#Landscape architect in my area

[louiscontinolandscaping]

Landscape Architect near me | Landscape Architecture Firm near me | US

Louis Contino Landscaping: Your local landscape architect in the US, creating stunning outdoor spaces with expertise, passion, and personalized designs.

[d4isywhims]

duplex wip

building a place for raina to stay c: very much inspired by the houses in my parents' neighbourhood :p

[lycan-trophy-wife]

what is the difference btwn landscape architecture and architecture? =D

So architects design buildings and landscape architects design basically anything outside of those buildings. Public parks & squares, private gardens, Parking spaces, sidewalks and much more.

Landezine is a website where you can find a lot of notable projects & get an idea for what landscape architects plan. Looking in the 'projects' section on there will usually show you a pretty diverse range of projects from different studios.

In university we do have classes together with architecture students, tough that's mostly for basic design & drawing stuff. Most of my classes are specific to outside areas, like 'plant planning' (which plants work for certain areas and how can I include them in those areas?) or 'garden monument care' (researching a historic outdoor space/park/garden by taking stock of what is there right now and finding sources on its history, then evaluating the current state in regards to the original plans / historic layers, and then deciding what needs to be done to honor the history but also make it suitable for the current conditions and use)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

hii I love your stuff can you make writing notes about volcanoes I wanted to write abt them for my writing project and I'm having a hard time on in thx ^^

Writing Notes: Volcanoes

Volcano - vent in the crust of Earth or another planet or satellite, from which issue eruptions of molten rock, hot rock fragments, and hot gases.

Volcanoes are Earth's geologic architects.

They've created more than 80 percent of our planet's surface, laying the foundation that has allowed life to thrive.

Their explosive force crafts mountains as well as craters.

Lava rivers spread into bleak landscapes.

But as time ticks by, the elements break down these volcanic rocks, liberating nutrients from their stony prisons and creating remarkably fertile soils that have allowed civilizations to flourish.

Some 75% of the world's active volcanoes are positioned around the ring of fire.

It is a 25,000-mile long, horseshoe-shaped zone that stretches from the southern tip of South America across the West Coast of North America, through the Bering Sea to Japan, and on to New Zealand.

This region is where the edges of the Pacific and Nazca plates butt up against an array of other tectonic plates.

Importantly, however, the volcanoes of the ring aren't geologically connected.

In other words, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia is not related to one in Alaska, and it could not stir the infamous Yellowstone supervolcano.

Active – volcanoes known to have erupted during historical times. (Total Number = 529)

Dormant – volcanoes that have not erupted during historical times, but will probably erupt again. (Total Number = 1,340)

Extinct – volcanoes that are unlikely to erupt again.

The 3 Classic Types of Volcanoes

TYPE — SIZE — LIFESPAN

Cinder Cone — Small (<1,000 ft; 330 m tall) — Short (single eruption of a few months)

Composite Volcano — Large (usually between 6,500 and 20,000 ft; 2,000-3,000 m tall) — Long (hundreds of thousands of years)

Shield Volcano — Very large (up to a maximum of 33,000 ft; 10,000 m tall) — Very long (up to a million years or longer)

Different shapes of volcanoes have different kinds of eruptions.

The most explosive eruptions come from stratovolcanoes, like the Augustine Volcano in Alaska. When they erupt, stratovolcanoes blow huge columns of gas and ash into the air that can collapse in hot, fast-moving clouds called pyroclastic flows.

A shield volcano, like Mauna Kea in Hawaii, has gentle slopes formed by oozing, runny lava. The magma is low in silica and low in gas, so it doesn’t erupt explosively.

A lava dome, like the one of Chaitén Volcano in Chile, forms when thick lava oozes from a vent, piles up, and cools into a steep mound. The lava is thick because it’s high in silica, and it oozes instead of explodes because it’s low in gas. Sometimes lava domes form after explosive eruptions.

A cinder cone volcano, like Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea, forms when erupted fragments harden and fall to the ground, accumulating around the vent in a cone shape. The lava is low in silica, so the lava is runny. High gas levels make for the explosive eruptions that send it flying. Cinder cones typically form at the beginning of eruptions, and lava flow follows.

Olympus Mons - a giant shield volcano on Mars. It is believed to be the largest volcano in the solar system. The entire island of Hawaii would fit in its caldera.

In more-detailed classification schemes based on character of eruption, volcanic activity and volcanic areas are commonly divided into 6 major types, shown schematically in the diagram. They are listed as follows in order of increasing degree of explosiveness:

Icelandic

Hawaiian

Strombolian

Vulcanian

Pelean

Plinian

There are different types of volcanic eruptive events, including:

pyroclastic explosions, with is fast-moving hot gas and volcanic matter

hot ash releases

lava flows

gas emissions

glowing avalanches, when gas and ashes release.

Volcanic eruptions can also cause secondary events, such as floods, landslides and mudslides, if there are accompanying rain, snow or melting ice.

Hot ashes can also start wildfires.

Volcanic eruptions can impact climate change through emitting volcanic gases like sulfur dioxide, which causes global cooling, and volcanic carbon dioxide, which has the potential to promote global warming.

Features and Erupted Material

Viscosity: The resistance of a material (usually a fluid) to flow. Example of comparison would be the higher resistance to flow of cake batter compared to water.

Lava Flow: Lava flow is thin at the top of the cone, while lava pooled at the base is very thick. When eruptions end, erosion processes start on the cooled lava, including glacier erosion, flowing water, rockfall, and landslides. The volcano will only grow in size if the amount/volume of lava erupted is more than the amount that is lost to erosion.

Volcanic Gases: Most gases originate in the mantle and are transported to the crust and surface by complex interactions with magma and rocks along the way. In general, gases are dissolved in the magma. At shallow depths, as pressure on the magma decreases, gases leave the magma. The gases can interact with surrounding rocks or continue to the surface. The most common volcanic gases are: Water Vapor (H2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). Gases can be both dissolved in the magma chamber and also emitted from volcanoes at the surface. It’s the dissolved gases cause volcanoes to erupt.

A magma chamber contains high pressure and dissolved gases.

The density contrast between the magma and the surrounding rock causes more buoyant magma to rise. As the magma rises, the dissolved gases start to come out of the liquid and form bubbles.

As the bubbles grow and increase in volume, it causes the magma to became more buoyant and ascend closer to the surface, allowing the overlying pressure to decrease and produce magmatic foam.

When the pressure in the bubbles is greater than the pressure of the overlying rock, then the chamber will burst causing a volcanic eruption.

The viscosity, temperature and composition of the magma determine whether the explosion is explosive or effusive.

More Features and Erupted Material

Silica: Influences lava viscosity and overall shape of the volcano. Silica molecules form a strong bond that permits entrapment of volcanic gases and promotes explosive volcanic eruptions. Low-silican magmas allow rapid escape of gases and low-explosivity eruptions. Other factors that control magma viscosity include the temperature, gas, water content and the amount of crystals in the magma.

Color: Color and texture of lava vary considerably depending on cooling conditions. Lava rocks at high temperatures appear red to orange in color but cool quickly to shades of red (due to oxidation) and gray.

Sound: Witnesses of slow-moving, partially cooled lava flows report sounds similar to breaking of glass and pottery, caused by the splintering of the cooled outer skin of the lava flow. In contrast, the passing of a pyroclastic flow is eerily quiet. Some people say this is because its sound energy is absorbed within the billowing ash cloud.

Smell: Observers of lava flows report a slight sulfur smell in the air and the odor of burning vegetation.

