#fits the whole games vibe like Perfectly. its so relaxing

[klonoadoortophantomile]

niche has been mamking my computer run like absolute shit so far but immm enjoying it so much =))

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#19: This Is Good (S6E15)

I mean...do I even need to explain? 😏 I always love this scene for its relaxed, happy, and intimate vibes and for really solidifying that all the romantic sexual tension Rick and Michonne had pre-canon would play out just as perfectly once they could finally act on it and be in love out loud. They do intimacy so well and naturally. The best word to describe this scene is straight-up sensual. And as they let themselves be fully immersed in their Richonne bubble in this scene, I truly believed what they believed - the world is theirs...

I didn’t realize how much opening minutes really used to be blessing us in this series. Cuz in 6.15 we get to see Rick and Michonne cuddled up again for the first time since their canon ep.

And I love that after seeing some couple-y moments with Glenn and Maggie and Abe and Sasha in this episode opener, we get this scene that reminds you there are some powerhouse newlyweds a part of this TWD couple list now. Won’t He do it! 😊 

The scene opens with Judith on the baby monitor, which lets you know this is the bedroom of her parents. Plus the baby monitor made an appearance in Rick and Michonne's 6.10 canon moment as well so it sorta connects the two scenes in a way. And their family truly feels so whole now that Rick and Michonne have embraced that they’re meant to be.

I adore the way they're wrapped up in each other, and Michonne’s smile, and the way Rick's kissing her shoulder and like being as close to her as possible. 😍 They just both seem so genuinely content. And even half asleep they can’t keep their hands off each other lol. When I tell you these two are magnets - all you have to do is watch their body language in this scene to know it’s true. 🧲

And then Michonne takes that apple and bites it, and I love the subtle expression Rick makes when she does that. And then this show said, if y'alls' glasses somehow ain't fogged up yet then let’s just keep serving steaminess and have Michonne feed Rick the apple lol. They're wild for putting this moment in, and I'm here for it. 😋

Just their breaths and laughs in this, I love that in this quiet moment, their love is so loud and clear. And the apple suggests two things - 1) Adam and Eve fall-of-man foreshadowing and 2) that they are the hottest couple in all of television. 🔥👌🏽

It’s additional perfection when she runs her hands through his hair, and he immediately goes back to wrapping her in his arms. Um every second of this scene is a blessing. 😍 And of course Rick kisses her again, and the way she rubs his hand that’s holding the apple...Cup runneth over, y’all. It’s so great how natural and comfortable they are to be like this so soon after making their feelings for each other known.

It really does go to show that now they get to do what they've always wanted to do.

Like this feels like a whole passionate morning routine already and the married vibes are immaculate. It confirms how the physical aspect of this relationship was truly the final piece of their already perfect union. They’re happy and fed, and so are we. 😌

And in Rick’s first dialogue of the scene he says the only fitting thing to say on a blissful morning like this. “This is good.” And Michonne agrees it is and notes how Jesus came through. And did. Won’t he do it. 🙌🏾

Rick is really confident saying, "They all did, and they’re going to keep coming through." Homeboy is feeling really hopeful and confident during this period of the show and part of it is def cuz he’s now officially in a relationship with the baddest chick in the game. IJS. 😌

Michonne mentions how Maggie wants her and Glenn to set up watchpoints and Rick is in that lovely 'take a break' mood so he tells her to 'stick around.'

I love that it’s such a common theme for Rick to always want to extend his time with her. I repeat - the world can always wait when Rick is with Michonne. 

It’s cute that part of his pitch for her to stick around is that 'Judith isn’t even up yet.' Mom and Dad, y’all. And then Rick really makes his pitch enticing when he starts kissing all over her and making her laugh. 😊

The way they can make each other smile and laugh like no other is the absolute best. (and Rick is more hungry for her than the apple ijs) I love that they’re so unabashed in expressing their love and desire for each other. And you know I’m always happy to see Rick and Michonne's playful side.

Like how great is it that we get to watch a couple that's so grown and mature while still having something youthfully energetic in their want for each other too. 🙌🏾

Michonne is disciplined like no other tho so she laughs and says, "wait no." Rick stops and looks at her asking, "yeah, why not?" in that fine voice and idk how Michonne remembered what she was saying with Rick over her like that lol. But, like I said, Sis is more disciplined than most so while her body language is certainly saying she'd love to stay in bed with him, she also wants to keep her commitment to Maggie and Glenn.

I love how she again runs her hands through Rick's hair while saying  Maggie has them on a schedule and she doesn’t want to piss off a pregnant lady. And then Rick’s subtle pout. Every cute choice was made in this scene, I’m telling you. 🥰

Also I was like Michonne, sis, this is your chance to enjoy yourself and maybe even be a pregnant lady too, Maggie will understand lol. Like tell me Maggie wouldn't be like...

But Rick understands and doesn’t want to piss Maggie off either lol so he playfully tells her to go. It’s cute the way he says, "not that pregnant lady," and Michonne says, "right." Always in agreement.😊

And as we know, mornings like this blissful s6 one with Rick will have Michonne also one day being a pregnant lady who's nothing to mess with in the future. 👌🏽

(Side note: I’ve noticed every time Rick and Michonne have a scene chatting in bed together, the one person who comes up each time is Maggie. This scene in 6.15, the bedroom scene in the Sanctuary in 9.01, and their gorgeous bedroom scene in their home in 9.03. Rick and Michonne express care for Maggie's well-being every time, which is part of why it's so unfortunate that Maggie’s relationship with Rick and Michonne ended with a falling out. And the fact that all we know is something vague occurred and somehow Maggie and Michonne grew distant after Rick was gone. It's sad cuz they were shown to mean a lot to each other but then ended on a sour note.)

Rick says go and Michonne laughs as she starts to get up, and Rick again looks so rested and satisfied eating his apple and laying in bed. Michonne be giving that man life, y’all. 😊

Michonne notes that Maggie is worried about an attack and again Rick is confident saying when they come for us, not even "if," but "when," they’ll be ready. He’s extra confident saying this won’t be like before, and "the world's ours, and we know how to take it."

It’s sweet that Rick again takes his time to really reassure Michonne. It’s like he can sense that Michonne too might be having some concern about the looming fight, and so he’s so gentle but certain when he tells her everything they need is inside these walls and they aren’t losing any of it again.

I love that Rick feels they have everything they need, and I know he and Michonne having each other is very much included in that for him. And you can’t fully see it, but you can tell he comfortingly places his hand on her, really wanting her to know, “we’re not losing any of it again.” 

And then I love how Rick says, "I’m not." Basically saying, trust me whatever is trying to take from us is going to have to go through me, and it won’t end well for them. And Michonne knows it too so I love the way she believes him and boosts him up saying, “No you’re not.”

She knows Rick is a fighter and a force to be reckoned with. It’s part of why she fell in love with him, and you can see that in this moment.

Also hearing Rick just eating the apple again lol, homeboy ain’t worried about no outside threats in this moment. He’s too busy on cloud nine. Having good fresh food, a strong community, a healthy family, and a goddess of a wife has Rick like...

And because she’s a fighter too, Michonne takes his hand and also says, "I’m not," cuz they’re cut from the same cloth, really and truly. And you just believe the two of them so much when they say this.

Even knowing Negan is coming, you just feel like ultimately he’ll be no match for Rick and Michonne because those two together are unstoppable. 💯

I love that they got this peaceful morning moment to just fully enjoy each other's presence and affirm to each other that what they have is good and not going anywhere. These at-home scenes always paint such a great picture of why Rick and Michonne make for the absolute best husband and wife.

And again, the sensuality of this whole scene is A1. In every inch of every frame. And I remember loving this scene back then but watching it back now it’s even more sensual and sweet than I remember. Like it’s so good from beginning to end and solidified that Rick and Michonne really do work perfectly as a couple. I love the way they talk to each other and so visibly want each other. I’ll say it 1000 times. 

Two more cute moments I just want to note in this 6.15 ep are Rick ratting out Michonne and low-key himself too, when he reveals to Morgan that Michonne did steal that protein bar back in King County. Like he thinks he's telling on Michonne but also Rick,...

Cuz Rick stayed letting the world know he remembers pretty much every detail about Michonne. 😋 I love that Rick remembers so much from his first run with Michonne in Clear and then Morgan’s smile like 'oh I know your girl took it.' Also, I just love any time Andy and Lennie get to act together. Legendary talents. 👏🏽

And then I really love the Rick and Abe scene towards the end of the ep too. It’s one of the most heartfelt exchanges between two men on the show imo, and I like how Abe was the tf member who always most wanted the Richonne tea. He’s one of us lol. 

It’s always heartwarming seeing Rick ask Abe specifically if Michonne is back yet. Like I’ve said before, some of Rick's Day Ones are out there, but of course, his wife is his utmost concern. And Abe is so compassionate when having to reveal that Michonne is still out there. It’s heartrending that Rick can’t even hide the concern he feels and wants Michonne back home. 

I appreciate that Abe seems to notice this and wants to talk about love when asking Rick if he’s scared to go back to it and let someone in close. We know from the "rules keep changing" scene that letting someone in is big for Rick. So he pauses for a moment and answers "yeah" twice.

Abe brings some levity saying how he’s basically ready to blaze a path of his own (with Sasha 😊💜) even despite this world's penchant for taking things away. And Rick’s amused face at Abe is cute.

Then the way Rick stays standing at the gate, almost wanting to will Michonne home. So sweet. 😭

And extra sweet is Abe kindly saying, "any second now" to reassure Rick while he’s in this state of feeling off because Michonne's not okay somewhere, so even from afar, Rick's not entirely okay right now either. 

Rick had been feeling so unshakeable all ep, but Michonne being out there while the looming threat of the Saviors is high shows that there are still things he worries about, and of course, Michonne and her safety are high on that list.

I love that despite the scary aspects of letting someone in, in that world especially, Rick and Michonne still dared to do so fully with one another. And because of it, they get to enjoy blissful mornings filled with love like this one here. It was giving newlyweds and married-for-years all at the same time, and I'm eternally here for it. 😌

[lunarrwolf]

mini series coming soon!!

since you guys got me over 300 followers, i held up my end of my own deal and was finally able to think up the first of a 100% written series (social media included only when needed to build the story).

there will only be two for now but i want to get the sykkuno series a good ways in before bringing in new content like this! i’ve been a writer since middle school and have major writer’s block for a book i’m working on rn so i’m really excited about writing an actual story for lunarrwolf! these are the banners, very tiny synopses, and sneak peek excerpts for DAYWALKER!s and Siren Woods

s.h warning: siren woods will not be for the faint of heart as it will be put in the category of a psychological thriller. it will contain suspense, fear(s), anxiety and/or mentions of depression, isolation and swearing

d.w!s warning: this is an apocalyptic world w/o zombies. it will contain violence, anxiety, entrapment, fear(s) and swearing

disclaimer: i will do my absolutely best not to treat either of these as if they were actual novels. i plan on putting in comedic lines and scenes to lower any thriller/horror vibes from the stories, and not too go too far to avoid truly triggering myself or anyone else. warnings will only be issued in chapters that are going to actually include one or more of above the above. but if anyone who reads them in the future have issues do not feel like you need to keep reading.

-

DAYWALKER!s

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

ten creators find themselves amidst a city with an oddly familiar vibe, a weird yet intimidating apocalyptic appearance, and hundreds of strangers that feel the need to do nothing but fight their way through the city. even if that means to the death.

excerpt

“You’re all going to die, you know.. so you might as well give up now and let it take over.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

You blinked at the growl woven in with your friend’s deep voice, knowing for sure that if you were in an animation a sweat drop would be making its way down the side of your head. He hated confrontation more than anyone here but when it came to his friends, and being trapped in a place like this? Who knew what damage he would do to keep them safe.

The man ahead of the group did nothing but stand there with a mocking grin on his face. It was unnerving, and dare say almost bloodthirsty. There was no amount of sanity or free will from where you all stood just a couple of yards away, and just that thought alone chilled you to the core.

“Corpse.. maybe you shouldn’t.” You stated, stepping closer to him to lower the risk of the strange man hearing the second part. “I don’t like the looks of that guy even from over here. We’ve already had to deal with a ton of crazy shit since finding each other. We can’t risk losing our only real muscle of the group.”

