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iceprincessviviane · 1 year

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Last will. - Heritage series prologue.

Paring: poly!BTS (Demons) x Female!Shy!Skinny!Chosen!Reader

Type: dark romance, horror au, soulmate au, poly relationship, slowburn, yandere.

Warnings: Horror themes, some religion themes (mostly demonic), gore, blood, manipulation, witchcraft, magic themes, death (side characters), mentionings of forced marriage, mentioning about past, loss, yandere, obsessive, possessive, swearing, low self-esteem,dealing with grief, sugestive content and silly jokes created by me. (If there is more to add let me know.)

Next chapter.

Summary: When old, lonely lady is dying, some mysteries are revealed, which none is expecting. Someone is going to take advantage of that for sure.

Author's note: It was around Halloween and I was getting inspired and decided to try something in good, old scary mood. I might be not good at it, so sorry! And it's based kinda of my strange dream. Action is supposed to be in northen Canada in make up city, this is how it was in my dream so I will let it stay. Sorry if that has no logic at all. Dream was really strange and first chapters are mostly based on that, rest it just written by me as continuation. Introduction is long and whole mansion is based on one from Tonb Raider series (Legend/Underworld). English isn't my first language so sorry for all mistakes.

Dedication for the @aris-ink meance (angel) which supporter me all the way along and mostly I'm posting because she gave me a wings 💖

MINORS DNI

In modern office was sitting very old and elegant lady. She had old-fashioned dress and her white hair were in tight bun. Fine jewllery was on her neck, same was for wrist and ears. The stones were shinging in light of the lamp. She sat opposite young notary, which was writing somethine with pen on his documents. Dame was visibly getting impatient, her assistant was making meaningful glances at worker, but he didn't even noticed. After few minutes she sighed and tapped her emaciated on light brown desk.

"I am sorry ma'am, it has to be perfect."

She rolled her eyes and looked around. Office was big and bright, outside was raining heavy, wall of water and sometimes the sky was pierced by thunder. There was computer on the other side of the desk and big bookshelf filled by documents and books about the law. On the wall was hanging put some awards and certificates which notary finished successfuly.

"My boy, I am sorry to interrupting you, but in fact I don't have much time. I am going to die very soon and I need to do a lot." Old lady said bitterly.

"I am sorry ma'am." He gave her sympathetic smile and put down pen. "I have ended your last will as you wished."

Notary handed her document. She read it with little frown. It was strange for her, but the time has come and she had to take care of last things in this world.

"I have concated the curator of museum you have mentioned. He is thrilled by your proposition and agreed to all your terms."

"I am glad then. I hope this will do good for next generations." Old lady smiled warmly.

"But there is one problem. Being specific about the mansion in Grand Hillsam." Man said looking at the name of the town.

Immediately old lady's glance became cold and suspicious. "What about it?"

"I have found that in fact it's part of Canadian heritage and it was just under your custody ma'am. It can't be given to any museum or anyone unless the government agree or the owner can't take care of it. I have tried to contact the office in Grand Hillsam and they have sent me to someone higher."

Old lady scoffed and waved her head with annoying expression. She tapped desk again, looked like wanting to light a cigarette.

"But they have stated that, after your death it will become clear what will happen to the mansion. It can't be made into museum if it's not proven that mansion would be left all alone."

"But I wanted to avoid passing it to anyone. That's why I wanted to make museum there and give all historical stuff away as gifts."

"They are very thankful, but your family last will is above that. You were not living there in fact, only someone who lives there can decide about mansion." Young man sighed taking out some documents. "I have searched it very carefuly, but can't do anything about that."

"That's bullshit." She cursed not like a lady. "I have paying all the bills and sending money to take some care of this mansion. I just didn't want to live there." She frowned.

"And as your family stated, only person who lives there can decided to such things as selling or giving up the mansion. After your death your family and far family will be informed about it. If they won't be able to take care of it, it will be made into museum." Notary said shrugging with helplessness.

"But I have no family. That's why I am giving away the money and things."

"Well... that's not true ma'am... the office searched through documents as did I. You have a very distant family, here in Europe."

"But they have been thrown out of my lineage almost three hundred years ago. The testement didn't include them in any case."

"Well... the office in Canada have stated that unless your famil won't care about mansion or simply can't because of money, then yes it will be made into museum."

Old lady sighed slowly, but then nodded. "If it's all, please let me sign it and let's end this farse."

Soon notary handed her all necessary documents. She signed them with diligence. They have left office and her assistant helped her by softly holding arm. He was middle age man, who served her long time. When they were in the car, driver almost immediately pulled into driveway.

"Damnit, it was so close to get rid of this stupid mansion and it's secrets. I am sure they have had their word in this." She said staring at the window and terrible weather.

"So what now? Your distant family will be called to Grand Hillsam that's for sure." Assistant said with worrying tone.

"I will make sure, that they won't want to stay there and will be protected. I need to be at home as fast as possible."

}*{

It was dark outside and was raining almost all time. Week has passed since old lady was in the office. Now she was lying at bed, weak and in fact annoyed. She lighted a cigarette and took a deep breath. Her assistant just left bedroom. It was quite big one, with canopy bed, balcony, big wardrobe and high bookshelf.

"You shouldn't be smoking." Happy voice said with concern.

"I am dying, I can do whatever I want." Old lady's words were horase. "I don't care how I am going to die, I am going to enjoy life till my last breath."

"You are still the same." Green eyes flashed in dim room, just on the bookshelf.

Small, dark as night cat hopped on the floor and made it's way to the bed.

"Thank's God, I was thinking that Harry was making you suspicious." Old lady said bitterly.

"It was hard to make my way here and this form." Cat said and stopped near the bed, that lady could see him.

"I need your owner'a help." She confessed.

"We know. That is why I am here, but don't know the details."

"I wanted to give up the mansion. To get rid of it, make family free. But of course they have stepped in." Old lady frowned with disgust.

"Well it was sure, that it won't be so easy."

"Officials said that until my last family won't be proven that don't want to take care of the mansion or simply can't take care, because of money, there is no way of making of it museum."

"So they even messed with office." Cat said perking it's ears.

"Yes. There is a threat, that all will start again. I have no time to meet my distant family and tell them about our messed up past. Pretty sure that they won't believe me anyway. So you will have to take care of that. They can't stay there and they have to give up this stupid building."

"Well it's not like when the building is gone, all the problems will disappear. The bond will be still there."

"Yes, but the ritual place will be no more, all the knowledge and items will be gone. Some spells will break. Even town might get free from dark influence. It will be hard for them go rebuild that somewhere else.

"I will go and tell my owner about everything." Cat promised and licked it paw. "But now let me keep your company."

Animal jumped on the bed and sit on old lady's lap demanding headpats. She gladly provided them till her hand stopped and last breath left her mouth. Cat purred softly making sure that her soul is safe.

}*{

Namjoon stepped out of the car and looked at building in front of him. He put his hands in the pockets. The gate was closed and strong walls were protecting land inside. It looked old and untreated. Through a gate you could see entrance to the garden and main entrance to the big manor. It was already late, moon poking from behind a clouds made a little light. He walked to the gate and put a hand in shadow place then

walk

through

the

darkness till he reached other side. He did the same with big doors and found himself inside. There was dust, unplesant smell and silence, but he remembered those halls too good. There was big, main space and staircase which were splitting up, leading up and to the left and right where were rooms. Entrance to the basement was also through this room, same as kitchen and second part of the manor. He wasn't alone.

Shadows shifted slighty and into his view came six characters. Wide smile appeard on his handsome face.

"Is thar true hyung? That's why we all are here?"Jimin asked coming closer.

"Better be that or I will throw hands." said Yoongi and leaned on pillar in opposite.

"Our man has confirmed that there is another descendant. They have rejected idea of the museum for now and have stated that it must to be prooven that descendant can't take care of mansion to make it museum." Namjoon has spoken quietly.

"So we have chance to take it all back?" Jungkook's wide and bunny smile appeard.

"Maybe, now they have to brought here this person."

"All right let's go back to the work guys." Jin stated and they all have disappeard in the blink of the eye.