Texture: Lava at Mount Rainier is not as fluid as lava at the volcanoes on Hawai'i, where lava flows sometimes resemble hot molasses, nor is it as viscous as lava at Mount St. Helens.

Tephra: Fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size or emplacement mechanism. Also referred to as pyroclasms (airborne), and pyroclastic flows (on ground) and rocks. Tephra can stay in the stratosphere for days to weeks following an eruption. It can also reflect light and heat from the sun back into the atmosphere. Tephra mixed with precipitation can also be acidic and cause acidic rain and snowfall. Tephra is made up of ash (fragments of pulverized rock, minerals and volcanic glass), volcanic blocks (a mass of molten rock), and lapilli (little broken up pieces of molten or semi-molten lava ejected from eruption).

Other Types of Volcanic Rock

If a rhyolite lava flow cools quickly, it can quickly freeze into a black glassy substance called obsidian. When filled with bubbles of gas, and usually with explosive eruptions, the same lava will form pumice. If the same lave is allowed to cool slowly…it will form a light-colored, uniformly solid rock called rhyolite.

Pumice most commonly forms with rhyolite lava flows, though it has formed from dacite and andacite. flows as well. It is so lightweight, it will float on water.

Obsidian has been used for centuries in many countries for things such as weapons and art.

The shape and size of a volcano are controlled by several factors

The volume of volcanic products

The interval length between eruptions

The composition of volcanic products

The variety of volcanic eruption types

The geometry of the vent

The environment into which the volcanic products are erupted

Overall, 44 volcanoes were in continuing eruption status as of 23 December 2024.

An eruption marked as "continuing" does not always mean persistent daily activity, but indicates at least intermittent eruptive events without a break of 3 months or more.

There are typically 40-50 continuing eruptions, and out of those generally around 20 will be actively erupting on any particular day (though detailed statistics on daily activity is not usually kept).

Health concerns after a volcanic eruption include:

Infectious disease

Respiratory illness

Burns

Injuries from falls

Vehicle accidents related to the slippery, hazy conditions caused by ash

When warnings are heeded, the chances of adverse health effects from a volcanic eruption are very low.

Volcanic Ash. Exposure to ash can be harmful. Ash is gritty, abrasive, sometimes corrosive, and always unpleasant. Small ash particles can abrade (scratch) the front of the eye. Ash particles may contain crystalline silica, a material that causes a respiratory disease called silicosis.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Thanks so much! Do go through the links above for more details I wasn't able to include here. Hope this helps with your writing :)

[staticspaces]

French Style Chateau

Have you checked out the video yet!?

Now on to the primary suite, this main bedroom was huge, including a massive ensuite with a round stained glass window…as well as a few more photos of the staircase from the second floor!!

This mansion was built in 1985 on two lots in The Bridle Path neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada and was designed to resemble a French style chateau. The 30,000 square foot mega mansion had 10 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, and was located on a huge four acre property that also included a tennis court. It also had a granite cobblestone driveway, a horseshoe staircase at the back and extensive gardens which completed the experience of living in a castle in France.

Originally built by Robert Campeau a financier and real estate developer. Robert began his career by building just one single house in 1949 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His company then known as Campeau Corp was also responsible for building Scotia Plaza, a hi rise built in 1988 in the financial district of Toronto, as well as the Harbour Castle Hotel in 1975. In the 80s, Campeau began a series of leveraged buyouts of companies, both in Canada and the United States. The final company was Federated Department Stores, the owners of Bloomingdale's for $7 billion. This was the beginning of the end for Campeau Corp, as they filed for Bankruptcy in 1990, one of the largest in history. Robert was forced to sell the home in 1990.

The home was purchased in 2002 by Harold and Sara Springer who entrusted architect Gordon Ridgely, interior designer Brian Gluckstein, and landscape architect Ronald Holbrook to bring their vision to life. They brought in 17th century antique furniture from france, original royal academy paintings, Italian marble and even crystal chandeliers.

Other features of the large house included a two-story indoor Olympic-size swimming pool with a retractable floor that converts into a ballroom. It also had an elevator, an oak wood bar, recording studio and even its very own bomb shelter!

The mansion has been featured in several movies including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's 'It Takes Two', 'Kissinger and Nixon', 'That Old Feeling' as well as most recently in an episode of Suits. A party was also held for Jane Fonda in the two-storey ballroom, which was then disassembled overnight so that Campeau could swim in the pool the next day with Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

The Springer's listed the chateau for sale including all of its contents starting in 2014 for $25 million and was last publicly listed in 2018 for $39,500,000. Finally, the home was purchased by Nascond Holdings in 2020 for $30.8 million.

Nascond Holdings is a company owned by the Muzzo Group which is a well known development company in the area. Marco Muzzo caused a drunk driving crash that killed four people and seriously injured two others. It was a very high profile incident several years ago, because of his ties to such a wealthy family. There was also a guest list of people found in the home including Marco's name as the host of the party.

The mansion was demolished shortly after my visit in August of 2022. Not much happened after that until more recently when some activity began to happen on the property. Ferris Rafauli who was also behind Drake's Bridle Path Mansion, is the designer and builder behind the new mansion that will take shape in the coming years.

[urabrask-the-hidden]

Khelos

Khelos (WUB) is the Domain of domination. Decrepit cities fill its dark mires, where the undead elite of the Dread Council use fear to maintain power. The citizens are fed hyper-nationalistic propaganda, and are kept afraid of the "Unworthy"- whomever the Council needs them to be, but especially outsiders and dissenters. The Council itself is a web of intrigue, deception, and betrayal with each member vying for power, and at the top of it all is Kevronok, the first lich, lord of Khelos and architect of its totalitarian regime.

GOD OF AUTHORITY

In life, Khelos was the god of leadership, rule, and order. Depicted as a regal, bearded man (and occasionally as a vampire), it was he who crowned Kevronok, the first king of Xalior. His name was considered the ultimate source of authority, invoked by peacemakers and tyrants alike. 

It was said that Khelos held mastery over all things, even death. Indeed, certain sects associated him with necromancy- a controversial topic, to be sure, yet undeniable. After all, he aided Kevronok in the creation of the practice, leading the king to become the first lich.

Khelos-the-god is still worshiped in some way, with most towns having a temple to the dead god (although this worship is largely synonymous with reverence for Kevronok). Khelos-the-god is seen as the great history they all share, a source of strength and pride. 

However, they believe that Khelos-the-god was ultimately too weak. He could not control Venhi, god of change, who the Khelosians believe both started the War and killed the God of Order. But his death was necessary, allowing Kevronok, his Heir, to rise and build a stronger society, more resistant to the forces of disorder.

LANDSCAPE

“Beyond these walls lies only silence. Beyond the silence are the Unworthy. Here, under our watchful gaze, is the safest place you can be.”

Khelos is a bleak realm, dominated by vast, empty moorland. The sky is perpetually overcast; rain is frequent, though storms are rare. Perhaps the Domain’s most distinctive feature is how quiet it is. Wind and wildlife are seldom heard, and all but the sound of voices seem muffled or distant. 

Lonely, mud-streaked roads crisscross the moors, leading to settled areas- stretches of farmland, small villages, or the occasional walled city. Even these places feel quiet and empty, with most people keeping to themselves. Khelosian infrastructure is poor, mostly run-down. The dwellings of the elite, however, are grand and opulent. 

Khelos sits on the northeastern coast of Xalior’s great continent. Its main borders are with the dark estuaries of Nyduul to the north, the ashen fields of Orathir to the west, and the volcanic hellscape of Morax to the south. 

