#I’m suddenly productive it’s insane

[androgynealienfemme]

Adderall is literally magic wtf ?

#adhd brain going brrrr #seriously like I’m suddenly … able to do things? without a block? #is this what being neurotypical is? #just thinking of doing something and then … doing it??? holy shit #my executive dysfunction found dead in Miami #I’m suddenly productive it’s insane

[poopyshitty]

i’m no film expert so i may be way off base here but seeing a lot of ppl repeating this “death of film lighting” narrative about glass onion and like … did we watch the same movie because the way they used lighting was insane!!! movies are allowed to be dark for a few scenes without it being part of this whole death of good movie lighting that suddenly everyone has decided they’re an expert on. like… hate to say it about a netflix production but the lighting was actually very important to the visual story ?? it had a lot of significance?? also the use of practical effects instead of sfx like … you ppl learned about old movie lighting and the death of art in film from tik tok and decided nothing modern can be good or something idk

#glass onion #spoilers in the tags ahead #mad because the lighting was stunning to me and i come into the tags here and see #4 posts that are like ooohhh it’s so dark i had to edit this pic to be bright enough to see #for scenes that were filmed … during a power outage …. where characters and the audience were #you guessed it #in the dark #literally and figuratively #like the number of times i thought wow it’s been so long since i’ve seen such attention to lighting #and certain practical effects blew me away (heh)

[bogleech]

I know this is going to be a silly question but I’m being put on adderall potentially soon and I have an anxiety about taking it because I watched that Netflix documentary about individuals who were put on it but had super adverse side effects or are unable to come off their high doses except by tapering off insanely slowly. It got me wondering about how likely it is for someone to become physically dependent on it or have such strong side effects that their physical health becomes a danger. The documentary was called “take your pills” or something along that line and since you take them I was wondering if the documentary was largely sensationalist or if these larger issues of taking adderall are due? Maybe some of your followers are familiar with what I’m talking about if you’re not?

Yeah that entire doc sounds like fearmongering lies. ANY medication can disagree with some people, there are allergies and sensitivities, but if you for-sure have ADHD then adderall will typically do nothing but calm down the topic-jumping of your brain, or just not really do anything at all. A tiny portion of people report that it made them feel shitty or "zombie-like." This is the first I've ever heard that anyone had to "taper off it." My ADHD symptoms themselves cause me to constantly forget doses. Sometimes I remember to take it every day for a month, then something throws me off and I forget for the whole next month. More often I'm just remembering to take it a few times a week, scattered randomly between days of forgetting. One reason it's so easy for me to forget is that I don't physically feel any different either way. There are no repercussions or "withdrawals" or anything at all noticeable if I miss any number of doses at any moment, and sometimes I only realize I missed a bunch because I'll evaluate how much I've gotten done, and when I've missed the adderall I find out I've wasted a whole lot more time lost in random thoughts or doomscrolling instead of finishing work. When I do take it I am someone it definitely works for because suddenly I achieve a reasonable if still imperfect level of productivity and focus. If those people interviewed were even real, they were one-in-a-million extremes, probably just outright allergic to something or other in the pill, or their entire diagnosis was wrong. Otherwise it's more likely the whole thing was scripted misinformation.

[autisticlancemcclain]

Keith knows, truthfully and entirely objectively, that his life has improved since he started dating Lance. Obviously. There is no disputing this fact if nature. His attitude has mellowed, his days are brighter, his nights are even better, his crops are watered his skin is clear et cetera et cetera. (Literally, on that last one, since Lance is sneaky with his product).

…However.

There are setbacks.

Like right now, where he’s been pushed so far to the edge of the bed that he’s actually holding his breath to avoid being squished against that wall like a new coat of paint. So.

He loves his boyfriend. Seriously. He’s slept more in the months they’ve been seeing each other than he has in his entire life combined, actually. It’s insane. There’s something about Lance pressed up against his chest, arms wrapped tightly around his ribs, nose barely peeking above his shoulder to let in some air (seriously how does he do that; Keith has watched him and he has, like, maybe one nostril available for oxygen intake. The rest of his face is smooshed against Keith’s upper arm and pec. And he’s got the blanket up to his ears, too. Does Lance not need to breathe for long periods of time? Like a dolphin? Keith will have to ask) that just makes sleeping actually relaxing, for once. Like maybe he doesn’t have to stay half awake, like maybe he can actually trust himself to be safe in his own bed. It’s an incredible feeling, to finally feel well-rested in the mornings.

He does. However. Feel the ittiest, tiniest bit like he’s sleeping with a corset on. And being hydraulic pressed into the corner of the room. If he has to pick something to be nitpicky about, he means.

“Lance, c’mon,” he mutters, exhaling finally. Lance, who is mostly asleep based on the growing puddle of drool Keith feels wetting his sleep shirt, takes the opportunity to squeeze tighter like a goddamn python. “Can you move over a little bit? I’m up against the wall, I got no room to breathe —”

The human corset suddenly lets up, and Keith can breathe again.

So he does.

Perhaps a touch dramatically, with the bug gasping inhale or whatever.

(Look, he’s not perfect. He’s quite comfortable blaming Shiro’s influence, actually.)

“Thank you,” he huffs. He takes a few deep breaths, feeling the twinge in one of his ribs; tender from an injury he has yet to admit he has. (It’s fine. He checked. It’s barely even bruised mostly, he’s good. It’ll handle itself or become a Future Keith problem, so.) He curses under his breath as he stretches a bit, taking advantage of the space.

He frowns. “Wait, what?”

He sits up, confused as to why his spider monkey boyfriend is not in his immediate presence. It takes a second for his bleary eyes to adjust to the half-light of their bedroom, but eventually he manages and looks over and Lance is — Lance is on the goddamn floor. The blanket is with him. And four pillows.