#bts x reader #bts soulmate au #poly bts #supernatural #mystery #dark romance #yandere bts #yandere x you #horror #demons #bts jin #bts namjoon #bts yoongi #bts hoseok #bts jimin #bts taehyung #bts jungkook #bts ff

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organ-market · 1 year

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Weird White Men That Defy Classification: The Television Genre

How To with John Wilson, 2020

When you sit down to watch an episode of television it’s a real shot in the dark, you pray to find something truly special yet you brace yourself for potential mediocrity. The day I took a chance on 2020’s How To with John Wilson I sat on my couch, eyes glued to the screen, absolutely mesmerized. For those not in the know, How To with John Wilson is this odd thing that exists, it follows the daily exploits of New Yorker, John Wilson, as he goes around the city showing us how to do a certain task. At the same time it is absolutely not a walkthrough tutorial as rarely will I be able to execute the task described by the title card by the end of each episode. Likewise, the show isn’t really about the man named John Wilson as much as it is a lovely stroll through the people he meets on the street, the charming places he explores, and the little glitches in the matrix that stand out to him.

A typical episode of the show is more like a flowing conversation than a narrative arc, it branches out from its origins to go someplace entirely foreign and new. An episode about wine tasting leads to Bang energy drinks, scented bowling balls, and a lavish mansion party complete with historical wardrobe. John Wilson frequently interviews the everyday people on the street that we’ve all spent our lives passing by. He often highlights little niches in the city as he brings us to a fan club infatuated with James Cameron’s Avatar who go as far to learn the language and in another episode we explore the first ever Mandela Effect Convention. No matter how odd, John Wilson treats these spaces with respect and gives off an eager enthusiasm to learn more.

It is a show that defies classification and genre conventions. Sure it is technically a documentary but the genre usually insinuates an informative motive which is hardly the case for How To with John Wilson. If the show isn’t intending on spewing a steady stream of factual information then is it a reality television show which markets itself primarily on entertainment? Well, while thoroughly entertaining, John Wilson’s nasally narration and awkward insights aren’t the traditional host. It is a comedy that had me constantly laughing throughout its runtime and yet it is interested in so much more than just giving the audience a chuckle. Try as I might, I could not place this show in a box and I adore that about it, and in my search for quality programming I’ve found some other shows that similarly leapt out of each box I put it in. The only connection between all them besides having my undying adoration is that they prominently feature weird, extremely awkward white men talking at you.

The Rehearsal, 2022

Nathan Fielder’s 2013 comedy hit, Nathan For You, had me flabbergasted by its absurdity and awkward wit. While more clearly defined in the square labels of comedy there is something about Nathan Fielder’s persona that makes you want to unpack whatever the hell is going there. Nathan For You follows Nathan Fielder, a graduate from one of Canada’s top business schools, as he gives out business advice to real life struggling local businesses in the Los Angeles area. The only thing is, he's awkward and his solutions to their problems often read more like goofy schemes out of a cartoon than sound business advice. There is a mix of reality and fabrication as you are never really sure if what Nathan is saying is sincere or not as he constantly gives half truths and lies to the audience, the people around him, and perhaps himself all at the same time. His outlandish persona is juxtaposed with the business owners who reluctantly go along with his plots and blatantly unpolished ideas. One episode has discount Santa Claus pictures in the summer following the idea of how jackets are cheaper during the summer season.

The little oddities in Nathan For You become the core focus of Nathan Fielder’s latest TV venture. 2022’s The Rehearsal vehemently defies classification, it expands on his persona established in his previous work and blends reality and fabrication to a new degree. The premise of the show is a bit difficult to even explain, like Nathan For You he helps everyday people but rather than giving business counsel he allows real people to “rehearse” a scenario. Some episodes involve having a difficult conversation with a friend or simulating what it’s like to raise a child. It’s still a documentary, reality comedy but there is an earnest dedication to recreating and simulating the conversations and scenarios Nathan clients demand. Nathan creates an exact replica of a bar in episode one of the series, stains and all, in another he fabricates a relationship between one of his client’s and an actor posing as another actor’s grandfather to recreate something as abstract as feelings. This is a show that dissects the reality of its own production, peeling open layer after layer leaving us with something entirely unique.

In that way The Rehearsal is oddly transparent about its own continued creation, Nathan is open to showing us the monitors behind the scenes, the child labor laws that cause Nathan to have multiple actors for the same child, and the fact that extras can't talk which forces Nathan to have a completely silent birthday party in one episode. It is constantly reopening its own veins and reinventing itself, the core premise is under constant development as the show goes on. It’s an entertainment Frankenstein of mismatched ideas and concepts all slamming into each other creating dichotomy after dichotomy. Nathan draws out the acting we all do in everyday life through a show about rehearsing while Nathan is simultaneously playing a character. And yet sometimes he acts with such a sincerity the audience never knows what to expect. The final episode of The Rehearsal is absolutely dizzying in its conundrum, the lines of reality become marred as we follow a child actor who’s too young to even know he’s acting and Nathan being forced to confront this blatant contradiction. It is a supremely daunting task to write about that final episode and honestly I can barely wrap my head around it. I don’t want to spoil it too much but it is unlike anything I have ever seen and I highly encourage you to give The Rehearsal a chance.

Joe Pera Talks with You, 2018

The final show in this little bundle of uncategorizable strangeness is Adult Swim’s Joe Pera Talks with You from 2018. It’s the only show on here I haven’t finished as I remain in the midst of season 2, hoping to really take it slow and appreciate every little moment but rest assured from episode one I was absolutely hooked. Like How To with John Wilson the premise is much more slice of life but unlike the other two, this is completely scripted. It’s offbeat and awkward as the titular Joe Pera excitedly talks about whatever is on his mind in a somehow passionate monotone. Things just seem to happen the way our everyday happenings occur. There comes a ringing at the doorbell that introduces a new cast of characters or a conga line waiting to be partaken in. Inside of these natural happenings is delivered a wonderful simplicity, Joe Pera Talks with You ignores the narrative necessity for conflict during the majority of its runtime. I often braced myself for a cringe inducing failure in moments where Joe Pera is forced to dance or when he’s reading the church announcements. Miraculously, he never trips and falls or gets booed off the stage and although not everyone he interacts with is always happy to meet him, he doesn’t seem to mind one bit.

That might be my favorite thing about Joe Pera, his unconventional happiness that is soothing to my occasionally anguished soul. Whenever life beats me down I just turn on an episode of Joe Pera Talks with You, his indifference to people’s expectations of what a good life is supposed to resemble reassures me that everything is going to be alright. It reassures me that I am enough. It’s a message I’m not used to when consuming media, much less a show that aired on Adult Swim. It is heartfelt and simple and enough to fill my heart and lull me into a lazy night after even the most stressful of afternoons.

I do hope at least one person reading this takes a shot in the dark and watches an awkward white man talk to them for about half an hour. These are all delightful shows that oddly feel, at least for me, paired together despite their differences. Season 3 of How To with John Wilson premiers July 28, 2023 and I for one am absolutely stoked for what this man tells me next. There’s talk of a second season of The Rehearsal in the works as well. I implore you to check at least one of these shows out! If you see any awkward white men talking about interesting things do let me know so I can grab my popcorn, thanks in advance and stay tuned besties <3

-Ghost Emoji 👻

#organmart #om-ghostemoji #personal essay #writing #how to with john wilson #nathan fielder #nathan for you #the rehearsal #joe pera #joe pera talks with you #tv #tv recommendations

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redundant2 · 1 year

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Thoughts on the Olive Garden

Nothing earthshaking or resembling more than a sip of tea, but I found this Reddit user's comments to be interesting:

"I have some info on the house. It had a lot of issues when they purchased it and for Montecito, it's relatively low in price. I'm from SoCal originally and was in Santa Barbara for a friend's bday a year ago. We decided to go check out M&H's house - we both love looking at houses and were interested in M&H. What's interesting about what's fondly referred to as The Olive Garden is that we thought for sure it would be in a heavily gated community or an estate property where you wouldn't be able to see anything.

It's actually in a community with an ornamental gate, but anyone can drive though the neighborhood. Most of the houses in this little subdivision are pretty normal (for Montecito) - maybe 5-6000 sq ft on average. It's not some ultra exclusive enclave. There are tons of kids and families, just out for walks, playing with their dogs, etc. M&H's house is actually one of the few with security gates. Most are just stand alone house with a driveway live anywhere else. Both the gates and surrounding fencing are covered in heavy green tarps and there are literally at least 20 cameras in all directions on their driveway. They have one of those spheres with 6 cameras and then mounted fixed cameras everywhere. They do the ugly tarps wherever they go based on the Canada retreat photos. I had wanted to take a picture, but my friend wouldn't let me so we just drove by. I have a feeling they have committed the cardinal sin of real estate - you never want to be the biggest or most ostentatious house in a neighborhood. It's better to be the worst house in the most exclusive area.

