#and the other was an acoustic concert. their last before taking a season off

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Going to a concert tonight!!!!!!!

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

JK Day 2021

...and what a day it was. I know we’re a bit late with this when looking at KST but in our time zone it’s still September 1st so it counts, right? Besides I wanted to wait until the day was over for them so I could have everything the members would post for JK so I could put it in this post as memory for us to look back on in the future.

Furthermore, as extension for the celebrations, I want to finally sit down, write and post our post about JK and his bonds with the hyung line since it’s been so long since two anons asked us about that so what better time than the weekend after JK day, right?

Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

The day before JKs birthday he came onto Weverse and posted three different things, including a cute selca:

Everyone of course turned up their creativity to post something for JK and also wondered among themselves what he planned on using those lyric comments for, and if he would use them for anything at all.

Sometime later before the new RUN episode aired, Seokjin appeared on Weverse and, for whatever reason, commented birthday wishes for JK under the Weverse post about the upcoming RUN episode. Because of course he did.

More than an hour before midnight KST everyone got a notification from vlive that JK had gone live:

And truly, considering it was about to be his birthday, I love how it felt more like it was ours with the gift that kept on giving that this vlive turned out to be. 

Lots more below the cut:

Remember those posts that JK made in the morning on Weverse? As many, including myself, had guessed, JK gathered some of the lyric comments he liked most, or thought would work best, and proceeded to turn them into an actual song right before our eyes. The instrumental was gorgeous with a acoustic guitar and ballad like melody and it was truly fascinating watching him figuring out how to sing the lines, record them, redo them whenever he felt he could do it better, add adlibs in some places, and slowly but surely a song was created with lyrics in both English and Korean.

This really was the content I’ve always craved and I’m so, so happy we got to watch JK do this instead of him just showing us the final thing. You could see him having fun, even when he got a little frustrated at times or he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to continue or how he wanted the words to sound like, and that he really knows what he’s doing. So many claim that Bangtan have no idea about producing and recording songs, which truly is such a stupid argument to make considering Yoongi is literally Producer SUGA and we know that, if the members want to make mixtapes they have to do them themselves, which we know Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi have done. So JK doing all of that in the vlive? Checkmate against those idiots. Especially since it also isn’t the first time we’ve seen members work on tracks, like the behind the scenes of rap line working on DDAENG or Hobi working on songs, or even JK with Stay, even if we didn’t know it’s Stay at the time.

Once the song was finished JK went on to show us several more instrumentals he could’ve worked with, each one with a different vibe, before switching to singing a song by Justin Bieber saying he really loves his songs a lot. And then it was nearing midnight so he unpacked the cake he got, white icing/fondant with purple lettering spelling out STILL WITH YOU JK, very cute.

Right as midnight hit someone started to bang on the door so JK got up to see who’d come and, surprise, it was a very excited Hobi wishing him a happy birthday including singing the birthday song for him upon JKs request while JK lit up his golden heart shaped candle.

Hobi again returned two minutes after he’d left (between when at 1:18h JK mentioned that, for the first time that night, he’d do one more song to finish off the vlive, ha) to give him an ice cream cake he’d prepared, but also to get his phone which he’d accidentally forgotten in the room JK was in.

Once Hobi really left and JK got a taste of his ice cream cake, as well as the white cake which turned out to be chocolate flavored, the vlive concert began and, at the time, none of us knew what we were in for since we all thought he’d really do one or two more songs and that would be it. And yet that very much is not what happened, at all, and I’m so grateful for it.

This might just be the funniest screenshot in existence (please take note of the time stamps):

No wonder that, eventually, Seokjin decided to come onto Weverse to post wishes for JK a second time while also saying this (the picture is from their unit photoshoot for Winter Package):

The imagine of Seokjin just sitting in bed or whatever watching JKs vlive and hearing him say last song every like ten minutes and every time he just kept going...and going...and going while Seokjin is just waiting...and waiting...and waiting? Hilarious. But it’s also really cute how he’d wanted to wait until JK was done to not interrupt him or pull ARMYs attention away from the vlive. Truly I adore their bond, it’s adorable and chaotic and so wonderfully them.

Yoongi also posted his wishes for JK while the vlive was still going.

The one who waited until it was over was actually Namjoon who, with what he said in his tweet, actually revealed that he’d watched JKs vlive as well. In his vlive JK said that at the end of their concerts Namjoon used to always give his speech like a (school) principal, as in his long ending ment speeches, and that’s why Namjoon ‘signed’ his tweet with principal as well.

Truly I love how JK was just having fun singing their songs, taking requests from ARMY, rediscovering songs, like him wondering if they really have a song called Paradise (since the Korean title is different) and finally fulfilling ARMYs wish of hearing BTS sing it live, as well as being surprised and confused by requests for Heartbeat asking himself if them really have a song like that. But since ARMY kept asking for it, he finally looked it up and his reaction to realizing that, yes, it is a real song of theirs and also that that’s the song we were talking about which he’d completely forgotten about? Hilarious but also kind of heartbreaking for all the Heartbeat enthusiasts.

Here is the full list of all the songs he sang, some for longer, some shorter:

One thing that this vlive showed really well was just how amazing of a singer JK really is. It’s easy for people to dismiss his talent during concerts or performances, since they could always argue that him and the others get help due to the backing track etc., but here we had his raw voice singing along to their songs much the way any of us do. And he sounded stunning beginning to end. He’s such a talented singer and he’s worked so hard on his technique and voice and it’s really showing. Thinking back to what he said in his BE comeback Weverse interview about how he’d like to one day he brave enough to do a three hour concert on his own, I’d say this vlive shows that really shouldn’t be any kind of problem at all. If ARMY can listen to him essentially do karaoke for one and a half hours, then attending and enjoying a full on JK concert would be no issue whatsoever. It’d actually be amazing, I’m certain, and I’d totally be down to seeing that potentially become a reality one day in the future.

After two and a half hours, the vlive ultimately came to a close and JK said his goodbyes.

Hours later Hobi appeared on Weverse wondering what pictures of JK he could/should post for his traditional picture “spam” and everyone was immediately super excited. Hobi’s gallery holds some wonderful treasures so we all looked forward to what he would end up posting, though it would take a few hours until it would happen.

The funny thing is that he posted the first twt twice since the picture with Namjoon in it had Hobi’s iPhone in it which, as good Samsung representative, was a no, no, so he deleted the twt and posted it again with some stickers covering the phone. So cute. And his picture choices are wonderful. I particularly love that picture of JK in the white room dressed in black from back in 2019 when they performed Boy with Luv. And also their picture from a dinner the two of them went on together back in 2018.

In the meantime before Hobi posted his pictures, as requested in the picture that BH had posted for JKs birthday on the staff BTS account at midnight, one of the members posted his meal though it’s unclear which one of them it might’ve been. Looks super yummy though, wow.

And eventually the final member to come and wish JK a happy birthday was Jimin (and yes, I know Jimin’s twt came before Hobi’s but considering Hobi already wished him a happy birthday at midnight, that makes Jimin the last one):

Trans (cr. haruharu_w_bts):

our maknae happy birthday  i wish <you a happy birthday> a lot and a lot #KkookieHappyBirthday #JIMIN #HAPPYJKDAY

Taehyung didn’t post anything but considering his track record of doing something for the members off social media for their birthday, like giving Namjoon a forehead kiss, sending birthday wish videos to Seokjin (including roping others into doing it as well), or wishing Jimin a happy birthday as part of the MOTS ON:E exhibition, I wasn’t all that surprised by this.

And with that JK day 2021 came to a close. It started with a surprise (as in both the song based on ARMY comments and also the concert afterward) and ended with one as well, as in the In The SOOP Season Two announcement.

I hope JK had a wonderful day, celebrated happily with his members, friends and family however much that’s possible in these times, as well as with their busy schedule, and that this new year will be a happy one for him full of success, personal but also career wise. I’m curious and excited to see what will happen.

[genesisrose74]

Karasuno Boys Singing Headcanons!

A/n: By this point I hope that everyone has seen the masterpiece that is Sugawara’s wonderful voice actor singing Under the Sea, which has won the spot in my heart for cutest thing I’ve ever heard. I then proceeded to go off the deep end of Haikyuu voice actors singing and safe to say I was in no way disappointed, so here’s some Karasuno boys singing headcanons! If you have any requests my ask box is open 💖 enjoy!

Daichi

Is it just me or would Daichi not care if someone heard him singing

He seems like the type of person who hums all the time 

Partly because it helps relax him after yelling at the team all day LMAO He doesn’t necessarily sing with lyrics every chance he gets, but when he does he’s pretty casual about it

He’ll sing in the car a lot, and it was actually the first place you heard him

Boy has a soothing playlist for school days and you always like hearing his voice when he drives you in the mornings

Will hum when you’re both doing schoolwork in his or your house

Doesn’t realize he has a good voice, so he never tries to show off all that often in front of people and thus the team has not heard him full out sing yet

So when they does hear him like, actually singing for the first time at the end of practice they’re SHOOK

Tanaka and Nishinoya instantly start spamming you with texts, asking why you hid away such a precious secret for so long

You’re sitting in the library staring at your constantly vibrating phone like ??? doesn’t he sing all the time?

When you end up texting the boys this question they go absolutely feral

At this point Daichi is losing his voice yelling at the team to calm tf down

Suga is cackling in the corner of the team gym cause he been knew

It’s absolutely chaotic literally someone come save Daichi please-

Sugawara

HAHA GET READY BOYS

Official team mom of Karasuno sings all the damn time don’t even get me started

Always humming some upbeat tune doing schoolwork, cleaning up after practice, in the car, etc.

Seriously when is this sweet baby not singing

The team is well aware of this, especially the sideline cheer squad (Yamaguchi, moi ippon nice serve!) 

Tell me he does not make up rhyming cheers under his breath during matches I dare you

Will literally make up a stupid song on the spot to describe whatever he is currently doing or feeling

Hinata bathroom vibes tbh but it’s even more out of the blue

“Got an A on my exam today, and things are going my way”

“Suga, for the love of everything please stop”

“Daichi thinks I’ll listen to what he’ll say, but I’m singing more anyway”

He is always on board with karaoke whenever Karasuno has team bonding nights

One time you are invited to this by Suga himself and he gets up and starts singing a Disney song haha guess which one 

And as often as the team has heard him sing mans is feeling it tonight for whatever reason and y’all can tell

You have never heard anyone sing Under the Sea so passionately before but it’s a gift and you’re not complaining

Asahi

Boy is so insecure oh my gosh please give him some support

Very shy about singing in front of anyone and everyone

The only time you’ve ever heard him sing was when you were over at his house and he was taking a shower

You had gone downstairs to get a snack from the kitchen and when you come back up he’s singing alongside one of his playlists

You don’t know if it’s because of the steam and the solid acoustics in the bathroom but he doesn’t sound half bad

You try not to startle him as soon as he gets out because you know how flustered he’d get

But then a while later while y’all are studying on his bed you just casually bring it up like ‘You have a nice voice, Asahi’ and that’s all

He’s a little shocked at first that you heard him but kind of smiles and sighs in relief because you liked his singing!! 🥺

Precious teddy bear is totally happy for the rest of the week, like that’s how much your praise means to him sdlkgjfdjsof he’s too cute

Eventually warms up to humming little tunes around you

He’s really blushy when he does but you pretend not to notice for his sake lmao

It makes you so warm inside that he feels comfortable enough to let you hear him

Ennoshita

In this house we do not sleep on Ennoshita

As much as he is the mom of the second years he will flaunt his stuff whenever he gets the chance and this is one of those times

If a generic pop song is on at literally any point in time and he hears it, damn right he’s going to sing 

When it comes to singing Ennoshita is hands down the most chaotic no question about it

Sometimes he’ll actually sing a verse pretty decently

And then the next line is just the embodiment of a dumpster fire and he does not care

These are the only times that Tanaka and Noya get irritated with him and not the other way around

But Ennoshita doesn’t give a shit, he’s so cheeky

Like he’ll be walking through the mall and a banger of a song like Fergalicious comes on over the speakers? You’re done for

Even if he doesn’t know the lyrics at certain points, or deadass does not know any of them at all, he’ll just power through

If there is a sports banquet complete with dancing and music and the team attends, Ennoshita is tearing up the floor and singing his heart out

Honestly you’re a little scared to interfere cause what is he even doing-

He has made quite a few friends from opposing teams with his frankly lunatic level energy

I’m looking at you Oikawa, Tendou 

Tanaka

ANIME. INTROS.

He sounds EXACTLY like that opening singer from Bungou Stray Dogs I wonder why

No but actually we all heard his little song in season one, when he’s late and walking to the gym like what a king-

In summary he is a pretty good singer 

Most definitely a frequent participant during team karaoke nights and everyone enjoys his little performances

When he realizes that girls actually like guys who can sing he starts using this to his advantage 

And surprisingly it ended up working

You’re out at karaoke with some friends one night and you hop outside to get some more food for your group when you hear somebody slaying Rough Diamonds; your mind instantly goes to Food Wars

It catches your interest and then you realize...this dude goes to your school? You are positively whipped

He sees you from the doorway and when he realizes you’re enjoying the song he amps it up another three notches

Achievement get: girlfriend 

Karaoke dates and other such outings happen often, thank you very much

As much as he enjoys singing he does not overdo it like Ennoshita, who has been limited to three songs per night every time the group goes out, please for the sake of everyone’s eardrums

Nishinoya

As Tanaka’s best friend and as the co-president of simps everywhere, Nishinoya is another common singer during karaoke nights

Having fun and maybe picking up a cute girl at the end of it all? That’s literally his life agenda

He either goes for the badass, headbanging songs that are super energetic, or he jams out to the generic and famous pop groups’ songs

There is no in between

Noya has a slightly deeper singing voice but sometimes he’ll go for the stupid high notes for fun and just...completely fails

The fact that he has never successfully hit one of those notes doesn’t deter him in the slightest though; his goal is to get there at least once before he dies

He can sing so many popular TikTok audios and you can’t decide whether to be impressed or slightly disappointed with that fact

Noya doesn’t really sing at practice just because he’s focused, but when he’s walking home or getting food from Sakanoshita afterwards he might start randomly singing something

The type of person who has like a billion different playlists on his phone for the most obscure moods (honestly same Noya)

Like there’s one named “Bad Test Grade But I Won a Free Popsicle Kind of Feeling” don’t even ask 

Will put on a concert in his room and perform a whole lineup of these songs for you

Sometimes you think it’s just so he can avoid doing schoolwork but you let him get away with it occasionally

cause you’d never tell him but it’s so entertaining and kinda hot what

Tsukishima

OH GOD THIS BOY

I swear you have tried time and time again to figure out whatever the hell kind of music he listens to with those chonky headphones of his but you have never successfully completed that mission

There are only two - count em, TWO - instances where you have ever witnessed this embodiment of a salt shaker doing anything resembling singing

Number one was a literal meme TikTok where you were using Beyond the Mysterious Beyond from Land Before Time as your audio

You didn’t expect Tsukki to recognize it at all 

But he’s in the top corner of your phone screen and he is deadass LIP SYNCING EVERY WORD and you’re SENT INTO ORBIT 

DOES HE STUTTER? NOPE

Should have expected that Mr. Dinosaur Obsessed would have watched Land Before Time and loved the all the bops

That video is forever saved in your drafts because he’d literally end you if that went public but you refuse to completely get rid of it

Second time, our french fry child actually sings because Yamaguchi forces him to do a song with him lmao

It only lasts for about three verses but it’s all anyone has heard from him before and is therefore a blessing from above

If anyone has heard these two singing Sarishinohara on YouTube you know what I’m talking about if not look it up it’s an absolute gift 

Literal perfection in a duet like?? Everyone is depressed when they realize that Tsukki’s voice had been hidden from the world until that very moment

We will cherish this short taste of Singing! Tsukki for all time amen 😔🙏

Yamaguchi

Like Asahi, this precious bean is also shy about his singing 

But he will sometimes get a burst of confidence if he’s having a really good day or if someone is singing with him

When those moments arrive they are wonderful 

He sounds like an angel, not even exaggerating he’s just so pure

Has a very light tone no matter how the song originally sounds and it’s really soothing to be honest

When his little bouts of confidence wear off please for the love of God praise him in any way shape or form, it makes him feel good about himself 

On team bus rides to games, he and Yachi will sometimes sing fun tunes together to calm each others’ nerves and it’s incredibly precious

Tsukki will send you videos of this pregame ritual and you have a folder reserved for them in your camera roll 

Everyone say thank you Tsukki

He will sing for you if you’re feeling super down about something because he knows you love it 

Never fails to calm you down and cheer you up, and Yams knows in those moments that he would gladly sing for the rest of his life if it made you smile

We stan one soft, talented bean sprout 

Kageyama 

Another stubborn boy when it comes to singing in front of other people

He will hum on rare occasion but don’t expect much more

You start to realize that whenever he does start humming, though, it’s always the same song, so one day you ask him about it

It’s a song his grandfather used to sing to him when he was little and he uses it to calm himself down

You almost start crying on the spot because you know how much his grandpa meant to him 

Kags says there were lyrics to it but he doesn’t remember them besides a few random words scattered here and there

It becomes your personal mission to find the rest of the lyrics because you’ll be damned if your precious baby goes another day without hearing them again

Finally after countless obscure Google searches you find the song 

But you don’t know how to casually bring up the fact that you had spent hours obsessively looking for them into a conversation-

So one day you’re hanging out with Kageyama, but he’s been in an awful mood all week, and you decide to start singing the song that his grandpa used to but including the lyrics

And when he recognizes the words and puts the chorus together, he instantly relaxes and starts singing it with you

He is so touched and thankful that he can finally recall the song in its entirety, and now you both sing said song to each other whenever the other is feeling down

I love him so much my heart-

Hinata

When you find out he can sing you’re absolutely floored

Literally the only time in his life that Hinata can successfully speak English words and it’s in a song? And it’s coherent?? It’s a miracle

The whole team gets on his ass about sucking at English in class but being able to obliterate those lyrics when they come up in a song and the poor tangerine gets all huffy

hE’s tRyiNg HiS bESt oKaY                

His range is SO GOOD THOUGH WHAT-

You’re in the middle of a store with him and he’s been occasionally singing along to the music from the speakers and at this point you’re not even surprised at how good he sounds

But then he just starts singing in falsetto

BOI- When I say your jaw is on the floor I am not playing games 

The power he holds is beyond comprehension

He’s looking at you confused like did he do something wrong?

When you proceed to flip out over how great he just sounded baby gets so embarrassed how cute

Again, one of those people who just doesn’t know their gift and it makes him even more precious 

I would kill to have his capabilities like imagine the talent; if that whole volleyball thing doesn’t work out there’s also the music industry sir-

In conclusion: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET THIS SUNSHINE A MIC THANK YOU

[goldstarnation]

JANUARY 2021 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of February 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: December schedule posts are due by the end of January 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

The company holds their annual meeting near the end of the month to go over goals and plans for the new year and congratulate their artists (and other staff) on a job well-done in the previous year. Also typical, they’ll do their annual health check for the purposes of media-playing caring about their artists’ health. 2020 was a good year for the company’s profits and public relevance, even if things began to get messy behind the scenes. The meeting doesn’t show any sign of acknowledgement about the any behind-the-scenes planning problems, instead focusing on boasting achievements by their artists in Korea as well as other large foreign markets with the aim of “raising morale”.

Important dates:

January 26: Meeting for company artists and those who work directly with them (managers, PR, etc.) headed by CEO Bang Sunyoung. Gold Star Media’s goal statements and overall plans for 2020 will be delivered.

Various dates (up to individual muse): As per usual January Gold Star custom, all group members and soloists will be asked to individually schedule beginning of the year medical check-up appointments on Gold Star’s dollar if they have not had one in the past six months. This will be slightly media-played as it is every year by the company as the company having a clean bill of health regardless of the results, although any medical concerns will be privately addressed.

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 1

"Eight” is the hit everyone expects it to be and is a good omen as the release that ushers in the new year for Gold Star. Promotions are kept simple, as they usually are for her since she doesn’t need much push to succeed with the public, and she’ll film an acoustic performance video of “Eight” as a gift to her fans. She’ll be revisiting some old songs in the practice rooms behind the scenes as well to prepare for an upcoming mini-concert of her own on Yoo Heeyeol’s Sketchbook.

Important dates:

January 4: “Eight” Acoustic Ver. video filming (to be released: January 10).

January 9: Performance at Golden Disk Awards Day One at Gocheok Sky Dome (also performing: BC Soloist 1, BEE, Dimensions Soloist 3, Lucid).

January 11: KBS Cool FM Volume Up radio show guesting.

January 30: End of music show promotions.  

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 2

After the end of music show promotions, she’ll fly out to L.A. to do some networking and film an English interview there to promote the English version of her latest single. Gold Star has marketed it as her debut American single in an effort to rewrite her unsuccessful effort a few years ago. Gold Star would like to begin to promote her more online as well to reach more young fans, so she’ll film a cover video that will be uploaded to Gold Star’s Youtube channel, something they plan to have her do a semi-regularly from now on.

Important dates:

January 10: End of music show promotions.

January 18: Front Row Live Ent interview.

January 23: “Tango” cover video filming (to be uploaded: January 31).

GOLD STAR SOLOIST 3

He flies back out in the second week of the month to begin the North American leg of his world tour. He’ll tour for two weeks across the United States before he flies back to Seoul and has the remainder of the month free once again to recuperate and so that he can attend the company-wide meeting. 

Important dates:

January 9: Before We Begin tour concert at House of Blues in San Diego, CA, USA.

January 10: Before We Begin tour concert at The Van Buren in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

January 13: Before We Begin tour concert at Granada Theater in Dallas, TX, USA.

January 14: Before We Begin tour concert at House of Blues in Houston, TX, USA.

January 16: Before We Begin tour concert at The Basement East in Nashville, TN, USA.

January 18: Before We Begin tour concert at The Beacham in Orlando, FL, USA.

January 19: Before We Begin tour concert at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA, USA.

January 21: Before We Begin tour concert at Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC, USA.

January 22: Before We Begin tour concert at The Fillmore Silver Spring in Silver Spring, MD, USA.

SILHOUETTE

Silhouette have a busy month without awards show to attend. On the second, their first day back to regular work after returning from the cruise and tour, they’ll hold a press conference to hype up their upcoming concerts. They’ll be asked and expected to answer questions about the concept (”til death do us part” / “seduction, desire, betrayal, revenge”), the songs they’ll be performing, and their feelings preparing for the concert without spoiling the set list or special stages. They’ll then hold four concerts over the course of the month, two in Seoul, one in Tokyo, and one in Los Angeles. In between concerts, they’ll fly to Bangkok to film their comeback M/V and shoot photos for the comeback.

Important dates:

January 2: Tonight 37.2°C press conference.

January 9: “Taller Than You” M/V filming.

January 15: Pre-release of “I Miss You”.

January 18: Tonight 37.2°C 19+ concert at Central City Millennium Hall in Seoul.

January 19: Tonight 37.2°C 19+ concert at Central City Millennium Hall in Seoul.

January 21-22: “You’re The Best” M/V filming, teaser photo shoot, and photo book shoot in Bangkok, Thailand.

January 25: Tonight 37.2°C 19+ concert at Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

January 29: Tonight 37.2°C 19+ concert at Club Bound LA in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

ARIA

Aria has to do the final preparations for their comeback before it releases near the middle of the month. They’re running on quite a late schedule, perhaps a result of the poor management that’s slowly becoming infamous within the company, so both the album photo shoots and the M/V filming are rushed to be finished just before the comeback. Luckily, everything is still ready in time and the release goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, “Eung Eung” doesn’t get the same attention “I’m So Sick” did, although it does succeed at outperforming their last two releases.

Important dates:

January 3: Comeback teaser photo and photo book shoot.

January 10: “Eung Eung” M/V filming.

January 18: Release of “Eung Eung” & Percent mini-album showcase, music show promotions continue through February 18.

ORIGIN

Origin begins their grand world tour this month with five dates in California. They’ll fly out to the United States for those five concerts before flying back to Seoul so that they can make it in time for the company meeting, though it will be close in timing. They’ll continue to tour for the next several months, but management passes down that Gold Star would really like to see them find mega-success in foreign markets this year and there are plans for both a Japanese comeback and a full English-language release before there are any plans for them to make a Korean-language comeback.

Important dates:

January 10: Performance at Golden Disk Awards Day Two at Gocheok Sky Dome (also performing: CHARM, WISH, Alien, MARS, 7ROPHY, Impulse).

January 16: Map of the Soul tour concert at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, USA.

January 17: Map of the Soul tour concert at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, USA.

January 22: Map of the Soul tour concert at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, USA.

