#swallowtail castle

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Swallowtail Castle in Yalta, Crimea, UKRAINE

[bestoflupiniiipoll]

Lupin III NPC Girl Tournament

That’s right folks! It is officially confirmed! The Lupin III NPC girl tournament is on its way! All female characters (excluding Fujiko) from movies, TV specials, and TV series are having a tournament all on their own to determine who’s the best female character in the Lupin III franchise!

And here are the your participants!

Clarisse de Cagliostro (Castle of Cagliostro)

Rosetta (Legend of the Gold of Babylon)

Murasaki Suminawa (The Fuma Conspiracy)

Isabel (Bye Bye Lady Liberty)

Maria (Hemingway Papers)

Chieko Kido (Napoleon’s Dictionary)

Judy Scott (From Siberia With Love)

Karen Korinsky (Voyage to Danger)

Kikyo (Dragon of Doom)

Diana (Pursuit of Harimao’s Treasure)

Lara (Secret of the Twilight Gemini)

Julia (Farewell to Nostradamus)

Ole (Dead or Alive)

Ellen (Island of Assassins)

Mariya Isshiki (Tokyo Crisis)

Rosaria (The Columbus Files)

Cynthia Fullerton (Missed by a Dollar)

Misha (Operation Return the Treasure)

Becky Lambert (Swallowtail Tattoo)

Poison Sophie (Angel Tactics)

Michelle (Seven Days Rhapsody)

Ofumi (Elusiveness of the Fog)

Drew (Sweet Lost Night)

Asuka Kagurazaka (The Last Job)

Maki (Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid)

Lisa Argento (Another Page)

Yutika (Princess of the Breeze)

Rebecca Rossellini (Part IV)

Ami Enan (Part V)

Lorenza (Prison of the Past)

Laetitia Bresson (The First)

Yoko (Lupin ZERO)

(Please note that “all female characters” is just an exaggeration. Obviously I’m missing some characters but if I were to add all from its going to be a really long tournament…)

With that all set, the matchups will be posted on Wednesday! So stay tuned folks!

[escapismmaxing]

skywing redesign + headcanons

birds of the sky,,.,

physical traits

small little fellas, in order to be the fastest fliers they are the smallest of the pyrrhian tribes! but still bigger than the pantalan bugs

most of my headcanons really just focus around making them more flight focused

i know it’s canon that they have huge wings, but i make their wings fucking huuuuuuuge like their wings are discounted when scaling their size in relation to other pyrrhian dragons but if it wasn’t, they would be “bigger” comparatively

also their wing membrane stretches partway down their tail in order to really catch the air

their shoulders have locking mechanisms like albatrosses perhaps

also,,, for aesthetic purposes,, i think they have those little butterfly tail things like swallowtails or luna moths

they have short tails so less drag is created

their horns are very long and branching, but they bend back and tend to follow the curve of the spine/neck so that they don’t stick out and create excess drag when skywings are flying

this one exists in theory more than in drawings,,, but they would have those faceplates that owls/hawks/birds of prey have that angle air into their ears in order to hear better when they're flying

they have relatively small/thinnish bodies, with honeycomb structured bones (i really just redesigned them around flight tbh)

they don’t really have “spines” but they have plated scales that can be ruffed up around their neck

colors have a huge range, basically any color the sky can be a skywing can be, but i think maybe their eggs only hatch during the daytime? so they don’t overlap with nightwings in color a lot

i think reds and oranges are perhaps still the most common? but blues, purples, yellows, and even pinks aren’t unheard of

i also think their scales can match the cloud formations during their hatching

culture and societyyyy/ family structure 

skywings have family units! not really nuclear families how we’d think though because i really hate limiting fictional dragons to a western understanding of family structure

however i do think fewer partners are involved, like 2-3, raising their hatchlings under one roof

still a strong community, but with dragonets returning to one house for the night

i think there’s certainly a “town” daycare somewhat that young dragonets will go to and be communally watched over

however skywings are comparatively more fractured than other tribes due to their home in the mountains, so it’s somewhat small pockets of dragons all looking after one another scattered through the mountains

as for school,, i think skywings have a stricter, more academic schooling model closer to what icewing schools are like? learning a variety of subjects in an academic setting rather than learning the family trade from the family