The other thing about Montecito is that the people with the real money (Oprah, Ellen, etc ) don't live in subdivisions. They live on gated estates with massive acres of land set way back from the road, completely away from other neighbors. I was surprised how close M&H's house is to the common, everyday looking people. I would call this more entry level or tier 2 Montecito when the real trophy properties are 50-100 million plus.

I've heard that they have had plumbing problems because it was a newer house built on the cheap. The plumbing or sewage system has created an odor on the property. I am in the minority, but from the photos, I kind of like the Olive Garden. I like Spanish and the grounds with the pool, yoga studio, etc. Compared to Tyler Perry's truly tasteless La Quinta Inn new money mansion in on steroids, Montecito looks practically historic.

I can see them moving back to LA. I heard they compromised and moved to Montecito because Harry was not a fan of Beverly Hills (although it seems to have grown on him and Meghan, each with their alleged own hotel suites in the area at separate clubs/hotels). I heard they ended up in Montecito because the properties they really had wanted in Malibu were out of reach."

#harkles #olive garden #montecito

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eastcoastboyos · 3 months

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Undertones

Charleston is a beautiful place, objectively one of the most scenic places we’ve been on this trip, but as has already been noted, the history of slavery still casts its subtle shadow over its natural beauty and architectural extravagance. It’s hard not to think about how much this place has changed — and not changed — over the past 160 years.

This morning, the recovering Dylan took the welcomed opportunity to sleep in while the rest of took a National Park Service tour to Fort Sumter, the place where the first salvos of the American Civil War occurred. The four us that went very much appreciated the storytelling of Ranger Walt Young, a young ranger whose knowledgeable enthusiasm for the history of the fort was infectious. On the island fort itself, the humongous cannons and mortars quickly captured our attention, but the history was rich and the time flew by as we explored the small island together. We all agreed it was a worthy expense, especially as it would be our main deep dive into the history surrounding Charleston during our brief visit.

Once back in Charleston proper, we took a brief wander through the historical market (and former canal) before splitting up. I (Joel) couldn’t resist the urge to eat and made my way to a local hip cafe for a breakfast bagel and cold brew. Once I rejoined the others, inspired by my rave reviews, the others set off to the cafe to fill their bellies as well. In the meantime, I chilled (literally) at the hotel, while Dylan – still full from his morning meal and eager to make the best of his time in Charleston, despite still feeling under the weather – set off on his own for a short wander to the nearby battery and mansion row.

Once we’d reconvened, Allen and Derek decided to chill once again (did we mention it’s been stupid hot this entire trip?), while Dylan, Blake, and I set off for some shopping and exploration. (Derek also had important work matters to attend to.)

After wandering together for a while, Dylan and I separated from Blake, who set his mind to finishing his shopping for the trip before the evening. Dylan and I wandered towards the nearby Colonial Lake, where we briefly debated its function and aesthetics before sauntering our way back to the hotel to meet up with the others.

It was almost dinner time, but Blake and I, feeling the lightness of our pockets, decided to set a course for the nearby supermarket to acquire some affordable beers. We would also check on the wait time at our target restaurant for the evening – Hyman’s seafood (4.9 ⭐️, ~40k reviews). However, the journey quickly turned into a wet one. Despite leaving the hotel in presence of light rain, by the time we’d acquired beers and started making our way back, the rain had turned torrential. The streets had turned into rivers (little exaggeration.) Drenched and in good spirits, we made our way back to the hotel with beers and chips in tow.

Fortunately, the rain let up, and just in time too. Appetites were growing ravenous, and we clearly ended up at the perfect place to eat. It lived up to expectations. At Hyman’s we sat at the same table where Michael Phelps, Mel Gibson, and John McCain had eaten. (It was one of their “things” to add small plaques to each table where famous people had eaten.) Amidst our delectable meal of seafood and southern comfort foods, we were also greeted by the owner who was clearly proud of his restaurant’s long family history and attention to customer service. Blake especially was in heaven.

Returning to the hotel with stuffed bellies, we settled in to chill once again. Some us watched Canada take on Argentina in the first half of the Copa America semifinal. Others showered and sprawled out to aid in their digestion. Derek and I went for one final night walk. We explored the water’s edge, stopping to admire the electrical storm in the distance and mansions that echoed the controversial history of the city. It felt like the perfect end to what a short but very sweet stay in Charleston.

Tomorrow we head to Orlando, Florida, our final state and second last stop on what has so far been a varied and unforgettable road trip.

#submission

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shadowspellchecker · 5 months

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11. 10. The obligatory Ghosts AU.

Twins Luke and Leia inherit a mansion in Massassi, New York, and, along with Leia's boyfriend Han and his old squadmate Chewie, embark on the unique adventure of opening a B&B. But they have company! Joining them are Victorian era Chinese immigrants Chirrut and Baze (1850s), lost Spaniard Kay—something, Native American scout currently going by Cass, and bootlegger (or Buffalo Bill expy performer, for Saw Gerrera's Wild West show) Jyn Erso. Bodhi Rook, the unlucky first-gen immigrant satellite TV installer and aspiring pilot who died while installing a satellite dish on the roof in the 1980s, is the 'baby' of the bunch. Oh, and also Mon Mothma (wife of the man who built the house) or Shmi (who would be a bondservant from Ireland, second wife of the first white farmer on the land). In the Basement we meet the Company, headed by Cody– wwi soldiers who survived Jim Crow and the trenches of France only to die of the Spanish Flu. They find the underground comforting. (Fucking bombers! Ruined the sky for us!) In the next house over, owned by organic weed grower Maz Kanata, you have WWII corporal Draven. In the house on the other side there is fur trader/ revolutionary war spymaster Lucian (I burned my life to build a nation I knew I'd never live to see), who K and Cass used to spend a lot of time with before the stream and property lines shifted. He was completely wrong about Benedict Arnold. Mon Mothma's daughter is Mon's unfinished business, and so she gets to ascend at the end of the third season. In the condemned summer kitchen you have Rex, Gregor and Wolffe, who survived the flu and took employment in the town. At the time the heiress of the mansion was Miss Tano, who went missing during the Cold War. They assume that she had gone on one last mission and never came back. (Fact: she's stuck in an underground bunker on the estate. Alternatively she did go out on that mission, and will be summoned back during a Halloween episode.) These guys died in the incident that left the summer kitchen condemned, and are forever trying to work out what they did wrong with that new water heater. Their unfinished business is reconciling with the basement ghosts (there is some sort of bad blood, partial survivors guilt) and for Rex finding Ahsoka.

Kay, of course, died in the lightning strike and can affect electronics. Cassian was shot walking on the lake one winter while looking for his missing sister, and froze to death. Think the death of Otzi the iceman. His unfinished business will be finding her bones. His ghost power is cold spots. Jyn was part of an Indian act in Esau Gerrera's Circus of Curiosities. (Saw himself presented himself as an exotic Arabian prince or something. So people wouldn't think 'escaped slave' when he smuggled people to Canada. (Jyn wasn't exactly around for that part.) Yeah, Cass is pissed. She was left behind and went looking for some gold her father allegedly had stowed nearby. That, incidentally, is her unfinished business. Her ghost power is making people feel like they were punched. Leaves no marks, can't affect objects. People just think someone lightly punched them.

You know, it might be worth taking a look at it…

No, no Luke. It'll be like that gerbil. You see it, you get attached. It's old, it's historic, it's huge. What would we do with it? When would we have time? I say we sell it. Split the profits fifty fifty, you can get that old plane you've been saving for and I can pay off the rest of my schooling.

I thought you'd had that ironed out.

Not the point, Mr GI Bill…. Shit, sorry. I didn't mean it like that… it's covered, but it…

Gets to you. I'm sorry, I…

Sigh. No, i shouldnt havr snapped…

Han?

Yessss….

He won't find you upstate.

Nice try… but youre right. Let's take a look at the place. See what we're dealing with. But don't get attached, I'm selling my half.

We'll see.

Alright, so it's the summer of 93, and we'd just conquered the Demon's Pass.

Really? Another of your collective daydreams?

You could step up and talk for a change.

So. The invasion. Chirrut and bodhi are optimistic, Kay and Baze dread the change, Jyn is pessimistic, Cassian is past caring tbh, mon tries to rally morale.