January 23: Map of the Soul tour concert at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, USA.

January 24: Map of the Soul tour concert at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, USA.

IMPULSE

Impulse has one more awards show performance in the form of the second day of the Golden Disk Awards. Before and after that, their priority for the month is to record their next comeback album. It’s their first full-length album since 2018. The sound is overall a bit brighter to match the spring season it will be released in, though the sleek sound they’ve headed toward recently remains in tact.

Important dates:

January 10: Performance at Golden Disk Awards Day Two at Gocheok Sky Dome (also performing: CHARM, WISH, Alien, MARS, 7ROPHY, Origin).

   ↳ PULS2

PULS2 will be doing a showcase tour in between recording for the full group comeback. They’ll be all over East Asia this month for the beginning of the tour, though they’ll stop back to Seoul in between stops.

Important dates:

January 17: Showcase tour concert at Broadway Theater in Macau.

January 20: Showcase tour concert at Zepp Divercity in Tokyo, Japan.

January 21: Showcase tour concert at Zepp Diverycity in Tokyo, Japan.

January 24: Showcase tour concert at Taipei International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

January 27: Showcase tour concert at Zepp Namba in Osaka, Japan.

January 28: Showcase tour concert at Zepp Namba in Osaka, Japan.

January 31: Showcase tour concert at Nusantra Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

FUSE

In place of any more awards show performances or attendances, Fuse gets back to touring. This time, they have two dates in Japan. It’s their first time touring in several months, so they’ll continue to rehearse beforehand to get everything down for the next few months of finishing their tour. Management is open about their plans for a sub-unit between the leader and main dancer now that the new year has begun, but the pair won’t begin working on their unit debut until next month.

Important dates:

January 9: La Rouge tour concert at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima, Japan.

January 21: La Rouge tour concert at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.

ELEMENT

Now that their comeback music is recorded, Element will throw themselves into mastering the choreography for the title track, as well as two of the album’s b-sides (the latter of which only involves the main vocal and maknae). At the end of the month, they’ll hold a mini fan-meeting to check in with (a few hundred) fans and will be expected to let slip that they’re working on a comeback to appease them. The fan-meeting will be short, but they’ll perform a few of their songs and get the chance to interact with fans who are brought up on stage.

Important dates:

January 31: Mini fan-meeting at Yes24 MUV Hall in Seoul.

FEMME FATALE

Femme Fatale continues their dome tour this month (see November’s schedule for special stages), with two stops in Osaka. While they’re in Seoul, they’ll get news of their comeback plans for the year (Gold Star promises them at least two comebacks) and they’ll receive the demo of their first comeback single of the year, “How You Like That”, before they go in to record it in the studio before the month comes to an end.

Important dates:

January 16: In Your Area World tour concert at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan.

January 17: In Your Area World tour concert at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan.

[taendrils]

fame & surrender (m.)

― ❝ever the curious cat, you can’t say no when notorious rockstar V extends an invitation to get to know him better after your televised interview. skin to skin, you become acquainted, and you end up discovering what really goes on behind the scenes in the forms of glistening bodies and alcohol stains on your curves.❞

• genre: smut with plot, 90′s setting • warnings: dom!tae, big dick!tae, alcohol mentions, sexual tension, exhibitionism, dirty talk, mentions of orgies, condescending praise, sensory play, cum play, unprotected sex, multiple orgasms, overstimulation • pairing: taehyung/female reader ft. jimin • wordcount: 18.4k words

ROCKSTAR AU.

The screams you hear are shrill, sounds that tighten into themselves and spread the growing anticipation for what is about to step on stage. 

It wasn’t a matter of who, it was a matter of when, and one of power. A supposed distraction which crawls too deep and makes it uncomfortable either way–the stretch of pulling yourself out of it too empty and painful, the time spent discovering more too consuming and a notch more demanding. Word travels around in big cities if your name carries enough weight, even faster if its heaviness comes from pure metal instead of the alloy they shape in the industry. The words reflect the effect, however unassuming they might be, and with the heavy riffs of a guitar supporting his every claim, it’s possible even for atheists to catch their glimpse of God.

Of course it’s not a matter of who, you chuckle, since there’s only one person who can make everyone feel like this. With the weight of his name pressed against everybody’s lips, a contained sound which catches between them and gets free reign as it is released, it’s easy to pinpoint how their teeth want to grip into it again. The gospels he put out, the ink he splattered and swallowed to build the charm into who he was and stain the raw talent so the corrupted could lose themselves in it–they all served as contour for a distinct identity. His identity. Half boldness and half self-assurance, his rebellion is compelling to watch, since his mouth strictly speaks for his own and never caters. He sings for himself, never for you. But oh, do your loins catch fire when he puts on a show.  

It’s entirely lucky for him and fundamentally damning for you that after the four years in the spotlight, he not only owns up to, but deserves every bit of cockiness that he has.

On screen, he has the allure of an idealistic presence, but face to face the same V is tough to get used to. You would be at ease if you were one of the faces who followed after the motion of his hand, who got lost in a stare from him and lived as a subject of fantasy for the rest of the night, but the knowledge of your reality punctures the tissue of your lungs. It overwhelms you beyond your composed façade, the fact that the breaths you let out would burn under the stage lights and the ones you took couldn’t offer you any stability, as each had to pass by his word. Constricted by the tips of his fingers and depth of his answers, the wait leaves you trapped and focused on nothing but him–and you have a feeling he’d love hearing all about it.

He said so himself, he’d always been a greedy man.

Even now, you are not doing anything, choosing to direct your focus on stifling your nerves; yet his presence leaves you intimidated. Lids closed, he rests on the guest chair, sitting alone before the artists rush to him, pampering his skin and blending dark shadow into his lashes. He still looks alone. A part of you wishes to speak to him, but you’re much too aware that at one wrong move, all eyes would be on you, his eyes would be on you. Despite the instructions you were given and how your head runs dizzy with filtering your thoughts, something deeper reaches and pulls at your essence: curiosity.

Curiosity in itself has been your rise and it won against the lack of both experience and exposure, which put you as a ‘fresh face’ in television. Many stories swayed you and tempted you to search for their hidden meaning, for the side others will not even dare think to look for. Solving the riddle didn’t satisfy you, finding its roots did. And Kim Taehyung, the man behind the notoriousness seemed to have buried his under a pile of personas he came to adapt in his life. The thing is, they all seem to contradict the man sitting a few feet away from you.

His silence is nostalgic.  

It comes to you as a tender shock, since you’ve been watching him for weeks prior to receiving your schedule, listened well to his past interviews and kept a careful eye on his mannerisms. Almost a year ago, the past spring season caught him in the last interview he would give before the one with you, head tilted as he stared the interviewer down with raised brows and tongue prodding at his lips. His posture was relaxed, yet his gaze held a different story–the game changed, as it does on stage when he’s singing; or rather playing.

He doesn’t play with the honesty of those who lie behind closed doors but rather toys with it in a secret meant for your eyes, with the way he throws his head back and bends the way his microphone demands. Up close, his half-lidded gaze is unfocused yet untamed, and it moves towards an end only he knows. He grips all that is inanimate with the tightness of a viper’s fangs and reserves the delicacy of a lover for when he touches himself, fingers trailing from the ends of his mouth to his jaw and through his hair. More often than not, the actions make you wonder how it would feel if the nailbeds stained on his jawbone would be yours.

You need to know more, you realize in your haze, and despite your conscience, you straighten your top and push your shoulders back.

“V?” You approach him with mismatched steps, clipboard resting on your hip, over the high waist of your dress pants. “Ten minutes till the interview. They are giving us twenty and we’re closing the show.”

The audience around the two of you clears out as you stand before him, taller in your heels as he slumps in the chair. Gone is the melancholic air once you make eye-contact, drive fuelling into his grin as the chains of his dangly earring catch the vanity lights. He looks every bit the sin he claims to be, far overstepping the sinner title.“Got it. Thank you for telling me.”

His words have you nodding, easy enough to shake off some of your anxiety but not to the point of letting your guard down. You purse your lips, feeling like you’re missing something despite being the one to schedule things around for your segments. Everything is too calm, and from your position, with him standing down it is unsettling, like a game of chess with the kings sat on their opposite colour. Then it hits you: it’s too empty, too intimate for a backstage meeting. The band who was supposed to perform with him at the end of your interview is not here, and neither are any of the main instruments. An acoustic guitar which is nothing like the electric beauties he uses in his concerts lays against the shelves of the vanity, cream wood against pristine white next to all black.

Your head comes up empty in its search for a way to ask him about it. “Your staff…the band, they–”

V stares at you with his head tilted as if he’s about to eat you whole. The glint in his eye is dangerous and it makes you feel like a prey put on display; only this time you’re playing yourself in front of him and he doesn’t have to put a finger on it.

“Oh, them?” he grinned. “They had a little bit of a rough time last night, but I made sure to come and see you all face to face.”

From the rumours you’ve heard about his backstage persona, him taking pity leaves you taken aback. Entertaining a feeling and seeing it solidified before you hit differently, you come to phantom after his words, as you thought you were prepared by studying him so much and even rehearsed what you would say to him. The pressure of doing well in your first interview made you overthink and analyse every possibility of how it might go. And you’re prepared, you swear you are–the replies lie at the back of your throat–yet you can’t say anything.

“I’m surprised,” he says and studies you, careful to drift your attention back. His facial expression changes quickly, adapting to your current emotion but his stability never wavers.“There was no one to show me around here. In the other one they showed me the camera work, we sat and drank a bit…you guys must be busy here.”

You turn like a toy on arches yet he stops you, gentle. “I wasn’t asking you. Just making conversation, I won’t be here for long anyway.”

You bow your head, slumping your shoulders at his confession–like you’ve been taught to behave around the stars here. Conflicting emotions settle in the pit of your stomach, a simmer of anger closing down on a thread that’s stuck in your neck and prevents you from talking. His condescendingness is palpable, he is good at what he does–having you start to dread your current position. A desire for more morphs in the heavy rise of your chest. You want more status, more power, to be considered beyond your position so you wouldn’t have to bow to the likes of him or act as his entertainment.

“It’s such a shame, right? Not many people call me up for interviews nowadays. I can’t seem to figure out why…”

He doesn’t look at you, rather ponders on the questions–equally demanding and mischievous, innocent enough so when cherubic eyes shift to yours, you are compelled to answer.

“Why do you think that is?”

Your mouth closes on its own as you take him in, leather pants and dress coats, choker adorning his neck, caressed by the tips of his hair. Such a presence is the first to ask.

It startles you, since you were not paid for your opinions and they didn’t weigh much either. Despite being displayed on television, you had little influence over those in higher positions. To know your supervisors are choking on the chains this man tugs on for the moment as they roll your little strings between the creases in their fingers makes you bold.

“I think… they don’t know where to start with you,” you say, voice barely passing a whisper. Seeing how he doesn’t stop you, a part of you pushes you further, the taste of disobedience lingering on the tip of your tongue and frustrations coming out through its flavour. “It scares them that they don’t know how to handle you.”

“And you do?” he challenges, getting out of his seat in slow movements. The balance acquired through your distance is thrown off and it leaves you more vulnerable as his weight settles in your personal space.��Or do you need more practice? You can ask your questions here too.”

You’re pulled towards him with how his voice deepens and he plays with its inflexions. You’ve heard these in his concerts, how he dips into growling tones and tastes the ending syllables. Your eyes, captured by the metal resting on his collarbones switch to meet his, and so he switches to the gentleness of the whisper again. “I’ll sit pretty for you while you ask. But I can only promise that if we’re here.”

“There’s no camera here though,” you state, lost in the eye contact, lost in how your throat constricts when you watch how his mouth curves.

“What reason do I have to misbehave then?”

He is toying with you, mischief now clear in how he quirks his brow and smirks, the line of professionalism being pulled by its threads, and your heart thumps to the bass of his voice. The threat of a clock skims by since your heartbeat no longer follows its normal course, running erratically–over what, you don’t know. The disobedience through your interaction flares up and directs itself towards him, and it builds in your chest, top too tight for the heavy breaths your taking.

“How about me? What reason do I have to bother?” you throw, careless to how your words drown the established boundaries. You have no sense of repercussions. You wonder what he’s going to do next.

His lips purse as his eyes drift down before a chuckle leaves him, breathy sound meeting a restless tongue, as he runs it over his lip. Pause, break, exhale. Steps, composure, lungs–“You’re right. Who am I to demand this from you?”

“I’ve been getting too comfortable. I take from others like they do to me,” he says it with a nonchalance which almost tricks you into thinking it’s a fact. “It’s not your responsibility to give into a brat like me, mm?”

The way he’s coming close to you, head tilted so his soft breath falls upon your cheek, instead of asking, it’s rather tempting you. You had a responsibility to keep your eye on him, you had plenty others to ensure a smooth flow, to avoid being overwhelmed on air where your slip would be replayed again and again. Giving into him, however–it was a voluntary action. He was merely suggesting to proceed.

You slowly shake your head, indications forgotten but still rooted deep within you, regrets sinking in at your impulsivity. You should’ve been more careful, not get caught up in his presence since the stakes have already risen beyond your influence. So why are you still yearning to push further?

Always attentive and attuned, V seems to sense your hesitation, as he takes a step back. You can’t discern between lines of arrogance and satisfaction on his face with the ease he may do it to you–reading into the conflict on your face. The contrast between the impersonality of his stage name and his interaction with you, how he asked for privacy upon sight, how he came to you… Who were you speaking to? The man, or a character?

His baritone keeps you alert, yet there’s a tint of safety to it, of the privacy you’ve been given since the beginning. And once again gentle syllables surround and silence your doubts.

“There’s no reason to get involved. For you, I’ll behave.” He extends a hand for you to shake, and you take a moment to grasp his hand, to soak in how the long fingers engulf your own. “If you promise to do it slower.”

You look up to him in question, but his voice doesn’t waver.

“My name…” he trails off as his thumb swipes across from your palm to yours, “You should say it like you want me. That’s how it gets the charm.”

He winks and pulls away, teasing yet ever the unassuming in the way he claims the public’s attention and bites into it. You follow after him on set, mentally preparing for what’s to come when he plops on the couch, legs crossed and gaze ready to claim every inch of the gold in your veins. The cameras are set in front of you, on your left and right and above, though the most careful eye you want to catch is his.

“Welcome back to Late Night Blues!” you grin as the framework zooms out, catching more of the background and bringing light to the couch your guest was leaning on.“Now that we’ve covered the latest pop-sensation news, for our last segment, we’ll sit down with popular singing figure V and look back on his latest album–Chaos and Disorder.”

You ensure your voice slows down at the mention of his name. Your confidence returns as you spot how he further relaxes into his pose, thighs spread and elbows resting by his sides. He’s watching you with his head tilted, lashes fluttering as you continue your introduction. “Chaos and Disorder, the sixth album of his career and the fourth to be attributed to V has sold no less than four million copies, three months after its release. This is a huge step from the latest album, which neared a million in eight months and saw an additional five-month hiatus.” He nods at your mention of past achievements, brow rising to tease. “How does it feel to have such a reception not even half a decade into your career?”

V pauses, chest rising with the deliberate breath he’s taking and the joviality on his features melts in the slightest under the heat of your question. “Looking at the pictures and flashbacks over the years, it’s…it’s a little surreal, not gonna lie. I mean, my songs are received well, I’ve established my style and I have a clear direction of where I want to go from here. I’m not scared to experiment–I’m doing what I was born to do and I get paid for it, does it get better than that?”

You laugh, and it’s laced with genuineness once you catch his confident expression. “Sounds like the dream life. Are you any closer to it, or has anything changed with your most recent release?”

“Well, not much has changed–I’m keeping it like it’s been. I’m constantly evolving, trying to look on my whole being and reflect on what I want to do better for the next time.”

“It’s rare for a musician to be praised by media and be so loved by fans throughout the years. There have been other acts to approach the same subjects as you do in your music, but it’s a rare instance to get such a wave of support, especially as you continued on with your new stage name.” You can sense the waves of truth through your question’s blinds, your own curiosity having you lean in more–the effect of his presence is an internalized fact.

The industry in itself always seeks for profit, engagement and shock value, and the ways of achieving it are rarely held in moral qualms. Yet, despite its nature, it pushes against acts promoting too much deviation from the norms, though along with his arrival, the aesthetic gained more popularity. The tabloids like him a little too much and they exploit him with the same controlled vigour, praise every line he sings and every line of skin the leather doesn’t cover. It should have eaten him, should have manipulated his essence and disturbed the covalence of his atoms till this moment–if only he wouldn’t fight against it.

“I’m happy they like me for now, they–they’re very passionate. Instrumental does half my job though, if they keep praising me and my voice it’s gonna get to my head.” He chuckles, shaking his head as if he takes his time to bring the thought back onto the surface.“What are we gonna do when my pride gets too big for my body, when I start to think I really am special?”

“It could become a thing they’ll love you for,” you say as you shrug, slight pout crossing your features, and he nods in acknowledgement at your posture. Your shoulders are high, propelled by the reminder of your ability to stay in character after your backstage conversation. “The interest in going against the norms in different domains has even been documented by your fans through polaroids of their creations. They’re even mimicking your pose, and the choice seems to be popular–what made you take the step from your real name to this? Does it have a relation to the peace symbol?”

“Mm, so many questions…” he ponders, eyebrows furrowing yet there is no trace of malice in his words. “Peace is not a common theme in my songs though. I don’t know if it’s a good example, but it’s a nice juxtaposition, using such a symbol to say ‘fuck you’ to whatever you’re given, whether it’s on air or not.” He makes sure to match the emphasis with a grin which widens till it’s all teeth, glints of mischief reflecting as he strums the chords of permission with his words. He’s probably satisfied with your cracked composure when he sees you taking a deep breath at his cursing, already picturing your director’s face at his disrespect–and the fine about to follow.

You remember his last hiatus, how they milked his name until they ran out of news and ways to market his style. No new club appearances or ads, no encounter with the media that would soil his image, no proof to adhere to the rumours about his notorious behind the scenes life, followed by the silence that came in February. The layer of quietness shredded to pieces as the explosion of his last album ripped into the general public. A break again, no words to the media, until your interview which was losing track the more he spoke, the more he ripped into you too.

It must be natural for him to misbehave, to strive for a tight grip on the attention he’s given, and he’s working it however he wants to. Even as the brattiness he used to display is making itself visible in tight-lipped smiles and head tilts, it doesn’t hold much of a bite. Innocence sits pretty on his cheekbones and runs through a body that’s chiselled and polished from every angle–and his voice, his speech patterns never disappoint either. You’d let him talk as he pleases if this was any other situation, but you’re much too aware of the eyes following you, the neutral figures behind the scenes who don’t watch–they scrutinize.

“So yeah, feels good that guys like me are the backbone of our genre right now and I get the opportunity to tear the house down while still having people openly supporting my message,” he adds in response to your silence, and you suppose he means it as comfort.

Your eyes switch between him, the camera and the dark backstage background, fidgeting in your seat to process the rest of the lines you lost as his answer came. The loss of control has you vulnerable, and your muscles lock into themselves, constant pressure leaving your hands rooted on the cards. The idea of forgoing them entertains the rotten part of your conscience, and you choose to ignore the bullet points laid in the middle, jumping instead to the next section.

“With such a broad range of tracks with influences in R&B and funk, it’s hard to classify your music in one genre. You’re constantly experimenting with new sounds and vocals, is there any space left for reflecting yourself or who you want to be in your lyrics?” Despite being sudden, the transitions you use to fill the gap sound natural to your ears, and the thread of your story is steady, leading up to the more pressing questions assigned–that’s until it splits.

“I don’t know about that, you’ll have to tell me.” He shifts from his position, crossing his legs and redirecting his attention to you. The distance between you does not shift–it’s the implications which seep through his casual tone that make it so intimidating. “You know me well–you did your homework, right?”

The balance sways too much and ends up bending to his corner, down to its foundation. He is too relaxed, too confident, while you are too scared to breathe. You now understand why he accepted the interview instead of turning it down like he has done with those he received in the last months. You’re confident in your belief, yet his tone sets off a range of possibilities running through your head regarding what he might continue with. None of them are clear to discern between, but they can somehow prepare you for his next hit.

“Those of you in the media assume you know me best, no? I could play any tune and I’m sure one of you can spot what’s made up and what’s really me,” he tells with the same calamity and inflections from the sphere of truth, which would make one believe and comply. “You wouldn’t waste your time writing all those articles if you didn’t.”

“Are you thinking about if you were to play something for us?” You’re treading on thin ice, but he is nonchalant even as he is confronted with your question, though the glint in his eye says otherwise.

He’s caught on.

“Yeah, ‘course…if I were to play. Fine, I’ll play something for you.” Faster than you’d expect, he picks up the same acoustic guitar at his feet before settling it in his lap. “Any preference? Anything that you love?”

“I…I Rock, Therefore I am,” you say, and you’re surprised at how stable your voice comes out. Your choice could never reach his level of boldness and neither could it reach your previous one, but it has risen since you have started. You brought to light a track which is essential to him and his message, while still coming back to the album in question. You’re doing anything you can to give continuity to your interview, to constrain his deviation and criticism even though it doesn’t have to do with you, and it is more than transparent.

“Mmm, that’s a good one.” He nods, licking his lips as he pats the guitar in a similar rhythm. “I could accompany you, since nobody’s gonna focus on me with you here. Would you like to sing?”

You pause, looking at him with wide eyes. “But…but I’m not a singer.”

“Neither am I,” and the way he challenges you as he’s beaming sets your loins on fire.

“I–I don’t know what to do. I’m sitting with such a presence, and he’s the one telling me to sing,” you stutter as nervous laughter bubbles in your throat. The thought is so ridiculous you are even admitting to vulnerability, certain that he is toying with you again. You stare at him, bottom lip caught between your teeth as the hint of a smile plays on his own and gods, he is beautiful. All delicate features and sharp corners, tight grips and careful fingers, who could say no to him?

You shake your head, overwhelmed tears glossing over your eyes, structures tinted by admiration disbelief shaping your confession: “You’re killing me.”

“That’s the idea.” He chuckles, brightening up, and the creases near his eyes deepen as he urges you on. “Give me a little, come on.”

The melody starts, and the temptation to get lost in it thrums under your skin, sinking part of your doubts in a muted place. As of now, he is commanding your limitations, and his demand is too innocent to further cause you trouble. Previous instructions made you approach him with such hesitation, told you to comply with his wishes and not press him too much about them. But what were you supposed to do when he was telling you to take the spotlight from him in a set put together to serve an opposite purpose?

In a soft murmur, you begin the first verse after the chorus, foot tapping the floor cautiously as you fixate on him–waiting for his reaction.

“There we go. Let it out, sugar.” He continues strumming, bobbing his head to as you end the verse before you’re tongue-twisting your words as you near a faster part. “Good, good–this is way more fun than those stupid photoshoots.”

You giggle into your hand, beyond embarrassed at what you did, so much that it drowns your sense of the current reality. What comes next is allowed without much thinking. “How did you end up there?”

“My manager wanted the extra promo and hey, money is money.” He shrugs. “I need something to fall back on in case this whole singing thing ends up failing me. Might have to work a little on my body for photo shoots, but I think I have the face for it. What about you?”

From your peripheral vision, you see the main cameraman raise his hand, fingers splayed out and signalling the five-minute warning, and any intention to answer dies in your throat. The lightheartedness shared between the two of you vanishes without any trace and the previous pressure lays over the back of your head and bends your vertebras bit by bit.

You peek at the script, checking on what you already knew. Sure, you enjoy listening to him, he has cooperated for a majority of your time together, he’s answering your questions–just not in the way you anticipated. He starts off with your lead, yet he turns it around just as fast, reminding you of the rhythm and bass in his songs, the crescendo that he builds and drops at his own will.

One part of the flashcard you’re holding threatens to rip, you realise as your grip tightens more and more and the paper holds no real barrier against pain. The tips of your nails dig into your palm and the foundation for the smile you have built shatters the more you realise you could never reach a balance. None of it made sense with your current situation.

Pleasing the directors meant filled-out grins that were unmovable, thoughts already printed and the cover of undivided attention as you rehearse what you’re told. You had no real basis on your guesses of what pleasing V meant, but it came clear that he didn’t sit well with rehearsed ideas by how he eyes your mouth. More time is ticking away, counted with the beats of red in the camera lights. It’s ironic how before even considering him for an interview, you’ve pushed for more freedom in your interaction, and now that it came to you without meaning to, it forces you to reconsider your position. Your stomach sinks the more your grin lifts.

