#bespoke audio

[lightsounds]

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[juney-blues]

if i hear another person talk about a retro game, system, or computer having a specific "soundfont" i think i'm gonna lose all will to live and spontaneously drop dead in front of them

#juney.txt #not how it works besties #older 8 bit machines generally had bespoke synthesizer chips that could output some square waves and some noise. #maybe some sine and saw waves if you were lucky #the megadrive had a yamaha chip in it but sega the bastards never gave devs proper instructions on how to use it #so a lotttt of devs just used the inbuilt settings on the development software they had #so a lot of megadrive games sound similar even though the system was technically capable of a lot more </3 #the snes was allllll samples all day #any sounds you wanted you had to hand to the chip in advance #no inbuilt synths for you #anyway in all of these cases music data was just stored as raw computer instructions. #literally just code telling the audio hardware what to do each frame #no midis involved and simply slapping a soundfont someone made on a midi file someone else made does not constitute an ''8-bit'' cover

[dondalsy]

derek landy making every character canonically bisexual continues being my favourite slightly homophobic allyship moment

#derek landy #skulduggery pleasant #this post is dedicated to ghastly bespokes ex boyfriend #cant believe they broke up because ghastly was taking too much care of skulduggery #ALSO DEXTER AND SARACEN ARE BACKKKKK #i’m going through so much and i’m only an hour into the audio book #kevin hely i missed u #my post

[silencingspellsongs]

would it be crazy to say that i think playing a ttrpg type game based in the redactedverse would be like so much fun actually 🫣

don't ask me what system or how to adapt it to work because i don't have the technical brain for that, i just know that the worldbuilding and the magic system and everything is so interesting and well thought out and the idea of making and roleplaying ocs in this universe with other fans seems like it would be sooo much fun can you tell i'm having withdrawals from my dnd group not playing for months and so i'm projecting it onto my other interests 🫠

#argent rambles #redactedverse #redacted audio #i see a creative fantasy setting with lots of lore and i want to tell a story in it #collaborative storytelling in the way of ttrpg is just one of those ways i want to do it #but there are other ways too... #like hypothetically have i thought up an idea for a audio series playing an original speaker and their bespoke listener in the redactedverse #that would take place in a different cornerstone city so as not to crossover w the actual canon #but would use the worldbuilding and lore of the redactedverse? yeah hypothetically maybe i have #but lets be honest there are a myriad of things holding that idea back #highest on that list being how to make sure it wouldn't seem like stealing #like even making explicitly clear that it was fan content and not affiliated w actual canon #i would be terrified of overstepping boundaries #and also idk how to write a one sided audio roleplay script in the first place lol #all of this to say i love this fictional universe erik has created and it's inspired me with stories i'd love to tell in it as well

[alexusdelphi]

Music commissions are open!

Do you want custom music? I go down to 5 second increments and up to 3 minutes. Examples of my finished work are here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnWdK6JmMRpGzWK6PN15WG761bwy_2_Um Methods of contacting me here linktr.ee/alexusdelphi

Price list:

#music #electronic #producer #new music #custom #bespoke #music cover #commissions open #commission #audio

[inearscanada]

Website: https://www.inearscanada.ca

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[mkbbespokeaudio]

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[kentautomationaudiovisual]

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[ryunumber]

Spooky from Spookys House Of Jumpscares/Spookys Jumpscare Mansion

Spooky has a Ryu Number of 5/4/does not have a Ryu Number.

(explanation below)

Look, it's complicated. Things will be more concrete when Cross Impact hits Early Access.

Fair warning: this explanation is a bit more involved than normal, because the research hole this sent me down had me sincerely doubting my own base competence.

So, from the top: Spooky's only eligible appearance is in her own game, Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion née House of Jump Scares, as her only other appearance, period, seems to be as a trophy in Indie Pogo.

Naturally, this makes SJSM's specimens as the only connecting points. I've identified three that could work:

Unknown Specimen 1 is just White Face from IMSCARED.

This seems to be a dead end, as White Face's only other eligible appearance seems to be in the Nightmare Mode of Cooking Companions, as part of a menagerie of other horror game characters, including SJSM's own Specimen 6. But all of those also seem to be dead ends, and Specimen 6 just gets back to where we started, so that's probably no good.

How about Unknown Specimen 5?

Named Lisa. Sure looks quite a bit like Lisa from P.T. and once-prospective Silent Hills. Let's say it's that Lisa. What else has Lisa been in?

Apparently just P.T., which wouldn't be altogether unsurprising given, you know, all that happened with Silent Hills. Even the Lisa decoys for Metal Gear Solid V showcased in the Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer didn't make it to the final game.

But there are still other P.T. references that did make it. Namely, that pleasant radio transmission, interruptions and all, can be heard from some radios in MGSV.

Now, given that audio-only appearances are broadly eligible, you could make a case that whoever's reading in this transmission is a character themself, which would in turn connect Lisa to The Phantom Pain, at which point calculating the Ryu Number is just a matter of hashing out who exactly is and is not in MGSV. The only issue I have with making this connection is that the audio is basically reused wholesale from P.T., which arguably makes it more in line with an archival recording, which is not eligible, than bespoke radio chatter, which is eligible, but hey, whatever, I've peddled dodgier. Why the hell not.

So in the search of a route with less caveats, let's consider what I've identified as the last possible eligible connection, Specimen 8. This cervine bundle of fun can be seen in Lost in Vivo as part of Lost Tape 3.

It turns out there's another character in Lost in Vivo who's been in something else: Sotiris. It also turns out that the "something else" in question is, uh,

the EEK3 2020 Virtual Show Floor. Which, to the best of my knowledge, is never referred to as a game, so if that matters to you, then we're done, and Spooky either has the aforementioned route through Lisa or nothing.