Ignoring the offended voices of Sean and Ludwig, the man with the torn mask looked at you only when you put a hand on his shoulder. It took sharing glances and seeing head shakes from most of the others to have him loosen the fist his hand was already in. Standing up straight, you watched as he rolled his shoulders, jaw still clenched from the tension. Rae was taking advantage of the off putting interaction and explored the small area, so capturing everyone’s attention when Corpse relaxed a bit wasn’t hard. “It’s gonna be a tight fit but I think we can make it work.”

“Whoa.”

“Where did you learn how to hotwire a car?” Ethan questioned, being the first to make his way toward the beaten vehicle.

“Video games?” The brunette answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She hit the side of the driver door twice, motioning to the group. “Now get your asses in here before that guy decides to pull a Resident Evil zombie sprint on us.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sykkuno saluted, earning chuckles that were a rare sight since ending up here. The two of you didn’t waste time in calling the front seats beside Rae and Ethan, forcing everyone else to get in the back of the truck and make it work. No one could complain, though, seeing the circumstances you were all in.

It took a few seconds of revving the seemingly old engine before the machine began making its way. You could actually hear the ones in the back shift around to get in more comfortable positions for however long a ride it would be. The girl behind the wheel didn’t pay any mind to the stranger that watched her drive you all away, but you did. And even when he continued to shrink in distance and eventually disappeared, you knew his words would stay with you.

“You’re wasting your time! No one gets out of Mirror City!!”

Siren Woods

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

seven internet personalities find themselves in the middle of an old town myth as they take a break from their careers and head up towards a rural mountain area. among every spooky or jumpy experience with a horror game here and there, never did any of them think they’d end up in this situation.

excerpt

The fire crackled with a sense of release, almost as if this large flame represented the time everyone needed away from their jobs. After how crazy the media has become the past few weeks, you and your friends agreed that a trip towards a much lesser known area would do you all well. It was a teenagers on summer break scene where everyone was gathered around a campfire in the backyard of a lake house, telling stories to either amuse or scare each other. Seán and Ethan were the first to do so, tag teaming in a very dramatic reenactment of the first time they met in person, which of course had to be followed by your own scene with Y/F/N.

Time flew by and before you knew it, the sun was completely set and the darkest shade of navy possible was barely lit with a crescent moon and a few stars. The only real source of light was the fire, illuminating the six faces in an orange glow. Any laughter died down minutes ago, leaving a silence that was comfortable for everyone. “You guys want to hear a funny story?”

Squinting at the man sitting in the log across from you, you leaned forward, hands folded in your lap. “Funny haha or funny we might want to kill you after we hear it?”

“Uh..” Corpse met your gaze immediately, his mask somehow looking more eerie with the natural lighting. “Funny kind of hoping you won’t kill me, if I’m being honest.” He confirmed, leaning forward himself to warm up his hands while the rest of you debated on whether to let him tell it.

After a few minutes, and three overtaking two, he was allowed to do so. It was an old myth of the town you all resided in for the week; a Slenderman type of entity of the forest that the locals from dozens of years before chose to call Siren Head. The name stuck once old photos were found and set up in the small museum in the Common. He stood at forty feet tall, with two megaphones for heads and tangled wires for a torso. He had the ability to perfectly mimic broadcasts, conversations, sirens and screams, and had been said to only emit white noise if ever asleep. Speed nearly matched that of a cheetah and his strength was unbelievably high due to his size. Every sighting of said species had only been released by victims, and it was an urban tale that stood alive to this very day.

Rae was on the grass now, legs crossed one over the other as she tried to look at everyone at once. “Why the hell did we all come to a place called Siren Woods, then?!”

“Well.. the town looked really nice online, and it’s living up to that. And I thought siren meant more mermaid than a freaky Creepypasta-type thing.” Sykkuno could do nothing but respond with nerves showing through his face and every subtle movement of his body as he explained why he ended up agreeing with the destination.

“Yeah, I did too.” Y/F/N piped in, shrugging her innocence as you all began telling your sides. “Who doesn’t think of a mermaid when you hear the word siren?! That’s basically what they are.”

“I, for one, think we should find another place to stay.” Ethan spoke up.

Seán gaped at his longest friend in the group, “You don’t actually believe in that.”

“I’m not taking any chances, dude. Those people believe in that thing enough to build a whole section of the museum for it.”

You watched your friends go back and forth, some freaked out by the story but not believing it was real while the rest wanted to find a new vacation spot. “What do you think, Y/N?”

You turned to Corpse, blinking as the simple question processed in your mind. “I’m with Ethan on this.. even if that thing isn’t an actual being the belief here is hardcore.” Three faces lit up in relief while the roommate, Irishman, and faceless internet persona felt differently. “Let me finish..” you sighed, “Let’s stay another night but keep an extra cautious eye on Spencer and Luna. Animals have a sort of sixth sense, so if anything weird happens they’ll warn us. Deal?”

Y/F/N shared a glance with you, letting out a sigh of her own. “Suddenly I’m feeling a lot better that we brought our dogs instead of getting sitters.” She bent down to pet the canines laying between the logs, hoping if they did bark it would just be from a resident knocking on the door.

[x-exo]

*slides into your asks with a rose in my mouth* why hello, tis me!

Apologies for the long wait but your favorite long asks anon is here and OOF so much has happened. Let us break it down one by one lol

Monsta x our beans, welp we can officially say we are army wives for them because shownu is now at the military and just welp this feels weird lol. I lowkey forgot he was meant to enlist so when the news came out I went through so many emotions. Its why the latest comeback feels a bit bittersweet to me. It is their BEST for sure and for this year, I agree so to not see him perform right before he left is a bit sad. I don't blame him of course (if anyone does i am fish slapping you) but just a shame. I'm happy we do get content with him still? Seems pre-planned so that is nice!

Onto legends exo, fantastic comeback. I cannot stop listening to the album, its just bops full of bops to me. They broke so many records and I'm over here sipping my tea because fudge yes. It isn't a full member comeback, 2 of the members featured in the comeback are off playing call of duty and they still did THAT. While having lay properly in the comeback!? (Or at least some form, better than tempo era!) Kyungsoo my beloved, the man that can swoon you off your feet, his proper solo album. Omg I am just in love? The album feels like a Playlist that you hear while taking a walk or on a raodtrip? I love it, I just love everything about this with how much thought was given. It makes me feel warm and I'm so proud of him (I think he even got a first win) but sadly xiumin got the it shall not be named virus D: I feel so bad and I can only hope he gets better! It makes me worried because I keep seeing more and more idols getting sick and I can't help but wonder why don't the kpop entertainment just put a pause with stuff? Of course that is VERY unrealistic, I am aware that is naive for me to think but its just so idk how to word it properly (my English brain is not working I am sorry) I cannot help the feeling of while I get people are being safe and yes we need to still live like normal beings, is it worth risking idols health just for some entertainment? Idk how to explain my thoughts properly but maybe I hope I made sense!!

Onto svt! That is perfectly fine to not vibe with a comeback! I will admit, I didn't fully vibe with this comeback and it shocked me because every comeback was a hit to me. Even fear, left and right or homerun where I know many fans were split on, I liked but RTL was a grower. For me, listening to it without watching the mv, helped it alot and it is a song I like. Is it their best? No I don't think so but it is alright to say "hey I didn't bop to this, not my cup of tea" (imo I blame the mv? The mv REALLY didn't do the song justice at all, I am sorry if I sound like a fake fan but this mv Just is bad in all aspects. Sure we have some pretty shots but like it just doesn't fit at all?) So if anything listening to the song or wishing the live performances does it better. Seeing the choreography amps the song up more, cannot go wrong with their dancing. As for the rest of the songs, I admit game boy is my top favorite? Idk if it is because I am a gaming nerd and found all the production of the song so creative but yeah. We can wait for the next comeback! Svt always have something up their sleeves, plus we do have their music projects to look forward too (I wonder when we will get one? Seeing as RTL promotions stopped) some positive news with the boys is they resigned like a year before their contract ends and I'm a bit emotional :') I'm excited to see the boys future projects. We did have caratland recently! Did you watch it if I may ask? We did get in the soop confirmation so I'm excited to watch that, the boys deserve that nice break (even if it was filmed for a show fjsbsns)

Ok I think that is it for kpop updates? XD I do hope life has been treating you kindly! Life has been a bit all over the place sadly so I hope it wasn't like that for you as well! Until next time my bean!

hii!!!! omg sorry for the late reply i've been pretty busy these days 🙈

indeed so much has happened! and much more since you sent this ask omg!!

our shownu is at war *looks into the distance* *wipes away tear* *sighs* by now I got used to enlistment news (see what happens when you stan 2nd and 3rd gen groups) but STILL [[IT HURT]] when they uploaded the monchannel videos of his goodbye day like ????? what kind of twisted mind diuhdfuihdifuhs but the boys were all so cute and soft but they seemed so sad they didn't want to let go of their super leader :(( I hope he's learning lots and making new friends (and also we've got our international super spy yoo kihyun giving us small updates on him every now and then so everything's fine!). Yeah I totally get you it felt empty without him this comeback and at first it didn't really clicked with me but when the enlistment news came out i understood he had to take care of his health and thoroughly check on his eye sight in order to be 100% ready for the military so it made sense he had to be absent :( everything was so close (the comeback and enlistment) that I'm sure there was no other way for doing it I'm pretty sure he couldn't maybe postpone the enlistment day any further

onto exo! my ksoo my soft boi my romantic boi 🥺 his album is so him SO HIM i can't explain it bur it's just HIM you know it's the type of album you'd play on loop on a summer afternoon when you've taken your papers and paints outside in the garden to paint a bit with the warm soft breeze moving the trees lightly 🤧 and he signs in English and SPANISH (he did it for me) my multilingual king he's a native. Also I've been watching Honeymoon Tavern with Jongin these days and OMG i could d word for him really (if you haven's watched it go do it when you have time) he's SO SOFT and SO CUTE and he works as a waiter and a wedding planner and helps with the room preparations and is also a tour guide and he's just so cute so happy al the time the way he interacts with everyone is so 🥺🤧😭 onto more serious stuff now: yeah i was so worried about minseok catching covid omg but i'm glad he went through it with our any major complication and the rest of the boys are safe too! I guess the industry doesn't stop bc that would mean a huge loss of thousands and thousands of dollars/won/etc so as long as the gov doesn't prohibit going out or gathering like at the beginning of the pandemic, they'll keep on going with the idols' schedules otherwise the industry would just shut down having no way of earning money to sustain all the companies and idols.

as for seventeen! yeah i like the songs too! the mv sure ruined rtl and listening to it without watching it has really helped it grow on me more but still it feels kind of meh to me idk i really like anyone i think it's my favourite from the album. AND NOW WE'VE GOT A COMEBACK IN OCTOBER!!!! yayyyyy i can't wait they seem to be preparing very diligently (i hope they release a sexy bop) it's a shame junhao aren't gonna be present for this comeback but i'm soooooo happy they have the opportunity to visit their families again omg they have spent 2 whole years without seeing them in the flesh they must be so happy to get back to them again!!! it's so funny seeing them be bored at the quarantine hotel and doing lives every day duhdfiudhfiuh i hope it passes quickly and they can see their loved ones finally! and I did watch Caratland!! omg the unit switch song was the best thing ever hhu doing lilili yabbay and not being able to stop laughing idfuhdifuhs perf team doing chocolate and owning it????? hello??? performance team more like main vocal team wow! and the vocal team being a complete mess during check in lmaooo i loved it! In The Soop has finally started!!! I love these kind of "normal life" concepts I love seeing the boys being themselves cooking and relaxing I've watched the first and second eps as of today and also few clips from the third and omg mingyu and jeonghan drowning in the pond dfuhidfhidfs lmao they're so dumb i love them 🤣 i'm glad they could go away for a few days and spend time together away from their hectic schedules!

I hope you're well now and if not hang in there it'll all pass soon enough! 🥰💕 bye bye!!

p.s.: I got your request for the svt this or that gifset and i promise i’ll do it one day i just don’t feel like giffing these days dhbduusi i’m out of energy 

[coffee-obsessed-writer]

When You Least Expect It: Part One

Jensen x Reader, Jared Padalecki, Leo Caprini (OMC) platonic

A/N: This is a slow burn fic that I have been working on for a while. Its a story I wrote for myself and just wanted to share with everyone. Yes, the “Dee” in the story is who you think, but there is no intended hate on her or their actual marriage. It is a work of fiction, that is all.