And at once, it drops. You nod to yourself, almost frantic, and you have no conscience of disturbing your hairstyle or the golden pins in your hair. You’re hyper-aware of everything that’s keeping parts of you in place, and instead of building composure, this time they have you hesitant and self-conscious. Even the way your heel sinks into the floor has your balance off–there’s nothing natural about how you’re sitting, back straight and chest pushed out. The imposing status which came with performing these acts leaves you bit by bit, and you sink with the weight in his stare. He’s expecting more.

You recall your next lines, you are supposed to ask him about future collaborations, you’re supposed to ask about him feeling threatened by rising stars, but the transition sounds wrong to your ears. Who out there is doing things like him? Who has a more distinct identity, who sits on top of the balance between brattiness and maturity? He would never feel threatened. You can’t find it in yourself to believe, so with the utmost care, you move your shaky hands from your lap and put the script down, ignoring the anxiety which flares up in your gut.

What about you?

“Of course you do,” you breathe out. “It would be a pity though, seeing how well you’re doing now.”

“Hey, I’m talking about you too. That’s a face you want to capture, I’m sure the audience agrees.”

His compliment stirs up the same simmering warmth, but you remain impassive, your goal now becoming clear in your mind. “My influence is nowhere near yours, I won't have a lot to give up. You're sharing a lot with this album, expressing your wishes and reprimanding current society. Is the title connected to your vision, to what you'd like to see as a future for us?”

“Partially? Chaos and disorder, fame and surrender…those are things you have to experience for yourself before daring to speak out. They’re ideals, fulfillments–well, in a sense.” His candour sets a new spiral of hope within you, glazed with uncertainty–you feel you should stop hoping as if you know him. These feelings would soon vanish, you recognise, but now they are your main influence, and all you feel a sense of is hurt at how easy you are for him.“When you want to reach any of these, you give too much of yourself, and there’s always the chance to feel empty once you did. And it's...it's one of those things you're wishing but you're also scared of.”

You don’t know him, you don’t–

“Did you have those thoughts when you released your first songs? Speaking from experience?” you ask as if you’re testing the syllables for the first time.“Your style changed over the course of the albums, even your instrumental, the–the sounds refer to different emotions…”

It is his turn to remain quiet, to gaze at you like he depends on you to give more so he has the courage to answer. His eagerness slips from him like sand and it pours on your fingertips, and you wish to pry further into the space he let you open.

“Did anything… did the inspiration arise from your lifestyle?”

“My lifestyle?” he grimaces. He grips his sheer shirt, pulling it to cover his sternum. “What do you mean?”

“Talking about your first release, Stigma. The feelings of resentment and not being worthy made your audience empathize and relate to it, a–”

“Did you?” He’s focused on you, any hint of the teasing he has been playing with gone. Confident demeanours evaporate, and you’re met with an image you’re seeing for the first time–he doesn’t match the image of a notorious rockstar, he looks like the song’s writer awaiting your verdict.

Stigma, such a personal piece, released as a studio version in his early twenties. The melody you listened to until the pieces of glass in his chest grew into yours and brought conflicting emotions, desires of forgiveness. The ode missing any rights to say sorry, for abandoning and being unable to protect, which is too far from the man in front of you. The one who a spotless image and has no care in the world about who he touches. If he was closer, you’d tell him all about it, explain in your best terms how it touched you. You’d further consider the possibility that he hasn’t changed much from the man he was then, emanating the same warmth. You’d soften your gaze and let your mouth fall open the way it should without time stopping cold.

Instead of pinning you with his stare, you imagine he’d smile and mirror your expression. He wouldn’t make your sphere this small, like he wants to take from you and only for himself. He’s not downplaying his intensity, almost pleading with you to answer, like it was a moment shared between the two of you and nothing else, like he needed your answer. He doesn’t budge. He waits and wants.

“What do you need forgiveness for?”

And when you’re too scared to give, he still speaks.

You don't want to break yourself apart from this moment, content with the tension and the constriction in your chest as it is allowing you to see bits of him not yet explored. Your silence makes you feel you went too far to keep him close, built the same hope to him, as your willingness to tell him about it scatters. There's not enough time to explore his true depth, no time for you to open up and bloom as he must have liked. Two fingers up serve as a reminder that your conversation is nearing its end, and you're hyper-aware of it, lips rubbing against each other and pulling bits of lipstick off their creases.

“It's a lot... a lot of responsibilities that I've neglected,” you say because you can't find it in yourself to leave him empty and he carefully follows your trail. “Do you think it’s a responsibility now? That you’re the face of a genre right now, are you pressured to put out songs that deliver strong messages?”

What you wished to avoid on your part manifests upon his, as his mouth opens in recognition and his body falls back on its ordinary, relaxed position, at the same distance it was in the beginning.

“Responsibility? It sure doesn’t feel like one. Freedom and responsibility–they’re not tied together. I have no sense to be a role model, but if the public takes my actions, my lyrics and makes them into something freeing, then all props to them. That doesn’t have to do with me personally.”

“What should we expect for this year? Is promotion going to continue with no televised appearances or are we looking at another possible hiatus?”

“You'll have to wait and see, but I…I wouldn’t call it a hiatus. I’m never far enough from music to say I’m taking a break from it. I’m still gonna sing, I’m still gonna write.” He looks away from the cameras, head leaning on his hand–“I just leave it for me sometimes.”

The last finger up rushes you to the written ending, gazing for one last time at V, but your previous excitement is replaced by something more demure whose rise blossoms from underneath your vocal cords.

“What a way to end this. Thank you to V for joining us here today, and thank you to everyone else at home watching. Make sure to tune in next Friday for more in-depth looks at our latest stars! Have a good night!”

He stares at you, forgetting any acknowledgement of your mention, and while you get up to bow, he remains seated. You don't stay and question, choosing to have this moment for yourself, to collect your breath before you walk backstage. As you reach your corner, you squeeze your eyes shut, wasting no time to take your blazer off and hug your shoulders, letting your head rest in that space. It doesn't erase the past hour in its entirety, but it silences your thoughts, and you're grateful for the moment of silence you get as the rest of the crew wraps up for the day.

The volume rises with your guest's voice again and you turn around to follow the sound, “PD! What a great choice you’ve made with this one!”

He says his congratulations as he grasps the man's hand and shakes it once, impassive. “Thank you for having me on your show, I look forward to working with you in the future,” His attention switches to you as he notices you staring back, and he makes a point to pat your director's shoulder before dropping it entirely, “If you’ll allow me, I’d like to congratulate our interviewer too. Don't want to keep all of you for too much.”

The same hand hovers over the small of your back as you lead him back to your vanity, and it only grips when you're under the safety of the lights and his body covers you from the rest of the scene.

“Before more pleasantries, I want to know whose idea was it to ask those questions? And don't lie to me.” His gaze is intense, yet his demeanour screams calm to the point where even his demand sounds gentle. “Was it you?”

“I…well…the writers are the ones responsible for my speech, but I was curious too,” you say as your eyes linger on the ground. “You gave me a hard time. I had to ask things of my own since none of the ones from before were working.”

He nods as if he takes it all in, and you switch back to him, wanting to grasp his expressions, understand his actions better.

“Curious too, huh...Did I satisfy?” He quirks an eyebrow at you, tongue prodding at his cheek. “Or would you like to know more?”

“I...of course I want to.”

“I’d like you to have dinner with me. Have more with me.” He’s testing your reaction more, next words slow and languid as they roll off his tongue, “Would you?”

“Are you… are y–…”

“If you’ll take me.”

You don’t register what comes first, your nod or how he grins before gripping your hands and bringing them to his lips, quick, grateful. No longer are you surprised at how your heart jumps, you find the feeling pleasing–after all, it's better not to worry about it. There are much more putrid thoughts eating at you.

You never know what to expect from him, and you guess it's one of the things that incited you the most about him. It left space for you to make your assumptions, to twist the narrative in any way you liked about his stare, his intentions. His contribution, the invitation he extended rose hopes for you to give new meanings to his actions and mould yourself from those pointers in the time you spent away.

You talked to him for such a short time, yet it was enough for you to wonder. You wondered why and where he would take you, if he would choose places which suited his fine taste or matched the raw core of his character. If he wanted his girls like he guided his grip, a little caught up and tight around the edges or loose and ready to move with his flow. If he left enough space for you to squeeze deeper within the cracks you have scratched across his surface.

An address and a time is all that has been given to you, and you should be more nervous, since you were left in obscurity for the most part of this meeting, but all you feel is a thrill that moves along your spine and makes your chest rise up and your smile widen. You had no qualms yet regarding what he needed from you, and you found that in moments where your face wasn't grazing his line of vision he wasn't too keen on revealing more. It did not bother you, since you’ve seen him more in passing, a word here, a promise and a thankful smile there. He mentioned how he would love for you to meet him soon since he'll be leaving town in the next two weeks to perform at the Arts Center. You can't blame him for his decisions, you really can't, because he needed the privacy, and hadn’t it been for his clear sincerity, the depth of his words would have risen and vanished like smoke later when you lost sight of him.

It was an interaction which needed you to be close, needed you to speak it into the existence in the rhythm of his exhales, or else the string would be broken and the linearity of him opening up further would lose its path. The invitation was there, no shame or misunderstandings: he knew he was the lock and you the key, and he dared for nothing else than you opening him up yourself.

That's how you chose to go for now, sure and easy to open, had everything loose on you as opposed to the constriction you felt in your first interaction, part from the clothing and part from him. You smooth over the material of your two piece as you step out of the taxi and into the lobby of a four-star hotel with the same uncertainty you felt upon approaching him; only that this time it diminishes when you catch sight of the same metallic choker, sat over the dip between his exposed collarbones.

Taehyung raises from his seat when he spots you, a tint of a smirk gracing his lips when his gaze follows the curve of your hip and falls into the nets of your stockings.

“I’ll have to apologise,” he muses as his hand hovers over your waist in the same way he did before, fingers brushing against it only serving to make you more alert. “A rundown bar full of beer and rowdy bikers is more my style, but all of them were closed. I hope this will do.”

“Disappointing indeed. I didn't take you for a man with such elegant tastes,” you say, yet your tone is teasing–he had all the ground to represent any style, class or level of luxury there was. And by the fine silk that gave peeks to the planes of his chest and his smooth stomach, there was no doubt he loved to be surrounded by the same delicacy that his voice gave into the world.

“But I'm standing with you, aren't I?” He slows his step as he leads you towards the elevator, pushing the button for the secluded area on the second floor. The gold of the chandeliers and dark of the night painted between the window frames accentuate the atmosphere, making his words sound all that more intimate. “And I still want to sit with you. I say I'd need a little taste for that.”

You cater to his wish with a smile and he lets you pick where the two of you will sit. The place is crowded for this hour, and you find yourself at ease within–there are not many faces paying attention to you, most who do choose to watch are glued on V. On Taehyung. The Taehyung who left his leather in his closet for a shirt opened at the first two buttons. Each wrist tinks with the gold he wears around it, complementary with the fine chain that starts at his cartilage and meets the diamond stud on his earlobe. The colours only serve to complement his tan skin, a portrait of holy aura which shifts its focal point when he takes a glass of champagne from the tray and returns in your proximity.

“Is this usual, or did you need a change of scenery for now?” Now. The moment where you're closer to him than before, where you sit on stools next to each other and wonder out loud, part confirmation, part you wanting to know more about him, to hear him talk and never stop.

“How much is this for another interview?” he retorts, fingers rubbing the glass surface of the counter as he leans his head into his left hand, eyes on you. Mischief suits him well and paints a splitting image of a poster problem child for all the right reasons. You lick your lips as you watch him, pondering on the right answer when he changes the game, plays you as he likes, “Then how much do you want to know me?”

“I...I told you already. I was curious too,” you pout, chest constricting for the same right reasons and this time you can't control it. You had an eagerness about you which you didn't explore till now, didn't know yourself how much it aches when you let it free and you’re met with the wrong reaction. Sure, you were young and starry-eyed and willing to be swayed, a dream for the producers out there–but too much eagerness also showed inexperience you wished to avoid.“I could ask the same about you.”

The pure that Taehyung saw in you comes and goes, and he hopes he can see it clear enough to cut through and sink his teeth into it. This game that you're playing, the bits of vulnerability that you give him, they all serve to tease him, to pull him in more. He knows how the rules work and does not mind bending to them as long as it meant more of you. He's looking to prompt you, get the things you want from him out of you, so he lets out a soft 'oh?' and waits for your reaction, waits for you to continue.

“You...you didn't invite me here for nothing,” you whisper, fiddling with your thumbs as you lean in more as if you're telling him a secret he sees as endearing. “You want to find something out as well.”

“And if I do?” He chuckles, tongue toying with the edge of his canine, making a show of the syllables that make his mouth gape. “Will you be nice and tell me what I need?”

Your career path has led you into being taught what to say, and your mind doesn't grasp all the meanings in his message and the speed at which he turns things around. Without a clear string, it's too easy to get lost in him, to say yes baby, I'll do what you ask. He doesn’t try much though, and you suppose it’s a trait quintessential to him since you haven’t seen anyone behave similarly in recent years.

Because of him starting at your current age, the four years of experience place him ahead of you in the search for answers. The bits and pieces you found about his private life, you discovered he’s never tried to flaunt his experience to anyone–but in the league he is in, you imagine he is not lead by his impulses with the ease that you are.

A fight for control from two different sides of you, that's what it is, in which imitating his game is too dangerous but letting him win is overwhelming to your senses.

“Words,” he reminds with sweetness pouring out with every hit of tongue on the roof of his mouth.

One beat, then another.

“I made the time,” is what he says when you remain quiet, “I wanted this. All I ask is for you to talk to me.”

“What would you like then?” You tiptoe on a high edge, one which gives him far more reign than you have wished for.

“I'll let you ask your questions, answer the best I can,” he suggests, the steps pleasant to your ears. “Then I'll ask mine. I only want your honesty. Can you do that for me?”

The intensity of his gaze, laced pretty in carefulness has your shyness taking over and your head dropping down to stare at how you continue to play with your hands that are grazed by his long fingers. Other times, his touch served to bring your focus back to him, but now you concentrate on the opportunity he offered as his fingertips linger on your skin.

“What made you take that step?” you make eye-contact when you're sure your voice doesn't waver. “You had a stable career, not the best. But how could you know breaking off from your label was the best option? You had enough there.”

Your breath leaves you at once in a mirror gesture of his, since you're aware you dipped into the curiosity of others before you, the one he was asked at his past interview. The one where he made sure the media didn't toy with his boundaries, answers echoing deep within the man who overstepped his status. V stared at him with a fire untamed, questioned about the other's worth to talk to him in such a way, and the same fire is reflecting against you, only that it burns in both his hazy eyes and your belly.

“That's a little personal,” he comments, and his fingers squeeze your own. “Are you sure it's worth it?”

You know you made a bold move, maybe even too bold for you, but the impulse does not care about the implication. The rough edges and insistence to never cater brought you to him, and in his way, he was an inspiration, a dream forbidden for ordinary people like you. In his way, he ended up laying a foundation where you’re free to live through him as you wish–and you needed to further your fantasy.

“I followed their ways,” he begins with a calamity uncharacteristic to how he's looking at you right now. “And I'm not saying that they're bad, but in time I realized my way was the best way. I got to that point where I was comfortable with them telling me what to do and what to write because I had a promise it'll be well.”

“And it was.”

“But it wasn't what I wanted to do. On stage, what you see, that's part of me. I didn't want to sell it, to act and be a character, and I...” His stare is blank as he ponders over his thoughts before the corners of his mouth rise on arches, and the core of his composure changes, lifted to his usual spirits once again. “What you see is what you get.”

It's a surprise to you how it hurts. Your past assumptions match his description and with the discovery, you feel like too much of a familiar for him, a place you were never supposed to reach in any daydream of yours. You couldn't have anticipated anything close to it, for him to speak to you with such candour, but, unlike you, boldness has always been a trait of his. Chains pull at your heart's desire and deep down you wish for him to stop, but the temptation, the stakes, they're all too high, and the possibility of him telling the truth, you can't–

You can't stop now.

You lean in, and your hand slithers under his so that yours is now half-covered by gentle fingers. “We saw a different side of you before that. We saw Taehyung, the music you made before, the vulnerability–”

He hisses at the mention of his real name but doesn't press it further, too caught up in you. “Those are me too. But it's not what the public wishes to see until way later. Why shouldn't I have fun then? I'm not stupid, I–”

“You didn't seem to care about it when you started out,” you interrupt, a habit unheard of from your part coming to light because of images of the man you admired, the one on stage and the one in front of you not matching.

“I didn't know a thing when I started out. I didn't care about implications or labels or processes, I wanted to sing. They sure were quick to tell what they thought about that.” Patience hasn't been a nice cloth for him, and now it wears him down, trying to hold down the revolt simmering under his skin. His tone remains gentle, but you pick up on how he is abstaining from saying more.

“I didn't know I'd make music on demand and that I'd be either ogled or treated like I'm loitering. The label didn't anticipate for me to be the teenage girl's dream or some rebellion the tabloids get to write articles about.”

“But the attention you get...do you hate it?” You're aware of the superficiality of your questions, but you don't have enough experience or knowledge about him to add anything of value. You hope for him to continue.

“I don't. I like that my word has worth. I don't like that I had to compromise and give up songs with emotional value. I hate that I can't have an actual impact unless I act upon this part of my personality.”

“I don't understand.” The assumptions you made and narrative you pushed for yourself make it impossible to wrap your head around him telling you he wanted to continue the way you did. The route he's taken is plausible by itself, but with his attitude and his image in mind, with what he is presenting, you'd associate it with anyone else but him.

“What is so hard? They don't care about my emotions for now. No one made a career out of feelings.” The air he takes tastes bitter, and it's obvious by how it filters through his clenched teeth. “They'll be happy to see me in a scandal, b...break down a little, and I can't stand for it. Better to let it out early than have it be my downfall later.”

The single word sounds foreign to your ears in the situation where you allow for the both of you and no one else. They, he says, but you have a feeling it's half meant for you as well. You have no time for offence, his guilt is your guilt–you spoke in plural too, when you were too scared to speak for your own person. When you wished to detach yourself from the situation, to take the blame and place it onto others, onto another evil which would minimize your own interest.

Thoughts of personal feelings mingling with those which said your curiosity rose from the media's obsession–just like the others. It makes the situation blurry. Maybe you were a copycat looking to get her entertainment, maybe your head was empty and you'd get your excitement from the exploitation of his emotions. Maybe you saw a distorted image of yourself in him, one who instead of wondering and searching attempted to act and not let herself be pushed around.

Your job, your status, your inferiority in media–none of those had to do with anything you were asking right now. You craved to know for yourself, and the realisation sets another ache in your chest. What made it such a thrill that at the slightest loss of composure you would do anything to keep pushing once the barriers were lost?

For what did you need to always go deeper, and why did it satisfy you so much, pushing his buttons further until he snapped?

“You can't know if that's true.”

“Humour me, how many people would have listened then? Two? Thirty at best?” He shrugs, reminiscing of his teasing aura, yet stiffness is palpable in his movements. “I don't take directions from anyone in what I say or the person I am. Beyond that...”

He sighs and leans into his free hand, and the action further brings him in your line of vision.

“I'll be kind and say it's up to the audience.” The grin he gives resembles the mannerisms of the puppet he makes himself seem as it is pulled up against his will. “My job? I talk back, I sing, I make my money. That's all.”

The lines supposed to differentiate you from the mass of his supporters blur, since there was comfort in anonymity, in making statements which cannot be traced back to you. Before you can ponder more over your decision, you find yourself speaking.

“No, that's not what the audience asks for. They want a model for those with attitude, a reason to justify their actions. They can watch you, grow with you and if you succeed, they'll think they're the ones who made it.”

“I'm not looking for that.”

“It's not about what you–” are looking for, but it dies on your lips. There is pain and truth in how the public doesn't care, each selfish in their own purposes, as it was what all of you were made of. Dreaming and chasing an industry that benefits off exploiting your being, for the illusion of spotlight. To assure you will not be forgotten.

That’s what you craved as well, why you are pursuing your career and why for the first months, your satisfaction with your job has been held constant. Seeds of doubt blossomed here and there, yet none of them grew enough to have you fully aware–until him. You felt it with him, what it means for the light to be on too long, for the things you meant to be private to burn under the watchful eye of hundreds.

You can’t say how much you have left, but with how he has been holding on, he still has a say in it.

“Guess I've been lucky then, huh?” In this position, luck was subjective. With the minor role you have, your actions will never be justified the same or thought of as your original intentions. For him, whether he plays nice or not, there will always be reasons to defend and despise him for, no matter if he’ll ever do it again. “Living with the idea that I get to decide what matters. That's not the case.”

His reaction is not entirely triggered by you, but also the obsession regarding ownership of his work, with releasing music on his terms and at the time he felt like it. Topics of money were mentioned, but you're sure there was no issue with money from his side, and your theory is validated by the lack of articles about royalty scandals in the last two years. Irony seeps through the cracks whose foundation crumbles more and more.

“You might be right. Did they tell you to say this for confirmation?”

“Nobody’s telling me what to do,” you huff in indignation before your body takes a more mellow stance, “It’s just… It’s how it works. Always about them.”

“You think you know what this is about?” he prompts, and panic settles in your gut, mixing with rotten curiosity when you spot how his jaw ticks.

Chaos and disorder, fame and surrender, you need to experience those for yourself before you speak out.

“I–I learned a thing or two.” Of course, it's nowhere near what he learned, but you have your pride, you have to fight to reach his level. Fame is the only thing that's missing from your list, as living in the sphere of disorder comes with the erratic hours of your job. It’s not about having similar experiences though, it’s about drowning another boundary, one for which you're purposefully provoking him.

“Is it enough for you to talk to me like that?” He furrows his brows as he speaks, and you'd take it for a display of superiority if it weren't for the desperate edge in his tone, one which tells you he is demanding the respect he deserves. “I don't get it. What do you want to see in me?”

He doesn't let you answer when he sees you hesitating, prompted by your lack of self-assurance, by how you can't own up to the things you ask.

“Are you not the same?” He continues, but instead of the rebellion he accustomed you to, he sounds defeated. “You're also in the public eye. Did you think it would be different for you? There you have it, what happens when you grow.”

Throat stuck with thorns, you struggle to get the words out. “I'll never be like you. Our fields, our personalities... they're different. There's no one to back me up if I don't move as they like.”

No one. Your face falls when you realise your mistake, realise how you denied it in front of him. He had the status to afford to mess with you and leave you the consequences to sink into. With time taken to reflect, you don't see him as the shadow of a persona. You're sure about who he is now, the one who challenged you and provided you with the safety to get out of the norms he kept breaking.

“Then why ask in the first place? Why go off track? I got the script beforehand, the dog got on his knees for me to be on his show,” he retorts, careless at how anger and disbelief pour out of his mouth with the loss of composure. He looks lost as he switches from you and returns, he is searching your eyes for an explanation. “Was it some sort of plan? I knew everything you were gonna ask, I thought there would be no more surprises, but–”

“But?” you press, newfound desperation making its way through you and pulling you towards Taehyung. V. You can't comprehend the single letter anymore, don't care about whatever peace symbol or the relations, part of your past which brought you here is erased. You care for now, for him, for Taehyung.

Taehyung. His name is so pretty. Taehyung, Taehyung, Taehyung.

“Why?”

“Because I–because they–” You babble, too lost into chasing more of him, elbow sliding on the counter as you lean closer–until you're centimetres away from his face. Your thoughts turn frantic when you see his head down and hear nothing else from him, and you're reminded of the same nostalgia you saw backstage the first time–how more than ever you want to soothe it. You're scared to touch him, to offend or unnerve or do anything which would bring him back to you when you don't have the right words to mend his ache.

There's so much to say, how they never planned to make such an effort, how it was you and your curiosity and no rehearsed plan could have saved you since he was too much for you to handle. You gulp, throat dry and incapable of more when you hear his shaky exhale. It pains your heart and your breath when you force yourself to whisper, yet all you manage is a whimper when he looks up, hazy eyes staying open for one last moment before his forehead softly falls against your own,

and your world shuts.

His shaky hand reaches out, but it never ends up touching you. The shadow of his figure falls upon your exposed skin–you see it when you look down to hold onto the last bit of control you still had.  The brightness of your dress deepens into a much sultrier colour where his shadow brushes it, and he gasps when he sees the same connection. He's lost, and that leaves only innocence on his features, innocence that screams his need for guidance and begs your palm to settle on his neck. You crave for nothing more than to steady him, though all your touch does is bring him closer. With his lips hovering over your own, your heart breaks and falls into the pit of your stomach where it melts into heat. Why, why, why.

“Why me? Why are you not leaving me alone?”