If you're willing to say that the virtual show floor is a game, which does not seem to be an unpopular opinion, then good news! There's a clear path to Ryu. You just have to go through Skully, who cameos in Toree 3D,

to the titular Toree, who's a guest character in Lunistice,

to Kit, the main character of Lunistice, who cameos in CrossCode,

to Lea, whose Ryu Number of 2 is already established, which gives Spooky a final Ryu Number of I'm sorry, I'm being handed a note.

Oh. Well fuck me, then, for not considering that the realities of game development could lead to a scenario wherein a character from an in-progress game could make cameo appearances in other games, only to be scrapped entirely before their would-be source game is released. Clearly, this is what the kids refer to as a "skill issue".

And the best part? This chain is so long that I'm genuinely expecting to have overlooked something really obvious that gives a shorter number, because the documentation I found on indie-ass indie horror game crossovers is spotty. So if you have any information that could shorten this more substantial than "White Face is graffiti in the full release of FAITH", send it my way. I'd rather be definitely wrong than dubiously correct.

Anyway, Toree's set to be playable in Cross Impact, so when that's released to the wider public most of this nonsense I just spewed at you will actually come into play. Until then, make of all of this what you will. If you'll excuse me, I need to go fucking distort.

#spooky #spooky's jumpscare mansion #spooky's jump scare mansion #spooky's house of jumpscares #ryu number

[centrally-unplanned]

As someone who dual-uses Chrome & Firefox, and definitely found Chrome's recent updates to hit performance, I have been using Firefox a bit more heavily and man, Chrome is the better browser. It just has such much more ease-of-use features from tab & audio management to settings customization, and its extension library is on average more robust than Firefox's (though both are fine in this regard).

I have the bespoke need of using automated translation & OCR tools for reading multilingual sources - hilariously, Google Image OCR (the best one out there) actually has stripped functionality on Firefox? Awful act of digital terrorism there on Google's part, but I live in the world I am given, I can't fix it. Chrome also has more accurate text recognition for page translation and smoother toggle options. For most other things Firefox vs Chrome is preference, but when I do anime research I literally have to use Chrome, the efficiency impact of Firefox is way too high.

So yeah I respect all the Firefox stans out there - I use both after all - but if they want wider adaptation they need to compete a bit better.

#Did you know chrome also has ublock origin? You don't get ads on Chrome either - its not different

[fayrobertsuk]

It's been a long year and it's only February…

Well, it's time to put this out there: I've had a fairly shitty few years (like, haven't we all, obviously), but it's included a long, expensive legal battle against unscrupulous cysts, which is finally concluded satisfactorily save being left somewhat skint on the other side of it. Doesn’t help that said battle meant that I had to move house - not exactly a low activity on the expense and stress scales…

So I'm looking for extra work, to help while we wait for the Luxury Space Communism to kick in (I'd settle for Universal Basic Income or an end to the Housing and Cost of Living Crisis, tbh).

Things I do to a professional standard include:

Creative Mentoring and Tutoring (writing and performance techniques, especially for poetry - bespoke or standard workshops available for groups as well as one-to-one).

Project Management (feeling overwhelmed by a project you want to get off the ground and/ or run within budget and timescale? I can help with that).

Business Change Management (you need to expand or shift your business focus? I can help that happen in a well-managed fashion).

Performance Poetry (got a bunch of poems, 18 years' experience delivering them live, and a nice voice).

Writing to Commission (especially poetry, but I write both fictive prose and essays too).

Voice Acting and Narration (I've acted in audio dramas and narrated short stories, training videos, and so far one documentary).

Book and Pamphlet Production (I operate a small press).

Basic website setup and maintenance.

Training on any of the above.

I have a sliding scale of rates depending on customer circumstances, and you can book me for a free initial consultation via my website: https://www.fayroberts.co.uk/crass-commercialism/services/

And if you fancy just sending me money because you're generous, I have a ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/fayroberts

#fay speaks #personal plea #please share #professional services #project management #business change management #poetry #creative writing #training #tutoring #mentoring #voice acting #freelance #looking for work #ko-fi #commissions open

[rottenraccoons]

No questions here, just a big, big thank you! You all are an amazingly talented and hard working team and the demo I played was INCREDIBLE. Every area is so vibey and beautiful, the sound effects and music is so ethereal and mysterious sounding, all the characters are gorgeous and well-written, and the MC has amazing dialogue and action options. I struggle to find games like this that are queer-friendly, kinky/intense or one where the MC isn't pigeon-holed into making decisions that seem a little goofy. So anyways, huge thank you to all of the team, you've crafted an incredibly detailed and colorful game and I'm super excited to play more! Hope you all have a great day! <3

Thank you so much, nonny!

I'm gonna use your ask to gush about the team because I love them and want everyone to know how hard they work.

Mugi is an incredible artist, and she is always demanding the absolute best from herself for this project. We as writers do our best not to overload her with visual asset demands, but she always rises to the occasion and gives us everything we could ever want. And y'all have seen the gifts she bestows on us in the form of handsome men.

Music is hard and we will never look down on people using creative commons soundtracks and sound effects to create a convincing soundscape. But having Cajsa's audio wizardry has made everything we do that much better. Having bespoke music and soundscapes adds so much depth and texture to the writing and visuals and Obscura would be so much lesser without it.

Tobi loves this game so much, y'all. She puts so much thought and care into her writing and works so hard to make sure the stories she's telling are emotional and intense. She's also the one who wrote all the safeword/aftercare text. Vesper telling you that you're the dream team? That's all Tobi.

(I'll sneak in a pat on the back here for me, because otherwise we will get asks about this because you people are way too nice: I'm learning to code and it turns out I'm okay at it! And if Sateen's randomise shop items isn't proof I'm willing to do some work, I don't know what is.)