Part one is from Jensen’s POV. There is also a playlist to go along with the series. Some are just songs I imagined playing or being played as the story took shape in my imagination, or they are songs actually being used in the series. I will link them when that’s the case. Hope you enjoy it! xo

Series Summary: After a hard breakup, Jensen decides to throw himself into organizing a Music Festival in Austin that is meant to raise money for a few of his most cherished charities and organizations. As he throws himself into planning it, he stumbles upon a spirited, undiscovered performer, who he convinces to come aboard to help plan and coordinate the event with him.

What transpires after that takes both Jensen and his new friend, by surprise. But when their respective pasts come back just before the event kicks off in Austin, they will both have to decide if the unexpected feelings are worth perusing, or if they should just walk away and go on with their lives.

Series Warnings: Language, Break-Ups, Angst, Fluff, Smut (that’s it for now)

Series Playlist: “When You Least Expect It” (Spotify)  [Youtube Playlist Coming Soon]

*Banner created by me; pics & gifs found online

“You sure you feel up to this? We can just hang out at the hotel if you want.”

“No,” Jensen said. “I need to get out, get fresh air. I need to breathe. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE board meetings? It’s why I’m not an office guy. I would suck at it. What happened to let’s meet at a restaurant, have a meal, a drink and just talk stuff out?”

“Alright man, whatever you want,” Jared agreed and took a few tentative steps to cross the street. “But, remember, you were the one that wanted this all to happen ASAP. The guy is on vacation with his family and putting aside time for us. If he wants to set up in his hotel conference room…” Jared trailed off and shrugged before making his way across the street.

Jensen waved him off and followed in his friend’s footsteps and as they made their way up onto the boardwalk, they were both relatively relieved with how deserted it was. October at the Jersey shore wasn’t exactly ‘in season’ but it was a nice enough night that they could have encountered a lot more people.

“This is good,” Jensen smiled, as they strolled down the boardwalk. He inhaled a deep breath of the salty air and exhaled slowly. “I get that. But it's important to get this stuff finalized before I go back to Austin and start making firm plans. ‘Cause before you know it, it’s back to Vancouver. Doesn’t leave much time to get things in motion.”

“Could always push the festival back a year,” Jared suggested, knowing Jensen would never agree. He was like a dog with a bone where this festival was concerned. Once the idea to host a three-day event in Austin came about, Jensen was bound and determined to make it happen, all in a year’s time.

“No, its gotta be next year,” he said, gesturing with his hands that was his final decision. “It's fine. I’m better now that I’m out of that conference room. It was like a million degrees in there. This, this was a good idea. Maybe we find a small bar, grab a beer, some grub. Just relax a bit.”

“Until your phone rings,” Jared said unintentionally sharp.

“Come on, Jar. I don’t wanna—” he sighed and stopped walking. “It's over, alright. She left and honestly it sucked.”

“And the festival is your way to distract yourself from that.”

Jensen gave him a reprimanding look but couldn’t deny his claim.

“It was six months ago, and yeah, it took me a while to get over it. But it wasn’t like we were married, and she wanted something else. I’m done waiting for her, okay? I get it now, she’s not coming back. So, you can stop worrying. And yeah, maybe the festival is my way of moving on. Work is work, and while it keeps me busy enough, I want to do something more. Organizing this thing through the brewery, it’s gonna be great. It's going to help a ton of people and bring some recognition to a few great charitable organizations.”

Jared walked by his side quietly, listening and waiting for Jensen to stop rambling. When he did, he asked a simple question completely throwing Jensen for a loop.

“That all sounds great. It really does, and your intentions are on point, Jay. But… what happens when it’s over?””

He hemmed and hawed over an answer, sputtering and stuttering before just giving up and shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fine?”

“Perfectly. Fine.” He nodded as confirmation. “In fact, so fine, I won’t even remember whats-her-name because I’ll be swimming in fine.” His tone oozed sarcasm, only to be made more punctuated by his expression.

“Jensen…” Jared sighed. “Just stop. It's fine, I get it. I’ll back off. Let’s go get that beer and whatever.”

He shoved his hands in his pocket as the autumn wind kicked up his hair as it rolled in off the ocean. He started to look around at the different booths, only a few of which were open and functioning that time of year. A little further down the boardwalk, Jared spotted a place that could be just what they needed.

“Come on, let’s check out this place,” he motioned his head towards a bar/restaurant called The Beachcomber. Jensen shrugged in agreement as they headed towards the building.

Walking through the front doors, they were met by a quick blast of warm air from above. There was a smattering of tables with patrons, but mostly they were empty. They made their way towards the back of the bar, where there were tables open that overlooked the ocean. Claiming one, they sat down and grabbed a menu to peruse. Not too long after, a waitress came by and took their orders. If she had recognized them, she didn’t mention it and went about her business as usual.

“I don’t want to keep bringing it up,” Jared started, after the waitress came back with their drinks.

Jensen sipped his beer. “So, don’t.”

“I just—I thought you were going to propose? You told me you wanted too. She left because you couldn’t make the commitment, Jay. Why didn’t you go through with it?”

Jensen just shrugged and looked out over the ocean to think before answering Jared’s question. “I don’t know… at the last minute, I just couldn’t do it. The idea of settling down with one person is terrifying, man. It may suit you and Gen, but I don’t know if it’s for me.”

“It’s not like you’re some playboy. You are monogamous as hell. So, what was it really?”

“Maybe I just couldn’t see my future with her. You know, settling down, kids, the whole nine.”

Jared nodded slowly, finally understanding. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because that makes me sound like a dick.”

“You are a dick,” Jared teased and threw a piece of the napkin at his friend.

Jensen mocked him with a fake laugh and went back to his beer. “Yeah, yeah… moving on. Let’s talk about the important shit. I want tomorrow to go as smoothly as possible so we aren’t sitting in the pits-of-Hell conference room, so will you have a chance to look through all the contracts?”

Jared nodded and sighed. “Mhm. But really Jay, that shit needs to just go to the lawyer. I know you want everything to be perfect, to go smoothly. And I have no doubt that it will… but can’t we just concentrate on the creative stuff? Gen and I got a lot of the marketing taken care of. You and Jason, Robbie too, right? Y’all got the music covered. The festival will go off without a hitch and Random Acts will take in a bunch of money, as will the Austin Y and the crisis hotline.”

“Yeah, music is coming along. I just don’t have anyone that fits the vibe, you know?”

“No, I don’t. What vibe is that?”

Jensen shrugged. “I don’t know… this I guess,” he motioned towards the beach and the boardwalk, “I wanna bring this to the Brewfest.”

“Why? I mean, it's great here, but what makes it so special?”

“Can’t put my finger on it. Have you ever been here in the summertime? Dude, it's amazing. Just the whole vibe of the place…”

“That’s why you’re so intent on having these meetings with Leo. You want him to bring the boardwalk to Austin.”

Jensen shrugged again and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, alright. I will help you make that happen then. Tomorrow, we’ll just have to convince him.”

“Well, lookit you. Being all motivational and shit.”

“Rah Rah!” Jared teased and shaking his hands like pom poms.

“How are we friends?” he asked and shook his head with a sarcastic eye roll included.

“You’d be lost without me and you know it,” Jared mocked and raised his glass in salute. Jensen nodded in reluctance agreement and clinked his glass against Jared’s.

The food was dropped not too long after that, and they enjoyed their seaside dinner as the sun set behind the houses to the west. About an hour after they arrived, dinner and drinks were finished, and they debated on staying or going back to the hotel. Deciding to stay for one more round, they settled in and kept an eye on Game Six of the World Series happening on the TVs above the bar.

Somewhere around the fifth inning, the volume got turned down, and the customer’s attention was asked to look towards the small corner stage. Behind the riser, was the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and a smattering of small boat lights on the horizon. Though the sun had just set a little while ago, the moon was already nearly full, hanging low in the night sky.

Jared was intent on the game playing out over the bar, even though there was no sound now. Jensen sipped at the rest of his beer and decided to keep his eyes on the stage. An older man, maybe in his mid-60s, welcomed the crowd and thanked them for patronizing The Beachcomber. His thick New York accent made Jensen smile, especially once he took in the man’s overall appearance of his slicked-back salt and pepper hair, white tee shirt and black leather coat.

Right out of the damn Sopranos, he thought and chuckled to himself.

He watched the stage, eager to see some Sinatra wannabe come out and try to charm the crowd. But when the girl with the guitar came out instead, he sat up a little straighter in his chair and glanced over at his best friend to see if he was paying attention.

He wasn’t.

Jensen couldn’t take his eyes off her, not solely because she was beautiful; which she was… stunningly so. Her beauty wasn’t what made him sit up and take notice. It was the way she held her guitar; gripping it as if it were her lifeline. He observed her closely, surprised that she seemed nervous. When she strummed the guitar and brought the melody to life her nerves faded away; she was suddenly confident and assured. Her voice carried on and as the lyrics of “Dust in the Wind” filled up the back end of the Beachcomber Restaurant, Jensen found himself immersed in the moment.

He went to the bar that night in search of a hot meal and cold beer. Jensen didn’t expect to find a solution to some, or even all, of his problems. But the longer he sat and watched her perform, he started to feel that maybe everything will work out for him after all.

She played through a short set and it was clear the other people in the bar couldn’t care less about the magic he was witnessing. At one point, Jensen looked around and was shocked how little people were paying attention. How did they not hear her voice, feel her words, or get touched by her vulnerability? He was more in shock about that, then the girl herself. Yet, the more she played, the more he was drawn in and attentive to every note, every word, every second.

By the end of the last song, she gave a slight bow and turned to scurry off stage. Jensen clapped eagerly for her, as the last few remaining patrons gave her a half-hearted attempt at applause. He was floored that he was the only one who took notice of her and turned to say as much to Jared, who was on his phone nodding emphatically.

“Yeah, got it. Ten tomorrow morning. Yup, thanks, see you then,” he said into the receiver then ended the call and tucked it away before looking up at Jensen. “You ready to go?”

“No, I… did you hear any of that?”

“Hear what?”

Jensen ran a frustrated hand over his stubbled face. “The girl, the music… did you hear it or did I just imagine that whole thing happening?”

“Oh, I heard it. It was good. I was just sort of engrossed in the game. Anyway, we should go. It’s getting late and Leo’s attorney said he wanted to reconvene by ten.”

“Can you just give me a minute? I want to see if I can catch—” just as he was standing up from the table and surveying the bar, he caught a glimpse of the guitar girl heading out of the doors and sprinting out into the night seaside air. He slumped back into his seat and sighed. “Nevermind… let’s go. I guess I can come back tomorrow night and see if she’s tending bar,” he mumbled more to himself than to Jared.

When Jensen looked back up and saw the way his best friend was looking at him, he shrugged and wrinkled his nose as if he was being chastised for something.

“What?”

“Dude, stalk much? Besides, we have a two o’clock flight out of Atlantic City. Bob is expecting us back to set Sunday morning.”

Jensen groaned. “Shit, I forgot. Alright, well, it’s the modern age, I can use a phone and try to get in touch with her—”

“Jay… chill. She’s just a girl, sure, she’s cute but, what is the big deal?”

Jensen opened his mouth to explain and suddenly felt stupid. She was just a girl; a girl that had a voice that could calm the Kraken, and a mastery of a guitar that could rival most of the greats. Even just hearing a few songs, he knew she was that good; but she was just a girl.

“I’m not taking away her talent, but unless you’re sweet on her or something—”

“No, it’s not that,” Jensen started, but then opted to change the subject and waved it off. “You’re right, no big deal. It’s late and we should get some shut eye before tomorrow. If we’re lucky we can settle all this with Leo, have the contracts in place for the festival and be back home in less than twenty-four hours.”

Jared nodded and felt a bit of his concern wash away. “Ok, good. Just stay focused on the work in front of us and we may actually pull this off.”

Later that night, as Jensen stretched out in his hotel’s king-sized bed, his eyes finally drifted closed and her face was there with him. It was partially hidden in the shadows of a stage, only hints of her features could be seen through the fogginess of the room and the singular light shining down upon her. But it was her. She was humming a tune, something familiar but in his unconscious state was unable to identify what it was. Unbeknownst to him, he began to hum along in his sleep, and a smile touched his lips.