“Lance.”

Keith bites his lip. This is either a bit or a very delicate situation, and if it’s the latter and he laughs then he’s very much in the doghouse, and for all his complaining he would much rather spend the night suffocating than alone. Much rather.

“Aw, Lance, come on.”

Unfortunately, his voice shakes, and he can’t quite tamp down his snorts and giggles, as much as he tries to muffle them.

Lance doesn’t speak, but Keith can almost physically taste his frown. His pout practically has its own atmosphere, it’s so potent.

“Hey.”

Keith gets to his knees, half-shuffling across the mattress. He leans over the edge, closer to Lance’s curled up form, and raises an eyebrow, amused. “Leandro. You are not being serious right now.”

The silence continues to grow. Keith can almost feel an actual chill, there’s so much iciness leaking from Lance right now.

(He also has the only blanket, but whatever. Tomato tomato.)

“Baby.”

“If you never want to sleep with me again that’s fine,” Lance says tersely. Keith rolls his eyes, head in his hands. “The floor is lovely. I’d rather be here than anywhere near your stinky mullet anyway.”

Keith sighs, long and heavy, steeling himself for the inevitable back pain he is going to have tomorrow morning. The things he does for love.

“You are the most dramatic man alive. Scoot over.”

Caught off guard, Lance uncurls, looking over at Keith in confusion.

Keith grins. “There are those pretty brown eyes.”

The pretty brown eyes in question are still squinted in suspicion, but Keith was expecting that. He moves as casually as he can manage, even trying his luck by humming something Lance was listening to earlier, picking up the edge of the blanket and sliding in behind his boyfriend, flat on the floor, arms winding around his waist and head bent at the junction of his shoulder. Lance is still tense, but allows Keith in his space, thankfully. Keith was half worried he’d stomp away to go sleep with Hunk.

“‘M sorry,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to Lance’s neck and lingering there, making his boyfriend shiver as his lips tickle his skin. “Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Just feeling a little claustrophobic.”

Lance softens, but only barely. “You can tell me to back off, you know. I will.”

There’s still an undertone of hurt to his voice, a backing of insecurity. Keith tightens his grip, shaking his head.

“No. Don’t want that.”

Lance makes a frustrated noise. “Well, then what do you want, Mr. Mixed Signals?”

“You.” He traces an invisible line down the side of Lance’s neck with his mouth, kissing and biting slightly, relishing in every little twitch of Lance’s shoulders. “Duh.”

“No, not ‘duh’,” Lance argues, but his voice has gone weak. “You’re a pain in my ass. Do you want to be cuddled or not, Red?”

Bingo. Keith fights a smirk at the nickname, knowing he fails when Lance sighs, but the slide of his hands to rest on top of Keith’s bely his amusement, his fading irritation.

“Course I do,” Keith promises. His kisses the back of Lance’s neck again, but it’s softer this time; no underlying motives. An assurance, a promise. “I just. You know. Would also like twelve percent more space to inflate my lungs, if that’s okay.”

Lance snorts. Keith grins.

“You’re such a goober.”

“You’re the goober, actually. The pile of drool on my shoulder proves it.”

He feels more than sees Lance’s neck go red. Keith snickers. Lance hates when Keith brings up the drooling and for that he will literally never ever stop.

“I hope you wake up in agony.”

“Oh, I will, thanks to your hissy fit.”

Lance kicks his heel into Keith’s shin because he’s a shithead. Keith takes it without complaint because he’s the biggest whipped loser of all time and he’s well aware of it.

“We can go back to the bed, you know,” Lance offers eventually, although he makes no effort to move.

Keith yawns. “Nah.” He rests his head on the top of Lance’s spine, tangling their legs together. “I’m good where you are.”

———

based off this post

#i love writing them stupid and dramatic #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #established klance #insecure lance #fluff #domestic klance #dramatic keith #dramatic lance #whipped keith #brown eyed lance #my writing #fic #longpost

[twobrokenwyngs]

okay, to be clear, I don’t watch a single Watcher production so I really have no emotional investment in this but objectively it seems clinically insane for people to talk about like… how much money those people have and where they get it, what their revenue streams are and what they “owe” their fans in regards to free content. I don’t understand how anyone who’s upset has a leg to stand on with this. like, at all.

if they want their content behind a paywall, they’re entitled to make that choice as much as people are entitled to, yknow, not pay them? like I’m sorry if it’s personally disappointing to lose access to some of your favorite content but if you love it THAT much, isn’t it worth paying for? I mean, the fuck? lmao

just because you’re used to receiving art for free doesn’t mean it’s some diabolical act and heinous betrayal for the artist to suddenly start asking for people to exchange access to that art for money. like, that in and of itself is incredibly reasonable and is, again, their prerogative. how much money they make and how they make it is like… literally nobody’s business? and doesn’t have anything to do with anything?

I know it’s easy for me to have a take on this that isn’t influenced by emotion because again, I don’t watch them. but there is something sooo creepily parasocial and ludicrous to see people discussing the finances of total strangers and acting like they should be making business decisions based on peoples’ feelings lmfao. like, okay, don’t pay the six bucks a month then! guess you don’t like the content THAT much!!! you’ll live, and their new business model will either succeed or fail, and that’ll be that. it’s really that simple.

#watcher #idk I feel for these buzzfeed dudes #if anyone should feel ‘betrayed’ it’s probably them #for how fucking quickly their ‘fans’ threw them to the wolves lmao #like how you gonna talk so much shit AND wanna see their content this bad #do you like them or hate them I don’t get it #aaaaanyway!

