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qqueenofhades · 3 years ago

Note

... Remember the Russian Revolution au? Which ended with Fedyor's sister very sick and Fedyor searching for Ivan in hopes of getting help for her from him? Fedyor finding Ivan and offering to do "anything" in exchange for his sister's medical treatment? Ivan secretly wanting Fedyor, but refusing to take what he wants like that? Soooo... I would also like the big the big 3 of your coming projects to happen, but... y'know... just.... wanted to bring this au up again... ;)

Behold, the oft-requested follow-up to the first two Russian Revolution au ficlets. Ahem.

Fedyor does not sleep that night. He does not even think about sleeping. He only leaves the army headquarters long enough to think hard about what he is proposing to do, wonder if it is worth it, and decide that it is. Katya needs the medicine, he has no other recourse, and he is categorically unwilling to return home to his family as a failure, when they have placed all their trust and hope in him. Ivan has hinted that he might be able to obtain it, and so that, no matter what it takes, is what Fedyor will have to get him to do. And for that…

He knows that he is not unattractive. He has dark eyes, dark hair, a dimpled smile, a personable and friendly manner that, in happier times, attracted the attention of many an eligible young lady who wished to ice skate or promenade around the park or take a carriage ride, as courting Russian couples are wont to do. However, while Fedyor was perfectly happy to chat with ladies, or escort them to a ball, or fulfill his essential chivalric duty, he was not otherwise interested in wooing them. It was partly for that reason that he signed up to the military, where an enterprising young man can have other opportunities in the darkness of the barracks. So long as his family was kept conveniently unaware.

For all that the Bolsheviks have overthrown the government without a clear plan as to what to do next, and accordingly plunged them all into this miserable civil war, Fedyor does secretly sympathize with certain of their beliefs on the remaking of family life. They say that marriage is outdated and bourgeoisie, that monogamy is unnatural, that women should not be subject to patriarchal systems, and that homosexuality is an equally valid state of nature. Such a possibility of sexual classification and divergence is much discussed in Europe these days, and there is even a small but growing scholarly literature, written by eminent scientists. Sexual Inversion by Havelock Ellis, published in 1896, argues that the man-loving man is indeed even a possibly improved form of human, associated with superior intellectual and artistic achievement, and that nothing about his attachment is wrong or abnormal. Two years before that, Edward Carpenter wrote Homogenic Love, and in 1900, the German Elisar von Kupffer published an anthology of homosexual poetry, Lieblingminne und Freundesliebe in der Weltliteratur. Such texts are relatively easy for an educated, French- and English- speaking young Russian intellectual, such as Fedyor Mikhailovich Kaminsky, to lay his hands on. He is not sure what can come of it, but at least he knows that he is not alone.

The question remains as to Ivan Ivanovich Sakharov’s proclivities. Unless Fedyor is very much mistaken, Ivan was at least considering the possibility of accepting his offer, and turned it down for honorable, moral reasons, feeling it unjust to sexually extort a young gentleman in exchange for his sister’s care, rather than physical horror at the idea of such a coupling. If he’s a Bolshevik, he’s probably acceptably tolerant of their philosophy on an abstract level, but it’s less clear as to whether that extends to its personal practice. If Fedyor turns up in his bunkhouse – which, come to think of it, is probably shared, curse these Bolsheviks and their dratted communality, highly inconvenient for a midnight seduction attempt – scantily clad and willing, will Ivan’s objections hold out then? Or… or what?

Fedyor doesn’t know, but the uncertainty adds to the frisson of shameful excitement, rather than detracting from it. He searches through the streets of Chelyabinsk for some bread (it does not seem in much greater supply than in Nizhny Novgorod) and waits for the sun to go down. In March, the days, though getting steadily longer, are still short and chilly, and it’s bitingly cold when it gets dark. Then he pulls up his muffler, tells himself not to be unduly precious about it, and heads for the makeshift army quarters on Kirovka Street.

The buildings in downtown are beautiful, built in the Russian Revival style of neo-Byzantinian splendor, though the onion-domed Orthodox churches have all been converted into stables and armories, and anything that whiffs of an ideology contrary to the Red one has been economically discarded. Fedyor reaches the door, knocks, and when a disgruntled sergeant comes to answer it, expecting him to be a soldier out too late and in line for a ticking-off, Fedyor raises his hands apologetically. “I’ve come to join up,” he says. “The great socialist cause of the world’s workers is the only true one for a patriotic Russian man, and I vow it my full allegiance, if you will have me. I was speaking to my friend earlier, Ivan Ivanovich, and he suggested it. Is he still here?”

The sergeant eyes him squiggle-eyed, but they cannot afford to look gift horses too closely in the mouth, or turn aside willing recruits. It takes a while, but he shouts for someone who shouts for someone else, and this finally produces the startled personage of Ivan Sakharov, who clearly thought it was for the last time when they parted several hours ago. Upon sight of Fedyor, he stops short, looking alarmed, angry, and wary all at once. “What are you – ?”

“Can we talk?” Fedyor is resolved to do this, he truly is, but he feels it best to get it over with before that wavers in any degree. Whether he wants it too little does not seem like the problem; on the contrary, he fears that he wants it too much, and if he stops to reflect on it or delude himself with any nonsensical notions of it being more than once, that can only hurt the cause. “Somewhere… private?”

Ivan hesitates, as if asking to commune out of sight of the others is tantamount to heresy (though it’s not as if these damn hypocrites didn’t plot in secret, away from their own countrymen, for months and months, Fedyor thinks angrily). Then he jerks his head. “Fine. Five minutes. This way.”

He leads Fedyor up a few narrow, creaking staircases, past closed doors that echo with snorting and snoring and coughing, the cacophony of his comrades, none of whom seem to be enjoying their glorious victory quite as much as they thought. Ivan, however, appears to be sufficiently high-ranking in the Red Guards that the room they finally arrive at, though not much larger than a closet, is at least private. It reminds Fedyor forcibly of Ivan’s room back in St. Petersburg, the one they slept in together, that first night after the Winter Palace. It sounds more intimate in his recollections than it actually was. Nothing happened, of course. But Ivan was kind to offer it, kind when he did not need to be, when a young tsarist soldier alone in the ferment of riot and revolution, such as Fedyor was, would not be likely to see the new red dawn. It is that which Fedyor keeps in mind as he shuts the door with assumed casualness, then turns around, meets Ivan’s eye in a significant fashion, and shrugs off his coat, cap, and muffler. Then, unmistakably, starts to unbutton his shirt.

He has almost gotten to the bottom by the time Ivan, who is staring at him as if he’s lost his marbles (it is unclear if this is an encouraging fashion or not) finally recovers his sense. He strides forward and covers Fedyor’s hands with his own large, callused rifleman’s fingers, sending a shock of attraction burning through Fedyor from head to toe, along with the death of any more illusion that he could continue to be casual about this. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Fedyor’s throat is as dry as a bone, but he forces himself to speak. “I said that I would do anything for my sister’s care, if you would help.”

He lingers suggestively on the word anything, just as he did before, in case there was any doubt (as if the undressing wasn’t enough) what he means here. Ivan looks like a cornered bear, but as his eyes catch Fedyor’s and flick across the lean, muscled torso thus revealed beneath the shirt, he swallows hard and has to glance away. The attraction trembles silently in the air between them, tense as a piano string, tuned to snapping. In the old days, that is, when people played pianos, and did not burn them for firewood, as Fedyor’s parents were preparing to do with theirs when he left home. It chokes raw and painful in his throat. He is attracted to Ivan – desperately attracted, in fact – and yet he still hates what the Bolsheviks have done, even if the Romanovs and the Provisional Government were no better. The deposed Tsar Nicholas II is under house arrest with his wife and five children, the four tsarevnas and the tsarevich, in Yekaterinburg. Little sick Alexei Romanov, whose hemophilia opened the door for Grigori Rasputin to control the queen, the royal household, the government of Russia, and so bring about the end of their house. He was like something from a fairytale monster, that Grisha. The rumors of his death, not quite two years ago in December 1916, is that it almost did not happen, he was so hard to kill. A demon. A beast.

“You cannot do this,” Ivan says, his voice too rough, his eyes still struggling to remain decorously averted. “It is not – it is not right.”

“Not right?” Fedyor flares. “So a little spot of armed treason and overthrowing the man who, however deficient he might be, was the heir of one of the oldest and greatest empires in the world? That part was entirely aboveboard, but this, when you want this – don’t lie to me, I’m well aware you do – to help my sister? That would be a sin?!”

Ivan backs up a step, glancing around shiftily. These walls are thin, and he clearly does not want his beloved brothers-in-arms to hear this. “Fedyor Mikhailovich – ”

“Have me.” Fedyor is done playing games. “I’m here, I’m yours for the taking. You can do whatever you want to me, as long as you give me the medicine at the end.”

For a long, spellbound moment, he thinks Ivan is on the brink of agreeing. Then once again, he shakes his head. “No,” he says. “I could not in good conscience consent to this. But I will fetch you the medicine. You do not have to give me anything in return.”

Fedyor gawks at him, shocked – and, it must be confessed, more than a little disappointed. “I thought it was fair trade,” he says. “Tit for tat.”

“It is…” Ivan shakes his head, eyes once more straying to Fedyor’s bare chest. “Button your shirt up,” he says, half-laughing, not angry, breathless and soft. “It is very distracting.”

“Good.” Fedyor takes another step. “I think you deserve it, you obnoxious bastard.”

“Be that as it may.” At least Ivan has the good sense not to dispute it. “I cannot do this,” he repeats, more gently. “You are a fine young man, Fedyor Mikhailovich. Perhaps in another life… but it would not be honorable to trade your virtue for this.”

“My virtue?” Fedyor has to laugh. “What makes you think I have that?”

Once again, Ivan wavers. But to give him (loathing) credit, he will not be swayed. “Button it,” he repeats. “I will arrange to have the money and medicine sent by your lodging by tomorrow, if you give me an address in the city.”

“I don’t have one.” Fedyor folds his arms. “Only here.”

Ivan looks even more startled. His lips part, he takes a step forward, and for a brief, wild, exquisite yearning of an instant, Fedyor thinks he is actually going to kiss him. They’re almost close enough – not quite, but almost – for it to happen. Then Ivan says, “Your family must be very proud of you.”

“I…” It catches in his throat. “I don’t know. I hope.”

“I would,” Ivan says. “I would be.”

And that, somehow, is all that seems to matter. Even as Fedyor spends a night in Ivan’s narrow camp cot of a bed, Ivan insisting on taking the hard floor out of an excess of gallantry, an echo of their first night in St. Petersburg. Ivan does as ordered, gives Fedyor some rubles and some medicine and a train ticket back home to Nizhny Novgorod. He personally escorts Fedyor to the train station to make sure he does not come to grief, then stands on the platform, staring after him like Vronsky watching Anna leave one more time. The train begins to huff and puff, spitting soot and embers, and Fedyor keeps his nose pressed to the glass, leaving a smudge, until long after, as it seems he is never destined to do anything but, Ivan Ivanovich Sakharov has vanished into the mist.

