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

[neon_jellyfish]

Callidora sounds fantastic. Does her duties include a lot of meetings with Her Insane Majesty? Also I like your take on vampires - especially that they don't sparkle. Are there any more vampire inhabitants of Oddwickshire that we'll get to meet?

(Also I hope Callidora's parents are alright even if they are still healing.)

Thank you! Yes, Callidora and Her Insane Majesty meet often to discuss various state affairs, and they're on great terms with each other. Callidora is grateful for Her Majesty's help in that awful accident that almost killed her parents, and Her Insane Majesty makes a point of befriending every powerful person she meets, or at least making them indebted to her.

For now, Callidora is the only named vampire, others are mob characters. That might change if Groove makes another must-have vampire (not blonde this time...).

Their Graces are quite fine, the burns are already gone, but they need to take time replenishing their powers. Callidora built a special obstacle course for them in the palace garden, so they can have some batty fun.

Fascinating collection of lore / powers / abilities for the vampires.

I’ve never heard the wild rose piece of lore - where is that one from?

Thank you! Medieval European vampire lore has several plants that are supposed to be powerful against vampires, aside from wild rose it's also holly, rowans, wolfsbane, several trees - most of them have antiseptic or antibiotic properties, which is why they were said to repel evil spirits in general. The specific method of using wild rose to prevent a vampire from leaving their coffin is from Dracula, I believe.

"... her own S&M club..."

Well... things are beginning to get... strange... er.

Marvelous backstory about The Duchess of Quirkmore, and Oddwickshire vampire lore in general. It all sounds very plausible, much more so than in some popular fiction.

Sage, not garlic? Well, that would make for more pleasant aromas around the windowsills of peasant houses.

Haha, the S&M club idea was born when I was thinking about the trend of depicting vampire bite as a somewhat erotic ex³perience. I don't mind it if the book (or movie or whatever) states that vampires use some kind of power to make bloodsucking more pleasant for their victims/volunteers, but that's often not the case, being bitten is simply perceived as sexy because apparently everything that vampires do is. One possible ex²planation could be that vampires evolved to be uber sexy, because that way it's easier to get prey and said prey is less likely to put up a fight (but it's probably just because authors like them that way), and I kind of brought that idea to extreme by creating an organised group of people who are so responsive to this that they desire and actively seek to be bitten. I do like sexy vampires, but I also really like scary and lethal ones.

Sage, because I love garlic and wanted Quirkmore citizens to be able to enjoy it without hurting their vampire pals, and sage is one of those medicinal herbs said to repel evil spirits, so I opted for that. Sage smoke does actually clean the air to a degree, so burning sage as incense might be a nice way to protect oneself from vampires... Although, now that I think about it, garlic incense totally sounds like an Oddwickshire thing...


Day 214

Today, we'll finally take a tour of Quirkmore! We'll meet one shelled and one unshelled character.


Quirkmore

The beautiful town of Quirkmore lies in the center of Oddwickshire, on the shore of Quirk, the only surface lake in the land (there are some lovely pools in the forests, but only small ones).

Quirk collects water from a few small streams, but Unseen (the magical underground river) runs quite close to its bottom, so some of its water seeps into Quirk. The water on the lake’s surface is normal fresh water, but if you dive deeper, you’ll find diluted version of Unseen’s magical water. As a result, the fauna and flora in Quirk are a fantastic spectacle, but the water is still safe for swimming (not drinking, though, unless you want to grow scales), which makes Quirk a real paradise for divers.

The town has four parts (plus the underground, but there are only natural caves here, no catacombs like the ones in Oddwick) - Alight Point, Lakeside, Downtown, and Fair Grounds. Quirkmore is well-known for its gothy and dark-colored take on Art Nouveau architecture. Unlike Oddwick, which is mostly built of stone, Quirkmore’s main building materials are glass and metal.