In his dream, she smiled too and reached out a hand towards him. His dream self hesitated but then slowly walked around to the climb the stairs that would take him to her. Just as he joined her, she was gone, but he could still hear her voice humming the familiar melody. From the stage, he looked out and saw the crowd of one. She was there, her face still shrouded in a gradient of darkness, but her voice was clear and comforting. A sudden hit of a snare drum made him look away, and when he looked back at her, she was gone leaving a swirl of grey smoke in her wake.

Another hit of the snare drum pulled him out of the bar, and yet another out of his REM sleep. The alarm pinging on the table beside the bed continued yanking him from a dream he would later come to realize was way more profound than he thought. As he sat up, fully awake now and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sighed as the last few vivid images of the dream dwindled away, leaving only the melody firmly stuck in his mind.

The next morning’s meeting went off without a hitch. After Jared and Jensen met with Leo Caprini and his lawyer, they had a catered breakfast and stood around chatting for a while. Jensen expressed an interest to see more of the town if not for their flight out that afternoon. As if fate heard him and stepped in to correct it, both his and Jared’s phones went off simultaneously. Jensen kept chatting up Leo as Jared excused himself to check the text message that came through from the show’s EP.

No rush back. Set is closed for another three days. Will call with details later.

When Jared returned, Leo and his lawyer were in a sidebar. He held up his phone so Jensen could read the message.

“You get one too?”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah. Wonder what the hell is going on?”

“I’m going to give him a ring on the way back to the motel. But three more days? Shit. I might as well go home for that. Gen and the kids just got back from her folks’ place last night. Could do with a few days home before we get back at it.”

“Then you should. We’re all done here if you want to head back and pack up, get a new flight and all that.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jared said, with obvious signs of relief washed over him. “You coming?”

Jensen considered it for a moment. “Nah, I think I might just hang here. If I’m gonna do this, might as well do it right.”

“Sure you’re not just gonna get a pizza, pint of ice cream and sit in the room pining all night?”

Jensen drew in a deep breath and tried not to murder his best friend with his glare. “Positive.”

Jared wasn’t wrong though; despite Jensen’s consistent protest he was over it, he was not, in fact, over it. He did miss Dee and would find himself wishing she could come back. But then he would remember that he couldn’t commit, though he did often question the reasons for it. Was it because she really just wasn’t the one? Or was it because he knew she was getting complacent with him and someone else had caught her eye. He wasn’t perfect in their relationship, and he had certainly gone through the laundry list of his shortcomings. The feelings just felt uncertain where Dee was concerned but the distraction of the festival was to combat constantly living in that state of ‘What the fuck am I doing with my life?’. He just prayed that it actually worked.

Jared held his hands up in relent. “Alright, sorry. I’ll stop. I know what you said, you’re done waiting. And that’s good. But, I also know you can get mopey about it when no ones around.”

“True, however… I am moving on. All in to the festival and that’s it. No dating, no relationship bullshit. Just diving head first into trying to pull this off.”

Jared shook his head and chuckled. “Man, I still don’t get what you plan on doing with all this. I mean, I read the contracts, I sat in the meetings, but I guess I just can’t envision it all yet.”

“What’s the hangup?”

“I don’t know… Austin is pretty great as it is. Why bring in other flavors when you have the ultimate chocolate already? You know?”

Jensen busted out laughing and slapped his best friend on the shoulder. “That’s one way to put it. Honestly, it’s the vibe of the place. Dee and I came here years ago, and this boardwalk was hoppin’. Families, first dates, best friends… arcades, rides, food… the food alone is worth it. Yeah, Austin is fucking great, but I want this festival to be the biggest thing to ever happen there. I want people to come from all over to see how special Austin is--”

“And I get that, so why bring a New Jersey boardwalk vibe to Au--”

“Because, son, ain’t nothing else like it anywhere in the world,” Leo interrupted as he rejoined their conversations, giving the much taller man a hearty slap on his shoulder. “You Texas boys sure do got a gorgeous bit of country down there, no one is disputing that. But this here,” he turned and made a sweeping gesture towards the boardwalk ocean that lived across the street, “this is somethin’ special.”

“No argument there,” Jared mused and gave the man a curt smile. “Well, if we are gonna be changing flights, we should get back--”

“Actually, since there’s been a change of plans, I think I might stay here, spend an extra day or two getting to know the area, brainstorm on the festival a while…” Jensen shrugged trying to stay indifferent, but felt a ripple of excitement at the thought.

They had a silent exchange, which Leo watched in amusement. “You boys are somethin’ else!” he chuckled wildly as he proceeded to pull his cell from his pocket. “Since you’re sticking around, Jensen, let me call my assistant and tell her you’ll be comin’ round. I’ll have her give you a tour of some of the must-see places, get a feel for what parts of our little utopia here you wanna cart on down to Texas. Sound good?”

“Sounds, amazing,” he said as the three men moved towards the elevator bank. “Just what I was hoping for.”

An hour later, Jensen was strolling into the hotel bar and scanning the near empty room. Leo had mentioned that his assistant would be there waiting to take him on the promised tour of the boardwalk and businesses Leo maintained there. However, all he could find were two older couples having an early bird dinner, an awkward first date going down at the bar, and a lone woman in a booth pouring over paperwork.

Jensen shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly began to circle the room, hoping that the mystery assistant would reveal herself. As he rounded the corner, he looked up and noticed the woman in the booth. She had finally picked her head up from staring at the papers strewn on the table in front of her, stopping Jensen in his tracks.

It was guitar girl, the singer from the bar he saw the night before. His feet felt frozen to the ground. When he got himself moving again, he walked towards her with no idea what he would say, just that he needed to say something to her. Tentatively, he approached her table, unaware of the large, goofy grin he was unintentionally wearing.

“Hey, hi! How are you? I’m, uh--I saw you at--Uh, what was the name of the place....” Jensen stammered until he saw her confused expression.

Seeing her close up, he realized how many of her striking features he’d missed in the darkened atmosphere of the bar. He took a moment to appreciate just how beautiful she really was, before continuing with his awkward greeting.

“Oh man, uh, let me start over. Hi, I’m Jensen. I saw you sing at a bar last night, and--” he stretched out his hand then to shake hers, and inadvertently struck her glass of iced tea, causing it to splatter all over the papers that were spread out across the table.

He watched, in horrific slow motion as the mixture of liquid and ice made a rapid path across the table, soaking and smearing the ink of the pages. Jensen glanced up at the woman as her face contorted from confused to panicked, to disbelief.

“Oh… shit! I’m--I’m sorry… here, let me get that--”

Jensen lunged for the napkins and began to pat the papers dry, as the women stood and did the same. A waitress scurried over with more napkins upon seeing the mishap and Jensen took them gratefully, trying to save as many of the documents as he could.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he said, again, finally causing the woman to sigh and slid out from the booth.

Seeing that some of the tea landed on her pants, Jensen felt his face flush with embarrassment. He went to apologize again and she stopped him by holding up a hand.

“Don’t. Just… don’t. Its fine,” she said flatly, and wiped at the growing wet patch on her pants. She looked up, but avoided his apologetic gaze and called for the server. “Hey Marci, can I get a handful more napkins, please, hun?”

“Sure thing!” she called back and disappeared behind the bar.

“So, what was it you wanted?” she asked Jensen, finally taking a moment and looking him straight in the eye.

He stuttered to a smile and shrugged. “I just wanted to say I was a fan--”

“I see you two found each other!” Leo’s voice bellowed through the bar.

Jensen turned, surprised to hear him, and then quickly turned back to the woman to see her expression to be just as confused as his was.

“Well, damn, (Y/N), leave you alone for an hour and you’re already a mess!” his wild cackle made all the heads in the barn turn to stare.

“Actually, Leo, this is my fault. I spilled the iced tea, and--” Jensen stammered before getting interrupted.

Leo waved Jensen off. “No worries, son. I’m sure she understands, dontcha, sweetie?”

“Sweetie?” he couldn’t help mimic Leo’s word sarcastically. A thousand thoughts flew through his head about the nature of their relationship until Leo laughed and shook his head.

“No, no… she’s my niece! She’s a damn good assistant, too! I suppose I should make some formal introductions. Jensen, this is my niece, (Y/N) she operates as my assistant, a bartender, a coin clerk and a sometimes rock star, ain’t that right?!”

(Y/N) smirked, and nodded to appease her uncle. Despite their initial encounter, she reached out her hand to Jensen to shake it. “Nice to meet you,” she said and quickly withdrew her hand.

“This is the fine gent I texted you about.”

“Oh,” she replied and looked back at Jensen. “Well, small world, huh.”

“Yeah, I’d say,” he said with a snort, accompanied by a goofy kind of grin, but instantly regretted it. He thought that (Y/N) seemed unimpressed and, maybe even mildly put out by the entire sequence of events.

“Well, anyways, will you be able to take him around today? I have a bunch of appointments I need to keep, or I’d take him myself.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Where do you want me to take him?”

“Shit, (Y/N), you’d know better than me. This is your town, sweetie. Go on and paint it red with the boy!”

“Uncle Leo…” she chastised and shook her head. Turning to Jensen, she again gave her best professional smile. “I just need to go change, but I only live a mile away. I’ll run home, meet you back here in about thirty minutes.”

Jensen nodded as casually as he could, “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Then my work here is done! Come on, (Y/N), I’ll walk you out. Jensen, my boy, you’ll be in good hands with this one. Any questions you have, any input you need, (Y/N) here is the girl to give it to ya! No one knows Seaside better than she does.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” (Y/N) said as she gathered up the still soaking wet papers and as delicately as she could, piled them with the envelope and slapped them with a thwamp against Jensen’s chest. “These were your contracts, by the way. Hope you don’t mind waiting for new copies.” She shrugged, her eyes ablaze with satisfaction.

(Y/N) was fierce, he could tell that right away. As he watched her leave, Leo must have said something that she found funny, because she threw her head back with a laugh. He couldn’t hear her, but wondered what it sounded like. As he waited at the bar for her to return, there were a lot of things he wondered about where guitar girl was concerned. Mostly, the tenor of her voice and the way she played stuck with him and how it felt so in contrast with the steely-eyed, guarded woman that he had just met. Jensen was more than just intrigued by her; he was curious to know how many more layers there was to this woman, to his guitar girl.

Just before she reappeared, dressed in a Ozzy T-Shirt and ripped jeans with a pair of brown suede sandals, it was then Jensen realized it was the longest he’d gone without one thought of Dee crossing his mind.

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[jessiewre]

Day 14

Sat 18th Jan


The hotels buffet breakfast was a tasty enough combo of potato and beans and at 7:58am I decided to try and call Hillary 2. Two minutes early...

He answered nearly straight away thank FOOK.

‘Good morning friend! We will be with you in 15 minutes’

Sweeeeeeet that was a good start. God Hillary’s are GREAT in Uganda!

The car arrived, we had a whole seat each, and we left the hotel, soon pulling over to drop off Hillary 2 who had only come along to make sure the pick up had happened smoothly it seems. We stopped the car and a man walked over to it and I swear to god you’ll never guess who it was.

Its starting to become like a lie isn’t it. How can he possibly be everywhere we go.

We tried to hide our faces before he noticed us, and then he put his head in like ‘Hi guys, do you remember me?’ And we were like ‘YES of course we do, you are EVERYWHERE WE GO’.

We suddenly thought Oh my god, they are going to swap drivers and we’ll have to get out and say we refuse.

But THANKFULLY we drove off and hopefully we won’t see him again cos honestly the sight of his face makes me annoyed.

The drive to the border was about 2 hours and was pretty comfortable! There were 5 of us in a car for 5 people, unorthodox for Uganda, so to level things out of course, at one point a woman got in. And where better to sit than WITH the driver of course. Bizarre.

The border was super quiet so no queuing required, just had to wash our hands before coming in (maybe cos of Ebola?) then we waited for Phil’s visa to be processed cos Irish rules are different for entry. Don’t know the reason but he was free to get into Uganda but 50$ for Rwanda. Probably easier for Phil cos they bloody love Irish potatoes and Guinness.

The moment we arrived into Rwanda and left the immigration area, the taxi guys spotted us and a minibus taxi ZOOMED backwards down the road towards us as men ran alongside it trying to hustle us into this minibus. It was comical, like a game they played. We got in and told them we’d pay 1000 each maximum which they eventually accepted.