#heartrender husbands #fivan #fivan ff #ivan x fedyor #russian revolution au

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lassieposting · 4 years ago

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bad guy brigade backstory headcanons

dead men version here. this is just mevolent and vile because it got Long so serpine and vengeous will have to be in another post

MEVOLENT

- Mevolent was originally born into a wealthy sorcerer family in the Middle Ages, somewhere around 1000AD. His grandparents met a few hundred years earlier, around the time the Vikings came to Ireland, so he's got some Norwegian in him through his grandfather, who converted to the Church of the Faceless to be able to marry his grandmother.

- His parents were both ardent Faceless Ones worshippers, so young Mevolent's early years were very strict and revolved around religion - his parents' duties to the church, his own religious education, attending prayers, etc. He didn't have many friends and was quite a lonely child.

- As a little boy, he wanted to be a knight, and his parents had the sway and the money to make that happen, so he was sent away at age 7 to be a page for Arthur Dagan's grandfather, which was a very high-status apprenticeship indeed. During this time he went to live in Grandpa Dagan's castle at the other end of the country, with instructions to make the gods and the family proud.

- He spent a few years as a page, which is where the Unnamed spotted him. The Unnamed was an acquaintance/ally of Grandpa Dagan's, and a regular visitor to the castle.

- Mevolent's parents died in a "tragic accident" shortly before Mevolent's 10th birthday. For a long time he believed the story he was told - that their carriage had been run off the road and attacked by bandits - but as he got older he started to suspect that actually, the whole thing was arranged by the Unnamed.

- With both his parents dead and no relatives left to take care of him, babby Mevolent stayed Grandpa Dagan's ward for a time, but losing the gold Mevolent's parents had been paying for his upkeep significantly decreased the old man's willingness to house, feed, clothe and train him. The Unnamed stepped in and offered to take Mevolent in as part of his own household, and Grandpa Dagan was happy to wash his hands of a loose end. So Mevolent became the Unnamed's ward instead.

- The Unnamed kept multiple residences all across the world, but Mevolent spent the majority of his youth at his new master's court in France, which had a lasting impact on him. He was exposed to a freer, less restrictive form of religion, new kinds of magic, new people - ambitious social climbers with aspirations to grandeur, mostly. He developed aspirations of his own. He developed a love of art and music and culture and the opulence that was the norm at the French court at the time. During the war, he targets the Marseilles Sanctuary first because he's intending to establish his base of operations there; he wants to go home.

- Also in language shenanigans, Mev's first language is Middle Irish, which died out around 1200AD. He doesn't speak Gaeilge - modern Irish - very well, so his "first language" that's still in use is French. He has a faint accent on some words in English, and the reason he speaks the way he does - slow and flat - is because he's a third-language or fourth-language or whatever speaker, so he has to think through what he says very carefully before he says it. He's a lot more animated in a language he's more comfortable with.

VILE

- Vile is, essentially, a very early neoteric.

- So during Skulduggery's parents' lifetimes, the Necromancer Order started to isolate itself even more from the outside world and brought in the practice of taking young Necromancers from their families to raise them in-house and limiting their contact with the outside world, to maximise loyalty to the Order; this netted them a reputation for snatching and brainwashing kids.

- Some parents would be ashamed of having a child with a talent for Necromancy, but the majority would go to great lengths to hide their kid from the Order. Skug's parents hired a ridiculously expensive Elemental tutor, punished him for using Necromancy around others, taught him to never mention his talent to anyone. As a result, Skug only ever used Necromancy when he was alone, which meant he never received any formal training in Temple methods and his Necromancy wove in and around his instincts, attached itself to his emotions.

- So by the time Vile joins the Necromancer Temple, he's already inclined to be a problem. Young Necromancers are taught the basic tenets of their faith from a young age. They're taught Temple hierarchy, they're taught basic rules of Necromancy. They're taught these things so young that it never occurs to them to do it differently. But Vile was never taught any of those things.

- So there's Tenebrae, teaching, and he says that Necromancy must be used through a channelling object. In fact, it's possible to use death magic without a channelling object, but it's dangerous - so dangerous the Order banned the practice, so it's what's considered "illegal Necromancy". The other students accept this as something they've been taught since childhood. But Vile doesn't. He thinks for himself, doesn't accept the standard way of doing things without a damn good reason. He corrects or disproves teachings in class, he takes "we can't do X" as a challenge, he's disrespectful of authority. He sows disobedience and controversy and is generally a pain in the Order's ass.

(Some of them listen to him, though. Solomon Wreath owes a lot of his cavalier attitude towards Temple rules to watching Vile buck the system and not getting any major consequences from it.)

- So? He knows they're not telling him the whole truth from the start, and he doesn't like it. Then they tell him he's their Death Bringer, but they won't tell him what that means or what they want him to do, and Vile is an ornery bastard by nature so every refusal to enlighten him just makes him more stubborn. He gets harder to control. Starts developing his own magic his own way, ignoring what Tenebrae's teaching him. He learns the death bubble, and starts using it on other students to give himself a high. Tenebrae is shitting himself by this point, basically, because he's being pressured to Deal With their out-of-control Death Bringer and sooner or later, he's going to have to challenge Vile, and he knows he won't win.

- And then he disappears. Just up and vanishes in the middle of the night. And Tenebrae isn't sure whether he's disappointed or relieved.

- So Vile goes off to join Mevolent. And he's not subtle about it. He shows up in the middle of a battle, and he has no idea which side is which or what either side's plan is, so he just starts indiscriminately killing anyone he can get his shadows on. He catches the attention of Mevolent's officers. And when it's all done, they take him to their leader because they're not sure what the hell this asshole's game is or what side he's on. Vile tosses the decapitated head of the enemy general at Mevolent's feet and essentially asks so do you want me on your side or theirs?

- Mevolent is, reluctantly, impressed by both the "gift" and the sheer fucking nerve of this kid. And he's old enough and smart enough by this point to know a good thing when he sees it. Serpine is creative and wily, but he's useless in a fight. Vengeous is a great soldier, but he's really only good at doing what he's told. Vile is terrifying on the battlefield and capable of coming up with and executing his own plans. Mev could use someone like that.

#skulduggery pleasant #sp headcanons #the bad boy brigade #mevolent #lord vile

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anne-lister-adventures · 4 years ago

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Friday, 14 March 1840

7 1/2

12 55/’’

Fine morning Reaumur 11 1/4º at my bedhead at 8 a.m. breakfast at 9 20/’’ to 10 10/’’ out at 10 1/2 to the Indian Pagoda with George and the son of our host – In vain – Nothing to be seen – Returned afraid of being too late for the Brügens at 11 – Had Mr. Stewart (60 poods = 1 Ton English) and then the Swede, music master, Hoeffner received en société here, till the carriage came at 11 1/2 and in it Madame Brügens’ sister and the General Attaman –

Off to the Metched (Mosque) – Too soon – Service begins at one – Went in – vestibule, nave, and square church – Good pulpit (a sort of little staircase, as usual, up to little platform to stand or squat upon) and little Apse – Low gallery 1/2 way over nave – Largeish, handsomish building – Far handsomer and larger and better than the little Metched we saw at Moscow, or the larger we saw at Kazan – All mosques? quite plain within –

The Persian Mosque in Astrakhan. (Image Source)

Then to the library – The few (a thousand or more?) books given by a merchant – Still ∴[therefore] librarian tho’ knowing nothing about it – Would sell books par l’anne –

A few birds almost all natives of the Government of Astracan – 2 (jagais I think) steppe-sheep and a few models of vessels used on the Caspian nothing particular – And nets and models of wind-mills used for pumping water from the river for watering the gardens and of the manner of fishing in the Volga (interesting) – And a few specimens nothing particular of salt from lakes in this Government – Some time turning over the plates of an old work on Russia in several 8vo.[octavo] volumes by Gmelin? –

Then to the Cossak Institution (school) 26 boys – Learn Geography Arithmetic Mathematics – French and German and the Eastern languages at the Gymnase – Mademoiselle Attaman the sister examined one or 2 of the boys in Geography who answered readily and well – The 26 boys are fed and clothed, and the fund (furnished by the Cossacks – Nothing of it paid by the Emperor) is 10,000/- per annum –

Then to the Puits Artésien – 60 sagènes deep – Water but not good rises to within 2 sagènes of the top – On the approach of a lighted candle the gas inflames and burns with a blueish light and rather sulphurous smell – Don’t mention it to Temirazoff – Sought water found fire – Disappointed –

Home at 1 55/’’ the carriage to return for us at 3 to dinner – had the soldier with his drawings – For an exterior and an interior of the Pagan Temple at Tumen and the back and front of a priest, 3 drawings = 75/- - this so far passed my ideas, said I would inquire tonight what they ought to be, and would let the man know if I wanted them –

Put on clean frilled handkerchief, and the same dress again (silk morning gown with velvet pelerine and flannel and black silk handkerchief round my throat) and silk stockings and black silk shoes – The carriage at 3 1/4 and off immediately to dinner chez lez Brügens, he General Attaman des Cossaks = en tout 10,000/- per annum the General Governor = 14000/- per annum but house and servants (soldiers) and wood found and the Emperor has twice given him 30,000/- - the Attaman finds his own house but he has 1500/- a year allowed for it and house costs about 900/- to 1000/- including his Chancellerie and 400/- = wood that there is a little to spare out of the fifteen hundred – And he too has soldiers for servants – They have one woman to wash – The family being small – Madame de Rebender has 2 women to wash – All the washing done at home –

Erast Dmitrievich von der Bruggen, Ataman des Cossacks when Anne and Ann were at Astrakhan. (Image Source)

Very nice dinner soup, and a roti (en morceaux as usual) of beef, and fish (Sterlet) and game, and some little gateaux the Ataman said the beef was hard – Grand Carême – Only 10 or 12 families – Or so few wanted meat, impossible to get it good now – As for me, my cold is so bad, I can neither taste nor smell – Coffee – The Ataman very civil and attentive – Put on his full dress Cossack uniform = 800/- did he say and common dress about 300/- - very becoming –

Home at 6 1/2 having staid (apparently?) an unusually long while after dinner – The carriage come again for us at 8 – On our return found Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Stewart – He has the rank of Captain – Was head clerk in the bank here – But the bank for some malpractices of some of the gents[gentlemen] (some cheating of Government) has been ‘put under law’ – The business has been 8 years already cleared, and those who have will be punished – But in the mean time all is stopped – Rank is stately and he is on 1/2 pay ∴[therefore] he has taken a situation in a Merchant’s House as clerk –

He dined with Lord Pollington when here, and went with him to an assembly – Lord P-[Pollington] and his brother were at the English House here (at the Missionaries) now broken up and got money of them by giving them a bill – The Missionaries having lost their rights here, went away – Dr. Ross is settled near London Mr. McPherson returned to Scotland, and Mr. Gleig is at Sabriz – Lord P-[Pollington] took Mr. Gleig’s son with him as interpreter or what not – But the young man thought they treated him too much like a servant – They quarrelled and parted before Tiflis – Perhaps all were in fault for all young together Lord P-[Pollington] 20 his brother 16 or 17 and young Gleig about 20 – It seemed as if Lord P-[Pollington] had made difficulty about passing G-‘s[Gleig’s] expense back – And Mr. S-[Stewart] seemed to think he (Lord P-[Pollington]) did not pay them –