[m1ssunderstanding]

Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day 15

The beautiful mess that would’ve been The Beatles plus Yoko Ono plus Billy Preston plus Bob Dylan plus whoever else. Although I guess that is sort of what George went on to do. He really did just want a group of friends that cared more about each other than the product, and that’s what he created for himself. 

John: And the dream I had was you. The camera: zooms in on Paul’s wounded puppy eyes. John: *staring at Paul* d’you get my meaning? Imagine doing that to literally any other human being. I would not be that intimate with my best friend, my husband, my sister . . . anyone. Let alone my ex, (not literally, you all get what I mean) in front of my current SO and multiple cameras. This kind of thing really makes me wonder what kind of insane shit he must’ve said/done when they were alone, especially in happier times. 

George painted his own psychedelic guitar, and it looks gorg. Who painted Paul’s. Anyone know?

How can I Not assume “Stand By Me” is *meaningful* if, firstly, this is the second time you’ve sung it at each other during this project, and secondly, if you look at each other like This while singing it? Then again, when are they not uncomfortably intense when singing together?

“Oh, help me, Daddy. I don’t even know how this thing works.”  He says about the instrument he plays in the most successful band of all time. Paul can play whatever he needs to to get what he wants out of someone, and that includes dumb.

John’s little “Ookaay.” At Paul’s weird carrying-on about his insecurities with his bass playing. It just screams, “You’re delusional and I’m not getting into this right now.” Which is 1000% valid. Imagine being Paul McCartney and second-guessing your bass skills. Reminds me of that quote where John’s like, “He’s an egomaniac about everything else, but he’s coy about his bass playing. Which is stupid because he’s one of the most innovative bass players . . .”

John and Paul nail the harmony on “HoooooohOoOoOme.” And the LOOKs, you guys.

But also the nonverbal vocal communication! It’s one of my favorite parts about them, really. One of the things that reminds me of how special their relationship is. John makes a face. Paul goes, “brroop”. John replies with a beaming, “Yeah!” To which Paul adds another “brrrrip” as they simultaneously continue the song. It’s just unreal. Nobody does that. They are magical and they were right to think they had special telecommunicative powers. 

The lunch orders today are everything you need to know about the Beatles. John: Sparrow on toast. Paul: Boiled testicle. George: Uh, Mal? So, we’ll have whatever the vegetables are, and if they’ve got any cheese sauce for the cauliflower. Ringo: Mashed potato. That’s it. That’s them.

“Then there’s another one,” says Paul, doing a shit job of pretending he hasn’t rehearsed this to sound like some accidental discovery. “Don’t let me down. Oh, darling,” sung suddenly, and forcefully, directly at John, “I’ll never let you down.”

John, beaming like the star quarterback just told him he looked pretty, tucks his hair behind his ears and says, barely hovering in the safety of a joking tone, “Yeah, it’s like you and me are lovers.”

John has of course taken Paul’s game of gay chicken an arm’s reach farther than Paul’s comfortable with, at least in front of cameras, so he can only nod, and brush his own hair back. Stiff, expressionless. "Yeah."

(Of course, Peter Jackson cuts out what eventually evolves into John and Paul singing “we’re a couple of queers” and talking about wearing skirts for the performance) 

Am I the only one getting the vibe that John genuinely dislikes Teddy Boy? Not because he thinks it sucks or anything but because he doesn’t like the obvious similarities to his relationship with Julia? Personally, I love it. It was my anxiety song a few years back.

The original lyric to “fancy me chances” was Not “frock” I absolutely guarantee. 

Love Paul checking on Billy. Love that they're all, even with everything they've got going, making sure he's set up and taken care of.

Sorry not sorry that I’m so thirsty over literally every woman in this show, but. Hello, Pattie! She just walks in, ignores everyone else, kisses him Like That, whispers something, and gets out to go live her own life. Queen. Gorgeous. Obsessed.

George Martin praising his children for "working so well together." I love that he refused to produce them after the white album, not because they were being disrespectful to him or anything, but because they weren't getting along. And that, although he's not producing, technically, he can't stop himself coming in to make sure they're okay. He's such a good dad, literally.

John over here being emo af by himself, playing “I Feel Fine,” because he definitely does Not feel fine and he’s just as nostalgic as Paul, which is way too fucking nostalgic. Poor baby. 

#paul mccartney #the beatles #john lennon #mclennon #ringo starr #george harrison #get back

[frostbitebakery]

Progress Shots For My Entertainment

A Journey

A few people have mentioned how they like getting WIP pics of a drawing I’m working on and see it go through all five stages of grief whilst I slowly go insane. So how about I do all that but in a post?

Behold! Pirate Dancing.

It came to me upon a dream and ballroom-esque pirate music. But I really, really wanted these two specifically to dance and I begged @elwenyere to let me. She agreed 💜

Like everyone else, I start out with the messiest sketch and proudly show it off in hopes it goes on the fridge. Subsequently in step 35664338 I clean up the sketch to something coherent, though the lineart barely makes it to the very end. It’s a mix of part of the art and helping guides for where goes what.

Followed by more tedious work of choosing flat colors. Which is the worst. I wrangle with layers so connecting flat colors aren’t on the same layer. Everything goes into alpha lock, just like the rest of my sanity.

Then the fun starts.

Hair 😍

It’s the first thing I shade. I gotta have the hair down before shading faces. It somehow does not work vice versa for me. Faces absolutely have to be next. If they’re not to my liking, the whole work stalls. Cody’s face in this gave me so much grief. He went through five or six similar iterations before I settled - and was satisfied - with the version that’s in the finished work.

The rest of the shading is me bullheading through it piece by piece, cursing myself for being anal retentive. Especially the leather and leather embossing was… there was so much leather. The look is achieved by a brush that’s called “Old Metal”. Personally I don’t think it looks like old metal but it’s fantastic for leather. I have a few darker and lighter shades and I use the brush in different sizes and opacities to wrangle a leather look out of the flat mid-tone base. The symbol of the embossing is on a separate layer above the flat color, with the mode set to multiply and layer opacity anywhere between 15 to 30%.