So there is an

Indian (Cass)

Arrow Guy (Cass)

Temporally unusual European (Kay)

Relatively modern dude

Repressed Victorian (Mon)

Officer (Luthen, Draven)

Kick-ass performer lady (Jyn)

Token repressed guys (Baze and Chirrut)

Troop leader (Bodhi)

Spiritualist practitioner (Chirrut)

Food smell aficionado (Sass→ Cass)

Superchill individual (Flower →Chirrut )

Dubiously ethical group member (Alberta, Flower → Jyn)

Alternative setups include Jyn as the new newcomer, and Cass as the misplaced Spaniard (1500, see Lavrador (1498), Cabot (1497), Leon (1513), de Soto (1540), etc.) while Kay is a downright ancient ghost whose isolation has caused him to lose most of his connection to humanity and a severe case of the personality flattening we notice when ghosts aren't in contact with the living doing living stuff. Cass "saves" him by pulling him out of that state. In that scenario, Maarva and Clem might have been around at the time. Alternatively, they could have come later as an immigrant and an escaped slave and have given the duo lessons in English. Either way, they're long since sacked off.

Deaths:

Shot by arrow

Struck by lightning

Murdered

Illness

Drugs and heart attack

Violent accidental death

Unknown but didn't leave marks

Unknown but didn't leave marks and was probably the drug of choice for that time period

Circumstances

Volunteering

Lost in a foreign land

After a performance in the house

In a normal consequence of living in one's time period

While partying too hard/ carelessness

While on drugs

While depressed

Multiple choice

After

A fight with a loved one

Being abandoned by comrades

Being unknowingly betrayed

Accidentally killing someone you liked

Doing a good deed

Betraying your allies

Being rejected

Finally tasting freedom

And before

Being mourned by your family

Still being alone… despite that a family member was looking for you.

Your murderer gets away with the crime

Being mourned by your secret keeper but otherwise forgotten about

Your associates hide your body and never tell your family where it is

Your accomplice turns the reason for your betrayal into something decent

Being celebrated by your brand new lonely haunting partner

Your children continue to disappoint you

Marks of ghostly stuff

You still have the arrow that killed you stuck in your body

You lost your hat. This matters.

You are stuck in costume

You are forever stuck in full uniform

You are lacking a vital article of clothing

You have the damage that killed you on your body

Multiple choice

But hey! Guess what? You…

Have a positive and upbeat personality

can make electronics short out

Can create auditory stimuli

You can make people feel a specific adverse sensation related to your death by walking through them

You can touch physical objects with your finger!

Can make people feel a specific adverse sensation related to your condition at the time of death by walking through them. But you experience it too! All the time.

Are the lady of the house too

Are an amazing liar.

Baze. Something to do with opium, guilt.

Chirrut. Knew Baze in life. Scholar visiting Yale. Blinded by a fever and walked in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Was in a fight with Baze and stormed off. Drowned.

#yourtaxdollarsatwork #shadowspellchecker #rogue one #cbs ghosts #fanfic prompt

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camillasgirl · 1 year

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Queen Camilla’s Patronages

Dundurn National Historic Site (Patron from 29.09.2010)

Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) house took three years and $175,000.00 to build, and was completed in 1835. The seventy-two room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water. It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton, which purchased it in 1900 for $50,000. The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make 42 of the original 72 rooms open to the public. The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s. Queen Camilla a descendant of Sir Allan MacNab, is the Royal Patron of Dundurn Castle.

#queen camilla #queen patronages #Dundurn National Historic Site

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roszabell · 1 year

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🏠🏛⚔💫👻💘

🏠 - Quick! You now live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere and you've got your choice of three nations to live with. Who do you choose as your new housemates and why? Canada, Hungary, and Romano

🏛 - If you could pick one historical event to be adapted into Hetalia, what would it be? Canada being a badass in the world wars and Netherlands' liberation!!

⚔ - In terms of the nation lore in the series, what would you like to see expanded upon or introduced? Definitely I'd love to see Canada's relationship with/influences from Scotland and the Nordics. And/or, how they travel between countries - but there are a lot of amazing headcanons for this, so maybe its more fun left open for interpretation!

💫 - Now say you can only choose one country to add to the series. Who is it? MEXICO!!!!!! GIVE US CANON MEXICO PLEASE! I have my headcanons for him/her that are mainly just from @stirringwinds 's OC, but i NEED North American trio to be canon (more than just a mention)!!!!!!

💘 - What's the most obscure pairing you've got a soft spot for? Estonia x America (estame) :3

👻 - There are lots of explanations about what happened to Prussia after he was dissolved and why he's still around. What's yours? Well, its canon he was East Germany and lived with Russia during Soviet times, and then stuck around as Kaliningrad afterward—but that doesn’t give him much to do! It ties in with my ships mostly haha. I think he sticks aroud with Ludwig, but gets bored and makes friends with Matthew (whos fresh off nedcan breakup) in the early 90s and it eventually turns romantic! He stays at Matts house around 8 months of the year, spending holidays/winter in Germany (to be with family and becuase Matthew's winter sucks. dw they do have Christmases together sometimes, and it is quite often Matt gets to snuggle him by the fireplace in a snowstorm). Ik ik it is sappy ok 😭 He also spends as much time as he can with old friends (Aus, Hun, Poland, etc)!

#hetalia headcanons #ask game #i love these questions!!!!!#hetalia emoji ask #asks

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pix4japan · 1 year

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Japanese Maple Tree at Historic House

Location: Yamashitacho, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan Timestamp: 15:11 April 4, 2023

This is a photo of a Japanese maple tree captured at Berrick Hall, a registered historical building located in Yokohama that was built in 1930.

Japanese maple trees (紅葉 / momiji) have various types, and this one might be a "green cascade" Japanese maple, which has a drooping form that would need some support structure as it grows larger. During autumn, its leaves transform into vibrant shades of red and orange.

The estate of this mansion, which is quite sizable by Japanese standards, boasts flowering plants and trees, as well as a grassy area that serves as an ideal location for outdoor wedding ceremonies. The mansion's backdrop provides a picturesque setting for wedding photos and creates an atmosphere that feels like the wedding is taking place in a foreign country.

The mansion belonged to Bertram Berrick, a British trading merchant, whose company imported cosmetics, fragrance, paper, and stationery to Japan, while exporting Japanese paper, silk, and lacquer goods to England. Due to the increasing threat of World War II, Berrick left the house in 1938 and immigrated to Canada.

Fujifilm X100V (23 mm) with 5% diffusion filter ISO 160 for 1/680 sec. at ƒ/3.2 Velvia/Vivid film simulation

#ストリートスナップ #山下町 #横浜 #横浜山手西洋館 #べーリックホール #紅葉 #pix4japan #Fujifilm X100V #street photograph #urbanscape photography #Japan #Yokohama #Berrick Hall #momiji #Japanese maple

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hometoursandotherstuff · 2 years

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Do you remember this post of McDonald’s takeover of a former Art Deco hotel in Australia? Disappointingly, the interior was reno’d to look like a typical McDonalds. Well, here are some other buildings that McD’s should have left alone.

McDonald’s Paris. The building dates back to 1892 and is a listed historic monument.

They took over this old steamboat on the Mississippi river in St. Louis, Missouri. It closed after flooding.

They opened the McBarge, that they built for the World Expo in Vancouver, Canada.

It was abandoned after the Expo.

This one, in an old theater on 42nd St. in New York City also closed down. McDonald’s did not respond to questions about the fate of the 7,000 light bulbs that comprise the restaurant’s sign.

This one in Independence, Ohio looks like a McMansion, but it must’ve been a mall or some sort of industrial building.

This one’s more elegant inside.

The one in the spectacular Galleria Emanuelle Vittori, Milan, Italy’s oldest shopping mall, built in 1861, was there 20 yrs., when the mall finally refused to renew its lease- they were the only tenants that were denied. McDonald’s has sued the city of Milan (their landlord) for €24 million in damages and were replaced by the mall’s 2nd Prada store.

When they bought the Denton House, in New Hyde Park, New York, the 1795 Georgian mansion, a former farmhouse and funeral home, was on the verge of collapse. They had planned to knock it down, but the locals complained, so it’s been made an historic site and they can’t demolish it.

Yangshuo, province of Guangxi, China, famous for its amazing karst landscape and a haven for rock-climbers and backpackers from all over the world.

An 1850s Greek Revival colonial and former sea captain’s house in Freeport, Maine. They were going to knock to this one down, but residents complained.

Kristiansand, Norway. It dates back to 1897 and looks like it probably used to be a bank.

In Landau, Germany, McDonald’s set up shop in one of the finest examples of handsome Bavarian historic architecture. The 15th century historic building still has its original stepped gables and colorful facades.

A New York townhouse on Canal Street, New York. Is this McDonald’s trying to be hipster? What makes them choose these buildings? Who knows.

https://www.messynessychic.com/ and others

#unique mcdonald's buildings #mcdonalds #where mcdonald's shouldn't be #long post

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peltk9 · 2 years

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108 Mifflin St in Sims 4 - A Long Post With Lots of Pictures

As you may or may not know, the Sims 4 base game is now free (as of October 18, 2022)! Which means now is the perfect time to share my Sims 4 builds of Storybrooke locations, namely: 108 Mifflin Street.

