#and there's no scenes outside. i would have been cool to see a port jackson fig or eucalyptus or any Australian inner city streetscape

[myothertardisisonthemun]

Watching the good place season 3.

It's set in Sydney. The city I live in.

Every few minutes, it's got me saying "that's not right"

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I'm going to be living in the french quarter for a week in march for work - any recs on places i should visit etc?

Yes! A whole week is plenty of time to wedge in VC location visits around the work-related stuff ;D

FYI in my list, I have things in the French Quarter, the Garden District (you can take the streetcar to get there, or walk, if you have the time/interest, it’s 2.5 miles away), and then outside the city are swamp tours (which I really want to do next time I visit) and the plantation houses (Pointe du Lac!).

These aren’t in any geographical order, just the order I’m thinking of them:

+ Gallier House - A must-visit, this is the flat AR based Rue Royale on. They give tours bc it’s a historical site. It’s not expensive, book in advance. They also have a gift shop and I got a nice necklace there. 

^My estimation of the room assignments bc reasons. Re: “slave quarters,” that’s unfortunately part of the history of that building :P but I think by the time L/L were there, those rooms were used for storage bc there’s little closet space in the living quarters, and the maids they hire don’t live with them.

Note: @gairid considers the flat across the street (1127) to be the true home of L/L bc the balcony is much more verdant, and you know Lestat would have all kinds of flora on their balcony! It’s a private residence, though.

+ Oak Alley Plantation - this was used for Pointe du Lac plantation in the movie. It’s a ways away, like 45 min outside NOLA?  Maybe more, but worth the trip! You can pay for the bus tickets and tour package, get there and wander around, there’s food and historical info, highly recommend. Allegedly, Brad Pitt still visits and he stays in one of the guest houses.

Note: They also filmed at neighboring Destrehan Plantation, but I haven’t been there, idk if it’s worth going.

+ Madame John’s Legacy - 632 Dumaine St, this is the scene in which a family’s worth of coffins are carried out; Lestat & Claudia had been so gluttonous. This building is sometimes open to the public, the last time I was there they had a cool ceramics exhibition.

+ Jackson Square - mentioned in canon pretty often, you can’t really go to NOLA and not visit.

+ The Cabildo at Jackson Square - I didn’t go in, I think you can. This is where Lestat watches Claudia kill, that same gate is there, you can go hang out in front of it and pretend to watch your vampire daughter kill a victim.

+ Court of Two Sisters - 613 Royal St, I really enjoyed the Sunday brunch, there’s a cute little courtyard with fountains, and live music sometimes. They had this oreo pie that like… dangerous. 

+ Cafe Du Monde - mentioned in canon, they serve like 2 things, beignets and coffee (nothing super fancy), very affordable, and are almost always crowded, but totally worth it. If you go around the back there’s a window where you can see them making the beignets!

+ Arnaud’s - very good restaurant in the French Quarter

+ Port of Call - 838 Esplanade Ave, stardustschild, I see in your profile that you’re not over 21, but for OTHER ppl reading this post, this is a good place for a go-cup drink ~$10, it’s large and 1 is enough to catch a good buzz.

+ NAPOLEON HOUSE - Muffalettas, po’ boys & other Creole staples in a circa-1914 house with a palm-filled courtyard. @gairid recs the SAZERAC (for the 21+ people reading this post, not you, stardustchild) here.

+ French Market - that’s a pretty standard suggestion so I have to include it but I didn’t think it was all that big of a deal. 

+ Trashy Diva clothing boutique - 537 Royal St, they have a few locations. I got a great little black velvet jacket here!

+ 2301 and 2524 St. Charles Ave, Garden District - AR’s childhood homes

- (Not a location really) 1233 COLISEUM ST. - where the Coliseum theatre was in the scene when Louis goes to the movies, it burned down ;A; But that neighborhood is kind of fun to walk around and just look at the nice houses on your way to Lafayette Cemetery. 

+ Commander’s Palace, Garden District - good restaurant but pricey. I had an elder flower liqueur cocktail that was pretty special there. This restaurant is a favorite of the Mayfair family.

+ 1239 First Street, Garden District - This historic property was for many years Anne Rice’s primary residence. 

+ Mayfair house, Garden District  - 3711 St Charles Ave. Not really as crucial on my own list of locations but still.  @cloudsinvenice had posted: “Anne Rice’s former New Orleans home is back on the market again, as per this Curbed.com article, from which I’ve selected some photos. This is the house that inspired the Mayfair witches’ haunted family home…”

+ Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, Garden District - mentioned in canon, free but only open during daylight hours tho!

+ St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 - There are tours and I think Nicolas Cage’s very weird pyramid tomb is there, he’s paid for it, and that’s where he plans to be when he’s shuffled off this mortal coil…

+ Bourbon French Parfums - 805 Royal St. bc Louis was all about the jasmine and stuff, they have great sets of perfumes and their own concoctions.