Yamiochi is a hero to us. Her knowledge and experience means that the rest of us do not have to do things like learn Swedish tax law and get ourselves set up for Steam. She is the one keeping the rest of us running smoothly. I know there's a scepticism towards business-minded people because (gestures at the world), but if you can find someone who knows and understands business but also cares about the art, the way Yamiochi does? Hold on to them forever, they are absolutely invaluable.

Anyways I love my fellow raccoons and have decided to take your ask as the chance to gush. Thank you, nonny! ❤️

#obscura vn #rotten raccoons #asks #about us

[lethedwarddavidsonworld-blog]

Signalis Doom - 5

Not much today either, it was mostly a mix of overcoming issues with 3d models in doom and figuring out some workflows.

3d models are still considered sprites, so to get models to display properly, it involves a degree of pointing the engine to look at invisible dummy sprites and then swapping those with the model. Odd stuff. There's better formats than this one and i'm going to look into those. That being said, i'm unsure how much i'm gonna commit to 3d, right now it's just experimentation. what I'll prob end up doing is spending a day banging out a buncha mockup sprites to approximate some chars and start mapping. Just enough to get the idea. tbh i could be doing way more mapping to establish a level language than i am, i'm kinda putting it off to play with textures and i gotta diversify.

I'm considering commissioning some artists for some spritework, either on specific characters or UI elements or such. I know i'll want something done for the opening splash. Most of my time today, and the next few days, is going to be spent reacquainting myself with a host of tools. I've been doing gamedev for years, i went to school for 3d animation, and i've spent a great deal of time in alot of art tools. However, i tend to forget how they work very easily. I realized i'm not gonna get anything done unless i take the time to remember how the following tools work; 1. Maya for core animation(could be a problem, iqm is the newest doom format and the community pipeline is best setup for blender, but we'll see how it goes) 2,. Blender for import/export/better compability with some aspects of gzdoom 3. Photoshop for photo manipulation of the existing textures and as a means of either creating new textures, or givng more nuance to ones i create elsewhere. 4. Aesperite for core pixel art. Signalis is a mix of low rez painted works and pixel art, and knowing when to deploy each is a good idea. 5. I'll need to get a proper toolkit up for the model to 2d pipeline, i have options but they need to be tested. 6. FL studio for audio manipulation. 7. and imma be real i don't know how spreadsheets work and i'm gonna need a hell of a spritesheet to organize what assets i'll need to recreate. That sounds like a lot but i've used them all before, and i'd need to more or less do the same thing for any real production anyway.

On the plus side, i think i've figured out how to do the floors. i'll just take elements of the original textures, and build a larger one out of them with built-in variation for tiles and color variation. I'll add more variation as needed in-editor.

I'm realizing i'm spending alot of time in odd spots. To be honest, i've never done a fan project like this before, much less one working with OG textures. I'm having a tough time getting my head around not only the unique nature of doom modding (releasing contnet packs taht can slot into any game) with full game production (Og maps, mechanics, story with bespoke stuff) ontop of fanworks (fanfiction, recontexualization of original assets). part of me wonders if my focus on getting og textures working is a mistake, as it's putting me in a mindset that's not the most useful for my project. But we'll see, I'll get my priorities straightned out, this ain't getting done overnight either way.

#signalis #doom #gamedev

[mylittleredgirl]

finally kept going on my strange new worlds watch! 1x04 memento mori. i don’t have much of value to offer about it at this hour of whenever this spits out of the queue but

i could not love uhura more!!

and her and hemmer bonding… 💙💙💙💙

SEN-SORS i love ethan peck more every time i hear it

m’benga and una are soul friends change my mind

I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT KYLE i forgot he was a legacy character for a minute 😰

shuttle galileo my beloved

thinking therapy should maybe be non-optional for some of these folks but maybe la’an just did a really great job at her Starfleet Bespoke Trauma Job Interview

i liked that moment between her and pike after the briefing room scene!

and the shuttlecraft mind meld scene was great too

i CRIED hearing michael’s voice 😢

i still quite literally do not understand the “the discovery crew had to be erased from history KGB style” thing either in or out of universe, to the degree that i mentally edited in the uss discovery onto spock and pike’s remembrance day pins

was spock so traumatized by it that he told starfleet command “this is the only logical thing to do [so i never have to talk about this again and legally no one can ask me to]” and they just rolled with it?

AND LIKE THE ENTERPRISE WAS LITERALLY THERE???

i’m sorry i will be annoying about this for the rest of my life it can’t be helped

ok

i’m focusing

everybody was so moist the whole episode from space hot weather and yet the SNW uniform does not have an undershirt option so we can ogle them?? 👎 👎

i looked up the costume designer just now specifically to make this face ☹️

ma’am i love the rest of your work but bernadette croft you have let me down in this specific matter

lastly, whatever the Theater Audio Setting is on my flat tv speakers means i don’t think i experienced the awful sound effect that @sarnakhwritesthings kindly warned me about. that might be another episode? was it the creaking of the bulkheads in the gravity well? the tinnitus is already dialed up from the symptoms™️ so maybe whatever it was is at the exact same pitch 🤷‍♀️

#trekathon #the submarine episode vibe makes me want to watch balance of terror now

[pacific-rimbaud]

Hello PR! I'd like to shout out a friend's audiobook recording of your inimitable L&OHA. meems_toanend does voices and accents and singing (a little piano playing!), Grix and the Avery children are performed by such endearing special cameos, bespoke voices for your OC's (my personal favorites are Margaret the thigh maiden and Sir Thomas), and there's so much dedication and enthusiasm for your material. It's been a lovely treat to revisit your words in a different medium. Picking up on little tiny threads like Pansy's side situation, pirates, etc. Just wonderful.