Kazembeck [Kasembeck] was converted here by the 3 Missionaries above named – His father a Persian nobleman in command at Derbend under the Russians rebelled against them – His sons were sent to Persia and well educated by their friends there – K-[Kazembeck] was a handsome clever young man – Came here to see his father (was the father imprisoned here?) was employed by the missionaries to write Persian for them (translation of the scriptures) and ∴[therefore] converted – His father was reconciled to him before his death and on hearing him said that if he was not an old man, grey headed, he would be a Xtian[Christian] too –

Mrs. Stewart born in London – A poor sort of thin, pinchy-looking little woman but speaking better English than her husband – He evidently of Scotch origin and mixing foreign idioms with his own – The daughter Æt [aetatis] 16 hardly spoke – Poor people they staid as if for ever –

Madame Rebender called and sat perhaps 10 minutes or 1/4 hour – They staid all the while, tho’ my conversation was all addressed to Madame R-[Rebender] and she good natured as she is never uttered to them – To dine with Madame R-[Rebender] tomorrow – The S-s[Stewarts] staid some time standing after Madame R-[Rebender] went away but at last got off –

No sooner gone than another English came Mr. Strelnecky or some such unEnglish like name – He said it was he who was Directeur des Postes en Siberie when Captain Cochrane was there and who had travelled with him (but never on foot) so much – Certainly la tête montée at times – It used to come over him now and then – His marriage very queer – At a dinner party at Irkutsk he as usual calling his wife by an abbreviation of her name which in Russian meant ox – This being explained to her, she jumped pulled his hair off his head, and asked him how he dared call her so – On his return to England he put her to school and left her there when he went away to the Brazils and died and she never saw him more – He boasted of his Siberian tour costing him so little – His wife cost him 10,000/- -

How I did not quite make out for Mr. Phackler, the Vice Governor came (pronounced Pheller) and my conversation was all addressed to him about the Courier, the story of Gross and the pistol – Frightened jumptschik &c. &c. yet in spite of all this the persevering English staid till the end till 8 3/4 when the Brügens carriage having waited 3/4 hour was obliged to congéndier poliement both my two visitors – The Vice Governor thinks the Courier does not wish to go forwards with me – Mentioned leaving his wife so long – Not being prepared for so long a journey – Perhaps he wanted tempting by some greater gain – For he had not mentioned Gross – Advised my speaking to him in the morning and getting at the real reason for there would be no difficulties if he himself wished to go with me – I mentioned the 2/- per day that I had promised him and that he knew all about the length of journey and was satisfied enough before leaving Moscow – I thought it must be the Gross-affair that was at the bottom – The Vice Governor said it would be for me to consider whether I chose to give him any more gages or not –

Mr. P-[Phackler] was attaché to the Russian legation at Copenhagen some years ago – Would be glad to in the world again – Here all Calmucks and Kerguis except the Employés – But he himself grateful to the Emperor who has just given him tho’ he has only been 2? years here thro’ the interest of Temirazoff 1500 arpens de terre – Not get fixed where – But in some of the Governments where the Emperor has land to give unstocked with peasants –

Off at 8 3/4 to the Brügens nobody but ourselves at dinner – Baron and Baroness Taube in the evening – Agreeable evening – Excellent kind-hearted good people and très aimable – It seems the 15,000 Arpens are worth from 10/- to 15/- per arpent – Mr. P-[Phackler] will of course sell what he gets – He himself could do nothing with it – But someone who has peasants near will buy the land and people it – This is the way - ∴[therefore] the land is a perquisite worth at any rate 1,500 x 10 = 15,000/- -

Home at 11 1/4 – A-[Ann] would make tea for me – Had 3 cups – Very fine day – Mr. Stewart offered to do anything for us – A new Tarendass = 250/- -

[symbols in the margin of the page:] ✓c + ✓ ✓c ✓c ✓c ✓c ✓

[in the side of the page:] Metched

[in the side of the page:] Library

[in the side of the page:] Cossack Institution

[in the side of the page:] Artesian well

[in the side of the page:] Missionaries Lord P-[Pollington]

[in the side of the page:] Kasembek

Page References: SH:7/ML/E/24/0045 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0046

#anne lister code breaker #anne lister #ann walker #moscow to baku 1840

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 6 years ago

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The Dancing Doctor

Susan Swatland, from her book, Escape from the Moonies Chapter 5

THE CUSTOM-BUILT Mercedes stopped outside the Moonies’ Georgian mansion in Hearst Street, [Berkeley]. Two huge Korean bodyguards climbed out and surveyed the scene. Then satisfied that all was safe, they escorted Dr Mose Durst and his wife Onni up the steps of the mansion. Durst was looking very dapper in an expensive powder-blue suit with matching shoes, but it was his Korean wife who caught the eye. She was wearing a fabulous white fur coat which contrasted with her shoulder-length silky black hair, and as she held up her hands, diamonds and rubies glittered under the lights.

They took off their shoes in the hall and donned golden slippers. As they walked into the lecture room, arm in arm, we all chorused, ‘Oh, Onni and Abba, thank Heavenly Father for your goodness in guiding us.’ Onni is Korean for Elder Sister; and Abba for Father.

They smiled and nodded in the manner of an emperor and empress; and in this company, that’s what they were. Durst was the President of the Unification Church and perhaps a bit more besides. For now that the Reverend Moon had retreated to his Tarrytown mansion in Westchester County, Durst was beginning to emerge as the movement’s new star. The Moonies, under fire from the media, wanted a fresh image and Durst, the amiable professor of English with his jokey Jewish ways, fitted that image rather well. It was Onni who had first seen the possibilities in this mild-mannered man. She charmed him, wooed him, married him and groomed him for power. And according to the Moonies who lived in the Dursts’ Avalon mansion, it was still Onni who controlled him.

Mose (pronounced Mosa) is the son of Russian immigrants and grew up in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the City University of New York and a graduate fellow of Cambridge University. And up until 1972, he was a professor of English at Laney College in Oakland, California ... a lonely, disillusioned man who had just been divorced, retaining custody of his two sons, Tinker and Tim. That was the year when one of his students (a Moonie convert) invited him to dinner at the house of Onni Soo Lim, the supposed founder of the Unification Church on the West Coast. Onni was then at the peak of her beauty, a very exotic lady, and the college professor was seemingly overwhelmed. They were married two months later in a special Korean wedding ceremony performed by Moon. That break in the normal pattern of the Church is an indication of the importance of Onni and also of their plans for Durst. A professor was a considerable catch for the Moonies and his rise was rapid. He became state director of the Moonies in North California and then the Church’s President.

It was an odd boardroom shuffle, because the Moonies already had a president named Neil Salonen who was very close to Moon. So one had to assume that the factions behind Durst were powerful ones indeed.

His plump face, bifocals and easy laugh gave him a fatherly look. He was a sentimental man, easily moved to tears, and much loved by the rank and file members. His college background gave him a certain kinship with many of the new recruits who had come from the campus. And he always seemed that bit more subject to human frailty than the other Moonie leaders. There was, for instance, his habit of raiding the kitchen for cookies in the early hours of the morning, a habit frowned upon in the Church. Any food taken before noon is said to encourage Satan. By some ill chance Durst always seemed to be bumping into somebody else also hunting for cookies in the dark. But there were never angry reproaches, only laughter.

He was fond of singing the songs of the Thirties and he would croon them in the style of a latter-day Bing Crosby. Sometimes on special occasions he would dance while a fiddler played and then he could look very Jewish, very amusing. The Divine Principle preaches the message that the Jews betrayed Jesus and this is why Korea has become the new Holy Land. And Moon has frequently been accused of being anti-semitic. But Durst made no attempt to hide his Jewish background. On the contrary, he sprinkled his conversation with Yiddish. Somebody would be meshuga (crazy), somebody else schlemiel (a jerk) and most of his jokes were Jewish too. He was an easy man to like and the media soon discovered that too. He handled them with a smooth, relaxed, professional expertise that paid dividends.

‘Hey,’ he said to one reporter, ‘we’re just like the rest of the crowd. We don’t eat babies and sleep on nails.’ When asked about the Moonies’ dream of a perfect world, he said, ‘It won’t be all that much different to the one we have now.

‘The sun will still rise in the morning and set in the evening. It will still be a place where the Yankees can win the pennant and Reggie Jackson can hit home runs. But it will be a world of greater tolerance, self-respect and greater spirit of love guiding personal relationships.’ Pressed on the thorny subject of the Moonies’ business empire, he shrugged. ‘If you want to hold up standards, let’s hold them up across the board. There is a church in America that makes approximately a billion dollars a year just through bingo games.’ He didn’t say so, but he meant the Catholics.

Asked why the movement had generated so much hate, he held out his palms. ‘Maybe it’s because we’re the new kids on the block. I really don’t know. You tell me. I just don’t understand it. To know us is to love us.’ He paused, smiled his gentle fatherly smile and said, ‘If we help an old lady across the street, they’ll say she didn’t want to go.’

It was all good stuff and so often reporters who had come with a hatchet job in mind went away wondering whether they had perhaps been wrong after all.

No one was more aware of Durst’s good public image than Onni. ...

But despite the sweetness, despite the sentimentality, the good professor had a very sinister side to his nature. He hadn’t only taught English at college. He had a Ph.D in psychology too and had become an expert in mind control. The indoctrination methods used in the Californian camps of the Moonies are more effective, more far-reaching and consequently more harmful than those used by the cult in any other part of the Western World. Project Volunteer, the smokescreen which led me, and thousands like me, astray was his brainchild.

His personal lifestyle has become almost as extravagant as that of Moon himself. His Avalon estate, known as The Gardens, has seven bedrooms, a four-car garage, sauna, pool, cabana, a superb view over San Francisco bay and the kind of luxurious Oriental furnishings that only the very rich could even dream about. His cars are Lincolns and Mercedes, the carriages of the Moonie upper-echelon.

One of my favourite people, Joe Alexander, once saw Durst with Onni, the Moons and the Salonens in a Las Vegas casino. Joe had a former Moonie named Jeff Scales with him at the time; and Jeff like so many of us had really loved Mose Durst. Now he just stood there unable for a moment to believe the evidence of his own eyes. Joe, an opportunist, asked a girl photographer to take a picture of the group. Unfortunately the girl attempted to get Moon’s permission and was angrily waved away. A few minutes later the Messiah and his party made a hasty exit.

Durst’s small sons from his previous marriage, Tinker and Tim, were staying at Aetna Springs while I was there; and they were two lonely little fellows. Onni considered them so fallen, so Satanic, that she couldn’t bear to touch them. I have always loved children and so I used to spend as much time as I could with them; but this wasn’t encouraged. Being Abba’s sons, they were supposed to be segregated from the rank and file. Tinker, the youngest, had broken his arm and used to spend much of the day playing with the camp dogs. He was always asking for his father, but Durst rarely had the time to make those boyhood wishes come true.

