#newston castle

[night-heron-writes]

The World of Spy x Family: Newston Castle

We all know that Spy x Family is set in pseudo Cold War Germany. Tatsuya Endo makes that very clear—the capital city of Ostania is Berlint, just one letter off from the actual capital of Germany. And the names of the divided countries also pay homage to that: Westalis and Ostania come from the German words for “west” and “east”, respectively. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Take the castle from Episode 5 (Chapter 6 of the Manga), for example. Endo could have left it unnamed, or just made up a name, but he decided to call it Newston Castle. That name is very decidedly reminiscent of Neuschwanstein Castle, and is in fact almost a direct translation.

Furthermore, the location of the castle is listed as a little ways outside Münk. Now, Münk is very similar to München, or what non-German speakers would know as Munich. Münk would also fit with the in-universe trend of altering place names just a little bit, like Hugaria being the in-universe equivalent of Hungary.  Neuschwanstein Castle is similarly located a little ways southwest of Munich. Starting to sound familiar? Lets look at the pictures.

Newston Castle:

Neuschwanstein Castle:

Clearly, the animation team took a few creative liberties (like moving the lake right up to the castle), but the influence is pretty damn clear. It’s the little details like this that make me appreciate the series even more.

The only snag in this theory is that during the cold war, Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle were in West Germany, which leaves us with two possibilities: 1) that in Spy x Famliy, the two nations are divided much more equally than in actual history, and 2) that they all went to Westalis for the castle sequence, and risked being caught at the border just to celebrate Anya’s acceptance into Eden.

Personally, I think the first theory is more likely, given that Endo has already taken a number of creative liberties, and that we’ve not head anything about Berlint being divided into East and West, like what happened to real-world Berlin during the Cold War. And Anya gives the Forger Family address as 128 Park Avenue, West Berlint. Unless, she means the western part of East Berlint, but I think that’s not as likely. However, we don’t yet have a full map of both countries, so both theories are still viable.

Let’s compare the map we do have with an actual map of East and West Germany.

Spy x Family Map:

Real-world Map:

So far, the maps look pretty similar, but all we have is the northernmost bit of the Spy x Family map. Who knows what the rest of it looks like? The border could continue straight down the middle, in which case Münk and Newston Castle would be firmly in Ostanian territory. Do you see Munich down in the far-right corner of the real-world map? No wonder the Forgers needed a plane to get there from Belin(t)!

[ao3feed-twiyor]

Yorticia the Witch Finds a Home

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2djxkZh by Ari_Gateau A story about how Yorticia the witch finds a job, a home, a family, and maybe, just maybe, even love...If only the king would stop talking about how pretty she is, her student would stop sneaking off with her spell books, and her friend Loidman would stop making her blush at every instance. She thought life working for Count Scruffy at Newston Castle was exciting, she could never have imagined what would happen to her when she became Princess Anya's magic tutor in the Kingdom of Westalis! OR, Basically, I wondered: what happened to Yorticia after Loidman rescues Princess Anya from Count Scruffy's castle? Words: 4059, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English Fandoms: SPY x FAMILY (Manga) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M, Gen Characters: Anya Forger, Loid Forger | Twilight, Yuri Briar Relationships: Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2djxkZh

[sporadiceagleheart]

