#his flawless matchless face

[wildsaltair]

10/10 no notes, just Maximus looking adorable and cozy in a blanket woven from pure husband material

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Shadow Over Seventh Heaven Review, Part I: Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Maljardin Again

Once, April Tennant had been the greatest screen star of all. Even now that this stunning creature was gone, the victim of a hideous accident, her name still cast a magic glow. And nowhere was her haunting spell more alive than within her great walled estate of San Rafael.

It was here that April had lived in her storybook marriage with famed actor Richard Morgan. It was here that her memory was worshipped still. And it was here that lovely young Jenny Summers came as Richard Morgan's new bride--to discover the terror behind the tinsel in this place transformed from a paradise of the living to a hell of the undead.... (inside front cover)

Welcome, fellow Strangers and all others who happen upon this post. This week, I have decided to begin a new series exploring the Gothic novels written by co-creator and first headwriter of Strange Paradise, Ian Martin, under the pen name Joen Arliss. Mostly, the purpose of this series will be to compare the plot and characters of Strange Paradise and those of his novels and what that may indicate about his original intentions for the overarching story of the soap opera.

I got the idea to start this series while writing my review of Episode 26, after the contents of an article referenced in one of the scenes reminded me of the events in this book. On his now-defunct website Maljardin.com, Curt Ladnier covered some of the similarities between “Here Goes the Bride,” the CBS Radio Mystery Theater drama from which this book was adapted, and Strange Paradise, but I wanted to dive deeper and do one of my characteristic overanalyses. So fly with me to the grand southwestern estate of San Rafael and together let’s explore Shadow Over Seventh Heaven--and let me warn you, there will be spoilers for the entire Maljardin arc of SP.

As noted above, Shadow Over Seventh Heaven is an adaptation of a radio drama that Martin wrote for CBS Radio Mystery Theater. CBSRMT is, perhaps unquestionably, Ian Martin’s most famous work. Created by Himan Brown in 1974 and running for 1,399 nightly episodes, Martin wrote a total of 243 (including many adaptations of literary classics) and acted in 255, typically in supporting roles. He continued writing and acting on the series all the way until his death in 1981 at the age of 69. Given my tendency to procrastinate, which sometimes makes it difficult to write just one episode review a week even when I’m not busy, I envy him for being such a prolific writer. I suspect that all the soap scripts he wrote got him into the habit, and he just couldn’t break it.

Even more extraordinary is that he wrote and published five novels during the same period that he worked on CBSRMT. His first was Nightmare’s Nest (1979), an adaptation of the CBSRMT play “The Deathly White Man” (and not the other drama, also by him, of the same name), which is his answer to Jane Eyre and which also has some interesting connections with SP which I plan to explore in another review series. Next came this novel, and then Beloved Victim (1981), adapted from “A Lady Never Loses Her Head,” which I don’t recall having anything noteworthy in common with SP, but I may need to re-read it to make sure. He also wrote two mystery novels, The Shark Bait Affair and The Ladykiller Affair, for the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, but those are both very rare now and I haven’t yet read either, so I can’t say anything about them. The book Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction does, however, provide some information on their protagonist, Kate Graham, along with short plot summaries. As someone with two trunk novels from the last decade and about fifty pages of a third--which I mostly stopped working on after I started this blog--I also envy him for this. How on Earth did he find the time?

But I digress. Like that of “Here Goes the Bride,” the plot of Shadow Over Seventh Heaven draws heavy inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s famous Gothic romance Rebecca, but with some major differences in plot and characterization. The novel fleshes out the radio drama some more, adding additional details and plot twists that aren’t present in the original play, which arguably make it more interesting. One gets the impression that he had a lot of story in mind while he penned the original drama, but knew he could only squeeze so much into a 45-minute radio play and so had to leave many of the most interesting details out.

But that’s enough background information. Let’s begin our analysis and see what Ian Martin’s later work can tell us about his original intentions for Strange Paradise.

Introduction

The face is lovely, matchless....

Opening like some gigantic and exotic flower as the camera zooms in...

It fills the screen, flawless, enticing....

The lower lip glistens, pulled away from those perfect teeth, trembling ever so slightly, promising undreamed-of delights for the man brave enough to taste its forbidden fruit....

The skin glows with an inner light....

The eyes beyond the thick fringe of dark eyelashes shimmer with the deep violet of a tropical night....

The pitiless exposé of the camera is defeated, no matter how close it probes in close-up....

This is beauty without blemish....

This is everyman's dream woman--sex symbol of the nation, and most of the world....

This is April Tennant!

Strange to think of her dead, for on the screen she is captured forever in all her vibrancy and stunning beauty....

Impossible to think of her lying, mangled and bleeding on the rocks, while the hungry sea licks out as if to possess her.

Incredible to think of her cold and in the grave. Which she has been for twelve months--or this story never would have begun (p. 5).

The first page of the novel introduces us to April Tennant, this novel’s Rebecca and also its Erica Desmond. Like Rebecca, she is the first wife of the protagonist’s love interest, whose tragic death will cast a shadow over her former estate. Like Erica, she was a famous actress--probably more so than Erica ever was--but the cause of her death is not the same as the alleged cause of Erica’s. In Episode 5 of Strange Paradise, Erica’s grieving husband Jean Paul claims that she died of eclampsia while pregnant with their son, although evidence uncovered by other characters in later episodes leads them to contest that claim. Instead, April’s death resembles that of Huaco, the wife of Jean Paul’s ancestor Jacques Eloi des Mondes who died when she fell from a cliff on Maljardin, Jacques’ island estate.

In this introduction, we also see what will become a theme of the novel: gaze. Not just the male gaze--the obvious POV of the introduction--but, more generally, the viewing of April Tennant almost exclusively through the eyes of other characters, both male and female. We never learn much about her inner life, even as we learn those of Jenny (our protagonist), Richard, and others. April is largely a mystery, a larger-than-life figure of ideal beauty who, in the eyes of the public, is more a legend than she is flesh and blood. It’s the same mystique that surrounds celebrities in real life that often makes other people forget that they, too, are human--if, indeed, that’s what April was. Or is there more to it? I guess we’ll have to find it.

Chapter 1

The first chapter begins with a detailed description of San Rafael--and by detailed, I mean that Ian Martin spends one and a half pages describing its wall, followed by two on the mansion itself. I won’t type out too many passages from this book for copyright reasons--for, unlike Strange Paradise, this book is still under copyright--but I will include some highlights. The wall surrounding the castle “was thick enough at the bottom to withstand any tremor of the California earth...topped by a corona of jagged broken glass and it ran for a mile and three-quarters in a great semicircle away from the rocky Pacific coast and back to it again” (p. 6). On its gate,

The ironwork swept and swirled in great balanced curlicues, and the frame was heavy and studded. The studs held great sheets of blackened steel, heavy enough to withstand a battering ram, blocking any vision of the grounds the wall concealed. And the vertical members of the scrollwork reared high above the frame of the door and the top of the wall in a bristling array of spikes, sharp as swords, arched forward to further discourage any hardy trespasser who might try to climb their height (pp. 6-7).

In case you haven’t already figured it out, Martin loved his purple prose. If you don’t like Byzantine descriptions of architecture, ironwork, clothing, or anything else, you probably shouldn’t read this book or any of Martin’s other novels. (Nightmare’s Nest is far purpler, however, than this one. There’s an entire chapter in there devoted to describing the protagonist’s lush Edwardian finery.) Fortunately for me, I love this kind of thing and will gladly devour description after description of gates covered in iron curlicues. My literary tastes tend toward “more is more” and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

We learn that San Rafael is a reconstruction of an old Spanish mission, commissioned by April and built in part by Richard himself, “who personally took charge of putting in all the glass that fronted on the sea.” The gardens that surround it give it “a riot of color--bougainvillea, hibiscus, passionflowers, trumpet vines--all enhanced and set off against the majesty of rows of carefully spaced Italian cedar, or Lombardy poplar” (pp. 7-8).

Despite all this radiant beauty--and as one might expect for reconstructed ruins from the era of Spanish colonialism--the estate is believed to be cursed, at least by “the superstitious peons who built the walls” (p. 9).  (That’s what the book uncharitably describes the Mexican builders--some parts of this book haven’t aged well, as you will see.) Two men died while rebuilding it, followed by April herself around a decade later.

Surprisingly, we learn at the end of this chapter that Richard Morgan’s background differs from that of Jean Paul Desmond. An actor himself, he “was king of the theater, and of East Coast entertainment. Their marriage was a royal one, and it vaulted both of them to new and undreamed-of heights of popularity” (pp. 9-10). It was this popularity that drove them to wall themselves in at San Rafael and use the police and guard dogs to keep rabid fans and paparazzi away--which, ultimately, didn’t work and only led to “a new wave of interest and snooping” (p. 10).

Chapter 2

Here we meet Richard’s sister Lisa, who is...well...quite an interesting character. She’s a beautiful woman with short hair, a deep voice, and--most importantly--an unusual, creepy level of attachment to her brother.

Cersei Lannister Lisa Morgan.

Lisa has just received a phone call from the Philippines where her brother is. The call has left her “literally stunned” (p. 11), which means that the modern slang meaning of “literally” dates back 30+ years longer than I thought. Surprisingly, she isn’t drinking wine to calm her nerves like Cersei above, but that’s her loss.

As she gazes at the ocean to the west, her housekeeper, Conchita Aguilar,  enters. Chita (as she is usually called) has not just worked as April’s housekeeper for most of her life, but also "she and her husband, Juan, had quite literally brought up April” (p. 13); as a result, she is fiercely loyal to the family of her deceased mistress. Here is a portrait of her:

Looking at the tiny woman with her bright button eyes, the black Indian hair swept stiffly away from her face, parted in the middle and tidily put away in a tight bun low on the back of her neck, Lisa was surprised at the sudden urge to go and take this familiar person in her arms--or better still have Chita take her in hers.[...]Chita might be tiny, but she was all steel and whipcord (p. 13).