He is too much, too close for you to think of anything else and it weighs on your conscience, manifests as a visceral press on everything that made you whole. The syllables sound broken, whispered in a breath you swallow as you lean in more, thumb stinging with the sensitivity of the touch when it brushes against his bottom lip. He has given it to you. Whatever state of mind or information you needed from him, he has given it up in place of being raw and open for you despite your ties with a world looking to break him apart. It's hard for you to pin what he expects from you now, if he expects pride to swell in your chest instead of the ache building in your core. You can't think beyond this moment, you can't care about anything else.

You want to kiss him. You want it so bad.

“I have no responsibility towards anyone, I don't owe anyone anything. Just like you had no responsibility to deal with my tantrums and how you still have no responsibility to give into me.” His lips tremble, and you catch the movement, fixed on nothing else but his open mouth and the laboured breaths he's taking. “You'll only do it if you want to. Why is it so hard to understand,”

“I'm sorry,” and you hope the broken words can convey their meaning. The distance cuts through you with the realisation of how far you are from attempting to seal it with a kiss.“You don't seem to take yourself that seriously, maybe it's why everyone assumed–”

“But that's what I'm doing. I am looking for someone that can take me seriously.”

You're locked in the sensation, locked up with the anticipation which prolongs the moment and you wait for the trigger to be pulled. He presses on, but the effect never comes.

"Oh, in that case, I–I'm..." you mumble, lost when your expectations aren't met but Taehyung silences any apologies you had when you feel his hands on you.

He cups your cheek with the utmost care, and it's unclear whether he wants to bring you back to earth or to bring you closer so that his mouth swallows the breaths you've been taking over his bitten lips. His hand glides up and down, uncertain in its movements as it descends to your neck, one step away from covering it whole. The delicacy of his gestures has you chasing after the warmth, head following after the motions of his palm, bending how he likes, easy.

“You risked so much. No one knew how he was going to react.” He takes you back to his previous question, the reason why he sought you. He's talking about the PD, the man in his forties who let no ground for the younger staff to express themselves, had no consideration for his employees when the cameras were off unless he had something to gain from it. Of course, he was not the only one with authority over you, but he is the one whose characteristics you can list in the eight months you have worked under him. You recalling how revolted you were in the first weeks–complaining to your mother endlessly before swearing you will not be rendered by it. If you weren't part of the situation, if that scene was not part of your current reality, you suppose you would react the same, but now the thoughts leave you voided of any emotion.

Taehyung is right, you are aware, but you cannot process it.

“Who would you have done this for? A friend?” He smiles for the show, eyes closed as his lip drags across your jaw, shy. “A lover?”

You let get lost in the sensation, let him play you as he wishes in hopes to avoid his question. His lips tease the curve of your jaw, but he never takes it further: he holds you in place as you search for an escape to cling to so you won't say it–how you wouldn't have done it for anyone who wasn't him.

“Your honesty. That was all I asked.” He sounds like he's begging, tampering with his tone and letting you see him for what he is to weaken your resistance. A fighter who refuses to die off gently. “That's my question. Indulge me a little, won’t you sugar?”

The plea shakes your entire being, and only when he moves to say it into your ear you can breathe again. You're brought back to a thread of reality he pulls at, though his presence and aroma still linger. You can feel your surroundings, and they still mess with your senses when you notice the gold all around you, how your thighs are resting between his spread ones. “I'd do it for anyone who needed it.”

Taehyung laughs in your ear, and the vibrations run shivers down your spine. “Quite the interesting answer. After what I've told you, I didn't think there was any way left for you to surprise me. Didn't take you for a liar.”

With how wrecked you feel, body walking the line between tight and boneless, you can't understand how he can be so sharp and articulate. How much experience does he really have with strings to bring a new star to light, alternating between your loss of control to his vulnerability which goes away on whims. You're taken aback by how his voice is drained of emotion and replaced with a sensuality that serves to tempt you. It comes naturally to him, and so you suppose that is why it’s easy to forget, because with him experience every moment in the present. You see him as a new person with each reply.

“I'll lead you back if you don't want this. I shouldn't have to beg,” he whispers and you jolt, too shocked at him suggesting leaving as he rests in your space, touching and breathing on you.

“I can’t,” you admit, weak, “I don’t want to humiliate myself.”

“How is it humiliating? You did not feel a thing when you asked me those questions. You had a lot to say before,” he teases with his tint of condescending before setting on gentle. “We can talk another time. We can do it when you’re ready.”

He gets up and waits for you, and the graveness sinks your stomach to the ground. You walk the same pace, steps slow and deliberate, and you fix your gaze on the floor to avoid looking at him, as if you'd announce your defeat, your weakness if you were the first to do so. Every move bringing you closer to the point of departure gives more heaviness to your legs and alarms ring in your head in the rhythm of your heartbeat. You need to say something, you need to stay–

“It's still a truth, no matter if you choose to believe it or not.”

He says nothing, smirking when he spots traits of him in your stance, in your words. “Pretty games for a pretty girl. Too bad I won’t get to play them.”

You press the elevator button, the indicator lighting up to signal the following descend from the tenth floor. Crossing your arms in indignation, you lean against the cream wall and in his personal space, looking at him from under your lashes. “You can’t say that, you’re hurting my pride.”

“Come on, I have no intention of doing that, I’m just trying to work you a little, get my entertainment. It gets tiring–kinda lonely after a while.” He is rambling, distracted by the change of position and how you seem to be pulled in his direction. He gulps, eyes wide at his own actions, as if he surprised himself by holding onto a mask that cannot stay any longer. In your mind, the meaning blurs. You can't make the difference between the two variants of his truth: if he is selling you the transparency or if it is a figment of your perception. Acknowledging how it might not be an act would only bring you back to where you were before, too scared to admit you’re wishing for it to be true.

“Is this why you want to hear this from me?” you urge, pulled towards him no matter the implication or how much you lie to yourself that you're not affected by it.

“Yeah. You don’t know how lonely it is. You don’t know how bad it is to be in need of a touch,” he smiles but it's full of need and bitterness, the heat of his exhale falling on your neck as he speaks into it. He's far too close for you not to notice every move, how your hairs rise as he noses along it.

“There’s all these people–” you protest, but instead of pulling away, you grip the hair that's touching the nape of his neck. You're not sure if you mean for an ode his audience, or a warning about the people around you whose interest you lost, but who could turn around any minute at the slightest sound.

“So? Are they going to touch me? Fuck me how I like it?” he demands, chest pressed against yours, and it's so rare to anything dirty spew out of his mouth. The effect is far more powerful, far more wrecking. Oh, how it bites. “What do they have to give to me?”

What do I have, you mean to say, but your thoughts are blurred by the groan he lets out as his lips seal over your own, hand pressing on the wall to steady himself as he presses into you more. His pace is frantic, hands gliding across your body and your rationality spreads all over the place till you have no sense of surroundings, till all you can register is his touch. The first sound is what gets to him, makes him push his knee between your thighs and spread them as his for the taking. You can't take it, impatient in your gestures as your splayed out fingers travel across his ribs, searching for more material to grip. Half-lidded eyes meet yours before falling on your jaw. His fingers reach to caress it for the briefest second, gentle hand pressing over of your throat as he sucks hard enough to bruise.

You can't explain it, how much you like him filling up your space, how much you like it that at every angle there's a piece of him on top of you. How he can't wait any longer to take from you, how he pins your wrist away as his other hand reaches and toys with the ends of your dress, lifting them so he can grip the fuller part of your thigh and wrap it around his own. Satisfaction floods your senses, since there’s no way around it anymore: you’re getting a side of the real him. The part of him who is reckless, who can't wait to rip the same hems apart so he can reach deeper, move your underwear to the side and make a mess out of you.

Despite the roughness, despite how he handles you in a way you can’t do anything about it, you still feel safe. But it's not enough right now, no, no. You crave to lose that sense as well, to get so lost you'll never find your way again. You crave his mark, yes, you want for him to soothe the desperation eating at your conscience with no regards, take the pure part of you and wash it away with traces of his tongue. You’re about to voice it over his mouth when the sound of the elevator opening brings you back to earth, and you hold onto him to find a balance for your weak legs.

His hands cup your cheeks in support, like he fights to pull away but he can’t, heavy breathing falling over your lips–only that this time he bites at them and soothes the sting with another kiss.

“I'm not some tragic story. All that they say about me, my lifestyle and the shit I thought you were going to ask–those are true as well.” He grins, no regards to the people who pass by you. “Not even a little bit curious about those?”

Your body lights up at the words, familiar with the rumours of the things they do after performing, though it holds no fear or judgement. You couldn't say no to him right now, not after he kissed you, the dark red of your lip around his mouth a clear reminder of your act. A reminder that you’d love for your stain to reach deeper and take parts of him yet unknown.

Too lost in the possibility, you choose not to answer and pull him inside the elevator, hands brushing the satin as they glide down his back till they reach his hip bones. You don't think, pressing him against you once again as your hips drag against each other. He nods against your neck, a wrecked chuckle passing him as your breaths become weaker, needier.

“Fine. Eyes on me and I’ll show you.” With that, he distances from you and turns to press the button for the penthouse, eyes flaring with promises of more than you could handle.

The doors to the elevator open, the foreign space they hid making you shift closer to Taehyung, whose hand now remains tight around your waist. Throughout your interactions, you've made yourself one between the tints of gold, shone and felt burned under the bright lights–each colour scheme bringing the best version of yourself for everyone to see. This time, with no shame, dark surrounds you and overshadows your presence. With the exception of the ambient neutrality of the walls, all around you can find leather and recklessness, people who drink in motion with the bass, images you’ve taken as universal truth before meeting him.

The penthouse covers the same surface as the private area, might be even bigger at a deeper glance, only that the silk on tables and the big windows are replaced by accent walls and liquor stains on wood. You can't name most of the bottles you see, much less the faces, but you catch sight of the signs of luxury, how the drinks are adorned in coloured glass and cursive writing. Seems like that's the place Taehyung left his leather at, as everyone has a quintessential part from its element, from pants to chokers, to jackets that sit pretty over bare skin. At its core, the scenery is modern, but it keeps tints of the classics, with an imposing chandelier being the only source of light, the bulbs inside covered in translucent reds. Pairs of eyes turn to you as they see you, careful to move with him at once.

A shadow of scarlet falls upon the centre, where most of the group sits, where most of them turned to watch the both of you, giving meaningful glances to Taehyung and studying your figure, from the crossed model on your stockings to the slight rip in your dress. He grins when the attention lingers on him, pulled by his string, and he turns to you with mock curiosity gleaming in his eyes. “Looks like anything you've imagined?”

“I haven't got to that yet,” you confess, thoughts of Taehyung's presence alone overwhelming you. “Is this the place–the place where...?”

You haven't considered this aspect of his life in its entirety, too caught up in untangling the wires lost from the start of his career and up to the point of now. As you see him, he is in control of every aspect of his identity, making active choices of where and when he'll show his vulnerability–it's hard to imagine him losing that control without his will like the ones here seem to do. Your mind swims in all the possibilities, mixing the scenery with what you have heard and what you have experienced with him. His inhibitions were limited regardless, though their level has yet to be discovered.

The picture snaps on the newspapers you read were blurry and inaccurate but captured the same essence: he hung around places where someone could mingle, make relations, drink, hold no inhibition when it's about feeling each other, no matter the person, no matter the number. Places where he had the opportunity to deviate from whatever it was imposed from his lifestyle as a songwriter and a chance to experience the fantasy people associated with his kind. As the clarity of the area is faded by incense, opulence drowns your remaining senses. You feel out of it, and oh, how you'd shame this if it was anyone else but him.

Him, you think, for him it's not enough. He deserves more than that.

Taehyung ponders over his answer, slight pout shaping his mouth, confirming all your thoughts. He does deserve more. “For now.” He leads you towards the corner where the appetizers are, parallel to the line of instruments and sound equipment. Ever so careful, he avoids the centre where people stare and nod at him. “They needed a place to bring all the instruments till we move to the next city.”

“I'm sure this is the case,” you state without much conscience, and there would be more sarcasm laced in your tone if it weren't for your disbelief and closeness to Taehyung, which has you reconsidering the roots of this place. “What do you do here?”

His brows raise, free hand gesturing towards the groups. “You're free to do as you like.”

“I'll stay with you” you blurt, feeling your cheeks heat up at how fast you made your choice. “I mean, of course. Is this the rule for everyone?”

“Well, who am I to tell them what to do? Mm?”

“What if they ask you to?” The question has you holding your breath as you watch his gaze darkening, the intensity from moments ago blazing in his eyes. He reaches out to cup your face, thumb massaging your lip and your lids are already dropping when he presses deeper–moments before a hand slaps upon his shoulder.

“You said you wouldn't be here tonight,” the man says as Taehyung cuts to him, confusion morphing into acknowledgement. “We didn't expect to see you so soon.”

His tone is snarky, more scolding than playful but you suppose it is a casualty since Taehyung smiles at him. The latter mentions how he was not planning to do so, and his eyes travel to you by instinct, making the stranger watching with intent, doll eyes sharp as they study you. Taehyung introduces him as Yoongi, mentioning how he plays the keys and works for his previous label, the one deciding to stay while Taehyung left.The dark-haired man nods at you and disappointment spreads under your sternum at how he doesn't pull you closer to introduce yourself like you've seen around here. Like you've seen the two women in cut-out shirts do, shake hands and whisper to each other before embracing. Last you've seen them giggling, tangled in each other as you passed the fuller part of the crowd. Thoughts of sticking out too much overshadow past desires, and anxiety climbs up your spine once you make eye-contact with Yoongi again.

“We worked on a couple instrumentals together. And this is–”

His talk is interrupted by another presence, and if Taehyung had the looks and emanated the thrill of the rockstar, the man in front of you had it pouring out of every pore. While Taehyung is a subtle controlling aura, asking for what he wants through tints of games and teasing, the other man's smirk tells you he had no qualms about being upfront about his needs. His body tells the same by the open shirt halfway down his chest and the way his hands lay his pockets, how he stands with his legs spread. Even with the blur around, you can make out shades of messy pink hair and coloured drops of sweat which have dripped down his forehead. He looks like the kind of wanderer you'd lose yourself in with no mind, one who seems like he doesn't care for hiding, skin glistening and pairs of hoops hanging from the cartilages. Crystals adorn the translucent silk brushing his chest, sticking to bits of skin where sweat has sunk in. It didn't take a lot to figure out that if Taehyung was the core of this place, this man was a split image of its surface.

“Jimin, good to meet you.” His aura shifts and you're marvelled at how young and pure he does look when the grin he wears emanates warmth and self-assurance in the way Taehyung's does. “The one responsible for all of this.”

You suppress the reflex to bow your head as you introduce yourself, aware that there was no room for respect and formality in a place like this. He seems to lose the last tints of shame as you take him in, and you presume he wouldn't mind more arrangements with you. Jimin, in all his careless glory, is a pretty face the tabloids wouldn't mind. A face you wouldn't mind seeing every night from your TV screen as you breathed out the worries of the day. While fine taste suited Taehyung the best, Jimin's luxury was written in the same cursive next to the signature of his name.

“Say, how did you meet V?” Jimin throws, focused on you, and Taehyung's hand on you splays out, a change of position which lets you know that he is listening, more carefully than you'd like to consider. Heat is still simmering under your skin as a reminder of his touch he is not keen on letting you forget, back arching when his hand moves to your stomach over your belly button. It's not fair, he can't demand answers from you when Taehyung pulls you in like this and you feel his solid body on yours.

You can't think when he touches you like that, with warmth burning at your side and your mind focusing on nothing but how hard it is to bury the urges of following the trail of his mouth. Pressure lays upon your shoulders but it sinks in your stomach and manifests in how you pulse from it. It's too much, the attention that makes you feel small under their gazes, makes you steel yourself to hold eye-contact with the man in front of you. “I was with him in my last interview.”

Jimin's face lights up in recognition, and a wicked curiosity stains the previous warmth of his smile. His gaze is lost in the red marks on your throat before switching back to your eyes, not bothering to hide his interest. “The bold one, huh? Are you like this always or is my Taehyungie over here making you act like that?”

“Jimin.” What comes off your date's lips is a warning, but he fights against his lips curling. “You're too much.”

Fake innocence settles over the man's features as he tilts his head at you two, peering at how Taehyung's holding you. “What, you can't blame me for wanting to know. I'm sure she had her questions too.” With another glimpse at Taehyung, Jimin abandons the focus, taking a step closer towards you. “Did he satisfy? It's hard to get him to talk when he insists so much on being an ass.”

Another one and he'd be in your personal space, body pressed to your front.

“He's a little impatient, isn't he?” Jimin chuckles, but the connotations are open enough to include you in his game. “I didn't expect him to bring you here so soon.”

“She wanted to know.” Taehyung shrugs and says nothing else.

“Did she? In that case, you can ask me all about it.”

Although Jimin himself resembled the protagonist of any fantasy you’ve had arisen from the crescendo of the moonlight, had the boldness you so much enjoyed in his approach, you couldn’t comply. Your presence there was owed to Taehyung. Your interest laid on discovering parts of him yet unknown, untangle webs from such a complex character that details beyond him overwhelm you–aiming to get to know Jimin would be too soon, too much.

“I asked him,” you begin, words forming with difficulty. “I do want it...from him.”

Jimin purses his lips and nods with you. “Such a sweetheart, and so eager to ask...him. Who gave you the reign for it?”

The question makes your blood boil and your walls rise in defense, possibilities of forgoing the thoughts you've had of him running rampant. A part of you feels that Jimin's approach comes from how protective he needs to be, of both the collective and Taehyung. You're sure exclusivity must be kept, and the stamp comes with being a judge of character, an ability to look beyond and into the transparency of outsider intentions. With the way you're clinging to Taehyung, you can't understand how Jimin might think you're here for any other reason. More than pissing you off, it is upsetting you.

“What did you do to deserve it?”

You unlatch from Taehyung in need of something to prove, hoping that Jimin can see through you without your use of words or the need to scream for it. Despite how fresh into the scene you are, you can figure out that once you have to say what you mean, the words lose their value.

“Or what will you do, hmm?” Your breathing is heavy as Jimin zones into your lips. The tension lays a thick web in your stomach that's grows all that more intricate when he arches an eyebrow at you, provoking you with the same vigour. Anger and craving tighten against each other like vines, you wish to prove him wrong so bad it fades the lines of morality you built. Teeth clenched, you take the remaining step towards him and break the barrier as you fist his shirt before turning around and roughly pulling Taehyung into you.

You feel restless, impatient in your own skin as you cup his face and slam your lips against his, and he lets out a choked moan as presses against you, grip tight as he sits you on the table. The sound of glass shattering is deafening to your ears before you sink underwater, muffled by his breath. Your tongue licks at his bottom lip and he opens his mouth further and lets you lead as you fall back, dragging him with you and spreading your legs further to accommodate him better.

There is a rush you get at the fact you know Jimin is watching, the image of his expression stirring you on further and making you spread your legs as much as you could to bring Taehyung closer in his rut against you and prove something to the man. Your thigh knocks against Jimin's hip on purpose, and his fingers fit themselves into the dark nets, and oh, how you like it when he pulls on them.

“Take a shot with me.” Jimin offers to Taehyung as big hands drift to pull your skirt down, until he could slip his fingers under your stomach. Taehyung struggles to break apart from you, the softness of your lips molding on his tempting him to forget anything about paying attention. You whimper against them, rotten satisfaction burning your loins as you feel his hands falter and how the rhythm breaks, and you can't stop thinking it's all you. You're making him feel like this.

“I’m not drinking,” Taehyung states as he lifts your thigh to press deeper into you, rough drag of his cock against your clit.

“From me. He'd drink from you though.” You break apart at the affirmation and look at Taehyung to confirm, mouth gaping at how wild his eyes are, though there is no sign of denial. Confused, you grab a cup and wait for Jimin to fill it, turning back only when the whiskey nears the tip of the glass. He doesn't budge.

“Not like this,” Jimin tutted, tipping the glass so the liquid falls on your exposed skin, over your low piece and hipbones, and before you can express your shock you feel Taehyung pulling down your skirt, drops dipping into your belly and gliding further down. He falls to his knees, grabbing your hips and pulling you close to his mouth as his tongue cleans it all up, lips sucking on the skin there, so close and yet nowhere near enough.

“I could show you more,” is uttered through reddened lips before big eyes plead for your confirmation.

“Here?” you ask when he takes a step back and fumbles to take the belt off. Molten pleasure runs through your core at the idea and it lights up ablaze when you're met with his smirk.

“Where else? I'm sure that they don't mind.” He looks like he wants to say more, but something is stopping him. “Come here,” he motions as takes his belt off.

You take deliberate steps until your thighs brush against his, hands rising to splayed over them. There’s a hesitation on your part, used to him making the first move–some could say it’s shame burning in your belly at the faces watching, distant memories that remain in dark corners of your mind as the star twirls in his toybox. Taehyung stares at you with his head tilted and intensity sharpening his features no sooner than you feel the leather of his belt snaking over your shoulders till it reaches the back of your neck. He pulls on it teasingly, bringing your face to his. “I said closer.”

He leaves a fleeting kiss on your lips, enough to have your mouth chasing after his.

“Usually you're so well-mannered, why is it so hard to get you to listen baby? I've been patient with you,” Taehyung pouts as his hand reaches between your legs.“I think I deserve an apology.”

“I'm sorry,” you mumble as you throw your arms around his neck, face attempting to hide there as his finger massages over your underwear before deciding against it. He dives in, sliding his fingers in and circling your bare clit. Your mouth gapes at the sensation and at just how easy it would be for him to go further.

“Who are you speaking to?”

“I'm sorry, Taehyung.”

“That’s right, say that again,” he commands, but his voice is breathy. “Say my name again and I’ll give you what you want.”

“Why are you teasing her like that,” Jimin, whose presence you have forgotten about makes your breath hitch up in your throat. “Can't you see how bad she needs you?”

Your unfocused gaze falls on him, leaned against the same table Taehyung kissed you on with Yoongi not too far apart. You’re aware of how Jimin’s eyes devour you, taking in the image of your loss of control, but you’re not shy. You’re grateful for him, for the interruption, believing that his provoke Taehyung into hurrying up. And hurry up he does, unbuttoning his shirt, giving you all the space to roam over bare skin and over the band of his boxers.

Based on first impressions alone, Jimin is slim and chiseled, straight line defining his abdomen. He is a stark difference from bodies you have seen before, and trying to get used to it grows the surprise you have when you get a peek at Taehyung, who is solid in all the right ways and feels warm under your hand. A tiny sound from the back of your throat leaves you when you squeeze his shoulder and splay your palm on his chest, finding how his heartbeat matches yours.

“And just how am I teasing?” Taehyung smirks, pushing one finger into you, making you clutch the collar of his shirt. “Hear that? That’s what he believes.”

His free hand drifts higher till it reaches the belt still resting on your neck, gripping it to have his mouth brushing over yours as he takes his time spreading you open and curling them. “Am I so mean to tease such a pretty baby when she’s already this gone for me?”

You can’t say anything, too focused on trying to push back against his fingers so you’re getting more of him. Your head shakes in an attempt to soothe him before his tongue licks into your mouth and laces with yours, hints of champagne still on his tongue. When he parts, he takes the belt in his grasp and raises it until it reaches eye-level, the hand slick with you remaining on your mouth. “If I were teasing, I’d say this.”

You let your eyes close as the leather wraps around your eyes, presses on your lashes. You're more vulnerable like this, more easy to be watched without a shame in the world but you can't find will to care about it, too busy running your mind with possibilities of what Taehyung will do. The action heightens your other senses, hyper-aware of every move happening around you, so it comes as a no surprise when you feel Taehyung leading you backwards, pushing until your back makes contact with the table.

“I’d say you know me.” It is not a hypothesis, it is a statement, one that has been tested throughout your evenings and which gave you an illusion of hope. “I’d ask you to tell me where I'm touching and I'll let you cum.”

You don’t grasp the full meaning of his words until another hand lays softly upon your shoulder and your back arches from the touch. “Yes, yes–” you breathe out, pushing your chest up to slide the touch lower, to dismiss the softness in place of something bolder. The blazer you are wearing is pulled down and the skin to skin contact intensifies as you’re left with your two piece before you’re pulled into another body, bold teeth grazing the zipper of your top. Your back is left exposed, top still hanging by the straps on your shoulders, and no further move is made. It leaves you feeling that much more vulnerable.