And yet this seemingly kindly man had oceans of time for us his followers. He knew the names and the faces of us all; and on that day at Hearst Street as he walked slowly down the aisle, his head was turning constantly. He looked into my eyes and smiled as he went by. And this was part of his secret. He made each and every one of us feel very special.

We had prepared lots of little delicacies for Onni and Abba, a variety of home-made sweets, biscuits, little cakes and ginseng tea.

Durst, in a mock aside, warned, ‘You mustn’t tempt Onni too much. She’s watching her weight.’ He paused, gave a rueful grin and said, ‘I think I’ll be in trouble when I get home tonight.’

He glanced towards his wife, realised she wasn’t amused and hastily changed the subject.

His talk, like all his talks, was a mixture of everything we had heard before, but laced with Jewish jokes and high good humour. When he’d finished he sang ‘Only For You’ which we knew to be one of his favourite songs. He sang it in the manner of a poor man’s Frank Sinatra; and all the sisters clutched their hearts, sighed and even squealed just like the bobbysoxers we’d seen in the old newsreels. He was so delighted that he thought of doing an encore, then changed his mind and it wasn’t hard to see the reason why.

Onni’s face was set like stone.

Onni Durst – The Dragon Lady

#Mose Durst #Onni Durst

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trinity-blood-translations · 7 years ago

Text

ROM 6 - Chapter 1 Part IV (english translation)

Translator: Roven, Editing: Lamy

Trinity Blood (by Sunao Yoshida) ROM 6 - Chapter 1 - Link for Part I - Link for Part II - Link for Part III -

Part IV

—Isaak, do you think Esther liked our gift? —I don’t know, mein Herr," —-Panzer Magier replied respectfully to the voice coming from the microphone of the regeneration tank.

All the newspapers were spread out on the table so that the creature in the tank could see them immediately as soon as it came out. —In my opinion Miss Blanchett is very afraid of power. Being a princess besides Saint... I wonder if it’s not too much burden for her.

—No, Isaak. My gift wasn’t to make her a princess, but to make her a queen... Maybe already tomorrow.

The Ritz Hotel was the most luxurious building on Piccadilly Street. Entire Londinium could be seen from the suite. It was so big that a whole house could fit in. In the middle of the vast space was a strange object: a water tank made of glass, measuring about two meters in diameter. The room, which costs ten thousand dinars a night, had seen all kinds of exotic pets like crocodiles or leopards. But what could be in that water tank surrounded by complex machines and control panels that resembled the cockpit of an airplane. Innumerable pipes came out of it and gave off a smelly vapor. The strangest thing of all, however, was the content. The shiny black liquid looking like coal tar didn’t seem to contain any living thing. However, the innocent voice came without any doubt from the inside.

—Esther Blanchett... I've spent so many moments with her and she's helped my brother so much... The least I could do for Esther was this.

—Actually... Speaking of your brother, mein Herr, what do we do with Mr. Abel? I'm afraid there's no way to save him.

—Ah, Abel! He died, the poor thing. He never had luck in life. One misfortune after another. What a pity…

—Well, it didn’t seem like it has cost you much to kill him...—the man in black pointed it out coldly. — I was surprised you reacted like that. After so many centuries without seeing him, I expected you to have a lot to talk about with him...

—It’s that Abel scared me; He suddenly became furious. From what you told me, I thought that he has matured a little, but apparently nothing has changed.

The voice lowered as he laughed.

—But that is not important. The important thing now is to recover my brother's body. At least it will help us to solve this very heavy problem.

—You're right. But there is still the question of how to transport the body, —the man replied, carefully watching the pressure controller while rubbing the glass with his hand.

Turning to the mail accumulated on the table, Panzer Magier added in a worried voice:

—In addition, we have his comrades. I don’t think they're going to let us take his body so easily.

—Oh, sure! Surely they also value Abel a lot. Well, it's a problem... You can be recognized and I won’t be able to move for a while. What about the others?

—Neither Reißzahn nor the Red Baroness could. I can’t imagine anybody would be able to infiltrate through the security measures and get to 02, apart from you, only two people could: your brother and your sister.

— So I'll have to go... But I still can’t go out...

—Exactly you have twelve hours, eight minutes and twenty-eight seconds. That means that tomorrow, just before the sun rises, you can get out of the tank.

—Twelve hours? If we wait so long, the Vatican will take Abel to Rome. Now that’s a problem. What shall we do?

The voice hummed absently through his nose. With a serious tone that contrasted with the indolence of his lord, Panzer Magier proposed:

—What do you think about this idea? Tonight I will do my best to win as much time as I can. I will not allow your brother's corpse to leave the city. So, when you are healthy again, you can go and look for it yourself.

—Gain time? Do you have something in mind?

—Indeed. Yesterday I found something interesting in the underground.

Panzer Magier then showed one of the briefcases he has collected the day before. If Vanessa has seen it, she would have realized that it was from one of the four mummies that had disappeared trying to recover the lost technologies.

—Of course, I don’t have here all the pieces I need, but I've been thinking of someone who could serve me... If it goes well, my lord will have time to recover quietly and your brother's body will not move from here.

—Ah, okay. I count on you, Isaak... By the way, I want to ask you something important.

—What is it?

Panzer Magier respectfully lifted his face, shaking his hair. However, the voice didn’t show any trace of seriousness and said, as if talking about time:

—Tomorrow for breakfast I want fish and chips... With a lot of vinegar and salt.

***

Following the River Thames about ten kilometers in its downstream to the North Sea one could reach Greenwich, the city that served as the base of the Royal Navy.

The campus of the naval school was surrounded by the riverbank and on its docks was the fleet of Albion, one of the most powerful in the world. In addition, it had shipyards, dams, arsenals and all kinds of facilities necessary for the Navy built next to each other like a steel wall facing the river.

The hill at the south of the city, however, was a much quieter place. At the top there was a brick building topped with a white cupola and surrounded by rows of delicately arranged trees and innumerable rows of tombstones.

Before the Armageddon it was the headquarters of an astronomical observatory but later it had become the cemetery of the Royal Navy.

There rested eternally from the anonymous sailors killed in combat to the most famous admirals. The old observatory had been converted into a church, and its priest used to celebrate masses in it for the souls of the deceased. The cemetery received visitors every day from all social classes who came to leave flowers there. The rows of adorned cars and carriages with aristocratic emblems were never lacking in the parking area.

—I'm sorry I took so long.

The huge car that was parking this afternoon in one of the corners of the parking area looked like that of some nobleman who was visiting the cemetery.

The black sedan had shaded windows. The car of exaggeratedly stylized lines didn’t carry any sign of manufacturer or affiliation, but at first glance it could be seen that it was an exclusive and quite expensive vehicle. A middle-aged gentleman walked to it. He seemed to be the owner, besides he opened the door and threw a pile of documents on the passenger seat.

—I had to dig through dozens of files. Besides, I haven’t been able to get away from having a tea with the priest, and that caused me to waste even more time... I‘m very sorry for having kept you here for a while, milady.

—But what’s all this about?!

The dark glass made the interior of the car remain in the gloom, but the voice that came out of the back seat was even darker and colder.

The blond-haired girl slid away to avoid the setting sun that entered the car and stared severely at the knight with her eyes of steel.

—Answer me, come on! What does this all mean!?

—All this? It's what I was telling you, the documents...

—Fuck! That's not what I'm asking you! The young girl screamed as the gentleman started the car. Why does a Vatican priest save a methuselah!? What are your true intentions!?

—Not that I expect any reward, but you could be a little less aggressive with the one who saved your life ...—answered William Wordsworth, driving with an expert hand while lighting the pipe. — Besides, I wouldn’t know what reason to give you either. Helping a lady at need is a natural thing for a gentleman, don’t you think?

—A lady!?I!? Stop telling bullshit, old man!

Listening to her allegedly deadly enemy Vanessa Walsh choked on the words for a moment but then reacted by turning red with anger and drawing her claws. If the car hadn’t been already going at a considerable high speed, there was no doubt that she would have decapitated the priest right there.

—A dog of the Vatican saving a methuselah..., or should I say, a monster, as you say... Surely you have some hidden intention! Do you think I'm going to swallow that bullshit of chivalry!?

—A monster?

The gentleman seemed not to notice the anger of his passenger. As if he had forgotten that he was carrying a medusa in the car, he answered calmly:

—I found you fallen next to the Saint. At that time I didn’t know you are a vampire... We were in full operation and there was no time to notice those things.

—Don’t fuck with me, old man…

Vanessa lowered her tone, but not because Professor's explanations convinced her. With the claws on the back of the seat she was looking for the exact entry point to tear out his heart with her claws.

—I don’t have time to listen to the stories of an old cunt. Tell me now! Why have you saved me!? What are you up to!? Do you want to use me as a hostage to negotiate with my brother!? In that case I'm sorry to tell you that Virgil is incorruptible for something like that. He will never endanger the clan, not even for his own sister.

—I know that without you telling me. Also, negotiating with your brother is impossible right now.

As the car was twisting on the winding road, the Professor lowered the tinted glass. The first stars had begun to appear in the sky and the sun was only a pale reflection on the horizon. Looking westward with a weary expression, the priest explained:

—The Earl of Manchester was captured last night by the men of Colonel Spencer and has been locked in the Tower of London. To speak with him, I need the direct permission of the colonel.

— They ca…, they caught Virgil!?

Vanessa was astonished for a moment but then looking at the reflection of the gentleman in the rearview mirror she exploded, bringing her hand to the door:

—Shit! Why didn’t you tell me before!? I have to do something about it!

—Wait. The sun hasn’t set yet. And what would you plan to do all of a sudden, my lady?—said the priest, calmly, seeing the methuselah ready to jump out of the moving car.

—You should know, as a Londoner, that the Tower is impregnable. Even if you are a methuselah, it will not be easy for you to enter without being discovered. In addition, your brother will be under particularly severe surveillance. Going foolish and crazy now won’t do any good... Oh, and I'm telling you in advance: taking me hostage is just a waste of time.

The priest spoke in a slow but implacable voice to the girl, who threatened him with her sharp claws. As if he were a teacher entrusting duties to an awkward student, he added:

—But you can be calm, because the colonel isn’t planning to kill your brother immediately. In fact, right now your city, the ..., the ghetto, is that how you call it? The ghetto is completely blocked. Military engineers have tried all kinds of measures, but they are unable to enter. That's why they have your brother, to give them the information they need... If we don’t get nervous, we still have time to save him.

—We have? —Vanessa repeated, with a distrustful voice. —What do you mean by “we”!? What do you mean!?

—I wonder if you really listen to what you are told. Haven't you heard me? You need the Colonel's permission to enter the Tower. You will never succeed in saving your brother by yourself. That's why we're going to...

—That's not what I'm asking you! Why have you saved me!? I am a methuselah, a vampire, and you are a priest of the Vatican. Why have you saved me!?

—Hmmm, it’s not easy to answer that question. But if you insist in wanting me to give you an answer... It will be... an attack of sentimentality? —Replied the Professor, biting his pipe with his eyes closed without changing his poker face.