there are still skywings who have a family trade such as farming (herbs, root vegetables) and artisan trades like metalwork and glasswork. but these artisans often take in apprentices rather than raising their kids to be their apprentices

farming is pretty common because skywings don’t eat a lot of meat! in line with the whole,, bird,,, fast flying,, etc, they have to digest lightweight things that are still high in protein, so they eat a lot of seeds and leafy greens

they don’t eat a lot of “heavy” meat like cows, pigs, etc, and they tend to avoid eating birds at all. some skywings do eat fish and rabbits though

skywings also have a pretty strong hierarchy within the castle that degrades pretty fast outside of the castle

although this begins to fade as queen ruby takes over

there wasn’t the circle system exactly, but it was very clear who scarlet favored, and the favorings of the queen directly correlated to jobs and housing given within the castle walls

this falls apart outside of the castle, where towns are generally kind

skywings have a lot of festivals/celebrations surrounding flying, racing etc

adrenaline seeking skywings will have crazy dangerous flight races through precarious pillars of rocks

on the topic of sports, falconry is super popular and falcons and other raptors are considered holy by basically all skywings

on certain days, festivals will be held where skywings decorate their wings with beads, thin fabrics, jewelry, feathers, ribbons, etc, and flaunt their wings, perform some tricks, etc

flutes, pipes, and wind chimes are very common for music! generally just any using wind to make noise instruments is common, like an ocarina!

another example of me making music more present in the world,,, many skywings can learn simple ish wind charms that give them semi control over the wind, while this is helpful during flight, skywings also use wind charms to essentially play the mountains as a huge instrument!

of COURSE skywings speak with hoots and chirps and tweets and basically any bird noises. like any and all bird noises. which meeeeannsssss skywings can also be really good mimics! not as good as rainwings but still very good at mimicking animals and other tribes

fashion and jewelry

alpacas are very common in the mountains, so spun wool fabrics are very common! shawls and coats and capes are very common

skywings have very diverse jewelry since the mountains give them access to a lot of metals and gems, but a lot of this jewelry is for royals and nobles, and commoners tend to wear simple metal bands and piercings 

a lot of trade happens so thin, silky, gauzy materials are used for drapes and shawls

basically, a lot of fashion (especially closer to royalty and nobles) would be very inconvenient to fly in

and fashion for commoners is a lot more focused on wooly shawls and scarves to help skywings stay warm since they’re silly little guys living in the peaks of mountains

religious-y superstitions 

so. much. bird. idolization

there is somewhat of a bird hierarchy but at the same time all birds are good birds

a very common religious “pilgrimage” for skywings is traveling around the continent and going birding. making and keeping birding journals. 

multiple jobs revolve around the upkeep of birds, especially in the palace, there’s multiple different sectors that house exotic birds and are dedicated to the care of those birds

falconry is very common, as is all bird keeping

they’re not really considered pets as much as they are companions

when a dragons companion bird dies, it gets a skywings funeral since skywing and bird souls are considered to be one in the same

if you see a bird and the bird sees you it means fate has turned her wide eyes unto you. if the bird doesn’t see you it means fate passes over you (for now, it always comes back around)

scrying with feathers

like skywings will have bundles of feathers and then scry by asking questions and throwing the bundle of feathers onto the ground

the answer depends on the orientation of the feathers

since skywings burn bodies, but bones don’t burn, they keep the skeletons usually in very fancy clay urns

this wasn’t happening during the war with ruby, so there’s currently a huuuuuge project within the kingdom of recovering the skeletons and trying to match the bones to put them in an urn

it’s very slow moving work but dragons also think it’s essential

there’s kind of a paris esque catacombs being created under the castle where all the urns are ending up, but dragons are trying to make it look a lot more lively

gems embedded into the walls, skylights when they can, etc

skywings do the same thing with bird bones! especially the bones of companion birds

the birds bones will be kept in their own urn until the dragon dies, at which point an urn big enough for the bones to be mixed will be produced

also,, in line with wanting to make magic more prevalent in all the tribes outside of animus,, skywings being bonded with birds will extend the bird’s lifespan 

the bird wouldn’t get the dragon’s lifespan, but a blue jay would live to be ~20ish rather than 7 years

also (random but related to birds) some icewings were freaked the fuck out by skywings because icewings consider birds to be BAD LUCK. icewings who live not in the castle, but a little bit north of the more populated border, do sky burials with their dead because the ground is too hard for graves. so these icewings consider carrion birds to be kind, but also omens of impending death, so when they roll up to the skywing kingdom and some fuckass has a black culture absolutely chilling there’s a lot of 👁👁

i think skywings can be super cool and interesting but i do kind of struggle to spice up their designs,, bc i dont like drawing feathers. maybe one day ill learn! idk. but i think theyre funky fresh