Footsteps are heard to your right and the grip on the belt is released until another one takes Taehyung’s place. You can’t make accurate guess, but you follow the motion of his fingers, know that the large palm below your breast and brushing over your rib belongs to him before he moves again. Others are too soft, respectful almost, and your train of thought is confirmed when lithe fingers dip into the curve of your waist. It’s all too much, trying to keep up with his trail when the touches mix and hands intertwine and lay upon the other on your body until his fingers fuck into you again, making you moan into his mouth.

“Taehyungie, look at how much she likes it.” Jimin says into your hair, marvelled and Taehyung’s pace increases, a third finger teasing at you.

You’re getting closer to your orgasm, voice left free and inhibitions gone as you whine and whimper at the smallest touch, at every motion inside of you. Your reasoning pours from your mind right between your thighs, yet no matter the moans and how wrecked you feel, you still can’t prevent your mouth from speaking, questions left unanswered still gnawing at you. “Do you do this with a lot of people?”

“I do,” he admits freely, breathing into your neck, and you hold no judgement. He seems to press himself deeper into you as he anticipates your next question. “Most of the time with however many Jimin wants. You should see him, he's very demanding.”

His reply births another meaning to his words and spreads heat to your core, burning the remaining sanity you had so hard you jolt, clenching around his fingers. Taehyung, surrounded by more bodies. Oh.

“In the future, you could join us if you ask. Jimin doesn't seem too upset about it.”

“Aren't you happy? You'll have to ask.” Jimin teases, and he seems to hold it over your head, yet all his remarks do is make you roll your hips harder into Taehyung.

“That’s all it would take to make me do so much.” Taehyung pauses to laugh, a little wicked and breathless and right as you want him. “Scream your name? I’ll scream for you. I'll do it if you want it.”

He scissors his fingers inside of you to support his claim, that you throw your head back, sense of reality alternating the balance. Jimin holds you still, darkness muting everything else surrounding you.

“Ask me.” Taehyung demands, adding a third finger, and the knot in your stomach tightens until the friction has the fibers breaking the foundation apart. “Ask.”

“Make me cum,” you whisper, defeated. “Please make me cum.”

At your plea, he press on your clit, touch firm and tight and you unravel, thighs shaking as Taehyung mutters little praises. Before you can catch your breath, you don’t register how he keeps going until you feel how sensitive you are, body trembling against him but he is relentless, tone sweet and apologetic. “I’m sorry baby, you’ll need it.”

You hiss at the overstimulation, unable to register what he is talking about until head of his cock pushing against your sore clit and slides further, length reaching your stomach. You gasp as he repeats the motion, your thighs closing around him.

A higher, sultrier voice speaks and tangles you deeper into Taehyung’s nets. “Look at him, such a wicked man, and you'd let him touch you? Let him stretch you open? My, my.”

“Jimin's right. You'd let me do whatever I wanted, right?" he taunts as he pushes in inch by inch, stretching you beyond what you'd normally take. He's so big. "What a little deviant.”

Your moans are swallowed once he thrusts into you messily, all senses of morality gone. Yes, you would do whatever he asked, you realise as he sets a rhythm, slow and reaching depths that haven’t been stained before. Your morality ends in downfall as your head falls back, dizzy. In your haze you can’t think of anything else, only Taehyung, Taehyung, Taehyung, how let him take and take no matter who is watching and what might come after.

“Do you even care about the consequences?” Jimin's condescending tone makes its way to you, the world outside is so muted you hear it right by your ear. You whine, ashamed and needy, because you don't and you wouldn't even consider them if it meant getting your pleasure. Jimin takes it as a cue to push you further. “Oh, you don't, you're so close, you want it so bad, yeah? Poor baby.”

“Ah, fuck–please.” You can’t help begging when plump lips kiss behind your ear and the grip loosens, belt falling off your eyes, and you can’t understand how he’s in front of you, inside of you, moaning because of you. It’s not possible that you have such an effect because how far up he is, how unreal he is.

Taehyung gazes at you with unspoken promises and primal need to claim, and you want to scream how you’re his for the night, and you’d remain that way for other times, titles which dance to the night in fear of what the light brings spinning in your head.

As much as he toys with the idea of sharing, he is possessive, you can sense it in the way he grips you harder than the others, how he groans and keeps you at a closeness where your breaths mingle. You can sense it in how his body shields yours despite the setting and how he asked for you in the open and under scrutiny.

It turns out you get a sick pleasure from it, from the low pitch he can't shake off, familiar yet contrasting the playful aura resting within the shape of a classy surface. From what you have noticed, Taehyung as a man and in regards to his own self must not allow anything far away from the untouchable. Like this, he looks disheveled, messy from his sticky hair to his clothes and down to the way he is handling you.

“Look how well you're taking it, you're so good for me, shit.” He mouths at your neck and grips your chin before tilting it down, fixing your eyes on the motion of cock sliding in and out of you. “Gonna let me be a man, mm? Watch me stretch you out?”

You can’t nod, the breaths you’re taking and nothing else overwhelming you as you get closer, knot building so soon and with no regards to your feelings. Your hand travels and reaches into your thighs, opens you further for him as he fucks harder, faster, until your toes are curling in your satin heels.

“Oh–fuck. Too much.” you cry out when coming down from your orgasm you still feel him rutting into you.

“I know baby, I do–” he gasps, pace turning frantic as he pulls you to his chest, little whimpers leaving you at his insistence. You can't make out the ties between how weak his voice is and how hard he fucks into you, chasing his release. “Just a little more.”

He uses the last bits of his energy thrusting in deep, slow drags of his cock into you, a primal growl makes its way from his chest before pulling out of you.

His cock pulses on your stomach as he cums, and your fingers follow its path, bringing them to your mouth for a taste. The substance stains your lips as you dip it in, craving to swallow though you can't bring yourself to do it. An urge deep within tells you to await his request, tying you to him, “Open up.” You obey, letting him see his cum in your mouth, how your tongue swipes across it and Taehyung coos, reaching to caress your jaw. “Want more of me? Close.”

He drags his finger down your neck, throat bobbing under his thumb as you swallow. “Very good, such a sweet girl.”

You find comfort on the feel of sturdy wood, still pulsing from sensitivity and need, Taehyung's embrace holding your threads to reality. The bass is thumping along with the beat of your heart, but you can't hear anything else for now, senses surrounded by a thick fog that clears up only when you feel another hand turning your jaw. Jimin drags the wet tissue across your mouth, careful not to miss on the corners and you stare at his plump lips, remember how wild his eyes were as he dug the same fingers into his thigh, pushing himself not to touch you any further.

Your fingers circle his wrist, guiding his soft gaze to yours. You pucker your lips and he grants your wish, covering them in a gentle caress, almost shy. His touch barely there, treating you with such tenderness it has you whimper at the contrast between his words and his kiss.

“I…” Taehyung watches you with expectations gleaming in his eyes as you push your hips up. He stills them and bites his lips as Jimin taunts him further, poster troublemaker for all the right reasons.

Taehyung has no reason to hide. He doesn’t play with the honesty of those who lie behind closed doors but rather toys with it in a secret meant for your eyes, with the way he throws his head back and bends you the way his body demands. Up close, his half-lidded gaze is unfocused yet untamed, and it moves towards an end only he knows. He grips all that is inanimate with the tightness of a viper’s fangs and reserves the delicacy of a lover for when he touches you, fingers trailing from the ends of your mouth to your jaw and through your hair as he fucks deeper into you. More often than not, the actions make you wonder how it would feel if the nailbeds stained on his jawbone would remain as yours.

“How is it?” he asks through the haze you’re in, messy hair and scarlet around his mouth, expression far overstepping the sinner title. “Feeling sated?”

It must be natural for him to misbehave, to strive for a tight grip on the attention he’s given, and he’s working it however he wants to. Even as the brattiness he used to display is making itself visible in full smiles and head tilts, it doesn’t hold much of a bite. Innocence sits pretty on his cheekbones and runs through his tongue, through your body that’s covered by his marks and feels coarse from every angle.

What is about to follow makes sense to you, because it is a matter of when, and one of power. A power you surrender as pleasure pushes at you until it stings, until you shake your head and shake off any past thought you have wished to bring into this.

“More,” you say and spreads you further and claims his space till there’s no part of you he hasn’t covered, no root left untouched. He nods and teases you in the way it makes your head swim as buries himself within you to the core, taking and taking until his lips are over yours again, bitten and about to taint the tears on your cheeks.

A moan tears out of him as he praises you more, voice rough with effort, and he seems to have the same reaction you do as he hears himself talk. The words reflect the effect, however unassuming they might be, and with the heavy breaths of a clear desire supporting his every claim, it’s possible even for atheists to catch their glimpse of God.

a/n: for my sweethearts who might have caught it, taehyung’s character is partially inspired by prince and his songs, and the interview scene was inspired by his interview with maria bartiromo in 2004! scream to me about him please. chaos and disorder wasn’t much of a happy album for prince, but i thought the title was cool. i killed 2 of my 3 braincells writing this and slaved away for ur consideration ok byye

[lovemesomesurveys]

[-lastcall]

have you ever been invited to a tacky-christmas-sweater party? No, but I’m cheesy and would enjoy something like that.

does your school have spirit week..you dress up as super heros and stuff? Yeah, my schools did that.

doesnt it bother you when someone texts you, you reply, & they never reply? Depends on how urgent/pressing the conversation is. <<< Yeah, it may not need an urgent response or one at all.

when is the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt? It’s been a very long time.

what is the biggest turn off, to you? Arrogance and cockiness.

is there one saying that is just getting OLD to you? ex: “fail”? I’m sure there is, but I can’t think of one at the moment.

what do you do when you can’t sleep? My nighttime routine consists of scrolling through Tumblr, watching YouTube videos, doing surveys, and listening to ASMR.

when was the last time you had a nightmare? I woke up crying and shaking the other morning.

where do you see yourself in ten years? I don’t knowww.

if you had the chance to re-do the past six months..would you do it? Nooo.

does your family have traditions? Yeah.

have you ever had a horribleee school picture? I never liked my school picture. Well, except for the ones from like preschool to 2nd grade. 

what is the most annoying commercial to you? I’ve been basically bedridden and watch a lot of TV, so I see a lot of the same commercials numerous times a day and certain ones stand out and annoy me like this one where there’s this guy driving and singing with his hood ornament thingy. The song goes something like, “you got the brawn, I got the brain. Let’s make lots of money” or something like that.

whose voice will never fail to get on your nerves? Back when that show The Nanny came on I just couldn’t stand to hear Fran Drescher’s voice omg. Sofia Vergara’s voice annoys me, too.

have you ever met anyone half-way famous? I’ve met Jaime Lee Curtis, who is quite famous I’d say.

is there a celebrity that you are related to? (im related to elvis) :) Not that I know of.

do you like your laugh? No.

who was the last person to call you beautiful? I don’t know. I look like trash.

would you call your last relationship a mistake? No.

do you believe in regrets? Yeah, and I have plenty.

where are you going after you die? I pray I go to heaven.

have you ever been asked out over text message? Yes.

have you ever run up your phone bill? No.

pick: apple, or dell. Apple.

what is your outfit of choice? Leggings and a graphic tee.

who was the last person that you talked to on the phone for over 2 hours? I haven’t talked on the phone that long in many, many, many years.

do you sleep on your stomach, side or back? I sleep on my left side.

is it easier to fall up or down the stairs, to you? I don’t/can’t use the stairs.

has it been a while since the last time you got grounded? I’m 31 years old...

would you ever take up a job in photography? No.

what is your pizza topping of choice? Extra sauce and cheese, spinach, cilantro, and garlic.

what food is your weakness? Lately, it’s been ice cream and chips and dip.

do you type with correct punctuation? Yes.

how do you like your eggs? Over-easy, scrambled, hard boiled, deviled.

do you even remember your life before you could drive? I don’t drive.

do you remember your first crush? Yes.

were you born in the place you grew up in? Yes.

someone texts you calling you a skank. what do you reply? Wtf.

would you ever take place in a long-distance relationship? I don’t think so.

what was your childhood nickname? Noodles. lol.

is there a smell that makes you gag? Old food. do you actually use your locker at school, if you are still in school? I never used one.

have you ever broken a bone? Yes. do your parents trust you? Yes.

what is your favorite lyric of all time? I have countless favorite lyrics. do you restart the song when you miss your favorite part? Sometimes.

in your opinion, can you sing well? Nope. I know I can’t sing.

when was the last time you were disappointed? I’ve been continuously disappointed in myself for the past few years and counting. 

have you ever visited dictionary.com? Yeah.

who is your best friend? My mom.

do you totally hate your hometown and plan on leaving as soon as possible? My family and I would love to.

what is your hometown known for? Nothing good.

does your bedroom have a theme? Nah, not really.

you open your closet doors, what color do you see the most? Black.

your fingernails are currently painted what color? They’re not painted.

say a random word in another language: Triste.

have you ever read a series of books that had more than 10 books in it? Yeah, I’ve read several. I’m reading the 13th book in one right now.

what is something that alwaysss gets on your nerves? Eating sounds.

you wake up in the middle of the night hungry, do you eat or shrug it off? I always have my nightly bowl of ramen.

are you the black sheep of the family? I feel that way sometimes cause of the stuff I’ve gone and go through. It’s been a lot and I feel un-relatable. 

have you ever burnt anything on accident? Yes.

what song always makes you sad? The acoustic version of Everlong by Foo Fighters because of the memory attached to it.

have you ever been to a techno party? No.

does your school have those slutty dance parties every weekend? What...

what time on average do you wake up during the summer? When I wake up varies regardless of the day or time of year.

what time zone do you live in? PST.

what movie can you not waaaaait to see? New Marvel movies, Halloween Kills, and Scream 5 to name a few. is there a tv series you have watched ever since the first season came out? Yeah, a few. who is the most awkward person you know? Myself.

would you date kyle? Who?

do you have a blogger account? This.

when you get married, what do you want your last name to be? I don’t plan on getting married.

have you ever legally changed your name? No.

does your family send out a christmas card every year? No.

do you stare at people’s butts when they walk? No.

do you think it is cute or waaaay annoying when guys sag? I’ve never understood that style.

do you own uggs or do you think they are uggly? bahaha. I’m not a fan.

what smiley do you use most often? :/ or :X

your mom hears you cuss. what does she say? She’d just be surprised cause I never have. I’m 31 years old, though, so it’s not like I can’t. I’m just weird about that.

have you ever been in a wedding? No.

have you ever heard of tim tebow? Yeah.

who have you fantasized about marrying? No one.

i can’t spell correctly worth a flip, can you? I think so.

what word do you say wayyy too much? Probably “um” or “like.”

do you think ‘thats what she said’ is gross or funny? It’s just old now.

do you think running a mile is fun or a punishment? I wouldn’t find anything about that fun.

do you say “FAIL” after everything, like my brother does? No.

have you ever been to a concert? Yeah, a few.

have you been to each coast of America? I’ve been to the west and east coast.

[dimensionsunited]

MARCH 2020 DIMENSIONS ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of April 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: February schedule posts are due by the end of March 7 KST.

Overall Company

To celebrate their new building and the success that has let up to being able to move into it, the company is throwing a party for all employees on March 24. Attendance is listed as non-mandatory, but, for idols, management will be strongly insisting they attend in order to show respect and thankfulness for the work of all of the other employees. It will be hard to get out of without a good reason, but there will be free food and drinks, though it’s a company party, so nothing will be permitted to get too out of hand.

Important dates:

March 24: Idol and staff party at Dimensions Entertainment Headquarters.

Dimensions Soloist 1

After a filming for online video series What The?! ASMR, where she’ll be asked to bring three items of her own choice to do ASMR with, the month is pretty low intensity, as she may be growing used to in the time since her last comeback. Her team is constantly reviewing potential songs, but haven’t locked one in as a comeback title track yet. She will be given the news that Dimensions will be having all three of their soloists participate in busking next month to help promote the new soloist, though, so she’s permitted to choose and practice up to six songs of her choice, though this must include her most recent title track as well as at least one other title track of her choice and at least one vocal or dance cover of her choice. She’s allowed to perform a song with one or both of the other soloists if she’d like.

Important dates:

March 8: What The ASMR filming.

Dimensions Soloist 2

To celebrate his second debut anniversary, he’ll be throwing a fan meeting at Yonsei University as a follow-up to his fan meeting in Bangkok last month. His official lightstick will be released on the first of the month is celebration of his approaching anniversary as well. As far as comeback prep goes, he’s expected to rehearse for his live performances since he’ll be playing acoustic guitar for both the title track and b-side “White” stages. He’ll also shoot for the album’s photobook.  He will also be given the news that Dimensions will be having all three of their soloists participate in busking next month to help promote the new soloist, though, so he’s permitted to choose and practice up to six songs of his choice, though this must include his most recent title track as well as at least one other title track of his choice and at least one vocal of his choice. He’s allowed to perform a song with one or both of the other soloists if he’d like.

Important dates:

March 8: Be Happy fanmeeting at Yonsei University Auditorium in Seoul, South Korea.

March 14: Photobook shoot.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Dimensions Soloist 3

Her debut is next month so the bulk of final preparations are underway. Since the company stylists don’t already have her measurements, she’ll have two fittings for her music video and stage outfits before taking off to New Zealand to shoot her teaser photos and music video. Next month, she’ll participate in busking with the company’s other two soloists to help promote her debut. She’ll mostly be performing her album songs, but she’ll be permitted one vocal cover of her choice to practice this month and perform next month if she so wishes.

Important dates:

March 8: First MV and stage outfit fittings.

March 15: Second MV and stage outfit fittings.

March 18-20: “I” MV filming in Auckland, New Zealand

March 18: Teaser photo shoot. 

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Gal.actic

Music show promotions end mid-month without much eventfulness, which is actually a good thing considering Gal.actic’s track record. Next month, the group will be holding a fan meeting in Guangzhou, China, which will be shortly followed by a mini concert in Seoul in May, so they’ll be in rehearsals for that this month. They’ll mostly be performing their most recent title tracks and their most popular ones, but each member will be granted a solo stage to perform one song of their choice. This can be a cover or a solo song they’ve released.

Important dates:

March 12: End of music show promotions.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

Alien

As promised, March is the final month of touring before they get a break from large scale concerts for a while. They’re in the States for two weeks out of the month before they return to Seoul and they’ll be going back next month. Fans have been demanding a break, but Dimensions has too much in the plans for Alien to grant them one, and, instead, while on tour, the members will record another new English song, “Love U”. Once they return to Seoul, it will be time to record the songs they haven’t yet recorded for their next Japanese album.

Important dates:

March 5: We Are Here tour concert at Verizon Theatre in Dallas, TX, USA.

March 6: Release of “Who Do U Love ft. French Montana”.

March 7: We Are Here tour concert at Smart Financial Centre in Houston, TX, USA. 

March 10: We Are Here tour concert at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA, USA. 

March 14: We Are Here tour concert at Hulu Theater in New York, NY, USA. 

March 17: We Are Here tour concert at Rosemont Theatre in Chicago, IL, USA. 

March 19: We Are Here tour concert at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA. 

MARS

Their comeback is still two months off, but the MARS members must begin learning the choreography for their title track this month as Dimensions would like the choreography to be as strong as MARS is known for even though their concept this time is lighter than their most successful comebacks have been in order to fit the late spring/early summer season. The members will also go in to try out potential outfits for promotions ahead of filming their music video next month.

Important dates:

March 16: MV and stage outfit fittings.

7ROPHY

7ROPHY were promised to begin working on another comeback this month and management weren’t lying. From the beginning of the month, they’ll have a concept meeting for their comeback and then begin recording the chosen songs for the track list. They’ll be making their comeback in May, but their fifth anniversary since debut is this month. Four days before their anniversary, they’ll be in Taipei, Taiwan to hold their first solo fan meeting for Taiwanese fans. The set list will be pretty standard with their top title tracks and most recent b-sides. For their anniversary, each member will be asked to film a video with a message to fans.

Important dates:

March 12: Filming of fifth anniversary video messages to fans.

March 15: 7ROPHY 1st Fanmeeting in Taipei at ATT SHowbox in Taipei, Taiwan.

March 19: Fifth anniversary videos released.

Unity

The beginning of the month is the busiest for Unity members. They have yet another magazine photo shoot and then will be flying out on March 8 to the US to perform in Texas, before returning to Seoul on the 11th. From the 12th to the 18th, all members will be granted a vacation by Dimensions unless they have solo schedules to attend during that time. After returning from vacation, the members will have rehearsals in preparation for their Japanese tour dates next month.

Important dates:

March 6: Photo shoot for KStyle’s April issue.

March 10: Performance at RodeoHouston at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, USA.

March 12-18: Vacation.

March 16: Release of School 2017 OST “Stay In My Life”.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

              ↳ CHAMPION

Throughout the beginning of the month, the members will continue to meet up at the BC Entertainment building to rehearse choreography so that by the 20th, they’re prepared to leave on a short trip to Dubai to film parts of the music video for their sub-unit debut title track. In the days following their return, they’ll be busy with more promotional content filming. Fans are sure to notice that the same group of idols that was seen at the BC building is now taking the same flight out of the airport, but BC and Dimensions continue to not confirm anything to keep fans talking.

Important dates:

March 20-22: Trip to Dubai for “Jopping” MV filming.

March 23: CHAMPION focus trailer video [2] [3] filming.

March 24: CHAMPION group trailer video filming.

March 25: Additional “Jopping” MV filming.

March 26: Album photoshoot [2] [3]

Lucid

Compared to their jam-packed schedule over the last few months, March is more relaxed even though it’s the last month before their comeback month. Their album has been recorded so the focus is on choreography this month, as well as fittings and photo shoots for both the teaser photos and the album photo book. The concept of one of the versions of the album will be photos taken by the members of the other members, so each member will be provided a camera to take teaser photos with while shooting that concept version.

Important dates:

March 9: MV and stage outfit fittings.

March 12: Teaser photo and photo book shoot.

March 16: Release of “Full Moon” performance video.

March 30: Performance at Seoul Spring Festival Day Concert (see event).

[dbhilluminate]

DBHI: Equilibrium, ch. 13 - “Periapsis” (pt. 1)

Characters: Noah / “Erwin Yvonne”, Gabriel / “Vincent Sharp”, Special Agent Gavin Reed, Director Thomas Falken Word Count: 2,842

Noah crashes an undercover FBI operation to say hello to a friend he hasn't seen or spoken to in a couple of months, but the mood is spoiled when the Zionist Inquisition shows up to deliver an ultimatum to Vincent Sharp, and issue a threat to anyone who would dare support the installation of an android suburb in Washington, DC.

***For a glossary of world-building terms relating to this series and chapter, click here.

(Chapter Art by ozaya, Co-authored by @grayorca15​)

• Chapter Index • Characters • Glossary •

——

December 23rd, 2041 - 9:45 PM

From the outside, the looming auditorium locally known as The Mellon was unchanged. Whatever techno-aesthetics the Capitol had adopted in the last two decades, Washington, DC’s architecture was still mostly the same neoclassical Roman-inspired drivel the Founding Fathers probably thought the height of grandeur that any respectable city could model itself after. This particular building was very much a product of its time- a perfect encapsulation of the stiff right angles, thick brooding columns, and bleak texture-less walls, suggested nothing of what might actually be happening beyond the foyer. The red-green cutout projections of trees and reindeer and ornaments dancing across the Columbia pediment sculpted across its tented promenade and the delicate string instruments currently honoring an orchestral cover of one of a hundred classic Christmas songs was a hint though.

Noah stepped out of the Jaguar to be accosted by a shower of holographic white and blue snowflakes, mixed with the real-life equivalent wafting about that cold winter’s night. They swarmed like his very own plague of too-friendly gnats. Whatever property-wide projection program the event had been accentuated with, the programmer had evidently spent too much time re-watching Frozen as a child. He pulled his sunglasses down just far enough to peer over the lenses as a few flakes fluttered in, close enough for him to see their individual fractals, and gave an irritated huff through his nose. “Still bitter over the demise of Disney, I see.” A few seconds later, the shy valet swept around the roadster’s red taillights and apologized profusely for a near-nonexistent delay in offering to take the car to be parked. Noah felt nothing but amusement at their blathering, patted him on the shoulder and held the door open. “Quit fussing. It’s early yet, and you’ve a lot more rides to tuck in before the night’s over. Treat this one like the queen she is and there’ll be an extra fifty in it for you… Fredrick.”

The kitschy light-show and dear hapless Fred weren’t as bothersome as the front ranks of guards posted at the velvet rope-fenced entrance. The nearest man put up a hand and stopped him in his tracks at the top of the stairs. “I’m sorry, sir, but this is a charity function for contributors only. Have you made a donation?” It seemed only pre-approved guests were being permitted inside- a slight oversight on his part, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from his goal. He had a conversation to close out.

