#i really like my studio's layout EXCEPT for the part where the kitchen is on the opposite side from the a/c and windows

[eugeniedanglars]

cooking 4 recipes at once and feeling so fucking victorious over the forces of executive dysfunction until my bastard kitchen forces a hasty retreat (i started overheating because my kitchen has no airflow). but morale is strong and the troops are regrouping as we speak with a plan for a surprise counterattack (sat in front of the air conditioner and chugged water so i can get back and finish the last couple steps that require the stove)

[starryviolentine]

Camp Paya (A Pre-Apocalypse Story): Chapter 2/?

Part three of the “Pre-Apocalypse Adventures” Series

Chapter 1 (here)

“For the billionth time, I’m sorry,” says Therissa, patting her weepy roommate on the head and giving her the most sincere, apologetic smile she can muster. Unfortunately, nothing she’s doing is having any effect on Brody’s sullen, teary-eyed pout and she turns to Violet for assistance. “V, do something, please?”

But Violet just stands there with her arms crossed. “You made her cry, so you fix it.”

“Brody, come on…” 

A nearby counselor with a megaphone calls out that it’s time for the campers to head up to the cabins, so Therissa reluctantly redirects her attention to the rest of her cabin group. “All right, if everyone’s got all of their stuff, let’s get moving.” The teen hoists her own duffel bag over her shoulder and waves at the six tweens to follow her. As they make their way up the dirt path to the girls’ cabins, Therissa finds that she still remembers the layout of the camp and recognizes the buildings they’re passing on the way. “For the newbies, that’s the mess hall, and that shack behind it is the infirmary. Sports stuff to the left.”

The other girls trail a few steps behind Therissa, but Violet keeps Brody company at the very back of the line. She’s more interested in observing her new cabin mates than looking at their surroundings. Becca and Amy have already paired off and are walking side by side, chatting with a level of familiarity that gives her the feeling that they already knew each other before camp. And Violet knows Erin from a few of her classes at Ericson’s, though she’s never really talked to her before. The last girl, who’s sporting a headful of poofy red curls, appears to be the youngest from her short stature and rosy, chubby cheeks. What was her name again? Ruby? Checking out the girl’s fiery hair again, Violet wonders if Ruby’s parents chose that particular name on purpose.  

When they reach a three-way fork in the road, Therissa leads them down the path on the very left, and soon they arrive at Cabin Four. Samantha is already there with her half of the cabin members, and she waves at Therissa, who gives her an awkward smile and a nod in return. 

“Well, this is it,” Therissa declares, gesturing with an arm towards the front door of their rustic, wooden cabin. “Home sweet home.”

The moment the girls step inside the cabin, Brody’s eyes widen and her whole mood changes in an instant. As she turns in a slow circle, taking a careful look at every inch of the room, her face lights up and she grins widely. “Wow, Vi, bunk beds!”

“Um, we have bunk beds at school, remember?”

“But not in a cabin!” Brody twirls around once more before rushing over to the window and peering outside. “Therissa, look! You can see into the forest!”

Therissa smiles at Brody, thankful that she seems to be back to her normal self again. She sets her bag down on the only single bed in their half of the room and instructs the others to choose their sleeping quarters, as well. “Okay, you guys can pick your own bunks. But I swear, if you start fighting over them, I’m going to choose for you.”

So long as it’s not on the floor, Violet doesn’t really care where she sleeps, but her friend is quick to claim the set of bunk beds directly across from Therissa. Brody is about to start unpacking her things on the bottom bunk, but Violet stops her and asks if she wants to take the top instead. “I always get to sleep on top at school,” she explains.

“Really?” Brody asks, positively beaming. “Thanks!”

After everyone has settled in, Samantha comes into their half of the room through the archway near the front door. Leaning on the wall with her arms loosely folded, she waits for Therissa to notice her before speaking. “You guys ready to head out? Lunch is in ten minutes.”

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” answers Therissa, nearly stumbling over her words, having been caught off guard by the sudden presence of the other teen. Clad in a sporty top and airy running shorts high on her waist and long, dirty blonde hair tied in a tight ponytail at the top of her head, Samantha carries herself with such poise and confidence and it’s clear that she was born for this type of leadership role. The complete opposite of her. Just being in the same room as Samantha is making Therissa feel severely underqualified and very out of place. 

It’s embarrassing. 

“Great, I’ll get my girls.” With a charismatic smile, Samantha extends a hand while looking directly into her co-leader’s eyes. “Therissa, right?”

 “That’s me!” Mouth moving on its own accord, Therissa blurts out the affirmative in an unnaturally chipper voice that sounds nothing like her own. Regretting it immediately, she weakly shakes Samantha’s hand. “You… Samantha?” The pressure to try and make herself look good in front of her co-leader backfires horribly because Therissa momentarily forgets how to speak. She inwardly cringes, wanting to slap herself across the face. Hard. Samantha’s melodic laughter rings through the room and Therissa could just die.

“Yeah. Sam,” she replies, eyes twinkling in amusement. “Me… Sam. Meet you outside?”

Therissa is completely aware of the fact that she just made the biggest fool out of herself, but all she can do now is try and shake it off. Turning to her cabin group, she clears her throat and tries to redeem herself by putting as much authority into her tone as possible. “Okay, everybody up. Leave your stuff. We’re going to the mess hall.”

Other than the gym and the horse stables, the mess hall is the biggest building at camp with a capacity of over two hundred in just the dining area alone. In the back is a spacious kitchen equipped with all the appliances and cooks needed to provide three buffet-style meals and snacks every day, seven days a week, to all of the campers and staff at Camp Paya. By the time Therissa, Sam and the other residents of Cabin Four arrive, there’s already a long line of people out the door. Luckily for the hungry campers, the queue moves relatively quickly and everyone is inside the building within a few minutes. 

Violet, standing on the tips of her toes, teeters back and forth as she cranes her neck to try and get a look at what’s on the menu this afternoon. Unable to see over the shoulders of all the taller kids ahead of her, she gives up and squints at the trays of the campers who are already seated at the tables. The saucy, red dish looks like some kind of pasta. “I think there’s spaghetti,” Violet tells Brody, still scanning the tables for other recognizable dishes, “and it smells like there’s garlic bread, too.”

“Yum,” Brody says. “Do you reckon they have meatballs?”

“Save my spot, I’ll go check.”

Stepping out of line, Violet creeps closer to the front, leaning this way and that in order to see behind the constantly moving row of campers picking and grabbing and scooping from the buffet table. Scrunching her nose up in distaste at the sight of the enormous bowl of ranch dressing next to the salad bar, Violet side-steps farther down the line, keeping her eyes peeled for meatballs�� and chicken nuggets, while she’s at it.

And there’s good news and bad news. 

The good news is that there are definitely meatballs in the spaghetti sauce, so Violet turns around to go and tell Brody.  

The bad news is, in her rush to do so, Violet doesn’t pay attention to where she’s going. She walks head first into someone’s path, bumping into their tray and nearly knocking all of their food onto the floor. The apple juice in their glass rocks dangerously, threatening to spill over the edge. Thankfully it doesn’t, and Violet breathes a sigh of relief that they managed to avoid a potential catastrophe. But she’s still utterly embarrassed. She chances a peek up at the person she bumped into, praying that she hasn’t already made an enemy on the very first day of camp.

It’s a girl, maybe around her age... just taller. Glacier blue eyes. Vibrant red hair that reaches down to the middle of her shoulder blades. Violet doesn’t recognize her from any of her classes, nor from seeing her anywhere around school. But then again, she doesn’t know very many of the other kids at Ericson’s to begin with. Resisting the urge to flee, Violet forces herself to mumble a quick apology, hoping it will be enough to remedy the situation. 

The girl adjusts her grip on her tray and curiously watches Violet for a moment, but then she gives her a lopsided smile. “No worries.” And just like that, she turns away and disappears down one of the rows of tables. 

It takes one plate of pasta, three halves of garlic toast, and forty-five minutes of silly lunchtime chat with Brody for Violet to finally forget about the incident. After everyone has fueled up, the campground tour begins. For the next couple of hours, the cabin leaders bring their groups around the entire camp to get a more detailed look at what sorts of activities are available. With the exception of the few days per week with a special, predetermined schedule, the campers have the freedom to select any activities they want for each of the four time slots on their daily schedules. 

They start by the lake and work their way up the path, the counselors naming each of the buildings they pass. Occasionally, the campers are brought inside to view one of the special displays set up within. There are samples of artwork and crafts laid out on tables in the art studio, and a videotape of past performances playing on a boxy television in the middle of the dance studio lobby. In the gym, a few coaches and instructors give demonstrations of the different sports the kids can choose from.

Back outside, the tour resumes, taking everyone past the athletic fields and circling back around to the swimming pool. The campers are brought farther down the path to the garden and stables, where they get to meet and even pet one of the horses. And then, for the last stretch, everyone heads up the path by the climbing wall and the ropes course, where the counselor at the head of the line announces that the final two demonstrations of the day will be held at the archery and rifle ranges just up ahead. 

And Violet practically skids to a halt, face growing pale.

While the other campers continue along the path, the blonde stays right where she is, feet planted firmly, unmoving, on the earthy ground beneath her. It only takes a split second for Brody to realize that her friend is no longer by her side, so she backtracks a few steps, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Archery, Vi. Didn’t you say you wanted to shoot arrows and stuff?”

But Violet doesn’t answer. 

“Vi? What’s wrong?”

Despite Brody’s best efforts to figure out why Violet is suddenly refusing to budge, she doesn’t have any success. As the seconds tick by, the two of them fall farther and farther behind, but Brody just can’t get her friend to move or tell her anything. A feeling of panic bubbles up inside her chest at the thought of getting left behind, or lost, or maybe even in trouble for not keeping up with the rest of the group. 

So, Brody does the only thing that comes to mind under this kind of pressure.   

She yells for help.

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 2: Chapter 2

Harry’s Birthday & Wedding Planning: February 2016

Word count: 2.4k

PART 1

SkyFire 2 MASTERLIST

>Instagram posts

Following her breakdown in the studio, Steve and Tony both accompanied Aurora to the hospital to get her hand x-rayed the next day. It turned out she had split open the most recent incision but given the fact that she would be back the following week for more surgery, Dr Walker opted to close the wound with steri-strips instead of more stitches. She got a small lecture about being more careful and as soon as they returned home, Sam was waiting for them. Aurora walked with him down the hall towards her private living room in silence.

“So, what happened yesterday?” Sam asked after the sat down.

“I’m sure you know already,” Aurora replied. “Dad would have told you everything.”

“He did but I was hoping to hear your side of it,” Sam said.

“I don’t know Sam.” She huffed out a breath, tucking her hair behind her ear as she collected her thoughts. “I finally went downstairs, and I started painting for the first time since the shooting…”

“That sounds like a good thing,” Sam said. “What went wrong?”

“I kept knocking the paint over,” Rori sighed. “And it just felt wrong, like I was off balance or something. I’m right handed so I didn’t really think I needed my left hand to paint but I guess I use it more than I realised. Any way I got frustrated and then I just lost all motivation for the work, so I left and went down the hall to the recording studio, but that was so much worse.”

“How so?” Sam prompted when she didn’t seem to want to continue.

“For as long as I can remember, music has been everything,” Rori tried to explain. “When I had nothing, I had music. When mum died, I wrote about it, and when I moved here, I wrote about it. Playing the piano, writing songs, it’s what I do. My art is all if have. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life and yesterday I couldn’t do any of it. I got so angry Sam. I just got so angry and there was nothing I could do to channel that, so I just blew up.”

“And you trashed the studio,” Sam finished.

“I did,” Rori mumbled. “I don’t know what I do now Sam.”

“Would it help if we got a clearer picture from your surgeon?” he asked. “Maybe a firmer timeframe of when she excepts you to be able to do certain things again? We could work out a clear plan of what surgeries and physically therapies are needed to get you where you want to be. Maybe having some milestones to work towards will help.”

“I think I’d really like that,” Aurora agreed. “I’ve got another surgery next week when Harry and I get back from London and then I’ll have my check-up appointment 2 weeks after that. I could probably discuss the long term plan at the follow-up, but could you maybe come with me?”

“Of course, I’ll come with you,” Sam said. “When do you leave for London?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, but I can feel Dad gearing up to fight me on it. After yesterday I can’t really blame him for freaking out this time, but if I spend one more day moping around the tower, I’m going to lose it again.”

“Why don’t I talk to him about this trip being a good thing while you go for a run in the park to clear your head?”

“I would really appreciate you talking to him,” Aurora admitted, “and a run sounds perfect right now.

They both stood back up and Sam wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him for a few long minutes, before he left to go talk to Tony. As he walked away, Rori went to change into her active wear.

xXx

It was late by the time Aurora’s flight arrived at Heathrow, and she ordered an uber for the 45 minute ride to Harry’s north London house. He was waiting up for her and the moment the car pulled up to the curb he was out the front door to grab her bag. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked into the house.

“How was your flight?” he asked while she kicked off her shoes and hung her coat in the hall closet.

“Exhausting,” Rori sighed. “Mind if we just go straight to bed?”

“Of course, love,” Harry replied, taking her hand in his as he carried her bag up the stairs towards the bedroom. She barely kept her eyes open long enough to change out of her clothes and brush her teeth before she collapsed into his bed and snuggled up against him.

xXx

Aurora woke up well before Harry given that she was still running on New York time. She quietly slipped from the bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee before pulling out what she needed from the fridge. She had an omelette in the skillet in front her and the smell of freshly brewed coffee was in the air when she heard Harry shuffle into the kitchen behind her.