Major Locations: 

Ebonhold, capital of Khelos, where the Lich-King rules from the Obsidian Citadel

Volaak’s Landing, the greatest port city, governed by Lich-Lord Volaak

Zostania, most fertile part of Khelos, where most of its food is grown

Mistwater, the greatest stretch of moorland between settled areas

THE LOYAL FLOCK

“The Unworthy are all around us, my friends. They despise us for our perfect society, a thing they could never build, and so they seek to tear it away from us.”

Khelos is inhabited by humans, vedalken, tessians (ratfolk), and vampires (unique to Khelos). They are fearful and suspicious folk. They fear strangers and outsiders, Unworthy of Khelos’ glory. They fear their neighbors, who may be dissenters or foreigners in disguise. And they fear the Dread Council and what awaits them should their loyalty be found wanting. 

Despite this, the Khelosians believe their society is perfect. And why shouldn’t they? It’s all they’re told, from the day they were born until the day they die. The law may be cruel at times, yes, but it is necessary for the sake of order and their own safety. 

Class is very stratified in Khelos, with little room for upward mobility. Vampires, who live only in Khelos, often receive a degree of special treatment, and are more common among the upper classes. At the bottom are farmers and manufacturers, then artisans, merchants and other landowners, mortal necromancers and government officials, lich-lords, the Dread Council, and finally the Lord of Silence, Kevronok himself.

RULE THROUGH FEAR

“There is much in this world for you to fear, but Khelos is strong. The Council is strong. Kevronok is strong.”

Fear is how power is maintained, and so the Dread Council works to ensure that fear is inescapable. News of people outed as Unworthy is shared far and wide, and the wars with the other Domains is constantly at the forefront of politics. Wherever there are people, there are guards, soldiers, and the Silent Ones- secret police. The Baleful Eyes- undead crows which report directly to the Lord of Silence- are always watching. Ghouls are frequently paraded through the streets, and public tortures and executions are a regular occurrence. Self-expression, the source of disorder, is regarded as anathema. 

The Council itself is made up of 26 of the oldest and most powerful lich-lords, many from before the Great Reshaping. The inner workings of its hierarchy are quite complex, and power is in part derived from Kevronok’s favor. All liches covet the seats of the Dread Council, and all Councilors covet the positions of their own superiors. The constant scheming, backstabbing, framing, and deception are an open secret (though not one the populous is privy to), and investigations into misconduct are only to ensure the perpetrator’s tracks were covered. Above it all is the Master of the Dread Council, his position untouchable, with his subordinates too distracted by their schemes to plot against him.

THE LIVING DEAD

“The weak shall be made to serve. The righteous shall be made to lead. The strong shall be made to rule.”

Kevronok invented necromancy, and the practice of raising the dead as zombies remains a fixture of Khelosian society, both as a punishment and a reward.

Zombies of Khelos come in three varieties. First are ghouls, undead slaves controlled by necromancers (living or otherwise). This is the fate of the Unworthy; outsiders, dissenters, prisoners of war, all are slain and revived as ghouls in service of the Lord of Silence. They provide most of the menial labor in Khelos, and are frequently used in its army (they are particularly fond of fighting a Domain with their own dead).

Wights are non-spellcasting mortals who have been rewarded with undeath by a lich. Retaining much of their intelligence yet lacking free will, they lead the Khelosian forces on the fields of battle and serve as the personal bodyguards of the liches who control them. 

Necromancers of sufficient power, ambition, and loyalty are permitted to become liches, interring their soul within a phylactery kept by the Lich-King. Most continue their necromantic duties, with greater status awarded by their undeath. Some may become lich-lords, high-ranking government officials ruling over cities and large plots of land.

KEVRONOK, HAND OF TERROR

“You are not loyal to each other. Your allegiance lies only with the Lich-King.”

The first king. The first necromancer. The first lich. He is Kevronok, the Hand of Terror, Lord of Silence, Master of the Dread Council, Keeper of the Obsidian Citadel, Lich-King and Heir of Khelos.

In life, Kevronok was obsessed with perfection, seeking to build a kingdom that would only know order and would never fall. Believing that he alone could achieve this, and recognizing how long it would take, he created necromancy in pursuit of immortality, leading to his lichdom. When his kingdom inevitably fell, he retreated to the shadows of his hidden fortress, the Obsidian Citadel. Time and again he returned, intent on building a newer, better kingdom, yet each time was vanquished. He always learned from his mistakes, though, and when Khelos died and named Kevronok his heir, the lich was able to achieve what he longed for. All that remains is for the rest of Xalior to fall.

Withered flesh clings to his ancient bones, his beard is long and white, and his eyes shine with a pale blue glow. A dark, twisted crown sits atop his brow, and his robes are dark grays and muted blues. Deathly as his appearance may be, his voice is strong and clear. He is cold, cruel, calculating, and endlessly patient. Yet he is possessed of an obsessive need to be in total control of everything around him, for it all to be precisely as he wishes. As with all the Chosen, his arrogance knows no bounds.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DOMAINS

“Fools, all of them. They deny our self-evident right to rule.”

Given its political disposition, Khelos is seldom friendly to the other Domains. Their closest allies are Orathir and Nyduul, and they will occasionally trade with Morax and Zalsu, but these relations are tenuous even by Xalior standards. They despise Rystan, Adient, and above all Venhi.

Xalior/Khelos/Morax/Rystan/Adient/Ebrius/Zalsu/Igovic/Nyduul/Orathir/Venhi/Hinterlands

[zaenvs3000w25]

Blog 3 Post: Privilege in Nature Interpretation

As a 4th year landscape architect student here at Guelph, I wrote my thesis on therapeutic landscapes, more specifically, analysing their role in healthcare settings and their ability to support physical, mental, and emotional well-being. I’ve come to realize that, just like in many other aspects of life, privilege plays a significant role in who can access and benefit from these spaces.

The undeserved advantages or benefits that some people or groups have because of their social identities, such as race, socioeconomic status, or physical ability are what I consider privilege. This concept highlights the structural injustices that affect who has access to opportunities and experiences, going well beyond personal accountability. When it comes to therapeutic landscapes, privilege influences not just who can benefit from nature-based healing but also how these spaces are created and utilised.

Access is one of the main ways privilege manifests itself in therapeutic settings. A large number of therapeutic gardens, in general or outdoor areas in hospital settings are situated in locations that are expensive, time-consuming, and need transportation. Accessing these areas would seem obvious to someone with a car, a reliable source of money, and free time. However, even getting to these locations can be a major obstacle for someone with little money or no dependable means of transportation. There is an imbalance in who can benefit from nature's healing power as a result of this exclusion.

While working on my thesis, I thought about these ideas and realised that creating healing spaces that are beautiful isn't enough; it's also important to acknowledge and address the privilege that comes with who gets to use these spaces. One of the main conclusions I drew from my research is that inclusive design should be incorporated into therapeutic landscapes. This could entail providing free or inexpensive programs, making sure that accessibility is guaranteed through universal design principles, and taking into account cultural and spiritual customs that might affect how people perceive nature.

Being a landscape architect student, the lessons I've learnt about privilege will inform my work in creating these areas. I've learnt to incorporate accessibility into my designs and to think critically about it. In order to help create surroundings that support health and well-being for everyone, regardless of background or resources, I wish to recognise and address the role privilege plays in determining who gets to experience therapeutic landscapes. After all, everyone should have access to nature's healing power. 🌱✨

[girldragongizzard]

Chapter 16: First Megnitude

There are a handful of vacant wooded lots around town, similar to the one that Säure just torched. And they are each, in their own way, important and meaningful, and really shouldn’t be touched or harmed.