Noah popped his brows and donned a charming smile as he presented the falsified credentials, nestled in a flip-fold ID bearing the name Erwin L. Yvonne, complete with the most abhorrent manipulation of his likeness ever produced. “Not to worry, gents. I’m intimately acquainted with the curator, Mr. Sharp, and I’m here to deliver my contribution in the flesh.” Everything about the little white lie he’d spun on a whim was unnatural to him, but convincing to the two confused humans -poor, overworked and underpaid minions as they probably were- relaying questions into their headsets. After a few moments of conferring with whoever was heading security (most likely the Special Agents in charge of the sting this event was a front for), they motioned him through for a pat-down just beyond the rope. Noah didn’t bother feeling offended at them for only doing as they were instructed, but he did have a little fun making them as uncomfortable as possible as they searched his person for weapons. If his disguise, an old favorite thrown together on such short notice, held up to that much, then the rest would be a cakewalk- not that he had ever harbored a desire to actually go skipping through a fully-stocked dessert table. As fun as it sounded, he had enough messes splashed all over his real name without adding another to the list.

To his relief, the reach of the holographic snowflakes stopped at the door and vanished as he crossed the threshold of the foyer. The marble floor of the lobby had been buffed and waxed to a soft shine, and was still holding up to the foot traffic four hours after the meet’s commencement. Noah only paid enough mind to the guests still loitering about in groups no larger than six people to disinterestedly scan their faces at a glance and assign his background processes the menial task of matching names and dossiers to them. At the moment, he was far too focused on finding the one disguised face among them who was of any real importance to care about much else.

Mr. Vincent Sharp. Or should he say, Gabriel Reed.

The main hall was a wide, cavernous space, with rows of columns standing off to either side. Gold leaf sconced wall lamps provided an accentuating glow compared to the three giant chandeliers of brass and aluminum that bathed the room in ambient light. The dazzling light-show playing outdoors was only outdone by the splendor of one thirty-foot tall balsam fir erected in the center of the floor, adorned with no less than one hundred feet of multicolored string lights, dozens of strands of tinsel, swaths of garland, and a few hundred bauble ornaments. The topper, a white tinsel angel with glittery wings, faced the entrance with its hands pressed together and head bowed as if to thank all who arrived. A few outlying rings of cocktail tables surrounded the roped-off centerpiece. Those guests who weren’t conversing had taken seats to sip champagne or nibble on appetizers while they caught up on their gossip. Each cloth-covered table possessed its own small topper of a larger holographic projection of snowflakes hanging stationary in midair, which constantly shifted from one pattern to the next, spinning like a globe on a stand whenever a curious hand reached out to ‘tap’ them.

A small stage nestled in an alcove against the back of the ballroom hosted a classical band (ruled by one full-size concert piano) who looked as superfluous as the snowflakes that had greeted him outside. They wound through the last chorus of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire as he descended the staircase, before starting back up with Jingle Bell Rock. Between the cello and violins, Noah’s hypersensitive ear detected at least three strings in need of tightening before he shunted that note aside to take a backseat with the rest of his anxieties. He hadn’t spent two hours biting his knuckles over ever approaching the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium just to show up and critique its acoustic entertainment.

It wasn’t until a few curious eyes had turned his way, nodded and bid him good evening, that Noah realized how entirely inappropriate it was to be wearing sunglasses indoors, much less an event so high-class. The rest of his ensemble was tame enough- a dark navy blue suit bearing pointed lapels and a Zion sigil pin, complimented by a black dress shirt and loafers. The mild dose of glitter effect (same as could be found on the snow outside) projected into his black hair, accented with blue highlights, wasn’t as much of an affront as the pair of Ray Bans. Before anyone could make much of a fuss about it, he pulled them off and stashed the specs in his jacket’s breast pocket; in this kind of crowd, acting appropriate was of the utmost priority. Except when it wasn’t. Off to the left was a fully stocked pop-up bar- heads of the handful of people standing near it were turned away, giving off all manner of unapproachable vibes, including the only familiar silhouette in the room. Noah fought back a smirk when he spotted one particular set of ears before the facial recognition software even kicked in. As much as he would have loved to surprise him with his presence, he knew better than to sneak up on the owner of said ears. The last time he’d done so, Noah had wound up laid out over the fragments of his former coffee table, and he wasn’t eager to experience the cocktail hour equivalent of that encounter.

A half-hearted sweep of the room offered a few other suggestions of anything amiss, and that conclusion was about as dull as dishwater. Noah wasn’t really feeling making a scene with another guest (this event was far too classy for such delinquency), nor was he feeling at all confident enough to steal the mic off its stand and serenade the entire room. But that Christmas tree… it was giving off far too many signals to only be rigged with illumination accents. On his optical spectrum, a cloud of static encircled the poor displaced flora from top to bottom, a few of which were emitting from little lens-capped nodes disguised as burnt-out bulbs along the string. He drifted over casually and leaned in as if to admire his reflection in one of the gold metallic baubles, then carefully reached past the rope to twist and unplug one of the planted camera bulbs like plucking a petal off a flower. The fir gave only a whisper-quiet tink at this attack. The light strand continued to blink and cycle away, regardless of the missing piece. Noah held it up to eye level with a triumphant, yet mischievous grin. He knew exactly who was on the other side of the monitor observing the footage.

And having the most important discussion of the holiday season. On the other end of the feed, tucked away in the off-limits green rooms of the hall, Special Agent Reed was too busy engaging in one of his favorite pastimes of discussing classic action flicks with the unbaptized to notice that one of their cameras was moving. “I’m tellin’ you, man, Die Hard is THE Christmas movie, and if you don’t agree you’re just wrong .” “No way,” a second agent argued, “Bruce Willis himself denied that shit more than twenty years ago…” Reed let out a laugh that bordered on mocking, shook his head, and gestured to the man with one scolding finger lifted off his coffee cup. “John McClane would disagree-“ “Hey! Dumbasses! Stay focused!” Director Thomas Falken -who had insisted on overseeing the sting himself, in the event that something went horribly wrong - barked at the yapping men with a threatening leer that snapped Gavin’s head around and back into focus. On the feed of one of the bulb-cameras, an unrecognizable man rolled the glass node between his fingertips like a gem, and smirked as he held it up to the light. Reed’s brow furrowed in distress as he mumbled “What the fuck…?”, then swiped the walkie off the counter to relay the information. “Gabe.” “What is it, Reed?”

All done up in the swankest cocktail suit anyone would ever see him in, ‘Vincent Sharp’ turned, then leaned with his back against the bar and nursed a drink as he scanned the room through half-framed, squared-off, horn-rimmed glasses. One idle hand reached to throw back the hem of the tweed charcoal gray blazer, exposed the light brown waistcoat hugging his waist and hips, and slipped into the pocket of a pair of perfectly tailored, black slim-legged slacks. “We may have trouble, one of our spycams has been compromised.” Gabe tipped back his head and emptied the glass in his hand to smother the outward reaction of surprise, then set it down on the counter and gestured to the bartender for another. Rather than reach for any of the bottles displayed on the back counter, she went for a decanter on the shelf below the bar and refilled the glass with a burgundy brown liquid- thirium, distilled and dyed to mimic the appearance of Scotch. "Just one?” he asked in a curious tone as he searched the crowd around the tree. From his vantage point, he couldn’t clearly see anyone acting suspiciously. “Yeah, it’s the weirdest thing… little shit’s just holdin’ it up and grinnin’ like he knows we’re here…” And that he did. The harsh whisper to emanate over the commandeered camera’s mic said as much:

Good evening, Special Agent Reed. Fancy seeing you here.

From the other side of the room, Gabriel’s head turned a tic at the sound of crashing equipment and a few muttered ‘shit Shit, SHIT’s coming from the other end of the frequency he was currently tuned to. Like a bull in a china shop.

“How does he know you’re here… !?” Falken -known in his social circles as Tomahawk, for good reason- boomed from across the room as he rose from the couch and stormed over to the monitors. He shoved Reed’s chair aside, and scrutinized the face of the man making a mockery of their carefully planted monitoring equipment. Gavin’s heels scraped against the hardwood as he backpedaled and held his hands up in surrender. “I- I- I don’t… I don’t know, I didn’t tell anyone, I swear-” “Then who is THAT?” Falken punctuated with a slam of his palm against the monitor that made everyone in the room jump. “That’s… that’s, uh-...” He could explain that, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to. No matter how he looked at it, he was to blame for his presence that evening. His negligence had compromised months of careful planning.

“...Gavin?” His target rose from a table toward the front of the ballroom and directed his attention toward the bar, leering with the clear intent of starting a conversation. What impeccably bad timing for this to go down. “Reed! Talk to me!”

Gabriel’s intrusion provided him with the convenient excuse he needed to disengage for a moment. One visibly-shaking hand swiped the walkie off the desk and Gavin turned to break away from the glower of Falken’s death-glare long enough to respond to his partner in the field. The other hand ran through his hair with a nervous twitch in his fingers and he glanced over his shoulder as he cleared his throat and swallowed, then mumbled, “It’s-... it’s Noah,” under his breath just loud enough for him to hear.

Gabe’s thought processes came to a screeching halt as his personal life collided with his alias for just a moment. To hear that Noah was in Washington, DC, much less at the Zion Founders Fundraiser, was the last thing he’d expected to hear that evening. As Reed continued to drop curses in the background, Gabe turned to face the bar and flashed a polite, but forced smile at the bartender as she eyed him with nervous sweeps. He didn’t reach for the glass right away as it was set in front of him on a small black napkin. “Please, tell me I didn’t just hear what I think I did…” he muttered internally as a dozen different possibilities for how the night would turn out flashed thumb-nailed pre-constructions across his HUD. But Reed’s uncomfortable sputtering confirmed what he was hoping was just a joke.

“No, you heard me right.” One hand swiped over his face in a downward motion and scratched in frustration at the stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave in almost a week and desperately avoided Falken’s infuriated ‘what the fuck’ gestures in the background. “The bastard’s actually here, arrived in DC last night with Hannah and President-Elect Kamski. H-he stopped by the house lookin’ for you, but I told him you were undercover an’couldn’t make an appointment. I told him t’keep his nose outta our shit, but he-” Reed paused and squinted over Falken’s shoulder as Noah slipped the tiny camera into his pocket with a ‘Can you hear me alright in there?’ “Oh, son of a….” “What the hell is he doing…?”

The camera-bulb didn’t act as a walkie. And to their credit, all the personnel Noah could plainly see -now that his recognition software had sorted fact from fiction- didn’t stir, much less blow their cover. He knew without being told what this sting was about, and who it was the FBI were really here to keep tabs on. Perhaps him showing up was akin to being a ‘fly in the ointment’, but as yet he hadn’t done anything other than offend their Christmas tree. He gave the indifferent lens one more wordless glance as he rolled the bulb between his fingers. For a brief moment he considered winking at it, but decided at the last moment to pocket the device instead. Perhaps it’d come in handy elsewhere- for someone who hadn’t been properly equipped for this operation, it was the best he could do on such short notice. Failing that, he could always speak very loudly and deliberately at Gabriel’s collar mic, if he’d let him get close enough. The owner of the ear he recognized from before still hadn’t turned around. Outwardly he didn’t look very distressed. Only the new hunch in his shoulders, invisible to the human eye as it was, said it all. Far be it from him to keep ‘Vincent’ in suspense.

[missoneminute]

Les Inrockuptibles Interview with Peter Doherty

May 2019-05-15 

Transcribed by  @theoriginalcollectorglitter12 Thank you! 

Rescued by a fortnight of excess, Peter Doherty has just celebrated his 40 years and, health flickering but inspiration intact, reveals a peaceful album. meeting with a lucid rock-star for whom composing is life itself.

The day before our meeting, Peter Doherty celebrated his 40th birthday in Margate, a small seaside resort in the south-east of England where he now lives. Looking at the photos and videos of his evening with Carl barat on Instagram, we must admit that we had some doubts about his ability to tele-transfer to Paris the next morning. He is however at the rendezvous, to charm a whole team photo with his sparkling banter, to seize his acoustic guitar very often for improvised serenades, to tell his incredible journey to get here in full strike customs.

This unpredictable side, which has always been part of his personality, is as much a strength as a weakness. His fans have learned to accept that anything is possible with him: he can decide on a whim, to play in the intimate setting of La Maroquinerie early April, announcing just a week in advance. a month later, he may be forced to cancel a concert in Belfast by invoking the most far-fetched (but truthful) excuse that has ever been heard: he was struck down by a hedgehog sting he was trying to remove from the mouth of his dog. To love the music of Peter Doherty has long been to defend an underrated singer, portrayed as a cartoon character by the tabloids, better known for his legal troubles and his excesses of narcotics than for what he does best: write songs. When he sits by our side, in a baste deserted room, the agitation that accompanies him usually disappears. "I do not understand how a song is born, I do not really have the technique to write, all I know is that it's essential for me to have these songs," he says. Songs in my life, I'm hoping it'll be okay as soon as I make new songs, that's all that matters, if I can still compose, it'll be okay. " We ask him if his creativity had already abandoned him. He whispered, "I do not even dare to whisper it, it would be my death sentence, it's a permanent threat, I do not even want to think about it, it'll break my heart, and I'll be done." All those who did not pay dearly for the skin of Peter Doherty, predicting that he would join the club of 27, were wrong, fortunately. We find his troubadour quickdraw on the cover of his new album, signed Peter Doherty and the puta madres. "It's a picture of the wall of my room, where I drew my figure, on the peeling paint. The final visual was supposed to be seen from the front, with the title along the right side, but the result has been rotated for a reason that escapes me. "

When the Englishman lets things escape, it can also give moments of grace, as evidenced by the opening of the album, All at sea, a jewel of tenderness and regret. This piece is one of the treasures that had been dormant in her drawers for years - this is also the case for two other songs here in the credits, A fool there was and Narcissistic teen makes first XI, sometimes heard in concert or on acoustic sessions. For the record, this sensitive storyteller was used, in the early 2000s, to put online demos he had just recorded, a taste of sharing that reached its peak in 2006 when the entire file "my music "from his computer appears on the internet. We ask him how these three songs came back to him, which we thought were lost forever in the limbo of his memory: "they never left me, just to find the right moment and the right people with whom I could to play them, people who would not hurt me by talking or changing rooms while I'm making them listen to what I believe are some of the most beautiful things I've ever done. A fool there was very important to me, All at sea too, the Puta Madres understand them. "

We are curious to know if it happens to him to listen again all these old sessions which are still available on the net; "For a long time, no, but recently, I've reviewed them all during an emotional night, I've read everything on youtube and read all the comments - I do not understand why these songs had evaporated while I'm so proud of it, not that I'm desperate for commercial success, or even fortune, maybe they're even more valuable if not many people know them on stage, I never prepare a setlist. Song just calls another, like a memory that goes back to the surface. "

After playing with libertines, babyshambles and various ephemeral collaborators (Wolfman, littl'ans, Graham Coxon, the streets, dot allison ...), Peter Doherty surrounds himself today with a mixed and cosmopolitan group named The puta madres, after the favorite expression of their Spanish drummer Rafa Rueda. This troupe also includes a Welsh guitarist, 2 French, and the prodigious American violinist Miki Beavis. By crossing their fingers so that the brexit never materializes, they carry this album towards folk lands and relaxed atmospheres. This reflects the relaxing setting in which they have recorded :  in a family house on the heights of Etretat with a view overlooking the sea and wild cliffs for 4 days last summer. Far from the sloppy draft of Hamburg Demonstration, his last solo album in 2016, the songwriter has regained his superb and his voice on these touching ballads, in turn intense and patraques, imperfect and overwhelming. his season in hell seems behind him.

Change of scenery has obviously made him feel good. For 2 years Peter Doherty lives in Margate, a small town in Kent, by the sea : "lately, I spent a lot of time alone with my 2 dogs, a husky and a malamute, they need freedom, open spaces and attention, so I walk them on the beach or on the beach. It’s a very peaceful place, Margate has a special water, a special light, people like Keats, TS Eliot, Stephen Spender, Coleridge and Dickens lived in the area. Albion Rooms, the Libertines studio-hotel, Carl even has a license to sell liquor, so we have a bar in the basement, The Wasteland, we're going to put a scene for small local concerts, sessions It is still a small town, but it is booming, sometimes there is a strange smell that comes from the sea: the gentrification will never pass by! We have space to breathe calm and think about what you want to do is the last stop of several train lines, if you are in London, lost or broken aye, you jump on a train to get away from it all and find yourself in Margate. Terminus. You wake up with a start because someone shakes you saying, "Hey, you can not stay here, get off the train!" you leave the station that leads directly to the beach, and here you are in Margate. if we can see beyond its dangerous side and its gangs, chances are there will be a way out, loneliness, peace. "

It is there that the Libertines have planned to record their new album, still under construction, just like the hotel they want to open in the coming months. These vast projects, this serenity, have not, however, completely softened the rocker with the airs of a cursed poet, who continues to flirt with danger. We can not help but notice that people are constantly coming and going around and asked if it is a way for him to escape the routine. he takes the time to think before making an implacable and distressing statement : "I would love to have a boring, predictable routine that would make me work all the time with the same people I love and respect, but People are disappearing from my life: I think they need to protect themselves, I have no structure, no discipline, many people with whom I have collaborated, like Carl or Graham, need to relate to landmarks and protect themselves from self-destruction, they do not want to risk falling into the precipice. "

His palpable passion for music obsesses him. on his new album, he pays a vivid tribute to two of his heroes on Someone else to be, taking up passages from Velvet Underground's Ride into the Sun and Oasis's Do not look back in anger. In full interview, he sings us the beginning of a piece that haunts him at the moment, Signed D.C de Love, that he will play at La Maroquinerie three weeks later. When asked how he discovered the power of music, he responds that the click occurred when he heard Smiths' I started something I could not finish, and immediately he played a good half of the music. The song in decorticating why each verse resonated so well in him : "all I want is to write a song that touches people, which makes them exclaim: 'but what is it? ? how dare you?' I try to find a way to express who I am and what I feel, what I look for in music is to find myself there.” A powerful impact but a shaky beauty, this new album reflects wonderfully its author, both fragile and indestructible.

[theloniousbach]

50 Years of Going to Shows, Pt. 9: Jazz in St. Louis

I am in the middle of my fourth year of attending shows at Jazz at the Bistro and it is a great joy to have this formative music back so centrally in my life, to make this my go to music, to think about music in jazz terms.  From that first Johnny Winter blues jam, I’ve always been drawn to virtuosic playing.  Certainly rock and ur-jam band guitarists were a start.  But I saw Norman Blake flat pick amazingly in those early years and later Celtic fiddlers and box players amazed me.  Chamber music but also Irish sessions have an intimate conversational aspect.  But it’s jazz that has it all.  I sensed that in the early 70s and it’s where I’ve come home to now.

I kept my eye on jazz before the Bistro, particularly through Webster University’s wonderful jazz faculty and their performances.  I would return to tried and true recordings, starting with Miles, Monk, and Mingus and Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard.  I knew I couldn’t miss Sonny Rollins when he played UMSL’s performing arts center in 2009 and had even better tickets for a return a few years later that he had to cancel.  He was vital, transforming from a tentative, slightly stooped old man into a flurry of ideas dancing lightly around the stage delighted in the choruses he unfolded for himself and others.  He had a guitarist (not a pianist), a trombone, drums and percussion, and Bob Crenshaw.  Standards and Ellington.  But it was a bit of a one off.

It has taken season packages at Jazz St. Louis for four years now to get the engagement and focus that I now have.It’s fitting that the first one was Bill Charlap and his trio.  That configuration is where I’m glad to start, going back to Oscar Peterson when I was 8.  I’m almost too vociferously anti-musical theater, except jazz musicians have done wonderful things with and burnished the Great American Song Book.  Charlap is one of our key curators.  But these aren’t museum pieces in his hands; they are a dynamic legacy kept alive by use.  There’s taste, drive, invention in tradition.  Just like that Johnny Winter concert in early fall of 1969, there was something I had to have more of.Next up was Vijay Iyer, also in a trio.  A different aesthetic but he worked a jam into Epistrophy, so tradition prevails.  And the piano trio’s elasticity continued to win me over.  The Bad Plus begins the year in St. Louis and we were where the rebooted when Orrin Evans replaced Ethan Iverson.  I saw them once with Iverson, couch toured that opening run of BP2.0, saw them last year and plan to see them next in January.  I started to get them seeing them live, seeing how the compositions work and how they work them.  I think they’re a little warmer and organic with Evans, just as smart and clever but grounded.  I’ve seen Benny Green swing hard and Cyrus Chestnutt do so as well but then throw in a good chunk of French Impressionism.  Emmet Cohen’s band was the foundation for an odd mix of horn players I wanted to see:  Marquis Hill and, for a second time, Melissa Aldana.  The five of them didn’t quite jell, but the Cohen trio is a working band I would see again.  Kenny Barron was a monument of taste and command and Chick Corea was impish, a grand old man of the music in spite of himself.  There were standards but also a glorious exposition on Paco de Luca’s Zyriab, pulling together the Arabic roots of Flamenco.  So, piano trios always with the Bad Plus, Christian Sands at the Sheldon Concert Hall down the street (where I saw Eliane Elias with Marc Johnson do wonderful Brazilian stuff but also some superb jazz evoking Bill Evans), and Connie Han ahead.

Now, we’re Miles Davis’s hometown and folks know that.  The SF Jazz Collective came to the Bistro in 2017 with a program of his music (wide ranging—Tutu and Bitches Brew as well as Nardis for an acoustic ensemble) as well as compositions from band members in the ensemble.  It’s a grand concept—a four horn front line with vibes and rhythm section, with some general stability but it’s morphed over the years.  Everyone composes and arranges and they celebrate a composer each season.  Our band was Sean Jones, David Sanchez, Miguel Zenon, Robin Eubanks, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, Matt Penniman, and Obed Calvaire.  They return to the Sheldon this year for an In a Silent Way tribute with mostly the same folks—so anther chance to see Sanchez and Zenon who were particularly impressive.  Russell Gunn evoked Miles’s Blackhawk set with Jimmy Cobb holding down the drum chair very capably at age 90.

After piano tours and Milesiana, there are tenors.  So I couch toured a conversation and partial set with Benny Golson—not quite in the room with a legend but a vivid experience.  I am intrigued and enthralled at the playing of Melissa Aldana who crafts vivid lines that fill space quite fully (she has some great trio work) with ideas rather than tone.   Her own quartet had over active drumming from Tommy Crane whereas the Emmet Cohen show pulled her in multiple directions (blusier, mostly) than she quite fit.  She is a star in Artemis, but shares the front line with Anat Cohen and Ingrid Jensen, but she is one star among many.  So I haven’t quite heard the ideal Aldana show.  But I am glad to keep trying.

I’ve been able to see Joshua Redmond twice.  As great as his tenor invention is, his band (with Aaron Goldberg) was what impressed me most.  The way longstanding bands like this (and Branford Marsalis’s with Joey Caldazzaro) think together is very special.  Marsalis and Caldazzaro would magically complete one another’s thoughts and both tenors took great delight in what their bands could do, soloing all the better because of it.  In these bands, but most of them, including the trios, I an struck with just how good drummers have become, really playing music beyond rhythm.  Allison Miller has a Jazz Night in America video on “melodic drumming,” so it was a treat to see her with Artemis, listening so hard but happily to inflect the music so well.  She was almost the one to keep one’s eyes on, except that Anat Cohen exudes such unbridled joy at all times.  Her quartet show was a real highlight of 2018-2019.  I am so glad she and Ben Goldberg are making the clarinet a modern jazz instrument.

Joe Lovano came through with the brilliant and adventurous John Scofield who plays with Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes.  I find myself shying away from jazz guitar preferring the piano.  But that was quite a show as was Scofield again with Jack DeJohnette’s Hudson project which jammed out originals and The Band/Hendrix/Joni Mitchell very well.  DeJohnette has quite a palette of drums and especially cymbals.  We were 4 rows back on his side so we had a literally ringside seat for that magic at the Sheldon.

I have made a point to hear the likes of Marquis Hill, Robert Glasper, Stefon Harris, and, most recently, Terence Blanchard to hear how hip hop is being incorporated into jazz as funk was in my youth and rhythm and blues was in the ‘50s.  My younger generation didn’t bring that music home, so I don’t have that sensibility.  But I would be an old fart in extremis if I didn’t welcome those influences.  That said, I am more intrigued with how SFJAZZ takes the essence of electric Miles into acoustic music than vocoders and loops and reverb.  But, every time these newer shows have lots to delight in, including drummers who move the beat around and are not confined by any strictures.

The music is supposed to grow.  And I get to watch it.