I believe it may have been the worst bus in East Africa. It was a true hunk of rattling whistling junk, ready to fall apart any minute. Based on the way it looked and sounded, I do not know how it didn’t just sink to the floor and collapse onto itself leaving the drivers feet running in mid air like the Flintstones. But low and behold we made it to Musanze, even though it stopped like 40 times, and then we decided we would not stop there but continue travelling to get to Gisenyi, considering we’d already broken up the journey once the night before. If we went all the way to Gisenyi then we wouldn’t have to move again before our quick 48 hour trip into the Congo (casual live volcano trip lets not make a big deal out of it ok).

We got to petrol station in Musanze and spotted an empty nice bus that said Virunga Tours, so Philly went to speak to the driver to explain we were heading to Virunga. Before I knew it, we had moved onto the bus with the promise that they would get us onto the 11:30 bus to Virunga (bearing in mind it was 11:21 at the time).

Thought we’d maybe made a mistake as the guy wasn’t super friendly and we weren’t actually 100% sure who these people were, but somehow it worked out and we pulled into the bus station and made this 11:30 bus. I think the man took the 1000 francs for himself that he’d said was a bus fee ‘for the bags’ but I struggled to care considering it was worth 1 dollar and we were planning on tipping him anyway.

Got to Gisenyi about 1pm woop woop and got ourselves to Cafe Cafalia which I’m sure is owned by a Muzungu, as the menu is all like ‘California Veggie sandwich and Goats Cheese eggplant sandwich. But the main giveaway was that James friggin Blunt was playing the whole time god help us.

Checked into Musanto hotel, no vibe but fine.

Naturally, Phil went on an 11km run and ended up trying to take a shortcut that took him to a Rwanda army base. They politely told him he’d need to turn around a take another route, but I’d still say it was better he went in that direction rather than the DRC border 2km the other way. Meanwhile I chilled watching football in the comfort of our room which was niiiiiiiice #wattot

Phil came back and sat in the bar to watch more footie while cooling down, and the barman who’s from the CONGO starting asking him about Brexit. FFS.

Phil was like ‘How was your relaxing?’, then he suddenly said ‘Omg I’ve just worked it out, you are relaxing not doing loads as a pure tactic, so that you don’t have too much you have to write about for the blog!’. Proper thought he was some sort of CSI agent who’d solved a mega mystery.

Yeah, like that’s the reason I didn’t run to an army base and back. UPHILL

Dinner was pasta napolitana again, avocado salad, pommes frites as Phil insisted on saying repeatedly in a fantastic French accent (has Phil even mentioned, he got an A in French GCSE), croque mousiur sans le jambon (so basically a cheese sandwich).

I spotted the raw onion on the salad at the same time as Phil and he launched straight into it

‘I know what you’re going to say and you’re going to say I can’t eat that raw onion cos it stinks and I’ll tell you what, I WANT to eat it ok so if I want to eat it then I will eat it. I’m going to eat the onion’

So I started to take if off his plate.

He kicked off royally and I may have used the word repulsive and then he said his cheese sandwich was rubbish and I said maybe onion in it would improve it and that was about it on that.

Got back to the room and remembered I’d turned the bin into a laundry bucket and there was underwear and socks soaking in it that needed sorting and hanging up. LONG. Rinsed them out and fashioned together a drying rack for the underwear by bending a wire hanger into a square and balancing it between a chair and table and honestly sometimes I even surprise myself with my inventive problem solving skills. The hotel had conveniently fitted bars to the window and door which perfectly suited for a sock drying rack.

[pluienoir]

Pluie/Noir Interscapes 02 “Interior Design”

Sound Mixed and Compiled by Rubi Visual Interpretation by David Surman

Soundcloud Link: https://soundcloud.com/pluie-noir/pluienoirinterscapes02

Welcome to the new Pluie/Noir podcast series, Interscapes. 8 years after our debut we decided to press the reboot button and return to our roots. With a new format and back to a regular monthly schedule, Pluie/Noir Interscapes will feature audio collages, mixes, live interviews and live recordings from P/N artists, friends, and other collectives we admire.

Because less is more, instead of the usual triptych format, this series will feature one single visual interpretation of the music by a graphic artist. The artwork will be available to purchase in poster format on our rebooted Bandcamp page very soon, with cassettes or CD-r of the mixes as a bonus.

World events have taken the series out of its planned monthly schedule, but priority was on the safety and functional structure of the private lives of everyone involved in the project during these unprecedented times. 

For Interscapes 02 we welcome Rubi, a versatile german artist based in Myanmar, with a visual interpretation by english painter David Surman,

— Interview: Rubi

Hi Christina, welcome to the P/N Interscapes series. How have you been?

Hi there, and thank you so much for having me on your wonderful series! <3 I’m good, I’m enjoying what I can from the comfort of my own home together with my little kitty, currently working online and otherwise painting and reading a lot or watching movies!

Why did you move to Southeast Asia? Was it mere chance or a long-term goal?

A little bit of both, but I’d say it was intentional :) I moved here initially only for a short-term gig of three months early 2017 which I found really quite randomly but was very intrigued by. And honestly, I just liked it so much that I felt like I needed to come back and spend more time! I moved back to Yangon, Myanmar in August 2018 and have been here since, and I deeply love it – there’s a different energy in the air in Southeast Asia, people are kind and positive everywhere around you and there is still so much space on an economic and artistic level that it’s a very fulfilling place to be!

Your endeavours seem pretty vast. What did you study, what do you do for a living, and how do you entangle it with music?

Ha, I’m an economist and data scientist during the day. I’ve always been listening to and surrounding myself with music, but actually got deeper into DJing when I started my PhD in Barcelona in 2013 – I just felt like at the end of a long, mentally draining day I needed to use a very different part of my brain to really relax and let go, and getting creative with the music perfectly hit the spot. I’m currently teaching at a Liberal Arts and Sciences Institute here in Myanmar, which has the goal of bringing quality education to students from different walks of life, particularly those from ethnic minorities and less privileged backgrounds. 

I finally got to combine my two worlds by teaching a class in music psychology this term, where we are exploring the role of music in everyone’s life from early childhood, how it is used as a social identifier and its connection to politics and conflict. My students are in their early 20s, and I’ve put them on the guestlist for several of the club nights I’ve organized here and they think it’s the coolest thing ever to see their professor behind the decks haha!

How is the audio-visual arts scene in Myanmar and the surrounding Nations? Are you helping activate it somehow and what are you working on nowadays?

I’d say the scene particularly in this part of Asia is at an early stage compared to Europe, but driven by a lot of passion and daring, forward-thinking people. In most of the major cities, you’ll find a beautiful venue and a small dedicated crew of people behind it - some of my favourite places I’ve played at in the area are Savage and Observatory in Vietnam, the Resonant crew at B1 in Taipei and Club Kowloon in Hong Kong. Also, the early-stage vibe brings the liberating attitude that as a DJ it’s really just about making people dance, and there’s no ego yet about the tracks you play or how you achieve this – if you can manage a dance floor, you get a stamp of approval. 

Myanmar I’d say is the youngest scene by yet another margin, particularly because of its very recent coming-out of a military dictatorship. There’s a small number of local DJs and very few venues that dare to program (non-EDM) electronic music, and I was lucky to get a residency in my favourite club in town within the first month of arriving! I started my Out Of Sight events here, a monthly series which gained a very regular following and is the only one with international bookings in the whole country. Upon coming here, I didn’t really think I’d get to start another series of my own, especially inviting over so many DJ friends to come to visit and also contribute and explore the country while they’re here. Honestly, part of my joy in doing this has purely been getting inspired myself by seeing people play, bringing together a community of friends to dance through the night and just have a really great time. 

It’s been a very gratifying journey, not least because it received appreciation from people in town – many of the local DJs became loyal followers and very excited to see artists from different countries play here in Yangon. Over the past couple of months, I’ve had Adam Collins here, Exos (twice!), TC80, Avos & Moses Mawila, Max Davis and many more. So yes, I feel like I’ve made a small contribution to the scene in one particular place – and honestly, there is still so much space here for people doing things that it’s very fun and easy to create something impactful!

Tell us more about "Interior Design": How, why, when?

I’ve recorded this podcast at home in Yangon, on a chill midweek evening when I felt a little spark of inspiration. I honestly take forever to record podcasts, as you already know from me submitting this so late :) I get deeply into overthinking mode and since I don’t publish many mixes I want them to have a specific theme and vision behind instead of just putting tracks together – which usually ends up with me procrastinating for months until it finally clicks and I know exactly what I want to do. There are quite a few tempo changes inside as I tried to create an arch from very slow ambient tracks to something I’d play in the middle of a night and then back down again. But somehow all of the tracks I put feel deeply me and representative of the style I like, so I identify with it. 

The name was a last-minute hunch, but seemed fitting with the current phase of everyone spending time inside their homes and through this discovering maybe not just their furniture but also the building blocks of their inside world :)

And music-making? Is it something you want to explore?

I’ve actually gotten into playing acoustic music here with friends in recent months, and that’s been a really fun journey! I have a bunch of instruments at my home, and hosting small jam sessions has been one of my favourite pastimes. All of them are much more talented and experienced than me but have graciously taken me in so I’m constantly learning a lot. 

On the electronic music side, I feel most compelled by making more experimental and ambient things as it feels like there is a larger range of freedom for exploration. I’ve been sampling some of the sounds in my surroundings for a while as the hustle and bustle here sounds so different from what I’m used to in Europe, so we’ll see what comes out of it!

Short, medium and long term goals?

Honestly, I’m a pretty chill person, so my overall goal in life is just to spend my time in an interesting and creative way, surround myself with people I love and somehow leave a positive trace with what I do. If I manage to keep combining all of these things I’ll consider myself a lucky and successful human!

— Interview: David Surman

Hi David, such a pleasure to have you at P/N. How are you, all things considered?

Thank you for asking, I’m very good right now. The pandemic has shifted my reality in all sorts of unexpected ways. I had coronavirus after taking a trip to Madrid, then New York. I came back to London and got sick immediately. I’m so glad to have fully recovered. I’m enjoying the empty London.

Have you lived abroad and explored different artistic fields apart from painting, or has it always been about England and canvases?

I was introduced to painting when I was a teenager by an artist Rob Fairley who my dad knew. I had always drawn a lot, but I didn’t consider being a painter until much later. I actually trained to be an animation film director, which seems so ridiculous to me now. I thought of it as a pragmatic choice -- the kind of profession which is somewhere between a reliable job and artistic freedom. Little did I know that hand-drawn animation would all but disappear. 

I absolutely loved good quality animation, films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, and the Studio Ghibli films. I wanted to make them, and I also wanted to disappear into them. I started seriously painting again in my early 30s after a decade of working in animation and videogames in the UK and Australia. The timing has been perfect for me, as I started to paint really when I was ready. Australia changed my work, it made me think about colour and light and scale. I made films and animations and games there with my partner Ian Gouldstone before we came back to the UK and I started to paint full time around 2013.

I'd discovered your work through Sound Of Vast's "5th Anniversary Series". It featured a series of paintings from your "Paintings for the Cat Dimension" exhibition/installation. What was it about?

That was such a wonderful collaboration, and the team at Sound of Vast are brilliant. My exhibition was a series of 12 paintings of the same cat motif, a mother with two kittens, interpreted in 12 different ways. I wanted to make a statement on what it means to paint in the post-internet era, without giving in to the impulse to simply paint or reproduce imagery directly from online culture. So I created a cat motif in response to the prevalence of cats online from the beginning. The real statement though was the stylistic shifting around. I wanted to say “we are playing with identity all the time, why should an artist be an authentic singular identity?” I wanted to show that an artist can wear many masks, and they’re all authentic in representing artistic action.  

Do you consider the internet, social media and contemporary sub-cultures the biggest influences of your work?

I don’t believe you get to choose your influences so much in art. By the time you’re 8 years old or so, your plastic little brain has been shaped by certain formative things. For me, there are two fascinations, first the natural world, which nourishes the animal side of me. The second is the artificial human world of images, electronic media, videogames, movies, art. 

