in pulling off an uprising. These men were idealistic and, perhaps a bit naïve, but they were dedicated to their cause and to their country.

This committee knew they would not be able to win without arms and support, so, keeping their plans to themselves, they sent Roger Casement and Plunkett to Germany to present their plans for a German invasion that would coincide with an Irish rising. The Germans rejected this plan (maybe remembering what happened in 1798, when the French made a similar landing, weeks after a massive Irish uprising), but promised to send arms. Plunkett returned to Ireland while Casement remained in Germany to recruit Irish prisoners of war to the Volunteer’s cause.

The situation in Ireland, specifically Dublin, became even more complicated when James Connelly, head of the Irish Citizen Army-a group of socialist trade unionists-threatened to start his own uprising.

Bulmer Hobson

A meeting between Connelly and Pearse occurred and Connelly joined the military committee. Thomas MacDonagh joined shortly after, becoming the seventh and last member of the committee.

The Irish Volunteers were often seen drilling and practicing for some vague rebellion, so it wasn’t suspicious to the authorities or to MacNeil and Hobson to see units marching around. When Pearse issued orders for parade practice on Easter Sunday, MacNeil and Hobson took it at face value while those in the know, knew what it really meant. This surreal arrangement would not last for long and the committee’s secrecy nearly destroyed the very rising it was trying to inspire.

Seven Members of the Military Committee

Not only were the members of the committee the men most responsible for the rising, they were also the signatories to the Irish Republic Proclamation. This important document was the foundation for the IRA’s fight for freedom and was the death warrant for all who signed it. Below are short biographies on the seven members.

Patrick Pearse

Patrick Pearse was a school teacher and poet. He was a firm believer in reviving the Gaelic language and founded St. Enda’s College as a bilingual institution, focusing on Irish tradition and culture. Pearse is the man who represents the Rising best as he truly believed that the blood of martyrs would liberate Ireland. He was the spiritual leader of the rising and one of its most powerful martyrs.

Tom Clarke

Tom Clarke was an old hat at rebellions. He was a firm believer in violent uprisings and spent fifteen years in an English prison before joining the committee. He had joined the IRB in 1878 and was arrested for attempting to blow up London Bridge as part of the Fenian dynamite campaign in 1883. He was only released because of public pressure in Ireland and an endorsement from John Redmond, himself. Following his feud with Hobson over Redmond’s acceptance into the Irish Volunteers, Clarke became firm friends with Seán Mac Diarmada. Together they ran the IRB and helped plan Easter Rising.

Seán Mac Diarmada

Seán Mac Diarmada (also known as Sean MacDermott) was born in Corranmore, where he was surrounded by Irish history and reminders of British oppression. By the time he moved to Dublin in 1908, he was already a member of the IRB, Sinn Fein, the Gaelic League, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He was also manager of the newspaper Irish Freedom which he founded with Hobson and Denis McCullough. He became close to Clarke and helped run the IRB. He was arrested briefly in 1914 for a speech against joining the British army but was released in 1915. Like Pearse, Mac Diarmada believed in the power of a bloody sacrifice and, besides Clarke, was the man most responsible for planning the rising.

Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh was assistant headmaster at St. Enda’s School and lecturer at University College Dublin. He was also a playwright and poet. He met Pearse and MacNeill through the Gaelic League and joined the IRB in 1915. He married Muriel Gifford whose sister, Grace, would marry Joseph Plunkett. He was also responsible in planning the funeral of Irish Fenian leader Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa where Pearse would give one of his greatest speeches.

Joseph Plunkett

Joseph Plunkett came from a wealthy Dublin family. He contracted tuberculosis when he was young and spent considerable time in the Mediterranean and North Africa. When he returned, he joined the Gaelic League where he befriended MacDonagh. He joined the IRB in 1915 and was sent to German with Casement to negotiate for arms and military support.

Eamonn Ceannt

Eamonn Ceannt was a very religious and committed member of the Irish Volunteers. Like most Volunteers, he joined the Gaelic League when he moved to Dublin and became involved in nationalistic affairs after meeting Pearse and MacNeill. In 1907 he joined Sinn Fein and in 1915 he became a member of the IRB.

James Connolly

James Connolly was born in the Irish slums of Edinburgh and joined the British Army when he was fourteen. While serving in the army, he was involved in the Land Wars, sparking an interest in land issues and a deep hatred of the British. He deserted and became involved in the socialist movement in Scotland. He moved to Dublin when he heard that the Dublin Socialist Club was looking for a secretary and quickly transformed it into the Irish Socialist Republican Party. He, along with Arthur Griffith, protested the Boer War and he wrote a book about labor in Irish history that was very critical of Daniel O’Connell. In 1913, he co-founded the Irish Citizen Army with Jim Larkin, whose aim was to defend workers and strikers from the police. Connolly was initially disgusted with the Irish Volunteers, believing that they were too bourgeoise and didn’t have the guts to rebel against the British. It was only after meeting with Pearse and Clarke did he change his mind and support the Volunteers and the Rising.

Easter Rising Sunday

Easter Rising was a surprise for the British and for the leaders of the Irish Volunteers-Eoin MacNeill and Bulmer Hobson. Historian, Charles Townshend argues that Hobson and MacNeil were subsequently written out of Irish history because of their resistance to any violent rebellion in 1916 and it is only recently that they’ve returned to their proper place in history. While it is true that they were hesitant to lead a general uprising, it was for good reasons. The Irish Volunteers weren’t soldiers, despite all their training, and they didn’t have the weapons needed to fight a protracted rebellion. Additionally, it was doubtful that the general population would support their efforts. These concerns combined, made the Rising’s chances for success minimal.