--------------------

This entry is the last one of this 10 part series this Fall celebrating the 50th Anniversary of concert going, marked by my second one from 11/4/69 with Led Zeppelin.  Yes, this is part 9, but, rather like the Beatles releasing Abbey Road before Let It Be (actually, not like those monuments at all), I have already posted a part 10 about the shows I didn’t see.  But, wrapping up with jazz makes a certain amount of sense.

[wamhouse-column]

Event Report: FUDAN10KU LIVE 10th Anniversary Special ~Summer! Water! Live Band! A Music Festival Under the Blue Sky’s Light in Osaka~ 7.21.18

Having entered their 10th year of activities in September of 2017, danso (girls dressed as boys) idol group Fudanjuku have missed no chance celebrate the occasion, starting the year off with an outdoor concert at Hibiya’s Yaon concert hall followed by a three-part countrywide tour. This third leg of their concert series included something special-- a big outdoor concert supported by a live band and including… water?? With only the concert title to go off of, I and others had a lot of questions leading up to the actual performance, but with Fudanjuku as the headliners, we knew we were in for a good time.

On a broiling hot summer day a half hour north of Osaka, we trekked to the enormous Hattori Ryokuchi park, passing massive modern art fountains and huge patches of green until we reached the entrance to the open air concert hall.

Doors to the venue opened at noon even though the live itself was scheduled for 4pm. We arrived around 2pm in an effort to not fully liquify due to heat by the time the concert started. We were told that no re-entry was allowed and offered salty candy, a staple during Japanese summers, on the way in. The concert hall was surrounded by concrete walls on all sides which trapped heat and somehow made it even hotter within the venue than it was outside of it. As fans milled around chatting with each other, a massive screen hanging above the stage played Fudanjuku concert DVDs, first of their 2017 Nakano Sun Plaza concert and later of the 10th anniversary concert in Hibiya Yaon.

At the top of the seating area was a stretch of grass that included the goods table, a place to reserve CDs, a booth for participating in the chuusenkai (lottery raffle, using tickets you received from goods and CD purchases) and a tent spraying mist onto the several people who were camping out around it. On the opposite side of the venue from the entrance was a food truck serving various Fudanjuku-themed items like shaved ice in member colors and yakisoba named after one of their singles. We grabbed some snacks and settled in to wait.

Shortly after 3pm, The Hoopers took the stage as the opening act. Originally established as Fudanjuku’s “little brother” group, The Hoopers made their major debut on a different label than their predecessors and the two have only managed to collaborate a handful of times, so it was wonderful to be able to see them at the same event again! The members were wearing airy white blouses and started off their set with energetic songs “Go! Go! Dance ga Tomaranai” and “New World.” Next up was “Romeo,” performed by The Hoopers’ subunit, Four Roses. All members came back on stage to perform their newest single, “Jewel no Kodou ga Kikoeru ka?” and Fudanjuku fans were happy to join in with the song’s furicopy (copying the members’ arm movements.) The Hoopers thanked the audience for welcoming them so warmly, and generously plugged their concert the following day, also taking place in Osaka. (I’m pleased to report that several Fudanjuku fans bought day-of tickets and attended!)

There was a bit of a break for everyone to rehydrate, and then it was time for the main act. One by one, members of the live band took the stage… all of them, women in danso. It suited all of them so well I wouldn’t have been shocked if you told me that they always perform like that. As the opening riffs of the first song started, Fudanjuku took the stage dressed in red and white striped outfits like Osaka’s famous clown mascot, Kuidaore Taro. Fudanjuku are always wonderfully goofy and silly so these outfits were super cute, even if maybe not the most flattering.

The first few songs started off with a burst of energy, with “Taiyou Mitai na Kimi ga Suki” and Fudanjuku’s quintessential summer song “Muteki Natsu Yasumi.” We didn’t have to wait long to find out what the “water” aspect of the live would be, as four massive cannons attached to the stage began periodically blasting in time with the music, firing arcs of water high above the audience.

From where I was sitting, the sun passing through the mist in the air painted an incredible rainbow over the members from one end of the stage to the other. At the group’s outdoor concerts in Hibiya’s Yaon in both 2012 and 2017, fans made an enormous rainbow in the audience for the members, so getting to see a completely real rainbow over the group as they performed their first outdoor concert in Osaka made me super emotional! It really felt like a scene out of a movie. Former Fudanjuku member Kyan Chiaki (FKA Bukiya Momotaro) managed to snap some photos from where she was seated:

In addition to blasts of water from four cannons attached to the stage, members took turns running two at a time into the audience and spraying everyone with big water guns several times. Next up was towel-swinging seasonal song “Cocktail on the Beach” followed by upbeat “Ore no Sora,” “Kazamidori” and “This Is Love.”

There was a quick MC where one of the group’s newest members, Kuryu Masaki, was suspiciously absent. The others left the stage to prepare for the next song, and Masaki reappeared first in a flattering and handsome white and black outfit-- holding an electric violin. He lifted it to his chin and began playing the intro to “Moshimo Kore ga Koi Nara,” much to the audience’s delight. The other members joined him in the same cool outfits for the rest of the song, and continued into “Danso Revolution,” “Welcome to my Familia” and “Shunkan Tourai Future.”

After every few songs, the members would pause to rehydrate and encourage everyone to do the same, which prompted Fujimori Leo to initiate a venue-wide kanpai (cheers) among everyone’s water bottles, sports drinks, and the occasional alcohol. The setlist had a lot of similarities to what they’ve been using at other stops on their current tour, but between the water effects, members periodically running into the audience, and really creative visuals tailored specifically to each song being projected on the screen above the stage, it was a totally unique and immersive concert.

The guitarist switched out her electric for an acoustic for some relaxing versions of down-tempo “Hoshikuzu no Namida” and “Bokura no Arukumichi.” Around this time was another costume change, this time into cute and fun baseball uniform-style shirts in member colors with their names on the back. Energy ramped up again for “Daikoukai Boy,” “Eye of the Typhoon,” “Galileo ~Procyon wo Koete~,” and “Onaji Jidai ni Umareta Wakamonotachi.” The group’s most recent single, “Kimi Iroiro Utsuri,” suited the live band and summer energy especially well.

Water effects had also been in full effect during these few songs but I thought we’d already received the worst of it, until Seto Kouki was given control a high-powered water hose during the last song, “Arata naru Makuake no tame no Makuake ni yoru Kyoushikyoku ~Kimi ga Ireba Oretachi mo Egao Mugendai~.” As Fudanjuku fans may know, Kouki loves the ink-spraying Nintendo game series, Splatoon. Kouki really, really loves Splatoon. Kouki did not hold back as he used his acquired Splatoon skills and accuracy to thoroughly, completely drench several hundred audience members. Something about being soaked to the core by a member of one’s favorite group manning a firehouse makes it difficult to contain one’s laughter, and I found myself in hysterics as members did a last lap of the audience, taking GoPro selfies with soggy fans all the while.

I managed to find a dry corner of t-shirt to dry my glasses on before the encore, which included a cover of the permanent-hiatus female idol version of Fudanjuku, Nakano Fujoshi Sisters’ “tomorrow” and upbeat but bittersweet “Jaa, ne.” The members left the stage but were soon called back on for a double encore, inviting The Hoopers members to join them for another performance of the groups’ collaboration song made for their tour together last summer, “Kiratto Love.” After everyone left the stage, a final announcement on screen revealed that it wouldn’t be long before Fudanjuku’s next outdoor concert-- the final performance in the group’s 10th anniversary tours will be held at Hibiya Yaon on September 24th, with the setlist decided by fans!

Fans began streaming out of the venue, and in my sweaty, soggy state I felt immense relief I’d be able to head back to my hotel room and shower instead of boarding a bullet train as-is to head back to Tokyo. I’ve seen more Fudanjuku concerts than I can count at this point, but this one was easily in the top 5. It was absolutely one of their most creative performances, and really next-level fun for both fans and members alike. I’ve laughed through a lot of Fudanjuku concerts but never because I was being pelted with rocket-powered water. I’m looking forward to the DVD, but I sure have my fingers crossed that me looking like a drowned rat and beaming like an idiot doesn’t show up in the recording.

[weekendwarriorblog]

Some Thoughts on Long-Lasting Music Fandom

I've been wanting to write something freeform for this blog that isn't necessarily about movies -- because that was whole reason I started the Weekend Warrior blog in the first place. I got a little more time to do that last year when there weren't too many movie releases. As luck would have it, next week is one of the quietest weeks in many, many months even with what is likely to be one of the biggest movie releases... but again, this is my chance to write about something not movies but something that's very dear to my heart, maybe more than anything else: ROCK MUSIC.

The idea to write this piece came out of a couple hours I spent Friday night on something called "The Alarm Central." I have a feeling that if you were to ask even my closest friends who some of my favorite bands are, some might be able to name one or two, maybe from a T-shirt I might wear, but I'm not sure how many friends would guess that my top band for many years has been The Alarm.

If you don't know who The Alarm are, you're probably very young. Lucky you. The Alarm had their highest acclaim and fame back in the mid-80s with songs like "68 Guns" and "The Stand" and eventually "Rain in the Summertime." When I was a teenager driving around CT from one job to another, my favorite radio station, WLIR, would play The Alarm a *LOT*. They were a mainstay along with U2, Depeche Mode and other bands that I was also inevitably a fan of.

It was a far cry from the Top 40/Beatles stuff I listened to in the mid '70s and the metal/prog rock that I got into in 1979 when I was playing in bands, but The Alarm just had this great spirit to them that really came out when you saw them live. Oddly, I only saw them live twice in the '80s... but that's a story for another time that I'm kind of saving...

The Alarm Central is a relatively new website/app/platform that Alarm frontman Mike Peters and his wife Jules (who also plays keys in The Alarm, but please no Linda McCartney comparisons... Jules actually has a lovely singing voice -- rimshot) put together as an alternative to the YouTube/Facebook platforms that so many bands have flocked to. Actually, The Alarm did and still does have a Facebook presence and last year, when COVID hit, and everything shut down, Mike and Jules started doing a weekly livestream show called "The Big Night In." They started doing it on March 20, 2020 and continued to do it for a few months, resumed in July for a second season.. but anyway, it was a great way to get together with other Alarm fans (or rather, "fams," as the Peters' lovingly call us) to listen to Mike play some songs, tell some stories, enjoy watching Jules poking fun at her famous husband (they've been married for almost as long as the band has been together).

Anyway, I'm getting a little sidetracked, but the point I'm trying to make is that this band and its singer, Mike, have managed to keep their fanbase alive now for 40 years. In fact, this year is the official 40th anniversary. No, they're not the first or only band to make it 40 years... another long-time favorite of mine, Rush, celebrated it a few years back before Neil Peart died -- The Damned also has hit 40 years but it's also gone through so many line-up changes that only the singer has remained that entire time. Another thing that influenced my decision to write this was seeing Edgar Wright's The Sparks Brothers documentary for about the third time, and those guys, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have been making music together for over *50* years... although as you see in the movie, their popularity and success has fluctuated. Sure, there are some people who heard their first hit "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Two of Us" and are STILL fans.... some fans dropped in and out, maybe went off to do other things for a while, then came back. I'm not sure if the Go-Go fans who discovered the band when they did a duet with Jane Wiedlin stuck around as they started experimenting with opera and other music genres. But then you see the band playing shows in the past five years for HUGE audiences. About ten years ago, they decided to play all (then) 22 of their albums from beginning to end in a series of shows in London... and yeah, people did go to all 22 of those shows.

The other thing that influenced my decision to write this was seeing another documentary, this one at the Tribeca Festival, about the '80s Norwegian group A-Ha, who to many, are probably considered the epitome of one-hit wonders since every single person on the planet knows "Take On Me" but can you name one other song by them? Can you name any of the many albums they made after that first one? It's interesting because in that movie, you also see the band going through some highs and lows but when they play gigs in Europe, like in Germany or their native Norway, they still play to HUGE audiences, and they still have many devout fans. And yes, many of them have stuck with them since the "Take on Me" days but would you happen to know one of these fans personally?

That brings me back to the Alarm. I will fully admit that I wasn't there as a fan/fam through thick and thin... I was already deviating before Mike Peters left the band almost exactly 30 years ago in a very famous concert in Brixton where he let the rest of the band know he was quitting while ON STAGE PERFORMING. I mean, how punk is that? Sounds like something I might do. ;)

I definitely lost track of the band until an episode of VH-1's "Bands Reunited" in the early '00s, maybe 2002 where the band was... I'm sure you you can figure it out. At that time, I had absolutely zero idea that Mike and various members of the band had been doing annual "Gatherings" in their Wales hometown for the fans they built in the '80s who stuck around for all of Mike's solo albums, side projects like Coloursound with Billy Duffy from the Alarm (album #2 comes out in a couple weeks!), and basically through thick and thin.

A few years later, maybe 2004, I saw that The Alarm were playing at the Knitting Factory down near me and I decided to see what they had been up to and surprise, surprise, what I loved about the band in the '80s was still very much intact, even if it was now Mike and a completely different band. But I was happy to see them again, even more thrilled to learn that the Knitting Factory gig was part of a residency and then also learned that Mike/The Alarm had not only made a new album... but they made an entire 5-album box set called In the Poppyfields and holy shit... it didn't seem like there was a bad song in the bunch! (They played some of the songs at that gig, but they also played ALL of my favorites from the '80s, too!) That moment was kind of a revelation for me and even though I've seen The Alarm maybe twice in the '80s, I've probably seen them live maybe 16 or 17 times since that Knitting Factory gig.

If you've spent even a second at one of these shows with the band's fams, then you know why the Alarm is such a popular band with so many infectious and anthemic sing-along-songs, and you know what? I found that from the very first time I saw the band in the mid-80s as well. But a lot of these fams stuck with the band through thick and thin, once Mike left the band and did his own solo thing (I personally have only been getting into his solo stuff VERY recently)... and then when he was back with a new incarnation. Sometimes, Mike would just go out and perform acoustically and the fams love that, too.

So I was thinking how does Mike do it, and how does he keep those "fams" coming back for more? How does he and Jules convince a good number of them (including myself) to shell out something like $160 a year to subscribe to Alarm Central? That certainly seems like a lot of money and believe me, a lot of long-time fans were not happy with that.

But Mike and Jules also created a lot of good will with the amount of time and energy they put into the Big Night In and into Alarm Central... and frankly, into every single thing they do EVER. I've never been to a Gathering in Wales, but I've been to a bunch of them in New York, and they never disappoint. They're always a full day with all sorts of events -- trivia, a QnA, a meet and greet, maybe a solo set, a full band set... there have even been multiple night shows.

That said, I still haven't really gotten into what makes Mike and Jules and The Alarm so popular that they have fans who go all the way back to Mike's *previous* band Seventeen. (I've met a couple of them last night in Alarm Central, which also convinced me to write this.)

I know what I like about the band and Mike and the music, almost all of it, in fact, but I also have a personal connection since both Mike and Jules are cancer survivors. Not only that but they've also created Love Hope Strength, a foundation whose entire existence is to find stem cell and bone marrow donors. Even if you did not know what a big Alarm fan I was before reading this, there's a good chance you realize that I'm a leukemia survivor myself, that I had a stem cell transplant, and I take everything about that seriously, whether it's to raise awareness or to be there for others when they are going through their own transplants, whatever. It's something that's probably as important to me as the very air I breathe*.

*Yes, that actually is an Alarm reference, actually one of Mike Peters' solo songs co-written with Jules that he still plays with the band.

INTERMISSION (Gotta run out to a movie but will be back later to finish this.)

Let me see if I can get back into my train of thought. Oh, yeah, I was getting into the reason why The Alarm and Mike in particular seems to be able to keep his fambase going for 40 years with some truly diehard sticking through thick and thin. I think part of it is that Mike and Jules are just truly nice and good people. I mean, think about it. They didn't need to spend hours each week during a pandemic putting together the Big Night In show to keep everyone entertained and sane. "Music Will Keep Us Together" was the motto of those weekly music and talk shows with a lot of really special guests and announcements. I'm sure that they have a lot of other things to do, like making music (and Mike's done a lot of that during the pandemic) but they are constantly doing things to keep in contact with the fams, including the Alarm Central and very casual weekly pub updates where fams communicate with each other and can share their thoughts with the Peters. They even invited their fambase to come to their hometown for weekly "Staycations" (that just started this week) where the fams can rent out one of a number of special rooms and be able to watch special performances right in Wales. The first night of it was so fun even watching on the Alarm Central and they'll be doing this for the next five months in lieu of touring. And then early next year, the Alarm is touring all over the UK and making up for shows that were delayed and cancelled.

I just want to tell one more thing about Mike's dedication. A week before the first Staycation, he had a bad accident, falling off his bike and breaking his elbow, and yet, that night, he was on Alarm Central in full cast with Jules, and he even pulled out his acoustic guitar and played a song, much to the shock of everyone watching.

But that's enough about The Alarm. You get the idea, but they're not the only ones. I was a pretty big fan of Nirvana and when David Grohl came along with Foo Fighters, I was a hard pass, but 20 years later, I became a pretty diehard fan, and I realized that there's a reason why the Foo Fighters can fill Citifield two nights in a row (50,000 people a night) and that's because you can tell that David is just as dedicated to his fans... and you can also tell from his docs and appearances that he's also a really nice guy.

And I'm sure I've mentioned Tim's Twitter Listening Parties here, and Tim Burgess of the Charlatans is another guy who could be super-busy and doing lots of things but almost every night, he's on Twitter interacting with musical guests and his fans... and he's been doing that diligently since last March, as well. I'm not sure he makes any money doing that, and I don't think he cares. He enjoys it. He knows that those who tune in every night enjoy it, and like Alarm Central, he's created a community around these listening parties.

I feel like I can even bring this analogy over to the world of movies and some of my favorite directors and people who have just done really well over the years by just being nice to their fans. Edgar Wright is one. Guillermo del Toro is another. Both of those guys could just lock themselves in an ivory tower ala Nolan, but they always get out there to talk about their movies and interact with fans whenever possible, and that's something that really means a lot to people.

We're definitely living in different times than the '70s and '80s, and maybe we're living in times when people just want to be nicer to each other. People have been through a lot even pre-COVID, and I'd like to think that all of us are coming out the other side being nicer or more consideration. I'm not 100% sure that's true, but I do think that musicians/bands/artists who can maintain their fanbase for decades through thick and thin really are something special. I think that any band or artist starting out now or who has been around for a few years can learn a lot from the Mikes and Tims and Dave Grohls because you know what? It takes more than talent alone to keep the fans around through every experiment you might decide to do over time.

(As I did with my 30-minute experiments, I'm gonna post this witohut going back and reading over it and doing any error correction. Like I said, this is the kind of free-form writing I like to do when I have something on my mind but don't want to take too much time away from my paid writing.)

[wherespacepooh]

Behind the Scenes of the Grand Ice Shows according to Sound Designer Keiichi Yano (Part 2)

Part 1 is here.

In Part 2, Yano-san brings from behind the scenes in ice shows (1) the making of Machida’s prologue in Don Quixote, (2) Hanyu’s surprise collaboration with Fukuma-san on Ballade No.1, and (3) (again surprise...and last minute) collaboration with guitarist Takeo Konno on Parisienne Walkway on the final day of FaOI in Niigata. Together with Part 1, this could alternatively be named “the 20 times Hanyu-senshu was a bother (read: lovable brat) with his crazy ideas.” Yuzu really seeks out and believes in the breathing and ever-changing aspect of live performance, doesn’t he?

He also talks about (4) what the job entails and who would be a good fit (Daddy Mura makes an appearance!) and leaves us with (5) a heartfelt message regarding his thoughts on program choice and the treatment of music.

Translated by gladi. Feel free to repost text in entirety with source. Images belong to Getty Images (#1), Fantasy on Ice (#2, #3, #4, #5), and Keiichi Yano (#6).

Original source: https://victorysportsnews.com/articles/4508/original (July 08, 2017)

Behind the Scenes of the Grand Ice Shows according to Sound Designer Keiichi Yano (Part 2)

Various ice shows are held at ice rinks around the country during the off season before the full-scale FS season takes off. In addition to splendid performances delighting audiences, new programs for the following season are also revealed. To Yano-san, both as sound expert and as music editor, it is actually a busy time of the year. In this second round, he talks about episodes from such ice shows and his thoughts toward figure skating.

Text by Yamane Ito

Ice show and professional commitment

The pleasure of ice shows, after all, is to fully enjoy the performances of active (competing) skaters up close, and to reunite with each and every one of the very unique OBOG's who’d turned pro. With numbers that are somewhat different from competitive programs, there are also guests who perform live [in collaboration]. To Yano-san, it is a pleasant, if buzzing, time of the year.

A few months ago, Yano-san located the sounds of an orchestra tuning from his colossal files. After adding a couple of edits, he delivered it to his client. That is something [orchestras and ensembles] do before classical concerts, operas, and so forth. With the oboe as reference, instrumentalists play the “A” (la in sol-fa) in unison.

"Don Quixote," debuted at an ice show, started with exactly that tuning sound. At the rink doubling as stage, scarlet curtains were stretched across one side, with the spotlight illuminating the center impressively. As a distinctive air of tension settled, the curtains drew open to the left and right with a swoosh––finally––to the entrance of Tatsuki Machida. In a fashion that would never happen in competition, that was the prologue done in [Machida’s] way as a pro skater.

A surprise borne by a live performance

One of the real thrills of an ice show is its live music. From classical to pop, rock and jazz, artists from various genres collaborate with skaters on the ice. What is different from a normal concert is that cheers, screams, and claps would arise from the audience at spots that seem “improbable” to these artists. As we’ve learned previously [in part 1], Yano-san and the like in the acoustics side too, will adjust the volume to go with the jumps and spins.

In general, the classical music world is conservative, and the performers rarely tamper with the original scores. Although that is why it is so named “classical music,” enthusiastic fans of figure skating exist even amidst such a field. Kotaro Fukuma, for example. As a pianist of the international levels, he'd studied at the National Paris Conservatoire and the Berlin University of Art, winning the Cleveland International Piano Competition at the age of 20.

“Fukuma-san is so fond of figure skating, and in fact, even said he was interested in the work that I do. Seemed that he wants to introduce various pieces of music to the skaters."

Stories of classical instrumentalists taken aback by figure skating music are often heard. Conversely, many figure skating fans are shocked by the length of the actual pieces at concerts that assemble music used in the programs. For example, Hanyu-senshu’s “Ballade No. 1” that was just under three minutes [in program], is an ample 9 minutes-long.

“Fukuma-san synchronizes the skaters’ performance and the music in his head, creating a perfect fit."

It was from last year, but they staged a performance where Fukuma-san played the piano live to the “image” of Hanyu-senshu. The piece he played was Chopin’s Ballade No.1 in G Minor, but instead of the score, a monitor was placed in front of the piano. Fukuma-san, with Hanyu-senshu’s movements on screen as measure, gave a perfect performance of the program edit of “Ballade No. 1.” Moreover, all the while he kept to the tempo of Krystian Zimerman (source of the program edit), Fukuma incorporated his own distinctive nuance and emotions as well.

Actually, this wasn’t the first time that Fukuma-san performed “Ballade No. 1” at the rink. In the past, something happened on the ice during the show and they needed time to resurface the ice. To stall time, he played the piece. It was a nice touch, thanks to Fukuma-san’s wit. Hanyu-senshu learned of the episode, and at his request, they collaborated on a live performance of “Ballade No. 1” during the encore of the final day. That was how, in the end, [Fukuma-san] played the piece twice. 

“Hanyu-kun. That was quite a crazy, incredible thing he said! Although, since we are all professionals, we can do it if we want to. Well, we were really getting into the mood of things."

A guitarist’s pride

“Did you see the Niigata performance the other day? It’s Hanyu-kun again, but he asked me, ‘Yano-san, do you have the source for Pari-San?’”

Yano-san, eyes crinkled, already immune to Hanyu-senshu’s outrageous ideas and suggestions, said. “Parisienne Walkway” was the masterpiece of rock guitarist Gary Moore. Lovingly referred to as “Pari-San” by skating fans, it was a popular program that [Hanyu] also performed at the Sochi Olympics.

“There is a live guitarist this time, right? The guitarist in Anri-san’s band.”

For some reason, he understood what Hanyu-senshu was thinking. And after talking of many things, as expected, he “want[ed] to bring out the live guitar.” He said he wanted to collaborate on “Pari-San” on the very last day of the ice show. Just for that, it’s necessary to consult with the musician’s side. We also had to talk to the agency. Above all, it would be awful if it isn’t all conveyed through the show organizer.