Regina Mills’ iconic mansion, 108 Mifflin St, Storybrooke, ME, USA is based off of the John H. McDonald House in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Because of this, there’s an actual building to use for reference. And, through six seasons of a tv show, there are a lot of shots of the mansion itself, inside and outside. But there’s one big catch: the ~magic~ of tv editing and film sets. Because of film sets built separate to real-life filming locations, it’s difficult to tell what was filmed in the McDonald House itself and what was filmed in a set that can ignore house-plan logic.

So this post is basically a collection of my research notes on the McDonald House, shots of the mansion from the show, and a lot of guesswork. Massive kudos to @henryhas2moms for providing episodes with good tracking and establishing shots of the mansion’s interior. Also kudos to @red-musings, who posted the real estate video of the McDonald House that was critical in figuring out basic layouts. Shoutout to my best friend, who went through the real estate video frame-by-frame with me and helped with the layouts, even though he has never seen and has no investment in OUAT. Final shoutout to the OUAT wiki (where most of the OUAT screenshots come from), which has a lot of stills from the show organized under the mansion gallery for easy viewing and labeled with the episode so I could look up motion shots. [Edit: Turns out there’s a section under Trivia in the Wiki called “Set Notes”. I only found this after publishing the build.]

Disclaimer: I am not an architect! The floor plans in this post are not to scale or at all measured beyond having somewhat straight lines. Also, if anyone has any shots/info from the show that contradicts or clarifies any of the following information, please do share!

The rest is under the cut:

-The House-

The McDonald House is a Colonial-Revival house built in 1936. It used to be a historic building with public tours (I believe it is now privately owned). It’s coordinates are searchable on Google Earth, so a very rough guess on the basic dimensions can be measured.

Main house rectangle: 18m x 13.5m

Dining/utility room offset: 3.5m x 11m

Garage rectangle: 10m x 8.5m

These are not accurate, as Google Earth is not a great tool for it. However, it’s enough to start on, and I believe I ended up adding just a tile or two in Sims to comfortably fit rooms in. Sims tiles are generally considered 3ft x 3ft (roughly a meter square). Also Sims can’t build half-tile-width walls, so I had to round on 0.5m lengths.

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed foot print of the house and garage with measurements labeled /id]

The McDonald House was built by Frederick Townley and Robert Matheson, who did a number of architectural projects in Vancouver. One was the “model electric house” built in 1922, which was to showcase to prospective buyers how a house could be built decked out for electricity. Inferring from this, the McDonald House was probably built with electricity wired in from the start. Two chimneys on either side of the house connected to fireplaces on potentially all stories of the house. The real estate video shows radiators for heating, which means probably a boiler somewhere in the basement. These radiators, or at least the plumbing/location of them, are likely original to the 1936 house. They are most visible on the second floor (US) under the bedroom windows, although there are radiators set into the walls on the ground floor. There are just a couple ventilation grills throughout the house, most likely original, and simply used for air movement.

Regina Mills’s mansion is theoretically also a Colonial-Revival house, although located in Maine, USA. Fanon usually places it on the Atlantic coastline, usually in relation to Bangor, ME or Portland, ME. Additionally, Storybrooke was created in 1983, and then “frozen in time”, so a lot of the aesthetics and technology, including that of the mansion, should be consistent with the early 1980s US culture.

New Westminster, where the McDonald House is, is just about on the coastline. It’s in Vancouver, next to the Straight of Georgia, which dumps into the Pacific Ocean next door. New Westminster is further north in latitude than Maine. (For people smarter in local climate/latitude/geography versus architecture, this information might be useful.)

Air conditioning. Air conditioning is fairly common in the US, although not everywhere. It’s usually not found in older houses or in higher latitudes. Since the McDonald House is in Vancouver, Canada, and built in 1936, there most likely isn’t central air. It’s a similar situation with Regina’s mansion. “Created” in 1983 in Maine? It’s very possible not to have air conditioning. Additionally, the house is boiler-heated through radiators, and there’s no evidence of vents for central air. There is a very 2000s/2010s control panel next to the kitchen entry door, either a thermostat or security alarm system. If it is a thermostat, it is possible to wire it to control the boiler and radiators, so it does not necessarily mean other central heat/air is present. But final verdict: no air conditioning in the house. Not central air, anyway. (And there’s no evidence of window AC units.) Fanfic likes Regina to have air conditioning, though, so take all the creative liberty you want.

[image ids: four still images from the real estate video, showing the four sides of the McDonald House, and garage, from the outside /id]

-Ground Floor-

The ground floor (first floor for US people) is the most documented part of both the mansion and the McDonald House. Most of the show, when it’s in the mansion, is in one or more of the ground floor rooms. The only other room so well documented in the show is Henry’s room. The real estate video of the McDonald House also extensively covers the ground floor, with some nice panning shots to help establish where things are located in relation to each other. There are only a few unknowns: five doors and the location of the stairs to the basement.

-Ground Floor Plan-

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed ground floor’s floor plan /id]

From the show and the real estate video, the following rooms are confirmed on the ground floor:

Entry

Foyer

Living Room

Dining Room

Utility Room

Kitchen

Study

Staircase Upstairs

The following can be inferred, although are not directly seen:

Closet(s)

Pantry

Bathroom

Basement Staircase

-Entry and Foyer-

The entry is lower than the rest of the ground floor, and there are four steps from the entry into the main foyer. Upon entering the front door, directly to the left, there appears to be a door tucked away. Presumably, this is a closet for coats and such. The staircase to the upstairs level starts on that left side of the entry and circles up and above the front door.

Directly across from the front door are two sliding doors leading into the formal dining room. To the left of the front door are double doors into the living room (or drawing room, if we want to be 1936 about it). To the right of the front door, immediately around the corner, is the door to the study. Further along the right wall, closer to the dining room, is the door to the kitchen.

There is a radiator inset into the wall next to the study door.

-Living Room-

The living room takes up the entire left side of the ground floor. There is a fireplace set in the center of the left wall and windows on three of four walls. There is a grand piano in the real estate video, which appears to be the same piano in the show. There are radiators inset into the front and back walls.

In the show, there is typically a horse painting above the fireplace. The curtains, walls, and furniture. The furniture is that kind of delicate, fancy-looking style that always looks so uncomfortable to sit in. An internet search suggests it might be a mix of Victorian, Traditional, and French Styles. The Comfultimate Sofa--and similar chair and two-seater--in the Sims base game works well to fit the style.

-Dining Room-

The dining room takes up the center back of the ground floor. The doors from the foyer to the dining room are sliding doors, the kind where two pane doors pull away from each other on straight rails and tuck inside the walls. Most of the back wall of the dining room is taken up with a bay window. There are two radiators inset into the walls, one on each side of the sliding doors.

In the show, the dining room has dark wood furniture, white panel walls, and green patterned curtains over the windows. There is a chandelier hanging over the dining table.

A door at the back right leads into the utility room.

-Study-

The entry to the study is the first door on the right, coming in from the entry way. Most of the back wall of the study is bookshelves. The three windows are covered with dark red patterned curtains. The walls are a dark, paneled wood. The study has one angled wall where the fireplace sits.

S01E01 has two couches facing each other--that white, Victorian/Traditional/French Style. For my Sims build, I also put in a desk with a desktop computer. Fanon usually gives Regina’s home office (the study) a desk and computer so she can work from home when she likes.

-Kitchen-

The kitchen itself has a lot of screen-time in the tv show. The entry into the kitchen is the second door to the right in the foyer. There is a small congested area that leads into three other doors before going into the kitchen proper.

The stove at the back wall is gas-powered. There is a metal fixture above the stove--most likely an arm that swings out to hold a pot above the stove for gentler heating up. There is no visible refrigerator, but it is most likely the largest two cabinet doors on the left panel of cabinets. The right wall of kitchen has three windows and a sink. The countertop runs along the left and back walls in an L-shape. In the center of the kitchen is a half-table-half-island (possibly marble-topped?). A microwave is tucked under it, and there is a chandelier above it.

There is a congestion of four doors at the entry to the kitchen. One door is to get into the foyer. One door is at the end of the kitchen cabinets. More on that below. One is in the wall where the stove tucks into. I suspect this is a closet or pantry. The last door goes into a room with tile and dark wallpaper, and is perhaps a bathroom or access to the basement stairs.