Sound familiar?

Yes, Chita bears a resemblance to our beloved Raxl. They even have a similar background, for Raxl, too, comes from a people indigenous to Mexico, according to Episode 23.  Like Raxl, Chita is very old and has a mysterious magnetism that draws some people to her (which, in Raxl’s case, includes me). There are some minor differences--Chita doesn’t worship the Great Serpent, she uses gratuitous Spanish instead of gratuitous French, she has a living husband and grandson--but they are, in most ways, the same character. It’s clear that Ian Martin didn’t want to part with Raxl, and I don’t blame him one bit.

Also, for whatever reason, he was oddly insistent on both of them having a specific hairstyle. If you read the original script for the show’s pilot, you will see that he was almost as specific about Raxl’s hairstyle, mentioning “her hair tightly drawn over her ears to a small bun,” but less detailed about those of the other characters. Just an odd detail that probably bears little significance, but that I noticed.

Lisa tells Chita that Richard is on his way home with a new wife, a young, very wealthy orphan named Jenny Summers whom he met in the Philippines. This angers the ancient housekeeper, who argues that Jenny can never come to San Rafael

Because there is no place for her here--en la casa de La Señora! Everything here is hers--she still lives here, and will always live here. Her perfume is in every room, her pictures are everywhere, every ornament and ashtray and book I keep just the way she last touched it. There is no room for any other wife here! Oh, she will feel it, she will know it, because La Señora would never permit another woman to take her place (p. 16)!

Lisa insists that, despite the risk that Jenny won’t want to live on the estate and despite her equal displeasure about the situation, Chita keep an open mind regarding her and try not to be such a Mrs. Danvers about the situation. (OK, so she doesn’t actually say the last part; that’s just my paraphrase.) She also tries to pressure Chita into helping her take down the mementos of April at Richard’s orders, which she objects to, both for sentimental reasons and because they don’t have time to have the enormous fresco of April that adorns the former chapel. (Symbolism!)

“It was a breathless and yet terrible beauty. For any woman who stood next to it had to be eclipsed” (p. 20).

Yes, you read that right: they rededicated the mission’s former chapel to the silver screen sex goddess April Tennant. After their wedding, Richard had a giant fresco of her painted there in place of its former altar. This is a clear indication that one or more of the people in this household worship April, whether literally or figuratively. More than that, the portrait glows like that of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES, and seems, like Jacques’ portrait, to be alive, the living essence of a dead person. “Most haunting of all was the feeling that this was the woman--that she could not have died, that any moment she would step off the wall, and her silver laughter would fill the house again (p. 20).”

I’m sorry, Jacques. ;)

Coming up next: Jenny arrives at San Rafael and tries to adjust to living on an estate where almost everyone but Richard acts like they hate her.

{ Next: Part II -> }

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Belief in The Hereafter: Part 9

The Proof of Beauty and Perfection

Is it at all possible that such endless beauty and flawless perfection does not want an eternal land to see and show his beauty and perfection and eternal spectators that will see the beauty and perfection that will be manifest in that realm? Since this world is unable to show that beauty and perfection fully, and the spectators of this realm leave without watching that beauty and perfection fully, there must be an eternal realm and eternal spectators of that realm so that the eternal beauty and perfection will be seen there fully and the spectators will watch that beauty and perfection fully.

We will deal with this proof under two headings:

1st STEP: WHO IS THE OWNER OF THE BEAUTY AND PERFECTION IN THE UNIVERSE?

Jamal means beauty and kamal means beautiful attributes.

God Almighty has beauty; He is beautiful. That is, He has endless beauty. He owns perfection. That is, he owns attributes of perfection like knowledge, power, will, hearing and sight.

He has endless names and attributes. A person who looks at this realm carefully will see that there exists endless beauty and perfection in this realm.

Do you want proof for it? Then, look at the seas, mountains, trees, flowers, birds and fish…

Examine all of them one by one. Can you find anything other than beauty and perfection?

Who is the owner of this beauty and perfection?

It is definitely God Almighty because beauty comes from a beautiful being and perfection comes from a perfect being; grant comes from generosity and wealth comes from a wealthy being. With all of its beauty, this realm indicates the beauty of God Almighty and with all of its flawlessness His eternal perfection.

Now, look at this realm, which is the exhibition of the divine works of art!

They altogether show, declare and attract attention to the flawless perfection and endless beauty of God Almighty with the exhibition of wonderful works of art.

All of those beautiful, artistic, bright and ornamented creatures that are on the face of the earth show the beauty of a matchless spiritual beauty, indicate the subtleties of a matchless secret perfection just like the light indicates the sun; they also show that there are top secret treasures in each one of the names of that exclusive smartness and holy beauty.

In short: This realm with all of its beauty indicates the beauty of God Almighty and with all of its perfection indicates His perfection; and it proves the unmatched and eternal beauty and perfection of that being.

2nd STEP: BEAUTY AND PERFECTION NECESSITATE THE HEREAFTER

It means the artist of this realm has a very important and amazing perfection; He wants to show that perfection through those wonderful arts.He also has unmatched beauty;He wants to make people watch His unmatched beauty through His ornamented and embroidered creatures.

Doubtlessly, such eternal beauty and perfection want to be observed by appreciative, praising and admiring people because it is a general rule that every owner of beauty and perfection wants to see and show his own beauty and perfection.

If the perfection is permanent, he wants to be manifest and be observed permanently. Permanent manifestation wants the permanence of the existence of the appreciative and admiring people. The value of beauty and perfection decreases in the eyes of an appreciative person who is not eternal and who is bound to die.

It is a very well-known story that a very beautiful girl repulses an ordinary man who falls in love with her. In order to console himself, the man says, “she is an ugly girl”, denying her beauty.

Just like in this example, if the hereafter does not occur and if death becomes an end for man, the beauty and perfection of God Almighty that are visible in this realm will be reduced to nothing and lose their value and beauty.

Let us explain the issue by stating the reason of the creation of this world as follows:

As the owner of every beauty and perfection wants to see and show his beauty and perfection, God, who is the owner of endless beauty and perfection, wanted to see and show His beauty and perfection; so, He created this realm. He decorated every creature with embroideries; He showed all kinds of manifestations of His beauty and perfection in this realm; He gave man the duty and honor of watching them.

This is the duty of the creation of man:To watch that beauty and perfection.

However, if the hereafter does not occur and if the death becomes an end for man, he will despise this world and deny the beauty and perfection before our eyes.Only by doing so can he put up with the pain and anguish caused by the separation from this world.However, it is contrary to the purpose of the creation of man.

Man, who has been created in the nature of a loving spectator, will transform into an enemy if the hereafter does not occur; he will go down to the rank of despising from the rank of observing in order to alleviate the pain of separation.Doubtlessly, the wise artist of this world will not allow it and will not make him deny His beauty and perfection. The only way to do it is to bring the hereafter.

Another reason why endless beauty and perfection necessitate the hereafter is this: As the owner of every beauty and perfection wants to see and show his beauty and perfection, God, who is the owner of endless beauty and perfection, will definitely want to see and show His beauty and perfection. If beauty and perfection are ephemeral, He will consent to ephemeral manifestations. However, if beauty and perfection are eternal, then He will not consent to ephemeral manifestations and want to seem and be manifest eternal.

Two things are necessary for Him to seem eternal:

1-The country in which His beauty and perfection will seem must be eternal.However, this universe is not eternal but temporary.As scientists unanimously agree, one day, the Doomsday will strike and the world will be eliminated.

2- He will want a permanent country and permanent spectators.If there are no spectators, the manifestation of the beauty and perfection will be meaningless.However, the spectators in this world are ephemeral, too. In this short life, they cannot observe that beauty and perfection fully, and they leave the world without being satisfied fully.Therefore, the spectators have to be permanent.And it necessitates the hereafter.

Now let us see what we have learned about this proof in items.Thus, it will be understood better:

1. We see with our eyes that there is endless beauty and perfection in this realm.

2. Since beauty comes from a beautiful person and perfection comes from a perfect person, the beauty and perfection before our eyes indicate an eternal Beauty and Perfection behind the curtain and prove His existence.

3. Since that Being, who has beauty and perfection, created this realm to have His beauty and perfection observed,He must have created the hereafter for man.Man can carry out the duty of observing only through  belief in the hereafter.An observer who does not believe in the hereafter will deny the beauty and perfection before our eyes in order to alleviate the pain of separation from this world just like the cat that called the meat that it could not reach ‘dirty’.It is contrary to the purpose of creation.Doubtlessly, God Almighty will not let such absurdity.The only way to do it is to bring the hereafter.

4.The owner of every beauty and perfection wants to show his own beauty and perfection.If the beauty and perfection are eternal, they will want to seem eternal.Since the beauty and perfection of God Almighty are eternal and permanent,He will want to seem eternal. An eternal and permanent land is necessary order to be seem eternal.And that land is the hereafter.

5. An eternal beauty and perfection will want the continuation, that is, the permanence, of the existence of the spectators.An eternal beauty does not consent to ephemeral spectators.The necessity of eternal spectators necessitates the hereafter.

6. The owner of every beauty and perfection wants to shows own beauty and perfection and he himself wants to see it.That is why, a scholar reads his own book and an artist observes his own work of art.Then, God Almighty will want to seeHis own beauty and perfection. Since His beauty and perfection are eternal,He will certainly want to see themas eternal. Therefore, an eternal country is necessary.And that country can only be the hereafter.

In short:All of the beings with all of their beauty and perfection indicate the beauty and perfection of God Almighty behind the curtain. Similarly, they also indicate the existence of the hereafter. As the owner of beauty and perfection wants to see and to be seen. To see and to be seen want the existence of enthusiastic spectators and loving admirers. Since beauty and perfection is eternal and permanent, He wants the continuation of the existence of the spectators because an eternal beauty and perfection will not consent to an ephemeral lover.