They can, however, be repaired. In a way. And it has also been fairly easy to keep them free of people.

So, we’re sacrificing them for this. And he’s the one that is going to end up on the hook for it. Because everyone can recognize just who he is, and they see him doing it.

One after another, we draw Säure to each, and he torches them. Just like he did before. The exact same maneuver.

At least, for the next three.

The final four, however, are fairly close together. Which means he has to wheel about more, and slow down his flight.

And then, afterward, he continues to circle, confused as to what has just happened and why nothing more is vying for his attention. The scanning has stopped.

And instead of chasing him all over town, I had decided to make my way to that general area and do my circling at near street level, below the tree tops.

I was really hoping to catch him early, but we’d set this up just in case I couldn’t.

And now comes the really tricky bit.

Now I have to try to take advantage of his confusion and slower flight, and his ridiculously enormous skyscraper sized bulk, to get as close to him as I can.

Doing things this way did feed his belly with the fear of the people, of course. He’s stronger now than he was when he first took flight.

It’s a calculated risk.

But the thing is, I now need to make another calculated risk on top of that, and it’s terrifying.

And I didn’t plan this out in detail, because I had no idea what he’d be doing at any given moment. It’s totally an engage-and-adapt kind of situation. But I got the idea from my last encounter with him.

I think I want to get higher than he is to do this.

—

Sirens fill the air with their thin wailing.

Eight columns of smoke rise from the Fairport landscape all around, and he has caused them.

And suddenly, the incessant taunting message has stopped.

By the third signal, he knew that he wouldn’t find the Physicist at any of the locations he was drawn to. It was too obvious what was happening. And he would have flown off and returned home, in disgust and a refusal to play the game, if he wasn’t so buoyed with power and sustenance by the third attack.

Each subsequent wetland destroyed fed him less fear than the last, but the rush overall was so much more sustained and filling that he decided he might as well keep going.

It was as if the wiley Architect was personally inviting him to feed on this municipal buffet of popular terror.

A strange choice in strategy, since it has only made him stronger and more ready to defeat the jaws of any actual trap that may be set.

But now there’s nothing at all.

Is he being invited to keep rampaging of his own initiative? Has he been shown “safe” targets that endanger his source of food as little as possible?

It’ll only work for so long. There’s only a limited source of unpopulated properties within the city limits. Over the course of time, he’ll just have to get more creative if he wants to keep this surge of power up. And eventually, he won’t see any other option but to start killing people, and he knows that way leads to his ultimate destruction. Starvation being only the long term risk. Even now, he’s made himself the target of the U.S. military, who are likely holding back in order to watch him and attempt to find his weaknesses.

There’ve been a small handful of other dragons his size around the world, and a couple of them have had their run-ins with modern weaponry. Säure isn’t looking forward to that. 

But they were ugly beasts, clearly inferior to him. He suspects he has power that they did not. He just has to unlock it, like he did his ability to transform himself into something smaller.

Is that what this is? Has he been chosen by the Architects for one of their plans? Is he being given the opportunity to grow and learn at their hands?

He doesn’t want to believe it, despite how insistent the thought is. They’re nefarious and capricious beings, proving themselves untrustworthy and ultimately villainous. So, if he is being fed for some purpose of theirs, the day that he is to be discarded violently and ignobly cannot be far behind that moment of fruition.

No.

He must learn more and come to understand it.

So he’s making a figure eight low around the last four marked targets, which are now growing into larger conflagrations.

The neighborhood is the true center of the city, which has grown mostly Northward over the past few decades. Right on the edge of Downtown, the old Faiportian name for it being the Alphabet Ghetto, it’s no longer an area of any particular poverty. People who consider themselves to be middle class, as laughable as that is, have collected there. And now he can feel them cower so deliciously every time he makes a pass over their homes.

It’s full of old stick-built houses of various styles and so many trees. If the fires he’s started do spread, it could be a disaster for the city, and the people know it.

And his movement is spreading smoke all around the neighborhood.

If he wanted to, he could reach down with one claw and remove most of the roof of any one of the houses. Just one crushing swipe, and that family would have shelter no longer. They’d fear for their future more sharply, and he’d get the rush.

But his business right now is to find clues. To keep an eye out for movement or markings that indicate the actions of the Architects, or the Physicist specifically. Maybe a sign has been left to direct him further.

So, he’s focusing on that in the low and cold afternoon sun, only barely obscured by the smoke.

In the very edge of his peripheral vision, he catches a flicker of denser, darker fluttering movement in one of the smoke columns, and his head snaps to the side to allow his eye to center on it.

One of the city whelps is carrying something bulky up into the sky, using the heat of the fire as a concentrated thermal.

Bold.

He wonders how it can exert so much effort while breathing all that smoke. It should be weak and easy to snatch out of the air.

He turns and glides in under it, opening his jaws, and recognizes Meghan with a duffle bag just before he gets so close he has to use his memory of her location to zero in on her. With a maw as big as his, he doesn’t need a lot of precision.

He feels a bump and a scraping up his snout and forehead, once again.

Damn!

She’d done that before. He was certain she wouldn’t be able to evade him a second time, especially with all the power he’d just soaked, and the lack of oxygen in the air her tiny lungs must draw from.

This time he bucks his head back, in order to throw her and disrupt her flying, and then beats his wings hard to rise as fast as he can, leveling out quickly to pick up speed and turn as swiftly as possible. 

If he can just catch her falling and flailing with that ridiculous duffle bag in her claws…

—

Monday, September 2, over a month ago.

Dusk was falling fast in the Fairport Arboretum, and Wentin had already helped me confirm once again that I can tap into reserves of stamina and strength that should not exist. When pushed by circumstance to desperation, I can fly and fly and fly and fly.

The monster had suddenly stopped, and was now watching me from the ground while I clung to the highest part of the last tree I’d flown to that was still strong enough to support me.

It had been chasing me about the clearing that contained the observation tower.

Now it tilted its head at me and said, “Next lesson.”

“Yes,” I responded, feeling ready to do this.

“I forbid you to fly higher than the tree tops above you,” it said. “Which means, you cannot even cross this clearing. To evade me, you must enter the woods and remain there. And height will no longer be your savior.”

And with this proclamation, I knew I would not physically be able to do what it had just forbade of me. Unless I expressly refused to continue my training. If I wanted my lessons, I’d be bound in every way by its arbitrary rules.

But this felt familiar and doable. I’d only been training with Wentin since I could remember. It had been chasing me in my nightmares since my very first one, since before I was born. And when these memories gripped me, and I knew myself to be within one of those nightmares again, I could do the things I’d done before but had forgotten upon awakening.

This time, I would not forget.

But then Wentin ran at the observation tower, leaping up at it, and bounced off its supports to launch itself directly at me.

And all I could do was dive right into the woods, flapping briefly and as strongly as I could between trees to change my direction and keep moving, never to rise too high but also never to touch the ground.

And Wentin was ever closer behind me, leaping from trunk to trunk as if gravity fell in the direction that its toe beans pointed.

One moment above, and the next below me, it very nearly caught me in its claws or teeth countless times, on into the night.

And all I could do was push my ability to dodge and weave amongst the trees well beyond the bounds of my own belief.

—

But Meghan isn’t there.

She’s nowhere to be found. Not behind him. Not to either side. Not anywhere.

Not even on the ground, what there is of it he can see.