“Morning,” he mumbled his voice low and gruff with sleep.

“Damn,” Rori chuckled. “Was trying to get this finished before you woke up so I could bring it up to you. Happy Birthday baby.” She skipped over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. Harry hummed into the kiss, his hands slipping lower as he licked at her lower lip and she opened her mouth to him. “Omelette’s gonna burn if you don’t stop groping my butt,” she murmured against his lips when they pulled apart.

“Let it burn,” Harry groaned, chasing after her lips as she pulled away from him. She giggled when he refused to let her go.

“Harry,” she whined. “At least move us over to the stove if you won’t let go.”

He did as he was told, shuffling them through the kitchen, turning her in his arms until he plastered along her back. She managed to salvage the omelette before it completely burned, sliding it onto a plate and bending over to pull the other one from the oven where she’d placed it to keep it warm. Harry chuckled darkly when she bent over, squeezing her hips when she pushed back against his pelvis.

“None of that mister,” she chided. “Breakfast first, then we can fool around.”

He pouted but took the plates she held out to him, moving over to the kitchen table as she made their coffees before joining him. The moment they’d finished eating Aurora squealed as she was scooped up into Harry’s arms and carried off towards the bedroom.

xXx

They headed into the city as it started to get dark, meeting Harry’s family and some of his friends at a little Chinese restaurant in SoHo. They were shown to a large round table and Aurora quickly hugged Louis, Niall and Liam before she sat down next to Harry with Gemma sitting on her left and Anne on Harry’s right. Conversation flowed easily as the food was brought out and Aurora swiped one of Harry’s spring rolls from his plate.

“Oi!” he gasped, jabbing his chopsticks at her, causing her to giggle and lean over to kiss his cheek. “You’re bloody lucky you’re so cute,” he told her.

After the meal, a waiter brought out a tray of cupcakes with candles lit and the table erupted into a terrible rendition of Happy Birthday. Aurora took a few photos with her phone before Harry blew out the candles and then divvied the cupcakes up around the table.

“How long are you in town for this time?” Gemma asked after they’d finished off the cupcakes.

“Just a few days,” Rori replied. “We’re meeting with our wedding planner to go over some things, but I need to be back in New York by the end of the week.”

“How’s the wedding planning going?”

“Really well, we’ve got the venue, caterer, photographer and the cake all organised already. I had a lot of spare time on my hands after the proposal, so I really got stuck into it all last year.”

“What are you getting done this week then?” Gemma asked.

“We’re doing another walk through at the venue to finalise layout and decide on decorations, colour schemes, all of that.”

“I know the boys have their suits sorted already but we’ll have to start shopping for dresses soon,” Gemma pointed out, an excited smile on her face. “I’m honestly so excited to be Harry’s Best Woman. I really wasn’t expecting him to ask me.”

“Are you kidding me Gem?” Rori laughed. “There’s no one else he would have asked. Especially after I called dibs on Louis being my Man of Honour.” The two girls burst out laughing, drawing Harry’s attention away from his conversion.

“Why am I suddenly nervous?” he asked, looking between his sister and fiancé who were both still giggling.

“Just discussing the bridal party,” Rori said, kissing Harry’s cheek.

“And the fact that you stole my best man?” Harry asked.

“I’m feeling so wanted,” Gemma joked. “And you’re not really that annoyed about it, admit it. You’d give her anything she asked for.”

“I really would,” Harry replied, leaning into kiss Aurora, his hand cupping her cheek as he smiled into the kiss.

“Oi! No snogging at the table!” Louis yelled from across the room, throwing a wadded up napkin at the pair, Niall laughing hysterically when he hit Harry in the side of the head.

“It’s my birthday so if I wanna kiss my fiancé, then I will,” Harry replied before returning to the kiss. Aurora broke away from the kiss in a fit of giggles as Liam and Louis started to boo them.

They all said their goodnights not too much later, and Aurora promised to call Gemma soon to organise a time to go dress shopping with Ella and Lottie soon.

xXx

After breakfast the following morning, they both pulled on their winter coats and walked from Harry’s Hampstead house across the Heath towards the Hill Gardens. They met their wedding planner Rebecca and a member of the grounds team at the Pergola and followed them inside. Even in winter, the place was absolutely beautiful, and Aurora was smiling brightly as they were shown around. Becca pointed out where they could have an arch placed for them to stand under and where the chairs would be placed.

“It’s perfect Harry,” Rori whispered after they had wandered the space for a little while. “I’m so glad we decided on here.”

“And just imagine it with the spring flowers,” he added, wrapping his arms around her as they gazed around the space.

“Well I think we’re good to go,” Becca said, walking back towards the couple after speaking with the staff. “Rori you’ve given me pretty clear design ideas, so I’ll get all the furnishings confirmed and send you through the photos for you to sign off on it, but I think we’re good for the ceremony. Let’s go talk reception.”

The three of them walked out of the gardens to where Becca had parked her car and, in a few minutes, they were back at Harry’s house where they had decided to hold the reception.

“The plan is to have the guests walk back here after the ceremony while we go into the Heath to take photos,” Harry explained as they walked into the house. “We’ve got a large back garden and we were thinking two long tables down either side, dance floor in the middle, bridal party at a table across the back.”

“I’d also like some lights strung up in the trees and maybe over the dance floor,” Rori added, walking Becca around the space.

“And colour scheme is still navy and creams?” the older woman confirmed while she took a few photos of the yard.

“Yes,” Rori agreed. “I don’t want to go too over the top, just something simple and tasteful.”

“Tasteful is definitely something we can do,” Becca promised.

They all headed back inside out of the cold and Harry set about making tea as the two women sat down at the kitchen table to discuss details. Becca had her laptop open and Aurora shared her the link to a Pinterest board where she’d been collecting images of details she liked. They spent a few hours discussing everything until Becca was satisfied, she fully understood what the young couple wanted.

“Thank you again Becca,” Rori said when they started to wrap up. “You’ve made this entire process so easy, and I honestly don’t know how we would have gotten anything done without you.”

“Just doing my job, darling,” Becca replied. “And I should be thanking both of you. I’m so used to dealing with Bridezillas that it’s so refreshing how laid back you’ve both been about everything.”

“There’s enough stress in our lives without letting this become another thing,” Harry said, his arm draped across the back of Rori’s seat. Becca smiled warmly at them.

“So, when are you going dress shopping?” she asked Rori.

“I’m hoping to fly back over next month or in April to go with the girls to get their bridesmaids dresses. They boys’ suits are already getting made, so that’s one more thing ticked off.”

“You’ve already got the suits sorted?” Becca asked in surprise. “You guys have really got this organisation thing down.”

“Harry’s getting his suit made by Gucci,” Rori explained, “and they offered to make the groomsmen’s suits as well, so we just decided to go for it.”

“You two are so down to earth I sometimes forget you’re famous,” Becca laughed, “but Gucci. Damn.”

“I know,” Aurora laughed as well. “I’m working with them to design my dress as well. Maybe we should have got them to sponsor the wedding.”

Becca stayed for a little while longer, chatting with the couple before heading out with promises to email Aurora soon.

“I really don’t know why people make planning a wedding into this super stressful thing,” Harry said when she left.

“Right?” Rori agreed. “I have complete faith in Becca. She knows the vibe I’m going for and I trust her to decide on all the finer details. I just don’t see the point in hyper-fixating on it all. I just want to be able to enjoy the day and have fun.”

“Me too,” Harry said. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[bioticgoddess]

Songbirds and Baby Bats (VI)

Series Summary: Jason Todd returns from the dead and, after the events of Under the Red Hood,he goes from Gotham to Bludhaven in search of himself…and an old friend. But getting your life back is never easy and Black Mask has enlisted the aid of Gotham’s other Crime Families as well as a few ghosts of Batman’s past. He’s coming for the Red Hood and everyone of his allies.

Photo property of CD828 Studios and the Red Hood Fan Series. 

Part VI

The sun trickling in through the partially open curtains was an unwelcome wake up call. A grumble vibrated in his throat as he cracked his eyes open. Tucked in next to him, her head pillowed on his chest, Amy sighed in her sleep. When she snuggled up closer, he grinned. Okay, seeing her like that, the sun could be forgiving for needling him out of some much needed sleep. He closed his arm around her, thumb stroking a trail the length of her lower back. She was soft and warm and there. Something he hadn’t really thought possible, despite the fact that he’d come crashing back into her life (and those of all their friends) like a meteor.

She grumbled, “Stupid sun.” The light had crossed over her eyes the moment she moved closer to Jason.

“Good morning,” he laughed softly. Even before joining the ranks of Gotham’s vigilante superheroes, the Irish girl had a well-documented hatred of mornings. Witnessing it first-hand this way, was enough to make him forget, for a moment, everything they had yet to do and the danger they were in.

Looking up at him, eyes half open, Amy smiled, “Mornin’ handsome.” Her hair was loose, tumbling haphazardly around her face and shoulders, hair tie lost somewhere in the sheets or on the floor. It was a small thing to be proud of and it made him grin before leaning in, Jason planted a kiss on her forehead. “Do we ‘ave to get up,” she yawned.

“Sadly,” he confirmed. Wetting his lips with his tongue, nerves bleeding into his words, “So…we’re good right?” He wanted so desperately to stay there, run his hands through her hair and not worry about the men paid to kill them. Or any other sins of their pasts that deigned to interfere.

“Yea, we’re good love.”

That small confirmation was more than he expected. A smile spread across his face and Jason pressed a kiss to her forehead.

--

They stood on the rusted fire escape, Red Hood’s arms crossed over his chest, back pressed against the brick wall. For a day that had started out so fantastically, he was really not enjoying himself right now. “Your face’ll get stuck like that,” Wren teased softly, casting a quick glance in his direction. All the while she worked the lock open on the window, using a combination of magnets and pry tools. The easiest and least destructive way for them to open the old apartment complex’s windows.

He’d been tasked with keeping an eye out for their sniper or anyone else suspicious. Well, more suspicious than he two of them. The fewer people who knew that they’d been there the better.

“You can’t even see my face babe,” he reminded, tapping the section of mask directly over his nose.

Shrugging, the lock gave way with a delightful click. “Details, details. …And we’re in,” she smiled, tucking away her tools. It took nominal effort, despite having been nearly painted shut, for her to push the window up enough, giving them room to slip under and inside the apartment. Careful not to kick  or knock the screen they’d set on the fire escape’s landing, Wren ducked under the window first. Each foot hitting the floor quietly, one at a time. Pivoting and tip toeing adeptly until she was few steps in what turned out to be the living room. Red Hood followed suit; reaching down to check his firearms as he moved. Making sure they didn’t scrape or knock anything on his way in.

“So you’re an ex-IRA money launderer, intelligence broker, and all around bad guy, where do you keep the dossiers you don’t want people seeing,” Red Hood asked the otherwise empty room. He scanned the room as he came up beside Wren. She’d collected the stack of mail off what had been Owen Selkirk’s coffee table. “Anything interesting?”

She shook her head. It was all bills. Some envelopes stamped as past due. Others were solicitations – credit cards, car loans, magazines. The usual junk that most people chucked in the bin without a second thought. There wasn’t anything, to Wren’s eyes at least, that even looked like someone had attempted to disguise something important as junk mail. “Um…da’ used to say that Selkirk would hide things in furniture. Thumb drives, CDs, that sort of thing. Didn’t keep hard copies,” she remembered, setting the stack of mail back in its void on the coffee table.  

The apartment was extremely nice for someone they’d understood to be barely getting by. A large, industrial-modern layout, in one of the more gentrified neighborhoods of Bludhaven – rusted out, likely unusable in an emergency - fire escape aside. “What about an SD card in a flower pot,” he asked, making his way quietly towards the kitchen. The throw-rug laden wood floors were strangely out of place against the rest of its built in theme. Between that and the living/dining area, the apartment was easily larger than the “luxury” apartment Wren lived in. “We should move here,” he suggested, picking up the fake African Violets on the counter.

“Hah,” she’d knelt next to the couch, running her fingers along it’s long frame looking for anything out of place, “Right. I am not spending nearly four thousand dollars in rent monthly.”

Nothing. He set the plant down and started on the knife block, “C’mon. We could fit a real armory in one of these, I could get rid of my place in Gotham.” 

Looking over her shoulder, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed she snorted, “No. I mean…yes, we should probably condense to one place, but no. Not moving to a money pit like this.” She inched along the frame, rounding it’s far corner and checking the arms. “Damn.” Rocking back on her heels, Wren took a quick accounting of the furniture: coffee table, couch, chaise lounge, dining room table and chairs (a four seater), server, TV stand/entertainment center. In the living and dining room alone they could be at this for hours.

“What,” he asked, distracted from his search. So far the flower pots – there were two additional - and both the knife and butcher’s blocks had come up empty. He had a cabinet open, it looked to be the spice and dry good storage. Diligently checking for a false wall or some other cabinetry hidey hole that was out of the ordinary. “Wren,” he called, brow raised behind the mask as he looked in her direction. At best the top of her head was in his line of sight.  “You okay over there?

The only response was an exasperated groan. “That bad,” he joked. She glared back at him for a moment.  