—Last night I lost an old friend. Let's say I didn’t want to see anyone else die even if it was... well, even if it were you. I know it's not a very logical answer, but I'm afraid it's the truth.

—You're an idiot, though?! Vanessa replied immediately.

An attack of sentimentality? As if that were enough for a Vatican priest to save the life of a monster!

—

Do you think I'm going to swallow that for something like this a Vatican priest is willing to save us!? Stop talking nonsense and tell me the truth! Are you trying to trick me into telling you how to open the ghetto!? Or is it that you are planning something else...!? Spill it out! Whatever it is!

—Let’s see, I would like to be able to speak frankly, but... —the Professor answered with a smile, as if he wouldn’t worry about the terrifying fact that his interlocutor has sharp fangs. —The truth is that I understand it’s suspicious for you that I helped you, since I am a priest. But well..., since I have saved your life, can’t you trust me a little?

—Ja! What you want is to catch me off guard, dirty terran! —Vanessa retorted obstinately at the paternal tone of the Professor, although this time her voice sounded sad. —We have lived with the terrans for centuries. In exchange for the protection of the queen, we offered our science; in exchange for the blood of the poor, we gave them money and medicines. If someone had an illness in the shacks, we were going to cure him. The people loved us more than the aristocrats or the Church, who did nothing but empty speeches. We had lived together so well for so long... And now this! At the minimum they blame us for everything! The same ones who had received our help come to chase us with the yell «death to the bloodsuckers»! How do you expect me to trust you!?

—You have reason enough not to trust…

The Professor waited for the girl to finish her speech before intervening calmly:

—I understand your anger perfectly, Miss Walsh. It is undeniable that the Kingdom of Albion and its people have sinned ungrateful... but it doesn’t mean that we are all traitors.

Framed in the rearview mirror the Professor's face showed a strange emotion. His voice was serene but from his tone it almost seemed that he spoke from his own experience.

—Many times people let themselves be carried away by the environment. It is true that right now your relationship with the kingdom is difficult, but you shouldn’t hate all its people because of it. Sometimes it may seem that the ones that shout the most are speaking on behalf of the whole group, but that’s not always the case. Most people simply get carried away. Don’t lose hope in the human race so quickly.

—Did something happen to you, old man? —Vanessa asked, with a strange face. —Are you feeling bad? Do you have a fever?

—The truth is that you could have been a little more polite, Miss Walsh. Even I have my moments of ... Eh?

The methuselah didn’t hear what the patient Professor wanted to explain to her, because an alarm signal went on in the glove compartment. It was followed by a female voice.

—Do you hear me, Dr. Wordsworth? Iron Maiden II is speaking. Respond, please.

—One moment, Miss Walsh. My colleagues are calling me... Wordsworth here. I hear you, Iron Maiden II. What’s the matter?

—We have the results of the investigation you have commissioned before. You were right. In recent months, there has been an enormous traffic of weapons in the black market of Londinium, enough to start a war... However, there is no sign that they have got into the hands of the criminal gangs. The Scotland Yard researcher who helped us had no idea where they might be got.

—I see. Good work, Kate. Ah, I have also found what I was looking for, —said the Professor, taking a full notebook from his pocket. —The bionic soldiers we have found in the hotel and who later attacked Sister Esther in the ghetto had received corporal improvements of type K. Albion has used that technology four times in its history but in the last thirty years it has only been applied once... It was five years ago, in the case of a marine infantry who had suffered serious injuries. His name was... let's see... Sergeant Jack Ironside, of the forty-fourth regiment of the Marine Corps, 5th Special Operations Battalion. He was thirty years old.

—Marine Corps... 5th Special Operations Battalion. And what happened to Sergeant Ironside? Did he remain in the army?

—He didn’t. He remained in the same regiment, but two years ago... in Percy's rebellion... the forty-four was exterminated in Beaufort. All of its members died and were awarded the Waterloo Cross posthumously. Ironside was promoted to a brigade and buried in Greenwich Cemetery. Since he had no family, it was his superior who was in charge of the funeral: Colonel Mary Spencer. That's what I found in the military archives…

The speakers were filled for a moment with static noise, and the Professor touched the controls to try to improve the reception.

—The curious thing is that the ecclesiastical archives contain no trace of Sergeant Ironside's burial. And not only him. Among those killed in Percy's rebellion, there are hundred men of the forty-four whose funeral we have no record of.

—So they officially died in combat, but their burial was not recorded? —Kate asked, surprised.

It was the army that kept the record of the dead on the battlefield, but the Church was in charge of the funeral. It was not uncommon that there were some discrepancies between the archives of both institutions and that until then nobody had bothered to check it. Anyway, the disappearance of a hundred corpses of soldiers was not normal. Where had they gone?

—What happened then, Professor? I don’t understand anything…

—I want to tell you, and I also have more interesting information, but we'll have to leave it here for now... I think this conversation is not private, — the priest said, smiling at the interferences coming from the speakers, and raised the voice so that the methuselah that was in the back seat could hear. —What I can say is that someone plans something big for the next few days. I'm going to try to talk to that person and find out what's behind the issue. Once I've finished, I'll tell you everything. Until then, I have to ask you to keep waiting in the city. If my intuition doesn’t deceive me, something will happen soon. You must be ready to react at any time.

—Understood. Professor, be careful. Remember that Abel... God forbid that you too...

The Professor did not hear the end of the sentence, because a storm of interference completely erased the worried voice of the nun.

—What is it, old man? Has the radio crashed? Ha! Tthat terran technology...

—No, it’s not that.

The priest responded with seriousness to Vanessa's sarcastic comment. Without even trying to manipulate the controls, he casted a sharp look at the indicator lights.

—They are caused interferences. Someone is using high-powered electronic countermeasures... Also, the radar reacts. Something is coming through the air at high speed. At one hundred knots per hour? That fast can only be... a combat aircraft? But who will do training flights around here after sunset?

—Is it coming from this direction?

Vanessa discovered something by looking through the smoked glass. The eastern sky has already darkened but two bright lights appeared in it. A human look would have confused them with two stars but the methuselah didn’t hesitate: there were two biplanes flying in formation, one above the other.

—They are two fighter jets of the Royal Navy... But how strange... They don’t carry identification number or license plate...

—Hold tight to the seat, milady! — The Professor shouted.

Before the methuselah had time to mock his serious tone, the sedan accelerated violently down the road.

—Old man! What’s wrong now!?

—Silence! I don’t want you to bite your tongue because of me!

Where did the car get that power from? Raising a huge dust cloud on the deserted road, the sedan gained more and more speed, like a cheetah chasing its prey. However, when Vanessa raised her voice again, it wasn’t because of the speedometer needle, which seemed to being about to go off. The two biplanes slowed to approach them and seemed ready to plummet like two hawks on a hare.

—Bu..., but who are those...?! They are coming for us!

When the methuselah finally realized what was happening, the biplanes had already opened fire, and curtains of dust were rising on each side of the sedan.

—And they are shooting us! They are shooting us, old man!

—Thank you for letting me know... But I'd honestly prefer you to stop using expressions like that. If you want us to treat each other with more familiarity, you could call me grandpa...

—I don’t know if it's the best time now to... They are coming back!

The sedan already was driving with more than a hundred kilometers per hour, but the biplanes doubled its speed. Releasing a cap cloud, they made a new pass over the vehicle. At once they exceeded three hundred meters, turned around, crossed and prepared to launch a third burst.

—Hmmm, they're good. Surely they are class L pilots, at least.

—Keep the comments for others... We have them on our tail! They are shooting! —Vanessa shrieked watching the grim shadows growing on the other side of the glass.

The first two misses helped them to calculate the firing trajectory. The third would be the final one.

—They are coming!

—No need to worry... Rocket acceleration!

With a thunderous noise, the car accelerated and left behind a column of white smoke. The force of the acceleration caused Vanessa to fall against the seat.

—Acc..., acceleration rockets!? But, old man, what do you mean!? Ah...! Ah ...! Aaaaaaaaaaah!

In the midst of a crash that seemed to have opened the sky and earth, the vehicle began to vibrate so much that the methuselah couldn’t say anything else, and her voice became a moan.

Meanwhile the sedan didn’t stop accelerating. Its speed already exceeded two hundred kilometers per hour so that the biplanes that pursued them had to make efforts to keep track them. In addition strange noises were to hear coming from the lower part of the vehicle. Metal plates appeared on each side of the sedan.

—Are they wings!? But ...does this car have wings?!

—Let's leave the details for later. Now fasten the belt, because we're going to take off.

—Take..., take off!? But what...?!

Before Vanessa could finish her question the vehicle responded to her by rising gently in the air.

—It fli..., it really flies! Murmured the aristocrat watching the short wings leading the car on its ascent.

As fast as they were, it was incredible that they could fly, but she couldn’t deny that the ground was moving away before her eyes.

—This is absurd!

—Absurd? My favorite car?

—I don’t know what is more incredible, the car or you! A sedan that flies!

—Well, it's not a surprise either. Nowadays, who can be called a scientist without being able to fly a car?

—Thi..., this old man is crazy...—Vanessa replied, rubbing the bump on her forehead.

A strange smell caught her attention at once. It was a stench of ammonia and burned hair. Searching the source of the smell with her nose the methuselah looked down and got stupefied.

—Hey…! The seat is burning! Hey, old man! That smoke is coming out!

—Smoke? How strange... But they didn’t hit us…

The Professor looked at the young woman in the rearview mirror and immediately tensed his face.

—Hmmm, this doesn’t look good. We are losing fuel.

—Losing fuel?

But why was so much smoke coming out of the leather seats? Seeing the look of incomprehension of the methuselah, the Professor began his chemistry lesson:

—You see, these rockets use hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer and a mixture of methanol and a derivative of hydrazine as a reducer. This fuel has the advantage of generating a great impulse force with very little quantity. The only drawback is that the reducer is extremely corrosive... and it escapes from the tank very easily. I have to investigate how to use electrolytes to seal the tank and avoid leaks. Oh, by the way, better don’t touch the part that has been eroded. Hydrazine breaks down proteins, and your body wouldn’t last for a second.

—You ..., you idiot! You should have warned me before!

Vanessa took a sudden leap to see how the bottom edge of her jacket began to dissolve.

—I'm leaving! I get off right now! I want to get off this jalopy!

—Don't jump around, please. You don’t know how difficult it is to get the car to fly in balance. If you don’t stop moving we will lose speed and...

—And what are you telling me...? Aaaah!

Vanessa rushed to the door to try to open it, but before she could reach it, the seat turned around. Without warning, the sedan made a ninety-degree turn in mid-flight.

—Aaah...! Look what you've done! Didn’t I just tell you that...!?

—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Vanessa could only respond to Professor's warnings with a scream, while the sedan plummets down to the river. If it lost speed it’s very difficult for such a vehicle to remain in flight. The water was rapidly approaching them.

—Don’t you think it's not very feminine to shout «aah»!? A lady like you should scream «oh!» Or at least «aaay!»...

—Don't fool around and do something, damn it!