So he accelerates and twists and turns, trying to find her, hoping that she’s not found some way to cling to him like a remora or lamprey or something horrible like that.

—

Having Säure rise up beneath me as I’m trying to fly up and gain much needed altitude while carrying a bag full of electronics is worse than the first time.

Previously, I had been diving toward him, and had very little time to decide what to do, but I saw him head on with my own eyes. I was facing danger and in a split second would either die or evade it.

This time, I had been flying away from him and he was still catching up to me. It reminded me viscerally of all my chases with Wentin, from as early as I could remember in my life.

But, Säure’s enormous rising bulk and hot breath gave me the boost of air I needed to sail over his mouth and nose, and drop down to his brow yet again, scrambling over it and his skull to the space between his horns.

And there I’ve ducked into the draft of his head. There’s a pocket of air there as he passes through the sky with any speed, and it takes very little effort on my part to hide in it.

I’ve been practicing nightly since my last training with Wentin, and honing my ability to turn on my tail like a dragonfly. I can’t do it if I’m not in The Zone as they say. I have to be in the same state of mind I’m in when having a nightmare and taking control of it.

But Säure rising up beneath me to swallow me like a bug was certainly enough to put me right in that mental space.

Now, I’m surrounded by six gigantic horns, each the size of a hundred year old tree.

I examine the nearest one and find that it has these nice long crenulae, ridges with grooves between them, where I can stick a bone conduction speaker such that even I’d have trouble reaching it afterward. Nothing’s going to knock it off once it’s in there.

The trick is that I didn’t think to unzip the duffel bag beforehand, so now I have to do it while maintaining flight behind a rapidly and erratically moving dragon cranium.

I have to dodge and weave with the visual cues of Säure’s movements, and it’s no different for me than dancing with Wentin in its woods. Pure adrenaline and reflexes and some kind of violation of physics. And then, while I’m doing that, I reach down with my right foreclaw and grasp and grasp and grasp to hook it through the large loop of thin webbing strung through the zipper pull that I put there to allow me to open it while in dracoform.

In a lucky flurry of movement, I do open it, but nearly lose the bag.

It flutters precariously in the grip of my left rear claw, the speakers inside remaining there thanks to centrifugal force pulling them into the far corner of the bag, away from its opening.

My rear claws aren’t really meant for gripping. They’re my running feet. But I can strain to clench them around something if I absolutely have to, and I’ve been doing that this whole flight.

And I’m about to lose the bag entirely, it’s so precariously gripped between one claw and my big fat pad.

With the next strong downward beat of my wings, I arch my back, bringing that rear claw forward and grasping with both my foreclaws for the bag.

And I get it. It’s secured.

And I have to dodge and weave some more, and I nearly get slammed by gigantic dragon neck, and I find myself doing a barrel roll before having a moment where everything is relatively steady and easy to deal with.

Säure is pausing to think or choose his next move.

I let the bag hang from my left claw, and shove my right claw into it, reaching for a speaker. It’s the size of a bacon cinnamon roll.

It’s designed in such a way that I can easily feel where the adhesive side is, and can adjust my grip accordingly, its textures obvious even to my digits.

The adhesive isn’t sticky while I’m holding it. It’s a pad of foam-like material with Sharpie drawn circuit patterns all over it. All I have to do is touch it specifically to Säure’s horn, and it’ll stay there.

So, arm held out, speaker aimed appropriately, I dive in toward one of his horns.

—

Suddenly there’s a pop and a hum in his own skull. 

It feels like it’s coming from his lower left horn. Like an audial dimension of space has opened up in his head, unfolding from a point just outside of his usual perceptions.

And then another one, from the lower right horn.

He lets loose with the loudest screech of fury and indignant rage he can muster. And then, mid flight, reaches up with his right foreclaw to attempt to scrape whatever it is off of his horn.

The effort nearly has him plowing full bodied into the city, and he hardly avoids clipping the tallest trees with his rolling left wing. But he manages to right himself and pull up enough to flap safely to a higher altitude, slowly and agonizingly free from destroying his own hoard below.

Two more pops in quick succession increase the sensation of space opening up in his consciousness, and he shakes his head.

He can’t seem to stop this from happening!

He tries to duck his head as fast as he can, sharply and unexpectedly, but there’s two more pops, and all six of his horns are humming and his entire skull with them.

—

The next time he rises to gain altitude, I leap off the back of Säure’s head to give myself as much velocity as possible and dive toward the city below and behind him. I’ve already discarded the duffel bag, letting go with the last two conduction speakers placed.

I’m sure that bag is fluttering to the ground slowly enough it won’t really hurt anyone. I tell myself this.

It’s certainly less of a concern than the laser breathing angry aircraft carrier in the sky that’s literally feeding on the emotion of fear.

The turbulence caused by the work of Säure’s wings is fierce and buffets me this way and that, but I manage. It feels like dodging invisible trees.

This next phase will have to be up to everyone else.

—

Briefly, static fills his mind, followed by a distinctly feminine voice that's low and full of smoke, algae, and seashells, tinted with an accent that wobbles between something vaguely Scottish, what could be French, and a Vancouver B.C disc jockey.

He knows this voice. He's heard it before, nine years ago.

“Good afternoon, Daniel Aurelius Säure,” the Poet of the Architects says to him in his head. “Welcome to KFEN, the impromptu radio station that's in your head. I hope you've enjoyed your buffet of nightmares. Now we have a special after dinner act to serve up just for you, on behalf of the people of Fairport.”

He climbs as high as he can to see if he can leave the range of the transmission, but to no avail. But this gives him the aerial room to attempt to scrape the contraptions off his horns without crashing.

While he reaches for one of his horns with his claws, the Poet continues.

“Please relax. This will only take a minute or two,” it says. Then, as if to a sound tech while still on the air, “Can we have a mic check? Testing? Testing? One, two, three.”

And on the beat that would be four, a cacophony of whelp cries rises up from the neighborhoods of Fairport furthest away from him. It's like a circle of sound, faint on the wind, made of disparate calls.

And on the next beat, those from the next closest territories call out.

He can’t quite reach the device that's on his horn. He can’t feel it. He can tell it's still there by the ambient hum in his head. It's just too small, and hidden too well in a crevice of his horn.

And the next closest whelps cry out, as he works to regain altitude.

What if he folded himself up into his human form? Would these radio receivers follow him and still plague him, unreachable? Or would they fall off?

And then the whelps directly below him, including Meghan, call their challenges.

So, she's done her work and left him.

Immediately, he starts circling to change his location constantly.

Then the call cycle repeats, starting with this furthest from him again, and narrowing in, like an audial bullseye.

They all know where he is, and they're that coordinated. The bullseye adapts as he moves.

And of all things, the fear of the people he’s been feeding on begins to abate, sharply.

All he feels is the sudden loss of the flow of nourishment. There’s no other sensation.

But in its absence, it's too hard to not imagine a smugness, a pride, and a sense of regained confidence aimed at him.

The whole city begins to feel like his enemy, and he doesn't like it.

And then the cycle of calls occurs a third time.

He noticed something last time. Meghan’s distinctive cry has moved. Not only is he weaving and circling, but she is making a bee-line to the stadium.

Last time she was in the third circle of calls. Now she's in the second.

And she makes a point of crying out, too.

Is she trying to lead him there?

If she is, she's making herself a target. 

Säure has no qualms about burning her in the middle of a nearly defunct sports field. So he turns and follows.