I'm campaigning for her to record some of my underrated favorites, like A Woman of Independent Means or Bright Objects, and hopefully Remember One Thing.

Thrilled to see that you may be working on original fiction, and I hope the writing process is an enjoyable adventure for you. If there is anything is good and just left in the world, we'll be lucky enough to read it, too. Thank you endlessly for sharing your writing!

So cool! It's lovely to hear L&OHA read aloud. Thank you for sharing, and for anyone out there interested in an audio version of the fic, here you go!

#you asked I answered #love and other historical accidents #laoha #l&oha #dramione

[sleekervae]

So Good [0.2]

Masterlist

A/N: Heyy, how's September treating everyone? I already hate school and I've done absolutely zero drawing in two months but you know what -- it's okay. Life is full of surprises and I'm just gonna take whatever the universe decides to throw my way -- we're cool. Anyway, thanks for the reads, likes, and reblogs, always helps to save a fanfic!

Warnings: none, spoilers for Yoü & I

Purple text is Korean

Namjoon stayed true on his promise to text Kimberly after she handed him her number, and they had exchanged a few texts in the days leading up to their next show, sporadic messages mostly, but there had been a few nights were the chat ran for hours. They had a particularly lengthy conversation about how she needed a new turntable, then she told him about her most played records; what she listened to first thing in the morning, which tunes kept her going in her workouts, what she played when she took a bath and when she cooked. From there, Namjoon asked about food, what she liked to cook and confessing that he wasn't very knowledgable around the kitchen.

Sometimes though, Namjoon would take hours to respond, not on purpose, either he had forgotten or was simply too busy. Kimberly didn't mind the gaps between their messages, he'd come back and continue the conversation as if nothing had happened whenever he had the time.

In her spare time, Kimberly had done her own exploration into BTS, blown away by the scale of their music videos and charmed in their interviews. Namjoon had a spectacular, though quiet charisma to him; bespoke and concise in some takes, but he could be a complete goofball in others. And those eyes of his were incredible, she could quite easily be transfixed by his gaze regardless of whether or not he was on a screen.

At the moment she was in the middle of one of their catch-up texts, sitting off in the corner of their rehearsal space. Catch the Caper were supposed to be rehearsing for their upcoming tour, however, lallygagging and complacency overtook the energy in the studio.

What would you want to do if you weren't in a band?

Probably something in public relations or just marketing altogether

Sounds pretty smart

Lol, I guess so

You been to college?

I had plans to go to Princeton initially, but the band was the better fit

Did you go to college?

I took some courses here and there, mostly communications stuff

I took some women's and gender studies, too

No kidding? How'd you like those?

Very very eye opening

The other girls were gathered in a circle around the drum set, having one of their usual debates about very important societal topics.

"But why would an audio book be considered the same as reading?" Chloe asked.

Charlotte shrugged back, "I mean -- for one, someone had to read out the book to record it for the audio,"

"But what if you're a really fast reader and the narrator speaks really slow?" Maria replied, "That would be torture for me,"

"... But that defeats the purpose of the idea. You're not doing a read-a-long with a narrator. The platform is just listening," Charlotte added.

"But you have books on a kindle, there's not much of a step up from just listening," Maria said.

Chloe strained her head to get a look at Kimberly in her corner, "Oh, Kimberly! Care to join us?" she called.

Kimberly glanced up from her phone, "Are we starting?"

"Nope," Maria huffed, "But we really ought to,"

"C'mon, this is important," Chloe chided back, "Eva wants to get a joint Audible membership,"

Kimberly cocked her head, "So... what's your problem, then?"

"Her problem is subscribing to another digital platform that she's not going to use so it'll just keep charging her card until she remembers to cancel it," Charlotte explained.

"But if I already have the books that Audible is offering, is there even a point to getting an account? I don't know what the difference would be... other than maybe laziness," Chloe mulled.

Kimberly sighed as she stood up, stretching out the stiffness in her back, "Okay, I define reading as taking in a story, that means visualizing the story and using imagination just like you would if you had a book in front of you," she explained, "I don't think there's much of a difference, anyhow,"

"Great," Chloe nodded, "I still don't know,"

"Just try the free trial for Pete sakes!" Maria snapped, "That's why they're called 'trials', dude,"

Charlotte, quickly becoming disillusioned with this conversation, turned to Kimberly as she walked over, "What were you doing over there, anyway?"

"I was texting," Kimberly sat beside her, crossing one leg over the other, "So sue me,"

"Darius?"

Chloe cut in before she could answer, "Namjoon," she waggled her eyebrows at the bassist. Kimberly glowered at her.

"Tattle tits,"

"Wait --" Charlotte shifted closer, "The BTS guy? Really?"

"Yeah. The tall one," Kimberly replied.

"Bro, they're all fucking tall,"

"The one with the nice quads," Chloe nodded.

Maria raised her brows as well, not so much in amusement, "How long you been talking for?"

"A couple of days. He's really nice," Kimberly replied honestly,

Charlotte smirked, "I'm sure he is,"

"Get that look off your face,"

Maria scoffed, "Well, you can't really blame her. You guys were practically inseparable at the AMAs," she said.

"Right up until you dropped the big B-word," Chloe added.

Kimberly grimaced, the stunned expression on his face continued to flicker in her memory. She truly hadn't meant any harm by it, Darius had become such a natural part of her life that she hadn't felt the need to shout to the world that she had a boyfriend. Furthermore, she didn't want to brush off a potential friendship with the B-word stonewall. Nevertheless, if Namjoon had that simmering hope of maybe -- just maybe -- Kimberly was confident that she had shut that down real quick. She loved Darius, after all, she was comfortable in her relationship.