Rest in peace to stars that are now Angels in heaven

Mary Anissa Jones,Eleanor Cammack"Cammie"King, River Jude Phoenix, Niña Sophia Gabrielle "Sophie" Corullo, Judith Barsi, Heather Michele O'Rourke, Lucille Ricksen, Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Clara Blandick, Terry, Shirley Temple Black 1928-2014, Baby Leroy, baby Peggy Montgomery, Peggy cartwright, Darla Jean Hood, Jean Darling, Peaches Jackson, Mary Ann Jackson, Dorothy DeBorba, Mary Kornman, Mildred Kornman, Carl Weathers, Carl Switzer, Billie Burke, Roberts Blossom, Jim Nabors, Frank Sutton, John Candy, Raymond Burr, Taruni Sachdev, Pauline Starke, Geraldine Jane Jacobi Russell, Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell, Geraldine Brooks, Katharine Hepburn, Margot Mosher Merrill, Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis, Walt Disney, Roald Dahl, Olivia Newton-John, Susan Buckner, Lisa Loring, Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams, Mary Treen, Dorothy Dell, Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen, Aileen Pringle, Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle, Ida Kitaeva Raphael, Virginia Mayo, Edna Purviance, Vivien Leigh, Virginia Weidler, Jane Withers, Clarence Nash, Shirley Jean Rickert, Bridgette Andersen, Dominique Dunne, Samantha Reed Smith, Pal, Virginia Rappe, Katharina Schratt, Hattie McDaniel, George Burns, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Matthew Garber, Robbie Coltrane, Betty Tanner, Elizabeth Taylor, Peggy Maley, Peggy Ann Garner, Mary Margaret Peggy Wood, Dorothy McGuire, Peggy Mondo, Joanna Moore, Shirley Mills, Wayne Allwine, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Karns , Stan Laurel, Hannah Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Jackie Coogan, Mildred Harris, Lita Grey, Paulette Goddard, Peggy Moran, Florence Lois Weber, Peggy Cass, Peggie Castle, Virginia Lee, Virginia Leith, Virginia Wood, Virginia Welles, Michael Lerner, June Marlowe, Carol Tevis, Jane Adams, Joan Crawford, Mary Ellen Trainor, Betty Ann Bruno, Anne Baxter, Greta Garbo, William Wyler, Robin Williams, May Robson, Mary Astor, Jane Darwell, Linda Darnell, Lloyd Berry, Pauline Newstone, Jean Hagen, Allison Hayes, Margaret Hayes, Anissa Jones, Sophie Firth, Edith Barrett, Eve Meyer, Taruni Sachdev my edit to those who passed away

[smindersonfan]

No, Anya calls him Scruffyhead, so the "curleheheh" is a callback to when he laughed the same way in the season 1 ep where they go to Newston Castle.

One Piece villains also has unique laugh, was this a reference to that?

[beyondmistland]

Westerosi Worldbuilding Wednesday: Hidden History of the Riverlands: Lost Lore (Part II)

 Letter #14: Over the course of his forty-year reign Jaime I restored peace and prosperity to the eastern Riverlands for he was both energetic and eager when it came to his royal duties. To compensate for his lack of training the king always made sure to heed the advice and counsel of those petty lords who had proven their loyalty to House Hook by supporting him at the Battles of Stonemill. With the benefit of hindsight it is easy to see that this was Jaime I's wisest decision for when the King of the Reach sought to cross the Blackwater Rush he was defeated and disgraced at the Battle of the Great Fork by a Riverlander army half his size. Outside of battle Jaime I divided his time between making progresses in the spring and summer and holding court at the village he called home in the autumn and winter. In the end, Jaime I was slain by raiders out of Blackwood Vale at the age of sixty-four, to the grief of lords and smallfolk alike. (Over the course of his reign the village where Jaime I had been born and raised grew into a town simply called Riverton.) (Of all the kings of Westeros none were more horrified by the rise of a commoner from cloth to crown than Gawen I Gardener, who would make it his life's work to see House Hook cast down.) (At the time of Jaime I's death his writ stretched from the eastern shore of the Blackwater Rush to Maidenpool, which opened its gates at the approach of his army without putting up a fight.)

 Letter #15: The eldest of his grandsons by Queen Eleanor Mooton, Edmure I, responded by marching west at the head of an army five thousand strong with the intention of bringing the Red Fork under the aegis of House Hook only to then lose his life at the Battle of Cannibal Pass when House Bracken and House Blackwood made common cause against him. (According to certain letters at Highgarden, it was Gawen I who convinced the Brackens and Blackwoods to set aside their quarrel with one another.)

 Letter #16: His younger brother and successor, Peter I, thus turned his gaze eastward. Marching at the head of an even larger army than the one his brother had commanded Peter I seized control of the Crownlands only to then disappear during the bloody Battle of Wendwater Castle, for which he is known as "the Fay". (According to House Wendwater's own records the ten thousand sellswords sent by Gawen I were instrumental in defeating the Riverlanders.)

 Letter #17: Having lost two kings in less than a decade House Hook looked to now be in dire straits but that all changed upon the ascension of Jaime II, who was by that point his namesake's last living descendant.

 Letter #18: As strong as he was shrewd, Jaime II ruled most of the Riverlands for thirty-five years, during which time he brought House Hook to the height of its power by conquering the Red Fork in a series of battles and sieges that lasted over half a generation. (Whether or not Leon I's simultaneous invasion of the Reach should be considered a coincidence remains to this day a matter of conjecture.)