Once I get all of that done, I play around in post-production. I throw effects at it, adjust color temperature and saturation. I enhance light reflections on metal. Lighten up places that suddenly look too dark, darken parts that suddenly look too light. Post-production is very much the stage where I really choose an overall vibe. Which is why I send WIPs through post to get a feel of what I should work towards during shading.

And get new perspectives on a work. :P

#my wips #I went through my trash to get all the WIP pics #just for you 🫶 #frost explains her carpal tunnel round 2 #the reason why it’s mostly actual pics taken in my phone #is that screenshots on the iPad are regularly too large for discord

[dwreader]

A Meal to Remember by @iwtvfanevents

Part 2: I am suddenly Megan Ellison, a wealthy lesbian, my father is a billionaire who has allowed me to start my own production company to make films I want to see. Money is no object. Here are the fics I would adapt and who I would hire (bully into) directing.

1. Reformation by verseau - first of all, I would pay $1 billion to acquire the rights outcompeting Amazon, Netflix and Apple and I would make Betsy adapt the screenplay. I maintain this must be cinematic because Ldpdl’s hole needs to be experienced in 70mm imax AND I would not allow any countries to censor like they did to Florence’s boobs. This would be like an Eternal Sunshine/Blue Valentine/Two for the Road type romantic dramedy that jumps back and forth in time to show the couple’s struggles and progression, and the non-linear storytelling means it automatically becomes an Oscar frontrunner. I would try to hire Barry Jenkins first but he is occupied with The Lion King 2 at Disney so then I would go to Mia Hansen-Love to direct. Beyoncé does the soundtrack. I didn’t even have to ask her she just wanted to.

2. Part of Your World by weathermood - I will imprison Mr. Monsterfucker himself Guillermo Del Toro until he agrees to direct this film like I am Kathy Bates in Misery. He will read it and then be like okay I agree you don’t need to kidnap me I will make this movie. We are going full Avatar 2 level budget to make sure underwater scenes are believable cause I won’t tolerate bad Aquaman CGI. The budget balloons to $400m but that’s okay cause it makes $2.7b worldwide and there’s 2 sequels greenlit immediately cause the world wants to see Louis get pregnant.

3. A Potentiality for Corruption by vampdf - Guillermo is occupied with Part of Your World and its sequels now so I turn to Robert Eggers to help bring to life this gothic horror romance. It’s 3 hours long. Parts of it are in black and white and there’s aspect ratio changes that confuse and unsettle the audience. We debut at Cannes. We get a 47 minute standing ovation but also some walkouts and fainting in the crowd because some vanilla viewers couldn’t handle the ending, which is controversial but has everyone talking.

4. Cord of Communion by themasterletters- this has now become a #1 nyt best selling novel so we have a built in audience and they want it to be a tv show cause of its length and we can’t skip out on any important points. Every streamer wants it but I choose HBO cause of the prestige factor and I’m an Emmy whore. It becomes Sunday night essential viewing replacing Succession it’s like if The Idol was actually good. I hire many talented directors such as Raine Allen Miller (Rye Lane), Francis Lee (God’s Own Country), Gina Prince Bythewood (Beyond the Lights) and I make Rolin Jones be my showrunner. We sweep the Emmys. The episode where Lestat fires Louis becomes the new Red Wedding traumatizing millions.

5. Pieta by baberainbow - When iwtv the amc show ends, I hire Paul Verhoeven to direct a standalone sequel film based on this fic. It’s as insane as you could ever imagine. The Catholic Church is mad at us. It’s condemned by the Vatican and the anti-feminization police. They’re protesting outside our premiere like they did to Benedetta. It doesn’t matter cause it just makes the film an even bigger hit.

6. Hand to God by boltcutters - first I pay Ziska $1 billion to finish writing this. Then I go back in time to 1933 first to make Hollywood not adopt the Hays Code so we can have gay and interracial stuff in movies and then to 1946 so Howard Hawks can direct this Danlou version of The Big Sleep.

PSA: some of my links aren’t working cause I’m on my phone (on vaca) so please forgive me but y’all know where these fics are don’t lie!!!

#iwtvfanevents #a meal to remember #iwtv #fic recs

[melonteee]

If nothing else, OPLA’s marketing campaign was downright diabolical. Because the community shift from skepticism to outright hostility towards that same skepticism really started when the show runner went onto that YouTube Reverie a couple years before the show came out. Not only was that the first time the showrunner began doing similar “interviews” with YouTubers (who are, generally speaking, The Worst interviewers), not only is it where many of the common talking points in defense of the show originated from (most notably “It can’t be a 1:1 adaptation” in response to any changes), but he told all these YouTubers that he was *such* a Big Fan of all of them - even the ones who were critical of the live action - and that he was using their videos as inspiration for writing the live action episodes.

Now, I’m not saying that the showrunner was lying when he said those things. But I do think that such a move meant there were no boundaries and a MASSIVE conflict of interest between someone who should be considered a representative for Netflix and creators and fans with huge reach in the fanbase. Because suddenly the OPLA was getting reframed not as another Netflix product, but as a really expensive fan film (that Netflix happened to be funding) - a fan film that Fans Like Them were having an indirect hand in helping create because the showrunner was also a fan of them. Combine that with how heavily it was pushed that Oda had to approve everything, and the whole thing started gaining this undercurrent of the live action adaptation almost being an endorsement of their interpretation of the source material… even as it became more obvious OPLA would deviate heavily from that same source material. But that sentiment only got more pronounced as those same YouTubers started getting opportunities to privately tour the sets and some even spoke to the writers that led to being labeled as unofficial-official consultants. Now, with another One Piece YouTuber from the same Reverie that the showrunner took part in a member of the season 2 writers room, there’s kinda this unspoken atmosphere surrounding that corner of the community that if you heap enough praise onto this adaptation, you too could be scouted for the next season and get endorsed (maybe even meet) Oda too!

