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addictedtooverwatch · 2 years ago

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Short Story - If a Tree Falls...

Alright, this is the first short story I've written in a while. I wrote this for my English class and I think it's good enough to share here. The main story and epilogue will not be in one big post, but this post and a reblog because this is pretty long for a single post.

Word Count of Main Story + Epilogue = 3,054 words.

Trigger Warnings (I've never done anything like this, so if there are any other warning you want me to add, let me know and I will):

Violence - I don't explain any injuries in much detail, but part of the climax scene could be a little disturbing as the main character is attacked and briefly gagged.

Death - No one explictly dies, but a dead character is discussed.

Aftermath of attack - Again, this isn't too bad, but the main character ends up passing out.

This isn't a trigger warning, but I would like to mention that the epilogue is a bit of a silly riff on Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural. I was watching it while I was editing and I decided to write an epilogue based on it... Anways, I had a lot of fun writing this and am really happy with it, but if you have some, constructive critism is always welcome. I hope you enjoy! ~ Nova.

If a Tree Falls…

When I was little, Nana Delilah always told me to never go into the Green Byerl Growth. She said it was infested with things we shouldn’t mess with. She said that the forest could truly come alive, but she would never say exactly what would happen there. I would ask her, “Isn’t the forest already alive?”

“Technically, it is,” she would say, “but you’ve never seen it truly alive. Alive in a way that would make you never want to leave the house again. Alive in a way that would lead to you never getting a wink of sleep again. It’d scare you so much that you’d forever feel like it was watching you.”

“How do you know that, Nana?”

“I had to learn that because of your father.” The conversations would always end like that. I’ve always wondered what he was like, my father that is. Nana never has any photos of him around our cottage, the ash walls barren and the granite countertops empty, but she said I looked a lot like him with the field of freckles across my face and my short cinnamon brown hair that, unwashed, would look like a bird’s nest. That would be all she ever commented on though, she would never mention where I got my emerald eyes or lanky limbs from. I assume it's from my mother, but I think Nana would rather die than talk about her. All she would ever say about my mom is, “Your mother is the reason you’re stuck with me.”

I wish she had told me what that really meant (it would have saved me a lot of confusion).

-------------

It was a sunny day on June 28th, 1961 which was quite normal. The weather was always nice in Rosary Valley, no matter the season. It was our paradise sitting in a little pocket of North Carolina. You could grow pretty much anything you wanted here, but cypress trees happened to especially love the area. They permeated through the entire town and surrounding area mixed in with yew and wych elm trees. Nana and I grew a lot of plants in the area around our house. We mainly grew crops, but I loved our flowers. My favorites were the hyacinths, chrysanthemums, and lilies. Our plants always grew a little faster than normal, always looking brighter and more alive than usual, but they made good money for us so I would never ask about it (I should have). From what I could remember, Nana never got along with people that actually lived in town. That’s why I was the person to set up my white plywood cart in the center of town, selling whatever we harvested from our small fields or garden that day along with whatever photos I had recently taken.

I won a polaroid camera by playing Mama Said by The Shirelles on my guitar at a school talent show. The camera was a light cream color, like the color that coffee turns to with enough milk, with a rainbow stripe right down the middle and a bright red button. I had been using it a lot since the school year had ended, taking photos of things I found in our garden. People had really loved the pictures I had taken of butterflies. I found a Pearl Crescent resting on a Blazing Star, a Black Swallowtail perched on a Bloodroot, an American Lady on a beautiful Eastern Blue Star, and a Mourning Cloak laying on some Foxglove Beardtongue. I had also taken some photos of the three churches in town, each very different looking with walls of gilded blackstone, colored cinder blocks, and stained glass. I got paid a good amount for those photos. The churches also bought me more film to take pictures from the town’s post office once I had finished with their pictures.

On that day, I had 12 photos for sale. Three were of the town’s broken clock tower at dusk the night before, four were images of a melanistic herd of deer in one of our broccoli patches, six were of a late clear night when I saw a myriad of fireflies, one was of a discolored midnight black rose, and one was of a Carolina Swamp Snake that was sunning itself contently on a rock near the Green Byerl Growth. I was able to sell most of them except the pictures of the rose and snake. While I was rearranging the remaining flowers I had, Ashur and a younger boy stolled over to my stand.

“Hey Allie, this is Jacob. I’m watching him for Mrs. Straus. Anyways, what are you going to be submitting to the art show next week?” Ashur asked. Ashur was one of my few friends. We went to school together and shared a love of being outside, but he was alway busy with work or babysitting. So, we never hung out much aside from during school, but people still thought we were siblings with how tall both of us were. Sighing, I replied, “I’m probably just going to bring some of my butterfly pictures. Or maybe I’ll bring these.” I handed them my remaining photos.

“Oh, but that’s boring!” Jacob squawked as he shuffled between the pictures before handing them back to me. Humming, I took the photos, “What do you think I should bring then?”

“You should bring a photo of that rock in Poppy Acres!”

“No!” “What?” Ashur and I simultaneously said. Jacob leaned over one of the handles of my cart and continued, “You know that Poppy Acres is in the center of the Growth.” Ashur and I nodded.

“Well,” continued Jacob, “there’s a big rock in the center of the Poppy Acres that has some type of writing on it that no one has ever been able to read. You should take a picture of that for the art show, you’d win for— ”

“Yeah, but there’s a reason no one has ever read it,” Ashur interrupted harshly. He ran his hands through his wavy caramel hair, “Poppy Acres is in the middle of the Growth and doesn’t your grandma like, never want you to go in there?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “I think something bad happened to her there and she doesn’t want me to get hurt.” Something also happened to Dad there, but I doubt she’d tell me that. Jacob groaned and shook his head, “But it’d be so cool! You're the best photographer in town, so you could make it look really awesome and you’d win like $150!”

“I would?” “She would?” We asked Jacob simultaneously and he nodded his head. $150 would be a lot of money to win by just taking some cool pictures, I could get some really nice equipment with that money.

“Allie, you can’t do it,” Ashur pleads.

“How did you know I was thinking about doing it?”

“Because you get a certain look in your eyes when you are contemplating doing something stupid.”

“It wouldn’t be stupid!” Jacob roared. He spun around to look at the clock tower, “If you left now, you could go there and back before sunset.”

“You think so?” I asked. Jacob nodded enthusiastically, “I’d be awesome! Also, if you go, could you take some photos of bees for me? I heard there’s really friendly bees in the Growth and I want some proof so I can get my Mom to let me go in there.”

“You’re ten Jacob. Your mom isn’t going to let you go anywhere near the Growth until you’re older,” Ashur bluntly stated.

“Well, then I want to go home! Take me home Ashur and let me know if you get the bee photos Allie!” Jacob exclaimed.

“Okay! I’ll let you know when I get them Jacob,” I chuckled while Jacob started pulling Ashur away. Ashur started following Jacob with a frown painted across his face, he yelled back to me, “If you’re going, be careful Allie. I don’t want to lose my best friend to a stupid art contest.” I hollered back, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!” And with that, I started packing up my cart. They disappeared behind a corner and suddenly, I was alone.

From there, I quickly packed everything up, pulled it along the red brick road home, and placed it back in its spot under a weeping willow that guards the front of Nana’s house. She wasn’t inside, she was probably out picking peaches since they were in season. I left a note saying,

“I sold everything I could at the town center. I’m going to go take some photos outside for the art show since I don’t have anything I want to submit right now. I’ll be back before dark.

Love you,

Allie.”

Once the note was placed on her desk, underneath a green crystal paper weight, I grabbed my polaroid camera and placed it in my sage green backpack. I put my lucky emerald earrings on which were supposedly from my mom and I headed northeast, towards the Green Byerl Growth.

It was just after 2 o’clock when I reached the entrance to the Growth. It was made of two flint colored columns, connected by an overgrown gold arch that had the words, “The light awakens the Ovlumber when the sun reaches the earth” engraved into it, though it took me a few minutes to figure out what it said. As I passed through the gate, I felt a sudden sense of guilt. I was doing the one thing that Nana had told me to never do… But it didn’t matter (at the time), I was going to make a shit ton of money off of these pictures (no, I wasn’t). She’d see that it was worth it when we’d be able to buy more camera equipment and whatever gardening related items she wanted. It’d be worth it. So, I continued on the cobblestone and coarse dirt pathway that never seemed to end, surrounded by the dense (impenetrable, really) forest made of sky-scraping redwoods, yews that held their hands out to you, wych elms with green hair, and oddly well-groomed cypresses.

I walked and walked, moving further (too far) into the thicket when I finally reached the edge of Poppy Acres. It was odd (it was a sign), the unruly flora forming an almost perfect circle around the blanket of poppies which surrounded the aforementioned rock with only the dirt path leading up to the stone acting as a disturbance to the symmetry. It felt daunting to walk on the small path up to the stone (I should have just turned back), so I chose to look around the field first, avoiding the inevitable, and I realized a few things. One, it was much later than it should have been which meant I had been walking for longer than I intended to. It looked like the sun had fallen over, leaving a bloody trail of light on the upcoming night sky. Two, I don’t know if I found the bees that Jacob was talking about, but I did take some pictures of a bee sleeping in a poppy. Three, since it was definitely too late for me to be out alone in the middle of the Green Byerl Growth, I needed to hurry the hell up and take a picture of the rock.

So, I mustered up the courage and started drifting over to the stone, but I realized that it just wasn’t just some engraved stone in the middle of the forest. It was a tombstone. It was a pearly white marble with streaks of gold and light orange covered by vines and weeds that made it look eroded and decayed. It was cold to the touch which was strange considering the past few day’s high temperature. Gently, I moved some of its greenery aside to read what was carved into it and what it said sent a shiver down my spine, “Here forever rests Damien Alexander Lorelai - You made the forest weep.” I repeated the name over and over and over (he had my last name). I finally understood what Nana meant when she talked about Dad. I let out a wet breath, I needed to take the photo and leave. I shakily stepped back, making sure I had a good 50 feet between myself and the tombstone. Kneeling down, I held my camera to my eye, angling the lens to capture the entire gravestone of my late father. With a quick flash of light, the photo was taken, and Nana’s stories all came true.