[artstar1997]

The main characters of my fairy AU, which is the adaptation of the Hidden AU and its collaboration story, Journey to Harmony are made by me and @georgi-girl. Each of the seven fairy tribes and subtribes has wings and antennae based on different insects or the wings are based on their elements (the country tribe as earth fairies have leaf or flower petal or fruit slice-shaped wings, the techno tribe as water fairies have fin-like wings, etc.) and the pop trolls as fairies are more of butterfly fairies while Cooper is a moth fairy, just like his parents and his tribe and Queen Rose and her tribe, the platinum trolls are dragonfly fairies. Their outfits are based on the fashion from the Middle Ages, though the fairies' clothes are made out of natural materials, such as leaves and flower petals.

The new Platinum leader and the fairy queen of the fairy kingdom, Queen Rosetta a.k.a Rose has dragonfly wings and antennae just like the members of her court, which is known for the use of light magic. She wears roses and rose petals in her outfits because the flowers match her personality and the rose symbolizes royalty, romance, love, beauty, and courage.

Queen Poppy, the older twin of King Peppy's twin daughters and one of Queen Celestia's wards has the antennae that she, Queen Celestia, and the members of the Snack Pack share because they came from the same court. During the group's search for the Pop court, Poppy acts as a trusted best friend for Queen Rose to rely on in lending a helping hand or wing because they have been inseparable at most times, especially during lessons. She shares with her boyfriend, Branch. Her wings are based on the king swallowtail and her outfits have camellias and their petals as skirts because the flower symbolizes beauty, grace, elegance, love, longevity, happiness, and good fortune,

Branch, on the other hand, is still the cautious and protective but talented butterfly. His skills in survival and protectiveness towards his friends allowed him to join the knights and earn his title as a sir. He and his brothers have the same monarch butterfly wings and his outfits were made of Mexican sage petals and leaves. The sage plant symbolizes bravery, esteem, domestic virtue, longevity, thoughtfulness, good health, and wisdom.

DJ Suki is a music-savvy fairy herself since fairies are known to be musically inclined and she was trained to be a troubadour ever since Queen Celestia took in the Snack Pack after they were separated from the pop fairies during their escape from the giants (the bergens). Sporting red lacewing butterfly wings and wearing clothes with lotus petals, I kinda match her with lotus flowers because they symbolize transcendence, purity, rebirth, and strength.

Cooper is the only moth fairy in the group and is known to work in the castle bakery with Legsly. He was aware that he had a different antennae shape and that his wings were based on a rosy maple moth but what he didn't know was that he was born a fairy prince. His outfits are made of morning glories, which match him perfectly because the flowers symbolize eternal love, rebirth, resilience, life, and unyielding love.

Smidge is a skilled flyer and fighter in her group and she is one of the transgender members. She is the strongest because she trained with the knights alongside Branch but, she tends to be more of a berserker. Her wings are based on an orange sulphur butterfly and her outfits are made out of red dahlias, which symbolize strength, power, perseverance, and prosperity.

Biggie is a big butterfly with a heart of gold. As an animal tamer and the caretaker of the Snack Pack, he takes care of them and keeps them safe with his bow and arrows but he owns a pet fox, whom he names Mr. Dinkles. He has blue morpho butterfly wings and his outfit is made out of pansy flower petals and leaves because it matches his gentle personality and the pansy symbolizes love, loyalty, honesty, devotion, sympathy, and care.

Guy Diamond is a transgender male but he is considered the most beautiful fairy. Sporting glitter on his pink-tipped satyr butterfly wings, he can emit fairy dust from his wake when flying. Queen Rose uses it for potions while Fuzzbert uses the dust for healing. As a new dad to the newborn baby Tiny Diamond, he tries his best to be a good example to his son. His outfits are made out of amaryllis lily petals, which match him because the flower symbolizes pride, strength, determination, beauty, and love.