The kitchen cabinets on the back wall are a bit of a mystery. There is a door at either end, evidencing that either there are some closets or pantry behind the cabinets, or access to the basement stairs.

There is possibly a laundry chute in the kitchen entry, with the congestion of four doors. The possible chute can be seen S01E21, behind Emma as she follows Regina into the kitchen.

[image id: still from the tv show, S01E21, looking out from the kitchen toward a set of two doors. One door is closed, and one door is open showing, perhaps, bathroom tile /id]

-Utility Room-

I’m calling it a utility room, but it’s more like a mudroom/breakfast nook. A place to eat meals without having to go to the formal dining room. I don’t recall any part of the show using this room, except for Regina carrying food/drinks from the kitchen, though this room, into the formal dining room.

There is another chandelier in this room, above the small dining table. A door on the right side leads out into the covered walkway to the garage. A door on the left side leads into the formal dining room.

There is a little cabinet next to the dining room door. The location (near the kitchen and back door) and size suggest it might be a home phone cupboard.

[image id: still from the real estate video, showing the utility room where a small cupboard door is inset into the left wall /id]

-Right-Side Chimney-

The chimney on the right side of the house has a window through it on the ground floor (and second floor (US)).

-Second Floor (US) / First Floor (UK)-

The second floor (US) is not well-documented in the show, and only partially shown in the real estate video. Most shots of the second floor (US) in the real estate video are stills that slowly zoom in or out. Not particularly useful. However, window positions help place some rooms and provide some good guesses on what the second floor (US) layout is.

-Second Floor (US) First Floor (UK) Plan-

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed second floor’s floor plan /id]

From the show and real estate video, the following rooms are confirmed on the second floor (US):

Master Bedroom

Master Walk-In Closet(?)

Second Bedroom

Third Bedroom

Staircase Downstairs

The following can be inferred, although not directly seen:

Closet(s)

Bathroom(s)

Attic Staircase

-Regina’s Room (Master Bedroom)-

Regina’s room is not shown often in the show. S01E07 has some night-time shots. There’s one decent tracking shot in S01E21. Based on season one alone, Regina’s bedroom is the master bedroom in the McDonald House.

The master bedroom has four doors. The door on the lower right is most likely to a small closet. The door (possibly a doorway) in the upper left looks like it goes into a walk-in closet with a tall wall mirror. The other door on that back wall goes into a hallway, and most likely toward a bathroom shared with the second bedroom. The last door goes into the main staircase landing.

From what little of the bedroom is seen, the decoration is muted and and bland and continues with the beige-and-white theme of the ground floor, and, honestly, I took a lot of license with my Sims build. Basically I just threw more black and grey in there, as a nod to the Mayoral Office’s decoration style.

[image id: still from the tv show, S01E07, showing Graham standing in front of Regina’s bedroom fireplace /id]

-Henry’s Room (Second Bedroom)-

Henry’s room is a bit of a mess (both literally and figuratively). I suspect, in season one, Henry’s room was filmed in the McDonald House. And then in season two, they switched to film in a set made off-site.

In most of season one, shots of Henry’s main door looks out over the central staircase, where the windows, chandler, and banister can frequently be seen in the background. However, by season two, this view is replaced with a hallway wall.

[image id: still from the tv show, S01E04, looking out of Henry’s room toward the central staircase banister /id]

[image id: still from the tv show, S02E012, looking out of Henry’s room toward a hallway wall /id]

The second door in Henry’s room does go into a hallway, which is at least consistent with the McDonald House. The hallway most likely leads toward a bathroom shared with the master bedroom.

[image id: still from the tv show, S02E18, looking out of Henry’s second door toward a wall /id]

The third door in Henry’s room, beside his bed and the window, most likely leads into a closet.

With the layout of Henry’s room, the number of windows, and the view over the staircase banister in season one, this puts the room in the same location as the second bedroom, at the back of the house. However, sometimes it feels like the show would like the viewer to believe that Henry’s room is actually where the third bedroom is, at the front of the house. The shots of him climbing a sheet rope are from the front-rightmost window, out the third bedroom.

[image id: still from the tv show, S02E02, showing a large maple(?) tree with magically dexterous branches grabbing Henry from an upstairs window /id]

Personally, as a new-mother, I think Regina would have put Henry in the bedroom closest to her own, which would be the second bedroom, consistent to season one’s filming location. The better to hear Henry if something goes wrong in the middle of the night.

[Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki confirms my theory on the independent set: “While Henry's bedroom is part of the John H. McDonald House, some scenes in his room are shot on a television set at The Bridge Studios in Burnaby, where Once Upon a Time was filmed.”]

Besides the layout, Henry’s room is liberally decorated with pictures, posters, toys, and all manner of bric-a-brac.

[Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki lists many of Henry’s bedroom decorations, including fairy tale prints, 1980s toys, and a clock collection.]

In my Sims build, I ignored the most-likely-shared-bathroom situation and gave both Henry and Regina en suites.

-Third Bedroom-

The third bedroom is at the front right of the house. There is only one known door (the entrance), although a second door can be inferred. This second door is most likely at the front left of the bedroom, and leads to a closet that mirrors the master bedroom’s front right closet. There may be a third door, on the back wall on the right. This hypothetical third door could potentially lead to an en suite bathroom.

-Unknown Areas-

The second floor (US) has a lot of unknown areas. The only certainty is that they are not, in modern times, outfitted to be bedrooms. Somewhere in this unknown area are the stairs to the attic.

-Guest Bedroom(s)-

The McDonald house only has three known bedrooms. However, there are fanfic that includes a number of guest bedrooms for the mansion. Typically, one guest bedroom for Emma/Robin/Roland (depending on the fic/pairing), and a second one for Zelena in the fics where she lives with Regina for a while. Every once in a while there will be fics that have an alluded-to third or forth guest bedrooms. Sometimes these fanon guest bedrooms come with en-suite bathrooms, and sometimes not.

The McDonald House’s third bedroom is certainly at least one guest bedroom. There is also a large unknown gap in the house taking up most of the right of the second floor (US). Part of it could be converted into another guest bedroom.

-Right-Side Chimney-

The chimney on the right side of the house has a window through it on the second floor (US) (and ground floor).

-Attic-

The attic, as far as I know, is never shown or referenced to in the show. However, the McDonald House does have an attic, and there is exactly one panning shot of it in the real estate video.

-Attic Floor Plan-

The attic floor plan is largely unknown. With only one panning shot, it is difficult to fabricate the rest of the attic, much less place it accurately in the floor plan.

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed attic floor plan /id]

From the real estate video, the following rooms are known to exist (or directly seen):

Kitchenette

Hobby Room

Staircase downstairs

The only clue for the attic’s layout is the window seen in the real estate video’s attic panning shot. This window appears to be the center back window, and so I used it to place the attic stairs, kitchenette, and walls.

For my Sims build, I added a bedroom, a bathroom, a storage room, and a living room to the attic.

-Basement-

The basement, similar to the attic, is not shown or referenced to in the show, that I know of. The McDonald House does have a basement, and there are a handful of shots of it in the real estate video. However, there are a lot of unknowns, still, and the floor plan is just as much of a mystery as the attic.

-Basement Floor Plan-

The basement floor plan is largely an unknown. Only two rooms are shown in the real estate video, and there’s not much to go on. I can’t figure out how the two rooms are related to each other, and how the staircase relates to the ground floor, although I’m fairly confident on the location of the theater room. The basement does have windows, as seen in the real estate video. The y can be seen in the outside shots of the house, as well: regular dips in the ground underneath the upper story windows.

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed basement floor plan /id]

From the real estate video, the following rooms are known to exist (or directly seen):

Media Room (Home Theater)

Games Room (Pool Table Room)

Study Room

-Theater Room-

The theater room has a fireplace and window locations that are consistent with the left side of the house, essentially underneath the living room. From outside shots of the house, basement windows are seen in line with most of the ground floor windows. This is the only part of the basement I am confident on.

The theater room has an open door that looks out into what is possibly the pool table room. However, the orientation-relationship between the pool room and the theater room are unknown.

-Pool Table Room-

The pool table room is where the basement stairs let out into. There is one known door next to the stairs, an open doorway at the back, a possible set of sliding (or folding?) doors on the left, and another possible doorway at the front (behind the camera in the real estate video).

The doorway at the back of the pool room shows a room with a sink, possibly a bathroom, and the possible beginnings of a hallway running to the right.

As the theater room appears to be connected to the pool table room, it is either connected though the possible sliding (or folding?) doors or the possible doorway at the front of the pool room. Or through another door not shown in the real estate video.