This didn’t dissuade men like Pearse and Clarke, who planned the Rising right under MacNeill’s noses. To ensure full support of their efforts, the seven leaders of the Rising had the ‘Castle Document’ read during a meeting. This document was a plan to arrest the leaders of the Irish Volunteers should the English implement conscription. While it was a real document, it seems that the leaders may have played fast and loose with when it was going to be implemented. Either way, this was the type of repressive efforts that MacNeil believed were needed to ensure the people would support a rising of any kind. MacNeil gave orders to the men to resist and the seven leaders decided amongst themselves that the Rising would take place on 23rd April 1916. They didn’t tell anyone else though and wouldn’t until the last minute.

Then things began to unravel.

First, Roger Casement was arrested. Roger Casement had gone to Germany to recruit arms and assistance from the German government and to recruit Irishmen from the captured British soldiers. The Germans were less than supportive, and it seems Casement boarded the ship Aud to return to Ireland to either stop or postpone the rising. However, when he arrived in Ireland on either April 21st or 22nd, he was pick up by British police and placed in jail.

Then MacNeil and Hobson had their worst suspicions confirmed-Pearse and his comrades were secretly planning a rebellion without their support. There was a confrontation between MacNeil and Pearse on the 21st and MacNeil vowed to do everything possible-save warning the authorities-to stop the rebellion. However, the next day MacNeil was informed that the Germans had sent a boat full of supplies to Ireland. This seemed to convince him that things were firmly out of his control and he remained mostly mute about his feelings regarding the Rising. His opinions changed again when found out that Casement had been arrested and the arms had been picked up by the British. Feeling that this ruined what little chance the rebellion had to succeed, he spoke to Pearse once more. One can only imagine his disorientation when he found out that Hobson had been arrested by the IRB Leinster Executive out of fear that he would try to stop the rebellion. Why Pearse and his comrades never arrested MacNeil is unknown, but it speaks volumes about which man they were more threatened by.

Failing to convince Pearse that it was necessary to cancel the rebellion to avoid disaster, MacNeil wrote a counter-order, canceling the drills scheduled for Sunday. This counter-order took an already confused situation and turned it into a bewildering disaster. Units formed as ordered by Pearse and dispersed with great puzzlement and some anger and frustration. Pearse and his comrades met to discuss their next steps and decided the die had been cast. There was no other choice except to try again tomorrow, Monday, 24th, April 1916.

As can be imagined, the counter-orders have been a source of much anguish and gnashing of teeth. From the rebellion’s perceptive, it did more to ruin the Rising then the British. There is some belief that if the rebellion had occurred on Sunday as planned, with all the Irish Volunteers mobilizing, then it may have been successful. Some of this is definitely wishful thinking, as the plan for the rebellion was far from perfect to begin with. Have a larger showing of Irish Volunteers may have only meant more Irish dead at the end of the five days.

The more important question how did the decision by Pearse and his comrades to form a shadow chain of command within the Irish Volunteers affect operations? MacNeil would not have needed to issue the counter-orders if he had been in on the planning to begin with and there would have been no confusion on part of the Volunteers if commands were issued as they should have been. While it is true that Hobson and MacNeil did not want to rebel until conditions were more favorable for the Volunteers, the Rising leader’s decision to split their command in half was far more detrimental to their rebellion than anything else.

Easter Rising Monday

When the Rising began that Monday, only about half of the Irish Volunteers showed up in several key locations in Dublin and even fewer gathered in the countryside. Pearse and the others lead about 150 men down Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) where they picked up stranglers and marched on the General Post Office (GPO). It was here they would establish their headquarters.

The General Post Office

The GPO was a formidable building and important location in Dublin, but there is some question as to whether it offered Pearse and Connolly the ability to effectively communicate with the other garrisons, especially when it was cut off from the southern half by the Castle and Trinity College.

Whatever its military significance, it became a politically powerful building. After they took the GPO, two Irish flags were hung-one was yellow, green, and orange/yellow and the other was green with a golden harp. Then Pearse read outloud the Irish Proclamation of the Republic to the newly ‘liberated’ people. This proclamation was signed by all seven leaders of the Rising-Pearse, Clarke, Ceannt, Mac Diarmada, MacDonagh, Connolly, and Plunkett-and it would later serve as their death warrant.

Whether because he read the proclamation or simply during the stress of the times, Pearse became the unofficial president and general of the Volunteers-although there were claims following the Rising that Clarke was the actual president. Additionally, the name Irish Republican Army (IRA) came out of this makeshift government. They wanted an official name for their army. It originally started as the Army of the Republic, which was changed to the IRA and became official and everlasting in the 1920s.

There was a sense of futility combined with military spirit in the GPO. While men like Pearse had always spoke of the need to wash Ireland in martyr’s blood, even practical men like Connolly seemed to believe that they were going to be slaughter. Yet, Pearse and the other leaders still struggled to develop a military command structure and government while also taking the city. As Pearse became the center of the Rising, Connolly took command of the military forces, sending out orders that his secretary, Winifred Carney, wrote on her typewriter.

While this was happening, the battalions that showed up, quickly dispersed to vital positions throughout the city.

To the east of the GPO, was the Four Courts-the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Dublin District Court. This was taken by the 1st battalion commanded by Edward Daly.

Edward Daly

Daly was the youngest man to serve as commandant and was Tom Clarke’s brother-in-law. Daly sent a small company under the command of Sean Heuston to take the Mendicity Institution (one of Ireland’s oldest charities). Heuston’s original orders (when GPO expected an immediate response from the British Army) were to hold the position for a few hours to give GPO time to get organized. Heuston would hold on for three days.

Southeast of the Four Courts was the South Dublin Union. This was taken by the Fourth battalion led by Eamon Ceannt, one of the seven signers of the proclamation and planners of the rising.

West of the South Dublin Union was Jacob’s biscuit factory. This was taken by the second battalion commanded by Thomas MacDonaugh, another signer of the proclamation.

West of the biscuit factory was St. Stephen’s Green, a large park. This was taken by Connolly’s Citizen Army commanded by Michael Mallin.

Michael Mallin

Mallin was Connolly’s second in command co-founder of the Socialist Party of Ireland. Constance Markievicz, a fascinating and colorful member of the Volunteers, Citizen Army, and, later, IRA, was his third in command. They tried to take Shelbourne Hotel on the north-east side of the park, but didn’t have the sufficient manpower. The British would position troops in the hotel by Monday night.