"So what?" Kimberly replied, trying not to border on defensive, "We've effortlessly proved for the last three and something years that guys and girls can be friends without romantic tension,"

Chloe scoffed back, "Two of us proved it, anyway," she glanced at both Charlotte and Maria. The former was stuck in a will-they-won't-they tension with Luke Hemmings, while Maria had been secretly dating Calum Hood for nearly nine months, now. Only three weeks ago had Charlotte, Kimberly, and Chloe found them out.

Maria screwed up her face at the drummer, "Hey! The other three are still my friends," she pointed out, referring to the rest of the boys from 5 Seconds of Summer. Charlotte rolled her eyes, not having the energy to dignify this topic with an answer.

"Anyway," she sighed, "What do you and Namjoon talk about?"

Kimberly shook her head, debating how much she should privy the girls to. Sure, they all knew everything about each other, but there were still some things Kimberly liked to keep to herself. So far, Namjoon was definitely one of them.

"Anything that comes to mind," she replied, "Music, mostly,"

Chloe scoffed, "With the schedules these guys have, I'm surprised he has the time to text you at all," she said.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"You have any idea how many hours a day they go for? How do you think they move like that? Takes some fucking work," Chloe replied, "Not to mention the strict diets, the travel, the training regimens,"

"So... like our schedules, minus the dancing?" Kimberly queried.

"Our schedules... but on major roids," she replied.

Charlotte raised her brows, "That bad?"

"Depending on the label," Chloe replied, "The boys definitely have a bit more freedom than the girls do,"

"As always in a modern, sexist society," Maria sighed, hunching forward, "So, when do they have time for friends? Dating? A life?"

"Maybe when their contracts run out," Chloe replied, "K-pop idols can't date,"

Kimberly refused to let it show, but she couldn't help the nervous pinching in her gut when Chloe said that, "W-What do you mean? Like -- at all?"

Chloe shook her head, "You ever hear of fan service? The labels make their money off of these guys being quote-on-quote 'available' and 'pure'. If they stay single the younger fans are more likely to buy into their brand,"

The other three sat in a stunned silence. It wasn't the first time they had heard of management getting involved in people's personal lives, but usually it was the other way around. Hell, their own manager tried to set Charlotte up in a PR relationship the previous year.

"Ugh," Maria cringed, "Why's that giving me Jonas Brothers purity ring bullshit?"

"Okay but -- that can't be for forever," Charlotte said, "It's fucking barbaric!"

"Over here, maybe. But Korea's a whole other culture," Chloe replied, "We just don't see it because we're foreigners. They treat us differently,"

Maria cocked her head, "Chlo, how do you know so much about this?" she asked.

Chloe smiled back, sheepish as she replied, "Let's call it a 2am rabbit-hole special. I'm also just a fan. -- I'm a fan of BTS, not of the record labels,"

Kimberly scoffed, "Must be pretty fucking bleak. You're writing love songs and you can't even have a lover to write about,"

"Oh, c'mon. They're grown men," Maria said, "I'm sure they're familiar with getting business done themselves,"

Charlotte physically grimaced, eager to change the subject, "Okay! Back to work!" she announced as she stood up. The girls followed suit.

Chloe chuckled, "Aw, what's the matter, Lottie? You never wanna change the subject when we're talking about Lu --"

"Chloe!" Kim scolded, pointing a sharp, manicured finger at her, "No,"

"Maria started it," Chloe chided back.

"And I'll also end it," Maria decided, looping her guitar strap over her shoulder.

Kimberly sighed under her breath as she did the same with her bass, glancing tentatively at her friends, "So... You guys still wanna' see their show on Friday?"

"Oh, I'm definitely down," Chloe replied.

Charlotte simpered, "Yeah, I'm into it,"

They all then turned to Maria, who stayed stiffly silent at first. Call her a killjoy or judgemental, but Maria wasn't the biggest fan of machine pop music. It wasn't so much BTS she was against, but the entire machine behind them. The industry of pretty boybands and girlbands with fancy dance moves, while definitely exciting, also held many dark undertones that turned her off completely. And she knew the girls felt the same because they had discussed this at length.

Maria could think of a hundred other things she could be doing on Friday, namely one of them being with Calum, and she knew the girls wouldn't hold it against her if she didn't go. Nevertheless, there was this air of hopefulness on Kimberly's face. They loved doing things together, experiencing new music being one of them. And the guys had promised to hold some tickets for them, so that was definitely a nice perk.

"Alright, I'm in," she conceded, "Do we have to get dressed up or..."

"Girl, it's a concert, not the Met," Charlotte pointed out.

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged back.

Kimberly's phone buzzed in her pocket, her lips curved up as she found Namjoon's name flash across her screen.

Do you like TGIF or Chili's better? We're trying to decide what to get for dinner

Ooooh...

Chili's, they're chicken sandwiches are lit

She hesitated as she typed her next message, her thumb wavered over the send button as she felt that nervous pinch in her gut. She glanced at her friends, their previous teasing weighing on her a little. Nevertheless, she averted her eyes to her keyboard as she pressed the send button.

When you have some time though, maybe I'll take you somewhere better than Chili's lol

She had barely tucked her phone back into her pocket when it buzzed again, her smile grew wider, and the pinching in her gut subsided.

I would like that a lot!

Unbeknownst to Kimberly, Chloe couldn't help but take a stealthy peak over her shoulder. Her curiosity however failed her covertness.

"What would he like?" she blurted.

Kimberly jumped forward, hugging her phone to her chest, "Chloe!" and as she turned, she smacked Chloe's side with the handle of her bass.