-Unknown Areas-

Most of the basement is unknown, but some areas can be guessed at. There is probably a boiler room to power the radiators. (Boilers can also power the hot water taps, so there may or may not be a discreet water heater.)

If there is a laundry chute in the kitchen, the exit of it (if it was a straight chute) is marked as a point of interest in the floor plan above. With the laundry chute would be a laundry room. I think this could wither be under the kitchen or under the study (close enough for the laundry chute to drop into, either in a straight line or with a slight curve). Although the outlet of the laundry chute does not necessarily need to be in the laundry room.

The real estate video makes mention of a “Study Room”, which may or may not be the “second study” found in the Unknown section near the bottom of this post.

There is most likely a bathroom, as a sink is partially shown in the panning shot of the pool table room.

For my Sims build, I did not give Regina a home theater. Personal preference. And with Henry as a child, and seeing the pristine state of the main living room, it seems logical that the basement main room might be a second living room, one more comfortable and open for Henry to dominate with toys and play. It’s common fanon that Henry plays video games, and so having a tv with a console would be necessary for that. The upstairs living room does not appear to have a television.

Sims 4 does not have a pool table, so a pool room was impossible to replicate. (Although there is the Hot Shot Foosball Table in the Get Together pack.) Instead, I turned it into a workout room and fudged the location based on where I put the stairway.

The rest of the basement I also fudged. The Sims 4 Laundry Day pack includes laundry room equipment, so I gave Regina a laundry room. In the laundry room is a boiler made various pipe-like items from a few separate packs (and debug items). There’s another bathroom in the basement as well.

It’s popular fanon that Regina has cider distilling equipment in the basement, so I essentially put another kitchen down there with as much alcohol-making-looking stuff as I could find. The Eco Lifestyle pack has a Afizzionissimi Fizzing Station. This machine can be used to craft the fizzy juices from the Eco Lifestyle pack. My build does not include this machine, but feel free to substitute my nonfunctional “alcoholic cider distilling” setup to an actually-functional “fizzy juice maker”.

I also put in another study, based on the study from S03E18 (see the Unknown section near the bottom). In this study, there is a secret door to room that extends under the garage. Fanfiction sometimes includes a room in Regina’s house where she stores magic items--separate from her cemetery vault. In my build, this room includes items from the Realm of Magic, Vampires, and Werewolves packs to make a sort of home-vault for Regina. (if you want to get nsfw with the build, I suggest splitting this home-vault room in half to add in a “dungeon” 😉 )

-Garage-

The McDonald House has a semi-connected garage. Since the house was built in 1938, it was possibly a carriage house before being converted into a garage.

-Garage Floor Plan-

Through the real estate video and Google Earth, the exterior of the garage is pretty simple to establish. It’s a three-door garage, with two windows on the back, and a door on the side that leads to the house’s side door. There are possibly other windows on the sides, but it’s difficult to tell from Google Earth.

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the proposed garage floor plan /id]

Sims 4 sort of has garage doors, although they are decoration items. Due to their size, I could only fit two in comfortably. Sims 4 does have cars. They’re in the debug items, and are purely decoration. In the base game, there is a car that looks enough like Regina’s Mercedes to pass muster. The Get Together pack includes the only yellow car close enough to Emma’s Beetle. The Discover University pack includes bicycles, so one of those is included for Henry in the garage as well.

[image id: screenshot of the Sims 4 game, showing two of the debug cars, one black two-door and one yellow four-door /id]

-Outside-

The real estate video shows a little bit of the outside of the McDonald House. Google Earth also gives a little bit of detail on the yard status, mostly that a lot of trees exist.

The following are features found in the yard:

Hedgerows with Gate

Pergola

Outside Seating Area

Maple(?) Tree

Doghouse

-Hedgerows-

There are hedgerows along the street border of the front yard that possibly extend to border the yard as a whole. Parallel rows lead from a wrought iron gate to the front door. There is a gap in the hedgerows to allow for the driveway.

In my Sims build, I only built the hedgerows leading up to the front door. This is to keep the lot size small enough it can be placed in more locations. Since the hedges used to make the hedge rows are in the base game, it is a simple matter to keep on with the hedgerows if you desire and make a whole border of it.

-Pergola-

At the left side of the house, just about centered with the chimney, there is a pergola that separates the front and back yards. The pergola is covered in climbing plants and flowers. There are some hedgerows around it as well.

I did not include a pergola in my Sims build. This is to keep the lot size small. However, the Florinda Pergola in the base game can be added if the lot size is big enough.

-Outdoor Seating-

The real estate video shows an outdoor seating area, presumably at the very back of the back yard and facing the dining room’s bay windows. This is not included in my Sims build, for those same lot size reasons.

-Doghouse-

A doghouse is visible in one of the real estate video’s panning shots of the backyard. It’s located behind the garage. This is also not included in my Sims build, because in canon Regina does not have a dog.

-Maple(?) Tree-

The maple(?) tree is in the front yard, on the right corner of the house. I’m calling it a maple(?) tree in this post. I do not think it is a maple tree. From what I can make out of the leaves, it’s not maple. But I’m going to keep calling it the maple(?) tree until I figure out what it actually is. Hopefully, it’s a tree that can grow nicely in both Vancouver, Canada and Maine, USA. Anyway, in my Sims build I use a maple tree from the Cats & Dogs pack for it.

(There’s also a younger tree in the middle of the backyard in the real estate video. I am not going to try and identify this tree, and, in fact, I’m going to say it’s The Apple Tree (see below).)

-Apple Tree-

Now, fanon sometimes disagrees where Regina’s apple tree should be: at Town Hall/mayor office, or in the mansion’s backyard. The Chainsaw Scene(TM) in S01E02 takes place outside the mayoral office. In S01E21, Regina looks out a window at her mayoral office at her apple tree. I, personally, Do Not Like This. The mayoral office is Regina’s public face, and her apple tree is very personal. I’d much sooner believe that Regina would have put her apple tree in her own backyard, sheltered and private and protected. So my Sims build has her apple tree in her backyard, where it belongs.

-Gardens-

According to the real estate video, the McDonald House has well-maintained back gardens. Fanon also likes to give Regina a meticulously-cared-for garden. The McDonald House is also partially covered in climbing plants, especially along the back of the garage and up the left chimney. I did not include too extensive of gardens in my Sims build, so I could keep the lot size smaller.

-Unknowns-

Here lies the unknowns, the confusing parts. These are shots and stills from the tv show that are supposed to be of the mansion, but I’ve no idea where they are in the house. Most likely, they are sets, and because of human error or to make camera work easier, they don’t quite fit with the McDonald House floor plan.

-Unknown Hallway (and Room)-

The unknown hallway shows up in S03E18. It is in a z-shape, if a “z” was composed of right angles. There are doors lining it, and one leads to a room where Cora’s ghost hangs out. The room has a window and another door, however the door looks very CGI, so I question it’s supposed existence.

[image id: still from the tv show, S03E18, of a z-shaped hallway lined with doors and light fixtures /id]

[image id: still from the tv show, S03E18, of a room drenched in special effects. Ghost Cora is moving away from the window toward the open door /id]

I have two theories for this hallway and the room:

This was purely a set piece created for the episode. Although all that work for one episode appearance seems a bit much work.

This hallway is somewhere in the attic or the second floor (US). The room’s window suggests it might be the three-pane attic window at the back-left of the attic. But then that doesn’t explain the window in the hallway, which doesn’t match the other attic windows.

-Second Study-

There is a second study. It it styled similar to Regina’s study on the ground floor (as seen in S01E01), and the layout is similar, but there is a second door that leads to a hallway. The wood paneling and bookcases are slightly different between the two studies, and the tile on the fireplaces is different. This second study is heavily featured in S03E18, and makes at least one more appearance in S04E07.

Additionally, the couches in this second study are leather. While the couches in the ground floor study are Victorian/Traditional/French Style.

[image id: still from the tv show, S03E18, of a room that looks similar to Regina’s study, but the layout is different. The second door to the room is in the center of the wall and looks out into a hallway. /id]

[image id: a simple black and white drawing, not to scale, of the second study’s proposed floor plan /id]

I have two theories for this second study:

They stopped filming Regina’s study scenes at the McDonald House, and instead built a set for it. But they got the layout and decorating details wrong.

This is, indeed, a second study in the house. My best guess is it’s on the second floor (US), or perhaps the basement. If it is in the basement, it may be located under the ground floor study.