It was the kind of exchange the two had mastered when he was Robin. Whole conversations using half as many words as either his predecessor or Batman. Where the latter was concerned that was a feat in and of itself. As she rolled up to full height, Wren rubbed her temples. “Okay,” she started, trying orally thinking through the problem at hand, “I’m hiding a thumb drive or other memory storage device. I don’t want it to be obvious to anyone else, but it needs to be easily accessible to me. Where do I put it.”

“Where do you work most,” Red Hood offered. He’d started towards the bed room. There was no desk out in that main open concept room. If there was one in there, given Selkirk’s age, it was likely he’d work at one instead of on a couch or in the kitchen. If not…well they’d have to rethink the idea.

He reached the open door as she answered, “Someplace I can see what’s going on around me.”

“So not the bedroom?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, my idea’s shot then,” he shrugged, turning back to face the room. That was the moment he saw it, the one thing out of place in the whole apartment – their search notwithstanding. “Wren, look at his entertainment center’s placement.” He nodded, clarifying when she shot him a look over her shoulder, “If he’s sitting in this room, then he can see outside, no problem. Both the balcony and fire escape are accessible .” The larger, multi piece, entertainment center was centered in such a way that it almost guaranteed he’d watch everything except what was on the screen. Lots of places to hide even something as large as, perhaps, an external hard drive. “Thinking maybe he tucked it in there somewhere.

Before Wren could answer, they heard the sound of deadbolt tumblers clicking and falling. Red Hood dropped behind the big couch in the center of the room while Wren took cover on the far side of the recliner. What sounded like the bolt disengaging and the smaller knob lock clicking was surprisingly loud in the apartment. Even with the area rugs and curtains. Shifting so he could see around the corner of the couch’s arm, Red Hood drew the weapon in his left holster. He clicked off the safety as the door swung open and took aim.

The door swung open, just wide enough for a man to tuck inside the apartment. His black combat suit, accented with blue bird emblazoned across his chest visible for a brief moment.

“Dude I almost shot you,” Red Hood snapped, pulling back his weapon. The safety’s soft click enough to ease some of the tension in the room. Silence, thick and uncomfortable, settled around them. Red Hood holstered his gun, letting out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and shrugged.

Nightwing spoke quickly, hearing the snap of the strap that held the gun in place, “Thanks for not doing that.” They all knew the helmet concealed the glare that Red Hood shot at him. The black and blue clad man moved farther into the room, “And thanks for the dead body buddy, super thrilled to find out about it over police scanners.”

“Wasn’t me,” Red Hood sighed, shaking his head. “Bro, if I’d shot him, you’d know.” Of course, if he’d been responsible for Selkirk’s death not only would Wren have been no where the deed but the police wouldn’t have tripped over the Irishman’s body. No one would have. Hell, last he heard no one had found the bodies of the Gotham drug lieutenants he’d…handled.

The laughter from the elder vigilante echoed in the apartment. Both Red Hood and Wren flinched. Unlikely though it was to attract attention, the prospect of being caught made the trio uncomfortable. “I figured that much,” Nightwing clarified after he recovered from his bout of the giggles. He was still tense, like he knew something he wasn’t sharing with either his brother or partner. “But you were there. That makes you both –“

“It was Deathstroke,” Red Hood presumed, “Had to be. The precision of the shots that took out Selkirk were professional. Hell, even the shots that missed us had to be. Not like I’m a small target.”

Wren rolled her eyes, rocking heel to toe, “You’re not wrong love.”

“You were there,” Nightwing concluded, turning his masked glare on Wren.

Red Hood answered in her stead, “Turns out one of my two informants, was also one of hers. We figured if Deathstroke was willing to off Selkirk then he had to have known something. About the mission or the Intermediary. Hell, he was terrified of the latter.”

Hanging his head and groaning, Nightwing pinched the bridge of his nose. Jason and Amy were likely to be the death of him. Not because they’d get him killed but because they’d frustrate him into an early grave. He could deduce, without much effort, that the others had come to this apartment in order to look for information about Deathstroke. Maybe get lucky and find something on the Intermediary as well.  “Well shit,” he groaned finally, “How can I help?”

“We were about to dismantle that,” Wren thumbed over her shoulder at the entertainment center. “We could use a second set of hands and…if you’re keyed into the police scanners, a heads up when they’re headed this way.”

Waving a hand at the pair, he shooed them towards the entertainment center. “Let’s get this over with and get outta here.” With that they descended on the entertainment center, both boys looking for any sort of secondary or hidden compartments in the furniture itself. Wren sorted through the DVDs, video games, and CDs in the central console. They were arranged alphabetically and by media type – the peculiarity made Wren’s eyes cross.

Red Hood’s fingers traced along a section at the back of the tower closest to the bed room. He heard the click as he hit one of the pegs supporting the shelf one of the gaming consoles was on. Selkirk owned several – at least one from each generation. It almost made him jealous…almost. “What have we here,” he practically purred, a section of shelf sliding out like a smart phone’s SIM tray. Delicately he caught it between his thumb and forefinger, drawing out the tray until it was in his palm. The other two stopped, Wren leaning back and Nightwing moved around the exterior tower.

“Care to share little brother,” he enquired.

“Jackpot.”

 Wren reached out, palm up. Expectantly she waited for Jason to drop the memory card into her hand. “Well, c’mon then,” she sighed, brow furrowed.

“We can look at them later. Like when we’re at home and, and as big bird so astutely pointed out, not rifling around a dead man’s apartment,” he flipped the the memory card along his fingers from index to pinky then it disappeared into his jacket. If only the others could’ve seen his grin. The Red Hood was exceptionally pleased with the move - even if the sour expressions painted across Wren and Nightwing’s faces showed they weren’t. All despite their masks, of course.

Nightwing’s shoulders slumped.The others knew that the memory chip was well concealed. Safe even, at least for now. “Put the tray back, we should get out of here. Sounds like the cops are going to be here any moment. I dunno about you two but I have no desire to have to explain myself.” He was scanning the police channels quietly, Bludhaven’s finest were on their way. Headed to search the apartment, as the trio had expected. They could almost hear the cars rolling up outside.

Slipping the tray into the shelf back where he’d found it, Red Hood nodded knowingly. He couldn’t argue Nightwing’s observation - though a part of him wanted to. Wanted to point out that, thanks to their group’s training, it would be simple for them to evade the police even if they were in the apartment when they arrived. “So…your place then,” He looked to Wren as she rolled up to her feet. Nodding, she stretched  and marched over to still raised fire escape window.

“C’mon boys,” she beckoned, slipping out onto the rusted metal fire escape.

--

The trio moved with purpose around the apartment. Jason checking the door and window locks, closing the curtains as each passed inspection. Without the security offered by the Batcave, they had to improvise. Dick was helping by doing a sweep for any sort of surveillance devices; paranoia ran in the family it seemed. “Anything,” the younger man called, tossing his heavy jacket onto the back of the big couch.

A thumbs up flashed his way.  

“We good,” Amy called to the two from the bed room.

Walking into the room, Jason nodded. He asked, looking over his shoulder for a moment, “You sure about this babe?” He was nervous about going over the information in his – their – home. The place was supposed to be a safe haven and if there was anything on the SD card that could be used to track it back to their possession...well, the ramifications made his stomach turn. “Amy, seriously.”

“Not like we have any other options,” she sighed, collecting small floral canvas pouch from inside her desk. “We physically take it to Oracle, they may end up tracking her down. We can’t exactly use the Batcave,” Bruce had returned from whatever trip he was on and Jason vehemently refused the suggestion during the trio’s trek back to Amy’s apartment. Yes, the Batcomputer likely had the requisite anti-spy and malware suites to ensure their safety without question but it also meant going to Bruce. It meant asking for his help with something they were collectively certain they could handle. And, when it came to his foundlings, the Batman had a nasty habit of overstepping his bounds and taking over. .

“Dick’s laptop, your apartment, god I hope this doesn’t…,” Jason trailed off, face going from resigned to irritated all at once. “Y’know what, no. If I say it we’re jinxed and I’m in no mood to risk it.”  The comment got Amy to laugh. It was enough to turn the night around, at least until he could collapse into the bed next to her and call it done.  Something he was looking forward to more than usual after the previous night/morning.

From the living room, Dick’s voice carried like an auditory battering ram, “You guys coming?” They could hear him messing up the blankets and pillows that had been Jason’s makeshift bed.

“Ungh,” Jason groaned, tossing his head back. There was a part of him that just wanted to die...again. Okay, maybe not literally.

Rocking up on her tiptoes, Amy planted a kiss on his check, two-days-worth of stubble tickling her lips and nose. “C’mon,” she whispered. “Sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get to bed,” there was encouragement in her tone, helped by the wink tossed over her shoulder.

They found themselves in the living room, gathered around the coffee table and Dick Grayson’s laptop. “Shall we,” Dick asked, catching the bag of cords and adapters that Amy chucked across the room at him. It was almost a shame that he’d been fast enough to catch them.

“I don’t like this, at all,” arms cross over his chest, Jason sank down into the couch, his brother having taken the armchair. Heavily he propped his feet up on the coffee table, crossing them as Amy cautiously stepped over the impromptu barrier. He chuckled as his friend produced a strip of electrical tape from her utility belt and slapped it over the lens of the webcam. It wasn’t a perfect solution to ensuring that the webcam would be blind, but it was what they had.

Leaning back, calves hitting Jason’s left leg, she yawned, “Consider it covering our asses.”

“Then how are we –“  

“Hey guys,” Barbara’s voice chirped through Jason’s phone. He’d taken the liberty of calling Oracle. It was almost a relief to hear the computer generated voice of Barbara’s current alter-ego. If they weren’t about to ask her for all kinds of technological favors. Turning the device to face them, the other two could see her face – well the avatar used to hide her identity -  staring back at them. He’d turned off the WiFi before initiating the video call with their friend. “You!” She snapped at Jason,” We are going to have a long conversation when all this is done. Understood?”

He swallowed hard, nodding. “Yes ma’am.”  Everyone knew better than the argue with or otherwise test Barbara Gordon. She was a force to be reckoned with all on her own and kept the family – the Robins mostly – in check. She also had a way of putting the fear of god into the boys, only seldom needing to take action or make good on her threats.  “Missed you too Oracle,” he added after a moment, setting the phone down so the others could more easily the screen and she them.

“Hey Oracle,” Dick chimed in, a laugh on his lips at the reaction she’d inspired in Jason. “We got these SD memory cards. Think you could review them remotely through one of the cloud servers if I hook ‘em up to my laptop?”

With a huff she asked, “Yes. Now why am I not there…or you three here…so I we could do this in person? The cloak and dagger would put Batman to shame.”

Dropping onto the couch, legs stretched over Jason’s lap, Wren explained, “They came from the home of a known information broker, he happened to be shot down by the League less than 24 hours ago so there’s some concern about overall security. We’re trying to use as few integrated systems as possible to minimize being potentially compromised.”

“Well someone paid attention,” She praised, voice projecting the smile they couldn’t see. Barbara however, was still able to see the faces of her three friends. She laughed softly when Dick covered his face with his palm, frustrated at the culmination of the week’s events. Jason was still cringing under the subtle threat and Amy had a childlike grin on her face, practically preening at Barbara’s words.  “Okay, so do you have the adapter and WiFi scrambler gave you?” Amy and Dick nodded.

Nightwing answered, “They’re already set up Oracle.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes.”  They could hear her typing away, keys clacking on her computer, at the other end of the phone.  Dick shifted so the others could see the screen of his laptop as well. Windows opened and closed, the cursor flew between programs to the point that it was like watching a humming birds flit between blossoms.  It was practically mesmerizing and the nearly half an hour she needed seemed like no more than a few breaths. “And done.”

Jason ventured, “Want to enlighten us plebeians?”

“I transferred the contents of the memory cards to a secured cloud server and scrubbed the physical cards. I wouldn’t put them in a phone or camera but you can get rid of them without having to worry about anything being compromised or potentially traced back even to Selkirk. Don’t put copies of the files on your machines either. I have extra security on them in the server.” Even if she could guarantee the files and memory cards were clean, that was no reason to take any extra risks.

Dick thanked her, tapping the screen on Jason’s phone to end the call when the former Batgirl signed off. He began clicking around the files on the drive, brow furrowed as he scanned through a PDF. “We’re gonna be here a while,” he sighed finally. “There’s…a lot on this drive.”

“I’ll start the coffee,” groaned Jason. None of them were thrilled with the fact that they were losing the likelihood of a good night’s sleep (or any) to yet another review of documents. This time, however, they didn’t even have the luxury of being able to do it at their individual leisure.

Hours ticked by, the trio having to settle for mirrored screens across cheap tablets Dick kept on hand. The kinds of things he’d drop off at Barbara’s to be scrubbed and recycled. Jason took a long drag from his coffee cup, his blue eyes almost glazing over as he stared at the screen. There had to be something worth their time and effort on these drives. Something that made Selkirk’s death worth it. Most of the files at their disposal contained information on par with what they’d find in the Batcomputer. If they hadn’t gotten Barbara to copy the information to her servers they might have sworn it originated with her.

“Shit,” he cursed, looking at the PDF file on his screen. “We have much bigger problems than Deathstroke”

Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Amy leaned over, “What is it?”

Jason pointed to the list of alias under the section of the file for the Intermediary. “The Shadow’s Hand, the Demon’s Knife...the brief time I spent with them, the League cites him as the person Ra’s calls when he needs something done and doesn’t feel like having his family do it. He’s got a short list of confirmed kills but that’s because he’s that...good.” The way his inflection rose at the end spoke volumes. Despite a lack of recorded experience, the Intermediary - when summoned to do so - had a perfect record. “This just got a lot more complicated.”