It would be funny that the whole thing was that such a painfully transparent move on the showrunner’s part (most blatant example being that he hosted an anime podcast that totally wasn’t made just to endorse the show guys! He just wanted to talk to all his friends about anime and just HAPPENED to make the last episode the same day the live action aired!) if it hadn’t been so effective.

Like I said: diabolical.

I can't speak on whether or not those YouTubers are good interviewers, because I literally cannot blame them for jumping at the opportunity since the early stages WERE exciting and I have no doubt they were barred from asking certain questions. But my opinion is...perhaps stick to journalists for interviews since that's their job hh.

But god the marketing was absolutely insane. Was having Iñaki meeting Oda and putting a hat on his head, AS WELL as Mayumi Tanaka, not insanely performative to anyone else? Does anyone seriously think Oda willingly asked to do this and 'pass down' the hat for a project we KNOW he was continuously not listened to for 😭 all I can see is Netflix doing the MOST to make One Piece fans side with them, and it WORKED!

When the live action came out it got INSANELY review bombed. It'd only been ten minutes since the episodes had come out and the final episode already had hundreds of reviews and hundreds of 10/10s. Netflix did all they could to make sure NO ONE cared to look at this critically, and it's so frustrating that it worked cause I can't even have a reasonable conversation about why this adaptation simply did not work as an adaptation without tons of people biting my head off.

I've said it before but I will never forget the shift of people questioning why the hell this live action was being made, and why the hell the Merry looked like that (la Merry had been leaked) because...guys she looked like shit!! There's no colour or personality in it and she just looks creepy as hell.

And that's what everyone was originally saying! But suddenly you have the show runner reaching out to YouTubers, you have the announcement that Oda's approving EVERYTHING (we know for a fact he didn't), and suddenly the public opinion shifted like THAT!

Honestly if anyone wants an a grade course in how you market to a loyal fandom, just look at what Netflix did! Because EVERYONE can have their own opinion and say they liked it, but as an ADAPTATION? I stand my ground in saying it failed miserably. Because the fact people who NEVER saw the animanga are coming out of the live action with DIFFERENT perceptions of the story and characters- to the point you are genuinely talking about two different characters - the adaptation has failed.

Because, yes, an adaptation can't be 1:1, Matt Owens is correct. But what he DIDN'T say, is when you adapt something, what you need to keep in mind is fidelity. If your goal for an adaptation IS to bring an existing property into a new medium, and WANTING to replicate the characters and EXPRESS the same story - which the producers said this would be MULTIPLE times! - you better damn well hope the non One Piece watchers can jump from the live action to the manga/anime and go "Oh! Yes this is the Luffy that was presented to me in the live action!"

And they don't, especially not with other characters. The amount of non One Piece fans who then picked up the anime and were SHOCKED at just how focused on Sanji and Usopp were in the original should speak volumes, should it not?

Again, you can like the live action! I think it did its job in essentially being an advertisement for the original One Piece. But as a story and an adaptation of One Piece, it just failed. And I simply hate being unable to bring anything into question because Netflix's insane marketing has made this environment of "it's good cause I said so and everything's fine, shut up" 😭😭

It's genuinely an insanely good example of anime to live action adaptation and why, in my opinion, it just doesn't work. But I can't go into any kind of depth about that in a long form video essay the way I'd like to because my anxiety would go off the charts - even if I speak reasonably about it, because of the air created from Netflix's insane marketing. I just think it's kinda sad hhh

#ask #melonask #oplatalks

[nqds]

" I already got your number. "

@lovelylima

A Grayson x Phone Girl fic.

tw : mention of self harm !!

GRAYSON ;