-Spare Bedroom-

The spare bedroom shows up in S02E14 and again in S02E17. In Episode 17, it is in the flashback where Regina wakes up in Storybrooke for the first time, and so is presented as Regina’s room. However, the layout and design are inconsistent with both Regina’s bedroom from season one and the three known bedrooms in the McDonald House.

[image id: still from the tv show, S03E14, of a bedroom, structurally dissimilar to other rooms in the McDonald House /id]

I mostly think this bedroom is a set built for season two, or some odd secondary filming location. It just doesn’t look like it belongs anywhere in the McDonald House. Look at those doors. No where in the McDonald House are there doors like that. (I have also seen that framed shell art in at least three other locations in the house.)

[Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki confirms my theory on the independent set: “Regina's bedroom in "Manhattan" was a television set built in a studio.“]

-Decorations-

Decorations! This section is based mostly on the tv show, fanon, and fanfiction, with just a spice of flavoring from the real estate video.

Horses. The Sims 4 does not include a lot of options for horse decor. Our resident horse girl is a bit bereft of equine decorations. The three I found were:

“Would You Believe” Stallion (base game)

Battling Chess Knight Figurine (High School Years Pack)

Zaky the Concrete Donkey (City Living Pack)

Mirrors. In the show, Regina’s mansion does have a lot of mirrors, usually hanging on the walls. The base game of Sims 4 doesn’t have a lot of mirror options, but with moveobjects, decorating with them can get a little more creative. With all the expansion packs/kits/etc, there a healthy handful of mirrors to choose from. (There’s an aptly named Mirror, Mirror in the Get Together pack that is Sublime.) In my fanon, I think Regina would have at least one mirror in every room (this is partially supported by the show, which does have a lot of mirrors). During the first curse, she couldn’t use them as she could in the Enchanted Forest, but it would probably still bring a sense of security. I imagine she had mirrors in every room of her castle and then some, as a sort of magic security system. The sentiment would carry over to her Storybrooke mansion. [Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki has a list of mirror locations in the mansion.]

Paintings. In the show, there are a lot of, what I would call, showroom paintings in the mansion. If there’s a stretch of wall, there’s most likely a painting or other framed art on it. Nothing that really speaks to me about any sort of personality. Except the horse painting(s) above the living room fireplace (there are two different ones that I noticed, see S03E18 and S06E01). For the Sims build, I focused on the calmer, monochrome paintings. There are actually some Sims paintings that look real close to the show’s hanging artwork, even in the base game. The expansion packs bring more options, but there is just enough in the base game to get by if you don’t mind repetition. (Honestly, the show repeats paintings a lot. I assume they had a stack of them, and they reused the same paintings for one-off sets.) [Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki has a list of many of the paintings and wall art that appear throughout the mansion.]

Flower vases. Just like the paintings, if there is an empty surface in the tv show, there is a vase of flowers on it. Or an urn, sometimes. Maybe a tea set or drink platter (what do you call those plates with a decanter of alcohol and a couple of glasses?). Every once in a while a candlestick or candelabra, depending on the mood lighting. For the Sims, the base game has a decent selection of flowers, but as always, the expansion packs bring more options. Also the only non-holiday table candlestick to date, Smoreworthy Candles, is in the Get Together Expansion. There are a set of standalone candles in the base game, though.

Radiators. The Sims 4 only has one style of radiator, Modern Iron Radiator from the Vampires pack. In my build, I used this for the visible radiators. In the debug items, there is a section of decorated wall that can be shrunken and looks a little like the in-the-walls radiators, but the color doesn’t match my wallpaper, so I didn’t end up using it.

(Star Wars. The Sims 4 has an entire Star Wars pack. There are not an insignificant number of fanfictions where Henry and Regina are Star Wars fans. Because of this, there’s a smattering of Star Wars decorations, mostly in Henry’s room.)

As a final note, some show episodes use background decorations to emphasize a plot point or theme. For example, in S01E21 (An Apple Red as Blood), baskets of apples and round, red decorations are frequently placed in the background. See the image below:

[image id: still from the tv show, S01E21, showing a large, red, circular decoration hanging on the wall in the background, behind Regina /id]

Whatever that large red thing is (a decorative plate?), I’d make a guess that it’s never seen again in the show. Either way, my Sims build has a bowl of apples (Fine Bowl of Fruit, found in the base game) everywhere I can reasonably put one, as well as any other apple-themed items I could find (there are a handful between all the expansion packs).

-Lighting-

The McDonald House has a fair number of wall lights and ceiling lights pre-installed. Most of the ceiling lights are hanging lights, typically chandeliers. The wall fixtures typically look like “electricity, but make it look like candles/oil lamps”. The Long John Buttercups Wall Sconce (base game) and Dollop O' Light (base game) are just about perfect for the wall fixtures.

-Wallpaper-

Most of the wallpaper in the show is either plain with no pattern, usually in a color similar to beige, or, what I will call, Fancy Pattern. (See the wallpaper in the spare bedroom in the Unknown section for an example of Fancy Pattern.) For the plain walls I used Fair & Square (from the base game). Most of these walls were the ground floor and attic walls. For the Fancy Pattern, typically seen on the second floor (US), I used mostly Eldan Secrets, but Modern Brocade, Grand Damask Paper, Petite Fleur Brocade, and Floral Fancy all work just as well. All of these are from the base game.

Henry’s wallpaper is closest to Striped Splendor (base game).

On the ground floor, the dining room and study have wood panelings. For the dining room I used Pleasing Profiles (base game) and for the study, Neoclassic Wall Paneling (Vampires Pack). The basement study is also wood panel, a dark wood variant of Dashing Deco (base game).

[Edit: The “Set Notes” in the Wiki lists a handful of the wallpapers in the mansion.]

-Flooring-

Most of the mansion is hardwood floor, with some carpeted areas. There’s also a smattering of rugs and runners. Most of the hardwood I used Basketball Flooring, from City Living. Most of the second floor (US), including Henry’s room, should also be hardwood, but I carpeted the bedrooms because I prefer that. The base game doesn’t have a lot of rug and runner options, but you can get by with repetition and resizing. The expansion packs bring more options to help diversify the decorations.

-Furniture-

As previously discussed in the living room section, most of the furniture in the show is a mix of Victorian, Traditional, and French Styles. I tried to keep this style to the rooms of the house where guests might frequent: ground floor living room, study, formal dining room, and guest bedroom. The rest of the house, like the basement, attic, Regina’s bedroom, and Henry’s room, I styled more comfortably. The basement is downright cozy, in my opinion. Henry’s room is very similar to the set in the show--the Sims has a selection of furniture that looks nicely similar to his.

-Appliances-

The appliances I used in the Sims build is a mix of 1980s, 2010s, and, if I could get away with it, original-1936. The stove in the ground floor kitchen is the Throwback Stove, from the Parenthood pack. The Freezer Burn-B-Gone Fridge (Cool Kitchen pack) fits neatly in the kitchen’s cabinet wall. The distillery in the basement gets the Food Forge Iron Stove from the Cottage Living pack.

In the Sims 4, microwaves must be placed on a counter. I could not figure out a way to tuck it under the kitchen island, so my build has no kitchen microwave.

-Final Notes-

As a final note, I did use the moveobjects function a lot. I also resized a fair few decorations. Because of this, there’s a few pathing troubles (how the Sims characters walk in the house), although nothing that prevents access anywhere. There are also some deliberate decorations placed to deter using certain objects. The refrigerator in the attic is inside a cabinet that prevents Sims from using it, so Sims don’t wander up two flights just to make breakfast. The wall of cabinets in the ground floor kitchen has some apples hidden inside them, so Sims don’t try to use the cabinets as cooking surfaces. There are a couple more hidden tricks to get the build to behave. I recommend playing the build with all the walls up--it’ll look the best.

Turn on moveobjects if you want to successfully redecorate the place.

-The End-

My Sims 4 build of Regina’s mansion can be located in the Sims 4 Gallery! There are two versions available, one build with ONLY base game items (so everyone can enjoy a furnished house) and one build with items from all the expansion packs (to get the most accurate decorations possible). You can find both by searching for “108 Mifflin St” in the Gallery. Minimum lot size: 40x30 (although I recommend putting the house on a larger lot and crafting a better backyard! get that pergola in there!). Sims Gallery Tags: #OUAT #OnceUponATime #ReginaMills #HenryMills #108MifflinStreet #Storybrooke

[img id: screenshot of the Sims 4 Gallery, showing two lots, named “108 Mifflin St (AllPks)” and “108 Mifflin St (BaseGame)” respectively /id]

#once upon a time #sims 4 #regina mills #ouat #ts4 #108 mifflin street

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