—Hmmm?

While the miserable roar of Vanessa the Professor’s attention changed to the two biplanes which were also starting the descent. They probably intended to shoot them when they fall into the river. The last rays of the sun made the cannons of their machine guns to shine.

—Well, it seems that we don’t have much time to play... Now I will give you what you are looking for.

The gentleman with the pipe drew a smile from ear to ear.

At the same time he lifted the steering wheel, the priest stomped on the pedals, which caused the nose of the vehicle to rise with a roar. The propulsion rockets, which seemed to have gone broken, received a new injection of fuel that brought them back to life. Cutting the surface of the water like a sword, the sedan regained height at a devilish speed.

But…

—No! We can’t escape!

Vanessa huddling at one end of the seat to escape the corrosive liquid watched her pursuers with a desperate glance. The biplanes were getting in position to launch the final blast against the sedan. She could almost see the gloomy smiles of the pilots as they carefully pointed their deadly weapons. Their rockets were not rivals for the two planes. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before they were turned into a sieve. However the cries of Vanessa found in response the calm voice of the priest:

—Let's go up, Vanessa! Hold on tight!

The sedan began a violent ascent that caused the methuselah to scream. The persecutors on the other hand didn’t stay behind and also rose as if following their trail.

—It's useless! We are going to...!

A gigantic explosion interrupted the girl's scream.

The surface of the river rose as if a volcano has erupted underwater; even the sedan, which was in a good distance from the ground, noticed the jolt. However, the biplanes which were closer to the water didn’t have room to maneuver. The column of water rose like cannon shot and tore them apart in mid-flight.

—What ... what happened !? —Vanessa murmured and stunned as she were watching the column of water falling back into the river like rain.

The ground was strewn with the remains of the two biplanes, as if a detonation had reached them fully. Their persecutors had found the destiny to which they intended to send them. What happened there?

—Just before we got up, I released some of the fuel on the river... Hydrogen peroxide is an explosive and more unstable than nitroglycerin. If an insect gets stuck in the tank, it would be capable of causing an explosion, —the Professor explained calmly as he stabilized the vehicle and verified that the pilots had managed to jump off the planes. —Well, I see there have been no victims... Come on, there's no time. We will fly to Londinium. Fasten your seatbelt, Vanessa.

—But..., bu ..., but what was this...?

—Didn’t I explain it to you just right now? Hydrogen peroxide, when in contact with water...

—It’s not that! What I want to know is why they were persecuting us! If they can send two biplanes to eliminate us, they are not just murderers. It must have been the government or the army... Hey, old man! You said before that something big was going to happen, right? What the hell have you discovered!? Do you have any idea who they might have been!?

—Well, it’s more than just an idea. I can say that I'm sure.

—Sure? What are you sure of?

—The thing is that I don’t feel like to tell it someone with such bad manners. At least you could try to say something like «Honored gentleman, would you be so kind as to answer this question?» Or «Vanessa really wants to know, Grandpa ♥[1]!» Then everything would be much more flexible.

—What are you doing old man!? Are you playing with me or...!

The methuselah lifted her claws back to the priest's neck, but stopped for a moment. One of the gauges installed on the glove box started to sound with a sharp noise at the same time as a red light illuminated the word ALERT.

—Hmmm ...! This doesn’t look good.

—And what is that this time? More enemies!?

—An unknown radar signal is directed towards us. I don’t like this... They have located us.

—Located!?

But who or what?

Vanessa turned around, but didn’t see any other aircraft. There was nothing but the moon and a group of fishermen in the Thames who followed with their mouths open the image of the flying sedan. There was also foam on the river... Foam!?

—Old man! Below! Underwater!

The river opened almost at the same time as the methuselah cried. Two long thin objects were rising in the night air.

Once they were completely out of the water the two rockets powered their engines and turned their sharp heads towards the sedan, guided by the radar of the huge body that was under the water.

—Missiles! Impossible!

—Hold tight, milady!

Casting a quick glance in the rearview mirror the knight set the fifth gear. The fuel filled the rear propulsion rockets, and the sedan was driving off at a devilish speed.

However, the missiles that pursued them were even faster. The distance between the vehicle and the metallic heads that were bringing fire of destruction was getting smaller and smaller.

—No! They're going to catch us!

The Professor shouted abandoning for a moment his usual sophisticated vocabulary, at the same time he looked in the rearview mirror…

And a glow ripped the night.

[1] The little heart is in the Japanese original but not in the Spanish version.

#trinity blood #Sunao Yoshida #Thores Shibamoto #kiyo kyujyo #kiyo qjo #William Walter Wordsworth #vanessa walsh #cain knightlord #Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer #Esther Blanchett #light novel #translation

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jonathanmilliondollarsmile · 3 years ago

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#GorgeousOldHomes Repost from @circahouses • Call me Juliet, because I'm in love with a house in Romeo, Michigan!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ($425,000)⁠⁠ -⁠⁠ From the listing with [email protected]: Spectacularly and lovingly maintained historic gem built by esteemed builder, Ransom Odion in 1883 as his own residence! Located in the Historic Village of Romeo…in the highly revered North Main location!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Every detail has been painstakingly attended to! Entry way leads to formal parlor with gorgeous hardwood floors; Bay parlor with English stained glass window panels; formal dining room offer butternut wainscotting, pass through from Butlers Pantry. weighted pulley oil lamps & an original door leading to the smoking porch where men would retire after a meal; the beautiful kitchen offers gorgeous quartz countertops, double built-in convection ovens, Viking gas cooktop and the modern conveniences you crave; breakfast nook boasts of black cherry flooring, working oil lamps, and a dry sink salvaged from the Thorington Inn, an 1850’s Stage Coach! A first floor primary bedroom offers a walk-in closet and can also be used as an office or den plus an additional primary suite on the 2nd floor offers a walk-in closet and hardwood floors. The original maids quarters offer pantry cupboards also from the Thorington Inn. The renovated full bath on the 2nd floor offers a slipper tub, ceramic shower, marble countertops and original side wall light fixtures. This gem has original reproduction wallpapers from the Brillion Collection…taking this home right back to the era in which is was built.⁠⁠ This home boasts of a backyard oasis, complete with a historic outhouse converted to a garden shed, a 2-story carriage house with huge loft, stamped concrete drive and walkways, mature trees and a fenced backyard with extensive perennial landscaping…all creating the perfect setting for this one-of-a-kind timepiece!⁠⁠ -⁠⁠ #circaoldhouses #oldhouses #dreamhouse #circaoldhousesmi https://www.instagram.com/p/CREgfmxs2_AoPC17DbuihOUHdawlCQ_C-KkeWE0/?utm_medium=tumblr

#gorgeousoldhomes #circaoldhouses #oldhouses #dreamhouse #circaoldhousesmi

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wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog · 6 years ago

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are married: Here is everything you need to know

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are married! On Saturday, the pair became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they exchanged vows at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Who was there?

The 600 guests arrived between 4:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. BST). Celebrity guests included George and Amal Clooney, Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, Elton John, Victoria and David Beckham, and the cast of Suits.

Amal Clooney in Stella McCartney at the royal wedding with her husband, George. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fergie showed up.

Despite rumors that she hadn’t scored an invitation, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, attended the nuptials. The former wife of the groom’s uncle Prince Andrew was not invited to Kate Middleton and Prince William’s 2011 wedding.

Duchess Sarah Ferguson makes surprise appearance at royal wedding. (Photo: Getty Images)

As were Fergie’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

They both made surprising style choices.

Princess Eugenie, left, and Princess Beatrice, right, joined father Prince Andrew for the wedding. (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

And two of Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriends, Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas, were invited as well.

Cressida Bonas at the royal wedding. (Photo: Getty Images)

But all eyes were on the royal family.

Prince Harry and his brother and best man, Prince William, were among the first members of the royal family to enter the chapel. They were followed by cousins, including Zara Tindall, and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (who walked without assistance after recently having undergone hip surgery).

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The Duchess of Cambridge rode to the ceremony with the wedding party.

With Prince George and Princess Charlotte serving as pageboy and bridesmaid, the Duchess of Cambridge went along for the ride to the ceremony. She is wearing what Kensington Palace called “a primrose yellow wool silk tailored coat” by Alexander McQueen with a hat designed by Philip Treacy and shoes by Jimmy Choo.

The Duchess of Cambridge with the wedding party. (Photo: AP)

Meghan Markle walked into the chapel with the pageboys and bridesmaids.

Viewers got a first look at Markle’s gown when she exited the Rolls-Royce she traveled in from the Cliveden House hotel to the chapel with her mother, Doria Ragland.

Meghan Markle making her entrance. (Photo: Getty Images)

The dress, designed by Givenchy’s first female artistic director, Clare Waight Keller, ‘epitomizes timeless minimal elegance.’

According to Kensington Palace, “the pure lines of the dress are achieved using six meticulously placed seams. The focus of the dress is the graphic open bateau neckline that gracefully frames the shoulders and emphasises the slender sculpted waist.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at St. George’s Chapel. (Photo: Getty Images)

The veil features embroidered flowers from all 53 countries of the British Commonwealth.

On the embroidered trim of the wedding veil, Markle also included wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), which can be found at Kensington Palace, and the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which is the state flower of California, to honor her birthplace.

Meghan Markle wore the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara.

The piece is on loan from Queen Elizabeth. Markle also accessorized with earrings and a bracelet from Cartier.

Meghan Markle on her wedding day. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sarah Jessica Parker’s hairstylist did her hair.

Serge Normant styled her hair in a low bun. Daniel Martin did her makeup.

Prince Charles walked Meghan Markle down the aisle.

But only halfway — she made a statement by choosing not to be “given away” but to do it herself.

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Prince Harry was beaming when he saw his bride for the first time.

“You look amazing. I’m so lucky,” he said to Markle after he lifted her veil when they first met up at the altar.

American Bishop Michael Curry stole the show.

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, traveled from Chicago to speak during the ceremony. “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world,” the bishop said. “Love is the only way. There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even oversentimentalize it. There’s power, power in love.”

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A gospel choir sang ‘Stand by Me.’

Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir, a London-based gospel choir, performed the song as the couple sat holding hands and watching.

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The royal couple had their first kiss outside, on the steps of St. George’s Chapel.

They kissed right in front of the floral arch that was decorated with white roses to honor Princess Diana.

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Princess Charlotte waved to the crowd.

As the newlyweds made their way to the horse-drawn carriage, members of the royal family stayed at the top of the stairs. All eyes were on Princess Charlotte as she waved to onlookers.

Princess Charlotte gives her famous wave, as the newlyweds ride away from the chapel. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex make their public debut!

Now officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the couple traveled in a carriage through Windsor for 25 minutes before heading into the lunchtime reception.

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Her Majesty the Queen hosted the lunchtime reception at St. George’s Hall in Windsor Castle.

Guests dined on Scottish langoustines wrapped in smoked salmon with citrus crème fraîche; grilled English asparagus wrapped in Cumbrian ham; garden pea panna cotta with quail eggs and lemon verbena; heritage tomato and basil tartare with balsamic pearls; poached free-range chicken bound in a lightly spiced yogurt with roasted apricot; croquette of confit Windsor lamb, roasted vegetables and shallot jam; and farm asparagus spears with mozzarella and sun-blush tomatoes.