“'If everyone is okay with it, I’ll also help.’ The organizer passed on my message to Hanyu-kun. Thereupon, I also heard news that guitarist Takeo Konno said he’d be ‘honored.’ But he wanted time to practice. Hurriedly, we began to rehearse the day before. With Hanyu-kun as well."

By rehearsal the next day (day of performance), we had yet to settle on the details including how to start.

“That morning, the thought suddenly came to me when I woke up. Given the precious opportunity to feature a live guitarist, instead of doing it like a bonus, we should show off the performer properly.”

He immediately went and talked to production. The scenario would be like this. Once Hanyu-senshu retires from the stage to mop himself or something, a phrase from Pari-San abruptly wells up, as guitar solo. Cheers from the audience. He plays the melody once through as if to rouse the crowds. At the peak, Hanyu appears. Going on, and transitioning into the sound source of “Hoochie Coochie Man” in the second half. Guitar strums on as is, matched to the sound source.

The surprise was a great success. Even leaving on “Ballade No.1”’s costume felt somewhat fresh. "Hoochie Coochie Man” is a piece often done in jam sessions, so as a guitarist, Konno-san would probably be able to play it right away. So that was the arrangement, Yano-san smiled as he recounted.

“But he most likely practiced all night long, didn’t he? He was in completely different spirits compared to during rehearsal the day before!”

In search for a successor

I asked Yano-san about his own plans hereafter. It might come as a surprise, but he’s looking for a successor. He doesn’t know how long he can continue to do this work, but the competitive sport of figure skating will continue.

“People who have an interest in such work. Young people who like music. If someone would raise their hands to this, I think I would pass on the baton with pleasure.”

Pros in the field of audio engineering can undertake that part just fine. But the problem is in editing music for programs. Operationally speaking, it’s not hard as long as you don’t mind editing with a computer, or you are not bad at it. But, it’s impossible to keep up without a certain level of understanding about figure skating, love and inquisitive spirit toward music, and commitment. Taste is a requirement too.

“Out of nowhere, someone will say something like ‘choreography will start the day after tomorrow!’ Phone calls just before you are about to get on a plane for a business trip too."

On such occasions, time spent waiting at the airport or in-flight becomes a temporary workshop. At work on the plane ride from Narita (t/n: the airport) to Fukuoka, he has had to send data from his hotel after he lands too. He takes his PC along no matter where he goes.

“Because emails will suddenly arrive. During SEIMEI, [email came] when I was at Yatsugatake on a day off. From Machida-kun, it was when I traveled to Hateruma Island from Ishigaki Island (t/n: according to Google Maps, we’re talking about a two-hour trip).”

At such extent, this is vocational work that cannot be taken up unless you truly like it. Moreover, you must be methodical. Since you deal with a large quantity of data at once, it becomes a problem if you are careless or halfhearted about it.

“I was thinking it would be nice if someone amongst the skaters would come up and inherit my craft. Although I say this as a joke, Mura Takahito-kun. He is interested in acoustics, and often comes and hangs out at the booth. So I told him, ‘Come succeed me!’"

Message from Keiichi Yano

“Although we are happy that, unlike in the past, many skating fans now come to watch live competitions and ice shows, if possible, it would be great if [you] could see the show from beginning to the very end. Leaving your seats and not returning until the time comes for your target skater to perform, and so forth. From our perspective, it really is a pity. This isn’t a complaint or a remonstration, but nonetheless I want the show to be seen in its entirety. It’s good to see the skaters’ personality shine through the music too, and in such a way, watch from one skater to the other and judge and compare.”

Yano-san has many thoughts he’d like to convey, borne out of a long time spent supporting the world of figure skating. Not only towards the audience, but to skaters hereon and their coaches, everyone in the field. We publish his message here.

“In recent years, there are more and more skaters who are committed and particular about music, but on many occasions, when deciding what to skate to, I think many skaters use the so-called ‘pieces they are given’––from coaches, parents, choreographers, and so forth. Because they spend at least a year skating to that music, I still hope they would be particular about program choice, with the thought of ‘[wanting] to express this piece' in mind.

I think the essentials to figure skating are (1) skating boots (2) musical program and (3) costume. I hope they could seek out and absorb from many sources, and turning those into their own thing when approaching their own performances. Much of the music preexists, and even to the extent of not being influenced by the intention of the composer, I hope they could create ‘their own particular story.’

But, please still [respect | take care in the treatment of] the original music. Although it doesn’t matter to add a few sound effects because of the choreography, I hope people can do their best to avoid arrangements where you can somehow no longer tell what the original music was. I speak from the point of view that, still, we should cherish the thoughts of the composer at the time of composition. Finally, I hope that we can cherish our beginnings––what we thought, our original purpose, when we first started to like figure skating.”

Interviewee: Keiichi Yano Sound Designer/ Music Editor-Programmer. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1957. Started working as Audio Technician since 1975. In charge of audio at YAMAHA Tokyo branch in 1978. Currently works freelance as Figure Skating Sound and Audio Producer.

Writer: Yamane Ito Creative Director turned Copywriter/ Football Researcher. Published various sports-related books, mostly specializing in football, and one about figure skating––『フィギュアスケート・プログラムに秘められた物語』

[werenzki]

Zach Werenski #8

Anonymous said: Hi! Can u write a zach werenski where you have a cute date? Thank u !

A/N: sorry this took a little long to get to, but i personally like how it turned out :) hope you all liked it too!! also sorry if there’s any errors, i didn’t read over it before posting

Word Count: 1,921

“I can’t believe you’re idea of a date night is taking me to a Justin Bieber concert,” you said while Zach lead the way through some backstage area of the arena. Perks of being a Blue Jacket, you supposed. Not everyone, but a fair amount of people know who Zach was - some of the double takes people were taking was actually quite funny too.

“We’ve been trying to plan this third date for a while now,” Zach stated what you already knew, “and I wanted to see the concert,” he added with a shrug.

“I’m just a little shook. Usually I see third dates as like dinners or the movies or something like that,”

“Well,” Zach paused and threaded his fingers with yours, “sorry there’s no dinner, but I’ll buy you some food from the concession,” he flashed you a toothy smile and you were smiling right back at him.

You had only met Zach just barely a month ago now, but you hadn’t stopped talking to each other since. Through your years you’ve had guys try and get to know you and continuously text you with the conversation dying pretty quickly - that just wasn’t the case with Zach. In fact, it was hard to wait for his responses while he got busy with work stuff and you two would probably text till the crack of dawn if you could. And with his job not exactly being the average job and with you being a student, it was hard to find time to have these dates you so desperately wanted to go on. And in all honesty you could just sit at his apartment and hang out and that’d be a day well spent too.

But when Zach called you last night, saying he had got ahold of tickets to the Bieber concert, you couldn’t exactly complain. Even though it’s a pretty outrageous date, it was still going to be tons of fun. Plus, you did want to see the concert too.

“I definitely want some cotton candy,” you stated while brushing your free hand against Zach’s bare forearm.

“That’s so random,” he chuckled.

“No it’s not,” you defended yourself, “I saw like a whole crate of it back there,” you turned your body around to point behind you as you two kept walking backstage hand-in-hand.

All of a sudden your body was being jerked to the left, while you lightly bumped into a hard body on your right. You were a little disoriented as your body turned back around, but Zach had both his hand laced with yours still and his other arm holding your right shoulder while attempting to shield you from the second person who was rushing by. Your mouth was gaped open and your eyes were wide open in shock as Zach looked down at you with worried eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his eyes looking directly into yours.

“Yeah,” you breathed out.

“Let’s get back up to the main floor,” he said, “I’m sorry I dragged you down here but I really needed to sign those forms,”

“It’s fine,” you nodded. It really didn’t bother you since you got the chance to see where the players of the Blue Jackets spend most of their time, you peeked into the dressing room and got to go into the physical therapy room too while Zach signed some papers.

Zach brushed his thumb over your skin gently and directed the two of you to the elevator. He explained how it was for VIP entry only and it stopped right beside the concession where you could get the desired cotton candy and whatever else you wanted. You noticed that about Zach really quickly during your first two dates, he liked to spoil you.

First it was a full dinner and ice cream afterwards, then during the second date he continuously slapped down his credit card and offered you whatever you wanted. It was sweet - but it was also the 21st century and you had money of your own. But still it was only the beginnings of what you hoped was to be a long relationship - even though he had yet to ask you to be his girlfriend officially - and you had plenty of time to spoil him as well.

After grabbing some cotton candy and a drink from the concession, you two were making your way to your suite seats. Between the pit passes and the suite that was open for Blue Jacket players, you sure did have the best seats in the house. You two decided to sit in the suite during the opening acts and then make your way to the pit during Justin Bieber’s set.

“Here,” you smiled as Zach opened his mouth wide and took the cotton candy off your fingers, his lips gently brushing your fingertips. You chuckled and leaned into him as his arm rested over the back of your chair.

“Your lips are all blue now,” Zach chuckled.

“Really?” You questioned, genuinely worried by how stupid you must look. It was a date after all.

Zach chuckled again and brought his free hand to your chin, tilting your face up to look at him. “It’s cute though,” he stated before bringing his lips to kiss yours softly.

As you two pulled back, you were smiling like a fool, but thankfully so was Zach. You leaned more into him and ate some more of your cotton candy as the first opening act continued to amp up the crowd. She was talented, but truthfully while you sat in the suite looking down at the floor seats and stage - all you could picture was being here to watch Zach play. He had offered to get you tickets a couple of times now, but each time you declined knowing very well how expensive hockey tickets were nowadays - especially with the team doing so well this season.

“Werenski!”

With the shout of Zach’s name, the two of you both turned around to see a couple of his teammates of the top of the stairs in the suite. Becoming nervous suddenly, you froze in your seat while Zach got up immediately and greeted the two Blue Jackets. But you didn’t stick to your seat for very long. Taking one deep breath, you stood and just as you walked up the stairs Zach turned to wrap an around around your waist. 

“This is Y/N,” he said - you knew there was usually something added to the introduction but you two hadn’t exactly put labels on yourself just yet. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” the one with long blonde hair said while shaking your hand, “I’m Will,” he stated. 

“I’m Cam,” the other smiled while shaking your hand, “Zach never shuts up about you,” he added with a smirk. 

“Oh really?” You questioned, raising a brow in a teasing matter while looking at Zach. His cheeks were flushed while he narrowed his eyes at Cam. 

“Oh yeah, no offence or anything but it’s getting pretty annoying,” Will said. 

“Yeah, thanks for finally going on another date with this idiot,” Cam chuckled as Zach finally had enough and pushed his friend roughly. You only shook your head and chuckle along with the boys. 

The four of you chatted a bit more, Will and Cam mentioned how they had already seen Justin Bieber in concert before and were bragging to Zach so much he bought tickets right after a practice. Your cheeks were beginning to hurt from the jokes the two were making, while Zach was constantly rolling his eyes at the boys. You were leaning against the back of the seat with Zach beside you as the intermission began before Bieber was to take the stage. 

“You got pit passes too, hey?” Will asked, pointing to the yellow band around your wrist. 

“Yup,” you nodded and lifted it up. 

“Suite seats just not good enough for ya, Werenski?” Cam teased, then smiling as Zach rolled his eyes - again - and he took a sip of his beer that had been delivered just moments ago.  

“Gotta treat my lady right,” he said with a lopsided grin before turning to you and winking. 

“Aw,” you faked a smile and brought your free hand up to his face to squish his face, “quite trying to suck up in front of your friends,” 

“Oh snap!” Will hollered while him and Cam laughed. Zach rolled his eyes while you kept holding his face, smirking proudly as his lips tried to turn upwards into a smile in your hold. You ended up letting him go and kissed his cheek quickly. 

“Speaking of the pit, we should get moving,” Zach said. 

“You kids have fun,” Cam nodded. 

You said your goodbyes to the two and made your way out of the suite. In your mind, meeting the first of many of Zach’s teammates went pretty well. He had called you his lady, couldn’t manage to keep his hands off you, and glared at Will anytime he looked at you the wrong way. As if the signs weren’t clear before, but you’d say things with Zach were pretty damn good. You were deep in thought as Zach lead the way to the pit. 

With his hand holding onto your tightly, he got past the few parents that were along the back of the pit and made his way to the middle along with the rest of the concert-goers. You politely asked a random teenage boy to take a picture of you and Zach - which you saved and didn’t bother to add to your story for the whole privacy thing, never know who would share it with the internet. Then before you knew it, the lights went off the the arena was screaming with Bieber Fever. 

“I feel like I’m 13 years old again,” you chuckled into Zach’s ear. 

“I feel like there’s only 13 year olds here,” 

“And a few NHL players apparently,” you teased, which made Zach chuckle and shake his head. 

You two enjoyed the first bit of the show, singing and dancing along, and just living in the moment of Bieber singing only a few feet away from you. Truthfully, your 13 year old self was quaking inside. As the acoustic set began, Zach’s arms came from behind you and rested over your shoulders while his head rested just beside yours. 

“You should go and love yourself,” he sang along. He had you two swaying side to side, and his singing voice had your cheeks hurting again. This stupid boy was just too much. 

“When can I start introducing you as my girlfriend?” Zach asked, his random question caught you off guard as Justin Bieber was strumming his guitar just above you. Biting down on your bottom lip, you turned your head just slightly to look at him. 

“You did call me your lady upstairs,” you stated. 

“It slipped out,” Zach admitted while his cheeks turned a pinkish colour. 

“I liked it,” you smiled. 

“So, will you be my girlfriend?” Zach asked. 

You nodded and turned your body around in his arms to bring your lips to his. What was better than kissing the boy you were falling for while Justin Bieber - and all of the arena - sang around you. As you two pulled away, you looked into his eyes and smiled. After the silent moment of pure love-sickening eye contact, you turned back around and continued to enjoy the concert of your pre-teen dreams.  

[veri-us-kpop-weekly]

Recommendations 11/16/19

Recommendations are back (finally)!

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Well. Uh. Actually, the only excuse I have for this is that competition season has started for a few things I’m doing. I’ll simply cover a few of October’s highlights this time. (Here’s hoping it won’t be another month-and-a-half between this and the next post. I mean to post this last week, but my draft got deleted too many times.)

Read on for October’s recommendations! (This post is much longer than usual!)

SuperM - I Can’t Stand The Rain

If I were to have published this post a few weeks ago like I was supposed to, I more than likely would have recommended “2 Fast” for its light atmosphere and groovy house beat (in the vein of Shinee title tracks). Then, here I am, over a month after the album’s release and several days after their concert, and I’ve listened to it (almost) the least out of all the songs in the album. In short, this is my way of beating around the bush to say that “I Can’t Stand The Rain” has had better longevity than the other album tracks in SuperM’s debut EP for me. The most obvious idiosyncrasy of this song is, get this, actual percussion. It’s not the kind you would associate with idol bands and the like but pounding bass drums or tribal drums. In a similar way as AB6IX’s “BLIND FOR LOVE” in the last post, there is a very large contrast (especially in the bridge) between the high falsettos or Taemin’s airy voice when compared to the deep, full instrumental. While the drums are the easiest instrumental touch to hear, the verses also benefit from the ornamentation of strings, particularly, it seems, violins, which give the effect of the song being a part of an action-packed symphony.

Jung Daehyun - Aight (아잇)

Recently, I was having a listening spree of a lot of title tracks from October, and upon exhausting myself with the same few genres over again, was fairly hopeless about anything else I’d listen to. I (unsurprisingly) made some snippy comments about a few obvious ballads and corny titles I came across before this. When I came across “Aight”, though, I genuinely had no idea what to expect based on the thumbnail and title, so I clicked on it. Even with no expectations, this wasn’t what I would have expected in the slightest. That’s not a bad thing here: this is fun, funky, and most of all, kind of weird, the latter being my initial impression. I suppose my first thoughts about “Aight” stemmed from the fact I kind of decided, “Hey, let’s find the chorus first.” Well, the chorus has some strange vocal layering and effects, which texture the song more than most solo songs, and all the differently configured parts trade off a bit suddenly in a broken melody. The post-chorus is a whispered chant, which adds yet another vocal texture. The only other place that retains any of the strange trade-offs in the pre-chorus. The verses are, more-or-less, standard aside from the fact that the second verse doesn’t drop into any sort of half-time thing and just lets the funk and disco instrumental be.

Youngjae - Forever Love

When I think of solo songs, I typically think of ballads, R&B, and hip-hop galore. Perhaps the rationale behind this is that these genres are fairly easy to tackle without a multitude of vocalists splitting up parts. Groups tackle these genres as well, but they often offer-up more propulsive genres that suit larger numbers of vocalists and rappers. It would be impossible for a single vocalist to handle melodies that constantly exchange on a live stage without accompaniment, but that doesn’t occasionally stop a solo artist from releasing something fit for a(n idol) choir. “Forever Love” is simply a k-pop song typical of the early 2010s that got released almost a decade past the pinnacle of this melodic EDM style, but the delayed timing makes it feel unique compared to other recent releases. Its optimal listening setting is somewhere you can absolutely crank the volume (or have it cranked up for you at a concert) as it’s a party-starter. I listened to Youngjae’s previous songs earlier this year, and the thing I recall most is that one of them used guitar, and that element is retained here to accompany a strong beat to make up the verses and to join synths to create an atmospheric pre-chorus.

(Link since I ran out of videos I could embed)

Limesoda - Wave

See, October was fairly devoid of girl group releases, and I didn’t expect to like much from the small pool of songs that came out. I find that a lot of what determines whether I’ll like a girl group release is its delivery. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I’m not fond of the light, higher-pitched delivery or the hard, intense hip-hop delivery at either extreme. It is, for this reason, I enjoy songs like “Wave” where well-written melodies take precedent with a rougher delivery (and the song completely lacks a rap, too!). This is one of those songs where the chorus stands out far more than the verses that surround it. It feels full and vibrant with lots of attitude while still being inherently very catchy. It may have fairly standard and slightly trendy instrumentals during this part (even the slow and dramatic verses are more textured), but the mix of smoothly high and deeper voices with a knock-out melody in both the chorus and post-chorus is all the song really needs to go from average to excellent.

Jeong Sewoon - 온도차 (Ondocha/Love in fall)

(It’s still the wrong MV, folks.)

Out of everyone from Produce 101 Season 2, Sewoon had my second favorite voice, which, of course, meant he was probably going to sing ballads after the show since he was (arguably) in the upper echelon of vocalists. He has released ballads, but he’s also (thankfully) released bright pop songs driven by acoustic guitar. Sewoon’s “When it rains” fell into the former category, as did most of his recent album, but “Love in fall” treads along the lines of the acoustic-pop he’s previously worked with in the verses while adding the emotional heft of a ballad in the pre-chorus and the trendiness of EDM in the chorus. The chorus isn’t as melodically strong as some of the above songs, but it’s held together by an incredibly strong riff in the instrumental.

TXT - Poppin’ Star

For all the hype TXT has gotten, their music quality has been able to hold up decently well. Their second album wasn’t as strong as their first, but it still had quite a few pleasant b-side tracks, like “Poppin’ Star” and “New Rules”, and was headed by the surprisingly strong “Run Away”. The album suffered from a lot of overproduction on the vocals, and that didn’t always settle quite right on the ballads(-ish), which typically benefit from a more raw sound to convey emotion. However, “Poppin’ Star” manages to benefit from this flaw because it doesn’t carry the emotional heft of many of the other album tracks. The instrumental is as bouncy and playful as the childish atmosphere conveyed by the lyrics (which are as candy-filled as possible). The vocals mimic the patterns of the instrumental in the same way, and the quirky, electronic feel of the song is quite enough to make it stand out as a precursor to the more downbeat portions of the album.

Recommendations are over once more! Have a fantastic week! ~Yume

(Thank goodness I’ll have a break soon...)

[tracer]

Last May, my wife and I spent a few days camping at Mammoth Cave National Park before heading to Nashville to catch Fleet Foxes in concert at the Ryman. During one of our caving tours, a park ranger told us about another (somewhat) nearby cave in Tennessee that served as a music venue. One year later and we finally had a chance to check out that unlikely concert space – formally known as The Caverns – for a taping of the PBS program Bluegrass Underground featuring one of my absolute favorites: Gregory Alan Isakov.

A trail marker for the Mountain Goat Trail outside of the Amish Hippie. Photo by Curt Whitacre.

The Caverns venue is nestled in the valley of Pelham, which is located northwest of Chattanooga. We stayed in the nearby town of Monteagle and were delighted to discover a “rails to trails” recreational path located mere feet from our motel. Known as the Mountain Goat Trail, the path runs alongside country roads and winds through forests en route to the neighboring town of Sewanee. As a very frequent visitor to Tennessee, I wasn’t expecting to find such a pedestrian friendly feature adjacent to our motel, nor was I expecting to find vegetarian-friendly eateries along the path! On our five-mile-long morning run along the trail, we discovered Mooney’s Market and Emporium, which carries fresh produce, locally-sourced kombucha and other sundries. We picked up some kefir and kvass from Short Mountain Cultures and then grabbed lunch at the Crescent Cafe Juice Bar, a small camper situated just behind Mooney’s that serves up vegan wraps and a great cup of coffee, amongst other things. God knows how many times I’ve had to live off of nothing but slices of cheese pizza and Sub-Way “Veggie Delite” subs when traveling through the south, so Mooney’s and Crescent Cafe were a real treat!

Operating with the tagline “A little bit Bluegrass, a little bit Underground,” Bluegrass Underground is a televised showcase of bluegrass, jam band, roots, folk and Americana concerts. The PBS program has featured acts like Andrew Bird, Jason Isbell, and Old Crow Medicine for nearly a decade, so Isakov was a perfect fit for the show’s upcoming ninth season. The May 19th taping (which will apparently air in fall of 2019) included sets by Gregory Alan Isakov along with country rock institution The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a more mainstream country outfit called Brothers Osborne. That last act didn’t sound very “bluegrass” or very “underground” to me, but it seems like most of the crowd was actually there for Brothers Osborne.

We arrived early to give ourselves time to explore the venue before the first taping began, but we were surprised to find there was already a sizable crowd tailgating in The Caverns’ parking lot. Next time, we’ll know to bring camp chairs and a cooler! After picking up our will call tickets at The Caverns’ barn HQ, we walked a short distance to the mouth of the cave, which felt very much like descending into Mammoth Cave’s Historical Entrance (complete with temperature drop). I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the cave truly was a fully functioning concert venue with concessions, modern bathrooms, merchandise tables and other amenities that you don’t normally associate with … y’know … a cave. It was all a bit surreal.

We found our seats and soon enough a production manager was on stage to explain how the taping would proceed. Videographers spent several minutes shooting audience “reaction shots” as we clapped and laughed on command. Once that footage was in the can, the performances began. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was up first with a great set of originals and covers, including Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin” and a fine take on Bob Dylans’ “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.”

Up next was Gregory Alan Isakov, a Colorado-based singer-songwriter who I’ve admired for sometime but never before seen live. Isakov has been making great records for a long time, but his 2016 live concert LP with the Colorado Symphony is a real standout. Isakov’s music helped soundtrack my last two summers in Colorado, including my time at Great Sand Dunes National Park, so it was only fitting that his recent music video for the song “San Luis” centered on that stunning park.

Isakov and his five-piece band played an impeccable set for Bluegrass Underground and the natural acoustics of the Caverns only enhanced the cinematic sound of songs like “Big Black Car,” “Chemicals” and – appropriately enough – “Caves.” Due to some sort of technical difficulty on the part of the PBS production team, we were treated to two complete renditions of “Time Will Tell,” with the entire band gathered around a single microphone for an absolute highlight of the set.

Photography by Curt Whitacre.

Photography by Curt Whitacre.

Photography by Curt Whitacre.

Photography by Curt Whitacre.

Photography by Curt Whitacre.

Of course, the to-be-broadcast format of this concert meant that Isakov had to stick to TV-friendly lyrics, meaning the great “Saint Valentine” was unfortunately left off of the set list. Here’s a spry rendition from 2014’s Pickathon Music Festival, which was actually my introduction to Isakov:

The morning after the concert, my wife and I made our way from southern Tennessee to eastern Kentucky to spend a few days camping at Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest. While I’ve been making sporadic trips to RRG and Natural Bridge State Resort Park for nearly 20 years, this was only my wife’s second visit to the area. After setting up our tent at the Whittleton Campground, we made the most of our two and a half days in the park: hiking portions of the Sheltowee Trace Trail, exploring the trails around Natural Bridge and making frequent stops to the newly-renovated Miguel’s Pizza.

We got back home just in time for me to celebrate my 40th birthday. Without a doubt, it was the perfect way to cap off my 30’s and set the tune for all of the adventures to come this summer.

Gregory Alan Isakov Graces the Underground Last May, my wife and I spent a few days camping at Mammoth Cave National Park…