“No kidding,” groaned Dick. “This just keeps getting better. Please tell me there’s a head shot in there?”

Amy interjected as Jason shook his head, “No, but I think there’s a surveillance image of Deathstroke with someone. Looks like Selkirk extracted an image of them landing at Gotham International.” She tapped the photo icon on her screen and let it take over. Turning the tablet to landscape, it filled the screen. They all knew Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, even out of uniform his hardened grizzled face unmistakable. Beside him stood a petite. He looked like he was maybe Dick’s age, and had striking features that were almost feminine in appearance, long dark hair that reached the bottom of his shoulder blades framed a slender jaw and cat-like eyes.

“Ah fuck,” Jason face palmed. “That’s Dustan, my other League contact. He knew about Selkirk.” He visibly wanted to crawl in a hole and die. In the years he’d been using Dustan to stay one step ahead of...everything...he never considered that the man was more than an information broker. Someone with an ear to the ground and a price for anything he knew. A number of tips over the years suddenly seemed a lot less convenient and more like they were cherry picked for the Red Hood. Also made the frequency with which Dustan changed residences make that much more sense. He was going to be hunting a man who knew how to disappear at least as effectively as any member of their little family. “Just...fucking fantastic.”

[architectnews]

Art Villas Resort, Playa Hermosa Costa Rica

Art Villas Resort in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica, Caribbean Real Estate, Costa Rican Architecture Images

Art Villas Resort in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

28 May 2021

Art Villas Costa Rica

Architects: Formafatal

Location: Bahia Ballena, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Not far from Costa Rican town Uvita – there is a hidden small resort Art Villas on the jungle hill above the beach Playa Hermosa. 3 unique villas and one multifunctional pavilion are scattered over a plot of 2 ha.

When the investor approached the architects, he wished to create a place where the visitors merge with the surrounding nature, clearing their mind, experiencing luxury and adventure at the same time. He wanted to create a place that digs deep into everyone’s heart when they taste it.

The architects from the Formafatal studio followed the client’s assignment and were also inspired by the atmosphere and colorfulness of Central and South America.

Atelier Villa was designed as a private residence for the investor and his family. Nestled against a steep slope, the 26-metre-long prismatic object partially levitates over lush tropical vegetation. Looking outside, there is only the distant ocean or green hills as far as the eye can see; the back wall facing the driveway and the neighbouring villas is intentionally windowless, to maintain privacy.

The first and foremost priority is not only the idea of “erasing boundaries between interior and exterior” but also highlighting constructional simplicity and pure lines (pura vida >> pura arquitectura). The constructional system consists of a steel frame with a span of 4x4m.

Discreet wall colours in combination with the green roof allow the villa to really blend in with its surroundings. The ocean and jungle-oriented façades are fitted with large-size aluminium perforated sections which a) do not heat up in the sun and b) are rust-resistant. If pulled up, they double as canopies. The scale and pattern of perforation is different on each of the sections, thus creating an exciting play of light and shadow inside. The panels’ special coating is in the colour of COR-TEN. The full back wall is in charred timber cladding treated with Shou Sugi Ban, an old Japanese technique of weather- and age-proofing the wood.

Disposition-wise, the villa possesses the same minimalistic spirit as its shape suggests. The utility and storage rooms, bathrooms and the kitchen are placed along the back wall.

The layout of the rest of the house is very open; the boundaries between the inside and the outside world are gone and the whole space seems like a roofed terrace. Lightweight sliding partition walls may serve as a tool to create private zones and shake the space up as needed.

The patio reveals an infinity pool, partly roofed and therefore protected from the scorching sun.

The whole interior is in warm, earthy tones of natural materials. All of the furnishings, apart from the lounge and dining chairs, are tailor-designed for this villa and custom-made. Commissioned in the area, the major part of the furniture was made with the help of local craftsmen. Some components were custom-made in the Czech Republic and transported to the site. As for the Czech manufacturers, we decided to opt for the renowned Czech glass-making company Bomma and their Shibari lights that go hand in hand with the overall tropical feel of the interiors.

Landscape architect’s note – atelier Flera

Greenery and garden elements

A while ago, we were approached to design the greenery around several exceptional buildings built by Czech investor in beautiful Costa Rica.

The overall vegetation concept was quite specific due to the lot being on a very steep slope. We tried to maximise the space, engage and open up the garden, so we designed in various steps and small terraces. Elsewhere, we weaved in a long and colourful slide entertaining both the kids and adults.

In the plant selection, we preferred the local non-invasive greenery, selecting especially the edible plans from the local area.

The greenery is what bonds and connects the buildings in one complex. The whole hill where this garden is situated is called Achiote, Spanish name for Bixa Orellana. So, we played a lot with achiote around the garden. There was also the Costa Rican national tree Enterolobium cyclocarpu and we planted a few more around. Of course, you can also find banana plants, coconut palm trees, mango trees, papaya or less known plants such as annona muricata or guava.

Owner’s note

The Villas

In the lush jungle of Costa Rica is a space that transcends ordinary. Where day and night merge in a heavenly expanse of verdant flora, pristine beaches, and exquisite style. Here you’ll discover three distinct villas each with their own bold and unique architecture and style.

Art Villas is inspired by the laws of the jungle. Our villas strike a rare balance between encounter with nature and protected luxury accommodation. Here creativity springs to life as you mingle with the jungle’s breath, relax in comfortable, charming spaces, and surrender to your purest self.

Behold the vast, monolithic structure. Cool, concrete walls stand naked and confident inside the heart of the jungle. Expansive glass walls, jungle wood, and brave dimensions ignite, absorb, and reflect the raw elements of nature. Hand-painted walls capture the dynamic nature of water and mirror the surrounding tropical forest.

Glide across floors artfully designed with handmade Nicaraguan tiles. Softness, truth, and intention unite beneath your feet, evoking a sensation of antiquated times. Ornamental designs reminiscent of the past unite with the simplicity of modern design.

CoCo houses are inspired by seed cones, where nature contains its precious promise to the future.

Collaborations We are working closely with an international community of like-minded artists and high-profile businesses to organize, host, and curate retreats. These events will provide small groups of people and couples with an unforgettable mind, body, and soul experience.

Our journeys to various retreats all over the world have inspired us to create unique experiences where our guests can expand, evolve, and, reconnect with their pure self. We invite inspirational teachers to our ambient space to lead us to transcendence through various media: yoga, pole dance, art, lecture, and more. Creators of all types will gather here with us to explore and expand the limits of their conscious experience (see our Retreat To Transcendence page to learn about an extra special local event). We also host weddings and offer off-site retreats.

Materials teak / custom made furniture designed by Formafatal brasilian nut-tree/IPE / custom made furniture designed by Formafatal, terraces, suspended ceilings Burnt teak planks / facade steel / custom made furniture designed by Formafatal aluminium / facade concrete / floors, ceiling cement screed / walls, custom made furniture designed by Formafatal cement tiles – Granada Tiles Nicaragua linnen / curtains, upholstered furniture designed by Formafatal

Products and Brands furniture Paulistano chair / Objekto Butterfly/BKF chair / Manufaktur+ Nesting coffee table set, Round tray coffee table set / Notre Monde Soft sofa The Menfis / Marilou Urbano and Hexagonal chairs / SDLZ

lighting Shibari / Bomma Hubble / Baxter Line Voltage Track / Wac Lighting

About studio Formafatal We’re team of friends – architects, designers and scenographers. We’re creative studio focused on architecture, interior design, exhibition installation and product design.

Studio Formafatal was founded by architect Dagmar Stepanova, and the team is now Dagmar, Jan, Martina, Katarina, Iveta, Dana, Anna and Debora.

8-member team is currently working on several commercial and residential projects not only in Czech Republic, but across the world. Formafatal studio has already won several domestic and international awards for their projects.

We create public spaces, where people feel like home, and homes, that are tailored to the clients’ needs. All projects we approach individually and with focus on specific human needs. Individual approach for each project is based on mutual understanding with the client, enthusiasm, natural collaboration and unified conceptual solutions. We solve projects complexly from creative concept to realization, with attention to detail.

About Dagmar Štěpánová Dagmar graduated from the Faculty of Architecture – Czech Technical University in Prague. After twelve years of architecture practice, she founded her own studio Formafatal, which has existed for the fifth year. The architect carefully selected each member for her studio and claims that together they form amazing team. Formafatal is like a family to her.

8-member team of architects, scenographers and designers is currently working on several commercial and residential projects not only in Czech Republic, but across the world.

Formafatal studio has already won several domestic and international awards for their projects.

Already during her studies, she loved the culture and architecture of South and Central America. The Art Villas project has made her dream come true and Dagmar is currently building a branch for her Formafatal studio in Costa Rica. “You need to have dreams and follow your goal. For me it means to do everything I can to deepen my experience, to work on myself and what fills me most”

Art Villas Resort in Costa Rica – Building Information

Studio: Formafatal

Author Dagmar Štěpánová, principal architect Contact E-mail dagmar@formafatal.cz

Co-author Martina Homolková

Project location: Bahia Ballena, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Project year: 2017-2018 Completion year: 2019 Built-up Area: 326 sqm Usable Floor Area: 298 sqm Plot size: 25000 sqm

Client: Filip Žák

Photography: Boys Play Nice

Art Villas Resort in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica images / information received 280521

Website: Saxe Architects

Location: Bahia Ballena, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

New Architecture in Costa Rica

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Recent Costa Rica building by architects Studio Saxe on e-architect:

Courtyard House, Nosara, Guanacaste Architects: Studio Saxe photograph : Roberto D’Ambrosio Nosara Courtyard House

Tres Amores Residence, Nosara, Guanacaste Architects: Studio Saxe photograph : Andres Garcia Lachner Tres Amores Residence in Nosara

Santiago Hills Villa Santa Teresa Architects: Studio Saxe photograph : Andres Garcia Lachner Santiago Hills Villa in Santa Teresa

The Athletic Center, Nosara, Guanacaste Architects: Studio Saxe photo : Andres Garcia Lachner Athletic Center at the Gilded Iguana in Guanacaste

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Comments / photos for the Art Villas Resort in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica page welcome

Website : Costa Rica

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[15001700tt]

Descendants of the Moon

Descendants of the Moon Masterlist

Tag list: @chastja  @multi-fan-trash @serpentityx @syublush @laadychat @whoissheff Dm me if you want to be on the tag list!

Word Count: 6,378 

Key: Italics- things that happened in the drama but do not old any importance to the story line

Bold- Dialogue said in the Drama

Ghosted

Episode 15:

After closing the case Yoo Ji finally has some time off, and Gwang Nam was still in the city and not off somewhere on a top-secret mission so they took the time to finally have a second date. Hopefully, this one won’t get interrupted, Yoo Ji and Gwang Nam had decided on an at-home date for this time, mostly because it was too cold for them to go out. So Yoo Ji set up her small dining table, she bought alcohol and some snacks.  

Gwang Nam knocked on her front door, he looked around, noting that it was a relatively small neighborhood, it looked safe. He assessed the danger level of the neighborhood just in case. Yoo Ji opened the door so that he could step inside, she has a cozy place, a little small for his taste but she decorated it very appropriately. 

Gwang Nam mentally chuckled, Yoo Ji’s apartment is exactly what you expect from her. Her walls were painted a dark gray. She had dark interior decor, it was a studio apartment, so it was small, Yoo Ji also had decided that she didn't need doors, and all the rooms except the bathroom to be all open to each other. There was a wall with a window separating the kitchen from her living room and her bed was behind the couch. There was a small patio that looked out into the darkening night and to her street. It had two chairs and a small glass table where she had some cactuses.

“No doors?” Gwang Nam said with a teasing tone as he set the takeout he had picked up before he made his way to her address. 

“Unnecessary obstacles in my way” Yoo Ji dismissed with a small smile on her face.

“What did doors ever do to you?” Gwang Nam said settling down on the couch, looking at Yoo Ji setting the utensils on the rectangular marble table. 

“They were in my way,” Yoo Ji joked as she opened the take out boxes of fried chicken.

“What did you slam into them so often that you decided to take them all off with your walls?”

“I am not known for my great foot to eye coordination.” Yoo Ji chuckled as she handed Gwang Nam a plate of sweet and sour fried chicken. He nodded and thanked her while laughing softly at her comment. 

“How’s your case? Did you solve it?” Gwang Nam asked. He hadn’t seen her since Shi Jin was in the hospital. 

“it was an accident, remember how you said that it might’ve been an accident? Well, you were right, partly” Yoo Ji started, “it was pretty interesting, I missed the detail the first time I looked at his medical records, the victim had a congenital disease that he was born with, but it wasn’t specified in the subcategory.”

“We know for a fact that the two suspects are involved with insurance fraud, but they both don’t fit the profile of a murderer,” she paused.

“Lee Eun Yong is too timid and has anxiety-related illnesses so she wouldn’t fit the murder, because we knew that it was blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Shin Young Won didn't fit the profile because of similar reasons and the victim would easily overpower him in a fight because of his small stature so we ruled out the chance that Shin Young Won hit him hard enough to dismantle or even kill him altogether” 

“So how did he die? A third suspect?” Gwang Nam asked, tilting his head. 