"Owh!" Chloe faltered, stumbling back and favouring her 'wound', "She hit me!" she whined to Maria.

"She was creeping on me!" Kimberly fought back, both of them looking to the oldest member.

Maria however remained stone faced, her exasperation evident as she turned to Charlotte. The moment the mousy brunette met the fiery Latina's gaze, she couldn't help but burst into giggles.

Kimberly rolled her eyes and took her place, awaiting patiently for the other girls to get themselves together. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but have a little bounce in her step, excited for Friday to just hurry up and roll around so she could see Namjoon again.

BTS' Friday night concert came upon them soon enough, and Namjoon was feeling rather calm and confident about the whole affair. Perhaps because he knew he looked good, perhaps because he had put his work in all week, making sure his performance would be flawless. Or simply, his self-assured nature had peaked because they were still riding high off of their American tour, the interviews were almost over and he was living his dream, had little to no worries except entertaining the crowd and not messing up his parts.

Namjoon felt like a fool for the nervous pinch in his chest whenever he saw her name flash on his phone screen, he liked talking to her, even if the limits of texting infuriated him at times. He knew when she'd be laughing at him over messages and when he'd stumble for words at a certain question, racking his brain for the English translation, and relieved he had time to form a cohesive thought before sending the next text.

He had done his own research into Catch the Caper, easily blown away by the rest of their music catalogue. Fiery and outspoken, and Kimberly shone through every solo shot in their videos. She didn't speak much in their interviews either, but when she did she was quite soft, though she had her moments where she had a bite to her. He liked that she always spoke her mind and could be so personable outright.

Admittedly, there were times when his thumb had hovered over the call button just so he could hear her voice again, when he was tired and bored in his hotel bed, when he fresh off his workout, but it seemed too eager, too much. How would he justify that? What would he say when or if she picked up? What if she was with Darius? Ultimately, his insecurity of overstepping the barely sketched boundaries kept him from calling.

At the moment, Namjoon was in the green room; his bandmates were primping, preening, notching the final buttons to their clothes and whatnot. He was keeping his composure, nonetheless excitement bubbled in his chest at the prospect of seeing Kimberly again. He had texted her that morning with details on how to find him once she and the girls arrived but he checked his phone again, wondering if she'd text to announce her arrival, if she'd even come at all.

He stayed slumped in his chair, his image in the vanity mirror a reflection of the self-doubt flickering through his wall of confidence. He wondered what she'd be wearing, what he should say and hoped he'd keep his cool around her, prayed he wouldn't make a wrong move, but no internal preparation could have prepared him for the moment when that green room door opened.

He didn't have to wait for Hobi's joyous greeting, or Jimin to practically fall out of his chair, the moment that door opened he knew it was her. Kimberly, Maria and Chloe had filed in after their stage manager, pleasantly taken aback by the guys' boisterous welcome. Chloe and Maria started integrating immediately, speaking slow with the guys and it gave them an opportunity to reflex their English. Chloe attempted to greet them in Korean, and Namjoon would've given her a solid B- minus.

Kimberly however migrated right over to Namjoon, and he was quick to stand up and greet her.

"Hi,"

"Hi,"

Her perfume enrobed him, kept him there as he inhaled it. He wasn't sure if he should go in for a hug but she beat him to the punch; she had to stand on her toes to reach properly and he found it so adorable. His own scent of equally dizzying to her and she breathed it in now, allowed his spicy cologne to overwhelm her, take her back to the night they'd night. Heat radiated from his touch, his lips at the side of her head and she smiled against his shoulder.

He at last let go and pulled back, he tucked his hands in his pockets to hide the slight shake in them. There was a shimmer of mischief in his eyes, the deep brown alarmingly familiar to Kimberly despite the fact she'd only met him once.

"You look amazing," he mired.

"Thanks," she smiled bashfully, "You look really cool,"

She had seen pictures of him on the tour, somehow seeing him up close in his stage fit was a little bit of a spectacle. He wore dark pants, a black t-shirt, and he had his silver print jacket hanging on the back of his chair. The choker around his neck was an unexpected, but cohesively charming touch. His hair was naturally fluffy, a lock fell over his eyes and it drew her eye to his jawline.

Everything about him exuded an abundance of collectedness but the mischief was still there, strong, bold and he seemed to be eternally smirking, the corner of his mouth pulled up and twitching as if he were about to make a coy joke. Kimberly was convinced she'd never seen a jaw that sharp and if she was unsure she'd been intrigued by him before, now there was no denying it.

"Is this the infamous jacket that's been circling the internet?" she chuckled, pointing curiously to the garment.

"Infamous?" he wondered aloud, "I suppose, if the internet says, so it shall be," he replied, his lips curling. Everything he said had a nonchalance, an effortlessness to it, but at the same time she wouldn't have been surprised should he have fallen into a fit of laughter.

"It looks cool," she nodded, chewing her lip for a split second, "You look cool in the pictures, anyway," stop saying 'cool' so much, idiot.

Namjoon's eyes trailed over her. There was a little less skin on show this time, allowing him less to study than before and he swallowed as his eyes fell on the tattoo on her forearm, peaking out under the rolled up sleeve of her velvet shirt. She wore blue wash denim jeans, baggy in the legs, scuffed white converse, and this time she had straightened her hair, tied back in a clean ballerina bun. It no doubt would've taken her a while to wrangle all those curls; he appreciated the creativity and effort she'd gone to.

"Did you miss me?" he asked with an undefeated smirked.

"Maybe a little..." she nodded truthfully, tilting her head at him and giving her best smile, "Miss me?"

"Almost forgot you were comin'..." he drawled, his lips betraying the harshness of his words.

"Oh, wow. Thanks," she grumbled playfully, "I only gave up my rare Friday night off for you, Joon..."