Grayson couldn’t take it. He was going insane. He flew back to London and booked a hotel. He didn’t immediately try to find Adelaide but only walked around. Having an ounce of hope to bump into her again, like how they did the first time. Her voice, that picture her eyes. God- he was so terribly distractedly in love with he- oof! Someone had bumped into him. Brunette haired, satin bow- Adelaide. Holy fucks it was Adelaide. “Adelaide,” He greeted softly while staring into her eyes. You could see Grayson’s eyes weren’t ice, they were soft. She gasped. “Stupid Hawthorne boy,” Adelaide muttered. “Please let me explai-” Drops of water cut him off. It was raining. Fuck- Grayson didn’t expect the weather and no cabs were around. That led to the rain soaking them both as they were walking to Grayson’s hotel since it was much closer than Adelaide’s apartment. Grayson went to the reception desk, except for the fact it was empty? He walked to the nearest staff with a glare that could kill anyone, “Where.is.the.receptionist?” He spat. “I-I don’t know s-sir-” the hotel staff stuttered, Adelaide had quit an expression on her face so he let it go. Well now he couldn’t book Adelaide a room. “Adelaide, I’m really so-” Grayson apologized before Adelaide cut him off, “Screw it just take me to yours” She was shaking, a lot. Grayson started thinking about how she might catch a cold and rushed her to his room. “Take this, your clothes are soaking.” He said while tossing her a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Adelaide then headed towards the bathroom and changed, forgetting about her scars completely before she walked out and figured that Grayson’s eyes were glued to her arms. Fuck. “Are those- the self harm scars?” Grayson asked with so much care in his tone. “It’s quite rude to ask, but yes.” Adelaide looked away. “I’m sorry.” Grayson half mumbled. That was all it took for everything in Adelaide to shatter, snap and crush. She broke down, sliding down the wall as Grayson rushed to her side. “It’s who I am, these scars,” she sobbed in between words, placing her head on Grayson’s chest. “I felt empty, I had no one, so these scars are a product of those, I was so done Grayson. But the most fucked up thing? I did half of these because of you.” she sobbed while Grayson had a hand stroking her hair and the other wiping her tears. At this moment, it didn’t feel like Grayson was a descendant of what killed her dad. At this moment, Grayson Hawthorne felt like he was a person that Adelaide would sure as hell trust with her life. “I’m so deeply sorry, Adelaide, I mean it, I’m sorry for what the old man did to your dad. I’m sorry for leaving Adelaide, I'm really fucking sorry- please” Grayson kept apologizing while swallowing in between words. He tilted her chin up so he could look at her. “I’m sorry.” He whispered again before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Adelaide gasped, just a little before kissing Grayson back. This was it. Everything. Nothing else mattered. Except- it did, so Adelaide pulled away, suddenly and too quickly. “Grayson- what are we- doing?” Adelaide whispered. Grayson fell silent. He got up and walked towards the bed, “Just go to bed- I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking-” Grayson said. “That’s 1 bed. No.” Adelaide stubbornly refused, no way in this universe, that she’d sleep in 1 bed with him. “I’m taking the sofa, toss me a pillow.” she continued. “Have it your way,” Grayson whispered while tossing her a pillow. Adelaide laid on the couch and was asleep within minutes. Adelaide thought Grayson was asleep by his calmed figure, except for the fact that he wasn’t. As soon as Grayson figured Adelaide was asleep. He got up, headed towards the couch and scooped her up slowly. He laid Adelaide on the opposite of Grayson’s side of the bed. In minutes, Adelaide was hugging Grayson like a pillow. Oh how Grayson would die and come back to life again just to experience this again.

ADELAIDE ;

The earliest glows of orange seeped through the curtains, hitting Adelaide’s face perfectly. She opened her eyes, very slowly and attempted to sit up, only to feel Grayson’s arms weighing her down. He’s been embracing her in her sleep. Her stomach fluttered with the most bittersweet feeling, razor-winged butterflies. The joy and pain that came with. Adelaide lifted Grayson’s arms softly. She got up and tried to find her clothes and changed back, folding the t-shirt and sweatpants Grayson lent her. She grabbed the hotel notepad and wrote;

thank you <3

- Adelaide

and placed it on the nightstand. Adelaide got her things and before leaving the room, “I may despise you, but my gratitude isn’t blocked by hate. Thank you, Grayson Hawthorne.” She softly whispered before leaving the apartment

GRAYSON ;

Grayson woke up to an empty bed. Reaching for his phone on his nightstand, he found the hotel notepad and something written on it. Thank you, it read and Adelaide ; it signed below. Her handwriting was the neatest near cursive, and her sign? Lovely. Grayson opened the case of his phone, ripped the paper off the notepad and folded it so it fit inside his phone case.

•───────────⋅☾ ☽⋅───────────•

a/ns ;

nads ; LONG CHAPTERRRRRR !!!!!!! had to edit cause lima gave me a reality check

lima ; dk, she says shes gonna write spice somewhrre later tho 🤭

taglist ; @novas2cool4u @reminiscentreader @f4iry-bell @itsjosiejosephine

thank u for reading ml <3 mwah !!

#the brothers hawthorne #grayson hawthorne #phone girl x grayson #phone girl

[jmdbjk]

Set me free. A battle cry.

I still think it’s too soon for me to be voicing my thoughts on Set Me Free Pt. 2 but there’s so much going on in my head I have to let some of it out. I’m not an expert on music, the writing or production of it, or on choreography, or on K-pop. What I am is an appreciator and observer of art. And I attempt to express in words my emotions and thoughts while viewing the art. 

First of all... OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Now that I got that out of the way, I want to say I am so proud of Jimin: #1 on U.S. iTunes with all those other releases happening at the same time. And #1 Trending Now on YouTube. Also I think I saw fastest 100 #1′s on iTunes globally EVER (thank you for correcting me). But I know these charts are not the motivation behind his art.

So it begins with some angst with dramatic choir vocals... building up to a crescendo. The music includes a siren-like sound... things are getting critical. The dancers writhing and mimicking screams, invoking chaos, turmoil, pain and anguish.

And then Jimin appears suddenly and the dancers at once jump into order... chaos/order. 

It’s like Jimin’s own psyche with the two sides fighting within. 

The choreo tells the story of the lyrics: “I wandered in a maze, Hennessy and night.” On a path searching for the prize/end and especially these past few years, living a life full of luxury. We know Jimin is a night owl (maybe that is too literal of an interpretation perhaps). 

The autotune vocals add texture and are reminiscent of different voices talking in his head. It’s like using his own voice to role play his different emotions/colors within him: “Finally free; AH YEAH, AH YEAH; I’m standing at the edge; NOT YET, NOT YET; I won’t look back; NOW YEAH, NOW YEAH; fly away, butterfly, finally free” ... 

The choreo here where he mimics a butterfly with his body, fluid and lithe. I literally expected him to levitate during this dance move. 

“Going insane to stay sane. Raise your hands for the past me. Now set me free.” This is where I literally cried. Oh, Jimin.  

The dancers representing the world around him... at the same time are the confines of his vocation as well as his comrades... part of the constriction and also his saviors. His freedom as well as his box. Chaos and order.

At 1:52 the scene goes dark and one of the dancers reaches over to Jimin’s torso and I am assuming at some point, we will see this is deliberate for a reason. When the lights come back up they are a different color, colder, Jimin’s torso is bare with the words of the poem marching across his body in very straight orderly lines (needless to say, my jaw hit the floor).