Northeast of St. Stephen’s Green was Boland’s Mill. This was taken by the Third battalion, commanded by Eamon de Valera. De Valera was a mathematics professor and had joined the Irish Volunteers out of a sense of nationalism, but only reluctantly became an IRB member. He would later distance himself from the IRB, professing a disdain for secret societies.

While the rebels certainly took a large part of the city, Dublin was surrounded by five police barracks. To the northeast there were the Royal and Marlborough barracks, to the southwest there was the Richard Barracks, to the very south was the Portobello barracks, and to the southeast was the Beggars Bush Barracks.

Additionally, the Castle, the center of British colonialism in Ireland was in the very center of Dublin, and the Volunteers didn’t take it. There was a futile attempt early Monday afternoon, but for reasons that are still unclear, it wasn’t successfully. The Volunteers also failed to take Trinity College and the telephone exchange in Crown alley, allowing the government to control communication and repair the lines that had been cut. Additionally, they failed to take Dublin’s two railways or Dublin Port and Kingstown. This would, later, enable the British to bring in army reinforcements.

There has been a lot of puzzlement over these failures, but it may have simply between due to the lack of manpower and the confusion caused by the counter-orders. There were mild gunfights throughout the day and the Volunteers waited nervously for Britain’s response. They expected it to be hard and fast, but this was furthest from the truth.

That Monday morning there were a total of 400 British soldiers on hand to respond to the rebellion. Historian Charles Townshend claims that there were 100 for each of the four barracks (Richmond, Marlborough, Royal, and Portobello). Despite knowing about the preparation for the Rising and the arms the Germans had sent, the British officials didn’t expect anything to happen that day.

The small force that engaged the rebels during Monday afternoon, were unable to displace the Volunteers. This was a short-lived victory for the rebels however, as by Monday night General Lowe had taken command along with an additional 150 troops from Belfast, and a colonel brought up the artillery from Athlone. He could expect more reinforcements from England the next day. Lowe’s plan was to establish communication along the Kingsbridge-North Wall-Trinity College line, cutting the city in half, and isolating the rebel forces from each other.

Martial law was declared, leaving Dublin’s fate in the military’s hands.

Tuesday, 25 April

By Tuesday morning, historian Charles Townshend estimates that the British military strength was up to 3000 men and Lowe estimated the rebels to be about 2000 strong, but he knew little else. He feared that the rebellion could spread to the countryside and so he requested additional reinforcements.

Despite not knowing the exact situation, Lowe’s men were able to achieve a few victories. By the end of Tuesday, they had dislodged Mallin’s men from St. Stephen’s Green and into the Royal College of Surgeons. A unit attempted to repair a section of the damaged railroad at Amiens Street but were attacked by the rebels positioned along Annesley Bridge. They fought for two hours before the British were forced to retreat.

That night, the British were able to position the four 18 pounder field guns and the guns on the HMS Helga. The British would use the artillery to great effect on Wednesday, focusing their fire on Liberty Hall, O’Connell Street, and Boland’s Mill. Connolly had once said that Britain would never fire artillery at Dublin because it was a modernized capitalistic city. One wonders what Connolly’s thoughts were during the intense bombardment.

Francis Sheehy-Skeffington

Tuesday was a day of small engagements while General Lowe assessed the situation, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a day of tragedy. The shock of the rebellion shattered the complacency that had taken over the Irish government. With a crisis on their hands, the military responded swiftly and harshly. An example of the kind of repression the military would use during the rest of was week was the arrest of a pacifist, feminist (he had adopted his wife’s name) and prominent Irish social figure-Francis Sheehy-Skeffington.

Francis Sheehy-Skeffington

Sheehy-Skeffington was vehemently against the militarism that had taken over the Irish Volunteers and was out Tuesday trying to discourage looters. He was arrested by British Lieutenant Morris and taken to Portobello Barracks. Later that night Captain J.C. Bowen Colthurst wanted to go lead a raiding party up to Harcourt Rd. (south of St. Stephen’s Green) and he took Sheehy-Skeffington as a ‘hostage’. On the way there, he killed a young man named Coade before ransacking a house owned by the alderman Tom Kelly. He arrested two men, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre, and took them back to the barracks. He reviewed the papers he found at the alderman’s house and the papers on Sheehy-Skeffington. Wednesday morning, he took the three men out to the yard and shot them, claiming they were dangerous men and he shot them to prevent the men from escaping.

The commander of Portobello Barracks, Francis Vane, was not there during the shooting. When he found out, he demanded Colthurst’s arrest. Instead, the bodies were buried in the yard, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was not told about her husband’s death, and Colthurst broke into her house to find evidence that Francis Sheehy-Skeffington had helped planned the revolution. Hanna eventually found out what happened to her husband. Vane pressed to prosecute Colthurst and Vane lost his command while Colthurst kept his rank.

Colthurst was finally arrested May 9th and would later be court-martialed and convicted of insanity. He was sentenced to Broadmoor Hospital, but was released in 1918 and resettled in Canada. Vane was dishonorably discharged from the army and went on to become involved with the Boy Scouts.

Wednesday, 26 April

During Wednesday, the British tightened their grip on the city. Using their artillery to bombard positions such as O’Connell Street and Boland’s Mill, Lowe sent his new reinforcements from England into the city to further cut the rebels off from each other.

One unit was sent to attack Heuston’s position at Mendicity Institute. With only 26 Volunteers against hundreds of British soldiers, Heuston held until the British were so close, they could throw grenades into the building. His troops were the first rebels to surrender.

The Sherwood Foresters, a unit that had arrived from Britain, were sent down Grand Canal Street, near Beggar’s Bush Barracks. They were held up where Grand Canal meets Mount Street by heavy rebel fire. The Volunteers had fortified various positions along the street, meaning that the Foresters were caught in their cross-fire as they repeatedly tried to take this position. After five hours of fighting and losing 240 men wounded and killed, they defeated the rebels and took the position, but many historians have wondered why they didn’t try another path into Dublin.