The surrounding trees burst into action, unrooting themselves and closing in around me, using their branches to drag themselves closer, creating deep gashes in the ground. The poppies at my feet tried to pull me to the ground, winding themselves around my ankles, similar to how tomatoes wrap around their cages. I shot up and swiftly stumbled towards the center of the field (towards the gravestone), ripping up the red flowers as I went, creating a path of crimson red petals. My vision became blurry as I panicked. Unable to control my rapid breathing, I bumped into the tombstone, my back hitting the cold hard marble. Immediately, the previously unanimated flora that encircled the stone, reached around my neck and chest, securing me against the only reminder of where my father had been laid to rest. I began screaming and shouting for Nana, Ashur, Jacob, anybody that could help me (but it wouldn’t have really done anything in the end). I kept yelling and I would have continued until I was hoarse if a vine hadn’t shoved itself into my mouth, effectively stopping my desperate pleas for another person. Once I was muffled, I began crying. As tears dripped down my face, I silently hoped that if the forest killed me it would, at the very least, make it quick. Branches wrapped around my arms and legs, rough bark cutting my skin, and the vines’ flowers wrapped themselves around my face.

As my vision began to fade and I began to sink into absolute nothingness, a voice yelled, “ENOUGH!” With that only word, the trees and flowers returned to their homes of dirt, their roots sinking themselves back into their places, leaving Poppy Acres the way it was before I took that godforsaken picture. All that remained was me and a tall woman, who I assumed to be my savior, quietly staring at each other as I panted loudly. That was until she asked, with a honeyed voice, “Where did you get those earrings from?” I couldn’t remember what I was wearing, after the whole ‘almost being killed by fucking trees’ thing, so I took my earrings out then whispered, “My mom, I think.”

“You think?” the woman tilted her head. I shook my head and slowly stood up, “That’s what my grandma told me. I’ve never met either of my parents. Well, I’ve never met them alive at least.” She stepped closer to me as my legs shook like a fawn’s. My savior held her hands out and let me sink into their gentle embrace (there’s another reason I immediately felt so safe).

“What do you mean by that?” I emitted a shaky sigh and pointed to the gravestone, “I think that’s my father’s grave.” She let out a quiet, “Oh,” and hugged me. So many thoughts were racing through my head, but they all became foggy. I didn’t want her to let go, but I needed to go home.

“What time is it?” I asked, looking right into her glowing emerald eyes.

“Very late.”

“I need to get home.” The woman hummed, “Alright, I’ll take you home, Alastor.” I didn’t remember telling her my name (I didn’t need to), but I trusted her.

“Ok,” I replied, “can I sleep?” The woman picked me up, slipping her arms around my legs while I put my arms around her neck, “Yes, go to sleep, honey.” With that, I let the darkness which now draped itself around me like a soft blanket, take over. I fell asleep.

Epilogue: Does it Make a Sound?

“This week on Behind the Crime we are covering the Disappearance of the Rosary Valley Photographer,” began Bryan. Zayne raised his eyebrows, “That is very specific.”

“I know, now let me explain. On June 28th, 1961, fourteen-year-old Alastor “Allie” Lorelai went missing. Allie’s Grandmother, Delilah Lorelai, had found a note that day from Allie saying that they would be back later that night, but they never came back.”

“Did the note say where they were going?” asked Zayne.

“All it said was that they sold what they could at the market that day and were going out to take photos.”

“Ohh, so that’s where the photographer part came from.”

“Yes, that’s where it’s from.”

“They didn’t say where they were going?” asked Zayne.

“No, I literally just said what the note said,” Bryan responded, exasperated.

“Ok, well why wouldn’t they say where they were going?”

“I don’t know, it was like 1961, people just did shit like that! Anyways, all that has been found in relation to the case was the following: a broken white and rainbow polaroid camera, four pictures of a bee laying on a poppy, one undeveloped picture, and a set of emerald earrings. Two boys, Ashur Lake and Jacob Straus, said that the last time they saw of Allie, they were going to be going to take photos in the nearby Green Byerl Growth for an upcoming art contest.”

“So… Allie disappeared in the forest, right?” questioned Zayne.

“We’re pretty sure, yeah.” answered Bryan.

“And the items found were definitely from Allie, right?”

“Yeah. It was their stuff and they planned to take pictures of some bees for Jacob.”

“One, how did they get the items back? And two, it’s Jacob’s fault then, right?”

“I wouldn’t say it was Jacob’s fault,” Bryan laughed, “but people think that a forest spirit took Allie and returned their items as a way to let people know to not come into the Green Byerl Growth.”

“So, that’s why we’re here,” Zayne groaned.

“Yup,” cheerly replied Bryan, “today we are going to walk around the Green Byerl Growth here in Rosary Valley, North Carolina to investigate our ongoing question of, are ghosts real?” Bryan paused, looked behind him at the overgrown arch, then looked back to Zayne and asked, “Shall we?”

#writing #original story #original work #short story

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littleeyesofpallas · 4 years ago

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Bleach - Snake Name Games

Still mulling over where exactly I want to take this series of posts [1][2] after being asked about interesting zanpakutou names. I was just gonna do a short blurb about Sarugaki Hiyori’s Shikai at first, but there are a lot of weird vaguely adjacent characters, so this one’s going to be kind of aimless...

Her sword is Kubikiri Orochi[馘大蛇], written with the kanji for 馘:“Decapitation,” 大: “Great”/“Big,” and 蛇:“Snake.” Viz translates it as “Head-Slicing Serpent” which is kind of a weird choice, but other than missing a specific reference, it’s not technically that big a mistranslation. But of course there is a reference, because Orochi [大蛇] isn’t just the words “Big Snake” it’s a reference to the mythological creature, Yamato-no-Orochi[八岐大蛇].

The Yamato-no-Orochi sees a lot of exposure in pop media. It’s an enormous snake with 8 tails and 8 heads spanning the length of 8 hills and valleys, red eyes, and moss and cypress trees growing on it enormous back, and a belly that is constantly bleeding and inflamed. The Orochi would annually devour the daughters of a village, until it was defeated by the god, Susanoo. It was tricked into drinking itself to sleep and then beheaded eight times. From its corpse, Susanoo retrieved the legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

The fact that the kanji 馘 isn’t commonly used makes it kind of confusing to parse as part of a name at a glance. But I do recognize the more common, Kubikiri[首斬り] which is the noun “Beheading” (as in the act there of, not the verb) or just “Decapitation.” But I’ve also seen it translated (granted with some liberties based on context) as “Executioner.” Alternatively, Kubikiri[首切り] also means “Beheading”/“Decapitation” but apparently can refer to “a small samurai sword used for decapitation.” So, I think the meaning that the name was supposed to convey was,

“Sword-for-Decapitating Giant[8-Headed]Snake”

...and not, “A Serpent that Slices Heads” the way Viz wrote it out. Which makes sense given that the sword itself is a giant serrated cleaver/saw, appropriately sized for cutting off the head of a giant snake. While the mistranslation would suggest her spirit to be the Orochi, this reading makes it sound more like her spirit is Susanoo himself? Which is a curious idea...

But there's a little more going on here... Because at some point or another, there became kind of a recurring trend of the Orochi being depicted as a white snake, which has vague associations with the Lady White Snake myth, from China. In fact Hakujaden[白蛇伝]:“White Snake Story” (Arbitrarily localized in English as, “Panda and the Magic Serpent”) has a particular special place in Japanese pop culture as it was the first ever full color anime film, in 1958. It was a big influence on an early generation of animators, including Miyazaki Hayao.

In it a young boy is accidentally involved with a magic snake being fed immortality granting medicine, which amplifies her existing magic by multiple lifetimes. She is grateful to the boy for it, and after he grows up the two meet again, the snake being in the guise of a woman, and they fall in love. (That’s the real REAL short version anyway...)

And this is just me going out on a bit of a limb, but I feel like the random intersection of these two myths is where a lot of Orochi characters who are also shapeshifting humans comes from, because the actual Orochi never had this association with being a white snake, having magic powers, or taking on human form, yet it seems to be the prevailing role of Orochi characters in pop fiction.

Also, equally unrelated to the actual Orochi myth and the Lady White Snake myth, some renditions of the Orochi make it a fullblown dragon rather than just a monstrous snake. I don’t know that this comes from anything in particular, other than just wanting to amp up the threat factor of the Orochi to make Susanoo look more triumphant as a hero... There’s some possibility that it’s a conflation of the Nine-headed Dragon God, Kuuzuryuushin[九頭龍神]. Funny enough, I’ve seen Kuuzuryuushin drawn as a nine headed snake instead of a dragon as well...

In fact Kubo’s already has one character who seems to be associated with the Lady White Snake myth: Cyan Sung Sun. Her Resurreccion, Anaconda is written with the kanji [白蛇姫]: “White Snake Princess,” which is a conspicuous name for anyone familiar with the very well known myth. But I think we all remember someone else who is associated with White Snake imagery... Ichimaru Gin.

There’s not actually a lot of word play with Gin and snakes. His name is a homonym for “silver” like his white/silver hair, and his “fox-eyed” look is actually leverage to be more snake-like a lot of the time, so those two bits together kind of orbit around the idea of a White Snake theme. And of course he spends most of the series living up to his cold-blooded, treacherous, viper-waiting-to-strike kind of persona. But it’s not like he or his sword have any snake themes in their names.