“Now that we’ve got your attention, Säure,” the Poet’s voice cuts through his skull and mind again, “I’d like to recite you some of my poetry, if you don’t mind.”

[pixelplayground]

Hello! I just want to say I really love all your builds and interiors and your design sense. Could recommend some of your favorite places to get inspiration, if you look at anything or save pictures? (social media, magazines, etc)

Hello @suneesims,

Thank you! I tend to prefer using Instagram these days compared to Pinterest. During my remodel IRL (which TBH is still on-going, and I feel like it will never be done, lol) I found Instagram to be very useful in terms of sourcing local vendors, landscapers, architects, etc. They will usually have their own Instagram pages and websites showcasing their portfolios.

I have also been visiting a lot of local home parades from the luxury custom builders in my area which is always great for inspiration. I will take pictures in person to refer to later.

I have been collecting architectural books too. Patrick Ahearn is the architect of most of the Dutch Colonial and Cape Cod builds that are popular on Pinterest and then by default, simblr. Historical Concepts is another prevalent firm. McAlpine, Charles Hilton, Olson Kundig, Eric Olsen, Amber Lewis, Studio McGee/McGee&Co, etc. are all very popular. I have always loved RH and the designers that they collaborate with. One of the nice things about referring to the actual firms behind these builds is that on their Instagram they will link every firm that was involved in creating the project, such as their interior designer, the contracted builder, the landscape firm, etc. You can go down the rabbit hole and expose yourself to new and less “popular” accounts so you're absorbing a broader range of influences versus the same derivative content over and over again.

[whitepolaris]

UFO Daze and Flying Saucer Capitals Galore

UFO sightings are so numerous in Wisconsin that there are three different towns battling over the title of "UFO capital of Wisconsin." This can get a little confusing for space pilgrims seeking the ET experience.

Each of the would-be capitals claims the honor of alien, visitations. Elmwood, in Pierce County, got started in 1975, when a local police officer observed a ball of fire as large as a football field over the town quarry. Belleville, on the southern edge of Dane County, also caught saucer fever after a police report came in about an object flashing red, white, and blue overhead in January 1987. Dundee, on Highway 67 in Fond du Lac County, officially entered the UFO capital trifecta with the first UFO Daze festival in 1991, but the area had a long tradition of weirdness to build upon. Nearby Dundee Hill was called Spirit Hill by Native Americans, says Bill Benson, owner of Benson's Holiday Hideaway tavern and host of the annual festival.

"We also had a sort of crop circles in '47 or '48 on the Jersey Flats, five or six miles southeast of here," he says. "My mother's cousin owned the property, and people saw a big ship come down there and take off again. In '89, a farmer east of us, on Vista Drive, saw a ship hovering to the southeast of his barn. A couple I know very well watched it, too, from the road. They said it was circle-shaped and had windows."

Then there was Benson's neighbor, a man in his eighties, who said he saw a UFO hovering over nearby Long Lake in 1959. He claimed it lit the water so clearly that he could see right to the bottom of the lake. "People have seen lights zipping up and down under the ice in the winter, too," adds Benson, who used to be called Martin Bill around town. "I think we have these [sightings] either because of the water, the way the magnetic energies are under the earth, or both."

As further evidence that this area has long been recognized as a place for spectral happenings, Benson tells of a farmer four miles south of Dundee who has an ancient formation of large red stones in one of his fields that archaeologists say had been set up to mark the solstices. And early settlers, from Ireland used to insist that the Dundee area, located in what is now the Kettle Moraine State Forest, was inhabited by "little people," much like the leprechauns they'd left behind in their homeland. Long Lake was even said to be home to a forty-five lake monster.

But the biggest boost to Dundee's UFO heritage has probably been UFO Bob, a retired landscape architect otherwise known as Bob Kuehne. Kuehne, seventy-three, claims to have undergone repeated alien abductions and says he frequently works with ETs on various projects, such as preventing the Y2K disaster. He hosts his own Fond du Lac radio show called-you guessed it-UFO Bob. And he was one of the featured guests at the 2004 UFO Daze seminar.

Speaking to a packed room in the back of Benson's tavern, UFO Bob held the rapt attention of the crowd of fifty or more, some of whom wore headbands sporting boingy antennae with silver balls on the ends. He had made a special request to the aliens to show up that night, he told the audience, and they told him they would. "They want recognition-I know that," said UFO Bob. "So take your flashlight outside tonight and shine them around at the sky."

The alien Bob talks to most is a female named Eve. "And an angel whose name is Max," he adds. "Angels and ETs don't hit it off that great. One woman met an ET, and she also had an angel. She asked the angel if the ETs would help us, and the angel said that remain to be seen."

Bob also sees other creatures besides aliens and angels. He noted that about a week before the festival, whele visiting his former hometown of Lomira, he had observed a two-foot chupacabra hanging onto a horse's neck, drawing blood. "They are more humanoid than animal," he declared. He also related the slightly comforting news that "ETs are not going to let a big terrorist attack happen again. If anyone is running around with a suitcase bomb, their mind will just go bonkers."

While UFO Bob galvanized his audience in the back room of the tavern on that warm July day, an equal number of people sat at tables outside chowing down on hamburgers served up by the local Lions Club and exchanging their own UFO stories. A tent had been up nearby specifically for those wanting to share their personal experiences. Noah Voss, owner and CEO of GetGhostGear.com and UFOwisconsin.com, did a brisk business selling T-shirts, books, and raffle tickets. The prize was an electromagnetic detection device designed for ghost inspections.

Meanwhile, inside Benson's, a third contingent filled the bar, taking time to examine the blend of alien-and fishing-themed decor, as well as the many framed photos and drawing of different types of aliens and spaceships. A few of the patrons were nervous about the future of the festival because Benson's tavern is for sale. However, Bill Benson, whose family also owns the state's oldest campground nearby, is hoping that whoever buys the bar will continue with the annual tradition.

He admits that even if they don't, people would still come. That's because the aliens seem to show up on cue over Long Lake. The faithful arrive with lawn chairs and cameras and sit outside long after dark, waiting to catch some ET action overhead. Many also observe local tradition, bringing boxes of aluminum foil, from which they create Hershey's Kiss-style hats to prevent the aliens from reading their minds. Dave Pait of Fond du Lac and Greg and Dee Calvey of Armstrong had their brains protected by eight p.m. for the UFO Daze event.

Over the years, attendees have been well rewarded with interplanetary flyovers. It happened again in 2002, when a string of enigmatic lights appeared directly over the lake and were captured on several home videotapes. The following year was a washout, but in 2004, UFO Bob proved that he still had some pull with the space invaders. They showed up at about eleven-thirty p.m., said Bill Benson, not too long after UFO Bob-as well as Weird Wisconsin-had unfortunately given up and gone home. "A big something came over the lake with a whole bunch of lights on it," Benson said. "I have it on video. You could see the star lights right through it. It was about seventy-five to a hundred feet wide and fifty to seventy-five feet long."

But thanks to the other two would-be UFO capitals of Wisconsin, the year's ET excitement wasn't completely over. The true enthusiasts could still visit Elmwood's festival on the third weekend in July and then stay on a few more months until Halloween weekend blowout in Belleville.

Benson's tavern has an advantage, however, in being open-literally and figurately-to UFO seekers all year round. Benson, who admits to having had a "missing time" experience that may mean he was beamed up somewhere between Plymouth and Kiel, is always ready to talk UFO turkey with interested customers. And he keeps well abreast of whatever is happening in the skies around Dundee. "There was a sighting on Artesian Road three weeks ago," he said. "A lot of people have seen things, but most won't divulge this unless they know you understand strange things."