Satin and Chenille, the fashion twins still love fashion designing and making clothes but their outfits are known among the younger generation of the nobility, the elite, and the wealthy class. They have matching purple emperor wings, cherry blossom outfits, and ponytails that face each other like a mirror, but the sleeves, personalities, and colors set them apart. Cherry blossoms match them because of their traits and the flower symbolizes beauty, passion, love, courage, rebirth, renewal, new beginnings, and the start of spring.

Fuzzbert, though mute, is a skilled healer among his teammates, which comes in handy because of the difficulty of their quest. Using his knowledge of potions and spells to cure his fellow fairies and help anyone in need. His wings are based on a species of a swallowtail butterfly and his outfits are made of sweet pea leaves, which symbolize blissful pleasure, good wishes, kindness, gratitude, and friendship.

Legsly works at the castle bakery with Cooper but she is mainly the most outgoing among the teammates. As a baker, she has a "happy-go-lucky" attitude with a liking for any "good things" and her cooking talent impresses both her friends and guests alike. Her dress is made out of the leaves and the flower of the daffodil, which symbolizes rebirth, new beginnings, hope, joy, and good luck.

[pinkplasticprincess]

Valrayne faeu by @owl-bones and @antlered-prince

Wasn't sure if we were allowed to make our OCs/Faesonas consorts to the kings or if that would be overstepping. If it is, let me know! /gen

-Goes by Luxa, Titania, or Sleeping Queen

-Married to Dream (she wears a cameo choker she commissioned of him to symbolize their marriage)

-Was originally a human witch that decided to stay in the fae realm. Still has her human magic in addition to fae magic, but she misses her cast iron cauldron and being able to touch certain ingredients due to being a fae now.

-Actually has pretty powerful magic when she's actually awake.

-Still works for the deities she served when a human witch. Loki has a FIELD DAY with the fact she's a fae now. So much room for chaos and trickery!

-Still has the same chronic illnesses that she had as a human. HOWEVER, she lost the ability for medication in any form to work on her. Pain meds? Useless. Antidote for poison? Sorry! You MIGHT be able to suck the venom out of a bite wound like the pioneers did.

-Sleeps A LOT due to her chronic illnesses but also because using her magic can take a lot out of her. Sometimes sleeps for days at a time. Doesn't leave the castle as much because of her sleepiness.

-She tends to dream about her husband while sleeping and usually wakes up in a good mood. Immediately seeks him out whenever she does wake up if he's available.

-Although medication doesn't work on her, she has a vast collection of herbs and other ingredients for magic and will personally make remedies and medicines for other fae, regardless of their status.

-Has a fox spirit familiar. He tends to watch over her while she's sleeping or takes care of certain duties for her. Sometimes just organizes her magic items, research notes, etc

-Has a couple of her own magical items, but also uses Ink as her dealer to acquire more, especially things she had to leave behind as a human

-Has beef with Error

-Wings are based off of emerald swallowtail

The hardest part of this was not the wings, IT WAS THE TULLE LAYER ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DRESS

[queen-scribbles]

Since we all know I need minimal encouragement(ty Alex and Claire <3) to ramble about my children, Swallowtail family backstory incoming(mostly Orion and Minnie). :D

---

Jas inherited three things from her father: green eyes, red hair, and serious wanderlust, though Orion had spent all of his shortly before the family came along.

He was part of an adventuring group, typical monster slaying/ruin delving for a handful of decades until the day they bit off more than they could chew. Ruined castle, infested with monsters, they heard. We can handle that, they said. No, we can't, they realized two dead and three wounded later. Orion was the most seriously wounded, not even conscious by the time they stumbled into the tavern in the nearest hamlet.

They got rooms for the next couple nights, got a healer to look at Orion and the less wounded. No healing magic, bc this was a very small town and the group's cleric was one of their dead. :)) With funds lower than expected since they didn't get the haul they were counting on, the healthy/walking wounded members skipped out on their tab, leaving Orion behind.