Whether or not Kubo had plans for Hiyori to have a more substantial confrontation with Gin, we’ll never really know. Sadly the one we got didn’t last long and wasn’t particularly exciting or satisfying. But it was an interesting brief moment during the weekly publications. And if anyone’s in need of some fanfic prompt, I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the idea that there could have been a parallel between Gin’s relationship with Rangiku and the boy and Lady White Snake of myth, with Gin in the role of powerful snake indebted to and in love with the normal mortal who unknowingly helped them gain great powers.

But while we’re on the subject... There’s another white snake loitering around the Bleach franchise: One half of Zabimaru... sort of...

This one is weird, because by all rights it was the anime, not Kubo, that set the precedent of Zabimaru having white fur and a white snake tail. Zabimaru, btw, is a mythical creature called a Nue, which is supposed to have the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, body of a dog, and a snake for a tail. Zabimaru doesn’t quite fit that full description, as it’s predominantly just a baboon with a snake tail, and Renji’s tribal tattoo pattern substituted in for tiger stripes.

But the one time Kubo actually colored in Zabimaru himself was part of a joke omake comic (where Renji and Hisagi find out, in the aftermath of Renji’s fight with Byakuya, that Mayuri can apparently perform cosmetic surgery to zanpakutou) and even though they’re only imagining a busty Zabimar as a punchline, Kubo made the fur what I think was supposed to be an olive green/grey, which matches the description of the Olive Baboon’s fur. The anime sort of took that and drifted more green when they adapted the omake, and then drifted it even further when the Zanpakutou Rebellion filler arc brought zabimaru back... In the end her fur looks both nothing like the original color and nothing like the anime’s white furred Zabimaru.

So, hand-in-hand with that, it seems kind of arbitrary that they made snake boy white, apart from the previously mentioned associations of Snakes-in-Human-Form as a trope and Lady White Snake. But I figured if I didn’t mention it someone might ask, and oddly enough it is more of a coincidence than anything else, at least as far as I can tell.

Correction: I totally forgot, when Renji gets his True Name Bankai from Ichibe he appears to have a “mode” where the snake spine that is normally looped around his waist like a belt unfurls to the call, Orochi-ou[オロチ王]: “Orochi King.” So there is a direct reference to the Orochi, although weirdly it’s only in kana and not kanji? But I have no idea for what reason. And in any case, the second bankai came after the anime created snake boy, so it’s entirely possible it was just Kubo riffing off their continuity rather than something he’d had in mind when he made Zabimaru the first time.

Funny thing: Hiyori’s surname, Sarugaki[猿柿] is written with the kanji for monkey[猿], something she points out herself when she’s first introduced. (I did a whole rambling thing on the Visored’s names too, naturally...) So she and Renji both have associations with monkey and orochi imagery. It’s kind of a shame Hiyori and Renji never even got to be in the same room for their wild type routines to interact.

#Bleach #Hiyori Sarugaki #Kubikiri Orochi #yamata no orochi #orochi #zabimaru

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cantrells · 4 years ago

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Top 100 all time favorite albums.

1. Facelift - Alice in Chains

2. Black Gives Way to Blue - Alice In Chains

3. Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains

4. Undertow - Tool

5. Superunknown- Soundgarden

6. Live Through This - Hole

7. The Fragile - Nine Inch Nails

8. King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime - Faith no More

9. Degradation Trip Vols 1&2 - Jerry Cantrell

10. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins

11. Audioslave - Audioslave

12. Coral Fang - The Distillers

13. Core - Stone Temple Pilots

14. Disintegration - The Cure

15. Mer de Noms - A Perfect Circle

16. Life is Killing me - Type O Negative

17. Ok Computer - Radiohead

18. Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron and Wine

19. In Absentia - Porcupine Tree

20. Morning View - Incubus

21. First Impressions of Earth - The Strokes

22. Ten - Pearl Jam

23. Is this Desire - PJ Harvey

24. Sorry - White Lung

25. Rage against the machine - Rage against the machine

26. In your Honor - Foo Fighters

27. Around the Fur - Deftones

28. Garbage - Garbage

29. Coral Fang - The Distillers

30. The Division Bell - Pink Floyd

31. Dark side of the moon - Pink Floyd

32. The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

33. Bricks are Heavy - L7

34. This is War - 30 Seconds to Mars

35. Dirty - Sonic Youth

36. Deliverance - Corrosion of Conformity

37. City of Evil - Avenged Sevenfold

38. Hiss Spun - Chelsea Wolfe

39. Definitely Maybe - Oasis

40. Black Sunday - Cypress Hill

41. Blues for the Red Sun - Kyuss

42. Origin of Symmetry- Muse

43. Without you I’m nothing - Placebo

44. Astro Creep 2000 - White Zombie

45. Incesticide - Nirvana

46. Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces - Seether

47. Famous Monsters - Misfits

48. Roots - Sepultura

49. Post - Bjork

50. Like Clockwork- Queens of the stone age

51. Horror Wrestling - Drain

52. De Stijl - White Stripes

53. New American Gospel - Lamb of God

54. Ahí vamos - Gustavo Cerati

55. No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne

56. Violator - Depeche Mode

57. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette

58. Keep on Your mean side - The Kills

59. Clumsy - Our Lady Peace

60. Elemental - Tears for Fears

61. Fontanelle - Babes in Toyland

62. Steal This album - System of a Down

63. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin

64. The Doors - The Doors

65. Rock Steady - No Doubt

66. Say You Will - Fleetwood Mac

67. Meliora - Ghost

68. Floodland - Sisters of Mercy

69. Repilectric - Zoe

70. Camino Palmero - The Calling

71. My love is cool - Wolf Alice

72. Eat to the Beat - Blondie

73. Face Dances - The Who

74. White Light White Heat White Trash - Social Distortion

75. Loaded - The Velvet Underground

76. Heroes - David Bowie

77. BRMC - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

78. The Pale Emperor - Marilyn Manson

79. Educated Horses - Rob Zombie

80. Turn on The Bright lights - Interpol

81. I Against I - Bad Brains

82. California - Mr Bungle

83. Demon Days - Gorillaz

84. Roll the Bones - Rush

85. Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park

86. Guero - Beck

87. Trompe Le Monde - Pixies

88. Untouchables - Korn

89. Souvlaki - Slowdive

90. Dignity - Hilary Duff

91. Stoner Witch - Melvins

92. Nothing - Meshuggah

93. The Romantics - The Romantics

94. From Mars to Sirius - Gojira

95. Cloud Factory - Jinjer

96. Dopethrone - Electric Wizard

97. Wave - Patti Smith

98. Sabotage - Black Sabbath

99. All or Nothing - Pennywise

100. Going to Hell - The Pretty Reckless

#*#me #albums #music

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emo-warriorcats · 5 years ago

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warrior cats name dictionary!

here’s my warrior cat name dictionary! i’ll post it on deviantart too, @/ppplume

Prefixes

Albatross // gray with or without white

Alder // light gray/silver or cream

Anemone // white

Ant // brown or black

Apricot // ginger/light ginger

Ash // gray

Aspen // cream or silver tabby

Asphodel // white

Aster // blue-gray or lilac

Avocet // brown and white

Badger // black and white

Bat // brown or black

Bear // brown or black

Beaver // brown

Bee // cream tabby or tortoiseshell/calico

Beech // light gray or red

Beetle // brown or black

Birch // silver tabby or cream

Bison // brown or black

Black // black

Blizzard // white or light gray

Blue // blue-gray

Bright // any bright color

Brown // brown

Buzzard // brown and white

Cardinal // red or ginger

Carp // silver tabby

Cedar // brown

Chestnut // cream or light brown

Chickadee // gray and white or silver tabby

Cloud // white or silver/gray

Clover // white

Coot // black with small amount of white

Cougar // fawn or cinnamon

Coyote // silver, gray or fawn

Crab // brown, lilac or fawn

Cranberry // red or ginger

Crane // light gray

Cricket // black or cream/fawn

Crow // black

Cuckoo // brown and white

Cypress // pale brown, tabby or not

Dandelion // cream

Dapple // spotted

Dark // any dark color

Dawn // cream, white or dilute calico

Deer // light brown

Dove // lilac/fawn, light gray, cream or white

Duck // gray/brown tabby

Dusk // tortoiseshell or dark ginger tabby

Eagle // black and white or brown and white

Eel // brown or black

Egret // white

Elk // brown

Elm // gray tabby

Ember // ginger

Evening // tortoiseshell or dark ginger tabby

Fire // ginger

Firefly // cream or white

Fog // gray or blue-gray/lilac

Fox // ginger and white

Frog // brown tabby

Gannet // white

Ginger // ginger

Goose // black and white

Grape // ginger or black

Gray // gray

Gull // gray and white

Hail // white or pale gray

Hare // light brown

Harrier // brown tabby

Hawk // brown tabby, with or without white

Hazel // brown

Heather // lilac

Heron // gray or brown

Holly // ginger or black

Hornet // cream tabby or tortoiseshell/calico

Ice // white

Jackdaw // black

Jaguar // fawn spotted tabby

Jay // blue-gray or gray (with or without tabby/white)

