offcntr | Network

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/castle-noel

Inside

Have you ever wondered what happens to the props and costumes used to make your favorite movies? Well, sometimes they end up with collectors. And when a collector is as talented as Mark Klaus, you end up with an amazing, 40,000 square foot experience full of Christmas magic and surprises around every corner.

Combining years of artistic experience and an amazing knack for the theatric, the fittingly-named Mr. Klaus has taken an old church building and turned it into a beautiful Castle dedicated to all things Christmas. Mark's love of Christmas started at a young age, and, after establishing a successful career crafting porcelain figurines and ornaments, he decided to begin collecting keepsakes from some of his favorite movies. Over the years, Klaus has amassed the "the world’s largest privately owned collection of Hollywood Christmas movie props and costumes", and, in 2013, he decided to share his collection by opening Castle Noel.

In addition to items like Will Ferrell's costume from "Elf" and the sleigh from "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", Castle Noel is also home to a variety of Christmas storefront displays from iconic locations like Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as interactive attractions like a replica of the slide that Ralphie rides in "A Christmas Story".

If you love to celebrate Christmas year round, you won't want to miss this unique and festive place!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/castle-noel

selenak

Christmas Greetings to all with my annual nativity scenes pic spam!

( Franconian Bethlehem awaits )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Bamberg

profiterole_reads

And Merry Heated Rivalry Season Finale's Eve! <3

I hope everyone is having a great day.

oursin

Happy birthday,

m31andy!

pouce

С новым утром!

Прежде всего поздравляю всех, кто сегодня празднует, с праздником! Желаю тепла и света!

В Киеве ночь прошла тихо, только около шести утра была получасовая тревога, которую мы с организмом проспали. Как и полночь, поскольку в полночь у нас не было электричества. Сейчас тоже должны отключить.

Кстати, под утро мне снилось, что я учу студентов ловить байбаков. К чему бы это?

О! Выключили свет, Так что продолжаю уже на планшете.

Погода сегодня такая же, как вчера. Сейчас -9°С. Причём вчера, в порядке компенсации, было солнышко, а сегодня и мороз и мрак в одном флаконе. Кстати, из-за вчерашнего солнышка организм пострадал. В обычный хмурый день, особенно когда нету света, пыли по углам не видно. А тут в окно заглянуло дневное светило и высветило кучи пыли по углам и прочий мусор в не предназначенных для него местах (корректор исправил "него" на "Него" - обожествление мусора?). Эстетическое чувство возмутилось и потребовало немедленно убрать это безобразие. Света не было, так что воспользоваться пылесосом не представлялось возможным, и я взялся за дело по старинке - стал подметать влажным веником. И через некоторое время вспомнил, зачем, собственно, купил пылесос - при подметании веником организм как-то неправильно изгибается и реагирует на это резкой болью в пояснице. В общем, намазанный диклофенаком организм до сих пор дуется и называет меня "грёбаным эстетом". И в самом деле, лежала себе пыль, никому не мешала...

Сегодня спускался по лестнице и обнаружил, что плюшевого полку прибыло - к трём медведям, зайцу и патриотичному дельфину добавился розовый лось. Жизнь, похоже, таки, налаживается!

И, в заключение, о рождественском вертепе. Одна френдесса вчера гуляла по Будапешту и наткнулась на вертеп. Всё, вроде, как положено: Дева Мария, Иосиф, волхвы, животные, но чего-то, вроде, не хватает. И, таки да, не хватало одной детали. Попробуйте угадать. Раз... два... три... Правильный ответ: не хватало младенца Иисуса. Такой, знаете ли, день рождения без именинника.

Так выпьем же за то, чтобы о нас не забывали на наших праздниках! Дзынь!

Далі буде.

P.S. В заключение хочу повторить, что ТАКАЯ зима нам не нужна! Долой морозы! Да здравствует Глобальное Потепление!

vriddy posting in

anime_manga

I've fallen in love with this manga and am continually surprised at how few people seem to have heard of it, so here's my humble attempt to spread the word :D (This is a cross-post from my journal, where I'm also delighted to discuss this fandom anytime :D :D)

It only took one promo picture to get me to check it out:

A man with fluffy hair with bloodied face holding the cheek of a smoking woman with a bloodied face, text in English

...I didn't really ask any more questions after that. Bonus impact for stumbling on it in Japanese because the "kept pet" implied in the verb is lovely, and obviously plays with the K-9/"police dog" title.

Anyway, meet Oboro on the left - he's great - and Ren on the right - she's great. The art is beautiful, and everyone is very pretty.