"Hey, I got the backstage passes for you, Kim..." he teased, cocking his head as they started for their babbling friend groups, "Speaking of, I didn't see Charlotte come in...?"

"Oh," Kimberly bit her lip, a small flush colouring her cheeks. The tone of her voice was clearly different and Namjoon raised and eyebrow in expectation, "Charlotte had something come up, so I brought Darius with me instead... I hope that's okay... he just went to catch up with the guys in the security," she gestured out the door was a particular vagueness.

Though the news was a shock to him, Namjoon nodded to feign as if he didn't care, scratched at his neck and jaw and she tilted her head to see if her boyfriend would come waltzing through the door.

"That's cool," he assured her, "He knows the security guys?"

She nodded, "He moonlights as a bouncer at this arena and at another club downtown,"

"Moonlights..."

"It's another term for 'work',"

"Right, right. Thanks,"

It seemed as though another man had appeared out of nowhere as he chatted in the middle of the group, and from the way Kimberly's eyes lit up he knew that he had to be Darius. He was tense as they approached him, even more so when Kimberly drew instantly to his side. Namjoon watched her boyfriend's hand slip to her hip and bit the inside of his cheek in annoyance.

For a second, Namjoon could only focus on her smile, the way she'd lit up even more than he thought possible at his side, but then drew his attention to Darius.

He was dressed in an obscure band tee and blue jeans, his hair tied into short dreads at the top of his head, the sides shaved down. He was a little more slender than Namjoon, nevertheless he was built similarly to Jungkook. He appeared quite friendly and his smile was genuine, the kind of smile which seemed to permanently stick even when faced with bad news. It made Namjoon realize he was probably frowning and he consciously turned the corners of his lips up to counter it.

As much as he hated to admit it, they looked good together. But at least he wasn't taller than him...

"Hey, have some water..." Jin said quickly, easily reading the tension in Namjoon's posture and quickly holding out a bottle for him.

"Thanks..." Namjoon mumbled back, drawing his eyes to the bottle. he hoped he was hiding his jealously in his expression but from the way Jin was looking at him, he figured that it was the opposite.

As Namjoon took a first sip, the condensation on the bottle cooling his clammy palm, the familiar cool liquid soothing the dryness in his throat, Chloe suddenly popped out of nowhere.

"Namjoon!" the rainbow haired drummer threw her arms around him in a hug, none the wiser to his sip. He choked back the water quickly and hugged her back, laughing quietly.

"Hi Chloe," he chuckled, "Thanks for coming,"

"Thanks for having us! Charlotte sends her best, by the way," she mired.

"Where is she?" he asked.

Chloe glanced to Maria, who glanced to Kimberly, he glanced back at him with a sly smirk. The girls had a secret between them, "Oh, she's sorting some stuff out with another friend of ours," Maria replied. It was clear by the sunken expression on Jimin's face that he was hoping Charlotte would've come.

Hobi, none the wiser to the tension in the room, unabashedly shrugged, "We send her video after," he nodded, beaming through his broken English.

Chloe then looked to Kimberly and Darius, "Oh! I know he's late, but this is Darius," she gestured to the taller gent.

Namjoon swallowed, "How's it going?" Namjoon drawled, holding his hand out as steadily as he could to meet Darius' already extended handshake, "Namjoon. Nice to meet you,"

"You too, man," Darius agreed cheerfully, meeting Namjoon's eye line directly with a confidence he prayed he was carrying off at least externally, "I'm looking forward to the show. Hey -- do you guys really move that fast on stage?"

"We definitely try," Namjoon smiled back, taken aback at how nice Darius was.

He shrugged his shoulders as an attempt to ease the tension he'd built there, stretched his neck a little. He took another sip from the water bottle to cool his nerves, relaxed his jaw and hoped it made him look much more unaffected than he felt.

Part of him wished that Kimberly's boyfriend was in any way dislikable, but he simply couldn't bring himself to hate the guy, could see she liked him and that he liked her. Darius didn't seem to be fake or forcing anything, had no features Namjoon could distinguish as better or worse than his and he made Kimberly laugh, they were comfortable together.

Kimberly couldn't help but watch Namjoon get pulled between conversations, gauging his reaction. She knew that no matter how deeply complicated that first meeting between them had been, that he'd felt something for her and as cool and collected as he was trying to seem, the effortlessness of his demeanour, his sudden focus on the others' conversations, there was an awkward reserve beneath the surface, a slight fumble for words, a general sense of fluster she could see that Jin had noticed too. She remembered the way he froze on the spot at the revelation of her having a boyfriend, how timid he'd been in engaging in conversation after her show and she hoped things wouldn't be too uncomfortable between them because of their first meeting.

"How'd you and Kimberly meet?" Namjoon asked, nodding to Darius, his voice a little scratchy and he coughed to clear it. He took another sip from his bottle.

"At my job, funny enough..." he replied, giving her an endearing side glance, "Her band had their album debut at the club I work at and, yeah... been a bit of a whirlwind but..." Kimberly turned to him and smiled brightly, "It's been an adventure,"

"Ooh, you a... dancer?" Jimin asked, the dimples in his cheeks visible. He nudged Namjoon who gave an appreciative chuckle as he wiggled his shoulders.

"Uh -- no, no. I'm a bouncer," Darius replied, "You know; security. And I'm in school in the day,"

Namjoon translated quickly for Jimin, who gave a quick nod of understanding, then he turned back to Darius, "What're you in school for?"

Kimberly watched from the corner of her eye, found Namjoon's continued curiosity endearing and his eyes lit up when he caught her gaze.

Namjoon caught Kimberly's eye and raised his eyebrows whilst the rest of his face was taught. She broke away first, looking to Darius as he began to speak and Namjoon considered it a tiny victory.