Alight Point is sort of a gateway to the town, because most people arrive by air. Alight Point is all about airships. Aside from The First Lighthouse, there are fields for landing, numerous docks, hangars, workshops offering repairs and tuning, cheap inns for aeronauts who aren’t visiting Quirkmore and just need to load cargo, wait for passengers or get some sleep, and a few houses and shops for personnel of all the aforementioned businesses. The First Lighthouse is located on the border between Alight Point and Downtown. The fog in these two parts of the town is beautifully spooky green (especially at night), tanks to Isidor’s lighthouse light orb.

Downtown is a beautiful mess consisting of short crooked streets, beautiful glass palaces, shops offering anything you can imagine and a lot of what you can’t, cafés, restaurants, theaters (I recommend seeing at least one of Tightroad’s phantasmagorias) and many other interesting places to see.

A famous phenomenon, which we might get to see if the weather goes really bad during our stay, occurs around the lighthouse. Usually, the light is enough to help the many airships to land safely, but when the fog gets extra thick and tall, or during storms, Isidor has to use the other of his will-o’-wisp powers, the Allure - which is mentally manipulating his ‘victims’ to come to him. It helps troubled airship captains to get to the lighthouse safely. Usually, he can focus that power on the specific airship that needs his help, but when things get really bad and he has to crank the Allure up to eleven, he can’t focus it on a specific target, which causes about a half of town to unconsciously gather around the lighthouse, form perfect circles, stand perfectly still and stare up to light orb with empty eyes, often in heavy rain. It looks like some really sick cult. The lighthouse crew and other people who spend time with Isidor are immune to this, as are more powerful vampires, since they can use their manipulation against Isidor’s (although, if he decided to specifically focus on them, they probably couldn’t).

The Downtown seamlessly blends into the Lakeside. Lakeside is very similar to the Downtown, but you’ll meet more amphibian and other water-related supernaturals, and there are a few shops and rentals offering diving equipment and glass-bottom boat and underwater tours.

On the other side of Downtown are Fair Grounds. You could say the whole Quirkmore is one big carnival, but real carnivals and various fairs have their own district here. Travelling funfairs come one after another, but there are attractions that are here all year round. The Dragonfly Market is always full of incredible stuff, you can ride all kinds of mythological beasts on the Wild Hunt Carousel- a one-of-a-kind carousel tower (four storeys of bone-chilling fun!), the beautiful Cursed Wheel decorated with wrought iron and stained glass will offer unforgettable view of the whole Quirkmore, but you have to use special glasses (provided at ticket booth) with magically enhanced polarization lenses, otherwise the Cursed Wheel will offer unforgettable view of a whole lot of fog; and I always, ALWAYS have to visit the Specter Street, a street packed with all kinds of haunted houses (as in attractions, not your usual Oddwickshire cozy homes), thirteen on each side.

A very special troupe will encamp here on Fair Grounds soon...

Now let's meet some locals!


Eteri Leblanc



Eteri is a mystery hunter. She loves ex²ploring ancient ruins, observing communities of semi- to fully sentient supernaturals who live in the forests without any contact with civilization (they’re shy, in some cases aggressive, and they speak some weird ancient language, so I don’t know anything about them, and I’m not suicidal, so I’ll leave investigative work to Eteri) and trying to spot various cryptids. She travels around in her small personal airship, the Black Huntress. ‘Black’ because it’s literally black, ‘huntress’ because Eteri likes that word. Eteri learned how to pilot an airship from Beatrix, she and Elazar (yeah, he can fly an airship, his missions abroad require that) were Beatrix’s first pupils.

Eteri is in permanent adventure mode, so she can only sit still if she needs to do so to spot some rare creature, if she’s forced to slow down and stay at home for more than a week, she becomes sad and tense. It’s hard to get a hold of her, and she usually has no idea what’s going on, but other than that, she’s a sweet girl whose stories are always fun to listen to.


Desdemona Arisaema Someotherland

My ideal shell for her would be Neo Noir.