VIDEO: 

https://reverthelp.com/video/belief-in-the-hereafter-the-proof-of-answering-prayers/

[hunterartemis]

The Assistant : Chapter 11 : Midnight in Paris

Chapter Summary: (not much of Maxine X Newt sorry), but what happens when you put two ex-aurors and a magizoologist into the most dangerous prison in all of Europe? There will always be consequences when something involves a Scamander--or two. 

Please enjoy these guys, I have put a lot of thoughts in composing the details

Word limits: 6173 (woo my highest)

Chapter Theme : Scotland by The Lumineers:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fGkB9B0eQ

Newt’s eye opened with a start to the usual cacophony of alarm and he sat up to see that it is nearly nine. Surprisingly he found himself at the bottom of his sitting room sofa with his Lanvin couture still on. There was the half eaten bowl of stone cold soup and some vomit and blood on the floor, but nothing else—what a weird dream, he thought he had been arrested for bringing Maxine in his house.

Hurrying to freshen up and dress, he made himself tea and some toast and decided to jot down some ideas that he got from Romania, Dragons—what a wonderful creation he thought. Between the bites and scribbling his eyes fell on the opposite wall next to him—there was a big damp on the wallpaper that needed fixing, he wondered about how he didn’t noticed it earlier.

Maxine walked inside in all punctuality, like always and after her usual crooked smile and a polite greeting of good morning descended downstairs to change into the tunic. Newt was relieved to see her absolutely cherry—but there was something forcefulness about it, and then he remember how strong and optimistic Maxine is, she trying to cope with such a difficult situation with a forceful smile, although it broke his heart, but he was certainly happy that she was trying her best.

“Good morning, glad to see you decided to join me—I thought what happened yesterday,” Newt halted to euphemise the uncomfortable and unpleasant details “you and I won’t be in same terms anymore--” Newt asked her out of the blue.

“What, what happened yesterday? Do you want me out of the job?” Maxine answered with a snap, which obviously disarmed Newt, “No, no... Nothing happened, just—I saw you at the end of the party—you seemed pretty drunk and nearly fainting--”.

“Are you saying that we did something we shouldn’t have--? Merlin, I would have loved to see your face--”Nope, She was definitely his assistant. Without further ado, Newt resumed his days work and for some reason, the whole day he couldn’t concentrate a single bit—in that flawless familiarity of his underground basement, something was off; he couldn’t point it out whether it was the smell of the animal’s excrement or the flowing sound of the River Beauly where the Kelpie splashed and dived once in a while. When it became too unbearable, Newt took a breather upstairs to sit himself down and have a cup of tea.

Suddenly his eyes fell on a rectangular object sitting on his table. Last night he didn’t get to open Dumbledore’s letter so he decided to open the letter now.

My dear friend Newt,

I received the letter the night you posted it from the Leaky Cauldron, the aroma of their pea soup still lingered on the envelope, but I was astonished to see your request. The thing is Newt, the woman working for you is no ordinary one, I have to admit I have seen many complicated student, but Maxine Valois still intrigues me. Really advance for her age, came at Hogwarts at 14, and her intellect compelled us to admit her in the sixth year. I doubt that anyone will exceed her level of excellence, both mental and academic, but her past is completely shrouded by mystery. She took almost half an hour to be sorted, and when she was sorted in Ravenclaw, I was frequently getting other sixth years complaints that something sinister was about her which scared even the older students; but all their complaints were cast aside because I refused to believe them and there were no proof against her. They claimed that they didn’t felt safe around her. As it was a troubled time, I often set up her interviews with ministry officials, highly trained in Legillimency, but no one could penetrate her mind. They claimed she was hiding something but couldn’t say what. It got to a point whenever her interviews came she would lie outrageously to the Legillimens and immediately after that either a student or a teacher would get hurt. Three students failed their OWLs despite being best of their years; although they claimed that they aced the exam, but the papers were found blank. They immediately committed suicide. Of course Miss Valois denied them, but the patterns were conspicuous and no one could prove anything.

When things got out of control, I took matters in my own hands and I am not proud of what I learned. I don’t know either it was my skills or her own willingness but I was able to look into her past. I recognised her mother Audrey Page immediately, as she shared some facial and cerebral features with. Before Maxine came into Hogwarts she was admitted in Durmstrang at the age of seven, and she was already in seventh year of the school when she was thirteen—ready to awarded as the youngest graduate of all times. But the regime of Durmstang was not suitable for a tender aged girl like her, and soon she made a habit out of the Dark Arts and with a prodigious mind such as hers, she slid into completely dark path—and soon it consumed the whole of her mind. An unloving family, a matchless brain, constant evil influences and surrounded by peers who are far older than her forced her easy maturity into a perverted distortion—however no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the specific details. But in the midst of all the negative, a single positive thing happened in her life, she made a powerful bond with one of her classmate (who was, in actuality four years older than her), someone named Anatole Malfoy—

“Anatole—that makes sense—he sounded like someone who knew Maxine beforehand--” but then Newt continued to read

--who apparently attempted to understand her and supported her uniqueness, but then something awful happened between them, something brutal or shameful, which despite of tireless coaxing I couldn’t get it out of her system, and it caused her expulsion from the school. Apparently the incident was so shameful that it was far more choicely for Hrothgar to out her blood secret which was placed as the excuse for which she was expelled from Durmstrang, instead of the incident that took place as the real reason.

Another conspicuous thing about her was that the younger students were awfully fond of her, and she for them. In fact many younger students spoke that if it wasn’t for her, they would have felt lonely .Most of the teachers maintained a distance from her. However the moment I got to see a glimpse of her true nature I couldn’t help but to feel a little sad about her; she smiled relentlessly when she wanted to but I couldn’t help but to feel that it was her greatest lie. I never saw a better liar than her whose sadness rocked my core. So Newt my friend, whenever you see her smile, just look into her eyes to check if it is real—I hope for your and her sake that it is, because I know someone that reminds me of her.

Albus Dumbledore.

Newt came downstairs with a heavy heart and tried to recall every time she smiled; her smile that felt cold now had a reason. It was made of stainless steel that armoured her heart from the world. Between all those lip and attitude, resided a deeply lonely woman—she was indeed very similar to Leta, but Maxine knew how to mock grief and despair with her crooked sarcastic smile, Leta didn’t.

At the end of the shift, he saw Maxine packing—strange how the time flies; in fact time just vanished in a few moments. He hid himself behind the shed and watched how Maxine stripped off her outer tunic and was wearing her leather gauntlet gloves. Newt came out of the shed and walked towards his assistant.

“Leaving early today--” he commented casually, “makes sense—if I was you, I would have taken a day off, quite a drink you had last night--”

“—what early, it’s nearly 7:30—I think you should check your watch” Maxine tied her buckles of her gloves, and as Newt went to check his watch it looked that it was stopped at 4Pm. He again looked at Maxine, who was humming along as she dressed herself, and that send Newt’s nerves in fire with a frustration of knowing something was wrong but not finding it. He took a deep breath and as gently as possible he asked,

“How’s Anatole?”

“Why did you ask that?” Maxine answered almost promptly, and when she looked at Newt’s face, Newt stomped towards her and grabbed her wrist so harshly that was unlike himself. He could feel the heat slowly building up in his face as a result of the outburst of frustration. He looked at Maxine’s face again and this time, for the first time in his life—Maxine looked at him with alarm.

“What’s the matter with you today—you are behaving oddly...!” Maxine got herself off with a jerk and started to massage her wrist and eyed Newt suspiciously, “you are behaving like a bloody moron you are—why, why are you laughing at me—Newt, you are scaring me, stop doing that--” Maxine took out her wand and pointed at him with her shaking hands

“Give it up now you imposter and tell me who you are--” Newt spoke in a low threatening voice and took out his wand out of his pocket, he was constantly pacing forward, leading his assistant to pace steadily backwards, who tentatively answered, “don’t be absurd, I am Maxine, your assistant--”

“Lie--” Newt spoke steadily, because he now could understand what was wrong with this place, ‘I was sure that something was wrong with this place the moment you entered the building—it was not you who was wrong, but something about that rhythm of yours that was off, turns out, I was so hyperaware that I had been hearing the sound of the watch ticking—not mine, since it is stopped, but yours—it’s not going tick-tock, but tock-tick—like a time turner, very subtle, but why would you disguise a time turner under my roof, the only answer is, I am currently stuck in a limbo, like a ghost condemned to repeat myself over and over again.’ Newt said almost breathlessly, ‘and I also have a theory about the death of my watch—you see, the moment I surprised you, if you were real Maxine, you would have exclaimed in French or spoke a bit in French, since it is only natural that alarm effects the basic instinct, to scream and to exclaim—but everything around me including you are a poorly constructed shadow of my memory—since I don’t know or understand French, a replicator of my memory cannot recreate it--’

Maxine, who was standing in front of Newt lowered her wand and with an almost-Maxine-like smirk she looked at Newt’s way, “well done--” he voice sent a chill to Newt’s spine because whatever spoke underneath Maxine’s mask, if it were remotely humanlike, Newt would not like to meet it. The ice-cold indifference and glassy shrill resembled Banshee’s screech, but there was a melody that reminded Newt of the church organ that plays ominous and awe inspiring tone to the unbelieving public to portray there was something wrathful that could destroy them.

“What are you?” Newt asked, but the creature that had Maxine’s shape laughed sardonically, completely ignoring the question. When its laugh stopped, it looked at Newt with its angular black eyes and said “took you 1789451254422269 times to go through the same day to understand—but remember human, you only made it worse. I could have kept you happy until the job was done, but you had to poke your nose into this business--”

Suddenly everything darkened around Newt, like it does after a play or an opera just ended in a theatre, and he felt that the room shrunk itself around him and all the six walls barricaded him into a small, cemented coffin. The condensed darkness sucked all the air out of Newt’s lungs and within it; he struggled like a fish freshly out of water. However his endless screams and struggles were not in vain—something collapsed near his foot, and a speck of the less dark intruded through it. Newt, with all his energy crawled on his back towards his leg and the space slid him into open.