“Nope, it was an accident,” Gwang Nam raised an eyebrow, Yoo Ji’s eyes twinkled as she explained her case.

“During our investigation, we found out that Lee Eun Yong helped Young Won get insurance payouts from companies by conning them into thinking he was a relative of the deceased, Lee Eun Yong worked in a nursing home, and we know Shin Young Won does the burials for free, so we know that she gives him the necessary information to fake his alleged relativeness.”

“That still doesn’t explain how the victim died,” Gwang Nam pointed out.

“The victim Lee Eun Ki found out about Shin Young Won’s fraud and he confronted him about it, they had an argument about it, Lee Eun Ki pushed Young Won around but he pushed back, Lee Eun Ki slipped and hit the back of his head hard against a sharp object and that’s what caused his death. The congenital disease was a condition that hadn’t been funded by the hospital so they never knew the exact cause of it but I researched some things and one of the effects is that sometimes people that have congenital diseases can be killed if there was blunt force trauma to the brain or back of the head because the blood will clot faster and cause a tumor that bursts in minutes.” Yoo Ji finished, revealing the big part of the investigation that was key to breaking through it.

“Wow, that’s genius.”Gwang Nam was impressed. 

“Thank you” Yoo Ji grinned and snuggled closer into his arms. Gwang Nam brought beer with him, so they had some while they ate and were now just enjoying each other's company while drinking alcohol. 

Gwang Nam got up to go to use the restroom but while he was at it he glimpsed at some of the photo frames that Yoo Ji had, she didn't have many, but the ones she had were of her friends and places she visited. There was one frame that seems to be of her and her parents. She had to be around seventeen at the time the picture was taken. She looked about the same height but her features were younger, Yoo Ji’s style did not change at all throughout the years as she was sporting a black leather jacket and black torn jeans with a grey T-shirt. Her hair was longer, and it was black unlike her light brown short hair that she had right now.

Gwang Nam wondered where her parents were, she never mentioned them and he never thought to ask, it was never the right time. Especially since she is already careful with what kind of information she gives about herself as it is, he didn't want to make her closed-off if he asks about it. He didn't really care to know, but if their relationship gets serious enough to consider marriage, it might be a good idea if he meets her parents at least once. He might bring it up to her later, for now, they will take it one day at a time. 

He made it to the bathroom pretty quickly as her apartment was small so looking at the pictures took him a few minutes before he moved on. He checked out the layout of the bathroom just like he did when he walked in, he noted how the window was small enough to pass a small human body, but not an average one, so no chance of breaking in from that entry point.

He opened the cabinets and found pretty typical things, extra towels, toilet paper, some sanitary products, he closed the cabinet, he wasn't flustered per se, he has dated a few times long term and it's not like he’s uncomfortable by the sight of female hygiene but he did feel a little intrusive since he is kinda peeking at her personal stuff. He quickly did his business and got out of there. When he got back Yoo Ji raised an eyebrow.

“You look like you just went through my stuff and felt guilty about it” she stated with a teasing tone. 

“Maybe, but to be honest I looked at the picture frames more” Gwang Nam shrugged, its habit at this point for him to check out his surroundings and he should probably work on it but Yoo Ji has the same problem as well, so they’ll work on it together. But to be honest, their need to analyze their surroundings has saved them on multiple occasions so should they really fix it if it's for survival? That’s the real question.

Gwang Nam grabbed another can and cracked it open as Yoo Ji let her eyes wander to the wall that holds most of her pictures. 

“My parents aren't in Korea, they’re somewhere in Africa right now, healing the sick and advocating for better healthcare,” Yoo Ji said with a hint of admiration for her parents.

“They're doctors?” Gwang Nam was a little bit surprised, he didn't know what he expected but he didn't expect this for sure.

“Yes, they're pretty popular in the medical field, why do you think Chairman Han lets me hang out at his hospital?” Yoo Ji rolled her eyes at Gwang Nam’s shocked face. She smiled and leaned over and pecked his lips. 

“It's okay, they're just abroad a lot and we talk every once in a while, I am busy with my own stuff so it's not a big deal either” she smiled softly at him, Gwang Nam nodded and kissed her cheek. Yoo Ji blushed slightly, his eyes were so mesmerizing that she couldn't look away. So she stayed where she was- really close to him. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. 

So he leaned in and looked at her lips but stopped just a centimeter away to see if she wanted it. Her eyes didn't move from his lips as she closed the distance and brushed her lips against his softly. Then he applied more pressure and she followed his lead. He grabbed her by the hips and led her to straddle him, her hands found themselves tangled in his hair while he rested on her hips. Soon enough the room was too hot for either one of them as the gentle peck turned into a hot make-out session. 

Yoo Ji tasted the slightest hint of the beer they’ve been drinking but it wasn’t overpowering. It felt like a wash of warmth going through her body as Gwang Nam’s body heat traveled to hers. Her heart skipped a beat as he rested his hands on her lower back, messaging her back as he continued kissing her intensely. Yoo Ji sighed as she rested in his arms and tilted her head for better access to his mouth. 

Gwang Nam moved one of his hands over Yoo Ji’s body and brought it to rest on her neck, drawing her closer than she already was. All of the things she’s feeling began to feel overwhelming as she realized that she was running out of breath, she broke the kiss with a huff, breathing heavily. Gwang Nam used that opportunity to proceed to attack her neck with open-mouthed kisses, she tilted her head to the side as he continued his assault. 

Yoo Ji shifted her position, Gwang Nam released a sound from the back of his throat, half growl, half moan. Yoo Ji froze. She felt the sparks travel from the base of her neck all the way down to her toes. Gwang Nam relocated Yoo Ji’s lips and continued making out.

As they continued kissing, a small sound from the patio was ignored by both, but when it gradually got louder, they couldn't ignore it forever. It went from a sound like rustling leaves in the wind and more mysterious and murky. Gwang Nam broke away from Yoo Ji first to turn his attention to the clear sliding doors. Yoo Ji rested her forehead against him once again, breathless from their make out. Yoo Ji tried to even her breathing, to listen to the suspicious sounds. 

“Do you have a lock on your doors?” Gwang Nam asked as Yoo Ji shifted out of his lap and on the other side of the couch. Gwang Nam got up to get closer to inspect the patio. It didn't look like anyone was outside, but it was pretty dark so his vision was limited.

“Yes, it locks from the inside” Yoo Ji made her way next to him. The rustling got louder but they both could see nothing in the black void beyond the small lantern that Yoo Ji had as decoration. 

“Why would someone try to break in when the lights are on and we’re both here? Wouldn't it be more opportune to come back later when no one is here” Yoo Ji thought out loud while she backtracked and opened a closet door, and grabbed a baseball bat. Gwang Nam didn't notice the door before because it was hidden between the front door and the kitchen. Gwang Nam raised an eyebrow.

“What? I can't fight every time a thief decides to rob me, it might’ve worked once but it won't always work” Yoo Ji shrugged.

The rustling stopped but now it was just a soft thud, a cat emerged from the darkness. Gwang Nam sighed and Yoo Ji lowered her bat, Gwang Nam ran a hand over his face as he took a seat once again. Yoo Ji chuckled and put her bat away.

“We’ve had too much excitement the last couple of months now we think everyone and everything is out to get us” Yoo Ji voiced out her thoughts as she sat down next to Gwang Nam. Gwang Nam stretched his arm behind Yoo Ji and she leaned onto him.

“I think you’re right, we got suspicious of a stray cat. I don’t think we’re made for domestic life.” Gwang Nam replied his expressions once again relaxed now that he confirmed that no one was trying to break into Yoo Ji’s house. 

“I am just a reporter, I can do domestic life, it’s you, Mr. Special-forces-agent of the Alpha team that can’t do domestic life” Yoo Ji teased Gwang Nam. 

“At this rate, I will have a heart attack before I ever die on a mission” he joked back.

-

-The next day-

Dae Young had discussed with the rest of the Alpha team that they were going to see Ki Bum off on the say of his G.E. Exam. Cheol Ho had the idea of making him a poster to cheer him on. Gwang Nam had laughed and teased him at his cheesiness but didn't stop him anyway. 

They waited for Ki Bum to arrive in front of the hall in the call weather. Shi Jin looked bored but he didn't say anything as he kicked at some pebbles, Dae Young talked to Woo Geun about some stuff they have to do back at the base when they had time, and Gwang Nam was texting Yoo Ji about some plans they had later on that week. Cheol Ho was the first person to notice Ki Bum as he turned around the corner. 

“Ki Bum! Ki Bum fighting! Wishing for you to pass the test!” Cheol Ho cheered as everyone turned to greet the boy. 

“What are you doing here?” Ki Bum asked with shock radiating from his voice. He didn't think anyone would come to see him off. 

“Did you come to cheer me on?” he asked the five men, Woo Geun had a jar of almonds.

“Personally? In-person? Dare to? Maybe "dare to" is wrong.” Ki Bum shook his head as he babbled on about how they were there to cheer him on.

“'Dare to"? It's daringly. Daringly!” Shi Jin scoffed, he grabbed Ki Bum’s shoulder and squeezed it slightly before turning to Cheol Ho.

“Sergeant Gong, is he going to pass at this rate?” Shi Jin teased while looking at Cheol Ho who chuckled. 

“There's always a way.” Cheol Ho said, smiling at Ki Bum. Cheol Ho brought out a box of taffies and offered them to the boy.

“Taffy! Make sure you pass! (Signifies sticking to a college without failing)” he encouraged.

“Pick the right answers! (Signifies picking the right answers the way you pick up food with a fork)” Gwang Nam said, thrusting a fork into Ki Bum's hands. Gwang Nam smiled a cheeky smile as Ki Bum looked at him with wonder. 

“Eat well, get your strength up, pick well, and pass!” Woo Geun gave Ki Bum the jar of almonds and smiled a closed-lip smile. He honestly didn't look very genuine but Ki Bum was around for a while, he knows that Woo Geun doesn't show his affection through his face, so Ki Bum was very touched. Woo Geun opened the jar and grabbed an almond and fed Ki Bum who in return smiled in appreciation to how nice they were.

Dae Young teasingly slapped Ki Bum’s shoulder, “When in doubt, it's always number three. You can do well, right?”

“Private Kim Ki Bum!” Ki Bum said standing straighter and looking forward, although he looked very emotional so it looked more funny than serious.

“I even went to the army, so a qualification exam (GED) is nothing.” he paused and nodded at the men, “I will definitely come back triumphantly! Power of unity!” he saluted them, they laughed and nodded at his statement. Shi Jin patted his butt and smiled as he told him, “That's right. Do well.”

Ki Bum started walking again to the entrance and Woo Geun let him pass with an exaggerated bow.

“Fighting!” Gwang Nam cheered as Ki Bum walked away and more distance was put between them. He was followed by a chorus of ‘fightings’ and other cheers from the rest of the Alpha team while Dae Young laughed at the funny encouragement that they were shouting out. Gwang Nam was smiling until he noticed that people were looking at them weirdly.

“People are staring at us,” he told them.

“Act like a civilian. Just like a civilian.” Dae Young who was next to him, fixed up his collar and kept his face neutral to disguise the previous humor. Cheol Ho Woo Geun and Gwang Nam mimicked him while Shi Jin shook his head.

“Ah, seriously. This is not it!” he scoffed and went one by one fixing the others collars down. 

“How did you think you can wear normal clothes—” he got interrupted by the ringing of phones. All the members of the Alpha team had gotten a call except Dae Young. They answered their phones while Dae Young looked at them with an unreadable expression. Shi Jin noticed right away that Dae Young’s phone didn't ring, which made him suspicious, but he didn't say anything. 

It turns out, duty calls and the military needs them again for an operation. They all went into the base to get ready while Dae Young sat there pondering over his life choices. He had decided to give up his military career to be with the woman he loves, but she doesn't want him to do that for her and so now he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.

As the Alpha team got dressed in their winter gear, Dae Young was lost in his thoughts, Shi Jin was about to speak to him about the situation when a soldier came into their room.

“Deputy Team Leader, the Commander is asking for you,” he told him. 

Gwang Nam went to visit Yoo Ji one last time before his mission, this one was going to be three months long and they had a date planned. He thought he should go see her to break the news instead of over text. He reached her apartment and decided to call her.

“Do you have a minute to come down?” 

“Yes. What's wrong? did something happen?” Yoo Ji responded. Yoo Ji quickly threw over a jacket and made her way down the stairs. 

Yoo Ji reached the entrance door and pulled it out and jogged towards Gwang Nam and his car. 

It was cold and her jacket didn't do much so Gwang Nam unlocked his car and let them sit in the warmth. He jogged to the other side and got in. Gwang Nam closed his door, and let the silence hang for a while. He felt so bad, he couldn't keep on canceling on her like this all the time, but he also had no control when he got called into work.  

“It’s fine, Piccolo.” Yoo Ji smiled, she took his hand into hers. 

“Duty calls. How long is it this time?” she fiddled with his fingers, despite the cold weather, his fingers were warm. Hers were cold even though she was inside, she had just gotten home so her body didn't have time to conduct enough heat.

“Three months but it might be more” she heard his quiet response. Yoo Ji nodded. 

“That's fine, come back safely.” Yoo Ji smiled again, she felt disappointed that he had to go so soon. They barely had any time together lately, but hopefully he’ll have more time when he comes back. Yoo Ji has already accepted the risks of dating Gwang Nam, although she was sad, she wasn't going to let that be the end of their relationship. 