[labuenosairesfrancaise]

Sans Souci Palace

Hi gouys! This is the Sans Souci Palace, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This house is set to be in a 64x64 Lot. You will need all cc from The Jim, Felixandre, SYB, Marble Mortal, GSsims, etc. It is the usual content I use for my houses.

I made the third floor but it is not completed. In fact, the residence does not have this 3rd floor, but the roof looked weird w/o it.

Some history:

The Sans Souci Palace, located in Victoria, is undoubtedly one of the architectural landmarks not only of San Fernando but also of the northern region. This December marks 100 years since its official inauguration. Its history is intertwined with the history of the neighborhood, and its construction marked a turning point in the urban vision of the district's waterfront.

To briefly recount its history, we can go back to 1911 when the Alvear siblings, Carlos María, Josefina, and Elisa, married to Mercedes Elortondo, Matías Errázuriz, and Ernesto Bosch, respectively, traveled to Paris, France, in search of an architect to design their residences on the embankments of the area. The three couples chose the trendy architect of the time: René Sergent, considered the best in neoclassical and Versailles-style architecture.

The French architect also built the Bosch Palace in Buenos Aires, which serves as the official residence of the United States ambassador, and the Errázuriz Palace, now the Museum of Decorative Arts. The Sans Souci palace, owned by Carlos María de Alvear and his family, was the last of the three projects to be designed.

In 1914, the builders Eduardo Lanús and Pablo Hary laid the foundation stone of the Palace on the land inherited by Alvear's wife in Victoria, San Fernando. In December 1918, it was officially inaugurated.

Its four facades are made of imitation stone. The stairs are made of Paris marble, while the rest of the details and finishes, although they appear to be genuine, are imitations. The imitation marble was created by Swiss craftsmen from the Italian canton who were specialists in this technique. All the carpentry in the Sans Souci Palace was made of Slavonian oak. The doors were painted to imitate the wood grain, giving them identical marks.

The gardens, which initially covered 9 hectares, were designed by the French landscape architect Carlos Thays. During the construction of the Palace, Alvear tried to buy the neighboring property belonging to the Lanusse family with the intention of demolishing it and expanding his garden. However, the Lanusse family never agreed, so a huge wall was built. Thays not only organized the garden but also planted a group of trees to hide the large wall, making it appear as though the house extended further.

(From https://www.quepasaweb.com.ar/100-anos-palacio-sans-souci-san-fernando/)

DOWNLOAD HERE: patreon.com/user?u=75230453

[fiercynn]

Some readers are waiting for me to denounce violent resistance. They imagine that without this assurance, which they ask of no Israeli, I do not have the right to speak. They believe they are owed a version of Palestinian which surrenders everything white, Western liberalism affords our oppressors, and itself: the right to exist, the right to self-defense. They have criminalized our nonviolent forms of protest, killed peaceful demonstrators, imprisoned our poets, and assassinated our journalists. They do not believe in our historical or contemporary suffering. At the same time, they believe it is our natural state—part of the hazy, brown landscape of abjection in the so-called “Arab World.” It is an abjection we must accept, silently and upon the pain of our deaths. ___ And our dead—oh, our dead. Sometimes I wonder if we die at all. When hundreds of peaceful Gazan protesters were mowed down by Israeli soldiers, we counted them alone. This year, up to the day before the Hamas attacks, Palestinians were murdered at a rate of roughly one per day—more than two hundred by October 6. For us, even funerals can become murder scenes, or grounds for soldier assaults. If a murderer does not bother to cover their tracks, did they really kill at all? ___ I am invested in staying human. I read testimonies of Israelis from the areas targeted by Hamas. Almost invariably, they describe hiding in a safe room, a shelter meant to protect life. One man tells the New York Times, “In every house in our community [near the border with Gaza], there is what we call a safe room, which is a room that is built of very strong concrete and has a special kind of door that is supposed to withstand the fall of mortars and rockets. And that’s usually where the children sleep.” I find this detail so chilling. I wonder, what kind of world does one imagine one lives in, in which such structures are normalized? What kind of status quo does one abide, in which one’s children shelter each night this way? Does it really feel like peace? Does it ever occur to the architects to wonder at the reason rockets are thrown? Or has this society fully accepted that the mortars launched from Gaza are merely missiles of hate? Don’t their daughters miss waking up to the sun? ___ A message from my cousin. A home on her block, in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, is bombed. More are killed as they buy food in a nearby market. Asked to flee, she answers, “We don’t know where to go. . . . They treat the people of Gaza like monsters. Why?” [x]

- sarah aziza for the baffler on october 18, 2023

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

due to my love of all things Cavalcanti and Ficino related, I went on a search for Cavalcanti's home. And la, I found at least what currently exists as the former Cavalcanti estate.

[...] as far back as the Middle Ages the Cavalcanti, a powerful Florentine Guelph family, owned numerous holdings in the locality of Murlo between the Pesa river and its tributary, the Virginio. The old feudal property was destroyed by the Ghibellines after their victory over the Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti. What remained of the estate was divided up between various members of the Cavalcanti family, and Lorenzo Cavalcanti undertook the task of reconstruction and improvement, as well as buying back neighbouring land, as recorded in a survey from 1498.

I presume this is the same Lorenzo Cavalcanti who was near Lorenzo de' Medici during the Pazzi Conspiracy and helped to save him from the would-be assassins.

The present structure, commissioned in the early 18th century by the Baldocci family, and was designed by the architect Bernardino Ciurini. Between 1723 and 1740 teams of artists decorated the structure, including the stucco artist, Giovan Martino Portogalli. Also employed were the Bolognese painters Anton Domenico and Giovan Filippo Giarré who executed the frescoed classical landscapes, vedute, in the salons on the ground and first floors. At the south west end, those parts of the villa dating from the 16th century were enlarged, incorporating the old 15th-century workers' house.

The above is an aerial shot of the current villa. Now this isn't what Giovanni would have lived in, but it's a good view of the lands that belonged to the family. No wonder Ficino wrote to Giovanni one time saying something like "I understand why you've not returned to me Florence because where you are is so beautiful."

Yeah, I think I could live here happily enough.

I can see why Ficino was so happy to stay with Cavalcanti for extended durations of time. I'd happily write philosophy if I had some of the views presented from this vantage point.

Now, I'm not sure if Giovanni had access to this specific land and whatever house/palazzo was on it during his lifetime given that the land had been divvied up between family members. But they all were in roughly the same area, so it gives a good idea of what he and Ficino would have been looking at while writing their Very Married We Have A Shared Email Account joint letters to people.

[tamorisana]

Stupid.

This is stupid.

He stands on the cold floors of the train station, cold and late. The smell of petrichor is awfully strong. It just rained and it rained heavily. The usually-typical weather for London.

When was the last time he looked around? Looked at his work?

Ghost still keeps the carefully drawn layouts of the building before him. He knows, to this day remembers every single office space he made on paper, every single rosette in the waiting area, and every single trip he had to choose the best materials out of the best. Front of the main traveling station is a majestic mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles, his favorite, completed with matching landscaping and interior design to which, he has to give credit to whomever Price found for the job. His favorite project was the biggest project after the wars.

The robotic hand takes his ticket, checking, making sure it corresponds with the existing entry. "Good evening." The mechanical voice doesn't sound mechanical at all. Since when? "Please move forward, to your train №29636 "London — Glasgow" is stationed on track 7." The ticket is partially ripped but still valid for him to pass.