His eyes were adjusting into the darkness and he found himself a circular shaped hollow, and except the space he just slid from, as he went around, feeling the wall around him blindly, there was no single hole or crack there—the wall felt exceptionally smooth, like solidified butter or rosin, but there was no stickiness of it—Newt’s memory that had been altered in the hallucination was coming back now, he was deported into French soil with Tina and Theseus to be imprisoned in the Geolier Tower of Silence, and right now he must be inside of it—but how is it possible that he was ‘buried’ inside a solid wall which didn’t seem any harder than damp wood, then again—the hallucinations must have been in operation until he was dead. The mere comprehension made his skin crawl—if he was buried inside the wall, so are Tina and Theseus.

So with his bare hands he went thudding and knocking about all around the wall, and when he was about to give up, he heard low and muffled thumps, like that on a damp wood and then with two thuds and groaning, he was sure that his female ‘friend’ and his brother was retrieved.

“Good bloody blooming, this place is dark--” a grumpy male voice spoke out of annoyance, and Newt silently laughed at his brother, “I am glad you are alright Theseus--”

“That was horrible--” Tina squirmed, “I was dining with my dead mother and father, they were about to approve Jacob and Queenie’s marriage--”

“You must be one mean son of a nutter then--” Theseus spoke with a bit of humour.

“Don’t try and sound so smart—it was horrible when I realised my parents are dead and Queenie and--”

“Question is--” Newt interrupted the flow of conversation to know what was going on, “how are we going to get out of here—we don’t have wands--”

“First rule of the book Newt, if you want to get outta here, you first need a good strategy, cannot fight them dementors like naked wee balmies, right?”

“Did you hit your head or something—you sound all weird--” Tina commented out of the blue, but there was one person was not really responding, Newt. He was pondering all by himself, sitting in the dark and suddenly he had a realisation.

“I don’t think there is any dementor Theseus--” he said quietly, “first of all, the presence of the dementor keeps the environment very, very cold, which acts as an immobilizing agent to the prisoners who are lightly dressed—but here” Newt stopped as if to quizzically examine the musty darkness, “this place is warm—and—moist. Anyway—whatever is this place, it is not a prison for the ordinary—all our hallucinations, they weren’t a hostile thing—they were immobilising us, like anasthesizing, until we are done.”

“What do you mean... what do you mean by done? We were sent here to die?” Tina asked Newt, “but we are political prisoners, not murderers--”

“—I think it is apt to say that corruption is not really uncommon in any government in the world. They went on this far on a simple false allegation—the nerve of Maxine, cruel, cruel woman—what I didn���t do for her--”

“—I don’t think it was Maxine, Theseus. She might have been a Duchess and all but this kind of political power!—anyway, it is a matter for later, now we have to think how we are going to escape from here. Whatever was keeping here never had any escapee so I assume that we should think fast and faster because we haven’t our wands--”

‘Lumos’

A sudden burst of silvery wispy light illuminated Tina’s small pale face, and this little incident, no matter how mundane it may seem to the wizarding eye sent sparks of joy in the minds of Theseus and Newt. When they started to laudate Tina, she explained with full self satisfaction that she cleverly replicated their wands when they were being handed in the ministry, and hid the originals in the pockets of her knickers.

“But how did you do that? Moreover, you cannot just replicate wands... the cores and the wood are made in very different manner than the mundane objects--” Newt asked Tina.

“I had some inside help—remember the editor I spoke about? He bribed the prison guard that he would obtain the wands as soon as their cores and woods are checked for authenticity, and after applying some transfiguration charms on normal woods, the prison guard slipped me the wands and I got them in my pockets—oh and Newt, check yours also, I have a Christmas present for you--”

With surprise and humour Newt put his hands on his pocket of his suit, and he felt that the usual depth of his pocket extended far deeper than he expects, and after getting his hands quite down, something firm and leathery was felt under his palm, with immense difficulty when he tried to pull it out, the old familiar battered suitcase bounced from his pocket and landed on the floor of the prison tower.

“Porpentina Goldstein, you are a star--” Newt literally started to jump in his place in joy, and Theseus in all excitement grabbed the two of them hard and tight and gave them an embrace so tightly that they were in danger of dying with asphyxia. After a lot of struggle when he let them go, he sloppily kissed their foreheads and ruffled their unwashed and perpetually dirty hair with such undiluted affection that Newt and Tina both felt that they were, once again, kids—a joy, seldom felt in adulthood.

“I figured that there were no place better to hide Newt’s case in his suit pocket--” Tina elaborated, “I first thought that it will be kept safe in ministry when we are sent to azkaban, but when I turned on lumos, I saw that we were wearing the same clothes—guess they didn’t expect us to even scratch our noses. Makes me think what kind of danger we averted” Tina digressed from enlightenment to a bitter sombreness. Suddenly her eyes fell on Newt, and his blue-green eyes looked drenched in despair in the silvery light of the lumos. When she and Theseus followed Newt’s eyes and looked around to see that there were no single empty space or windows except the three narrow holes they have escaped, their smiles turned into grimaces. Newt rose from his place and started to look at the freshly broken holes in the circular chamber. Suddenly Tina’s scream made him turn towards her.

“What’s that on your shoes?” she pointed and screamed at Newt and both her and Theseus started to look at them. Parts of their clothes and shoes were decayed and something of dirty golden-brown coloured started to form on them like some mould, which broke down into white soft flakes when touched.

“Haven’t you realised?” Newt said sombrely, “they didn’t need any precautions because the moment we were put in here, we were designated to be buried alive. These substances on your body are wax--”

“Wax... how a human can form wax around them, unless--” Theseus started to argue and stopped midway, “wait... wait—wax. I know exactly what is happening. We were being embalmed when we dreamt, so that we couldn’t struggle—and when we will be truly dead, the embalming will be complete and our bodies will be a part of this place--” Theseus said ponderously, “I remember now, someone told me to run away inside my head when the lights went out—but I cannot remember who--”

“So this entire place is made out of human wax of dreaming dead people?” Tina asked with a sense of surprise, hatred, fear and disgust, “and I thought the Death Potion execution was bad--”

“Whoever made this place must have been either the kindest or the cruellest person in the universe—the best prison where you don’t even feel you are being imprisoned” Newt mused with a veil of unknown fear covering his eyes, “now c’mon—off we go”

Newt opened his case and drew out his nasty little buggers, the nifflers. He could have used a hippogriff or an erumpant, as Tina suggested him to use, since both were able to either bust out the prison or melt it down but Newt chose this overtly discreet method. Somewhere in his mind he didn’t wanted to burn the place down, because he felt that within the waxen walls someone was still dreaming—out of his body and out of his own mind—in dreams they were alive. A prisoner, no matter how hideous or cruel he may be in the government’s eyes, deserves at least one chance as a human being. Those unknown creatures that were ‘embalming’ them were not cruel, they were kind—they wanted the deaths of their victims as painless as possible, so they locked them in their happiest, most peaceful state. The prisoners were forsaken by the world, but those creatures didn’t forsake them—that is the reason this prison was so feared by everyone in the ministry, more than Axkaban. It was the place, from where no one ever returned.

They followed the trails of the niffler, in stealthy and gentle steps, through the endless halls of waxen grave, through countless memories, pains, suffering, happiness and victories, leaving behind the peaceful ones whose lives ended unknowingly, and their restless souls, trapped inside the waxen fort like some horcruxed soul in a cursed object. The ghostly paleness of wax hit a dead end from which they were able to burst free into a place that was as musty and wet as the bottom of a pond. After scourging through it, they were faced with a hard cold substance.

“That’s it. I think we are locked in, it’s the dead end--” Theseus inspected from the very front, and Newt looked at his niffler. “No, it isn’t—Theseus, listen” he gestured his brother to use the wand as an amplifier. One end of the wand was placed upon the wall above Theseus’s head while the other end was inside the ear canal. “You’re right...” Theseus said, “I can hear—water, splashing on the surface”

“Is it a roaring current like a river?” Newt asked curiously, because if it were then blasting out won’t be a good option and there was a chance of drowning and letting water in the prison, who knows if that happens the authority might surge into the place and shove them back where they were. However, Theseus shook his head and with an optimistic look replied, “No—it rather sounds like still with mild sounds of pop and crack—if that makes any sense--I don’t think it’s very alarming.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Tina exclaimed, “bombarda maxima”

The hard surface succumbed to the spell and with vigorous quake whatever was holding them and the outside world out collapsed at the bottom. With the effect they had to fall back, but then it gave them the opportunity to inspect what fell upon them.

“Blimey, 18th century marbles—and chunks of ice.” Theseus said disgustedly as he was drenched in ice water was shivering like a naked man in arctic, “of course—fountain! Water never freezes all the way through, when we exploded the bottom, the water collapsed and with the decreasing pressure from the bottom the ice on the surface came down as well--” Newt and Tina looked at Theseus with a stupefied expression, “I had an ‘Outstanding’ in Muggle Studies, professor Merryweather said I was gifted with Physics.” Theseus recalled proudly, and with that, all the three were able to climb up through the said fountain after sealing away the rift they caused in the rendezvous.

“We were under Paris all this time--” Newt exclaimed as he came out of the fountain with his niffler on his shoulder, and case on one hand. Theseus came out after pulling Tina and they looked around confusingly. “Where are we?” Tina mused in an annoyed manner, and in a rather unceremonious manner Newt mused, “it looked different in the daylight—oh yes Tina, I have been here before. Remember I told you I had to visit Romania with my assistant—yes, as a gratitude for this completely unauthorised trip, she showed me the city, her city, and right now we are standing at the Fountain of Innocents, which was formerly a massive gravesite called--”

“Cemetery of the Innocents--” Tina added, “I know this place—all no-maj papers in the US raved about this place because apparently, all European soap companies were scraping off corpse wax from this grave so the French authority had to shut it down, but they weren’t just from the corpses—the wax from the gaoler was leaking and they had to take charges—

“Okay, so a massive body dump in the center of the city, disguised as fountain with the most dangerous prison underneath it will place us in where in the city?” Theseus inquired.