"Finances right now. I wanna' get my insurance license and go into a firm," he shrugged sheepishly, "It's not really interesting, I know. When people ask what I do, I just tell them I work in a club,"

"Hey, c'mon. Insurance is very important!" Namjoon nodded, "You're the proverbial safety net with a fire, or a car accident --"

"Or a snake bite," Darius mentioned, a quirky smile playing at his lips.

Namjoon hissed, "Ooh, ouch,"

"Nah, that's not the bad part, though," he chuckled, "The claim was filed by a guy who broke a window of this other dude's car to steal the crates in his backseat. Little did this poor guy know that the car belonged to a pest control specialist and there was a live snake in one of the crates,"

He squirmed on the spot, still visually invested in Darius' story, "No way..." he mulled it over for a moment, "Hold on though: the guy who broke into another guy's car filed an insurance claim for --?"

"Health insurance. But then the pest control guy turned around and sued him for damages. The robber counter-sued for snake bites and hospital bills, yada yada..." Darius trailed off with a shake of his head, "Welcome to America,"

Kimberly scoffed beside him, "My favourite is still Grand Theft Garden Gnome," she chuckled.

Namjoon's lips pulled into a confident smile again, his focus brimming more on him, selfishly wanting to understand more about her through him.

"Grand Theft Garden Gnome? This ought to be good,"

Darius opened his mouth to explain, though he was suddenly cut off by Jin and Maria's matching defeated cries of frustration. They were playing against Taehyung and Jungkook on the foosball table in the corner, clearly the youngest members of BTS had beaten them.

"I give up!" Jin cried, flailing onto the couch

"You guys have to be cheating," Maria marvelled at them, turning to Suga behind them, "Do they cheat a lot?" she pointed to them. Suga simply shrugged, Namjoon could tell he didn't understand what she saying yet.

"Suga!" he quickly translated for Suga, who's face immediately lit up as he glowered at the younger boys, shaking head.

"No," he spoke quickly. Hobi and Chloe began to laugh beside him, and Jimin got up from beside Namjoon to partake in the teasing.

Jungkook laughed gleefully, "You give up, yeah?" he giggled, eyes crinkled gleefully.

Maria, ever the stubborn one, glowered back at the pair with a sharp "No..." though given Jin's pouting, she was clearly without a partner.

Darius however took pity on her, excusing himself from Kimberly and Namjoon, "Don't worry Maria, I got you," he winked to Kimberly, "Show 'em how we do it on the East end,"

"Knock 'em dead," she sang back.

From his spot on the couch, Jin gave Namjoon a subtle look and a wink, continuing his pout as Darius took up his spot beside Maria. Taehyung puffed up his chest, trying to come off as intimidating.

"Let's go, let's go!" he exclaimed, and with that, another fiery game was on.

Kimberly looked across to Namjoon, who could barely contain his smile, rolled her eyes jokingly, "You might have to postpone your show. Maria's way too competitive, she's not gonna' quit until she wins one,"

Namjoon rolled his eyes and pouted a little, watching his friends go head-to-head as clearly, Darius was proving to be a tough match for them; his game was tight.

"Jungkook is equally competitive, so we might have a problem," he sighed, "We have to let him win at Mario Kart or his entire day's ruined," he smirked, keeping himself from shifting closer to her on the couch.

"Oh no," she chuckled as she looked back at him, brown eyes bright and shining.

He'd been trying not to lose himself in her too often, had purposely ignored the loose hairs falling from her bun, the way freckles across her nose stood out sweetly in the light, had willed himself to focus on the conversation each time her lips had wrapped around the bottle of her drink but now he couldn't not notice it all, admired her up close, fantasized about having her as close to him as Darius had, then bit the inside of his cheek at his thoughts. It would have been impossible.

"... You can sit closer if you wanna'," she said sheepishly, "I won't bite,"

Despite all the control he'd fought for, the arrogance and air of nonchalance he was desperate to exude, hid face lit up, he couldn't help it.

Chuckling, he shifted closer to her, "Sure,"

Kimberly smiled, glancing curiously at her soda bottle, "I... I don't suppose you have anything hanging around that's stronger than ginger ale?"

Namjoon simpered back, "At the moment -- no. We're supposed to keep sharp for the stage," he smoothed the side of his hair back with the flat of his palm. Kimberly couldn't decide if it was nerves that had prompted him, or if he was trying to keep up his act, but either way, he looked effortlessly cool doing it.

"Very fair," she nodded, "I don't wanna be a bad influence or anything, but I could go for a Paloma right now,"

"Is that your favourite drink?"

She nodded, "Mhm. Tequila, grapefruit, and lime. That's it," she replied, "You have a favourite drink?"

"Probably just soju," he said with a shrug, "The watermelon one is my favourite,"

"Soju..." she marvelled aloud, "It's like sake, right?"

"Kind of, but soju tends to be sweeter," he replied.

"Don't judge me, but I've never tried soju," she admitted with a laugh.

Namjoon's eyes went wide, "No kidding?" she shook her head, "That's like never trying water! If I had known, I would've brought some for you,"

"Hey, gimme' a break. I only turned twenty-one a couple months ago," she tucked some loose hairs behind her ear.

He cocked a brow, "But did you only start drinking at twenty-one?" he asked, bringing his voice to a lower whisper.

"Officially -- yes. Unofficially -- no comment," she sipped her ginger ale to make her point, "Were you such a boy scout back in Korea?"

Namjoon smirked back at her, leaning in close, but not close enough to make her feel uneasy. He didn't want her or Darius to detest him for anything, knew that if friendship was all he could have, then he'd take it and hold it close to his chest.

"No comment,"

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