“I am sorry,” Gwang Nam stated, squeezing Yoo Ji’s hands. 

“You don't have to apologize, it's your job and I respect that” Yoo Ji shook her head and assured him. 

“What time do you have to leave?” Yoo Ji pivoted her body to face him.

“I have to leave before 9 o’clock” he checked his watch. It was around 8 in the evening so they had around an hour to talk before he left. 

“Just come back safely, good luck to Alpha team. Don’t die” Yoo Ji chuckled as she wished him luck. 

-

-Three months later-

Yoo Ji had been given another case to write about, and although her life had calmed down immensely since she had returned from Urk. Her job still entailed a little bit of adventure. Her life fell back into a routine, get assigned a new case, go investigating with Rae Wook and Hwa Dong, rinse and repeat. Yoo Ji doesn't forget all the necessary things to stay alive, she just feels like all the fun was sucked out of her life without Gwang Nam around, but only because she misses him so much, she refuses to be a ‘Bella’ in her world. (a reference to twilight)

In the last three months, she visited Mo Yeon way more often than usual, they established a way to cope with their emotions. Whenever Yoo Ji visits Mo Yeon at the hospital they go up to the roof to have lunch or just talk. The tall building provides solitude when they don't want to talk and when they do, it provides background noise with the wind howling between them. Mo Yeon has been sending text messages to Shi Jin throughout the three months, but he hasn't responded since alerting her that he arrived safely three months ago. Yoo Ji has done the same thing but with more moderation, Yoo Ji only texted him when she had something to tell him or threaten him for taking too long but that's beside the point. 

Myung Ju, Mo Yeon, and Yoo Ji have been meeting up together to hang out pretty often, dating ⅗  of the Alpha team has made them closer than before and they actually enjoy each other's company and don't insult each other anymore. Well not as much as they used to anyway, they feel like it adds spice to their newfound friendship. 

Mo Yeon and Yoo Ji were waiting for Myung Ju to arrive at the small restaurant. Mo Yeon was angrily typing away on her phone.

“If he hasn't seen the message, then you should think that he must be somewhere where he can't check it.” Myung Ju shook her head at the scowling Mo Yeon, Yoo Ji watched them in amusement as she sipped her drink. 

“Why are you sending it every day and then getting upset and angry every single day?” Myung Ju poured a glass of alcohol for herself. 

“So that he would feel sorry when he sees how upset I was every single day.”  Mo Yeon huffed.

“But are they really unreachable like this every time there is a mission?” she leaned forward, staring at Myung Ju for an answer.

“Whether they are reachable or not, I have always been ignored, since there were more days of our breaking up than actually dating.” Myung Ju responded, rolling her eyes. 

“Well aren't you both balls of sunshine today” Yoo Ji sarcastically let out 

“This time, did you two make up before he left?” Mo Yeon ignored Yoo Ji’s comment and continued to address Myung Ju.

She shook her head, Yoo Ji sighed. They were hopeless and also ignoring her snarky comments. Mo Yeon seems to be going crazy because of his absence while Yoo Ji is just disgruntled by the inconvenience and Myung Ju seems to be used to this. 

“There's no making up. This is not just a lover's quarrel but a war. A war that I can't lose.” Myung Ju stated. 

“So dramatic,” Yoo Ji muttered with a smile. 

“Seeing that he left his dog tags, I think I'm at a slight advantage.” Myung Ju continued, tilting her head at Dae Young’s actions.

“Cheers,” Myung Ju clinked glass with the two other girls as they chuckled.

“Once he's back I am not leaving his side for a week” Mo Yeon promised, Yoo Ji laughed and Myung Ju shook her head. 

“I am taking away his phone and we’re going on a vacation. I will book the hotel and only book one room, we’ll see how he tries to get out of that one.” Myung Ju vowed, her eyes slightly widening as she spoke. 

“Once Piccolo is back we're going on a date, like normal people, unlike you two” Yoo Ji snickered, popping a piece of meat in her mouth.

The mood sobered again when the pitter-patter of rain was noticed by the girls. They looked out the window and sat in silence as the rain poured down. 

“Those men... it would have been great if they were here since a while ago.” Mo Yeon softly spoke, the prior mirth or fake anger was gone from her voice.

“It's about time for them to come.” Myung Ju responded, matching Mo Yeon’s tone.

“I hope they’re safe,” Yoo Ji murmured. 

A few days later, Yoo Ji was in the police station, going over some suspects with Rae Wook, Hwa Dong was out for the day. They were in the office alone today, it seems that everyone was out on the field and it was them two. Rae Wook and Yoo Ji were interrupted by someone at the door clearing their throat. 

Yoo Ji had her back to the door, so when she glanced back, she did a double-take. She couldn't believe her eyes. He was here.

Yoo Ji dropped the files in her hand and ran towards him. She jumped into his arms. Half laughing half crying. 

“You're back, I can't believe it” Yoo Ji kept repeating. Gwang Nam held onto her tightly, hugging her back. He buried his face into her neck and he felt his body shake, he wasn't sure if it was Yoo Ji who was trembling or himself. 

“I think you guys should go to the break room. There's more privacy here” Rae Wook voiced out as some police officers started to trickle in. they broke out of their embrace, Yoo Ji wiped her escaped tears and nodded. Gwang Nam found her hand and held it as she led the way to the break room. When they reached it Yoo Ji closed the door.

“What happened back there? Why did you take so long?” Yoo Ji asked after a few minutes of silence. She managed to collect herself and held herself from breaking into tears of joy again. She was leaning against the wall, she didn't want to sit, she was too jittery. 

“We need to...talk” Gwang Nam didn't answer her question, but instead took a deep breath and looked into Yoo Ji’s eyes.

For the first time since he had arrived, Yoo Ji finally got a good look at his face. He looked exhausted, his eyes were red and he had dark bags under his eyes. 

“Captain Yoo and Deputy Leader Seo didn't make it,” he said slowly as if he's trying to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“What?” Yoo Ji softly gasped. She grabbed onto the couch and leaned on it.

“They didn't make it out of the tactical attack” Gwang Nam looked at her with grim eyes. Yoo Ji’s eyes welled up with tears. She went to reach for him again, to help her feel grounded like her world didn't just turn upside down. She felt her heart ache, if she was feeling this kind of pain she couldn't fathom what he felt, what Mo Yeon must feel right now. 

“Woo Geun went to go inform Doctor Kang about the news,” Gwang Nam said as he held up his hand to stop Yoo Ji from coming any closer. 

Yoo Ji looked at him with sadness and confusion, why won't he let her comfort him. 

“I think we need to take a break,” Gwang Nam stated. Yoo Ji looked at him with sorrowful eyes, but shock radiated through her body. She didn't expect her reunion with him would be filled with horrible news and Gwang Nam wanting to break up with her.

“Why?” Yoo Ji managed to choke out, her throat was closing up from her need to cry over the loss of her friends and the sudden turn of events.

“I need space to think about what happens next” he quietly responded, he kept his head down. He had broken eye contact a while ago. It was getting too much looking at Yoo Ji. he kept on thinking of what would happen if it was him who didn't return. 

“Don't make me give you space, that's the last thing you want from me, and you know that” Yoo Ji spoke with a tremor in her voice, she wanted to sound strong but she just wanted to break down and cry until she had no tears left. Gwang Nam was closing himself off from the world and she felt like she was losing him. 

“We never had a problem with this before” she swallowed, her throat felt soo dry yet so closed up.

“Yeah that was before two of us died, we- I can't risk hurting you that way” he paused, raising his eyes up to hers. His eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

“You deserve better” he whispered.

“No, I refuse!” Yoo Ji declared, she grabbed on Gwang Nam, “I am not ready to say goodbye.” Yoo Ji’s tears finally fell and they wouldn't stop. 

“Letting you go is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do” Gwang Nam held Yoo Ji’s hands tightly. He was trying to memorize the way she felt in his arms. 

“You don't have to! Please don't do this” Yoo Ji pleaded.

“If I die in active duty, I would never forgive myself for hurting you, it's best that we end it here, so you don't get hurt.” he kissed her hands, his tears falling onto her skin.

A few weeks pass, and Mo Yeon, Myung Ju and Yoo Ji all sign confidentiality forms concerning the deaths of Captain Yoo Shi Jin and Deputy Leader Seo Dae Young. Yoo Ji threw a fit over it, but she had no power to do anything. 

Myung Ju was getting stationed in Urk again and so Mo Yeon and Yoo Ji went to see her one last time. 

“Why are we here at a bar in broad daylight?” Mo Yeon said as she walked to the table Myung Ju was waiting for them at. 

“I am trying to get used to the time difference since it's night in Urk,” Myung Ju said. “I'm getting dispatched again.” 

Yoo Ji finally made it and caught the end of Myung Ju’s sentence. She also noticed the two stuffed animals next to the two girls, she felt a bile rise in her throat, she pushed it down. She wasn't going to dampen the mood.

“You're lucky to go back to Urk.”

“Do you envy me going back there? Do you want to go with me then?”

“Should we?” Mo Yeon made eye contact with Yoo Ji who stood behind Myung Ju.

“We should” Yoo Ji responds as she took a seat in between the two girls and across the plushies, pouring herself a shot of soju.

“Those guys are going together, so why can't we go together?”

“You are so nonsensical.” Myung Ju shook her head softly.

“This is a parting gift.” Myung Ju gave Mo Yeon the stuffed animal. “It was in the bunkhouse so I grabbed it.”

“This is Sergeant First Class Seo's girlfriend.”

“That's Captain Yoo's comrade.”

“When are you leaving?” Mo Yeon asked, Yoo Ji turned her attention to Myung Ju as she was in her own little world while they were talking. She was trying to reign over her emotions as they have been wild lately. 

“I depart on Monday at dawn. I have three days left, so should we also drink for three days without sleep?” she responded. Although the three girls were smiling there’s no lying that they were all hurting inside. They were trying their best to not let their sadness come through and ruin the lighthearted mood they had.

“Would you cooperate?”

“Yes, I will cooperate.” they clinked their glass in a toast and drank their shots. There was a moment of silence between them, they were all just thinking about their lives and how great it had been and how things have changed now. 

“Strangely, I've been thinking about nothing but the good times I had lately.” Mo Yeon sighed.

“I think about the things that he didn't do for me.” Myung Ju answered, Yoo Ji tilted her head, this is interesting, Yoo Ji didn't know much about Myung Ju and Dae Young’s relationship, mostly because she couldn't figure out everything by herself. She only knew what she saw, but nothing of what happened before she met them. 

“By the way, I would like to know how Captain Yoo and Sergeant First Class Seo met.” Mo Yeon asked. 

Myung Ju smiled, she started retelling the story of how the boys met. Myung Ju started explaining how they met because of a woman, which was her. Myung Ju referred to how her father had wanted to set her up with Shi Jin but she didn't like him that way. So she helped Dae Young get back at his ex in order to help her get rid of Shi Jin. but when Dae Young went to speak with Shi Jin, Captain Yoo told him that he wasn't interested and that's how they became the unlikely friends that they were.

After hearing the story they wrapped it up and all went their separate ways, Mo Yeon went home, Myung Ju went to the base to finish some paperwork and Yoo Ji was pondering whether she should go into the office or just call it a day. Although she didn't do much today she felt exhausted. She still hasn't told them that Gwang Nam broke up with her, although she wasn't sure whether he would tell them himself, it just never seems to be a good time. 

In the end, she decided to go to the office. It was still the afternoon. She took the bus to her station and quickly got inside to avoid the cold. Her skin prickled from changing temperatures from the freezing cold outside and the warmth of the heater. Yoo Ji arrived at her desk and settled down to take care of some paperwork of her own. 

Jung Hye Jin was in the office today, which isn’t that rare of an occurrence but when she's on assignments and barely in the office in the morning or at the same time he is. He usually deals with celebrity news so they have completely different schedules. But they do meet up every so often to catch up on life, so he was aware of her breakup after she had broken down in front of him and left in a hurry leaving him confused. 

“Yoo Ji! You’re here in the morning, that’s new,” he exclaimed as she opened a random case file on her desk. 

“Yeah, I had some time to come and finish some articles about the closed cases” she responded, her eyes never leaving the papers. Hye Jin nodded and slowly turned to face his desk, but his eyes kept on darting towards her in concern. 

 After a few minutes, Hye Jin got up and went to the breakroom, he came back with a steaming cup of coffee. He offered it to Yoo Ji who accepted it with a giddy ‘thank you’ and continued working. He felt so bad for her, she had gone through so much the last couple of years. Hye Jin didn't think that this was how her relationship was going to end if he was honest. He could tell how happy she was with her boyfriend. 

“How are you holding up?” he couldn't help but ask. Yoo Ji took in a deep breath.

“I am coping, it wouldn't be the first time and it's not going to be the last time something tragic happens to me” she shrugged, she took in a shaky breath. She rested her head on top of her hands. She sighed and weakly smiled at Hye Jin.

“Really, I’ll be fine. It just takes time” 

“Have you told Mo Yeon and Myung Ju yet?” he questioned, as he gave Yoo Ji a tissue to wipe her escaped tears. 

“Not yet, and honestly I don’t think right now is the best time, they're both grieving their boyfriends. I doubt it would ever be a good time to tell them that Gwang Nam broke up with me because of them”

“I just think they might be able to help you feel better, reminisce in the good memories” Hye Jin suggested, as he patted her back softly. 