It is as if the color of the light represents both sides. Hot chaos. Cold order. I think this part of the song is his inner turmoil. It has a different voice. Very angry. Very aggressive. Nothing like the Jimin we’ve known up until now.

The dancers pointing at him, his naysayers. That’s right Jimin, tell them to fuck off. He’s played by the rules up until now. It’s his turn to flip the table and upend what we’ve known. And wow, he succeeded.

The dancers lifting their fists and arms as if in triumph.

Jimin letting himself be offered up to the sky...the lifting and reaching for the sky/heaven.. higher and higher...  

The resurrection of New Jimin at the end. The direct defiant stare at us. With his back to us. What is he saying? He’s moving on? Are we following? We better get our fighting gear on and go. 

The visuals, his attitude. So many elements: the numerology, the golden spiral (fibonacci sequence), the set mimicking the panopticon. A prison. Caged like a beautiful bird. A place he entered of his own free will but ended up being a place where he was put on display to be criticized and judged for not being what everyone thinks he should be. 

Knowing some of Jimin‘s history, knowing a little bit about his personality and seeing how all of this has come together in this piece of art he’s created just makes me appreciate him even more as the deep thinker he is, a highly talented artist, singer, and dancer, and especially a deeply feeling human being. 

I don’t ever recall anything like this making me overcome with shock or being moved to tears or being made to feel so many different things in the span of three minutes and forty-four seconds as I did last night. 

The nature of art itself is to draw out your emotions. To move you. I was moved.

I am 100% certain on each subsequent time I listen to this song or watch the music video there will be something that will elicit something else within me and inspire another different thought or feeling.

And I know it could be because Jimin‘s solo work was so highly anticipated, so talked about and we didn’t know what to expect. We know he’s been working on it for well over a year and finally seeing the climax of it all, or at least the beginning of the climax, was very overwhelming to me. I mean, promo starts for Like Crazy tomorrow. LET US BREATHE! NO! BRING IT ON!

#jimin face #set me free pt. 2 #he blew me away #as expected #as JK would say OH JIMINNNN!!!!!

[simp-is-here]

The Point of No Return: Barbatos x Fem reader

Summary: Diavolo decided that before your departure from Devildom he would get everyone together for a production of a human world musical. When the main cast member becomes sick you suddenly find yourself singing with your hidden lover

Warning: Suggestive actions/ lyrics, probably ooc Barbatos, use of the name Christine in certain parts cause that’s the character you play, fake violence towards you (he’s playing the Phantom who is pretty insane)

(A/N: OKAY PLEASE LISTEN!! I know this whole thing would fit more with Lucifer or basically anyone else. But Barbatos was who was in my mind when the idea happened so I’m sticking with it, he’s probably gonna be pretty ooc but I enjoy the idea of him letting out stuff he’s kept away in a way that makes people think it’s part of the show. So please don’t judge this too heavily, Also I took inspiration from watching different productions of this song. And I’m going by the lyrics I find they may not be what’s in certain productions but they should be I think. I hope you like it)

This was different, far more different than rehearsals, when you did this scene with Lucifer you’re nerves weren’t jumping like they were right now. Sitting atop a chair you waiting for his entrance.

“Passarino- Go away for the trap please set and wait for it’s prey.” Barbatos’ voice filled the silence of the stage, and filled your head

You turn your head away from the audience and watch as he walks in with his black robes covering his whole body.

“You have come here. In pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent.” He took a step closer as you stood up from the chair, watching his every movement

“Silent.” His voice hushed more

“I have brought you. That our passions may fuse and merge.”

He opened his arms wide and gestured to the surroundings, you stood your guard as rehearsed many times before.

“In your mind you’ve already succumbed to me, dropped all defences”

“Completely succumbed to me.”

He came up behind you and made the two of you face the audience, trailing his hands from your head down to your shoulders but keeping them just far enough away that he’s not touching your body directly.

“Now you are here with me. No second thoughts, you’ve decided.”

He leaned more towards you now, circling his arms around your waist and holding on tightly.

“Decided.”

He let go and began to walk a couple of circles around you, making you spin aswell as you followed his movements exactly.

“Past the point of no return, no backward glances. Our games of make believe are at an end.”

He drifted over to the opposite end of the table, beckoning you to follow him. Even if it wasn’t scripted you still would have followed him, yearning for his touch.

“Past all thoughts of “if” or “when”. No use resisting.” Barbatos sat on the wooden chair, opening his arms for you to sit atop his lap

“Abandon thought and let the dream descend.”

When you sat on his lap you faced the audience, remembering that you’re not alone and you’re supposed to be playing a character you stroked his covered cheek from behind you. He grasped your wrist and positioned you to look at the audience with a hand grasped around your throat.

“What raging FIRE shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks it’s door?”

He trails the hand on your throat higher to grasp your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“What sweet seduction lies before us?”

You can feel his gaze on you. Your other hand goes toward the one on your chin, holding it as lightly as possible.

“Past the point of no return. The final threshold. What warm unspoken secrets will we learn?” He turns you back to face the audience again, his voice sending chills down your spine

“Beyond the point of no return?” With that line you shot out of your spot on his lap, to the opposite end of the table like you’re supposed to

You stop and put a contemplating look on your face before turning back to him.

“You have brought me, to that moment when words run dry. To the moment when speech disappears into silence.”

You look at him with want that wasn’t faked, he showed the possessiveness he’s been holding back since rehearsals first began, so you’ll show him how much you craved to be near him in front of everyone.

“Silence.”

You did a quick turn back to face the audience, looking towards the wall at the back so you weren’t looking at anyone in the crowd.