He came to a couple days later with heavily bandaged injuries, none of his friends around, and the kindly but exasperated tavernkeep informing him as the last member of the group still under his roof, Orion was responsible for the tab his "friends" ran out on. ("Some friends, if they just left ya for dead" the man groused, and he can't really argue with that)

The tavernkeep being a fair man, even if he has a business to run, offers to let Orion work it off since he has about 2 silver 3 copper to his name. They can start with very easy, light labor jobs like folding linens up to more demanding things as he feels ready, if he wants. Orion agrees--not like he has much choice since he can't exactly go anywhere and it would be dishonorable to try and weasel out. Turns out most of the bill is his room and the healer(he finds out later the tavernkeep and his wife paid for a couple extra visits; "We weren't gonna letcha die, lad") so it feels even more fair for him to work it off.

Minnie is the tavernkeep's daughter. Over the months of Orion recovering and ostensibly working off his debt, they become good friends. Orion has lots of tales from adventuring, always relayed with flair and a fond smile for the life, and Minnie an avid listener; patient and kind with his recovery, and charming besides. She falls for him first, but doesn't say anything bc she expects him to return to adventuring and move on soon as he's healed + worked off what he owes her parents. It's somewhere around the eight-month mark she slips up and says something around him, and Orion gently informs her he finished working off the debt two months ago, and was well enough to travel even before that(he does wind up with a limp, but it's not anything that would hamper traveling). The beastie that almost killed him knocked the wanderlust clean out; a more settled life sounds perfect to him now. Like, say, working at a tavern. Also, he's been sweet on her for a while, too, and just too tongue-tied to figure out how to tell her.

So they court, get married, take over the tavern when her parents are ready to retire. Orion has some fairly impressive scars he's always happy to spin a tale about. He has it perfected to enrapture any audience. Minnie knows running a business inside and out, charming customers and smoothing ruffled feathers with ease.

And then come The Girls. Delilah first, Maren a couple years later. When Mila follows, Orion starts joking about being outnumbered and when Magdala and Jasiri arrive in quick succession it turns to playful resignation. By the time Avalee joined the throng, it wasn't even a surprise. xD All the girls adore their daddy, even if Maren and Jas take after him the most, constantly asking for stories and piggyback rides. Delilah and Avalee are momma's girls, Mila and Magdala intent on forging their own paths--though they both have a fair bit of both parents in them.

They're a close knit group, the Swallowtails, though with Orion's wanderlust in their genes, it's not really a surprise when half of the girls turn to the adventuring life. They always wander back home from time to time. Until Jas gets her own kingdom and an angel boyfriend. All the sisters have accomplishments to their names, some further afield and some closer to home. All of them love each other. All of them make their parents proud.

(Minnie, Delilah, and Avalee are "civilian" enough I wouldn't give them offical D&D/Pathfinder classes, BUT I'd say Orion's a Ranger(Gloom stalker), Maren's a Bard, Mila's a Fighter, and Mags and Jas are both Clerics.)

[konjaku]

麝香揚羽[Jakōageha] Atrophaneura alcinous

麝香[Jakō] : Musk

揚羽[Ageha] : Swallowtail butterfly

Himeji Castle, also known as White Heron Castle, is known for its beauty. On the other hand, it is also a castle with some strange lore.

During the Warring States period (1467-1590,) a maid named Okiku was executed. Her corpse was dumped in a well in the castle. It is not clear if the reason for this was because she was an enemy spy or due to mismanagement.

Time passed, and in the Edo period, 1795, outbreak of worms, oddly shaped as if a woman tied up behind her back, were found around the well where Okiku had been dumped. People found it eerie, saying they were her vengeful spirits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_Castle#Lore_and_legend

In fact, they were Jakōageha's chrysalises. So this chrysalis has an alias of お菊虫[Okiku-mushi](Okiku worm.) And, Jakōageha is the official butterfly of Himeji city today. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/953573/1/67 (ja)

[mrowlody]

yeah there's gonna be intense descriptions of gore in this one. proceed with caution. munei lore time

Sanka spoke quietly and hushed with Donatello about Munei. They were concerned. With the stress of her first legion losses, although Sanka had encountered many before and was unharmed, she seemed mentally ...unstable. She had snapped on Uno, and both the purple clad turtle and surviving Asperian.

Munei stood, on the other hand, in the Hidden City. She stalked her prey. A large butterfly Yokai. Creeping up behind it, they grinned and took it down with one swipe, disappearing to what looked like the dungeon of a castle. She leaned in to the barely conscious and terrified swallowtail, whispering with a saccharine tone filled of vitriol and malice.