“Why don’t you ask your tourist brother that?” Tina replied annoyedly, apparently she wasn’t pleased that Newt took a trip in Paris with a stranger more beautiful woman “... but what we are going to do right now? We have no money, and right now if we go into the wizarding community, they will hunt us down” she analysed, “if we make the papers again that we escaped the inescapable prison, no corner in the world will hold us”

They all sat down under the frozen fountain. As Newt tried to protect himself from the cold and tried to wrap the coat around him more securely, something rigid felt near his breast pocket. Out of curiosity he took it out. That was the virtue of a big city in the midnight, even with the scant population on, nobody paid attention to anybody. When Newt opened the rectangular piece of paper, it astonished him. It was the same letter by Dumbledore, every word, every punctuation, right from the cover to the back.

“But how is it possible? It was the same letter I read in my dreams--” Newt showed the letter to Tina, and in turns even Theseus had a glimpse of its content. “Perhaps they didn’t want you to go with unfinished business--” Tina replied softly while reading the letter alongside Newt, “they really sound like the Death in the Beedle—peaceful.”

“This fellow, Anatole Malfoy, I knew he was crook from the beginning.” Theseus spoke with disgust in his voice which was enough to attract the attention of the two, “I met him in the party and he didn’t sound like he was for British Ministry or anything of that sort.” Under the dim streetlights of downtown Paris, Tina’s black eyes glimmered with focus, “and something was off when he was announced the Junior Undersecretary—of course it was a position too advantageous to be rejected, and I didn’t know it was his dowry from the French Diplomat.”

“What do you mean by Dowry, he asked Maxine to marry him, didn’t he” Tina countered.

“Yes... and it’s not uncommon amongst British Purebloods, but inside my mind something was really off. So after the party, I went to the Archives Department to find his records, and it was too clean—too conspicuously clean. So I searched differently, and looked for him in the prison records, again, I found no one” Theseus’ face glowed with excitement.

“What do you want to say that he is innocent and you were a little drunk after the party?” Tina replied snappily.

“No, of course not--” Theseus interjected, “I was going in the right direction but didn’t know where to start, so I looked them all.” Theseus said in an accomplished manner “every prison record registered under European Magical Cooperation in the last thirty years, and I found someone registered under Vasily Malakov. The name found awfully familiar—I looked into it, and the papers were written in Russian, obviously. But when I finally decoded it” suddenly it dimmed into a grimace “It turned out to be him. There was no Vasily Malakov in reality; the truth was Anatole Malfoy was convicted under a pseudonym to ensure that he isn’t defamed. I looked into his records and Merlin’s beard it was dark. He has an extensive record of underage murders and rapes during his days in Durmstang, and guess whose name he was being operated by--”

“Who?” Newt asked out of the blue.

“Grindlewald you plum—he and his classmates were the earliest followers of him, the ‘cleansers’ arrested during their final year. Apparently there were five who were involved, but only four were found out—and who did Dumbledore said were in Anatole’s class that time who was expelled?”

“Maxine...” Newt huffed in desperation.

“Yes, she was thirteen or fourteen when she was involved in the incident. It’s wizarding law that a minor cannot be sentenced into Prison, instead their wands get snapped.” Theseus theorised, “but given the fact that she was the daughter of the Diplomat, she was somehow spared.” He paused for a second “but the question is, if Anatole is closely affiliated with Hrothgar, given the fact he must have known what he is since he was his daughter’s classmate—why he is letting Anatole marry his daughter?”

“’Seus, listen to me I have to tell you something--” Newt said urgently “I followed Maxine after the dinner—remember Tina, I disappeared for some seconds—she was afraid all evening, in fact, she had been acting weird since the party was announced—anyway, it seems that Anatole is operating on revenge and apparently he convinced Hrothgar that he is in love with Maxine--”

“__but why him, Maxine could--” Theseus gulped as if to swallow the words he was about to say, “—she could marry anyone she wants, she is a duchess and she is from the most prominent Pureblood family of all times.”

“She can’t--” Tina mused absent mindedly, “here—look, it is said in the letter... her mother’s name is Audrey Page--look” Tina pointed at her letter, “that means she cannot take the Pureblood title because she is an illegitimate—if her mother was married to Monsieur Hrothgar, then she would have been called Audrey Valois” Tina analysed, “even in Wizarding world, getting an illegitimate child married to a good family isn’t an easy task, and if she marries otherwise, it would put a dent on our dear diplomat.” Tina concluded and suddenly she wondered something and turned to Theseus “Theseus, you said Anatole was marrying Maxine for dowry, do you happen to know what he is getting?”

“Of course, the Junior Undersecretary post... why you ask?” Theseus stood up because the frozen marble was getting too cold for him. Tina pondered for a moment and then started to shake his head, “no, no—I think that is just eyewash, a bifurcation—there must be other things he is getting—URGH! This woman is making my life a living hell.”

“Just forget about it—what we are going to do? We don’t even know what day on earth is this, or how long we have been under there—if Maxine gets married to that man, British ministry will come under Grindlewald’s control overnight--” Theseus suggested, “no matter what we have to stop the wedding from happening and the worst this in this world that THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS ENTIRE WORLD WHO CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO!”

Newt was sitting ponderously till now, with Tina eyeing him frequently with an annoyed expression. Suddenly a spark flashed in his drowsy eyes and he started to walk towards the main street. When his brother and his other friend started to chase after him, there was one thing that he said before grabbing their hands and apparating into thin air.

“It is the universal rule of nature, when man does something two people in the world are aware of it—his accomplice and his brother.”

...

‘Where on earth are we?’

Tina, Theseus and Newt apparated in front of a five star muggle hotel, at the dead of the night; the sign told them they were still in Paris, which astonished Newt a bit. He knew there was portkey regulations and everything, and despite that he made a leap—he had no idea of location or proper idea, but there were few emergency exceptions of apparation that he remembered from his sixth year class, that was the specific name and identity of a person. He didn’t know that it would work, and he still wasn’t sure. Apparently this seemingly muggle hotel had some wizards’ suite and anti-apparation charm on effect that was holding them outside. So they stomped head-on and tracing remaining bits of magic with tracking spell, they reached the penthouse, where they knocked the doors down to find a puzzled platinum-blond middle aged man in his silk pyjamas.

“What the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?” he almost screamed at the three people pointing wand at him.

“It’s been a very long day... so start speaking, is you Anatole Malfoy’s brother?” Theseus asked, and with a flicker the lights in the room lit up, which caused the man a close call of cardiac arrest.

“But you’re supposed to be in the Tower of Silence, and dead! How did you--”

“Answer the question you bub!” Tina jabbed her wand into his throat while Newt bifurcated the wand under the pillow the man was discreetly reaching for, “are you Anatole’s brother?”

“Yes, yes... I am. I am his older brother Abraxas Malfoy.”

“Is he married?”

“Sorry?”

“Is your brother married?” Newt repeated his question with a threatening quietness.

“No... I mean not yet. He is getting married--” Abraxas checked his watch in a very nervous way, “—in about five hours--”

“Oh thank Merlin...” Theseus huffed, and gestured the others to turn, but Tina remained and asked the final question, “where?”

“Saint Chappell... I am sorry, but why I am telling you all these? You should be locked up for kidnapping the Duchess--” Abraxas said in an agitated tone, “you tried to sabotage my brother’s reputation--” before he could finish his sentence Theseus grabbed his collar and thudded him against the headboard of the bed, “let me tell you something... it was your responsibility to look after your brother in which you failed miserably. If you or your godforsaken parents had the leash tight on him he wouldn’t have become the son of bitch he is today. He is a fraud and a Grindelwald supporter and I am not letting a sick rapist near my friend or my country, and the best thing you can pray for that we kill him before the ministry does. As you know we are wanted criminals and we have nothing to lose, so stay put when we obliviate you--”

“Stop--” Abraxas put his hands up in a defensive manner, “please, listen to me... I am not proud of what he is today, but please I beg you, whatever you do—don’t kill him, he is my brother--”

“Thanks for the information... Obliviate” Newt whipped his wand swiftly and stomped out of the room. Abraxas remained sleepy and confounded, like they first found him. Theseus and Tina followed him as swiftly as they could. The curtain of the night was slowly lifting from the sky and the frost and snow started to turn brighter under the cold gray of the dawn. The clock was swiftly ticking towards the fall of the Western Magical Civilization and the fate of the Modern Wizarding Europe lied in the hands of three escapee convicts: two ex-aurors and a magizoologist, whose mind and wand was now pointing at the Isle of the City in the middle of Seine, where the tower of Saint Chappell was fearfully awaiting for the historic moment that was going to take place in about four hours and fifty minutes.

--

Tags: @my-current-fandom-is

--

I had to research extensively to make the Wizarding prison of France more terrible and different from Azkaban at the same time. I don’t know whether I had been successful or not, but here’s the history behind our fictional “Le Tour de Silence”

The Holy Innocents' Cemetery (French: Cimetière des Saints-Innocents or Cimetière des Innocents) is a defunct cemetery in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages until the late 18th century. Under the reign of Philip II (1180-1223) the cemetery was enlarged and surrounded by a three-meter-high wall. Les Innocents had begun as a cemetery with individual sepulchers, but by then had become a site for mass graves. People were buried together in the same pit (a pit could hold about 1,500 dead at a time); only when it was full would another be opened. 