Juniper // blue-gray or black

Kestrel // dilute calico

Kite // gray

Ladybug // tortoiseshell or calico, full-color

Lark // brown tabby and white

Lavender // lilac

Lemon // cream

Leopard // fawn spotted tabby

Light // any bright color

Lightning // cream or white

Lilac // lilac

Lily // white

Lion // cream

Lotus // white

Magpie // black and white

Mantis // gray and white

Maple // ginger

Marigold // ginger

Mink // dark brown

Mist // blue-gray, lilac or dark gray

Moon // light gray, silver

Moose // brown

Morning // cream

Mud // brown

Mushroom // light brown

Night // black

Nightingale // light brown

Oak // brown

Opossum // silver or gray

Orange // ginger

Osprey // black and white or silver tabby

Otter // dark brown, with or without white

Owl // gray or brown tabby

Pale // cream, light gray or white

Palm // brown tabby

Patch // spotted with white

Peach // light ginger

Pebble // any shade of gray

Pelican // black and white or gray and white

Pigeon // any shade of gray

Plum // ginger

Poppy // ginger

Rabbit // light brown

Raccoon // gray and white

Rain // blue gray

Raspberry // ginger

Rattle // brown, gray or silver tabby

Raven // black

Red // red

Roach // brown or black

Robin // brown

Rock // any shade of gray

Rook // black, with or without white

Root // brown

Rose // ginger

Russet // ginger

Sand // cream

Seal // gray

Shade // black

Shadow // black

Shark // gray

Sheep // white, long furred

Silver // silver

Skunk // black and white

Sky // white or light gray/blue-gray

Slug // brown or grey tabby

Snail // brown tabby

Snow // white

Sole // brown

Spark // cream, white or ginger

Sparrow // brown tabby

Spider // brown or black

Spotted // spotted, any color

Spruce // dark brown

Squirrel // ginger or gray

Stag // light brown

Starling // black

Stone // any shade of gray

Storm // dark gray

Sun // cream

Swallow // brown and white

Swan // white

Swift // black and white

Tawny // fawn or lilac

Thunder // cream or white

Tiger // ginger tabby

Tortoise // gray or brown tabby

Trout // silver tabby

Tulip // white or cream

Turkey // brown tabby

Turtle // brown, gray or silver tabby

Violet // lilac

Vole // ginger or brown

Vulture // black

Walnut // brown

Wasp // cream tabby or tortoiseshell/calico

Weasel // brown and white or black and white

White // white

Willow // gray tabby

Wolf // gray

Wren // brown of any shade, with or without white

Suffixes

blaze // see “fire”

claw // good fighter

cloud // calm, rational

dapple // dappled pelt

dawn // caring, gentle

dusk // quiet, gentle

ear // good tracker and hunter

eye // good tracker

face // beautiful cat

fang // good hunter and fighter

feather // gentle, soft

fire // passionate, energetic

flame // see “fire”

flight // see “wing”

flower // gentle, likes kits

foot // good speed/endurance

frost // serious, intelligent

fur // no particular outsanding skill

heart // kind-hearted, loyal

hop // agile, swift

jump // see “hop”

leaf // only for medicine cats, skilled with working with herbs

leap // see “hop”

leg // see “foot”

light // cheerful, intelligent

nose // skilled at tracking

pelt // see “fur”

pond // calm, quiet

pool // see “pond”

pounce // see “hop”

shade // serious, intelligent

shine // see “light”

spark // cheerful, energetic

spirit // calm, intelligent

spring // see “hop”

stone // intelligent, quiet

storm // energetic, loyal

streak // good speed

stream // gentle, empathetic

strike // fast, good fighter

stripe // no particular oustanding skills, a tabby

tail // agile, good at climbing

tuft // see “fur”

watcher // calm, observant

whisker // good hunter

wing // soft, agile ------ UPDATES ------ 09/10/19: added prefixes

#warrior cats #warriors #wc #names #name #dictionary

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pokeswagmom · 4 years ago

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Completionist Dreamer

I have completed quite a few sets of furniture so I thought I could hold a cataloging party 🎉(tho one person at a time in case of people stealing, I hear about a few cases of this so I'm going to be cautious) also to help me search for my wishlist items and also complete sets and variations of other items.

Edit (7/26/2020): I have added a bunch more furniture and will be attempting to catalogue as much as possible.

Edit (8/17/2020): I also have a nookazon list of my catalogue and wishlist if you want them. Still working on items beyond the letter "g."

Edit (10/03/2020): This post is a bit long and so I will be reposting it but with things I have catalogued/on hand and things I’m looking for.

Edit (01/03/2021): No longer using this post!

Furniture I have at hand 🎁

Antique Bureau (brown, natural, black)

Arcade games (combat, mahjong, fighting)

Arcade seat (red, gray, blue)

Autograph cards (IH hand prints, signature, words of wisdom, illustration)

Automatic Washer (green, white, pink, blue, yellow, black)

Basic teachers desk (standard, wooden, monotone)

Beach chair (blue, yellow, black, white, orange, pink)

Blue corner, red corner, neutral corner

Board game (territory, simple path, kid’s)

Books (Western, Japanese, encyclopedia, textbook)

Book stands (colorful, pastel, brown, black)

Bottled ship (leisure, pirate, trading)

Candy machine (blue, red, pink, yellow)

Cardboard boxes (apple, orange, cherry, pear, peach, regular)

Champion’s pennant (red, green, black, blue)

Chalkboard (foreign language, art, after school, blank, math, music, club activities)

Chessboard (brown, black)

Coffee cup (elegant, plain, floral, polka dot, rose, royal)

Colorful wheel (items, colorful numbers, two toned numbers, win or lose, black & red)

Cypress bath (light wood, natural wood, dark wood)

Elaborate kimono stand (cranes, wisteria, hawk, balls, peonies)

Electric bass (cosmos black, deep ocean, shocking pink, natural wood, chic white, space silver, ash green)

Fishing-boat flag (longevity, bounty, big catch, launch)

Flashy flower sign (pop, elegant, cute)

Floating-biotope Planter (white, black, brown, artistic)

Floor lights (white, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, light blue, green)

Foosball table (brown, dark brown, blue)

Fortune-telling set (black, purple)

Garden gnome (IH sleepy, surprised, passionate, rebel, hungry, laid-back, reliable, springtly)

Garden lantern (black, bronze, white)

Globe (cool, sepia, standard)

Lecture-hall bench (light brown, dark brown)

Lecture-hall desk (dark brown, light brown, white)

Life Ring (blue, orange, red, yellow)

Low screen (IH light brown, dark brown, brown)

Menu chalkboard (IH natural, dark brown, blue, red, white)

Mr & Mrs Flamingos (natural, pink)

Office desk (white, beige & white, brown & black, gray)

Panda set (baby, mama, papa)

Paper lantern (natural, dark, orange)

Pinball Machine (white, red, blue, black, brown)

Record box (red, yellow, blue, green, gray, black, white)

Retro gas pump (red, yellow, green, black, white, rusted)

Rocket lamps (blue, red, yellow, turquoise, purple, green, pink)

School chairs (all, dm for full list)

School desks (all, dm for full list)

Screen (bamboo, dragon, plum, tiger, pine)

Old sewing machine (black, green, silver)

Train set (spring, summer, fall, winter)

Sandcastle (natural sand, white sand)

Shaved-ice maker (silver, green)

Street organ (blue, dark brown, yellow, natural)

Surfboard (white, red, hibiscus flowers, cool, stripes, brown)

Throwback container (IH blue, green, yellow, black, white, light blue, red)

Traditional tea set (floral, goldfish, plain)

Water cooler (white, black)

Items I can order 📬 To Order (TO)/I have (IH)

Accessories stand (IH white, brown, light blue, pink TO black)

Air circulator (TO pink, white, green, black, yellow)

Aluminum briefcase (TO gold bars) (IH cash money)

Analog kitchen scale (IH green, black, light blue TO red, blue, ivory, black, pink, yellow)

Anthurium plant (TO brown, white, light blue, black, pink)

Antique items (TO all, I do have some, dm for details)

Baby bear (TO caramel, choco, floral, checkered, cream, tweed)

Baby chair (TO blue, white, red, pink, yellow, green, black)

Ball (TO basketball, soccer ball, volley ball, dodge ball)

Barbecue (TO red, white, black, yellow, green)

Basketball hoop (TO green, blue, black)

Bathroom towel rack (TO gold, silver, copper, black)

Billiard table (TO blue, green, red)

Box corner sofa (black, magenta, orange, yellow, white, turquoise, pink, navy blue)

Box sofa (black, navy blue, white, turquoise, pink, yellow, orange, magenta) <- all sofas need to be ordered, except turquoise

Candle (TO gold, silver, copper, white, black)

Cartoonist’s set (TO black, silver, brown, pink)

Cat grass (IH light blue TO white, pink, red, black)

Cat tower (IH pink, gray TO beige, navy blue, brown, white)

Cute Set (TO sky blue, yellow, red, blue) (IH white, dm for details)

Climbing wall (IH natural, blue, white, pink)

Clothes line pole (TO silver, blue)

Cooler box (IH red, blue, TO green, yellow)

Corkboard (TO blue, natural, white)

Cypress plant (TO blue, white, yellow, black, brown)

Deluxe washer (IH blue, pink, white, yellow TO black, red)

Den desk (TO white, dark wood, brown wood, red wood, natural)

Diner neon sign (TO red, orange, green) (IH purple, blue)

Dish drying rack (IH blue TO yellow, red, black, white, silver)

Dolly (IH red, blue, green, pink, purple, white)

Double-door refrigerator (TO silver, white, red, black)

Drying rack (TO silver, ivory, black, white)

Elephant slide (TO blue, pink, red, light blue, white, black, gray, yellow)

Essay set (TO in progress, blank, writer’s block, letter)

Exit sign (TO <-, ->, red exit, <- ->)

Fancy violin (IH black, white) (TO natural)

Fireplace (TO dark brown, white, beige) (IH red)

Fragrance diffuser (TO white, pink, yellow, green, blue)

Fragrance sticks (TO black, blue, brown, green)

Garden faucet (TO wooden, concrete, stainless IH mosaic tile, red brick)

Garbage bin ( IH black, brown, yellow, blue TO green, red, blue, white)

Gas range (IH silver TO black, blue, white, red)

Gears (TO wooden, silver, copper, gears, black)

Glass holder with candle (TO white, red, pink, green, blue, purple)

Grand piano (IH black, white TO cherry, walnut)

Hamster cage (TO blue, yellow, red, brown, pink)

Harp (IH black, white TO brown, light brown, dark brown)

Imperial Items (TO all colors) (IH dm for details)

Incense burner (IH deep sea, sandalwood, tea, cherry blossoms TO rose, forest)

Knife Block (TO black) (IH silver, natural)