"You know the butterfly effect, hmm, little buggy? One flap of a butterfly's wings, and..."

Munei morphed into her "Angel Form", staring it in the beady eyes before softly taking a wing between her teeth and sharply tearing it off with a RIP noise. The swallowtail screamed loudly as she removed its wings.

"Try to escape now, buggy."

"Please, I have- I have a fami-"

"You think I care? That's sad, needs-to-be-protected Munei's job. Only kill humans swiftly when you're told to, and never take the life of someone with a family. No. I'm hungry. Everyone thinks I've changed, and God I'm so tired of pretending so my life is spared."

Munei descended on the butterfly, her form becoming quickly grotesque, eyes everywhere and too many mouths. Her sharp claws grazed the face of the swallowtail mutant, and her canines raked against the yokai's chest. She let the mutant back up a few paces to try and escape, finding her cruel game amusing. Then - it slammed into the butterfly with multiple of her Kraang tentacles at once, piercing it through the torso. The abdomen bled fast. She pulled back as it fell limp.

"Mph. Weak. Really sad, I like to play with my food..."

She feigned a sad act before pouncing on the corpse, breaking each of its tiny limbs before ripping it to pieces and eating it. Munei held life dear, or at least that one did. But Munei had never changed at all, had she? The graphic scene was painted with mutagenic blood as if it were her canvas, as Munei feasted. She stood up, sated.

"Should be enough mutagenic energy to keep me going for a while. Still, I'm not satisfied..."

Munei disappeared through the tunnel, wiping blood off the side of her face. She'd just tell Uno she got attacked by a rabid mutant and did all she could to keep from killing it.

[multitudecontainer420]

some came running, kiss me stupid, seven year itch, witness for the prosecution, ace in the hole, bells are ringing, bad & the beautiful, the cobweb, harvey girls, the band wagon, undercurrent, brigadoon, cabin in the sky, till the clouds, ziegfeld follies, ziegfeld girl, on a clear day, yentl, my sister eileen, fashions of 1934, a free soul, sirk, lubitsch, 3 women, faerie tale theater, storyteller, dreamchild, hotel ozone, boy & dog, lost weekend, quiet earth, road games, duel, the car, death race, turkey shoot, dementia, the terror, little shop, hg lewis, final progamme, punishment park, two lane blacktop, vanushing point, figures in a landscape, boom, go between, secret cereminy, virginia woolf, suddenly last summer, umezu, rampo, beast from haunted cave, night tide, black lagoon, dogs in space, breaking glass, m tezuka, sakuran, picnic, swallowtail butterfly, memories of matsuko, im a cyborg, astaire, a miller, k grayson, dolores gray, telegraph hill, pal joey, busby esther, tourneur, cukor, the blue bird, borzage, ulmer, w castle, invisible man, litte shop, the terror, dementia, bedazzled, bed sitting room, casino royale, modesty blaise, bava, magic christian, sheila, myra breckin, sextette, demy, w klein, anna, les idoles, les poneyttes, georgy girl, beat girl, motorcycle, sister george, skidoo, just a gigolo, russian sf, ikarie, margheriti, queen of earth, field in, alch wedding, satans claw, naschy, frightmare, redemption, metzger, cronen, barker, loved ones, the woman, martyrs, x, final girls, ghostwatch, blair witch 2, raw, thelma, shiva baby, clue, kahn, bogdo, mafu, borden, breaking the, lovecrimes, fassbinder, jarman, russell, waters, drop dead gorgeous, debs, bring it on, roeg. barry lyndon, yorgos, greenaway , citizen dog, wayward cloud, boommee, the boys in the band, invisible waves, magic, 9 to 5, the trouble with harry, postcards from the edge, steel magnolias, the battle of mary kay, best little whorehouse, stick it, jawbreaker, death becomes her, hag horror, lang, welles, superman, popeye, in dreams, images, cotton club, de palma, pennies from heaven, into the woods, sweeney todd, devils backbone, they shoot horses, bloody mama, scorcese, dassin, ossie davis, crooklyn, cleopatra jones, book of numbers, night train murders, last house on dead end, spider baby, streets of fire, wizards, point blank, dirty mary, peckinpah

[ambleyonderwanders]

Deep Cut Gardens

Picture it: July of 2023. When I heard there was a garden formerly owned by a Mafia boss, my interest was piqued. When I found out its name was a pun, I knew I had to see the place for myself.