About the world

Some people have special abilities, most of which are not well understood. Only one thing is known for sure: these abilities manifest after someone commits a crime. For example, the criminal from the first chapter is an arsonist and can control/become fire. (Somewhat unrelated, but this is pretty fun coming in from the Boku No Hero Academia world, because it's like a universe in which only bad guys get a quirk.) Here, these abilities are called "sins." In the Japanese, it's simply the kanji for crime with "sin" written in katakana beside it.

This seems pretty simplistic at first glance, but that slowly changes as we drill deeper into the worldbuilding and learn the nuances of these abilities and how they manifest. The implications are deeply fucked up, with often devastating consequences that I'm totally here for as my heart gets shattered again and again.

The story premise

Our plucky detective Ren is selected to join Division 9, a newly created division that pairs a detective with a sin user in order to fight fire with fire -- what could possibly go wrong?! I love her. She kicks so much ass.

Woman with a leg up kicking some dude in the face mid-stride

So, who's our main cast?

( Short character profiles )

Four characters looking way too cool as they step through a broken wall

TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME! More specifically, crime related to sin users. But they also get their asses kicked and handed over to them quite a bit, haha.

( A bit more on the story and on them )

Where to read? How many chapters are out?

( 37 chapters, 3 volumes. Totally possible to catch up in a reasonable amount of time! )

Bonus scythe, for fellow appreciators of the Rule of Cool

22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: Metal Gear Solid
Pairings/Characters: Snake/Otacon
Rating: G
Length: 13,779 (1:33:04)
Creator Links:

thelonebamf
Theme: Amnesty, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst (With A Happy Ending), Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Trauma & Recovery, Pre-Canon

Summary: Snake returns from Operation N313, lauded a hero and finds the latest shipment of Foxhound recruits already at the camp. Still struggling to sort out his thoughts about the mission, he finds his attention drawn to one rookie in particular, a scrawny, unassuming runt who can't seem to stay out of trouble.

Reccer's Notes: This just works so damn well as an alternate first meeting for these two! It's such a dismal, pessimistic setting - as expected with this canon - but the way these two forge a connection, finding some degree of comfort and caring and hope - makes me really emotional! And I love the use of the book, as well! (Also somehow even though I always knew the Hal connection to 2001: A Space Odyssey I never noticed how Dave fits in to it, too?! 🤦)

Fanwork Links: Rat in a Foxhole [podfic], Rat in a Foxhole

moonhare

Happy holidays!

——

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Chipmunks

icanhascheezburger_feed

Posted by Ayala Sorotsky

https://cheezburger.com/43748101/chaotic-cat-clawmedy-made-of-31-memes-for-your-christmas-dilly-dally-day

Christmas morning with a cat in the house is not a calm affair - it's a spectacle. Before you've even finished your first sip of coffee, there's already a whiskered menace inside the tree, batting ornaments like they personally wronged them. Tinsel becomes a snack, wrapping paper transforms into a crackly battlefield, and every box is immediately claimed in the name of feline law. Welcome to the season of chaotic cat clawmedy.

There's a delicate holiday balance at play: absolute mayhem wrapped in undeniable cuteness. One moment your cat is sprinting down the hallway at warp speed for no visible reason, and the next moment they're curled up under the tree looking like a tiny Christmas angel who has never committed a crime (don't check the evidence). Christmas with cats is all about extremes - zoomies and naps, destruction and devotion, mischief and meowgical charm.

As presents are opened, your cat supervises closely, convinced the crinkliest gift is clearly theirs. They'll sit in the box, on the box, or directly on the instructions you need, all while judging your unwrapping technique. And yet, when the chaos settles, they'll curl up beside you, purring like a festive little engine, making everything feel warm and right. If your Christmas is powered by whiskers, paws, and a healthy dose of cat-induced nonsense, these memes are your holiday spirit animal. Grab a Christmas-y snack, embrace the meowing mayhem, and enjoy a holiday that's pawsitively unhinged - but impossibly cute.

https://cheezburger.com/43748101/chaotic-cat-clawmedy-made-of-31-memes-for-your-christmas-dilly-dally-day

icanhascheezburger_feed

Posted by Mariel Ruvinsky

https://cheezburger.com/43765765/youre-in-the-wrong-house-shocked-cat-catches-her-human-visiting-the-neighbors-has-the-most-hilarious

Outdoor cats must have some crazy adventures. We often wonder, when we let our cats hang out outside, which places they go to, which people or other animals they befriend or make enemies of. There are whole relationships that our cats have that we don't know about. Of course, we know that sometimes our cats visit the neighbors. Sometimes our cats cause chaos in the neighborhood with their shenanigans. We know that some strays are friendly with our cats and some are not. But we don't know the details, and we suppose that we never will. So when we do get to see some of what they experience firsthand, it's something special.