“Sometimes, memories are the worst form of torture” Yoo Ji scoffed lightly. Yoo Ji dabbed the tissue to the corners of her eyes where her traitorous tears managed to escape down. 

[homedesignlog-blog]

20 Modern Contemporary Rectangular Pools With Wooden Decking

POOLS for residential spaces vary in sizes. it will rely on the to be had area in the house besides because the size that the house owners need. There are pools that come in unique bureaucracy at the same time as so much of the time, it could just be a simple oblong one. an oblong pool is usually chosen as it could retailer the fabrics utilized in developing it and it doesn’t waste area. because the pool is already simple, most homeowners would like so as to add stunning landscaping and hardscapes so as to add extra attract it. While it involves decking, the fabrics used would also vary. But these days, we're going to turn you rectangular pools with wood decking. by utilizing picket, it wouldn’t be that slippery and it provides the area a natural really feel. allow us to take a glance on the up to date contemporary swimming pools under.

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DDB Design Construction & Construction Homes This pool is very beautiful especially with the fairway wall at the side and the wooden decking at the other. Such a nice contrast of texture and a gorgeous aggregate of herbal elements.

Drammer Construction, Inc. The wooden that surrounds this beautiful pool is a recycled 50-yr-antique Pink Wood. No surprise that the realm seems to be truly very surprising!

Status Developers For this pool, it used an Ipe deck which had a Penofin Hardwood oil as its end. excluding the picket deck, evidently you like it that this house has an infinity aspect pool.

C.O.S Layout A Contemporary lap pool transform with decking which features a bamboo in the back of the pool with out of doors lights.

VEGA VEGA ARQUITECTOS This indoor pool space features a neat vertical lawn inset into polished wooden. except that, there may be a waterfall that brings more appeal to the realm.

LevEco Architects A spacious deck with outdoor seating areas and a rectangular pool. there is additionally an excellent view from this wooden deck with bushes surrounding it.

Faust Building The pool is framed out in modernized material that matched to the structure of the house. It additionally has a wood fencing with horizontal lines which matches the minimalist courtyard.

Jeffrey Erb Panorama Design A small contemporary courtyard with a rectangular lap pool. that is a nice thought for homes within the city. it's like having your own paradise at house.

Betz Pools Restricted The wood deck also works well whilst mixed with concrete as observed on this pool area with out of doors kitchen and dining space.

Apex Landscapes & Swimming Pools that is this type of beautiful pool house with wood decking materials. Understand that this phase with a fire pit is increased from the pool. Isn’t this a nice concept for a contemporary pool?

Catalyst Architects, LLC This wooden deck has a beachy really feel particularly that a view of the seashore can actually be observed here. There are pink living room chairs round the area.

Tropical Structure Workforce, Inc The recliners see right here merely roll again below the duvet of the Lanai. Everything seemed romantic on this outdoor house with an island taste infinity pool.

Zeterre Landscape Structure What a shocking view! Whilst in the chilly waters, possible get the danger to peer the lush greenery at the mountains.

FSoul Space A Large minimalist courtyard customized-formed infinity pool with a decking and a fountain. It seems to be very stress-free and compliments with the structure of the home.

Touzet Studio Any Other stunning pool space with many attention-grabbing furnishings on it that brings color to the world. And there is also a waterfall on one part of the home.

James B. Batts Dispensing Get that rich arduous wood look with a herbal exhausting wooden to your deck. This pool area has vegetation round it and an increased element where you'll find the living room chairs.

Neptune Swimming Pools A courtyard pool constructed out of flooring in deck with wooden screen. This geometric pool area has wooden walls and a combination of concrete and wood for the pool.

Brett Webber Architects, LAPTOP A HOME positioned within the middle of the woods has an oblong pool space with wood decking. And whilst here, you’d feel like you are in a natural pool because of the perspectives round you.

CplusC Architectural Workshop This pool is certainly very spacious. Notice that the pool house is increased with wood decking even as the outdoor dining area used ceramic tiles for the flooring. Isn’t this an exquisite list? It sure is! in case you need to have your own brand new pool, this list can be a pleasing suggestion. remember that the beauty of the pool space doesn’t simply depend at the pool itself but it additionally on its hardscape and landscaping. The pool landscape has a huge affect for your pool’s appeal. i like it that the swimming pools listed here are just easy and oblong. i love it even more that they utilized wooden decking. This certain is the sort of pool that i need in my home. How about you? Read the full article

[jonasjjackson]

If You’re Not Having Fun, then You’re Doing Something Wrong

“If you go on vacation to Ireland and don’t enjoy yourself, then that’s your fault.”

This is what a man told me as I sat in the British Airways lounge in Heathrow airport while I was waiting with for my flight to Dublin, Ireland, with my wife and daughter. We are currently enjoying my daughter’s spring break holiday from school and decided to adventure in Ireland for a week. This will be my second trip to the island, a sort of homecoming for my wife since she lived here for awhile when she was a child, but the first time for my daughter.

While I took the comment above in the good-natured spirit it was delivered, it has me thinking about how this sort of attitude can be applied to almost any area of your life.

So now I am currently on family holiday in Ireland – a jam-packed 10 days of adventure and exploration … but that doesn’t mean I’m not working. We had a 12-hour layover in London on our way to Dublin so we took that opportunity to go visit “The Making of Harry Potter” at Warner Brothers Studio in Leavesden, UK during this time, and while I found it incredibly fascinating, and seeing the hand-drawn production drawings of the various sets and structures was absolutely the highlight of the entire tour. In one part of the tour, these sorts of construction drawings are put up on the wall as a sort of wallpaper and I couldn’t wait (for the first time ever) to get to the gift shop at the end of the tour, only to be disappointed that almost nothing of what I wanted to see was included in any of the books made available.

I go on vacation and I still spend my first few hours out of the office looking at construction drawings ….

Speaking of construction drawings, we are elbows deep at the moment as two really interesting projects I have been working on are coming towards the end of the construction drawing process. The first of which is was most recently focused on in the new series “Architectural Sketches” … in this case, it was the second installment where I took a focused look at the retail component of a 20,000 square foot new development that will include a medical practice as well as additional tenant space.

We have been working on closing out the “shell” building (just the exterior walls and roof) portion of the project and really getting into the interesting bits of design. I thought I would show some of the exterior elevation work we’ve created – the drawing above is the construction drawing sheet that focuses on the exterior elevations. I’ve grayed out the entire sheet with the exception of one elevation in particular that I will focus on.

The city where this project is being built has a development standard in place that dictates all sorts of whacky things in their attempts to ensure that the buildings are architecturally considered. The percentage of masonry, the percentage of “complementary” masonry, how the building is supposed to offset and undulate in both the horizontal AND vertical planes based on the overall length of the building, etc…  I understand why they are doing it but the methodology is ridiculous. All that is really happening here is that they are driving up the cost of the project.

This is not a little building and we have gone to great lengths to avoid having this project look like all the other generic developer projects that scatter the frontage road of the highway like buckshot. If you can look at these elevations and not have the prescriptive rules appear blatantly obvious to you, then I will take that as no small measure of our success.

One of the items I am particularly excited to see developed is a metal screen we have at the main entrance to the medical practice. We have removed a sizable portion of the building’s footprint to create a covered courtyard that will both physically and visually ease you into the building. We didn’t want this “courtyard” to feel like a dark hole so we have opened it up along one edge with this metal screen to allow a controlled measure of light and airflow into this space. This metal screen is a theme that makes several appearances throughout the project – hopefully to great effect.

Another project that we are working on is the renovation and refurbishment of a 1980’s era speculation built office building in Dallas. Once the existing interiors were removed, the building has a nice, clean, open floor plate to work with … the exterior is not so lucky. It is a two-story building elevated above a ground-level parking deck, with a stucco exterior finish and ribbon windows around the entire building.

Boring.

We are going to minimize the amount of actual demolition occurring at the exterior and instead focus our efforts on reshaping how that exterior is perceived. We have had a few high school students (Bethany and Lauren) spend time with us as part of a work program at their high school (both will be attending college to study architecture in the fall) and we had them do some work on this model to help visually represent what the finished product might look like.

The particular area of attention was the screen that wraps half of the building, and the new vertical exterior stairs we added so that we could deal with some 1980’s code nonsense on the interior. It would take me a post in and of itself to explain why these new stairs were required, and in the end, you would hate me for telling you all about it.

The process of building this physical model, and walking around the digital model using virtual reality headsets, allowed us to determine that the cladding we were putting on the exterior stairs wasn’t working the way we wanted.  Sure, it added a measure of transparency, allowed air to flow, created a new visual mass for the building that help update the form of the building, etc., but it didn’t quite come out the way we were hoping …. so we went back to the (literal) drawing board to come up with another idea.

Translucent polycarbonate paneling. (That’s probably what you were thinking too)

The structure was simplified and the geometry refined and the result is what you see in the quick rendering above.

We will need to continue refining a multitude of nuanced parts that are secondary and tertiary players in this solution but quite honestly, that will be the most fun of the entire process.

I am really excited to see how this front elevation continues to develop over the next few weeks as we move past design-development and through construction drawings. I strongly believe that it is the detailing that will make the difference between a good idea and a great idea.

Lastly, because I apparently like to torture myself with endless amount of work (as evidence, I submit to you exhibit ‘A’ that I am writing a blog post from the kitchen table of my Airbnb in Dublin on a Sunday night), I decided I needed to continue working on my photoshop skills … and that means new architectural t-shirts.

Truth be told, I don’t really make do this to make any money, I make them because I want to wear them myself as I lay about my backyard in summer while working on my barbeque skills … so the answer is “yes, I do have one of each design hanging in my closet.”

  I thought I would work on distressed patterns and images, hoping to create what would appear like either a vintage t-shirt or one that was made using a raw potato and an ink stamp. Architectural Jolly Rogers?

Yes, please.

Vintage patterns and stamps … who doesn’t love them?

  Of all the t-shirts I have ever made, the BIMja has been the most popular. I thought it was time to reimagine the layout (even though the large old version is still available).

And if you are going to make any architectural t-shirts, it seems only fitting that Le Corbusier’s “Modular Man”makes an appearance.

There are loads of other designs in place and if you wear t-shirts at all, I feel fairly confident that you can find one that will be unique and accurately represent your love of all things that make you an architectural insider. You can access all the architectural t-shirts here, or by clicking any of the images above, you will be magically transported to that particular design.

There is a lot going on and I am extremely happy and excited about the projects the office is currently taking on – going to work every day is an adventure … except for the next week when I am on vacation and other people are taking care of my projects and living in my house.

Cheers!

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[goope-jp-tenmei]

Behind the Stationery: Yao Cheng Design

Our next installment of Behind the Stationery take us to Columbus, Ohio to visit Yao Cheng’s design studio. She’s not only the owner and watercolor artist, but also the calligrapher and graphic designer of all things Yao Cheng Design! Over time, Yao has found that designing for custom clients versus her product line requires different creative processes and dives into how she approaches each of them. With a new baby and a growing team, she navigates through the changes in her business and talks about the reality of coming back to work after maternity leave. Here’s Yao! —Megan Soh

From Yao: Looking back, it’s been a very interesting journey of what I thought my business was going to be and what it has become. When I first left my full-time corporate design job to start my own venture in 2012, I thought my business was going to revolve around my interpretation of hand-painted Pysanky eggs. At the same time, I was playing around the idea of art prints and greeting cards because I really loved painting watercolor more than anything else. As I was figuring all of this out, I applied for my first craft show. It was at that show that I had everything displayed and it became very clear to me what people were gravitating towards. Customers felt more connected to my art prints and cards because it’s a natural interpretation of my paintings. After that show, I shifted my focus into the direction of art prints and stationery.

Our business is unique in both the style of watercolor that I create and also in the way that it is structured. We offer giclée art prints, greeting cards, wedding stationery (custom, pre-designed, and calligraphy services!), and gift wrap in addition to our line of textile products. We also have an exciting collaboration with Chronicle Books in which you can find my watercolor designs on a line of notebooks, notecards and the latest One Line a Day journal!

Photo by Chancey Charm

It wasn’t until 2013 that I really dove into the world of wedding stationery. The Style Me Pretty post of a styled autumn wedding featuring some of my first wedding invitations was really the beginning of our wedding business. As a creative, I love being able to touch and hold things in my hands. The tactile quality makes me feel like I have a tangible connection to something real. Whenever I’m designing wedding invitations, I try to replicate this feeling. I think of wedding invitations as more than just a piece of paper, they are small pieces of artwork that really captures a special moment in a couples life and all the memories of that day!

Photo by Lily Dent for the Metropreneur

Everyone knows that as a small business, you wear many different hats. That is certainly true with us! We are a very small team at the moment as I am very careful about how fast we grow. Because I have a little one, my days are limited to an 8-hour day. We plan out our next week’s calendar the Friday before, so when I come in in the morning, I have a pretty concise agenda of what needs to be done. Still, I am known to be overly ambitious with my tasks, so I almost never finish all of my tasks for that day! I could be spending the morning answering emails or questions from my team, then jumping on calls with clients or new manufacturers, or even doing a styled shoot for an upcoming newsletter. In a week, I try to carve out an afternoon or a full day to paint, but I wish I had more time devoted to painting!

I spend 70-80% of my time running the business, but it’s my dream to flip that so I am able to spend that amount of time painting new work. Don’t get me wrong — I am fascinated by the business side of things because I think learning about strategy, planning, pricing, bookkeeping, etc is all empowering. I think it’s crucial, as the owner, to understand the basics of all the facets of the business before delegating it to others. However, I recognize my strength is in painting, so that’s where I’d like to focus my time on one day.