Macrame tapestry (TO white, green, pink, blue)

Metronome (TO cream, red, black, brown, blue)

Microwave (TO white, black, red, green)

Mug (TO red, blue, white, black, green, yellow, pink, turquoise)

Nail-art set (TO pink, black)

Oil Barrel (IH light blue, green, caution TO light green, blue, orange, caution, red, damaged)

Pants press (TO brown, gray, black)

Pedal board (pink, green, black)

Popcorn machine (TO black, blue) (IH pink, red, green)

Pot rack (IH silver TO pop, wooden)

Pro tape recorder (TO gray, brown, black)

Shower booth (TO white, blue, black) (IH pink)

Simple Panel (light gray, black, white, brown, brown, light brown, copper, silver, gold)

Speed bag (TO red) (IH black, blue)

Throwback skull radio (TO white, red, black, ash, green, gray)

Sturdy Sewing Box (dm details)

Looking For 🔍👀(LF)/I have 🤲(IH):

Air conditioner (LF brown, gray, white) (TO black, blue, pink)

Amp (LF orange, red) (IH black, brown TO blue, white, pink)

Broom and dustpan (LF dark brown) (IH natural TO colorful, white)

Bunk bed (LF black, pink) (IH silver, blue, yellow, white, red)

Camp stove (LF green) (TO brown, yellow, black, red, blue)

Camping cot (LF camo, pop, simple, snow) (TO red, green, blue, yellow)

Cassette player (LF green, yellow) (TO red, pink, silver, black, blue, white)

Celebratory candles (LF black, brown, light brown) (TO blue, white)

Cello (LF black) (IH natural, white)

Changing room (LF blue, dark brown) (IH gray, pink TO beige, black, green)

Claw foot tub (LF white, pink, blue, yellow) (TO red, black)

Clothes closet (LF blue, orange) (IH black, light blue, white, pink)

Cone (LF yellow, blue, caution) (IH red, white, green stripes, reflective stripes, caution, red stripes)

Cordless phone (LF red, pink) (TO white, black, silver, light blue, yellow)

Cream and sugar (LF silver) (TO brown, floral, white)

Cuckoo clock (LF red, blue) (TO yellow, white, black, green, natural)

Den chair (LF brown, camel, green, red) (TO black, white)

Desk mirror (LF blue) (TO gold, red, black, white, pink)

Desktop computer (LF white) (TO silver, pink, black)

Digital alarm clock (LF green, white, light blue, pink) (TO purple, orange, black, blue)

Digital scale (LF black, red, blue, brown, green) (TO yellow, white)

Diner Items (LF cream counter chair, cream counter table, cream dining table, cream sofa) (IH all aqua, rest TO)

Diner neon clock (LF pink, purple, aquamarine) (red, cream, blue, yellow)

Director's chair (LF black) (TO light brown, dark brown, white)

DJ’s turntable (LF white) (IH pink TO black, brown)

Double-sided wall clock (LF yellow, white, green) (IH black, red, silver)

Double sofa (LF green) (TO red, black, blue, white, light brown, dark brown)

Drum set (LF wood, pink, black & white) (TO yellow, green, white, black, blue)

Effects rack (LF orange, white) (TO black, blue, pink, red)

Electric guitar (LF cherry, natural wood, chic white, cosmos black) (IH sunburst, marine)

Electric kick scooter (LF white, blue, pink, green) (TO red, yellow)

Espresso maker (LF yellow, silver) (IH green, white TO red, blue, black)

Exercise ball (LF gold) (TO blue, black, pink, white)

Exercise bike (LF yellow) (TO black, white, red)

Fan (LF light blue, pink, black) (IH white)

Fan palm (LF blue, red) (TO green, black, white, brown)

Fax machine (LF black, red) (TO pink, white, brown)

Floor lamp (LF brown) (TO white, natural, black)

Floor seat (LF darkwood) (IH black, natural, lightwood)

Floor sign (LF stop, slippery) (TO no entry, warning IH no parking)

Folding chair (LF brown, black) (IH white, green, blue, red)

Folding lamp (LF white, blue, gray, black) (IH light green TO red, yellow, silver)

Formal paper (LF dark brown) (IH brown TO light brown)

Freezer (LF beige, silver) (IH white, black)

Golf bag (LF green, brown, pink) (IH colorful TO red, silver)

Hammock (LF light brown, blue, yellow, white, black) (TO pink, brown)

Handcart (LF black, blue) (TO green, yellow, red, brown)

Handy water cooler (LF blue, red, yellow, plaid) (TO green, avocado)

Heart doorplate (LF monotone, purple, light blue, green) (IH blue TO orange, red)

Hose reel (LF red, black) (TO silver, green, blue, yellow)

Hourglass (LF black, brown) (TO white, natural)

Humidifier (LF brown, natural, white, blue, pink, yellow, green) (TO purple)

Inflatable sofa (LF green, purple) (IH pink, blue polka, rainbow, camo TO lime)

Kitchen Island (LF blue, red, dark brown) (IH black TO white, light brown, silver)

Kitty litter box (LF orange, brown, green) (TO white, light blue, pink, black)

Laptop (LF black, white, pink, blue, silver) (IH red TO gold)

Lawn chair (LF red/white/blue, pink, yellow) (TO green, black, blue)

Lawn mower (LF blue, green, yellow) (TO red, orange)

Light switch (LF brown, wood grain) (TO white, silver)

Loft bed with desk (LF pink, black) (IH orange TO brown, natural, white, light blue)

Long bathtub (LF black marble, pink, light blue) (IH two-toned, white marble TO white, green)

Magnetic knife rack (LF wooden) (IH silver TO pop)

Mama bear (LF caramel, choco) (TO cream, caramel mocha, floral, checkered, tweed)

Microscope (LF black) (TO white, silver)

Mini fridge (LF black, yellow, wood) (TO gray, white, pink, red)

Mobile (LF hot air balloons, gorgeous) (IH space TO ocean, sheep)

Modern office chair (LF pink, green, yellow, light blue) (IH blue, red, black)

Monstera (LF black, brown) (TO red, blue, white, yellow)

Old-fashioned alarm clock (LF gold, copper, red, ) (TO white, light blue)

Outdoor bench (LF red, black) (TO white, green, blue)

Outdoor generator (LF orange, turquoise, red, yellow) (TO white, blue)

Outdoor table (LF black) (TO white, green, blue, red)

Painting set (LF pink, white) (TO yellow, blue)

Papa bear (LF caramel, checkered)

Party garland (LF pastel) (TO gorgeous, colorful, boating stripes, orange & black, pop)

Pennant (LF classic, sponsor, souvenir) (TO sports, university)

Pet bed (LF natural) (IH dark brown, white)

Pet food bowl (LF orange, blue) (TO green, pink, red)

Piano bench (LF light green, camel, green) (TO brown, white, black, red, blue)

Picnic basket (LF green, white, blue) (TO red, yellow, gray)

Plastic canister (LF gray) (IH red, white, blue, green)

Plastic pool (LF green, blue, pink) (TO orange, colorful, polka dots)

Poolside bed (LF light brown) (TO dark brown, orange)

Pop-up toaster (LF silver) (IH light blue, green TO white, yellow, red)

Portable radio (LF black, white, green, yellow) (IH red TO pink, blue, light blue)

Portable record player (LF blue) (TO pink, red, yellow, orange, green, black)

Protein shaker bottle (LF plain, strawberry) (TO vanilla, cocoa)

Pull-up-bar stand (LF red) (TO black, yellow, blue)

Puching bag (LF red, blue) (IH black)

Feel free to dm to set up a time to touch catalogue (meaning: you pick up the item and drop it so it's now available for you to purchase on your own on the Nooks Shopping app, please do not take the item without asking).

For things I can order, I will directly give the item to you since I am running out of room on my island (the lag is getting bad... plus my storage is very full) or have no place to put that item and I’d rather not have that item cluttering space in my storage. Some items I may not have on hand and will need to order. Bold items on my LF list are preferred to be touch catalogued only.

Even if you don't have anything on what I'm looking for, still feel free to dm me, I'll just ask you to help water the flower fields and/or ask for materials like stone or wood (just 5-10 pieces are fine, I know giving out a stack really cuts into your resources supply!) For large amounts of items, I’ll split them into cataloging over a few days since it takes time to gather everything. Again please DM me, I tend to miss replies and not pay attention to likes either. On the other hand, if I don't have something you want, but you have something I am looking for, send me your wishlist! I may be able to help out with those.

No matter how old this post is, as long as its not crossed out it's still going! Again thanks for reading through this entire post, I know it's a bit long but I'm cramming as much information on one post so we'll be on the same page ☺

Edit (7/26/2020) I am unsure of what I have on hand because I now have two profiles, so I will have to check. Also for large amounts of items that you want to catalogue from me, I will limit to around 15-20 items per day and ask you to help water! It takes time to gather all the items so this is what I will be asking of you.

#acnh #acnh trade #acnh wishlist #acnh catalog #i need to set up a cataloging area lol #my entrance is very cluttered #hm... maybe the beach by the airport #long post #i wish to make an extremely beefy catalog #I have more things to add but I don't feel like going through my catalog again #this was in my drafts for like a week lol #wow this list is really long and kind of unbearable lol

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cypresstextiles · 4 years ago

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Garden Walk Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern

Hello, lovely! I have a surprise pattern drop for you today! This is my much anticipated Garden Walk Crochet Blanket Pattern. It features a traditional and solid granny as well as a fun and preppy half-striped square. This pattern was offered as a free promo by Interweave Press during the promotion of my book, The… Continue reading Garden Walk Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern

The post Garden Walk Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern appeared first on cypress|textiles.

from WordPress https://cypresstextiles.net/2020/08/28/garden-walk-blanket-free-crochet-pattern/

#Free Patterns #Colour Crafter Yarn

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caddy-whump-us · 5 years ago

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Happy Leap Day~ So I meant to post this on Valentine’s Day but, you know, stuff happens. And I’ve been having a lousy few weeks. So this is just some Nikolai and Jonathan fluff. (“Just”--I think their angst is really based on the contrast between their lives before and their lives after Nikolai is captured.)

