Neon’s A Doll A Migraine-less Day, More Or Less - 2019 edition!

[neon_jellyfish]

Oooh, Eteri and Dizzy seem fantastic! Poor Eteri though, she really does need to learn to slow down a little, she might burn out otherwise, and that wouldn't be any good for her ex.ploring.

Also Dizzy makes me think of the Bride at the Haunted Mansion (the newest incarnation is said to have murdered all her husbands...) Dizzy's a bit nicer though.

Thanks! Bride at the Haunted Mansion? That's a Disneyland attraction, right?

"My ideal shell for her would be Neo Noir."

Oh, I do hope you find a Neo Noir at some point in the near future! I'm sure your photographs of a Neo Noir figure would be phenomenal!

Your photographic styling of EOS to represent Eteri LeBlanc is captivating!

Have you had this entire world previously mapped out, or are you adding specific details as you write these vignettes? Have you drawn Tolkeinesque maps of Quirkmore, Oddwick, and Oddwickshire? (Based on the snippets we've seen, your artwork looks as captivating as your photographs.)

Nevermind picfics; this needs a TV series  Can you imagine the sets and visual effects???  I'd watch for sure.
In addition to davidd's questions, I'm curious how long you've been developing this story world.
And it's fun to see where all these dolls you've had in your ADAD photos for so long, fit into the story.

There are manned lighthouses in Canada? I thought everything was automated now...

I'm not sure about the west coast; might be a couple in remote areas, but the one manned one near here is the last one on the east coast as far as I know.  It's a sovereignty thing; the surrounding waters are disputed between the USA & Canada, so the government/Coast Guard has a crew on it.  About 20 years ago, they automated the only other manned one in the area & it's been left to crumble to ruin -- too hard to get to, for preservation efforts.  It's sad, because it's such an icon, & that piece of history is being lost.

Thank you both! I had a rough draft of everything fromthe start, but I add various details as they pop in my head. At the beginning, I knew I wanted my world to be a mix of the previously mentioned Magic Town, the real town where my grandma lives, and all of my favorite stories and folk tales. I wanted specific places, like the library, lighthouse or the graveyard district, and since there seemed to be a lot of them, I decided to split them between two towns, and then it started rolling like a snowball...

When I move t Oddwickshire, I think I’ll settle in Quirkmore. I am pleased that my future governor didn’t challenge Her Insane Majesty, because civil wars are messy things. Eteri could live in her airship as a compromise.

Oh, Callidora never even thought about it. Only some people say she could pull it off, that's all. Callidora has nothing but respect for Her Insane Majesty. There's no risk of civil wars happening - everyoone is happy, the kingdom is thriving, so there's no reason for uprising, plus, going against Her Majesty would mean also going against the incredibly powerful head of all witches, all witches, incredibly powerful will-o'-wisp, dangerous secret agent, genius inventor and all the vampires (they would simply follow Callidora), and I don't think anyone's that stupid.


Day 215

Let's head back to the Fair Grounds, Madame Butterworth's Travelling Circus just arrived!


Madame Butterworth's Travelling Circus

Mme Butterworth’s is a really special circus. It’s the only truly flying circus, instead of caravans, the troupe uses airships of all shapes and sizes. It also has a special mission - obtaining foreign magical artifacts for Her Insane Majesty’s collection. The Queen can’t really sneak around when she’s visiting foreign countries, but the circus members can, because once the show is over, no one is really paying attention to them. So they search for and buy anything that could have hint of magical properties, and sometimes, when they can’t buy it, they, er, relocate it to a more relevant place by other means (this happened in a few countries that banned magical artifacts and started burning them all).


The Butterworth Twins



Griselda (left) and Grimalda (right) aren’t originally from Oddwickshire (although they easily could be, they're weird, they never fitted in in their old home). They are orphans. Madame Butterworth found them on the street and decided to take them with her and adopt them. She raised them as her own and taught them everything about her trade, or rather, trades. A few years ago, she went missing, but she left a note saying ‘I’m gonna have some fun. You gals have fun, too!” So it doesn’t seem like anything bad happened to her. Gri&Gri inherited the circus and became creepy twin ringmasters, which turned out to be a genius business decision! Things like that attract people and rake in cash.

The girls also have their own show - Beast Taming - which utilizes some of Rebecca’s most sophisticated creations. All the animals are artificial, part mechanical, part magical puppets. They can change colors, fly, disappear and re-appear again, and many other mind-blowing tricks. Audience’s favorites are elephant with butterfly patterns on ears, lions with fire manes, and giant flying seahorses.

Griselda and Grimalda are quiet girls and they mostly keep to themselves, nobody can tell what they’re thinking, but everyone agrees that they’re probably plotting something sinister all the time. They never show even the slightest hint of emotion. Despite that, everyone likes them. They manage the circus well, and they’re good listeners. They never refuse to listen to their subordinates’ troubles, they never judge, and they always offer quite sensible advice. They’re also very efficient in solving conflicts, which helps to keep good mood in the ensemble.

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The whole reason for the artifact smuggling is that I wanted a circus that secretly conducts some shady business. There are two more named and shelled characters in the circus, I'll introduce them tomorrow. Others are just mob characters.