Photo by Lily Dent for the Metropreneur

Our design studio is located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It’s a space that I am very proud of because it is almost exactly how I’ve envisioned my dream space! We are in a very unique building that is zoned both commercially and residentially. This gave us the opportunity to have our own kitchen and bathroom, offering us the privacy that I knew I’d need in order to focus on the day-to-day! My favorite feature about this space is the large windows that bring in so much natural light, which is great for painting. Half the space is an open loft, and that’s where we spend most of our time. I love that this studio inhabits every step of the design process from painting the original artwork to designing the final product or design. I even had a custom table made by a talented local carpenter so that it would be large enough for us to host our workshops, creative meet-ups, and other events!

My design process for wedding stationery is different from how I approach our product line in that I include sketches during the process. For custom bespoke work, I have an initial chat with the client to get a feel of the style and colors that they are looking for. Once I have some visuals to work from, I start sketching with a black pen different layout options of what I think would work. This is actually the most involved part of the design process because I am fully designing out multiple versions of the invitation suite so that all of the layouts and wording are in place before I move into painting. Once we have the layout and color palette approved, I will start painting and adding color in the pieces. It’s sort of magical to see something black and white come to life in watercolor! Designing wedding invitations requires this type of process because I want to make sure our bride can get a visual understanding through every step.

We really value working closely with our brides through every step of the process! Having planned my own wedding, I know how special and important this day is to each person. One of our most unique custom wedding pieces is my custom maps because the couple gets to highlight what they love about and around the place that they are getting married. I really enjoy creating each one of them because they are more illustration-based and different from the rest of my work. I also create the calligraphy script, making our invitations a complete package. Everything feels cohesive because I can match the calligraphy style to the feel of the entire suite. I think addressing envelopes might be my favorite part of wedding stationery, actually! It’s mindless and a different translation of my love for the free-flowing, fluidity of watercolor.

However, outside of our wedding work, I take a different approach. First of all, I skip the sketching in black and white phase because I find it much more liberating and challenging to work when I am not really sure of where I am going. My work is very connected to the idea of intuition and improvisation. I like to respond and be in the moment with my paintings, and often find that this is where I find happy surprises! Watercolor, as a medium, lends itself very well to my approach of painting because of how quickly it dries. This allows me to paint fast, usually within an hour or two, and move on to the next idea. I am usually painting 3 different things at once because of this. I love this way of “sketch painting” because it takes away the expectation that this artwork will be the masterpiece. I am free to explore new ideas, expound on them or move on to another and not feel too attached. So in the end, I might make 3-4 painted versions of the final design. Once a piece is finished, we will scan them into the computer and then minimally edit it in Photoshop.

One of my business struggles of this year has been ramping back up to speed from taking almost 6 months off for maternity leave. I am so grateful that we were able to keep everything running while I was gone, but I would have never expected the kind of challenges I’ve faced coming back. Having turned down many projects and going months without creating new work, I do feel like I “fell behind” in some ways. I have found the panic of feeling like we might not be relevant at any moment to be a common experience for small business owners! Still, it was a fear that became very real as my overhead increased with a studio space and payroll to run every month.

Another daily struggle is learning how to be a good boss. Managing employees is not something I learned in art school, and it is definitely unique to each business. I’ve also had to learn not to allow my creative “monkey” brain to get side-tracked with all of the ideas that I think of in a day. This is definitely something I’ve recently learned and happens when you expand to more than just yourself. When it was just me, I didn’t have to plan my calendar out for the year — every product release happened when I had the time to get to it. After all, it was just me, so if it meant working longer days, I could do that. But now, strategies have to be made and clients are committed to far in advance because there are other people involved now. I can no longer just throw a curve ball last minute and think we can stay on schedule with everything else!

The way my business is structured really reflects the person that I am. I am never satisfied with doing one thing, and I think my strongest work comes from doing multiple projects at once and allowing my ideas for each to bounce off of one another. I truly believe in the work that I do and see so many avenues that my watercolors can go, so it makes sense for me to have every product or project culminate in watercolor, but take on lives of their own.

Photos by Christa Kimble Photography except where noted.

Want to be featured in the Behind the Stationery column? Reach out to Megan at megan [at] ohsobeautifulpaper [dot] com for more details.

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[connorrenwick]

Where I Work: PELLE 2017

Just over 3 years ago, we visited the offices of married design duo, Jean and Oliver Pelle, who formed their eponymous studio PELLE back in 2011. Since we last checked in with them, a lot has changed! Just a few months ago, the pair moved their design brand from Brooklyn’s Red Hook to Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood. The move brings more space for their vision to grow and expand while also offering a stunning showroom that will make you want to live a simple life surrounded by nothing but beautiful things. Each piece of theirs is a work of art, and strategically placed together, the work eloquently displays their thoughtful vision. Take a look at their brand-new showroom and workshop in this month’s Where I Work.

What is your typical work style?

We try to be as organized and efficient as we can when we’re at work. We’re married and have 2 small kids so we’re constantly juggling work, school and family schedules throughout the week. We try to stay focused during the time that we’re in the studio because we know once we step outside we just won’t have the time! These days, we block out afternoons throughout the week for “creative time” so that we can work uninterrupted. We just started this, so we’ll see!

Photo by Georgia Nerheim Photography

What’s your studio/work environment like?

We moved our studio/showroom from Red Hook Brooklyn to Manhattan in September this year. The new space was completely raw so we had the opportunity to build it out to our needs. With the move came a huge purge of all things that we had collected over the years in our old space in Red Hook. So for the time being, our new space is very orderly and neat. A lot of thought went into the layout of the space and everything now has its place. Since a 1/3 of the space is our showroom, it’s also important to keep a presentable overall appearance of the studio at all times. And we feel it makes for a better work environment.

Photo by Georgia Nerheim Photography

How is your office organized/arranged?

In our space, there are six bays that are roughly 50 feet by 15 feet. Two of those bays are dedicated showroom space, one for design & sales office, and the three remaining bays are for our working areas which includes lighting assembly areas, a finishing/tool room, a staff dining lounge & kitchen, a shipping area, and the Project Room where we do our creative work. All the rooms more or less flow into one another and it’s all pretty open; we don’t really have doors into rooms except for the tool room.

How long have you been in this space? Where did you work before that?

It took a few months to get the new space ready and we were finally able to move in by mid-September last year. We simply ran out of room in our Red Hook studio. There, we grew organically over time into three adjoining spaces as well as a showroom on the second floor. We pretty much used the shared loading dock as an extension of production and storage we knew something had to change. When our lease was up we had a chance to evaluate our needs and we looked for a larger, more flexible space that allowed our clients to come to us more easily.

If you could change something about your workspace, what would it be?

We are pretty happy right now.

Is there an office pet?

No.

Do you require music in the background? If so, who are some favorites?

We usually have music or WNYC running throughout the space on the Sonos app. Generally everyone gets a go at the daily choices of Pandora or Spotify. There is a tendency towards talk radio in the mornings and music later in the day. Some faves of ours are Wild Beasts, Bon Iver, Blood Orange, Moderat and the like.

How do you record ideas?

Oliver: It is a bit different between the two of us. Jean uses her notebook that is always in her bag a lot. That way it is more spontaneous and ideas can be recorded on the go. It is also a way to make sure all sketches stay together. I personally prefer trace paper. There is something soothing about a seemingly endless roll of trace paper and the ability to continuously layer the sketches on top of one another. They are a bit harder to keep around but if there is something to a sketch, it stays on the table for a while. A lot of ideas linger in our heads, notebooks and trace paper sketches until they get a bit more attention when moving forward into physical models form and computer models.

Do you have an inspiration board? What’s on it right now?

We don’t really work with inspiration or mood boards. That part of our work is internal where we carry ideas and influences around with us. Once ideas emerge more clearly they get put up as material samples, study models often at full scale and/or full scale drawings.

What is your creative process and/or creative workflow like? Does it change every project or do you keep it the same?

Jean: I think about our design process as an ongoing conversation between Oliver and myself. The act of designing is done mainly verbally where we’re sharing or commenting on a thought or an idea throughout the course of days, weeks or months. We just talk about the thing that may interest us, whether it’s a piece of furniture, a photo shoot, or an even larger idea and we just continue to layer on top of one another’s comments or observations until we know if it’s worth the financial and physical efforts of making the object. At that point, it’s pretty clear what the piece should be about and we’ll switch over to drawings and models. Then there’s a whole other level of tweaking, but it’s always a shared and constant exchange.

Oliver: Working together over the years, we’ve become a really great team where our abilities and intuitive areas of interest and expertise create a bigger whole rather than working alone. Jean has an amazing ability to think big picture. She often can somehow see what the next steps are, what the pieces are we are missing and how something should look like. Therefore she has become our Creative Director whereas I take on more a role of Project Development. There is a lot of designing between the two of us but we have slightly different ways of how we go about it. At this point we really trust each other.

Photo by Georgia Nerheim Photography

What kind of design objects might you have scattered about the space?

We were very deliberate about creating a personal environment in our new studio since we really want to feel at home in our work place. We brought into the studio many objects with personal meaning such as paintings and a series of photographs taken during grad school by Oliver. Beyond that, we have all around the studio pieces from fellow designers such as a bowl and trivet by Fort Standard, a Third Eye Vessel by Chen Chen and Kai Williams, wood sculptures by Pat Kim, pottery by Eric Roinestad, an Aura Chime by Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, a painting from Erie Basin, marbled objects from Calico Wallpaper and a coffee cup set by Helen Levi. In our office area, we have Vitsoe shelving, USM cabinets and desks, and Eames Executive Chairs.

Are there tools and/or machinery in your space?

Right now we have started to fit out our tool/finishing room to serve our immediate needs. We have a few chop saws, drills and sanders and other hand tools that we need. We want to add a metal lathe as well as Bridgeport but that will have to wait a bit.

What tool do you most enjoy using in the design process?

Oliver: My mechanical pencil, a black ink pen and an Olfa knife.

Jean: Faber-Castell color pencils, scissors, transparent tape, black Pentel sign pens, sketchbook, and iPhone.

Let’s talk about how you’re wired. Tell us about your tech arsenal/devices.

Our entire space is networked for desktop stations throughout the space; design office, sales, reception, lighting studio, as well as all other spaces where a computer might be needed. We recently installed internet phones – we can call each other at different stations instead of racing or shouting across the room!

What design software do you use, if any, and for what?

For our design work we mostly use AutoCAD, Rhino 3D and Sketchup. We also use them for all production specs and drawings. We use the Adobe Creative Suite – mostly InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop – for most of the post-production like upkeep of website, cut sheets etc…

Photo by Georgia Nerheim Photography

Photo by Georgia Nerheim Photography

Is there a favorite project you’ve worked on?

In a way our new space is probably our favorite project currently along with the new furniture pieces we designed for the showroom. Just designing the layout and coordinating construction (electrical and mechanical plans, lighting and AV layout, etc…) was really challenging since we had to accomplish the build-out in a very short amount of time. It really felt amazing when it was all done. Walking through something you designed rather than looking at it as an object, is still one of the most satisfying experiences.

The furniture we designed for the space has a lot of ideas in them we always seem to come back to. We call the collection ‘Lost & Found’ because we used stone offcuts left to be discarded and construction-grade timber typically covered over by other finish materials.

The collection includes an expanded metal bar cabinet, a wood bench seating group, and a marble coffee table. The expanded metal bar cabinet is called ‘Louise Cabinet’ since it reminded us of Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Cell’ sculptures in which she used expanded metal to create a series of strikingly beautiful metal enclosures. The two wood bench pieces are called ‘Stiletto’. Heavy large timber sections are balanced by very slender brass legs. Each bench is around 400-500lbs and celebrates the contrast between rough cracks and burl marks in the wood to a finely finished surface texture accentuated by the polished brass leg.

For the ‘Lost & Found Table’ (image above) we used a large stone cut off where we worked with the given dominant curve already cut into the stone. We shaped the stone further by breaking off pieces along existing cracks and by cutting and polishing additional sections. The tabletop’s existing curve became a cue for the radially patterned array of brass leg supports.

Do you feel like you’ve “made it”? What has made you feel like you’ve become successful? At what moment/circumstances? Or what will it take to get there?

We think it is all a big journey. There are always immediate goals and once you get there the goal post gets moved yet again. Maybe it is good that way since it keeps us moving. We try not to think about it much even though accomplishing certain goals always feels really good. It is also nice to get feedback from your fellow designers and design professionals whose work you really admire and respect. In the end though, it is probably good not to think about this whole issue of success vs. failure too much.

Tell us about a current project you’re working on. What was the inspiration behind it?

We are very excited about an upcoming project with a special collaborator for New York Design Week 2017. Look for it in May of this year…

What’s on your desk right now?

Oliver: My coffee, a parking ticket, a mechanical pencil next to a roll of trace paper and a Max Beckman monograph from his exhibit in the MET.

Jean: Paperwork, material samples, notebooks, headphones.

Do you have anything in your home that you’ve designed/created?

A lot of our designs came about from needs we had at home. When you come into our apartment, there is our Entry Console with a XL Bubble Chandelier hanging right over it. The living room has our Quadrat Coffee table with the Glass Puddle as well as a Jumbo 29 Bubble Chandelier installed over our Egsu Dining table.

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