Also, you can picture this party looking like something from a Jane Austen or Merchant Ivory movie, and that’s fine. But I like to think that it’s a bit more colorful all around--no plain black-and-white tuxedos; maybe the design is the same, but with more stripes and patterns and colors please and thank you. Making Oscar Wilde proud. Puce gloves (winky face).

---

The music was still clear even out on the terrace behind the house. Laughter came out with it and the light from the candles and chandeliers. But it was cooler outside than in. A handful of couples walked along the terrace and the garden paths under the moon, all the bright colors of their dancing clothes washed silver.

There was flickering movement in the moonlight in a cluster of cypress trees in the garden and, hopping down the terrace steps, Nikolai went towards it.

A low fountain played in the center of the stone path in the ring of cypresses. And Jonathan was walking in slow circles around it.

Nikolai peered around a cypress. “I thought I’d find you out here.”

Jonathan started, turned to him, and smiled. He was chewing on a wisp of mint from under the trees.

“You know how exhausting it is to be in such a crowd for so long.”

Nikolai came up to him and touched his hand. “I do know. It bothers me less than it bothers you, I know that too. And I do like dancing. So it took me a moment to realize--” and he fell quiet.

They were quiet together for a time with the music sliding between the cypresses and the sound of the fountain.

“I do think you look very fine in your dancing clothes, though,” Nikolai said. It was too dark to see him blush, but Nikolai knew that he would and Nikolai pulled closer to him.

There was applause coming from the house and only ringing sounds of voices and laughter. They both looked back up toward the terrace. A few moments passed. A bird sang in the darkness somewhere. And then the music began again, slow this time, and gliding.

Nikolai turned to Jonathan. “If I asked you to dance with me, would you dance with me?”

Jonathan, like as not blushing again, answered, “Yes.”

“Would you dance with me?”

“Yes.”

They took one another’s hands and settled against each other--but with a little fumbling since they both only knew the man’s side of the dance. They shuffled, they settled. They held for a moment, listening, and then took a step together--Jonathan stepped on Nikolai’s toes.

Nikolai set his head against the hollow of Jonathan’s shoulder and laughed. “I don’t know this side”

“Here,” Jonathan said, and he slid the toes of his shoes under the toes of Nikolai’s shoes. “Didn’t anyone ever dance with you like this when you were young?”

“No,” Nikolai laughed. “Can you imagine my aunt doing that?”

A pause.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think--” And Jonathan dropped his gaze.

“No--” Nikolai caught Jonathan’s face in his hands and turned it to face him again. “Just dance with me.” And Nikolai could feel him smile under his hands.

Jonathan led and Nikolai followed with his feet still balanced on Jonathan’s. Sometimes the wind blew the music farther away and the sound of the cypresses covered it, but they found their way along, stepping softly on the pavingstones and the grass.

By and by, Nikolai stepped off Jonathan’s feet and followed on his own--but only for a moment until the music stopped again. They stepped apart, laughing quietly in the dark.

“I’m not a very good partner for you,” Nikolai said, still laughing.

“I very much disagree. You only stepped on my toes once.”

“And then stayed there.”

“Yes, but you only stepped on them the once.”

The music came over to them again--something faster this time, something rollicking.

Nikolai held out his hands to Jonathan and grinned. “Dance with me again.”

And Jonathan grabbed Nikolai’s hands as Nikolai pulled them both into a spin. Nothing so formal this time, no tidy steps, no sides, no rules. They held each other’s shoulders and plunged around in the cypresses, laughing, stomping across the stones then spinning again. They jigged around each other, hooked arms, paraded and promenaded together, nearly tripped into the fountain and laughed at that, swung one another out at arm’s length--all the messy grandeur of a country dance.

They spun around once more, holding each other’s wrists, but too hard and too fast this time--Nikolai lost his footing and fell back into the shadows under the cypress trees and brought Jonathan along with him.

They laughed at first then lay there in the mint and roses and cypress for a long moment, breathing hard. The wind blew the music away again and there was only wind and breath and water and the smell of crushed mint.

It was slow but perhaps inevitable that Jonathan would slide his hands up and under Nikolai’s shoulders and that Nikolai would set his hands around Jonathan’s face. The moon shone silver in Nikolai’s eyes and turned Jonathan’s hair from bronze to gold. Their legs tangled together.

“If I asked you to kiss me,” Nikolai said (crooked half-smile), “would you kiss me?”

“Yes,” Jonathan whispered.

“Would you kiss me?”

Jonathan said nothing (needed to say nothing) but drew one hand out from under Nikolai’s back and ran his thumb (smelling sharply of mint, near on to pepper) along Nikolai’s lip. And they held there for a moment, eye to eye, Nikolai trying not to smile, Jonathan teasing him by making him wait.

The rollicking music stopped, the applause after died away, someone laughed brightly out in the dark of the garden, and Jonathan kissed him.

They lay there a little longer after, looking at each other, Nikolai playing with a bit of Jonathan’s hair, Jonathan smiling. Another thread of slow and sweeping music drifted out to them and Jonathan pushed himself up from the grass and roses.

“Here,” he said. “You asked me to dance, and now I’ll ask you. Would you dance with me?” He held out his hand.

Smiling, Nikolai took it. “Yes.”

Another slow, gliding song came from the open doors of the ballroom. Jonathan began to set his hands for another round of the same slow dance as before, but Nikolai stopped him.

He took hold of Jonathan’s jacket lapels and looked up at him, black eyes shining. “Let’s make our own steps.”

Nikolai had a leaf caught in his hair; Jonathan picked it out and tossed it aside. “Our own steps.” He nodded. “All right.”

Nikolai slipped his hands up Jonathan’s back and held him there. A glance to his face and he settled his head in the hollow of Jonathan’s shoulder. And Jonathan slid his hands, one around Nikolai’s waist and the other around his back. The music came floating back and they found their own way, stepping gently and lightly in slow circles. Nikolai moved his arms up and around Jonathan’s neck. Jonathan kissed Nikolai behind the ear.

Perhaps there were no elaborate steps to their dance, but still they moved together, flickering through the moonlight and then the shadows of the cypresses.

A few turns around the fountain and they moved with a little more grace, taking longer strides, turning more easily, lighter on their feet (the red paint on the heels of Nikolai’s shoes flashing a little brighter). They bent closer together, they leaned away to see each other. And they slowed again as the song bent towards its end, their eyes closed, barely moving but for a little shuffle that kept them turning.

And when the last note held for the end of the dance, they held each other: Nikolai with his arms still around Jonathan’s neck and Jonathan with his arms around Nikolai’s back. The music died. They shuddered, they breathed, and then stepped back from each other.

“We should go back,” Nikolai said, looking down at the stone path between them.

“We should,” Jonathan said, then tipped his head, almost a shrug. “By and by.” And then he turned away towards the shadows in between the cypresses at the far end of the little alcove he’d found. He pushed aside the branches.

Nikolai was at his side in an instant. “Where are you going?”

“Would you like to see? We’ll keep behind the hedges and no one will see us.

Nikolai looked over his shoulder. “They’ll wonder where we’ve gone.”

Jonathan shrugged and passed between the cypresses. “Let them wonder.”

He turned back, his face a new-moon glimmer between the trees, and held out his hand between the branches. Nikolai took his hand in both of his own and, smiling, followed him down through the trees.

#not whump #fluff #romantic fluff #vampires #Nikolai #jonathan #backstory

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dreamterlude · 6 years ago

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please do feel free to share that exposition on starry night that would take hours to write if you feel like it i love reading things people are passionate about

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh

About the painter.

Through all his life, Van Gogh created around 900 paintings and more than 1600 drawings. Out of all of them, he only sold a few while he was alive, like “The Red Vineyard” and “The Night Café”. In this exposition, though, I will talk about one of his unsold paintings, one he actually disliked: Starry Night.

Around the time he painted Starry Night (June 9th, 1899), Van Gogh was voluntarily hospitalised at the Saint-Paule-de-Mausole mental institution, due to the mental health issues he suffered from. It was in that institution where he created the painting, we know this thanks to a letter to his brother Theo, in which he said: "this morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.”

Months later, away from Saunt-Paule, Van Gogh died of a bullet wound in his chest while he was walking around the fields of Auvers-sur-Oise. Historicists still don’t know whether he was the one who shot himself or not, certain theories accuse two young boys that the painter knew to be the ones responsible for his death, but again, nothing has been confirmed.

The painting, oil on canvas.

Van Gogh had already expressed his wish to paint night skies in a letter to his brother, and he had already done so in prior paintings such as “Starry Nigh Over the Rhône” and “Café Terrace at Night”. But this one is the most famous of his nocturnal paintings, the most known and loved.

The painting, which belongs to the post-impressionism era, depicts a dawn seen from the room at the institution Van Gogh was hospitalised at, and it shows some technical characteristics, explained below.

Firstly, taking a look at the composition, it clearly follows along the lines of the painter’s own style: horizontal stripes with a dark element on the left (the cypress), followed by a vast extension (the fields and the city) and the main object in the middle (the sky).

Secondly, something that quickly catches the viewer's eye is the use of mainly two colors, blue and yellow. This is a clear influence of impressionism, the prior artistic movement, in which color theory was a thing incredibly present, with its opposite and complementary colors combinations, Van Gogh keeps this with him and uses it to present the last moments of night.

However, on the contrary to impressionism, the painter keeps the outlines in the lower part of the scene, where the city of Saint-Remy appears. This choice, which appears in nearly all of Van Gogh’s painting and could be due to Gauguin’s influence, creates a contrast between the sky, completely void of outlines.