Thursday 27th, and Friday 28th April

Thursday and Friday were some of the bloodiest days during the Rising. One of the greatest battles in the countryside, the Battle of Ashbourne, in which the Fingal Battalion defeated a RIC detachment took place on Friday. Within Dublin, the famous battle for the South Dublin Union occurred on Thursday and the battle for the Four Courts waged during Thursday and Friday. Friday also saw the arrival of Commander-in-chief General Sir John Maxwell, who, perhaps, did more to ensure the spiritual and political success of the Rising than anyone else.

South Dublin Union

Cathal Brugha

Eamon Ceannt and his Vice-Commandant Cathal Brugha led the men at South Dublin Union. After a furious fight on Monday, their front had been mysteriously silent. On Thursday morning, reinforcements from Kingstown port arrived and attacked. The fighting here was vicious and Brugha, who insisted on fighting in the front line, was wounded twenty-five times and had to be sent to the medical staff on Friday. Still, they held throughout the week and even thought they had destroyed the entire British force that had attacked them.

Four Courts

The most famous fight of the Rising occurred in the Four Courts. This position was vital for the rebels as it protected headquarters and was near the center of town. The Volunteers were commanded by Edward Daly. On Wednesday, he sent troops out to take Linenhall Barracks, but didn’t have the men, so they set it on fire. The fire raged for most of the night. Meanwhile the British had taken Capel street, which meant Daly was now cut off from the GPO.

The British attacked Thursday morning. Men in armed trucks rolled down Bolton street and attempted to throw a cordon on King Street. However, the rebels had heavily fortified King street, and every inch was fiercely fought over. Eventually, the British had to drill through the inside walls and travel from house to house, wounding and killing many civilians. Daly had to pull his men back to the Four Court proper on Friday night. They were exhausted, but had fought long and hard.

General John Maxwell

General John Maxwell arrive in Ireland from London on Friday. His arrival signaled that London was no longer going to be nice and understanding with their “difficult Irish citizens”. He was a traditional army man, had served in Sudan, the Boer War, and the First World War. He was to be the formal commander-in-chief for Ireland, eclipsing the civil government that had been put in place, and he, more than anyway, helped create the rebel’s legacies. His first major contribution was to refuse any negotiations short of unconditional surrender. This was to have an important effect on the now tired, starving, and rattled rebels.

The artillery barrage had kept up since Wednesday and, despite their leader’s optimism, many commanders were beginning to doubt if they could last much longer. Then the fires started. It seemed that a shell had started a fire on Sackville Street, setting it ablaze. It spread around the GPO until the men inside could feel the heat through the walls. Then an oil works on Abbey Street caught fire. Friday morning, the women were sent out of the GPO. The building was hit by shells and it caught fire around 3 pm. Things were growing desperate. Connolly, who had spent all week checking posts and men, had been wounded in his left arm and leg on Thursday and had to be carried out on a stretcher. Fire had reached the GPO roof and many of the Volunteers had been cut off from HQ, left to defend themselves in their ever-shrinking fortified positions. An Irish Volunteer, O’Rahilly, who had passed out MacNeill’s counter-order, led a bayonet charge against the British troops and was mortally wounded.

Pearse decided to surrender.

Easter Rising Executions

The order was sent to all the units in Dublin and the few who had risen in the countryside, like the Fingal, Wexford, and Galway Battalions. Most of the troops did as they were told, and they were put in temporary holding cells until the British government could figure out what to do with them.

The British government’s goal was to squash all rebellion within Ireland, thus Maxwell ordered that all Sinn Feiners be arrested. Given the number of people arrested and the severity of the crisis, it was decided that the rebels would be tried by military court. It was decided that the men would be executed, but they could not handle the disgrace of executing the women.

The first three leaders to be executed were Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke, and Thomas MacDonaugh. They were taken out of Richmond Barracks to Kilmainham gaol and shot on May 3rd.

Edward Daly, Willie Pearse (Patricks’ younger brother), Joseph Plunkett (who was allowed to marry his fiancée the night before), and Michael O’Hanrahan were executed on the 4th.

John MacBride was executed on the 5th.

Eamon Ceannt, Sean Heuston, Con Colbert, and Michael Mallin were executed on the 8th and Thomas Kent on the 9th.

Sean MacDermott and James Connolly were executed on the 13th. Connolly, still recovering from his wounds, was tied to a chair so the soldiers could shoot him.

The government in London had become alarmed with the executions by the 4th, but allowed them to carry on until it became clear that public opinion was decidedly against them. John Redmond pleaded for clemency and the Irish public, who had been detached from the rebels at best, were beginning to praise them. It seems that the fact the Rising lasted for so long combined with the civilians who had been murdered (like Sheehy-Skeffington) and swiftness of the executions turned the public against the British forces and towards the rebels.

Given this startling development, the British government decided to intern the remaining rebbels at various prisons and internment camps in England and Wales such as Frongoch, the “University of Revolution’.

The last Irish Volunteer to be executed was Roger Casement. He was tried for treason and was hanged on August 3rd.

Legacy

“That the authorities allowed a body of lawless and riotous men to be drilled and armed and to provide themselves with an arsenal of weapons and explosives was one of the most amazing things that could happen in any civilized country outside of Mexico.”-William Martin Murphy, statement to Royal Commission 1916

It is true that the Irish Volunteers lasted longer than anyone expected (maybe even longer then their own leaders expected), yet that alone cannot count as a victory. Despite their best efforts, the plans for the Rising were muddled and the secret nature of their work only hurt their cause. It tore their movement in two, creating a political vacuum that allowed the IRB to take control, but also created a legacy of distrust. There would always be those members who suspected the IRB and this suspicion that would continue into the Irish War of Independence and contribute to the Irish Civil War and the aftermath of the 1924 Army Mutiny.