This practice continued upto five centuries when the mass graves (because they were buried so close and the body couldn’t rot properly) started to produce a thing called Adipocere or Corpse wax (basically human fat transforming itself into an wax like encasing preventing the rot forever). These corpse wax were scraped off and sold out to soap and candlemakers during the pre revolution era, and you can guess what happened. So it gave me a brilliant idea to construct the French prison out of it-- a place made out of Adipocere, and people who are sentenced to death are brought in here so that their life would be slowly extracted from the body, and when it’s done their body and soul will be trapped in the waxy architecture. How to prevent resistance? simple, trap them into their happiest state.

The fountain of Innocent, from which the three broke through was built over the real Holy Cemetery of Innocent by Louis XVI as a memorial, when he closed the unsanitary gravesite (good man he was!), I gave it a little bit symbolism. In Roman myths, when injustice reaches it’s peak, the Goddess of Truth, Veritas comes out of the well, naked to scream at people. So I used the same method with the three.  

[cyblance]

The Procedure For Hiring A Talented Shopify Expert

Is there a requirement of a Shopify developer for your store? Do you need a Shopify expert for setup, development, design or marketing purposes? The choices at a business’s disposal are going for a Shopify expert or a Shopify plus expert.

For the success of an online mall, the web store should be outstanding and be characterized by matchless accessibility. The competition levels are high, with many entities selling their goods online.

Requirements of most merchants are basic

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Setting up a Shopify store is indeed easy. But it comes by as a time-taking task, which may not be possible for a business owner. To counter the issue, Shopify has cultivated Shopify Experts, which is a community of e-commerce specialists.

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In the primary Shopify domain, one comes across a microsite that has Shopify Experts’ list. One can figure out a Shopify expert by typing in the name or the relevant keywords in the search box. This helps find an expert based upon his niche of expertise.

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Check portfolios

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[mulondonposts-blog]

No wedding album is complete without the most stunning bridal portrait shots. Worry not, we bring you the lowdown – from classy and evergreen to chic and trendy, the whole gamut of beautiful poses you MUST TRY!

If your own or your bestie’s wedding is around the corner, you can’t do without going through our collection of ultimate bridal portrait ideas and wedding poses. Have a look and get inspired!

Bridal Portrait Ideas – The Royal Princess!

All Set

Picture Courtesy: weddingdaybyatul_

The traditional bridal portrait, evergreen, classy and oozing royal charm – its a must to get this shot done at your wedding!

Those Eyes!

Picture Courtesy: rollingcanvassydney

From capturing the bride in all her wedding finery to the thousands of emotions essayed in her poignant expressions, its a beauty worth framing.

The Bridal Composure

Picture Courtesy: romaganeshphotography

Typically captured in a seated position with a royal chair, jhoola or mirror as the royal accessory, it is keepsake for a lifetime!

The Glow!

The Bridal Glow

Picture Courtesy: Oragraphy

Love has its own glow, doesn’t it! Hence a gorgeous close up portrait, during or right after you get ready as a bride is a must.

Happiness!

Picture Courtesy: Rahuljaganiphotography 

That hint of a smile, the final wait for your Prince Charming and the satisfaction of looking like what you’ve always dreamed of – that is what’ll reflect on your face in this lovely picture.

The Black & White Beauty

The Retro Touch

Picture Courtesy: morviimages

No matter how colorful the world around you, the beauty of black and white bridal portraits is matchless!

Keep Calm!

Picture Courtesy: Dream Diaries 

The elegance, charm and timeless appeal of these pictures will leave you spellbound even decades later.

That Smile though!

Picture Courtesy: morviimages

None but the most expert wedding photographers can capture those flickers of emotions on their lenses – and when they do it so beautifully, its nothing short of pure art!

The Bride in her Veil!

The Beauty behind

Picture Courtesy: plushaffairs

The exquisiteness of a ghoonghat as a bridal accessory is unrivaled! From classic to flirty peek-a-boo to sheer beauty – a bride in a veil portrait can capture the many moods of a modern bride beautifully.

Peek a Boo!

Picture Courtesy: studiokellyphotography

Think of the many glances only you and your soulmate will exchange through this sheer veil – and make sure to ask your wedding photographer to capture those moments in his pictures.

The Jewellery Shot!

Evergreen!

Picture Courtesy: Oragraphy

After you’ve spent so much time, effort and money into choosing your perfect wedding jewellery, it’ll be crazy not to capture its grand beauty on a close up frame!

The Gorgeous Nath

Picture Courtesy: Mehar Photography

Bold, stunning and beautiful – this bridal portrait should capture the dazzling elegance of your ‘all set’ moment.

The Up Shot

The Overhead Shot

Picture Courtesy: Banga Studios

The overhead shot gives your photographer a creative angle to capture your bridal elegance in a remarkable ‘hatke’ way – quite different from your regular wedding photographs.

Radiant in Red

Picture Courtesy: Banga Studios

From close ups to full profile to one with your sweetheart, there are a thousand ways to take good up-shots, so do some research and select your favourite.

The Bridal Swag!

SHE Definitely Has It!

Picture Courtesy: anoopphotog

Which bride of today doesn’t want her real candid self to show up in her wedding album in some bold pictures – think drink in hand, reflectors on or relaxing in your casual shorts & choli just before donning that heavy lehenga!

The Rockstar Bride

Picture Courtesy: pictureperfectindia

Its your wedding and you must rock every moment of it in your own personal style. So put your ‘I don’t care what people think’ attitude in place and get it captured in style!

The Back Shot

The Traditional Back Shot!

Picture Courtesy: Roma Ganesh Photography 

The back shot is a wonderful way to capture sexy cholis, stunning hairdos and your flawless back.

Sexy is Back!

Picture Courtesy: amitasuraajphoto

Add your partner to the equation, and you’ve got yourself a simmering winner!

Bride in a Bathtub!

Cos I’m happy & I know it!

Picture Courtesy: infinite_memories0 

If you’re a regular on Instagram, you couldn’t have missed these epic ‘bride in bathtub’ shots that are such a rage and actually quite fun!

Can’t keep Calm!

Picture Courtesy: Dream Diaries

You must be a bridechilla at heart and willing to go experimental! Then all that you need is a grand bathtub, some creative angles and a host of emotions and expressions.

Golden Capture!

Picture Courtesy: whatknotin

Think creative and out of the tub . Add your bridetribe and some fun props to make the most of this supercool shot.

0 The Quintessential Twirling Bride!

Twirling away!

Picture Courtesy: The Wedding Salad

No wedding album is complete without the timeless twirling bride portrait.

That Precious Moment after the Wedding

Picture Courtesy: Preach Art 

And what could be better than adding your partner in this dream shot!

The FUN Swirl

Picture Courtesy: The Royal Affair 

If you wan’t to add a li’l cutesy charm, simply swirl n twirl like nobody’s watching and show-off your bridal lehenga in this fabulous picture.

The Haldi Moments!

All Set to Glow

Picture Courtesy: the_story_weavers 

Your traditional haldi ceremony is really a symbolic way of adding to your bridal glow and beauty – so why not bask in all that love!

Happy Memories

Picture Courtesy: filmmystory

But today, haldi is all about fun and masti. No matter how much you hate the mess and the thought of cleaning it all up, its best to let go and simply enjoy this ceremony like a yellow holi!

Haldi Madness!

Picture Courtesy: MahimaBhatiaPhotography 

And if you’re game, add some jazz to your crazy haldi moments with fun, humorous pictures that’ll always make you smile!

Mehendi Shot

Sweet Mehendi Memories

Picture Courtesy: Pruneindia 

Your beautiful bridal mehendi deserves a special place in your wedding album.

The Mehendi Status Update!

Picture Courtesy: the_story_weavers 

So dress up with those fresh flower accessories, get your friends together and add picture perfect props to create memorable mehendi portraits.

Looking for the most Stunning Bridal Mehendi Designs? Check this out!

Bridal Mehendi Designs That Will Make You go Wowwwww!!!

The Bridal Lehenga Shot

Lehenga Love!

Picture Courtesy: clicksunlimitedphotography

While brides in lehengas and lehengas on hangers are the usual photo-ops, it’s time to think different and show-off your wedding lehenga in some bold creative portraits that are all about you!

Can’t Wait!

Picture Courtesy: jatinmalikcouture

Don’t these creative bridal portraits add immense character to your wedding album? If you’re game, ask your wedding photographer to try something unusual and get ready to create a personal masterpiece!

The Beautiful Bride Entry

Grandma & Grand Daughter!

Picture Courtesy: ivyweddings

The one last walk, as a ‘Miss’ before you turn to ‘Mrs’ is worth capturing in all its glory!

With all Her Veeres

Picture Courtesy: flgroestudios 

Your bridal entry to your varmala or mandap with your mum, friends, brothers or family is a precious moment that no photographer will miss really.

For the most Unique & Stunning Bride Entry Ideas ever, Check this out RIGHT NOW!

Epic Bride Entry Ideas that will make your Groom & Guests Go Gaga!

Bride and her Bridesmaids

MUST-HAVE!

Picture Courtesy: plushaffairs 

The special bond with your bride tribe, who are your lifeline before and after your wedding, CAN NOT be missed on camera!

Crazy Gang!

Picture Courtesy: pksuriworldwidestudios

They know you better than anyone else. They know the real you. And there’s no better time to capture this bond than at your wedding. So go all out – from beautiful, soulful pictures to crazy candid ones and just make sure each of them gets a copy when the final pictures come in.

Looking for more Poses with your Teambride? You’ve got to check these out!

Bride and Bridesmaids – Our Top 0 Must Have Clicks with Your BFF’s!

The Bride & her Parents!

Papa’s in Love!!!

Picture Courtesy: theweddingsalad

Amidst the wedding chaos, sometimes, precious intimate moments with family members are rushed, hushed and missed. So, make sure you tell your photographer what you definitely need!

Father-Daughter Moment!!!

Picture Courtesy: namanverma

A moment with your father, who is usually busy attending to the wedding guests, or one with your mum as you both get ready is something you’ll end up cherishing for life.