As much as I would like to be integrated into nature like a romantic dreamer I firmly believe humans are stuck outside of nature, so we have to make a new nature for ourselves to comfort and distract ourselves. This is art, and it takes many shapes, from youtube to painting to music. I see all these things as fundamentally the same, art is doing something with love. I see a lot of love in internet cultural activity and so it influences me. Though I have no idea how visible all this is in the work.

Your work isn't shy of colour or texture. Is this rooted in your fascination for animation?

When you learn to animate you become totally dedicated to line. It’s through moving lines that things come to life. Drawing is emphasised more than painting, and so colour and surface are less emphasised. When I came back to painting I really savoured the ability to subtly control the colour of the image and also the final quality of the paint. I go for strong colour because of various factors. You’re certainly right about animation being an influence, I think the colours of well-made cel painted animations are astounding. Particularly in good quality anime feature films of the 80s and 90s. 

My approach is also calculated, I am interested in having an impact followed by a slowly shifting understanding, and you need to push colour to achieve that. Also as I have gotten older and become more and more conscious of art history I feel a sort of obligation to have courage with colour and put out my ideas in a clear way.

Do you listen to music while painting? Does music have an impact on you while you paint?

I absolutely listen to music when I paint, and I am totally repetitive in my choices. I listen to David Bowie’s discography on repeat, and Kate Bush too. If I need to go to a particular mindset I will listen to Bach, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Glass. Bowie and Bush are just always there, timeless, every aspect of it is totally known and listening to them while painting just greases everything along nicely. I would like to be a curious listener and search for different music, but I think I’ve become extremely focused on the experiences of the eye, and perhaps not so much the other senses.  

"Raucous Bird" is your visual interpretation of Rubi's podcast. Why did you choose this particular work?

Listening to Rubi’s work I was thinking a lot about the space of music, and the way we lose a sense of direction. It becomes spatial, but there isn’t necessarily a top or bottom. This is very different from visual art, which relies a lot on a structure of top, bottom, and so on. It made me think of the paintings of cockatoos I’ve made, who I saw often in Australia, playing fun games in the trees. They appear weightless and live to enjoy the space and their own free bodily movement. For me, the music creates a wonderful association with this memory.

Short, medium and long term goals?

To make exciting paintings that have an impact, and to bring the work to new places. That’s the priority for me at any given time. Thanks so much for asking such great questions. 

— Links:

https://soundcloud.com/itsmerubi https://www.davidsurman.com

W: https://pluienoir.tumblr.com M: info (at) pluienoir.com

[entergamingxp]

Five of the Best: Gardens • Eurogamer.net

Five of the Best is a weekly series about the bits of games we overlook. I’m talking about potions, hubs, bags, mountains, anything really – but things we ignore at the time. Then, years later, we find they’re cemented in our memory, inseparable from our experience of the game. Turns out they were important after all. So now we’re celebrating them.

Five of the Best works like this. Various Eurogamer writers will share their memories in the article and then you – probably outraged we didn’t include the thing you’re thinking of – can share the thing you’re thinking of in the comments below. We’ve had some great discussions in our other Five of the Best pieces. Some of you have memories like elephants!

Today’s Five of the Best is…

Gardens! Lovely leafy gardens with bees and butterflies in. Peaceful places where birds chirp and your next door neighbour’s cat poos. There’s a serenity to gardens, and curiously enough, it seems to carry over into games. I wonder if it’s because games evoke the feeling of being in a garden, or if there’s something about what we see in gardens which brings the feeling of calm. Curious, isn’t it? I bet one of you knows.

But the real question is: which games have the best gardens? Here are five of the best.

Never forget.

Mutazione

A while back a desk plant craze landed in the office. We were all doing it, expensing purchases at the local artisan florist and muttering about growth periods and those funny spiders that can cause our leafy friends such problems. I had a beautiful rose-gold ficus, that over the course of a month or so was killed with kindness, watered and watered until I basically had a puddle of wanton ectoplasm next to my monitor.

I am better with plants now – my second desk plant is doing well in my living room while I work from home. But I learnt a lot about nurturing during that first homicide. Plants need work. They need thought and a certain kind of attentiveness, some of which is actually a form of intelligent restraint.

Mutazione gets this. Sure it’s a laid-back soap opera about a group of characters living on a neglected island. But it’s also a game in which you grow a series of gardens, learning which plants like to live alongside which other plants, which plants work in which settings, and even which songs to sing to get certain plants to grow.

It’s wonderful – a game of kindness and observation. A game of focus and restraint. I played it and poured one out for my rose gold ficus – a plant which, it turns out, I should definitely not have poured so many out for.

-Christian Donlan

StreetPass Garden

StreetPass Garden was one of several DLC titles built around 3DS’ delightfully quirky StreetPass feature which, for the uninitiated, encouraged players to go outside, potter about a bit, and, all being well, reap low-key rewards whenever they successfully encountered another 3DS-harbouring human on their travels.

Garden, it’s fair to say, wasn’t the most action-packed of the eventual dozen or so StreetPass games that made it to 3DS, but the latent, and later awakened, horticulturalist in me found it hard to resist its idyllic allure – all quaint rural charm, ivy clad cottages bathed in the hazy sun-dappled light of a warm spring day, even a ruggedly handsome gardener, Mr. Mendel, only too happy to lend a hand and tend to your bush.

It was, in essence, a sort of simple garden cultivation sim, where your pleasantly unhurried aim was to foster a burgeoning collection of plants, gathering seeds and nudging them to life – with success directly tied to the number of people you’d met on your recent real-life travels. These passersby would show up as Miis in-game, forming an orderly line of flower-pot-wielding weirdos, whip out their watering cans and bring your initially underwhelming seedlings to full botanical splendour.

Wonderfully, there was an unexpected, almost unnecessary, amount of detail to the whole affair, with over 80 plants to grow and a total of 300 colour combinations – all of which could be sold to order in the nearby “town”, raising funds to fancy up your own plot of land, selecting garden styles, splashing out on lovely pots, even cute ornamentation.

And that, for me, was its greatest appeal. As with a real garden, there was a certain amount of toil involved in getting things just so, but once the work was done, once you’d fulfilled your last order of the day, there was genuine satisfaction to be had, kicking back and momentarily revelling in the simple horticultural pleasures your efforts had wrought, and the calm of your own little leafy corner of the world.

-Matt Wales

Pikmin

Nintendo does a fine line in post-apocalyptic games, even if they’re counter to the typical fare. Splatoon presents a world without humans that’s brilliantly colourful, while Pikmin transports you to an Earth after some unnamed calamity that offers a different tone painted just as vividly.

There’s something quietly melancholy in pottering about an abandoned Earth, made all the more touching by your proximity to it all – in Pikmin, you’re stalking untended gardens that, much like my own backyard, are full of the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life: the tossed-aside cans, the discarded batteries and the downed garden tools. It’s a place after human life that feels entirely alive.

Oh, and it’s got plenty of its own life too, with all sorts of strange creatures pottering about. That’s what Pikmin gets so right about gardens, really – these are places that are so human, so familiar, and yet if you stop and stare awhile they’re places that are completely alien too. How very Nintendo to fit all that into a cutesy RTS.

-Martin Robinson

Untitled Goose Game

There are three gardens in Untitled Goose Game. Two are your traditional English back gardens, while the other resembles more of an allotment. Each garden has a distinct identity that, perhaps just like in real-life, seems to be an extension of the owner’s personality. Of the back gardens, one is nice and neat, with plants, paths, patio and a pond, while the other is more free-form. A statue of a fish here, an old bath-turned-flower bed there. There’s even an easel sat near the back that reinforces the owner’s eccentric and artistic ambitions.

These individual gardens do share some similarities though. They’re all perfectly tended and they present perfect snapshots of an idyllic life in the countryside. As someone who grew up in rural Oxfordshire, they feel like gardens I could have and probably have visited at some point in my life.

The inhabitants of these gardens go about their routines in a rather zen-like way, be it relaxing with a pipe and paper, hanging up washing and painting a picture, or simply cultivating some veg. It’s all so lovely and chilled, and all in all a rather blissful existence for the owners. That is until a goose comes along and wrecks everything.

The Goose is a hurricane in feathered form, with the swaggering confidence of a drunken teenager who’s about to boot over a garden gnome. Tearing up crops, toppling statues and swiping home comforts from under the owner’s nose, this beaky bastard cares naught for the bucolic vibes of these small plots of land.

But no matter how much mischief that ghastly goose makes for them, the residents will always put things back the way they were. Then, with a little sigh of relief, they’ll settle back into their routines. As they do so, you can almost hear them saying, “This is the life.” And to be honest, when all they’ve got to worry about is a troublesome goose, it really is.

-Ian Higton

Viva Pinata

I can’t read the name Viva Pinata any more without hearing Elvis sing Viva Las Vegas. Play it in your head a couple of times – see what I mean?

What I loved about Viva Pinata was how bold the idea was. A game about gardening. Who on earth makes a tentpole Xbox 360 game about gardening? A game about gardening to attract paper animals you usually string up on trees and smash to pieces. I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking ‘wow that looks gorgeous’, but I never thought it anything more than a play for a family audience.

But when Vivaaaaaa Pinnnata came out I was surprised by how hard it actually was. It wasn’t easy attracting the right animals to your garden, then getting the right candies to coax them into a bit of rumpy pumpy, then making sure they didn’t fight with the other animals, then making sure the baddies didn’t mess your garden up. There was a brutal simulation going on underneath the pretty exterior, and it could gobble up entire weekends of time.

I remember Eurogamer’s old editor Tom Bramwell being absolutely hooked on the game. He couldn’t put it down, nor could he stop boasting about all the rare beasts he’d attract. If only real gardening worked the same way!

-Bertie

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/five-of-the-best-gardens-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=five-of-the-best-gardens-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[peachhplum]

Stylish Smart Home Technology & How To Style It

*This post was sponsored by Walmart & SheKnows Media

I love having stylish smart home technology in my home but the problem is it’s not always easy to find tech that is, well, stylish! My heartmate loves anything and everything tech, and had been encouraging us to add additional smart devices to our homes, especially out at the beach house. I get it, it makes sense for us to increase security (especially at the beach house, because as we aren’t always there), but also to streamline our lives and make life out at the beach house run smoother. By adding additional pieces of stylish smart home technology, I knew we would be able to control things both remotely and with ease when staying at the house, too. Everything from playing music to controlling our lights to planning beach days by asking for the weather to setting up schedules and reminders for when I’m back in the city, could all be done without lifting a finger or having to get up from the sofa!

However, I remained concerned that we’d struggle to find stylish smart home technology that I’d feel comfortable bringing into our home from an aesthetic perspective. I enjoy creating a home for us that feels like a happy and serene place to relax, which is why in the past I was nervous to risk that by cluttering it with technology, wires and cameras at every turn. After all, it’s a home, not a prison, right? So,  when Walmart asked me to partner with them to style up their stylish smart home technology, I was intrigued. Naturally, my heartmate was excited about the technology, meanwhile, I was keen to see how I could work the tech into our beach house in a stylish way.I wanted to test just how stylish the smart home technology could be, so I attempted to ‘hide’ the tech in plain sight. Smart, right? I couldn’t help myself, sorry! OK, so I figured the best way to do this was to style the smart home devices on the bookcase in our master bedroom at the beach house. My challenge was set and I was going to style with the two smart home devices: the Google Home Mini and the Merkury Innovations Smart WiFi 720P Camera.

https://www.brightbazaarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/shelf-styling-tips-3a.mp4

I created the stopmotion above to show how I seamlessly styled the stylish smart home technology onto our bookcase. Here are my top three tips for bringing smart home technology into your rooms in a stylish way:

1. Color palette matters | The easiest way to make smart home technology look stylish and not garish is by considering your color palette when you are purchasing. For example, as you can see the bookcase in our beach house bedroom has a modern and minimal vibe with plenty of negative space to make the room feel light and airy. I wanted to encourage a relaxing vibe in the bedroom so that it would feel like a place to get away from the stresses and noise of the city. Therefore, I chose to style with the slimline Google Home Mini in charcoal grey because I liked its low profile. The soft, stylish gray fabric helped it blend into the space and not become an ugly eyesore! The dark grey tones perfectly with the aesthetic of the black steel bookcase, don’t you think? There was also a lighter grey chalk design but for me this would have stood out too much on the shelves. However, if you had a lighter metal shelf or perhaps wooden or painted bookcase, then this lighter chalk option would work really well. Finally, if you have a bright and bold shelf, perhaps in your home office where you are looking to create a room full of energy and contrast, then you should check out the coral version. I think the coral version would fit well in a family or kids room, where it would be handy to have around to answer questions, help with homework queries or even to play games with.