Once the Rising started, the battalions quickly became isolated commands of their own, their connection to the GPO and the leadership fragile. There were several brave stands during the Rising, such as Heuston’s stand at the Medicity Institute, Ceannt’s stand at the Four Courts, and the Battle of Ashbourne in the countryside and no one can deny the courage or dedication of the men who rebelled.

However, it is also hard to deny the tragedy of the entire affair. It has been estimated that a total of 485 people had been killed and 2,600 had been wounded during the rebellion. Ireland lost many important men and women such as Francis Sheehy-keffington, Michael Joseph O’Rahilly (the O’Rahilly) and promising leaders such as Sean Heuston and Edward Daly. Dublin city had been bombarded, burnt, and filled with lead and the Rising pushed the English to establish a military governor, John Maxwell.

So, it was a disaster?

It may have been nothing more than another failed uprising had it not been for the brutal murder of men like Sheehy-Skeffington and the executions. One cannot completely fault John Maxwell. Governments and military men often fall into the trap of believing that a rebellion cannot survive without its leadership. The British never expected the survivors to pick up the torch light by the signers of the Irish Proclamation.

De Valera was scheduled to be executed, but was spared because of the change in public opinion. Michael Collins had originally been marked for harsher punishment (such as execution) but was saved because he thought he heard someone call his name and moved to the group marked for lighter punishment in an attempt to identify the voice. Once he joined that group, he just stayed there. These two men would be instrumental in shaping the Irish War of Independence and modern Ireland.

Additionally, men and women like Cathal Brugha, Richard Mulcahy, W. T. Cosgrave, Arthur Griffith, Constance Markievicz, Harry Boland, and many more all participated in Easter Rising, many were interned in prisons like Frongloch internment camp, and would later become vital to the IRA in one capacity or another.

Easter Rising provided these future leaders of Ireland a glimpse into what worked and what didn’t. Michael Collins, himself, was disgusted with the loss of life and Richard Mulcahy, the IRA’s future chief of staff, experienced guerrilla warfare for the first time during the Battle of Ashbourne. De Valera’s experience in Dartmoor prison gave him the reputation and confidence he needed to become President of the Dail. It also created a moment of everlasting brotherhood that created the esprit de corps needed to survive the Irish War of Independence War and the very same brotherhood that would tear Ireland apart during the civil war.

The legacy of Easter Rising will always be tangled with the legacy of the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War. Was it any different from other Irish rebellions? In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. Was Pearse right? Did Ireland need a bloody sacrifice to be free? It is hard to agree with Pearse when Ireland had made many such bloody sacrifices during its long history and would make many more from 1919 up to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Can the full impact of Easter Rising be understood outside the context of the First World War and the technological advance that had been made in everyday life and in military affairs? Probably not.

The hardest part about assessing the Rising’s legacy is because of its larger than life narrative. The Rising was immortalized shortly after it was over by poets such as Yeats and, since many members of the IRA fought in the Rising, they added to this immortalization as they won independence and struggled to create a state. There was some reassessment in the 60s and 70s, but, as the 100 year anniversary revealed, Ireland still struggles to properly categorize and understand the Rising.

Despite the changing narrative surrounding the Rising, there is one thing that cannot be denied. The sacrifice of the men and women who fought will continue to challenge and inspire us as we worked to undo the damage caused by colonialism and small nations continue to fight to be free.

If you like this post, join my Patreon

References:

Foster, R. F. Modern Ireland 1600–1972

Townshend, Charles. Easter Rising: the Irish Rebellion

Townshend, Charles. the Republic

Foster R.F. Vivid Faces

Coogan, Tim Pat. Michael Collins: the Man Who Made Ireland

Coogan, Tim Pat. Eamon de Valera: the Man Who was Ireland

Fanning, Ronan. Eamon de Valera: a Will to Power

Valiulis, Maryann Gialanella. Portrait of a Revolutionary: General Richard Mulcahy and the Irish Free State

Images-Wikicommons

Bulmer Hobson-https:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bulmer_Hobson.jpg

Eoin MacNeill: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eoin_MacNeill.jpg

GPO Easter Rising 1916-By RossGannon1995 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, from Wikimedia Commons

Edward Daly-Public Domain

Michael Mallin-By National Library of Ireland on The Commons [No restrictions, Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Francis Shehy Skeffington: By photographer not identified [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Cathal Brugha: See page for author [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The O’Rahilly: By National Library of Ireland on The Commons (The O’Rahilly) [No restrictions, Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[lyliah7]

Okay so, I might be obsessed with Evenly Matched, Pairs Well by @jenni3penny and I had to draw the bottles of wine. For some reason (I can't decide on a design that I like for Blackbridge) my brain decided to start with Alfea instead of Blackbridge so here you go. I'm not sure why I picked rosé, apart from the fact that it fits Alfea's vibe (also, it's pretty and that's the only way I can judge wine since I don't like it).

I am planning on drawing the Blackbridge one as well, let's just hope school let me have enough time to do it.

Since it's wine and I'm French, I'm sorry but I can't not write in French on the bottle so here are the translations:

Château Alfea: Castle Alfea

Mis en bouteille au château: Bottled in the domain (well, accurate translation would still be castle, but I'm not sure which one is used in English)

I have already told you how much I love your fic, but dammit sommelier!Farah is now leaving rent free in my mind (and I'll probably want to draw even more things inspired by your AU). It's so freaking amazing and I should not be on my 4th (5th?) read of it already but I am 🤍

[i-miss-breathing]

My dream is to have a huge spiky gothic style castle where I section it off and each section has wildly different over the top aesthetic decor than the one before it.

Like the first section, where you walk in is super normal, just average house decor, it’s a living room and some guest rooms, very normal, the only thing weird here is that the carpet is orange and the walls have floral wallpaper from the 50s. Then, you walk fown a hall and BAM. Everything is ocean themed.

There’s a huge mural on one wall that makes it look like your in a bubble window underwater with all sorts of fish.