Guests ate cake made with elderflower syrup.

California-born baker Claire Ptak created the cake, which was cut by the newlyweds at the luncheon.

The wedding cake is to be served at the Reception. It was designed by Claire Ptak and features elderflower syrup made at The Queen’s residence in Sandringham from the estate’s own elderflower trees, as well as a light sponge cake uniquely formulated for the couple. #royalwedding pic.twitter.com/kt5lE4tEn9

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 19, 2018

Elton John performed.

“Prince Harry asked Sir Elton to perform at the reception, which was hosted by Her Majesty the Queen at St. George’s Hall, Windsor Castle,” Kensington Palace confirmed in a tweet. “Sir Elton performed for the newly married couple in recognition of the close connection he has with Prince Harry and his family.”

Sir Elton John has performed at the lunchtime reception for the newlyweds, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. #RoyalWedding Find out more here > https://t.co/4hbJn39Jq2

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 19, 2018

The Duchess of Sussex changed into a Stella McCartney gown.

After the lunchtime reception, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had a few hours to rest and change. Markle swapped out her Givenchy ceremony gown for a custom gown designed by Stella McCartney featuring a bespoke lily white high neck gown made of silk crepe, according to Kensington Palace. She has on Aquazurra high heels made in silky satin with the soles painted baby blue. Her hair was done in a low bun with loose waves and tendrils framing her face by George Northwood.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex heading to their evening reception. (Photo: AP)

The couple rode in a Jaguar to the reception at Frogmore House hosted by Prince Charles.

For the short ride from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House, the couple rode in a silver blue Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero. Kensington Palace says that while the car was originally manufactured in 1968, it’s been converted to run entirely on electric power.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex depart Windsor Castle for a reception hosted by The Prince of Wales at Frogmore House, in a silver blue Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero. This vehicle was originally manufactured in 1968, and has since been converted to electric power #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/hRrxEUlFlJ

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 19, 2018

For all things royal wedding, from details on Meghan Markle’s dress to cute pictures of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, click here. Want to relive every moment? Watch it all here.

yahoo

#news #_revsp:wp.yahoo.style.us #royals #_author:Lauren Tuck #royal wedding #_uuid:3f3d3c7e-33f6-3a7c-8edf-184da90f4a67 #prince harry #meghan markle #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT

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flyingcarpettours · 4 years ago

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Egyptian Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour

Once you come to Cairo which is the capital of Egypt and the largest capital in the Middle East, you will be in need to one of our fabulous Egyptian Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour, which will make you get excited by visiting many places in Cairo, which is also called in Arabic Al Qahira, that means “the Victorious city”, as it has marvelous history and it is known as the city of a Thousand Minarets, therefore it has a variety in its culture and civilization, So, you will find many Cairo Tours that will make you exploring the most amazing Cairo Attractions that include many ancient and modern landmarks, which made it became as an open museum for the Pharaonic, Roman, and Greek monuments.

Experience Egyptian Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour walk through the biggest museum in the world, the Egyptian Museum where you will watch the great amount of preservation and monuments of 5000 years of civilization including the outstanding treasures of kings Tutankhamu, scout Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour you will scout around Salah El Din Citadel which was used as the seat of the king and his government in Egypt for many centuries and many dynasties, the citadel was originally built to defend Cairo from the armies of the Crusaders.

Feast you soul with astonishing Egyptian Museum known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, located at the edge of the first desert plateau between the pyramids and Cairo. Considered to be one of the oldest, most famous, and largest museums in the world, which displays large rare collections of 5000 years of arts, the museum houses an unbelievable exhibit depicting ancient Egypt's glorious reign. Mummies, sarcophagi, pottery, jeweler and of course King Tutankhamen's treasures, founded in the 19th century by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, to halt the plundering of archaeological sites and to arrange the exhibition of the collected artifacts, The Azbakian garden in Cairo was first used as a storage place for these artifacts, a museum was prepared at Boulaq, then transferred to an annex of the Giza palace of Ismail pasha, The present museum was built in 1900, in the neoclassical style by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.

Reveal the legends of Citadel of Salah El Din which was used as the seat of the king and his government in Egypt for many centuries and many dynasties including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, and even some Ottomans ruled over Egypt from the Citadel. The citadel has three main areas: the main fortress and eastern walls, which were built by the great Salahedin El-Ayyoubi in 1176, the southern enclosure with 19th century walls and the lower enclosure extending down the western face of the hill. The Citadel consists of the Military Museum, the Police Museum, the Royal Carriages Museum, and the Qaser El Gawhara Museum, Mamluk Mosque of El Nasser Mohamed, and the small wonderful Mosque of Suleiman Pasha El Khadim, amazing Mohamed Ali Mosque, and The Bir Yusuf (Salah ad-Din's Well) was dug in order to supply the occupants of the fortress with water. which was an old Egyptian fortress that was built to protect Cairo from the enemies, built by Saladin El Ayouby during the end of the 12th century.

The citadel was used as the seat of the king and his government in Egypt for many centuries and many dynasties including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, and even some Ottomans ruled over Egypt from the Citadel. Don’t miss the chance to explore the fascinating finds of the impressive Mohamed Ali Mosque, then embrace the ravishing of military museum, and then head out to visit the impressive Gawhara Palace which named after Gawhara Hanem, Mohamed Ali's last wife.

Choose from various tours, one of the amazing tours is Islamic and Coptic Cairo Tour which is considered a spiritual journey the visit religious landmarks in Cairo. Visit the Hanging Church; it is called the Hanging Church because it was built on the southern gate of the Roman Fortress of Babylon, the remains of which are still visible, considered one of the most charming churches in the Middle East. It dates back to the end of the 3rd Century A.D and the beginning of the 4th Century A.D. Some historians believe that it was built earlier, and it might have been a Roman Temple that was later converted to a Roman Church.

You will also visit Abu Serga Church which in known as The Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus, who were two well-known soldiers-saints martyred in Syria during the era of Emperor Maximian defending the Christian faith. Abu Serga church is considered the oldest Coptic Church in Cairo, dating back to the 4th century, and it was probably finished during the 5th century. Proceed to visit Ben Ezra Synagogue which is the oldest Jewish temple in Cairo, it was originally named El-Shamieen Church, but the Orthodox Church decided to sell it to the Jewish community, situated behind the "hanging church". Ben Ezra Synagogue has a high importance for the Egyptian Jews and it has a special history.

Explore Egyptian Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour

Flying Carpet Tours guide will escort you to an awesome day tour to explore the Egyptian Museum, which contains the world's most extensive and rare collection of 5000 years of Pharaonic antiquities, beguile your eyes with King Tut Ankh Amun amazing treasures, extra fees to enter the Mummy room, then move towards Citadel of Salah El-Dein, which was built to defend Cairo from the armies of the Crusaders, scout the glory of the Alabaster Mosque, Called Mohamed Ali Mosque, relax by having lunch at local restaurant, next tour to Old Cairo, visit the Hanging Church, Abu Serga Church, and Ben Ezra Synagogue, finally Flying Carpet Tours Guide will transfer you back to your hotel in Cairo.

Included

• Pick up and drop off to your hotel in Cairo

• Excursion to the Egyptian Museum, Citadel and Old Cairo as mentioned at the above program

• Entrance fees to the above mentioned sites

• English speaking guide at the above mentioned sites

• One Lunch at local restaurant in Cairo

• Bottle of Mineral Water during Cairo Excursion

• All transfers in Cairo by air-conditioned Van

• All service charges and taxes

Excluded

• Visa to Egypt

• Optional tours not mentioned at the above itinerary

• Tipping

For more info about Egyptian Museum, Salah El Din Citadel and Old Cairo Tour:

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.flyingcarpettours.com

Tel.: +201099906242

#egyptian museum #egyptian museum tour #saladin citadel #old cairo tour #salah el din citadel #citadel of saladin #the hanging church #egypt museum

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followjacobbarlow · 4 years ago

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17 and 19 South 1100 East

Built in 1908-10 by Patrick J. Moron as a carriage house, this structure was converted into a duplex in the 1930s. Moran operated his own contracting company known as P.J. Moron Contractor Inc., and became president of the Portland Cement Co. of Utah in 1918. He designed this one-and-one-half story building with Arts and Crafts and English Tudor stylistic features such as half-timbering, gabled…

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#Carriage Houses #Historic Buildings #Historic Homes #NRHP #Salt Lake City #Salt Lake County #utah

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hometoursandotherstuff · 3 years ago

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What a lovely English carriage house conversion.

There are beams everywhere in this home. I love the black velvet sofas and colorful chandelier.

Step up to a library from the dining room.

Of course a home like this has a giant Aga stove. Beautiful colorful tile backsplash behind the stove. This home is open to the outdoors in every room- walls and doors made of glass bring the outside in.

Lovely simple bedroom lets the beams speak.

Isn’t this a pretty terrace?

Small, but cozy, bedrooms all have access to outside.

View from upstairs is the pretty spiral stairs and beams.

Simple white bath.

This cute room is on the uppermost floor, which was most likely a hay loft.

The gardens are gorgeous.

https://inigo.com/sales-list/the-coach-house

#converted carriage house #english carriage house #long post

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jerseydeanne · 7 years ago

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Proposal

The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 requires all royal descendants to seek the sovereign's approval for marriage. But the requirements don't stop there—the 1701 Act of Settlement prohibits royals from marrying Catholics. To wed the Queen's eldest grandchild Peter Phillips in 2008, Autumn Kelly converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism so her husband would keep his place as 11th in line for the throne. Soon after Will and Kate's engagement was announced, officials from Buckingham Palace said the Queen was "absolutely delighted" for the couple, which can only mean she approved of Will's choice.

Stag and Hen Parties

What began as a dinner party in Ancient Sparta has evolved into a party thrown in honor of a bachelor's soon-to-be-lost single status. But in the UK, groomsmen have taken the tradition even farther, now celebrating over an entire weekend's worth of festivities known as a stag weekend. While details are scarce, Will's office confirmed that the Prince's party took place in late March (about a month before the wedding). Hosted by his brother, Prince Harry, at a country estate, the party included Will's close friends James Meade, Thomas van Straubenzee, and Guy Pelly. With the dawn of the sexual revolution in the 1960s, women claimed their own night of "farewell-to-singlehood" revelry. Kate's "hen night" (we call it a bachelorette party around here) was even more hush-hush than Will's. Her sister Pippa reportedly booked four different hotel locations to throw off paparazzi.

Wedding Location

The most traditional site for a royal ceremony is the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace, which housed the weddings of Queen Anne (1683), George III (1761), George IV (1795), Queen Victoria (1840), and George V (1893). More recent royal couples have since outgrown the small chapel, which seats 100, as the ceremonies have become more of a public spectacle. For her 1919 ceremony, Princess Patricia of Connaught brought Westminster Abbey (left) back into vogue for royal weddings for the first time in 605 years. Westminster was then chosen for King George V's daughter Mary in 1922, Queen Elizabeth's parents in 1923, and the Queen's own wedding in 1947. Kate and Will are Westminster-bound, as well, but two alternatives would have been the much larger St. Paul's Cathedral where Charles and Diana wed or the much smaller St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's wedding was dedicated following a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall in 2005.