2. Blend your tech | Once you’ve decided on your color choices for your stylish smart home technology, the next step is to think about grouping. No matter how hard you try, and no matter how stylish the smart home camera, if you place said camera on a shelf alone, well, it’s just going to look like a camera on a shelf. Funny that! The solution? Blend your tech by styling it with surrounding items in the same color palette, pattern and/or shape. For example, on our bookcase I styled the Merkury Innovations Smart WiFi 720P Camera alongside two large white and sculptural vases. When I grouped the camera with the two vases, it created an odd number of items – this is a good rule to keep in mind when grouping items together as it looks more natural compared to even groupings. The grouping also allowed the camera to blend into the larger vases, which in effect, caused it to disappear in the overall bookcase.

3. Think big | By this I don’t mean the tech itself but rather think big about what the tech you invite into your home can actually do beyond looking great. For example, I decided to style the charcoal Google Home Mini onto a concrete tray upon the bookcase because I knew how powerful it was despite it’s size. Sure, it might be petite but don’t let that fool you because it’s super smart! That little pebble affords my heartmate and I the ability to ask Google to complete a whole host of tasks for us, including turning our lights on or off. We can even ask Google to dim the Merkury Innovations Dimmable White Smart A19 Light Bulb if we’re looking to create a more relaxing and intimate environment. I love that we can control the lighting whether we are home or not, too.

All in all, I love how seamlessly I was able to style the stylish smart home technology we found at Walmart into our beach house. Now we have a stylish and a smart home. Hurrah!// Styling & photography by Will Taylor

[coffee-obsessed-writer]

“When You Least Expect It”

New Series Sneak Peek

Jensen x Musician!Reader

A/N: This is just a little preview of a story I’ve been working on for a while, just sort of in the background. Since no other fics were cooperating, I thought I’d post a little preview of this one. A big thank you to my girl @closetspngirl​ for help with the title, and then some. <3

Series Summary: After a hard breakup, Jensen decides to throw himself into organizing a Music Festival in Austin that is meant to raise money for a few of his most cherished charities and organizations. As he throws himself into planning it, he stumbles upon a spirited, undiscovered performer, who he convinces to come aboard to help plan and coordinate the event with him.

What transpires after that takes both Jensen and his new friend, by surprise. But when their respective pasts come back just before the event kicks off in Austin, they will both have to decide if the unexpected feelings are worth perusing, or if they should just walk away and go on with their lives. 

Series Warnings: Language, Break-Ups, Angst, Fluff, Smut (that’s it for now)

“You sure you feel up to this? We can just hang out at the hotel if you want.”

“No,” Jensen said. “I need to get out, get fresh air. I need to breathe. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE board meetings? It’s why I’m not an office guy. I would suck at it. What happened to let’s meet at a restaurant, have a meal, a drink and just talk stuff out?”

“Alright man, whatever you want,” Jared agreed and took a few tentative steps to cross the street. “But, remember, you were the one that wanted this all to happen A.S.A.P. The guy is on vacation with his family and putting aside time for us. If he wants set up in his hotel conference room…” Jared trailed off and shrugged before making his way across the street.

Jensen waved him off and followed in his friend’s footsteps and as they made their way up onto the boardwalk, they were both relatively relieved with how deserted it was. October at the Jersey shore wasn’t exactly ‘in season’ but it was a nice enough night that they could have encountered a lot more people.

“This is good,” Jensen smiled, as they strolled down the boardwalk. He inhaled a deep breath of the salty air and exhaled slowly. “I get that. But its important to get this stuff finalized before I go back to Austin and start making firm plans. ‘Cause before you know it, it’s back to Vancouver. Doesn’t leave much time to get things in motion.”

“Could always push the festival back a year,” Jared suggested, knowing Jensen would never agree. He was like a dog with a bone where this festival was concerned. Once the idea to host a three-day event in Austin came about, Jensen was bound and determined to make it happen, all in a year’s time.

“No, its gotta be next year,” he said, gesturing with his hands that was his final decision. “Its fine. I’m better now that I’m out of that conference room. It was like a million degrees in there. This, this was a good idea. Maybe we find a small bar, grab a beer, some grub. Just relax a bit.”

“Until your phone rings,” Jared said unintentionally sharp.

“Come on, Jar. I don’t wanna—” he sighed and stopped walking. “Its over, alright. She left and honestly it sucked.”

“And the festival is your way to distract yourself from that.”

Jensen gave him a reprimanding look but couldn’t deny his claim.

“It was six months ago, and yeah, it took me a while to get over it. But it wasn’t like we were married, and she wanted something else. I’m done waiting for her, okay? I get it now, she’s not coming back. So, you can stop worrying. And yeah, maybe the festival is my way of moving on. Work is work, and while it keeps me busy enough, I want to do something more. Organizing this thing through the brewery, its gonna be great. Its gonna help a ton of people and bring some recognition to a few great charitable organizations.”

Jared walked by his side quietly, listening and waiting for Jensen to stop rambling. When he did, he asked a simple question completely throwing Jensen for a loop.

“That all sounds great. It really does, and your intentions are on point, Jay. But… what happens when it’s over?””

He hemmed and hawed over an answer, sputtering and stuttering before just giving up and shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fine?”

“Perfectly. Fine.” He nodded as a confirmation. “In fact, so fine, I won’t even remember what’s-her-name because I’ll be swimming in fine.” His tone oozed sarcasm, only to be made more punctuated by his expression.

“Jensen…” Jared sighed. “Just stop. Its fine, I get it. I’ll back off. Let’s go get that beer and whatever.”

He shoved his hands in his pocket as the autumn wind kicked up his hair as it rolled in off the ocean. He started to look around at the different booths, only a few of which were open and functioning that time of year. A little further down the boardwalk, Jared spotted a place that could be just what they needed.

“Come on, let’s check out this place,” he motioned his head towards a bar/restaurant called The Beachcomber. Jensen shrugged in agreement as they headed towards the building.

Walking through the front doors, they were met by a quick blast of warm air from above. There was a smattering of tables with patrons, but mostly they were empty. They made their way towards the back of the bar, where there were tables open that overlooked the ocean. Claiming one, they sat down and grabbed a menu to peruse. Not to long after, a waitress came by and took their orders. If she had recognized them, she didn’t mention it and went about her business as usual.

“I don’t want to keep bringing it up,” Jared started, after the waitress came back with their drinks.

Jensen sipped his beer. “So, don’t.”

“I just—I thought you were going to propose? You told me you wanted too. She left because you couldn’t make the commitment, Jay. Why didn’t you go through with it?”

Jensen just shrugged and looked out over the ocean to think before answering Jared’s question. “I don’t know… at the last minute I just couldn’t do it. The idea of settling down with one person is terrifying, man. It may suit you and Gen, but I don’t know if it’s for me.”

“Its not like you’re some playboy. You are monogamous as hell. So, what was it really?”

“Maybe I just couldn’t see my future with her. You know, settling down, kids, the whole nine.”

Jared nodded slowly, finally understanding. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because that makes me sound like a dick.”

“You are a dick,” Jared teased and threw a piece of napkin at his friend.

Jensen mocked him with a fake laugh and went back to his beer. “Yeah, yeah… moving on. Let’s talk about the important shit. I want tomorrow to go as smoothly as possible so we aren’t sitting in the pits-of-Hell conference room, so will you have a chance to look through all the contracts?”

Jared nodded and sighed. “Mhm. But really Jay, that shit needs to just go to the lawyer. I know you want everything to be perfect, to go smoothly. And I have no doubt that it will… but can’t we just concentrate on the creative stuff? Gen and I got a lot of the marketing taken care of. You and Jason, Robbie too, right? Y’all got the music covered. The festival will go off without a hitch and Random Acts will take in a bunch of money, as will the Austin Y and the crisis hotline.”

“Yeah, music is coming along. I just don’t have anyone that fits the vibe, you know?”

“No, I don’t. What vibe is that?”

Jensen shrugged. “I don’t know… this I guess,” he motioned towards the beach and the boardwalk, “I wanna bring this to the Brewfest.”

“Why? I mean, its great here, but what makes it so special?”

“Can’t put my finger on it. Have you ever been here in the summertime? Dude, its amazing. Just the whole vibe of the place…”

“That’s why you’re so intent on having these meetings with Leo. You want him to bring the boardwalk to Austin.”

Jensen shrugged again and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, alright. I will help you make that happen then. Tomorrow, we’ll just have to convince him.”

“Well, lookit you. Being all motivational and shit.”

“Rah rah!” Jared teased and shaking his hands like pom poms.

“How are we friends?” he asked and shook his head with a sarcastic eye roll included.

“You’d be lost without me and you know it,” Jared mocked and raised his glass in salute. Jensen nodded in reluctance agreement and clinked his glass against Jared’s.

The food was dropped not too long after that, and they enjoyed their seaside dinner as the sun set behind the houses to the west. About an hour after they arrived, dinner and drinks were finished, and they debated on staying or going back to the hotel. Deciding to stay for one more round, they settled in and kept an eye on Game Six of the World Series happening on the TVs above the bar.

Somewhere around the fifth inning, the volume got turned down, and the customer’s attention was asked to look towards the small corner stage. Behind the riser, was the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and a smattering of small boat lights on the horizon. Though the sun had just set a little while ago, the moon was already nearly full, hanging low in the night sky.

Jared was intent on the game playing out over the bar, even though there was no sound now. Jensen sipped at the rest of his beer and decided to keep his eyes on the stage. An older man, maybe in his mid-60s, welcomed the crowd and thanked them for patronizing The Beachcomber. His thick New York accent made Jensen smile, especially once he took in the man’s overall appearance of his slicked back salt and pepper hair, white tee shirt and black leather coat.

Right out of the damn Sopranos, he thought and chuckled to himself.

He watched the stage, eager to see some Sinatra wannabe come out and try to charm the crowd. But when the girl with the guitar came out instead, he sat up a little straighter in his chair and glanced over at his best friend to see if he was paying attention.

He wasn’t.

Jensen couldn’t take his eyes off her, not solely because she was beautiful; which she was… stunningly so. Her beauty wasn’t what made him sit up and take notice. It was the way she held her guitar; gripping it as if it where her life line. He observed her closely, surprised that she seemed nervous. When she strummed the guitar and brought the melody to life her nerves faded away; she was suddenly confident and assured. Her voice carried on and as the lyrics of “Dust in the Wind” filled up the back end of the Beachcomber Restaurant, Jensen found himself immersed in the moment.

He went to the bar that night in search of a hot meal and cold beer. Jensen didn’t expect to find a solution to some, or even all, of his problems. But the longer he sat and watched her perform, he started to feel that maybe everything will work out for him after all.

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[jeremystrele]

The Best Sofa In The World

The Best Sofa In The World

Interiors

Lauren Li

The Statement Sofa

Do you want a sofa that has something interesting to say?  A sofa that doesn’t just facilitate conversation, it IS the conversation!? The statement sofa is the main event in the space.  They are sculptural and different, they’re conversation starters, they’re friends with big personalities.

1. Bohemian by Moroso from Hub

The Bohemian range by Patricia Urquiola is a favorite of mine (let’s face it, everything by her is my favorite) because it ticks a lot of boxes.  It has a traditional element, with echoes of the old Chesterfield buttoning style but in a completely new way.  The Bohemian is the perfect fit for a formal room in a Victorian style space, but with an edge. We have specified this in a pink and blue armchair version (it takes on a whole other personality), and are waiting for the sofa in divine green leather to arrive for some very cool clients. It’s an investment piece, for sure, but I’m a huge fan of the Bohemian.

2.Agent 86 by Grazia & Co

I’m so excited to share this exclusive on The Design Files!  It’s the brand new sofa design from Grazia & Co.  It’s cool and low, bulky but light.  It doesn’t have legs as the seat floats on an upholstered base.  Actually, I haven’t seen anything like it and I’m really LOVING it.