A bubble machine and ocean sound machine are going at all times. Sometimes you hear “yellow submarine” by the beetles playing

theres a tv that shows live footage of a reef and there’s a big saltwater aquarium on another section.

All the creatures have names, some of the rocks even have names, there’s a key on the side with all the names and what kind of creature/rock it is.

My cool butler takes care of them, he’s paid very well and has like 90 paid vacation days, when he’s on vacation I take care of the fish, he reminds me sometimes over text, and then reminds me that looking at water is not the same as drinking it and that I need to stay hydrated, he also tells me things about his vacations, like which foods I should ask the chef to make, or learn to make myself, like I said he’s very cool, anyways, off topic,

The next section is COMPLETELY GOTH.

You’ve stepped out of the submarine and into the vampires cave.

There are little bats and spiders and cats and ravens and crows EVERYWHERE. ITS AWESOME.

I have a pet raven in a room, her name is Lenore, she likes to sit on my shoulder, I take her to other parts of the house sometimes, she’s very smart.

There’s also my pet tarantula fiddlesticks, fiddle for short, I take him out of his enclosure sometimes but he doesn’t leave the goth section.

Speaking of the goth section, everything is red purple blue white and black, mostly black.

There’s goth music playing at all times, there’s a ballroom that I use to host goth club nights, it’s a castle after all, there’s a big French door that leads directly to the ballroom from the garden. It’s very cool.

Just when you think you’ll never escape the darkness and ungodly amount of moon cycles on the wall, you see a light.. BAM MAGIC FOREST.

Everything is green and orangish brown.and pastel

There’s fairy lights EVERYWHERE.

I keep my pet ponies Shorty and Sprinkles and my guard llama Dude, in a large closed off pasture near the garden, they get lots of apples and sugar cubes and hay along with all the yummy grass they graze on, you cannot ride any of them because they are too small, but I play with them everyday and teach them tricks every once in a while.

Back inside there are plants everywhere

there’s sparkles everywhere

There are bean bags that look like rocks and a bookcase that looks like it was built into a fake tree

there’s a little snack bar with cupcakes and rock candies and brownies and carrot cakes and pies and water and fruit flavored sodas and fun pastries.

Chef makes the snacks, Chef is cool, he’s really strong, I pay him a lot of money and he also has 90 days paid vacation a year, he mostly texts me recipes to ask if I think I’d like them. Chef also likes weed, he never makes weed brownies on the clock though. He’s very responsible.

I hire college students from the college near by at $25 an hour to run the fairy snack bar.

I host lots of parties here, parents can call and ask to rent it out for fairy themed birthday parties in a real life castle, of course it’s only a section of the castle, but it’s still a castle.

there’s another French door entrance but the glass has floral stained glass, it’s professionally done, it’s very pretty

There’s a dressing room with lots of outfits and dresses and they all look magical and they come in many different sizes, they are all thoroughly washed properly after each use by my maid. She’s really cool, she knows how to do a lot of stuff. Like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and race car driving, and knitting. She also gets paid very well and has 90 paid vacation days, I have a squish on her and she’s very inspiring, she teaches me the skills if I ask. She’s very cool. I text her pictures of things I make and she gives me encouragement. All my staff get along very well and it makes me happy. We have tea time and dinner together, it’s great.

And back to the fairy section there’s another ball room covered in fairy lights and plants, real and fake, there’s a DJ that takes all requests but otherwise plays music directly from ballroom scenes in fantasy movies and shows. He also gets paid well.

It’s very cool

I will add to this later but right now I do not have time

[lunastryinc]

It's finally here! We hope you've all packed your bags and are ready to wrap up October out in the French countryside. For the remainder of this month, Lunastry Inc has rented out Chateau De Marcay in its entirety. Loire Valley, nestled in the heart of France, is a charming region full of quaint villages, vineyards, and breathtaking scenery. The castle itself dates back to the 15th century but it was built upon the foundations of a fortress from the 11th century.

Check-in is today, 10/26, with check-out on the morning of 11/1. On Halloween night, there will be a masquerade ball held in the grand ballroom at the heart of the castle. More information will be posted later on in the week, but masks will be provided for anyone who forgot theirs at home.

Rooming arrangements for this trip can be found here. Please note that each room consists of two bedrooms connected to a small communal area. One bed per room for the couples, two beds for the singles.

There isn't a daily itinerary for this trip, but we encourage you to check out the castle's website for the facilities and services available to you all for the duration of your stay. Sit back, relax, and if you can, try and ignore the creeping sense of dread that something is watching your every move. It's nothing. We promise x

{ Hello angels! Your mod team is very excited for this event and we hope that you all are too. Starting tomorrow (10/27), to allow everyone time to get settled into the castle, for those who agreed to sign up for the Spooky Events/Hauntings, we ask that you check your dm's. We will be making group chats for each room which will have its own unique and ghostly experience. While coming up with the ideas for the Hauntings, we did take the trigger list into consideration to make this as safe as possible for all our members, but please be mindful that this is a horror experience. We also ask for your patience as we will be handling over 20 different group chats and scenarios.

In these group chats, we will present a scenario and you can share how your character reacts- kind of like planning out a para or long format writing, but without all the actual writing in hopes of streamlining the process. For example: Lunastry: It's the middle of the night, but you hear frantic knocking coming from the door. What do you do? Steve: i get up to check it Sally: i follow, but i'm grabbing a candlestick, just in case Lunastry: As you both make your way closer to the door, the knocking gets louder and faster- but the moment your hand touches the door knob, everything goes quiet.

This is new and experimental, but we think this is going to be a lot of fun and we really hop that you all think so too.

As always, if you have any questions, you can send us an ask, slide into our dms, or message us directly on chats @ lunaincmods }

[borathae]

Sibiiiiiiiii! Thank you!!! I 💜 you!!! And yes please write the Greece trip/ Kook’s trip and tell us where else these hot vampires own property! 😩😩😩 As if they weren’t hundreds of years old and hot as fuck, they own villas and castles and houses all over?! 😩😩😩 Please give us as many HCs as you want!