Located down in Middletown Township, Deep Cut Gardens’ claim to fame is former owner Vito Genovese, who had the gardens built to resemble his native Naples. It’s now in the care of the Monmouth County Park System, who’ve dedicated the grounds to the enrichment of their local horticultural enthusiast population. They, incidentally, have a more robust history of the property on their website.

The Rose Parterre and Rose Pergola.

The grounds sport a koi pond, a greenhouse, a number of walking paths, a pergola, and a parterre that looks straight out of a castle’s courtyard. I may have had to Google what a “parterre” is, but now I’ll look super cultured when I whip that one out at my next social gathering. Just don’t ask me how it’s pronounced…

A creature I’ve only ever seen on my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons came to greet me straight away. This gorgeous, gorgeous girl is the eastern tiger swallowtail. (How do I know she’s a girl? Those stunning blue spots only appear on the females of the species!) I never knew they lived here in Jersey. Turns out they can be found all over the eastern half of the United States! She’s an East Coast girly.

A fairy house… or a gnome home.

The walking trails will eventually take you to a set of stairs lined with the most whimsical trees I’ve ever seen; the spot looked like a fairytale and I fully expected to get whisked away by pixies. I wish I’d gotten more photos, but there were not one but two separate wedding/engagement photoshoots going on that I was trying not to photobomb!

If you manage to outmaneuver the pixies and get to the bottom of the stairs, you’ll reach the pergola and parterre.

The greenhouse was similarly charming, and had more greenery of the “indoor plant” variety. Apparently, the gardens also host a seed exchange station – like a “little free library” but for plant seeds instead of books, which is an idea so adorable that it makes me wanna cry.

Deep Cut Gardens was an absolutely stunning spot that certainly justifies all the simultaneous photoshoots. It’d be a fun place to check out if you’re a gardener, if you’re interested in local history, or if you’re a fan of Mafia dramas. (Actually, I think you’re legally required to be a fan of The Sopranos if you live in New Jersey…)

If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll even make a few insect friends like I did.

- Aley ❤️

[pensandsliverswords]

thankssss for the tag! <3

Last song - Puddleglum’s Anthem by Sarah Sparks favotite color - woad blueee and mustard yellllowww last movie/tv show - Prince of Egypt/Hogan’s Heroes currently watching - Castle sweet/savory/spicy - sweeeeet! relationship status - single current obsession - Star Wars (but that’s nothing new) last thing googled - images of swallowtail butterflies

@chaotic-bumblebee-agenda @moobrvoobl-moobmoob-oobmpoobroom @bookdragon1811 @pepperonyscience @offendedteaspoon

9 people I would like to know better

Thank you for tagging me @drewstarkeysbae!!

last song? Heartbeat, Childish Gambino

favorite color? Red

last movie/tv show? The 100

currently watching? Invasion

sweet/spicy/savoury? Spicy

relationship status? Talking

current obsessions? Jack championnnn

last thing you googled? Jessica Lord (bc Matt Rife is dating her lmfaoo)

No pressure tags: @reychvmpion @runningfrom2am @rvfecamerons @serial444killer @corpsebasil @heavensghost @heavenhillgirl @11133 @polishlolita

[bestoflupiniiipoll]

Lupin III NPC Girl Tournament Matchups

Round 1:

Isabel (Bye Bye Lady Liberty) vs Ofumi (Elusiveness of the Fog)

Misha (Operation Return the Treasure) vs Lara (Secret of the Twilight Gemini)

Ami Enan (Part V) vs Cynthia Fullerton (Missed by a Dollar)

Chieko Kido (Napoleon’s Dictionary) vs Rebecca Rossellini (Part IV)

Ellen (Island of Assassins) vs Clarisse de Cagliostro (Castle of Cagliostro)

Murasaki Suminawa (The Fuma Conspiracy) vs Rosaria (The Columbus Files)

Ole (Dead or Alive) vs Yutika (Princess of the Breeze)

Drew (Sweet Lost Night) vs Yoko (Lupin ZERO)

Laetitia Bresson (The First) vs Rosetta (Legend of the Gold of Babylon)

Maria (Hemingway Papers) vs Michelle (Seven Days Rhapsody)

Judy Scott (From Siberia With Love) vs Maki (Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid)

Lorenza (Prison of the Past) vs Poison Sophie (Angel Tactics)

Karen Korinsky (Voyage to Danger) vs Mariya Isshiki (Tokyo Crisis)

Diana (Pursuit of Harimao’s Treasure) vs Asuka Kagurazaka (The Last Job)

Julia (Farewell to Nostradamus) vs Becky Lambert (Swallowtail Tattoo)

Kikyo (Dragon of Doom) vs Lisa Argento (Another Page)

The first 6 matchups will be posted on Friday. Stay tuned and may the best Lupin girl win!