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by ZoWed (@zo_wed) on Sep 0, 0 at :am PDT

This day, her small baby is all set to start her new journey. One click, as she ensures everything is perfect for her little one. And we know, this will leave us all with a teary eye.

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Picture Courtesy: weddingnama

A Bride & her Pet Love!

The Cutest Cuddle!

Picture Courtesy: aaamovies

Isn’t your pet pooch the closest pal who’s stood by your side forever! At no cost, can you ignore this bond from being captured on your big day.

Twinning Pets

Picture Courtesy: colorblindproduction

Cover Picture Courtesy: Knotty Affair

From twinning pets to twinning with your pets, there’s a thousand ways to enjoy your precious moments before you say goodbye. Make sure your wedding photographer is around to capture that one last kiss, one last cuddle and hug, before you step into your new world!

If you’ve got a Pet you love to the moon and back, here are a few poses you MUST TRY out!

Wedding Photography Ideas: Fab Must Have Clicks with your Pet!

There… we’ve given you the most exhaustive list of bridal portrait ideas ever – so save this article and share it with your to-be married besties to create a wedding album worth copying!

The post MUST SAVE Bridal Portrait Ideas for Every Bride’s Wedding Album! appeared first on ZoWed.com | Blog.

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[solomonssongofsongs]

The bride in Solomon’s Song of Songs is the “most beautiful woman.” Song 1:8 Both her inner beauty and outer beauty are matchless.  Literally she is the most beautiful woman.  Both her inner beauty and outer beauty are unmistakable.  All you need to do is look at how king Solomon describes her.

Of all the Love Songs Solomon wrote this one stands above all the others in its ability to communicate to our whole hearts true idea’s of love.  Love is a moral inner beauty yet all outer natural physical or secondary beauties are only reflections or shadow of God’s moral beauty or excellency.

Each beauty is an emanation of the Beauty of God, yet each beauty can communicate to us various aspects of God’s beauty that are more lively in one beauty than another.

For example in Song 4:1-5,  the bridegroom is adoring the upper half of his brides beautiful body starting from her hair down.  The beautiful length of her hair gives us a lively idea of the weight of her beauty and glory which is great due to it being described as “flock“…”coming down from mount Gilead” 4:1.  Yet the beauty of her teeth doesn’t communicate to us so much of the weight of her beauty and glory but the symmetry and proportion of it for her teeth are “matched and none are missing” 4:2.  Plus also the description of her teeth communicates to us that they could do their job quite well.  Her teeth were fit for their purpose.  At any rate my purpose isn’t to explain what aspect or adumbrations of God’s glory and beauty are reflected in each external beauty of the bride but more so to list all the external beauties.

The better or more lively the outward illustration or picture of God’s beauty the better the communication of it to our minds. Two women could communicate to us some idea of God’s moral beauty yet one woman may be more beautiful than another, thus having greater emanations of God’s internal beauty reflected in her natural external beauty.  Yet the more beautiful woman externally may do a terrible job in her life in displaying holiness in her life and therefor fail miserably at glorifying God.

There are degree’s of beauty both internal and external.  One rose can look more beautiful and less deformed than another.  Teeth can look more beautiful and less deformed than another.  So also the hair, cheeks, lips etc.  Since the purpose of external beauty is to reflect moral beauty then it would be fit and proper that the woman in a love song above all others would be “the most beautiful woman.”  Not only internally but externally as well.

From the beginning of the Song to the end here is a list of the external, natural, secondary physical beauties of the bride.

Beauty #

The whole Bride.  Internal and externally she is “the most beautiful woman”.  Song 1:7, 15, 4:1 and 4:7, 6:4, 6:8-9, 6:10, 7:6

“Flawless one” 5:2

Her “cheeks” 1:10

“Neck” 1:10, 4:4, 7:4

“Eyes” 1:15, 4:1, 6:5, 7:4

“Face” or “form” 2:14

“Hair” in 4:1, 6:5, 7:5

“Teeth” 4:2, 6:6

“Lips” 4:3, 11

“Mouth” 4:3

“Temples” 4:3, 6:7

“Breasts” 5:5, 7:3, 7:7, 8:10

“Feet” 7:1

“Legs” 7:1

“Navel” 7:2

“Waist” 7:2

“Nose” 7:4

“Head” 7:5

What do we learn from this?

We learn that Solomon praised the external beauty of his wife quite often.

Solomon didn’t leave out much at all.

The overall beauty of the bride herself was praised more than anything else.  About 10 times the brides overall beauty was adored, gazed upon, beheld, praised or brought attention to.

It shouldn’t surprise us that a woman of superlative beauty is the bride in a Love Song that is better than any other love song.

The purpose of the wisest man on the planet to have a wife of unmatched beauty as his wife isn’t to illustrate that a king with unmeasurable wisdom ought to have a wife of unmatched external beauty but that such a beautiful woman would best reflect the beauty of God.

A woman of superlative external and internal beauty would best reflect the internal moral Beauty of God which is His Holiness consisting in Love, therefore a better idea of the love of God is communicated to our minds when beholding a woman of superlative beauty.

To be holy is to be without sin or without moral flaw.  Set apart for the purpose of God.  Each body part of the woman was set apart to reflect the beauty of God and each part was beautiful therefore when viewed all at once she was the most beautiful woman.

The bride of Israel’s Messiah was without external flaw, which reflects the Holiness of God.  The holiness of God is His Beauty!  It is delightful to behold the moral beauty of God reflected in the external beauty of the bride and every woman ought to delight to behold that beauty and not get jealous wherever it manifests itself.

It is also interesting to note that of all her body parts her breasts were mentioned the most out of any other part.  4x they are mentioned.  Solomon when warning his son about adultery encourages him to intoxicated with the love and breasts of his wife and be satisfied with them alone and no other woman.

Proverbs 5:19

“A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”

God beautifully designed a woman’s breasts to be visually satisfying in the marriage context, for our good and His Glory.

Also note that her “Eyes”  were mentioned 4x as well.  Her eyes were beautiful when they were eye to eye for the first time and they were like doves.  Then again in 4:1 they are like doves on the wedding night.  And again on the wedding night, “one glance” of her eyes his way when he called was more delightful than wine.  And in 6:5 her stunningly beautiful eyes were nearly to much for him.  Then again he adores them in 7:4.

Its a tie also for the second most mentioned single body part.  Both her hair and neck are mentioned 3x.  The woman hair is her glory.

1 Corinthians 11:15

“if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.”

Her temples, teeth and lips get mentioned twice.  And if you include her lips and mouth to be the same thing then her lips are also mentioned twice.

External beauty does fade but while it is there the external beauty of the bride in the Song of Songs did a great job of reflecting the moral beauty of God.

  When we behold external beauty, wherever it may be found may we not just see the beauty of a woman, a rose or sunset but be reminded of the Source of that image of God seen in the secondary beauty.

The Brides Natural Beauty The bride in Solomon's Song of Songs is the "most beautiful woman." Song 1:8 Both her inner beauty and outer beauty are matchless.  

[babynamescollection-blog]

Boy Baby Names Starts with Alphabet A | A to Z Baby Names Collection

Baby Names Collection provides thousands of boy baby names collections starts with Letter A. Find most popular boy baby names starts with A along with their meanings.