Of course they do 😏😩 I mean djsjs not all of them obviously. Hear me out

Jungkook is the BROKEST vampire ever. Because of his curse, he couldn’t ever get a real job which in return meant that he never aquired enough money to invest it in passive income. So that man is as broke as one could get jsjsjs.

Hobi has decent amount of money. He came from a upper middle class family and saved enough money to invest in a small passive income, which has gathered a good amount these days. But because he is still technically only in his sixties, his wealth is very much in human levels still.

Jimin is the third brokest vamp of the bunch. Example given: how he had to live while he was still persumed dead. I mean, one could argue that he was in hiding and didn’t want to risk getting found out, but there is also a good possibility that he is simply broke in vampire terms. Most property he owns, Tae either bought for him or they bought it together. And then there was also the whole part of where he had to live as Namjoon’s slave for centuries, so he didn’t really have alot of opportunity to, you know, buy property. He does have a very healthy sum on his bank accounts though, mostly because of the shared property with Tae and because Tae is tranferring him money on a monthly basis.

I would place Seokjin next. This man was already wealthy when he was still human and had two properties and some factories/warehouses as well as ships in his human years and he also invested in a lot of start-ups which bring in a lot of money these days. He is actually a huge stock holder in the mobile phone market and has his fingers in other techonological fields as well. For properties he owns the one Sanguis spent their "frat years" in, owns a house in South Korea and bought Emma her own shop in town so she could expand her perfume business. He also owns an apartment complex where he gets constant income. Fun fact? OC actually rented an apartment in the complex when she first moved here, which is why she never got in trouble for randomly stopping to pay rent. She and Seokjin laugh about the coincidence these days. He gets most of his money from his countless shares though.

And now this is where it gets hard to talk about because damn those vampires are RICH jdjdjs they're old, they've seen too much and they got way too much money to spend.

Taehyung I'd place third. He's both share holder in many businesses, owner of multiple art galleries and possesses property which is used commercially, as rentals or as his private escapes. So passive income is very much guaranteed on a constant. He owns a homely cottage in the Austrian Alps, owns a chateau at the coast of France and a small farm in the French countryside, owns a little Greek ocean house and invested in apartments in Paris, New York, Hong Kong as well as London. If he spends money he spends it on new property, promising shares and other investments. If he spends fun money he spends it on trips, whatever expensive item suits his taste, art and fashion. He also regularly wires money to Jimin and ever since recently, he opened two separate accounts for Jungkook and OC where he also makes monthly deposites. Trust that this man does not feel any change in his numbers with those new tranfers. And also that he LOVES spending his money most when he can spend it on his darlings.

And then there is Yoongi. Woof woof. I would say that he and Tae aren’t that far apart actually despite their age difference. One must consider though that eventhough Yoongi’s been alive for ages, it was rather difficult to make money which can still be used in the 21st century. You get me? He does own a lot of castles though from the earlier days. The one they all currently live in he bought around the time of the French Revolution, but he owns another castle in Romania and one in Germany. He also owns a town mansion in Geneva and has a penthouse in New York, which he never uses. He won’t ever mention it, but he owns a private island in the Carribbeans and treated himself to a very secluded cottage somewhere in the deepest Canadian forests. He also forgot about it already, but he owns property in South Korea and a villa in Osaka. It brings in money as they are both used as rentals, but Yoongi hasn’t set foot in either of them in decades. He gets most of his passive income through the various rentals he owns as well as being shareholder in some of the biggest markets these days. He also regularly buys property and sells it again to a higher price. Right now he plans on buying a house with OC close to Meredith's place and he also thinks about surprising OC with her own small plant shop in town. He doesn’t transfer to their accounts, but he never says no. If anyone of the family wants something, he'll get it for them no questions asked. He will also regularly hand over his black card with a nonchalant "don't look at the numbers, princess" and he genuinely gets pouty when she wants to pay for something when he’s with her. This man always pays even if she sometimes complains about it. And no sum is ever too big for him. You remember those 100€ he gave her in Paris for a cab? Yeah that was the equivalent to a few cents for him.

I don’t know where to put Namjoon on the list because being stolen of his powers and then hidden from the world kinda just cut him off from his wealth. You know? I do believe though that in his prime, he was the richest. And also the one who spent his money on the most fucked up shit.

[nordleuchten]

Hello! Do you by any chance know where Lafayette and his family lived after they were released from Olmütz, and waiting to go back to France?

Dear @mxtallmadge,

yes, I do know by chance where the La Fayette’s stayed in exile before returning to France. Thank you for the question, this is actually one of my favourite episodes in La Fayette’s life.

They first went to a place called Gut Wittmoldt (the family often used slightly different spellings) that was located on the banks of the Plöner See. Madame de Tessé, Adrienne’s aunt, had rented the property and several emigrees lived there or in the surround area. La Fayette’s daughter Virginie wrote in her book:

At last on the 10th of October 1797 we arrived at Witmold a property Mme de Tessé had bought in a peninsula on lake Ploën. (…) At Witmold, my mother recovered her strength, and found repose of body and mind. My father found his friends. He was fond of Mme de Tessé, and had with her on every point complete community of opinions. His political life had met with her constant approbation, and you may fancy what charm five years of silence at Olmütz added to Mme de Tessé’s lively, animated and piquante conversation.

Mme de Lasteyrie, Life of Madame de Lafayette, L. Techener, London, 1872, pp. 372-373.

For the winter months of 1797/98, La Fayette rented Gut Lehmkuhlen, close by Wittmold. There were several reasons for the move. The family wanted to have a place of their own – and not everybody was as much in perfect agreement with La Fayette’s political opinions and actions as Madame de Tessé was. Virginie wrote:

Mme de Maisonneuve came to see her brother and joined us at Lhemkulen, a large castle in Holstein, near Witmold, which my father had hired for the winter. Shortly afterwards my brother arrived from Mount Vernon. Under General Washington’s paternal care he had become a man. My mother was happy and so were her children.