 Letter #19: As a result, when Alyn (I) the Mute took up his father's crown many thought he would show great promise but alas his reign ended in madness and sorcery. (House Tully's unusual funeral custom is said to stem from his reign. Furthermore, it was Alyn I who gave his family the surname Hook.)

 Letter #20: After nineteen cruel years the Riverlands descended into the familiar throes of civil war and rebellion.

 Letter #21: Seizing upon the chaos, Tristan III rallied the lords of the Trident to his banner and marched on Riverton, where he cast down Alyn I before putting the entire settlement to the torch. Thus did House Mudd attain kingship over the whole of the Riverlands for the first time in Westerosi history. (The first two houses to declare for Tristan III were the Brackens and Blackwoods.)

 Letter #22: Here then would be the best place to discuss the early history of House Mudd, which ruled the land north of the Blue Fork for four hundred years and the entirety of the Riverlands for another six hundred with the exception of Maidenpool, which at various points in time would renounce its fealty in the name of independence. (House Mudd's claim over the Crownlands was likewise tenuous.)

 Letter #23: At the beginning of the Age of Heroes the Mudds were mere petty kings ruling a tract of land beside the Blue Fork from what was then called the Clayhouse. However, as their wealth increased over time so did they grow in power, defeating one petty king after another until finally almost all the land between the Blue Fork and the Neck did them homage. (House Mudd's chief source of wealth in these early days was the rich clay its lands produced.)

 Letter #24: Upon becoming King of the Two Forks Tristan (I) Mudd expanded the Clayhouse and renamed it Bluesprings.

 Letter #25: When Tristan III deposed Alyn (I) Hook he gave Bluesprings over to his heir, the future Marq II, starting a tradition that would last until the fall of the dynasty.

 Letter #26: To commemorate his ascension Tristan III built a new capital he called Newstones. (Ironically, the ruins of the castle are today known as Oldstones.)

 Letter #27: Five famous kings of House Mudd were Tristifer I, who built Mudgrave atop his heir's burial ground John III, during whose reign House Mallister conquered most of the Cape of Eagles from the Ironborn Marq V, who gave House Mallister the right to raise a town around Seagard Tristan VIII, who built Wendish Town after repelling an attack by Rognar (I) Greyiron, and finally, Tristifer II, who defeated Gawen (V) Gardener at the great Battle of High Heart despite being outnumbered three-to-one.

Letter #28: House Mudd encouraged town-building more than the Brackens, Blackwoods, Fishers, and Hooks combined. (Alas, most of their efforts were undone during the Andal Invasion.)

As always, share, comment, and critique.

[hyacinth-pierce]

The Report Ep 2 (2/7)

We’re back! It’s time to dig back into learning about all those dates the prince went on. You know, it’s too bad we can’t have eliminated Selected on the show. It might be interesting to hear how badly their dates went for them to be eliminated. Although maybe it’s better this way. Anyway, let’s hear from... Annelise Newstone! How did you come up with your date idea?

Annelise Newstone: I came up with the idea because I wanted something that could be like a date in the real world, outside the castle walls. So I cooked a dinner for us.

How sweet. Who’s next? How about Fiona Rossi!

Fiona Rossi: Well I've always wanted to see a motorcycle so it was pretty easy to think of.

Okay then. How about Berklee Boyer? You also got to ride on Dom’s motorcycle, right? How did you plan the date?

Berklee Boyer: We had talked about me getting to see his motorcycle before so I thought that was a good date idea. But I didn't know what we would do after that, but he said he liked the beach and ended up going there to watch a really pretty sunset.

That’s sweet. Okay two more. Isabella Faulkner, your date was pretty fun. How’d you come up with the idea?

Isabella Faulkner: I had some other small ideas but you can't go wrong with food on a first date, can you? Plus I love food and thought why not combine it with a little game to make it a bit more exciting.

And one more. Melody Nolan? How did you decide on your date?

Melody Nolan: Well, I didn’t really come up with an idea. I decided to let Dom choose, and he decided to finish off our game of Monopoly. Which I won, by the way.

Well, that does sound pretty fun. Stay tuned everyone! We’ll hear from more girls after the break! And then Dom will announce his top 5 and bottom 5 of the remaining girls!