+ DeVille Coffee House & Creperie - 2045 Magazine St, I just really like their crepe suzettes

+ New Orleans Pharmacy Museum - I didn’t get to go here but it was on my list. I think it’s like $5 to go.

+ Marie Leveau’s Grave and Voodoo Shop - has cool stuff, like coffin nails!

+ Boutique du Vampyre - 709 ½ St. Anne Street, IIRC I got a cool poison ring here, they have vampiry wares.

... A few additions!

@nixsrebellionoflies​ added: may i add that you can go into port of call if youre not 21 and over? they have great burgers and a very interesting aesthetic. you might have to wait a while tho to get in

^Thanks for that! I haven’t tried their burgers myself, now I have to be sure to put that on my list for my next trip ;)

@jeezycreezysuperstar​ added:Some of the cemeteries are now only open to the public via tour group, just fyi

^RIGHT I forgot about that, it’s a relatively recent rule, within the last few years I think? Partly bc of the vandalism that was happening, and offerings/graffiti on some of the famous tombs like Marie Laveau's Tomb. But do take a tour if you have the time/money/interest, bc they are informative and spoopy.

[scribble-dee-vee]

10 Writing Questions

I’ve been tagged by super-cool @seriophi to answer some questions!

Rules: Answer the questions given, write ten new ones, and tag ten others!

1. What’s a scene that has stuck with you the most?

A lot of different scenes spring to mind immediately, but there’s a common thread: scenes that made me cry. When I feel that kind of intense emotion, the memory sticks with me, and I really want to accomplish something so deep and visceral with my own writing one day. I want to avoid spoilers, but the end of The Order of the Phoenix has brought me to tears MULTIPLE times. I love how it’s written.

2. What story first influenced your writing? (Or got you started?)

Oh geez, how much Harry Potter can I possibly fit into one post? The Sorcerer’s Stone hooked me into the idea of good and exciting storytelling the most. However, there were lots of others from an even younger age: the Percy Jackson series drew me into character, Narnia hooked me on high fantasy and good world building, and Disney princess movies let me fall in love with beautiful aesthetics and high-stakes conflicts and heroines. There are just so many stories that pulled me toward different aspects of writing.

3. What sphere of knowledge works its way into your writing the most?(e.g. ancient nordic swords, port cities, how to cook a ham, etc)

This is a good question, haha! I tend to write a lot about things I know very little about to start off with, so my search history is riddled with questions from “how to address a queen?” to “do you have a lower alcohol tolerance if you only have one arm?” However, I do know a lot about cats, studying, and loving books. All of those things come up a LOT in my writing.

4. Do you write in a notebook, on a legal pad, in an app, on a document, etc?

I generally write in Word, for purposes of saving large chunks of text and being able to edit it in one place. However, I gained respect for writing in a notebook this summer. I mostly do that as a rare treat now.

5. First or third person? Past or present tense?

I write in first person, past tense almost exclusively. However, I think different stories are served better by different voices, so I do want to experiment more in the future.

6. How do you write your first drafts? (e.g. skimpy/rushed, fleshed out, dialogue only, notes only, etc)

Super detailed and fleshed out so I get to cut tens of thousands of metaphors and artful sentence structures because my plot makes no sense and my pacing is terrible! *winks* *cries*

7. Favorite part about story making?

Characters, characters, CHARACTERS! I love making them, fleshing them out, and writing arcs. I love having them interact in new and dynamic ways. I love bouncing situations off them and seeing how they react. My stories are character-driven, and it’s super fun.

8. Do you write outside of your wip(s)? (e.g. fanfiction or rp, etc)

I write for DnD sometimes. I never really got into the fan fiction community, and I haven’t role-played in a purely text-based fashion in about a year (though I really do love it!)

9. When do you write? (e.g. after you wake up, lunch break, between classes, etc)

I’m pretty busy right now, so weekends and 10-11 at night. Stuff seems to come out best if I write it right after I wake up or right before I go to sleep.

10. What ideas are on your “to write” list?

Check out my WIP tag here! I went into fairly comprehensive detail on my major present and future projects.

Okay, hope I provided some satisfactory answers! Now to devise some questions of my own:

1. Which authors inspire you the most?

2. What are your favorite tropes in stories? 

3. What are your least favorite tropes in stories?

4. Paperback, electronic, or hardcover?

5. What are your main goals as a writer?

6. Do you have a long-term idea for a WIP that you haven’t written much yet? (this may be too specific, but I know several people who do have one)

7. What was the first long writing project you tried to write?

8. Which events in your life inspire your writing the most?

9. Do you do anything else while you’re writing? (Listen to music, drink tea, etc.)

10. If you could be one book character, who would it be?

Tagging: @christinawritesfiction, @flannelandsarcasm, @jade-island-lives, @storysparksblog, @the-colour-of-words, @isitsafetoeatrawtoast, @munificence-maleficence, @by-the-sidelines, @blackfeatherantics, and @seventeenbirds. (Unlessudon’twantodoit) (anyonelsecandothistoo) (:D)