List of Boy Baby Names Start with A with Meanings

1.       Aabha - light

2.       Aabharan - Jewel

3.       Aabheer - a cowherd

4.       Aabher - a cowherd

5.       Aadarsh - One who has principles

6.       Aadesh - command; message

7.       Aadhishankar - Sri Shankaracharya; founder of Adwaitha Philosophy

8.       Aadhunik - modern; new

9.       Aadi - first; most important

10.   Aadinath - God; Supreme Ruler of the Universe; the first God

11.   Aaditey - Son of Aditi

12.   Aafreen - encouragement

13.   Aagney - son of the Fire God

14.   Aahlaad - delight

15.   Aahlaadith - Joyous person

16.   Aahwaanith - one who has been invited;wanted

17.   Aakanksh - Desire

18.   Aakar - form; shape

19.   Aakash - the sky; vast like the sky

20.   Aalam - ruler; king; the whole world

21.   Aalap - musical prelude

22.   Aalok - Cry of victory

23.   Aamod - Pleasant.Accept

24.   Aandaleeb - The Bulbul bird

25.   Aashish - blessings; Aashirwad

26.   Aatish - Explosive; a Dynamic person

27.   Abhay - fearless

28.   Abhayananda - one who is delights in remaining fearless

29.   Abhayaprada - bestower of safety; another name for Vishnu

30.   Abheek - fearless

31.   Abhibhava - overpowering; powerful; victorious

32.   Abhichandra - moon like face; one of the 7 Manus of the Sevtambara jaina sect

33.   Abhidi - radiant

34.   Abhihita - _expression; word; name

35.   Abhijat - Noble; wise

36.   Abhijaya - conquest; complete victory

37.   Abhijit - victorious

38.   Abhijvala - blazing forth

39.   Abhilash - desire

40.   Abhimand - gladdening

41.   Abhimani - full of pride; another name for Agni as the eldest son of Brahma

42.   Abhimanyu - Arjuna's son

43.   Abhimanyusuta - son or Abhimanyu

44.   Abhimoda - joy; delight

45.   Abhinabhas - renowned; famous

46.   Abhinanda - to rejoice; to celebrate; to praise; to bless; delight

47.   Abhinandana - felicitous; welcoming

48.   Abhinatha - lord of desires; another name for kama

49.   Abhinav - novel

50.   Abhinava - new; young; fresh; modern; a sakta notable for his spiritual attainment

51.   Abhirup - pleasing

52.   Abhishek - an auspicious bath for a deity; anointing

53.   Abhisoka - passionate; loving

54.   Abhisumat - radiant; another name for sun

55.   Abhisyanta - splendid; a son of Kuru and Vahini

56.   Abhivira - surrounded by heroes; a commander

57.   Abhra - cloud

58.   Abhrakasin - with clouds for shelter; an ascetic

59.   Abhyagni - towards the fire; a son of Aitasa

60.   Abhyudaya - sunrise; elevation; increase; prosperity

61.   Abhyudita - elevated; risen; prosperous

62.   Abjayoni - born of the lotus; another name for Brahma

63.   Abjit - conquering water

64.   Acaryatanaya - son of the teacher; another name for Aswatthama

65.   Achal - constant

66.   Achalapati - lord of the immovable; lord of mountain

67.   Achalendra - lord of the immovable; the Himalayas

68.   Achalesvara - god of the immovable; another name for Shiva

69.   Achanda - not of the hot temper; without anger; gentle

70.   Acharya - teacher; another name for Drona; Asvaghosa and Krpa

71.   Acharyanandana - son of the teacher; another name for Aswatthama

72.   Acharyasuta - son of the teacher; another name for Aswatthama

73.   Achindra - flawless; uninterrupted; perfect

74.   Achintya - inconceivable; a name of Lord Shiva; beyond comprehension

75.   Achyut - imperishable; indestructible; a name of Vishnu

76.   Achyuta - indestructible

77.   Achyutaraya - worshipper of the infallible; a devotee of Vishnu

78.   Adalarasu - king of dance

79.   Adarsh - ideal

80.   Adesh - command

81.   Adhik - greater

82.   Adhikara - principal; controller; right

83.   Adhipa - king; ruler

84.   Adhita - a scholar

85.   Adikavi - first poet

86.   Adil - sincere; just

87.   Adinath - the first lord; Lord Vishnu

88.   Adit - from the beginning

89.   Aditeya - another name for the sun

90.   Aditya - the sun

91.   Adityanandana - son of the sun

92.   Adityavardhana - augmented by glory

93.   Adripathi - master of the mountains

94.   Adwaita - non-duality

95.   Adway - one; united

96.   Aftab - the sun

97.   Agasti - name of a sage

98.   Agha - pre-eminent

99.   Agharna - the moon

100.                        Aghat - destroyer of sin

101.                        Agneya - son of agni

102.                        Agnikumara - son of agni

103.                        Agniprava - bright as the fire

104.                        Agrim - leader; first

105.                        Agriya - first best

106.                        Ahsan - mercy

107.                        Aijaz - favour

108.                        Aiman - fearless

109.                        Ainesh - the sun's glory

110.                        Ajamil - a mythological king

111.                        Ajatashatru - without enemies

112.                        Ajay - invincible; unconquerable

113.                        Ajeet - unconquerable

114.                        Ajendra - king of mountains

115.                        Ajinkya - invincible

116.                        Ajit - invincible

117.                        Ajitabh - one who has conquered the sky

118.                        Ajitesh - Vishnu

119.                        Ajmal - pious

120.                        Akalmash - stainless; pure

121.                        Akash - the sky

122.                        Akbar - powerful

123.                        Akhil - complete

124.                        Akhilesh - lord of all

125.                        Akmal - complete

126.                        Akram - excellent

127.                        Akroor - kind

128.                        Akshan - eye

129.                        Akshar - imperishable

130.                        Akshat - uninjurable

131.                        Akshath - indestructible

132.                        Akshay - indestructible

133.                        Akshit - permanent

134.                        Akul - a name of Lord Shiva

135.                        Alagan - handsome

136.                        Alagarasu - handsome king; King of beauty

137.                        Alam - the whole world

138.                        Alamgir - the lord of the whole world

139.                        Aleem - knowledgeable

140.                        Alhad - joy

141.                        Ali - protected by god

142.                        Alok - cry of victory; lovely hair

143.                        Aloke - light

144.                        Amaanath - treasure

145.                        Amal - unblemished; pure

146.                        Amalendu - the unblemished moon

147.                        Amalesh - the pure one

148.                        Amanda - active

149.                        Amar - forever; immortal

150.                        Amartya - immortal

151.                        Ambar - sky

152.                        Ambarish - the sky

153.                        Amber - the sky

154.                        Ambuj - lotus

155.                        Ameya - immeasurable; boundless

156.                        Amil - invaluable

157.                        Amin - divine grace

158.                        Amish - honest

159.                        Amit - without limit; endless

160.                        Amitabh - limitless lustre; name of Lord Buddha

161.                        Amitava - same as Amitabh

162.                        Amitbikram - limitless prowess

163.                        Amitesh - one who is Infinite; God

164.                        Amitiyoti - limitless brightness

165.                        Amitrasudan - destroyer of enemies

166.                        Amiya - nectar; delight

167.                        Amlan - unfading; everbright

168.                        Amlankusum - everlasting flower

169.                        Ammar - the maker

170.                        Amod - pleasure

171.                        Amogh - unerring; a name of Lord Ganesh

172.                        Amoha - clear; straight

173.                        Amoha - clear; straight

174.                        Amol - priceless

175.                        Amolik - priceless

176.                        Amrit - nectar

177.                        Amulya - priceless

178.                        Anadi - eternal

179.                        Anal - fire

180.                        Anamitra - the sun

181.                        Anand - joy; happiness

182.                        Ananga - name of Cupid or Kamadeva

183.                        Ananmaya - one who cannot be broken

184.                        Anant - infinite

185.                        Anantram - the eternal; god

186.                        Anarghya - priceless

187.                        Anbarasu - king of love

188.                        Anbu - love; kindness

189.                        Anbuchelvan - kind; king of love

190.                        Anbumadi - kind and intelligent

191.                        Anbuselvan - kind; king of love

192.                        Angad - an ornament

193.                        Angada - bracelet

194.                        Angamuthu - made of pearls

195.                        Anil - god of wind

196.                        Animish - open-eyed therefore attractive

197.                        Anirudh - free; grandson of Lord Krishna

198.                        Anirudhha - cooperative

199.                        Anirvan - undying

200.                        Anisa - supreme

201.                        Anish - supreme; Lord Vishnu; Lord Shiva

202.                        Aniteja - Immeasurable splendour

203.                        Anjasa - guileless; deceitless

204.                        Anjum - a token

205.                        Anjuman - a token; a sumbol

206.                        Ankit - conquered

207.                        Ankur - sprout; new life

208.                        Ankush - check

209.                        Anmol - priceless

210.                        Anoop - without comparison

211.                        Anshu - the sun

212.                        Anshul - radiant

213.                        Anshuman - the sun

214.                        Anshumat - luminous

215.                        Anugya - authority

216.                        Anuha - satisfied

217.                        Anuj - younger brother

218.                        Anunay - supplication; consolation

219.                        Anup - without comparison

220.                        Anupam - incomparable

221.                        Anuraag - love; attachment; devotion

222.                        Anurag - love; attachment; devotion

223.                        Anuttam - unsurpassed

224.                        Anwar - devotee of God

225.                        Apoorva - quite new

226.                        Apparajito - undefeated

227.                        Apurva - unique

228.                        Arav - peaceful

229.                        Aravali - righteous

230.                        Archan - worship

231.                        Archit - worshipped

232.                        Ardhendu - half moon

233.                        Arghya - offering to the Lord

234.                        Arihant - destroyer of enemies

235.                        Arijit - conquering enemies

236.                        Arindam - destroyer of enemies

237.                        Arivalagan - intelligent and handsome

238.                        Arivali - smart; intelligent

239.                        Arivarasu - king of wisdom

240.                        Arivoli - glowing with intelligence

241.                        Arivuchelvan - one whose wealth is his wisdom

242.                        Arivumadhi - intelligent

243.                        Arivunambi - confident and intelligent

244.                        Arjit - earned

245.                        Arjun - Pandava prince; bright; peacock

246.                        Arjun - peacock

247.                        Arka - the sun

248.                        Arnav - ocean; sea

249.                        Arnesh - lord of the sea

250.                        Arokya - very pious; healthy

251.                        Aroon - mythological - charioteer of the sun; dawn

252.                        Arshad - pious

253.                        Arul - the lord's grace; lord's blessings

254.                        Arulchelvan - blessed

255.                        Arulselvan - blessed

256.                        Arumugan - one with 6 faces - lord Murugan

257.                        Arun - mythological - charioteer of the sun; dawn

258.                        Aruni - name of a devoted pupil

259.                        Arvind - lotus

260.                        Arvinda - lotus

261.                        Arya - honoured; noble

262.                        Aryaman - the sun

263.                        Aryan - from a high race

264.                        Asao - essence

265.                        Aseem - limitless

266.                        Asgar - devotee

267.                        Ashis - benediction; blessings

268.                        Ashok - without grief

269.                        Ashraf - without grief

270.                        Ashu - quick

271.                        Ashutosh - Lord Shiva

272.                        Ashwatthama - fiery tempered

273.                        Ashwin - a cavalier; a Hindu month

274.                        Asija - brother of Sage Brihaspathi

275.                        Asim - limitless

276.                        Asit - the planet

277.                        Aslam - greeting

278.                        Aslesh - embrance

279.                        Atal - immoveable

280.                        Atanu - Cupid

281.                        Atharvan - one of the four Vedas

282.                        Athiya - to surpass

283.                        Atma - soul

284.                        Atmaja - son

285.                        Atmajyoti - inner light; light of the soul

286.                        Atmananda - bliss of soul

287.                        Atralarasu - skillfull king or leader

288.                        Atre - the son of sage Atri to whom Dattatreya was born

289.                        Atul Atulya - matchless; incomparable

290.                        Avadhesh - King Dasaratha

291.                        Avanindra - lord of the earth

292.                        Avanish - lord of the earth

293.                        Avatar - incarnation

294.                        Avikshit - never seen before

295.                        Avinash - indestructible

296.                        Avkash - limitless space

297.                        Ayog - institution

298.                        Ayush - duration of life; a divine personification presiding  over life

299.                        Ayyappa - southern deity; ever youthful

300.                        Azeez - friend

301.                        Azhar - famous

302.                        Azzam - the lord; Almighty