Wedding Party

English brides are accompanied by a group of bridesmaids, usually younger girls between the ages of 10 and 12. The Queen had eight bridesmaids, and Diana had five, ranging in age from 5 to 17. Kate's bridal party will be even younger, with Grace van Cutsem (Will's goddaughter) and Eliza Lopes (Camilla's granddaughter) both toddling down the aisle at age 3. In a major break with tradition, Kate has chosen a maid of honor, her sister Pippa, who will be the oldest main bridesmaid in recent memory at the ancient age of 27. The Prince's godson, Tom Pettifer, and Billy Lowther-Pinkerton, the son of Will's Secretary, will serve as pageboys—young attendants who traditionally carry the train of the bride's dress.

Guests

At an event as exclusive as a royal wedding, the guest list is everything. Fellow royals, foreign leaders, church officials, and diplomats dot the list along with the couple's own friends and family. The Royal Family sits on the right-side of the church, unless the groom is not royal, in which case they sit on the left. By the Queen's command, 1,900 invitations went out to Will and Kate's wedding guests—including to their friends from St. Andrews University, but notably excluding Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Male attendees are expected to wear military uniforms, morning dress (single-breasted coats with tails) or lounge suits (what we consider a business suit). Female attire is less specifically outlined, though hats are a must.

Transportation

Most royal brides arrive to their wedding in horse-drawn regal style (Diana's choice: the 1881 Glass Coach purchased for George V's coronation in 1911), but Kate will instead arrive at Westminster Abbey with her father in a car. And not just any car. She's selected the Queen's Rolls Royce Phantom for its large windows to allow onlookers the best view. Once they are married, Kate and Will plan to depart the ceremony in the same carriage that transported Charles and Diana, a 1902 State Landau originally made for the coronation of Edward VII. For Charles and Camilla's wedding, Will and Harry tied metallic balloons and the words "Just Married" to the back of the couple's Bentley. What are the chances bad-boy Harry will try the same on Will and Kate's carriage?

Bouquet

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she carried myrtle—known as the herb of love—in her bouquet. After the wedding, Victoria planted a myrtle shrub in her garden at the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Every British royal bride since has carried a bouquet containing a sprig plucked from the same shrub. In an act of love to honor the armed forces, Kate will leave her bouquet in Westminster Abbey at the grave of the Unknown Warrior, a tradition begun by the late Queen Mum.

Ceremony

English brides lead the processional down the aisle, with her bridesmaids in tow unescorted by ushers, who stand at the front of the church with the groom. The couple has selected the 32-person Choir of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal Choir, the 39 musicians of the London Chamber orchestra, and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force to perform various selections, which royal officials say will include well-known hymns and choral works, as well as some specially-commissioned pieces. Some royal wedding staples have been Mendelssohn's Wedding March, the hymn The Lord's My Shepherd, and Widor's Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5, which was the recessional music at Edward and Sophie's wedding. (Official recordings of Will and Kate's music will be available on iTunes May 5.) The ceremony itself will be divided between three officiants: the Dean of Westminster conducting the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding over the vows, and the Bishop of London giving the address. Will and Kate will likely exchange traditional vows, with one possible exception: Back in 1999, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, caused an uproar for promising to "honour, cherish and obey" Prince Edward, a public relations nightmare the newest royal couple might want to avoid repeating.

Wedding Band

Beginning with the wedding of the Queen's late mother in 1923, all of the royal women's wedding bands have contained precious Welsh gold from the same nugget mined in Dolgellau, North Wales—a variety of gold that's three times more valuable than gold from Australia or South Africa. While the traditional nugget (similar to the one on the left) is almost depleted, the Queen has since been presented with another large nugget for subsequent weddings bands, including that of Sarah, Duchess of York and now Kate. Breaking with tradition, Will has decided not to wear a wedding ring. Even his father Charles wears a band in addition to his signet ring, but Will says he personally just isn't one for jewelry.

Reception

Most British weddings are held at noon and are followed by a seated luncheon called a "wedding breakfast" (a brunch, basically). The Queen's luncheon was held in the Ball supper-room at Buckingham Palace for a small party, as was Diana's for about 120 guests. Following Will and Kate's 11am ceremony, 600 guests will join the new couple at the Palace for a buffet-style wedding breakfast hosted by the Queen (the canapé menu is to be created by Chef Mark Flanagan, left). The reception will also include two cakes: one fruit (the traditional royal wedding choice) and one chocolate (at the request of Will). At 1:30pm, the couple will appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony to share a public kiss, a tradition begun by Charles and Diana. Usually, the royal couple then jets off to a honeymoon destination, but Kate and Will plan to stick around for a private dinner and night of dancing at the Palace hosted by the Prince of Wales.

Royal Titles

With a few exceptions, women who marry royal male successors assume their husbands' titles: The Duke and Duchess of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, etc. The most notable exception is, of course, Camilla, who adopted the title Duchess of Cornwall instead of the Princess of Wales out of respect for Diana. If Prince Charles becomes King, Camilla will be the Princess Consort, not Queen Camilla. Will and Kate's titles haven't yet been announced, but the most likely contenders are: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Duke and Duchess of Connaught, and Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

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anastpaul · 7 years ago

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Saint of the Day – 1 August – St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori C.Ss.R. – Doctor of the Church-Bishop, Founder, Spiritual Writer, Composer, Musician, Artist, Poet, Lawyer, Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian (27 September 1696 at Marianelli near Naples, Italy – 1 August 1787 at Nocera, Italy of natural causes) He was Canonised on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti. Patronages – against arthritis, against scrupulosity, confessors (given on 26 February 1950 by Pope Pius XII), final perseverance, moral theologians, moralists (1950 by Pope Pius XII), scrupulous people, theologians, vocations, diocese of Acerra, Italy, diocese of Agrigento, Italy,l Pagani, Italy, Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Italy. Attributes – chaplet, praying with a monstrance in his hands, pen, quill, crucifix, writing, bishop with his chin on his chest (due to his arthritis).

St Alphonsus learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated for the legal profession. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. He remarked later that he was so small at the time that he was almost buried in his doctor’s gown and that all the spectators laughed. When he was 18, like many other nobles, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy with whom he assisted in the care of the sick at the hospital for “incurables”.

He became a successful lawyer. He was thinking of leaving the profession and wrote to someone, “My friend, our profession is too full of difficulties and dangers; we lead an unhappy life and run risk of dying an unhappy death”. At 27, after having lost an important case, the first he had lost in eight years of practicing law, he made a firm resolution to leave the profession of law. Moreover, he heard an interior voice saying: “Leave the world, and give yourself to me.”

In 1723, he decided to offer himself as a novice to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri with the intention of becoming a priest. His father opposed the plan but after two months (and with his Oratorian confessor’s permission), he and his father compromised: he would study for the priesthood but not as an Oratorian and live at home. He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at 30. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalised youth of Naples. He became very popular because of his plain and simple preaching. He said: “I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand”. He founded the Evening Chapels, which were managed by the young people themselves. The chapels were centres of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities and education. At the time of his death, there were 72, with over 10,000 active participants. His sermons were very effective at converting those who had been alienated from their faith.

Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. Moreover, the saint viewed scruples as a blessing at times and wrote: “Scruples are useful in the beginning of conversion…. they cleanse the soul and at the same time make it careful”.

In 1729, Alphonsus left his family home and took up residence in the Chinese Institute in Naples. It was there that he began his missionary experience in the interior regions of the Kingdom of Naples, where he found people who were much poorer and more abandoned than any of the street children in Naples. In 1731, while he was ministering to earthquake victims in the town of Foggia, Alphonsus claimed to have had a vision of the Virgin Mother in the appearance of a young girl of 13 or 14, wearing a white veil.

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (The Rdemptorists)

On 9 November 1732, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, when Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa told him that it had been revealed to her that he was the one that God had chosen to found the congregation. He founded the congregation with the charism of preaching popular missions in the city and the countryside. Its goal was to teach and preach in the slums of cities and other poor places. They also fought Jansenism, a heresy that supported a very strict morality: “the penitents should be treated as souls to be saved rather than as criminals to be punished”. He is said never to have refused absolution to a penitent.

A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. In 1732, while he was staying at the Convent of the Consolation, one of his order’s houses in the small city of Deliceto in the province of Foggia in Southeastern Italy, Liguori wrote the Italian carol “Tu scendi dalle stelle” (“From Starry Skies Descending”) in the musical style of a pastorale. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno (When the child was born). As it was traditionally associated with the zampogna, or large-format Italian bagpipe, it became known as Canzone d’i zampognari the (“Carol of the Bagpipers”).

Bishop Alphonsus was consecrated Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti in 1762. He tried to refuse the appointment by using his age and infirmities as arguments against his consecration. He wrote sermons, books and articles to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He first addressed ecclesiastical abuses in the diocese, reformed the seminary and spiritually rehabilitated the clergy and faithful. He suspended those priests who celebrated Mass in less than 15 minutes and sold his carriage and episcopal ring to give the money to the poor. In the last years of his life, he suffered a painful sickness and a bitter persecution from his fellow priests, who dismissed him from the Congregation that he had founded.

Death In 1775, he was allowed to retire from his office and went to live in the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died.

Veneration and legacy He was beatified on 15 September 1816 by Pope Pius VII and canonized on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.

In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. He was named the patron of confessors and moral theologians by Pope Pius XII on 26 April 1950, who subsequently wrote of him in the encyclical Haurietis aquas.

Moral theology Alphonsus’ greatest contribution to the Church was in the area of moral theology. His masterpiece was The Moral Theology (1748), which was approved by the Pope himself and was born of Alphonsus’ pastoral experience, his ability to respond to the practical questions posed by the faithful and his contact with their everyday problems. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigoururism. According to him, those were paths closed to the Gospel because “such rigour has never been taught nor practiced by the Church”. His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. Since its publication it has remained in Latin, often in 10 volumes or in the combined 4-volume version of Gaudé. It saw only recently its first publication in translation, in an English translation made by Ryan Grant and published in 2017 by Mediatrix Press. The English translation of the work is projected to be around 5 volumes.

Mariology His Mariology, though mainly pastoral in nature, rediscovered, integrated and defended that of St Augustine of Hippo, St Ambrose of Milan and other fathers; it represented an intellectual defence of Mariology in the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, against the rationalism to which his often flaming Marian enthusiasm contrasted:

The Glories of Mary Marian Devotion Prayers to the Divine Mother Spiritual Songs The True Spouse of Jesus Christ

Other works Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection The Way of Salvation and of Perfection The Way of the Cross, Preparation for Death, The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ The Holy Eucharist Victories of the Martyrs

Many of these are available online.

(via AnaStpaul – Breathing Catholic)

#stalphonsusliguori #august1stalphonsusliguori #catholic #catholicism

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