Mme de Lasteyrie, Life of Madame de Lafayette, L. Techener, London, 1872, p. 374.

After the winter months, the family moved back to Wittmoldt. It was then and there that Anastasie married. After the wedding, the family moved to Vianen, near Utrecht. Again turning to Virginie:

After a short stay there [Paris], and a visit to Mme de Chavaniac in Auvergne, we all met again in the following year 1799 at Vianen, near Utrecht. My father had come there from Holstein, with George. Exiles can fix themselves nowhere. Their only thought is to abandon their momentary home, their only wish to depart.

Mme de Lasteyrie, Life of Madame de Lafayette, L. Techener, London, 1872, p. 377.

Adrienne and Virginie had been in Paris and in the Auvergne, while La Fayette, Georges and Anastasie, now pregnant, had moved directly to Vianen. Adrienne and Virginie followed them there.

Gut Wittmoldt and Gut Lehmkuhlen were in a region that was then known as Danish Holstein. The region was very interesting from a cultural and social aspect, and it became the refuge for many French exiles. The region is today part of Northern Germany.

Vianen is a city in the Netherlands. By the time of the La Fayette’s settlement there, it belonged to the Batavian Republic.

I have made a detailed post about the La Fayette’s home in Vianen here.

I have no specific posts about either Wittmoldt or Lehmkuhlen – what is slightly ironic because I am very often in that area and have visited Wittmoldt especially quite often, but I never took any pictures.

Lehmkuhlen has, rather recently, been turned into a biogas plant but the gardens of the former estate have been preserved.

Wittmoldt is still owned by the same family and on their website they even advertise with the fact that La Fayette and his family stayed on their property. Today, the estate hosts many cultural events like concerts, workshops and art and craft markets. They also offer Equine-assisted therapy. Furthermore, Gut Wittmoldt can be rented for weddings or the like (the chapel where Anastasie married is no longer standing). Several of the buildings on the property have also been turned into guesthouses for tourists. Most modern buildings in Wittmoldt are from the 1860’s but there is at least the old bakehouse from the early 1790’s that La Fayette would have known and that also had been turned into a guesthouse.

I hope the information was helpful. I have a la fayette in exile-tag, that might interest you as well. I hope you have/had a lovely day!

[rueroyale]

Lines Written in Oregon

Vladimir Nabokov

Esmeralda! now we rest
Here, in the bewitched and blest
Mountain forests of the West.

Here the very air is stranger.
Damzel, anchoret, and ranger
Share the woodland’s dream and danger

And to think I deemed you dead!
(In a dungeon, it was said;
Tortured, strangled); but instead –

Blue birds from the bluest fable,
Bear and hare in coats of sable,
Peacock moth on picnic table.

Huddled roadsigns softly speak
Of Lake Merlin, Castle Creek,
And (obliterated) Peak.

Do you recognize that clover?
Dandelions, l’or du pauvre?
(Europe, nonetheless, is over).

Up the turf, along the burn
Latin lilies climb and turn
Into Gothic fir and fern.

Cornfields have befouled the prairies
But these canyons laugh! And there is
Still the forest with its fairies.

And I rest where I awoke
In the sea shade – l’ombre glauque –
Of a legendary oak;

Where the woods get ever dimmer,
Where the Phantom Orchids glimmer –
Esmeralda, immer, immer.

Annotations

Title. In Oregon. VN rented an apartment in Mount Ashland in the summer of 1953, where he wrote Lolita and hunted butterflies in the local woods.

1. Esmeralda. A butterfly or moth. Several species of moth or butterfly share the species name esmeralda/-us, or are commonly called “emerald”, but it seems clear to me that this is a mythical green butterfly that reminds Nabokov of one he found during his boyhood. Cf Speak Memory, Ch. 6, in which a butterfly flew (in VN’s imagination) from Russia to North America, “and southward along the Rocky Mountains- to be finally overtaken and captured, after a forty-year race, on an immigrant dandelion under an endemic aspen near Boulder.” “Esmeralda” recalls Victor Hugo’s gypsy, Lucette, called "our Esmeralda and mermaid" in Ada, Esmeralda and Her Parandrus from Look at the Harlequins, and Gerald Emerald from Pale Fire.

3. … West. Cf LATH, Part 4.1 on rediscovering Russian landscapes in the Rocky Mountains: “I spent what remained of the summer exploring the incredibly lyrical Rocky Mountain states, getting drunk on whiffs of Oriental Russia in the sagebrush zone and on the North Russian fragrances so faithfully reproduced above timberline by certain small bogs along trickles of sky between the snowbank and the orchid.”

5. Damzel, anchoret. Damzel, Cf The Blessed Damozel by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. An anchoret is a religious recluse.

11. coats of sable. Other examples of heraldic language in Nabokov include the obvious Bend, Sinister; in Pale Fire, the crest of King Charles and the multiple appearances of a “heraldic butterfly, volant in arrière, sable, a bend gules”; Nabokov’s family crest in Speak Memory; The Blazon, a poem from Poems and Problems, in which: “I adopted the blazon of exile: on a field of sable a starry sword.”

12. Peacock moth. The Great Peacock Moth Saturnia pyri is the largest moth in Europe.

17. L’or du pauvre. French, poor man’s gold.

20-21. Latin lilies… Gothic fir. Metonyms for the southern France and Russia of VN’s youth, respectively. Lilies are the symbol of France. Cf VN’s poem Provence, a Russian poet in a French setting: “What bliss it is, in this world full of song,/ to brush against the chalk of walls, what bliss/ to be a Russian poet lost among/ cicadas trilling with a Latin lisp.” Also parallels the European languages used herein, ie French and German. Russian is notable in its absence.

26. L’ombre glauque. French, pale green shade.

29. Phantom Orchid. Endemic to the Pacific Northwest, the Phantom Orchid Cephalanthera austiniae is a species of orchid whose entire body is white.

30. Immer, immer. German, always.