Another thing that deviates from typical impressionism is the treatment of light. The painter doesn’t wish to represent the effect light has on the scene, light is simply part of it, in and around the stars, like halos.

On the matter of brush strokes, they are free and curve, inspired by Seurat’s work and Japanese art. The paint is applied directly on the canvas, in big amounts.

Lastly, despite Van Gogh’s love for depicting nature, in this painting he’s not truly faithful to it, because the scene is based more on his own fantasy and imagination than in real nature. “Starry Night” does not represent the true vision Van Gogh had from his window, it is only inspired in a reality to which he added his own twist.

Some curiosities.

According to some theories, the painting is related to death, due to the object on the left being a cypress, a tree mainly found in cemeteries. This theory could be supported by and based on one of the painter’s quotes: “Looking at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream over the black dots representing towns and villages on a map. Why, I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take a train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star. We cannot get to a star while we are alive any more than we can take the train when we are dead. So to me it seems possible that cholera, tuberculosis and cancer are the celestial means of locomotion. Just as steamboats, buses and railways are the terrestrial means. To die quietly of old age would be to go there on foot.”

The city on the lower part, Saint-Remy, was actually impossible to be seen from Van Gogh’s room, this is how we know that the painter “invented” the scene from the painting.

Finally, the “morning star” is in reality the planet Venus. This was discovered by the historicist Albert Boime, when comparing the painting to a map of the sky from the day Van Goh painted it.

If you want to see the genially presentation it’s here, though it’s in Spanish, sorry!!

#ask #i done did it fjdjfj #thank you for asking this ♡♡♡#its not nice but eh fjdjf #starry night #vincent van gogh #art

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andrearussel29-blog · 6 years ago

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cdevroe · 3 years ago

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2021 in review: blog and projects

I thought it would be fun to review what has happened this past year on my blog, what I had set out to do, and what I’ve accomplished. I’m hoping that by writing this post it will give me some clarity on what I may want to try to do in 2022.

January

In very early January, I published My typical day and tagged other bloggers to do the same. If I had stats on this blog I’m guessing it would show that this post was my most popular for the year. Bloggers from around the world chimed in. I don’t even know if I managed to capture them all. It was really great to read everyone’s daily routines.

Also in January I published my Best of 2020 post. I really hope I get 2021’s best of post finished in the same time frame this year.

And as the month ended I put a stake in the ground stating that I wanted to start getting some of my code out in the world.

A very quick overview of what I did in this regard in 2021:

I formalized some code I had written for a client a few years ago, launched StripeTransfer.com and have helped many companies in 2021 transfer subscriptions from one Stripe account to another. It has also generated tens of thousands of dollars of extra income for us. I’m super happy with this result.

I released two WordPress themes; Cypress and Red Oak that both are available for free via Micro.blog as well. And I’ve managed to get several releases of these out over the year. They’ve sold fairly well but not as well as I would have hoped. However, since Cypress also runs my personal site it was worth the effort.

I did not release any major updates to Unmark in 2021. Kyle and I are deciding the hosted version’s future. But it will always be available as open source.

I’ve written a lot of code in 2021 and I’m super happy about that. I’d like to write a lot more in 2022. But I’d like to focus my efforts a bit. More on this in the near future as I revisit this topic.

February

Deep into winter, I was spending a lot of time in the darkroom and using the trail cam.

March

This was the month with the greatest number of individual posts to the blog at 71. The vast majority of these posts were status updates. I wish I published this many posts more often. I’ve said this many times, but if posting to my own blog were much easier from my phone I would probably post at least twice as many posts. Perhaps if you’re reading this you’re happy I don’t!

I made a lot of progress on Cypress in late-February and early March and it launched on March 4.

It was also in March that I decided to share my thoughts on NFTs and energy use.

I published an episode of my podcast. I haven’t managed to publish any more this year for the podcast. Switching instead to posting YouTube videos. I don’t know what the future holds for my podcast. We will see.

I finally published my photo library management solution near the end of March. Something I had been wanting to do for months.

April

In April I put out a wee bit of code in the HTML Family tree. I had built something for my family and so I decided to release it. I feel like this is something that should be iterated on. I don’t particularly have the passion for it – but I believe it could be useful. Someone should take what I’ve started and run with it.

In April I released Red Oak on Micro.blog first and then on WordPress.

I also drew an icon for my wife’s side hustle.

In mid-April I mentioned that I missed posting on The Watercolor Gallery so I started putting more effort into it. As a result, for the first year ever (11 years running) The Watercolor Gallery was profitable and I’m really enjoying what I’ve done over there.

May

In May I released the Micro.blog bookmarklet. I do not know for sure, but it seems like a lot of people use this. I hope they do!

I also started painting more regularly in May. I find it very relaxing and should do more of it.

May is also when the garden exploded into life.

In May I created my Links page. I’ve found this to be super helpful page to have. I recommend making one yourself.

The Watercolor Gallery opened up for sponsorships in May. I started by asking a few online friends (like Micro.blog, Acorn, Exposure) to help out to get the ball rolling. I’ve managed to sell most months through 2020.

I published a fair number of my “What I saw” series of posts. I’m now up to #89 (as of this writing). They are my least popular posts (at least, as far as comments go) but they are a great resource to look back on.

Went lake trout fishing.

June

Jeremy Brown drew me the avatar I’ve been using throughout 2021. It has served me well this year but I’m thinking of switching it up in 2022.

I published My current opinion of crypto.

StripeTransfer.com officially launched!

I built three garden beds using reclaimed wood from my mother-in-laws.

I published my portraits of William Chickillo. It is still my goal to do a lot more environmental portraiture – which means, photos of people in their environment – and I’ve been thinking about it every day since. I’ve managed to get a lot of photos out the door in 2021 but I wish I had done an awful lot more. I get turned down a lot when I ask people I’m interested in photographing to take their photo. I know all photographers deal with rejection. But it discourages me just enough not to push. I need to just get over and push harder.

July

In July the garden beds started to take off. I published an interview with Shari Blaukopf. I also met someone via Flickr in my hometown that used to live in my house in the 1960s.

Oh, we made our first pizzas in our Roccbox. After a few tries we started to make some really great ones.

I did my first 50% off sale in July which generated some sales. I am also doing one now in December.

August

We got Penelope! Eliza bought me AirPods Pro and I have used them every single day since. Here is my initial observations.

At the end of August we went on a trip through New York State and Vermont and I took a little social media break.

September

I asked if anyone else was going to switch away from Google for email. It took a few months, but I have now fully switched away from Google and am using iCloud+ for email and I am so happy that I did it. See November.

October

I wrote about photographing 40-foot falls after the remnants of a hurricane breezed through the area.

I also iterated on the copy on Stripe Transfer and managed to land the largest customer I’ve had to date – which I ended up doing while in the car using my mobile device for a connection. Definitely made me sweat a little.

I finished reading Project Hail Mary – probably my favorite book of 2021.

I went on vacation.

November

Made the switch to iCloud+.

iCloud+ allows a few more junk emails through than Google did, however I’m far happier to not be using Google anymore.

This meant that I also deleted about 100,000 photos from Google Photos. This must be done individually because, well, Google is user hostile. So I sorted my files by size and deleted them that way to reduce the amount of space I used as quickly as I could. I’m now on Google’s free plan and I hope to remove the rest of my photos soon.

I published the Sandbridge Beach Houses series. I’ve seen made several postcard prints in the darkroom with these and have sent them to friends. I also uploaded a video to YouTube going through the entire set.

I published an interview on The Watercolor Gallery with an NFT artist.

December

I uploaded a video to YouTube covering my quarantine project where I built a camera obscura out of our bedroom.

I published an update to Cypress and put my themes on sale for the remainder of the month.

I deleted my social media follows, subscriptions for RSS, podcasts, YouTube, newsletters, etc. Everything I could possibly find I deleted to start fresh. I’ve only followed a few accounts since. Trying to hold off until 2022 before I begin rebuilding my echo chamber – hopefully with all new sounds.

—

This is an incomplete overview of my year – but a fair overview of what I published to this blog. It doesn’t include many personal things and nothing about my day job – which was incredibly busy during 2021. Now that I’ve gotten all of this out of my brain I can move onto the task of deciding what my goals for 2022 will be. I’m very excited about what I might be able to spend my time on.

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starwood-stranded-archived · 7 years ago

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Isildur, Aridatha, and Lioska recruit Freya as Clan Lukra’s new quartermaster, so that Isildur can move on to her desired role as editor of Cypress’ newspaper.

Looking at the letter on her desk, Aridatha wondered briefly, and pointlessly, if she ought to take Isildur’s preference for written communication as a sign of dislike rather than an instrument of efficiency. It would not greatly surprise her if so; as far as she’d seen, Isildur didn’t particularly like anyone. Were Aridatha inclined to be negative, she might have suggested that Isildur viewed her fellow dragons with all the passion and affection she showed towards the objects she managed in the clan’s hoard, but Isildur wasn’t insensitive to others’ needs and emotions; she simply took little interest in them. If it were personal distaste behind Isildur’s tendency to send letters rather than speak face-to-face, Aridatha hardly could have faulted her for it, considering the efficiency with which she did the unenviable job of tracking and organizing such a mess of resources. Aridatha didn’t need her quartermaster to like her, just to get the work done.

But if it were personal distaste, Aridatha imagined that Isildur would not send letters inviting her to in-person meetings, as she had the day before. Actually, she could wish that more dragons would give notice and schedule appointments when they had concerns, rather than seeking her out at any hour of the day, without notice, no matter what important and unwise-to-interrupt task she might be engaged in at the time.

Isildur’s concern today was her own retirement. The skydancer had long since expressed interest in leaving her own post to work at Cypress’ budding newspaper -- now all the more important to the clan since they had word of plague to spread to the rest of Sornieth. Since the prospect of ever stepping into an untended hoard -- one that had returned to its sprawling, chaotic, pre-Isildur state -- Aridatha had asked the quartermaster to retain her role until she could find someone else to replace her. Now, apparently, she had. But, of course, Aridatha had to meet this stranger before potentially offering them such a vital role in her clan.