He hoped it would fail.

Price is stupid for even suggesting it.

"You should take a vacation." Is said between the huffs, voice is heavy with overnight coffee drive, the unfinished project laying before the bearded man. He still kept those stupid mutton chops. "You'll work yourself to death and I need my best lieut—" The cut-off is sharp. No more titles.

"Architect. I need you in a full working condition, Simon, not living on coffee, cigarettes and hope of maybe getting a new tattoo." Since when did he care so much? A long time. It's very... touching? but he's right.

He's right, like always right. That never changed, from the moment Price found him tied to the wall in that fucking basement, through the trenches and heli travels, to now. Now being in a good, famous even, studio? Office? God knows what they are.

Rejuvenate Structures.

"I have a place. Calm, far away from people, just how you like." he doesn't remember when Price wasn't this warm man who needs help with small details on the showcasing models, man who hated asking for help when he couldn't even close his hand into the fist. Man who sometime ago killed and destroyed in mourning.

War destroyes everything. Buildings, villages and cities, countries, people and their lives. Everything. Including you. Something inside you dies with people you kill or couldn't save. It's different when you didn't see the destroyed housing and rotting bodies, it's as if all of these are far away, with people who you don't know.

They can't bring back people.

But they can repair at least something. Make a better place and keep the guilt away. Keep the stupid figures of dead people he sees in his office during his all-nighters out of these walls.

"Sure. Whatever." You'll never be able to regret a decision so much.

Hope of getting a new tattoo with his initials or stupid soap stuff always dies last. It died once for sure.

Gaz is stupid for supporting it.

Messenger bag lands on the floor, heavy with the textbooks, notebooks and laptop. How does Kyle even manage to survive five classes with such heavy bag? How do you run from campus to campus with that thing?

Kyle always liked the feeling of the heavy gear, made it even more heavy with extra stuff that they almost never needed. "It's grounding." no one says otherwise.

"You look like death sometimes." he was the death at some point. "I think Price is right for sending you for a vacation." He sips his tea out of cup their Captain Boss made during the physical therapy for hand nerve damage.

Simon doesn't remember how they started these tea drinking parties. Stupid Fucking brits and things you do. It just happened. Kyle was exhausted. Simon was on edge and out of coffee. It happened once. Then again and once again. What do they say? Once an accident. Two coincidence. Three is a pattern. Fifty Sixth this year is a tradition.

You'd need five cups of tea to substitute a cup of coffee. A scientifically proven fact.

As long as you call Simon McTavish a science.

"You're just bitter he can't and won't do the same for you since you are in school."

"Oh shut the fuck up, Riley." Not a Riley anymore. Riley is dead. MIA. Would probably be presumed KIA for sure.

[indigosky-was-taken-here]

A little AU I’ve been working on

(Based off of this MV, which I’m still obsessing over.)

This is an interpretation/AU of Jailbreak’s ending, made mainly so I can A) stop being so devastated by it and B) stick my own ocs in the Jailbreak world.

I’m not fully satisfied with the ‘after crash/rescue’ design, but it’s a start.

***************

WORLD: A post apocalyptic version of Earth. The animals have been mutated into strange creatures, and the plant life has had… varying reactions to the fallout.

The place Kawasemi and Kuina are in is part of a stretch of grasslands. It’s a bit similar to the American Great Plains.

On another part of the continent is a highly toxic jungle.

A lot of inspiration from Miyazaki fantasy landscapes.

CIVILIZATION: The dome cities are each under the control of a tyrannical police force. There are multiple ones scattered around the landscape. The cities occasionally trade with each other for things like weaponry or metals.

Raw supplies from the “other place” arrive in guarded shipments. Civilians and most officers are not allowed to leave the city, but a certain few are assigned to ensure the shipments come and go smoothly.

***************

MY OCS:

Skyler, 15 - a young scout for the scavenger group that rescued Kawasemi. She’s not very physically strong, but her endurance and agility make her useful for scouting areas. Skyler is serious, levelheaded and somewhat curious about the dome cities.

No one knows where she came from. She just showed up one day with almost no memories about herself.

Uses a blade as a weapon and has excellent eyesight.

Often the only braincell holder in the room.

Julian “Jet”, 16 - the grandson of the architect who built much of the dome city’s current infrastructure. Both his parents are dead of a “mechanical accident”. An aspiring mechanic who fixes and modifies the weapons of the police force, as well as designs new ones. He’s cheerful, brash, and makes friends easily.

Due to his orange hair, he somewhat resembles Kawasemi.

Jet isn’t actually loyal to the police. He just does his job because he likes being a mechanic.

He does not wear a blindfold because it’s generally a bad idea to fix delicate machinery blindfolded.

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I honestly don’t have coherent plans for this AU. If you’ve got any suggestions, questions, etc or would like to discuss this, feel free to message me or send an ask!

Also tagging @dkniade , thought you might be interested!

[staticspaces]

French Style Chateau

Don't forget, there is also a very entertaining video of this location as well!!

Now let's shift our focus to the main staircase in the oversized front entry hall, it was pretty spectacular…there are also a few images from the second floor as well!!

This mansion was built in 1985 on two lots in The Bridle Path neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada and was designed to resemble a French style chateau. The 30,000 square foot mega mansion had 10 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, and was located on a huge four acre property that also included a tennis court. It also had a granite cobblestone driveway, a horseshoe staircase at the back and extensive gardens which completed the experience of living in a castle in France.

Originally built by Robert Campeau a financier and real estate developer. Robert began his career by building just one single house in 1949 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His company then known as Campeau Corp was also responsible for building Scotia Plaza, a hi rise built in 1988 in the financial district of Toronto, as well as the Harbour Castle Hotel in 1975. In the 80s, Campeau began a series of leveraged buyouts of companies, both in Canada and the United States. The final company was Federated Department Stores, the owners of Bloomingdale's for $7 billion. This was the beginning of the end for Campeau Corp, as they filed for Bankruptcy in 1990, one of the largest in history. Robert was forced to sell the home in 1990.

The home was purchased in 2002 by Harold and Sara Springer who entrusted architect Gordon Ridgely, interior designer Brian Gluckstein, and landscape architect Ronald Holbrook to bring their vision to life. They brought in 17th century antique furniture from france, original royal academy paintings, Italian marble and even crystal chandeliers.

Other features of the large house included a two-story indoor Olympic-size swimming pool with a retractable floor that converts into a ballroom. It also had an elevator, an oak wood bar, recording studio and even its very own bomb shelter!

The mansion has been featured in several movies including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's 'It Takes Two', 'Kissinger and Nixon', 'That Old Feeling' as well as most recently in an episode of Suits. A party was also held for Jane Fonda in the two-storey ballroom, which was then disassembled overnight so that Campeau could swim in the pool the next day with Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

The Springer's listed the chateau for sale including all of its contents starting in 2014 for $25 million and was last publicly listed in 2018 for $39,500,000. Finally, the home was purchased by Nascond Holdings in 2020 for $30.8 million.

Nascond Holdings is a company owned by the Muzzo Group which is a well known development company in the area. Marco Muzzo caused a drunk driving crash that killed four people and seriously injured two others. It was a very high profile incident several years ago, because of his ties to such a wealthy family. There was also a guest list of people found in the home including Marco's name as the host of the party.

The mansion was demolished shortly after my visit in August of 2022. Not much happened after that until more recently when some activity began to happen on the property. Ferris Rafauli who was also behind Drake's Bridle Path Mansion, is the designer and builder behind the new mansion that will take shape in the coming years.