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Found some old art, thought it's worth posting

[newobsessioneveryweek]

Thank you for tagging me, my friend!

I got a rather lame assortment😅

Royals - Lorde

The Nights - Avicii

Astronomy - Conan Gray

Pompeii - Bastille

Lovely - Billie Eilish, Khalid

I Don't Think That I Like Her Anymore - Charlie Puth

Til I Forget About You - Big Time Rush

Waves - Dean Lewis

Breakthrough - Britt Nicole

Swallowtail Jig - Castle Musicale

I shall tag

@a-wild-gel-appears @ordonianhero @renatlia @estajay @yawninginf @all y'all

tagged by @ladytemplar to shuffle ten songs from my playlist :)

weight of things by deleyaman

cruel by tori amos

tempest by in the nursery

off my shoulder by crime of passing

c'est si bon by eartha kitt

nine while nine by the sisters of mercy

threshold by dead can dance

how fortunate the man with none by dead can dance

barber's concerto for violin & orchestra, op. 14 - 2. andante performed by gil shaham and the london symphony orchestra

wreak havoc by angelspit

im scared of tagging people but um. @princechrom @aloe-vera-ghost @andromedaesresolve @darcy-draws @mister-knight ... if you want. and anyone else who wants to :)

[iihbki3]

Picture of the day: Gold rim swallowtail (Battus polydamas jamaicensis) Green Castle Estate, Jamaica. Over twenty subspecies of this swallowtail butterfly have evolved in the Caribbean Islands and South America. This one is endemic to Jamaica. https://t.co/XVKF0uamuK

[morporkian-cryptid]

There's a manga and/or anime franchise about Lupin the Third, in Lupin's universe.

Throughout the franchise, there's a bunch of references to past content and meta stuff. Taken one by one they're just easter eggs, but when you put them all together, it's highly probable that there is some sort of intradiegetic biopic-ish series about Lupin III, in Lupin's universe.

The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure: Lupin is reading a manga by Monkey Punch, implying that MP exists in his universe

Lupin III VS Detective Conan: Kogoro Mouri thought Lupin III was a comic book character and is surprised to learn that he is real

Princess of the Breeze: a news article about Lupin mentions "TV first series", "TV 2nd series", and "[ep 2]"

Green VS Red: there is a poster of the movie "The Castle of Cagliostro", and Yasuo is seen listening to Fire Treasure from the OST

Characters are heard singing or whistling the opening theme on multiple occasions: a banker in Part 2 ep 143 “The Miami Bank Raid Anniversary” (8:44), and Lupin himself in "The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure" (4:43) and in Part 2 ep 99 “The Scattered Magnum” (06:35), among others

Lupin's phone ringtone in "Swallowtail Tattoo" is the opening theme (30:50)

Goemon plays his music theme on the flute in "Episode 0 - First Contact" (39:40). Granted, Goemon's not the kind of nerd who would do that, but that movie is a story told by Lupin and possibly entirely made up, and he's the kind of nerd who would describe Goemon playing his own theme.

Zenigata's phone ringtone in "Angel Tactics" is his own theme (41:18); he and a couple of ICPO officers are also listening to the full song with lyrics version of Zenigata March on the radio in "The Columbus Files" (1:17:10)

And last but not least:

Part 6 ep 17 “Win or Lose in 0.1 Seconds” : Linfeng's large collection of Lupin III figurines (they could be custom made; but they could also be mass-produced)

and "Dragon of Doom" (01:16) : plushies of the whole gang in a claw crane machine, which are definitely mass-produced.

In conclusion:

"We heard that you liked Lupin III, so we put Lupin III in your Lupin III so you can Lupin III while you Lupin III !"