Lioska would be there as well, for security, though Aridatha wasn’t sure what kind of threat she really anticipated -- she found herself questioning Lioska’s “security” measures more than ever now, after the clan had faced a threat that all of Lioska’s supposed hard work had failed to protect them from. Not that she blamed Zeal on Lioska, of course not; she simply wondered what the point of caution was, now that they’d seen how easily friends could be torn away …

Aridatha managed to shake such thoughts from her head as she headed out of the lair, towards the designated meeting point. She’d glanced into Lioska’s chambers on her way down from her own and found them empty, so she assumed Lioska would meet her there. Probably she was already there, as she tended to adhere more rigidly to punctuality than Aridatha. Something in the back of Aridatha’s mind -- the same thing that had tried to extrapolate so ridiculously from Isildur’s letter -- suggested feeling hurt, that Lioska had not made the walk with Aridatha, but there was certain to be a perfectly reasonable explanation that was not the simple and histrionic “she hates me now.” Perhaps Lioska had come directly from another task.

As she’d expected, Aridatha found both Isildur and Lioska waiting for her in the small clearing that comprised their meeting place. Between them sat a blue coatl with golden stripes running down her body. She was beautiful, sitting with her talons folded demurely before her.

The interview with the coatl, Freya, went well, and soon Aridatha and Lioska had both approved her as the clan’s new quartermaster. Aridatha returned to her quarters thinking that whatever Isildur had thought of her before, she’d be more pleased now: though she wasn’t a highly emotional dragon, Aridatha could tell she was quite satisfied at shedding her unwanted post. Not that it was completely shed quite yet -- Isildur still had to help Freya get settled in and learn her systems of organizing the hoard. But soon Isildur could edit to her heart’s content. And, knowing Isildur, that would be quite a lot of editing.

#fr writing #fr lore #flight rising #flight rising writing #isildur #freya #aridatha #lioska #i'm REALLY not happy with this but i need to get it out so freya's existence can be Canon #didn't even bother to write the dialogue ugh

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mariaclaragomez276 · 4 years ago

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Picture Perfect: 10 of the world’s most Instagrammable boutique hotels

In a digital age in which more people are on some form of social media than not, postcards have given way to posts on the ever-popular Instagram grid, a picture-perfect world of ‘punny’ captions, hashtags, and emojis. Scrolling, swiping, double-tapping, and story highlighting have all but replaced printed photo albums of half-blurred holiday snaps on film you needed to get developed. With so many photogenic places to choose from, we’ve rounded up the best boutique hotel Instagram accounts to follow for your daily dose of wanderlust – bookmark these #nofilterneeded beauties for your next aesthetic adventure, and don’t forget to enjoy the view while you’re there…

Halcyon House, Cabarita Beach – Australia

@_halcyonhouse

Cornflower blue muddled in an eclectic mixture of pastel pinks and soft greens, a patchwork of prints and mis-matched frames alongside hatstands and fabric headboards, seaside touches of shell trinket dishes and marine life illustrations. And oh, the pool. With its nautical blue and white striped loungers lined with swaying palms and drapes billowing in the Cabarita Beach breeze. We could go on forever about every aesthetic corner of Halcyon House, our Most Liked Hotel of 2020, but we’ll let you do some scrolling through @_halcyonhouse and its equally gorgeous restaurant @_paperdaisy_ and lifestyle account @halcyonatelier instead.

From the feed…

Castello di Reschio, Umbria – Italy

@reschio

It’s not difficult to see why Castello di Reschio, a meticulously designed thousand-year-old castle on the Umbrian-Tuscan border, was recognised with the Most Inspirational Interiors at this year’s SLH Awards, along with being one of our Highly Commended Most Liked Hotels. Dating back to 1050, there is a story behind every lovingly restored terracotta brick, with bespoke furniture handpicked by architect Count Benedikt Bolza and his wife Nencia Corsini. Personal touches are hidden within each room, from vintage photographs to ornaments discovered in local antique markets. Think hand-stitched linen curtains, ancient wooden beams running through the ceiling, exposed stonework dotted with original oil paintings, and impossibly smooth marble finishing in the bathrooms. And this is all before you’ve even started to explore the 1,500-hectare estate, scattered with traditional farmhouses available for exclusive hire, a state-of-the-art stable block home to some of the world’s finest purebred Spanish horses (look out for their dressage videos on @reschio), and a rustic outdoor pool overlooked by Il Torrino, the castle’s original watchtower turned trendy pool bar.

From the feed…

Canaves Oia Suites, Santorini – Greece

@canavesoia

One of the most photographed destinations in the world, the cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings covered in fuschia flowers, and Cycladic blue cupolas of Santorini fill the Instagram feeds of most travel enthusiasts. The pristine white rooms of Canaves Oia Suites are set into the dark volcanic rocks, each with individual terraces overlooking the Aegean Sea. Every shade of blue can be found on @canavesoia which keeps its palette as simple as its striking surroundings.

From the feed…

Cap Rocat, Mallorca – Spain

@cap_rocat

The dusky pink hues of this former military fortress’ walls are the perfect backdrop for any picture, whether it’s by the drawbridge, the palm-filled terrace, that infinity pool cut into the cliff, or the private rock beach with direct access to the sea. There is a photo opportunity at every twist and turn, not to mention onboard the hotel’s private yacht. There’s a touch of Mallorcan magic about sleeping in the fortified citadel of Cap Rocat, while the naturally lit hammam excavated in the heart of the fortress is an absolute must-see. Satisfy your Mediterranean cravings with a scroll through @cap_rocat in all its golden hour glory.

From the feed…

Miramonti Boutique Hotel, The Dolomites – Italy

@miramontiboutiquehotel

A spellbinding setting in sunshine or snow, Miramonti Boutique Hotel is picture-perfect all year round. With its horizon-edged infinity pool and a 360-degree Alpine vista, the natural beauty of this high altitude retreat and its mountainside surroundings is captured on @miramontiboutiquehotel in endless forest-fringed and water-reflected shots. Foodies can enjoy dinner with a view at the hotel’s 1,230-metre high Panorama Restaurant, or share raclette and homemade patisserie in the 19th-century, wood panelled Stube.

From the feed…

Le Coucou Méribel, The Alps – France

@lecoucoumeribel

Be sure to pack your most stylish pair of salopettes for a stay at Le Coucou Méribel, whose Instagram feed looks like it’s straight from a Vogue ski editorial. Pierre Yovanovitch’s chic interiors run from the rooms to the restaurants at this ski-in ski-out lodge, with geometric shapes, teddy bear chairs, pale wooden tones and wall-length windows to let the bluebird daylight in. After exploring the 330 pistes at your feet, leave your boots to dry in the elegant Ski Room while you take a dip in one of the spa’s indoor-outdoor heated infinity pools.

From the feed…

Hôtel Lou Pinet, Saint Tropez – France

@hotelloupinet

The effortlessly chic Saint Tropez sister hotel to Le Coucou, every inch of Hôtel Lou Pinet oozes Riviera glamour. This hotel was made to be photographed, with its rustic rouge umbrellas lining the pine and lavender scented pool, the Côte d’Azur blue shutters, and graphic printed interiors. Celebrating local artists and renowned French designers, the carefully curated grid of @hotelloupinet shares colourful artworks alongside its own images, creating a pretty palette of Provençal shades and Mediterranean hues.

From the feed…

Hôtel Crillon le Brave, Provence – France

@hotelcrillonlebrave

Completing the trio of stylish sister hotels, the nine stone houses of Hôtel Crillon le Brave are bathed in the famous Provençal light that once inspired the sketches of Cezanne and Van Gogh. The quintessentially French interiors have been given a modern twist, with terracotta tiles, colourful throws and handpicked antique furniture. Sprigs of lavender and a straw sunhat are thoughtfully laid on the end of the bed, giving this château a rustic yet romantic feel. Look out over the rolling hills dotted with cypress trees from the hotel’s relaxed dining space, La Table du Ventoux, with a glass of the region’s famous wine in hand. @hotelcrillonlebrave is very much in keeping with its sisters’ Instagram aesthetic, while flower-laden bicycles in lavender fields and wicker baskets of organic produce give it a distinctly Provençal personality.

From the feed…

Storfjord Hotel, Skodje – Norway

@storfjordhotel

Minimalist Scandi-chic is all over the Instagram feeds of fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencers – but nowhere does it quite like Storfjord Hotel, a secluded log cabin on a wooded, fjord fringed hilltop in Alpine Norway. Step into a Scandinavian folk tale of antler chandeliers, soft throws over antique furniture, and a soothing neutral palette to complement natural materials. With the Sunmøre Alps on your doorstep, you’ll want to photograph the landscape as much as this hotel’s interiors. Hygge hunters will find an invitingly cosy aesthetic of homemade honey, crackling fireplaces, and snow-dusted scenery on @storfjordhotel – it’ll soon be top of your winter wish list.

From the feed…

Quinta Da Comporta – Wellness Boutique Resort, Comporta – Portugal

@quintadacomporta

Imagined and invented by renowned Portuguese architect Miguel Câncio Martins, Quinta Da Comporta blends seamlessly with its surroundings, from the sun-bleached woods to the sandy furnishings. Step inside to whitewashed walls and cool-toned touches, reflective of both traditional Portuguese style and contemporary design. Each room has a luxurious beach hut feel, with rustic-style furniture drawn from a natural colour palette. If you’re in need of some interior inspiration, look no further than @quintadacomporta – start planning your dream home, and holiday, all at once.

From the feed…

All image credits can be found on the respective Instagram channels. For further Instagrammable inspiration, follow @smallluxuryhotels to begin building your bucketlist.

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