Her friends call her Dizzy. Dizzy is a dangerously charming owner of The Merry Widow, insanely popular tearoom in Lakeside. She used to be a countess in, well, some other land.

She was famous for her vast knowledge of the fine art of poisoning, and after her fifth husband died, people started to say ugly things about her. She became a murder suspect and then she found out that someone more powerful than her wants her out of the way, so she had no other choice than to run away, and she, being the wise woman she is, decided to go to Oddwickshire (luckily, she managed to take her quintuple inheritance with her, minus the manor).

She ex³plained her situation to Her Insane Majesty, who granted Desdemona asylum, because she thought it might be interesting to have Desdemona around. Dizzy settled down in Quirkmore and opened a tearoom. Needless to say, a tearoom run by a famous poisoner was an instantaneous hit!

The truth about the husbands is rather boring, though. They all died of natural causes. That’s another of Dizzy’s talents, she’s good at picking wealthy husbands that are likely to die soon.

[werepuppy]

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.

[davidd]

"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.)

[Alliecat]

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.

[Elfy]

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.

[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.

---

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.

[davidd]

"... and became creepy twin ringmasters, which turned out to be a genius business decision! Things like that attract people and rake in cash."

There are always one or more lines in these Tales of Oddwickshire that leave me laughing out loud!

You're going to have some serious set and prop building ahead of you if you're going to show us the lions with fire manes and giant flying seahorses. You are working on that, right?

And airship-based circus that is a front for covert operations helmed by mysterious twins... how utterly cool is that? Oddwickshire keeps getting odder and awesomer.

[werepuppy]

The Butterworth Twins are delightful! Grimalda looks a bit nervous there.

I'm loving all these covert operations as well... How well Oddwhickshire is named

[Elfy]

Twins often do have that ‘secret plotting’ vibe and G&G are no exception. Has the circus ever managed to locate a flying carpet? That would come in handy. I’m thinking the Gleems (characters from my own fantasy series Realmspace), would love Oddwickshire, oh the mischief they could create there!

[Alliecat]

So there needs to be a spinoff TV series about the circus too...
I also want to see the lions & seahorses

[Lejays17]

A travelling circus makes an excellent front for spy-stuff (and relocation of "unappreciated items" to places where they will be appreciated).

I'm reminded a bit of the circus that Antimony hides out in in the InCryptid books (probably because that's who our Laura is named for - She's Antimony, but shorted to Timmy for everyday)

[neon_jellyfish]

Thanks guys! We'll return to the circus tomorrow, for now, have a migraine shot.


Day 216



Only filter version today, original one is crap.

[werepuppy]

Ooh, Ula D looks appropriately spooky there

(Hope this migraine doesn't last too long)

[davidd]

The lighting and processing bring out the details in her impressively sculpted headband! Lala looks like a 1920s flapper girl in this pic... appropriate for someone who can transform in to a bat, I suppose.

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you both!


Day 217

Back to Madame Butterworth's Travelling Circus! One of many things that set this circus apart from the other ones are its supernatural members. Werecats, for example.

Felis Redburn



Werecats are a great asset to any circus (although, not many principals are aware of the fact), so naturally, Mme Butterworth’s has several of them. They’re excellent acrobats and balancing acts are a piece of cake for them. Felis is the senior werecat, she’s in charge of the other ones. Their acts look like suicide missions to humans, but they’re easy for the werecats.

Felis is also part of the special artifact acquisition group, because she can get pretty much anywhere without making a single noise, and her night vision, hearing and olfaction are out of this world.

She might be somewhat difficult to get along with, since she doesn’t really care what others think, and she’s kind of blunt, and not everyone can handle that, but she’s also quite difficult to get into conflict with (she rarely takes things personally), unless you wake her up. She hates that. Her hobbies are playing with yarn balls, knitting and crocheting (she just loves yarn) and also adrenaline-packed chases across rooftops.