3. DS-600 by DeSede from Domo

Yes, it’s slightly crazy but also incredibly clever and totally original.  Known as the never-ending-sofa, there is nothing else that even comes close. Each module locks then zips together forming a sofa that can gently bend and curve its way through the space.  It’s even a bit of a movie star, and has made a few cameo appearances in films such as The Hunger Games and more recently it made an appearance at Club Unseen by Studio Pepe in Milan.  Although it was designed in 1972, I feel it’s making resurgence right now.  If you were thinking that a leather sofa made in Switzerland sounds expensive, then you’d be right!

The Go-To Sofa

These sofas work well in almost any space.  They are great for family life, as the sofa that everyone including the cat wants to curl up on!  The go-to sofa has to work hard as well as look gorgeous.  We watch tv, entertain, relax, sleep, and sometimes eat dinner on them.  Fabric choice plays a big part in choosing a sofa that is the right fit for you.

These options tick all of the boxes of comfort, durability and quality.  They will last for years.  

1. Phoenix by Arthur G

This sofa is a chameleon.  It is extremely comfortable and the fabric selection can really change the entire look.  For example, a velvet fabric looks luxurious whilst a linen fabric is more natural and casual.  The design is timeless and simple, it’s a great go-to and is exquisitely made in Melbourne.

2. Zaza designed by Charles Wilson for King Living

It’s pretty safe to say, that King is the ‘go-to’ place for sofas.  They know how to do them very well.  Within each range are a million different configurations and fabrics to select from.  When I first saw the new Zaza, which is to be launched at Denfair this week, I thought to myself, ‘Oh! I like what you did there with the folding armrest’.  I like the low back profile and that it’s a bit finer than some of their other sofas.

3. Wallace by Carmenes from Ajar

I first tried this sofa at Denfair last year and it was just divine!  Those armrests are like soft squishy pillows and provide the comfort, without the loose cushions that needs fluffing up. It’s so comfortable and always looks neat and tidy.

4. Wilfred by Jardan

The Wilfred looks so gorgeous and plush, but still has a light appearance.  The floppy arm-rest over the solid oak frame gives it a lot of personality and a casual vibe.  When it was released a few years ago, designers kind of lost their minds and we are still in love with this guy.  I’ve seen it ‘dressed up’ with a leather side and back detail by a very clever designer (Hi Gillian).  It’s incredible how upholstery selection can totally change the look.

Small Space Sofas

A lot of sofas are just ENORMOUS and they won’t fit in the living room of an apartment, that’s if you can even get them up the lift in the first place!  And let’s face it – apartment living is on the rise and just because it may be small in size, it doesn’t mean that your sofa can’t be extremely comfortable and gorgeous!  In fact, I would argue that because it’s smaller, more of the budget could be invested in a quality sofa and fabric, rather than something huge, just to fill a big space.

1. Togo by Ligne Roset from Domo

The Togo is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment as many designs from the 70s emerge.  These modular sofas are low, plush and extremely comfortable, they seemed to know how to relax back in the 70s!  A single section is perfect in a small space, but equally, two or more sections can be joined together to fill a much more generous space. The Togo is made in France by Ligne Roset and has a youthful vibe.

2. Camille by ANACA sTUDIO

The Camille is most perfectly proportioned sofa with a slightly playful vibe. Designed by Melbourne based French/Australian furniture designer Anne-Claire, there is something very cute and sophisticated about the Camille, maybe that’s a French thing?  Anyway, it looks gorgeous in upholstered in a plush velvet and it’s extremely comfortable!

3. The Offset by Menu FROM tHE aPARTMENT

What I love about this sofa is that it’s both delicate and boxy at the same time.  The fine arm profile is maximizing the seat space, which is perfect in a small space.  Designed by Norm Architects, its both homey and architectural at the same time.

The Modular Sofa

I am a bit conflicted about modular sofas. I get it, they are great because you can lie on one end and sit on another and some spaces just suit modular sofas perfectly.  However, they are just SO BIG!  I prefer two sofas and some armchairs for variety and interest.  Modular sofas should have a light, streamlined appearance so that they don’t completely overwhelm the space.  However, these modular sofas are absolutely gorgeous – they are perfect for Netflix binges, rainy Sundays and theatre rooms.

1. Tufty Time by B&B at Space

The Tufty Time is one of those sofas known by name.  It’s kind of famous amongst designers.  I would go so far as to say that it is a design classic of our time. It was designed in 2005 by visionary designer Patricia Urquiola.

It’s a modular sofa with the ottoman at the core, allowing for multiple configurations such as for the seat to be very deep, or the armrests high or low.  You can design some creative configurations perfectly tailored to needs of the space. It invites lounging however it always looks smart and the upholstered form doesn’t need plumping up. One to save up for!

2. Gentry Sofa by Moroso from Hub

This is the really the ultimate modular sofa that designers love to use.  Its refined shape, soft seat cushion, and elegant legs make it a modern classic.  It looks gorgeous in fabric and leather, even in quilted fabrics because the shape is simple.

3. Arkley by Jardan

The Arkley Modular sofa from Jardan‘s brand new ‘Art Series’ range launches TODAY! (It’s so new, in fact, that it doesn’t appear to be on their website yet… whoops!). An uncharacteristically curvy, retro-inspired shape ensures this eye-catching piece is destined to be a future classic. We love it in the smaller 3-seater shape, too! All Jardan’s pieces are made in Melbourne, which is always a plus.

The Cane Sofa

You know what I mean; it’s that sofa in the entry that you use to throw your coat on. Or the sofa in the bedroom that you bought with ideas to sit and read on, but you’ve NEVER sat on it, it just gets piled with clothes. This kind of sofa looks gorgeous, but comfort is not its most important function.

1.Belladonna by Sika from Domo

This rattan sofa is so sweet and romantic; it would add a touch of bohemian whimsy to any space.  It’s an iconic piece designed in Denmark in 1951 and is back in production in Indonesia where rattan is grown in abundance. Rattan is a solid fibre whereas bamboo is hollow, in case you were wondering!

2. Cane sofa by Curio from ClickOn

If you have been living under a rock these past few years, you may not have noticed that cane webbing is having a serious moment.  This cane sofa is refined and elegant and it would look perfect in a sunroom.

The Leather Sofa

I have a few rules about leather sofas:

1. Never have two leather sofas in the room. It will be too much leather and feel heavy and overwhelming. 2. Instead, one leather sofa and one fabric sofa, to soften the look and allow the leather to be the focal point. 3. Never, EVER use shiny leather. It needs to look natural with a matte subtle feel, not stretched tight and slick. 4. Leather looks gorgeous in an array of natural colours from cream, beige, tan, cognac, greige, light brown through to dark brown, even forest green. 5. I am not convinced that a bright white leather sofa is ever a good idea, and I’m yet to meet a black leather sofa that doesn’t look sleazy. If you know one, please introduce me.

There are so many gorgeous leather sofas out there, however I have narrowed this down to three.

1. Tiki sofa by Fogia from Fred International

So light and elegant with a slightly curved profile to the back and arms, the Tiki stands out from the crowd.  Designed by Norwegian designer Andreas Engesvik it’s a modern classic in my book, and a sofa I regularly covet.

2. Dawson by Arthur G

This sofa is absolutely stunning in person. What isn’t conveyed in the image is the open seam at the corners of the buttery soft leather, so you see the lovely raw edge of the leather. It just feels incredible and natural.  And because these sofas are made entirely in Melbourne, they offer the luxury of customisation. It’s always worth asking the lovely team at Arthur G if there are images of their sofas in other fabrics, as it really helps get the ideas going.

3. Klassik by Great Dane

With a slightly mid-century Scandinavian vibe, this is a true classic.  The high back makes this an extremely comfortable sofa, without being bulky.  It looks beautiful in leather, however there are some lovely fabric options available. This style is sofa can also often be found in vintage stores – try Grandfather’s Axe for similar secondhand options.

The Curvy Sofa

Curves are back baby! There are a few sculptural sofas that have been released recently and they make quite a refreshing change from the square bulky shapes we’ve know and love!

1. Julep by Tacchini from Stylecraft

This generously proportioned sofa is almost more like a sculpture than a sofa.  The Julep sofa is inspired by the Avant-garde furniture of the Fifties, I think its beautifully feminine and just gorgeous.

2. Stay Sofa by Gubi from Luke

What you see is what you get with a sofa like this.  This neat shape is always going to stay the same, no plumping, fluffing or faffing required.  This is a great option if you have a sofa in the centre of the room, as its curves look beautiful from every angle.

The Share House Sofa

Ok, so you live in a sharehouse.  This doesn’t mean that you have to sit on that skanky sofa that’s just always been there, but no one knows where it came from.  Get your housemates to pitch in to buy an affordable sofa.  Failing that, make them pay a price-per-sit fee (!).

1. Denver by Oz Design Furniture

This sofa definitely gives good bang for your buck!  It’s generous in size, so great for lounging with friends, but also looks contemporary and smart.  (And we’ve just noticed it’s on sale now!)

2. Como Sofa from clickOn

The fine arm profile of the Como sofa allows for more seat space, with those two little cushions included to soften the look.  A nice classic design and neutral colour options makes this such a neat, versatile little sofa with a neat little price to match!

3. The Hold from Curious Grace

Your housemates will be well impressed that you found such a cool sofa at a great price.  Although brown velvet sofas are fairly common in share houses, I would take a bet they don’t look as gorgeous as this! (It comes in heaps of other colours too!).

4. The Mellow from Curious Grace

The great thing about the Mellow sofa, apart from its affordability, is that it is robust and sort of ‘unflappable’. This is a sofa you won’t have to be too ‘careful’ with, if you know what I mean.  The structured design and smooth upholstery always looks neat, and if you select a dark colour like this, it will hide all manner of stains.

The Dream Sofa

These are the sofas that designers lose their minds for.  When we specify them for our clients, we get insanely jealous and possessive, we just want them for ourselves.

1. Maralunga by Cassina from Space

When I asked my designer friends what their favourite sofa is, the Maralunga (available at Space Furniture) came up more than a few times!  Another design from the 70s that is relaxed and instantly recognizable with its folding backrest.  If you can find an original in good condition, its better than winning the lotto!

2. Sesann Lounge by Taccini from Stylecraft

This sofa gives me that feeling of walking out of Baby Pizza wishing that I wasn’t wearing jeans, apart from that, I am in love with this sofa. Bulky and soft at the same time, the Sesann Lounge was designed in 1969 and later went into production.

3. Maker &Son

I am seriously concerned that if I sit in this sofa by Maker & Son, I may never be able to move again!  The commitment to serious comfort is just beyond comparison!

Constructed with pure comfort in mind, this couch is built in the traditional way, using materials like French jute webbing, traditional horsehair layered with soft clouds of cotton, wrapped in hessian and canvas all topped with feather and down plump cushions.  It means that there are no poly-materials at all.  This is a sofa that’s really going to look after you, and give you permission to just… flop.

4. The Cloud Sofa by & Tradition

If you ask me what my favourite sofa is, well it changes…. at home we have the Togo and it’s a great sofa for a young family.  It doesn’t need any plumping up and the kids can jump all over it, and it doesn’t matter.  It always looks good.  However if I had to choose another, the Cloud by & Tradition is a firm favorite.  It has the right amount of structure and softness, it looks good from all angles, and it’s comfortable and elegant.

And, if all else fails…

If all of the options above left you feeling a bit, meh….?  There is a secret weapon out there that allows you to have the extra deep seat if you’re tall, or the wider arm at the perfect height, so that you can rest your head and fall asleep within three minutes. Or the perfect fibre fill that you don’t need to fluff up all the time. Maybe you’re more driven by the things you don’t even see, like an all-natural fibre filling free of formaldehyde, that you don’t want to inhale.  You may need an extra hard-wearing sofa, which uses a luxury outdoor performance fabric such as the Perennials 100% solution dyed acrylic. These outdoor fabrics might sound a little but believe me they are GORGEOUS!

There is another world of sofas that are custom-made to your specific requirements, if you work with an interior designer to help realise your vision.

Beyond choosing a different leg or fabric, there are so many options out there that an interior designer can introduce you to. Interior designers have a wealth of resources when it comes to sourcing the perfect fabric, as well as furniture fabricator contacts that are trade-only (sometimes the ones who actually supply sofas to your favourite stores). It means that you will own a sofa that your neighbours won’t have… because your sofa is about what fits perfectly for YOU!