And what happened with the cat and cat owner in this story is definitely special. The cat was hanging out outside, just living its best life, when, out of nowhere, she spotted something where that something should not be - her owner in the wrong home. Of course, from our perspective, the cat owner just went to visit the neighbor for a second, but from the cat's purrspective, considering the reaction that she had, this must have been one of the weirdest experiences that she has ever experienced in her life.

https://cheezburger.com/43765765/youre-in-the-wrong-house-shocked-cat-catches-her-human-visiting-the-neighbors-has-the-most-hilarious

sonofgodzilla

Title: Finders Keepers
Universe: Kamen Rider Gotchard, B-Robo Kabutack
Prompt: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: S02E08 - I, Eye Guy
Character(s): Kugimiya Licht, Harima Shiroi, Captain Tonborg, OCs
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Summary: This, thought Kugimiya Licht, was less than ideal, a waste of his time even. Through the course of their investigation, they had uncovered the cache of aged Octi-Eye cards buried in the ground, there was nothing contest. Finders keepers, as the children he had watched outside the window of his villa on the Palatine Hill had oft been moved to call out.
Length: 1858 words
Author's Notes: WWTHYWC! #22. Merry, merry Christmas, friends 🎄🎉🎁💝🍰 also: external link.

judge

( Finders Keepers )

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: somewhere
Current Music: CAPCOM Sound Team - Ice on the Beach -ICEMAN-

22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairings/Characters: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu
Rating: T
Length: 4,491
Creator Links:

boomchick
Theme: Amnesty, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Mythical Creatures: Demons, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Spells & Curses, Trauma and Recovery

Summary: Luo Binghe's healing powers falter in the shape of the wounds Xiu Ya once gave him. He does the only logical thing--HIDES IT.
Shen Qingqiu knows something is wrong with his husband, but finding out what is going to hurt...

A sweet little post-canon fic about healing, plotted with and illustrated by the incredible Falcities for the SVSSS Gotcha for Gaza

Reccer's Notes: This is such a sweet, thoughtful fic! Binghe always tries so hard to be strong, and never really quite escapes the trauma reaction that he doesn't deserve help or that suffering is just something to be endured. In this post-canon fic, his husband gets the opportunity to tell him otherwise and show him just how much he loves all parts of him, including the demonic parts!

It also has quite possibly my favourite (and very appropriate to the themes!) no beta tag ever: No beta but we live regardless

Fanwork Links: blood, leave no stain

ao3_wolf359radio_rss_feed

Posted by DetectiveHummus

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76394066

by DetectiveHummus

Renée Minkowski is not a globally-renowned journalist. Or a major influence in the field of geopolitics. Or even a New Yorker.
In other words- at Dominik’s Christmas party, a month after her return to Earth- it’s Minkowski and her light-up Christmas jumper against the world. Until a familiar face appears at the door, that is.

Words: 2461, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F
Characters: Isabel Lovelace, Renée Minkowski
Relationships: Isabel Lovelace/Renée Minkowski, Dominik Koudelka/Renee Minkowski (mentioned)
Additional Tags: Christmas, Christmas Party, Post-Finale, (Yes the title is a Love Actually reference)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76394066

22degreehalo posting in

fancake

Fandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairings/Characters: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu
Rating: T
Length: 3,248
Creator Links:

marquisguyun
Theme: Amnesty, Character Development, Domestic, Happy Endings, Hurt/Comfort, Time Travel

Summary: Luo Binghe had suffered through numerous life-changing revelations since waking up on the floor of the woodshed. First he had thought he was dead and a ghost, then he'd been informed he was in the future, then they'd tried to tell him that he was a demon. But still, the most unbelievable thing this strange future version of his shijie had tried to convince him of was that he was married to their shizun.

Reccer's Notes: This was written for the prompt 'Time Travel - Character discovers future self is apparently happy in the MOST unlikely relationship', and truly I cannot think of a better canon ship for that than this pair 😄 This is so sweet, and baby Binghe's POV is so perfectly young and hurt and yearning and protective-instincts-inciting...! And then the canon couple themselves are just so very sweet and perfect... <33 Such love!!!

Fanwork Links: the future is a foreign country