“I have come hear, hardly knowing the reason why. In my mind I’ve already imagined our bodies entwining defenceless and silent.”

You trailed your hands up your wait locking them together at your breasts while tilting your head upwards seeing only the dark behind your closed eyelids.

“Now I am here with you, no second thoughts. I’ve decided.” You took slow sensual steps forwards, trying to talk to him through the lyrics of the song

“Decided.”

“Past the point of no return, no going back now. Our passion play has now at last begun.”

You now faced Barbatos across the table, your hands rubbing across the top of it as you laid your body on it.

“Past all thought of right or wrong. One final question.” With your eyes never leaving him you advanced slightly towards him, being just out of reach for the both of you to be with one another

“How long show we two wait before we’re one?” You turned onto your back on the cold surface, holding one hand over your heart while the other grasped at the skirt of your dress

“When will the blood begin to race, the sleeping bud burst into bloom. When will the flames at last CONSUME us?” While you spread your upper body across the table the sound of his chair hitting the stage filled the air as he grasped your wrists tightly before pulling you to him.

“Past the point of no return. The final threshold.” Barbatos held you right against him, one hand being led by one of yours atop your left breast while his other trailed your thigh, slightly going under the fabric of your dress

You hovered your open mouth along where he neck would be, resisting the temptation to kiss it. He squeezed your breast roughly while he trailed his hand higher in your thigh making you gasp against him.

“The bridge is crossed so stand and watch it burn.” He turned you around so you were on your knees infront of him parting from your body.

It brought you back that the two of you weren’t alone, and you still had to play your roles.

“We’ve passed the point of no return.”

You threw down the hood, revealing Barbatos’ half masked face. You straighten your posture to act startled and shuffle a little bit back on the table, with a turned body you go to get off of the table like scripted but stop when the sound of his voice comes back.

“Say you’ll share with me one love, one life time. Lead me, save me from my solitude.” You turned back to him at the sound of the softness you heard. He gripped your waist gently as he continued

“Say you want me with you here, beside you.” His thumbs stroking your sides confirmed that he wasn’t just singing these lyrics

He was talking to you through them, you inhaled a bit at the realization as a tear slipped down your cheek. You stroked his face with your thumbs to show that you felt the same.

“Anywhere you go let me go too. Christine, that’s all I ask of-“

You pulled the mask off his face and watched as he showcased panic and anger before grabbing you and running offstage, ending the duet.

As soon as the two of you got backstage and out of sight from everyone he pulled you into a kiss. You ran your fingers through his hair and pulled him as close to you as possible, tears escaping down your face, his grip on your hips was so tight you knew to expect marks tomorrow.

The joy you felt that he let out how much he actually felt for you in front of everyone was almost overwhelming, he’d always been so focused on how your relationship would affect everyone that the two of you kept it hidden. Behind closed doors so much that you doubted he even had feelings for you sometimes.

But the way he’s holding you right now, the way his words spoke to you, it was all the affirmation that you needed right now. Pulling away from the kiss you leaned towards his ear and whispered to him.

“I love you too.”

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

(Please do not post my work anywhere else without mentioning that it’s written by me)

Thank you for reading. If you have any requests just send them to me and I’ll try to write them to the best of my ability

And remember you are a fantabulous human being and that is my opinion to which you can not change my opinion so better just accept that you’re an amazing person who is doing a fantastic job. Keep up the great work. Have a good day or night or whatever you’re reading this at

Requests

#obey me shall we date #obey me fic #obey me barbatos #obey me barbatos x reader #obey me fanfic #obey me x reader #ooc #phantom of the opera inspired #musical inspired #barbatos x mc #barbatos x you #barbatos x female reader #barbatos #obey me shall we date x reader #barbatos smut #obey me barbatos smut #obey me Barbatos fluff #barbatos fluff #barbatos angst #obey me Barbatos angst #lowkey ​ooc barbatos

[multimilfs]

Mother Miranda x Fem!Reader: In The Wee Small Hours of The Morning

Summary: cool-beans-scully sent... Mother Miranda + 17 -- "You did all of this for me?"

Prompt found here!

AO3

A/N: GOD I love fics that have Eva in them so I wanted to write one of my own. We all need a little softness every now and again. I hope you all enjoy!!

Full Ficmas List

Tag List: @ghostsunderstoodmysoul @escapetodreamworld @multifandomfix

Warning(s): None

You are perilously close to destroying the makeshift kitchen. If you graze your hand on the burner one more time you may damn it all and throw it through the window; another repair to add to yours and Miranda’s list. 

It’s sweet, what she’s doing to better the place for Eva, but ultimately infuriating. You don’t consider a room without a layer of dust and grime to be unreasonable. Though you can’t tell by the state of the place. 

“Good morning.” Her voice comes from behind you. 

You jump and true to form, you graze your hand against the hot burner, swearing lowly, “Damn it!” 

Miranda raises an eyebrow. She’s dressed in a long, dark robe, absent of any head covering with her short hair lying perfectly. If you didn’t love her constant composure, it would add to your current mood. 

“Damning the burner won’t soothe your wounds.” 

“No, but it will keep me from going insane.” 

Her mouth twitches, “Insanity on you could be appealing.” 

You glare. Ignoring the spark of warmth her words inspire, you turn back to the eggs in the pan, flipping them gently. You hold your breath until it’s evident the yolks are whole. Eva loves them unbroken and you want to make her happy; as if the bare minimum doesn’t impress the little girl. 

A hand settles on your hip and another turns your head. You’re pulled back away from the burner. 

“Good morning.” She repeats. 

“Good morning, Miranda.” You return. 

The hand on your face slips below your chin and pulls you to a cold, but soft pair of lips. You melt nonetheless. You find your mouth dominated by her own lips and tongue, moaning shamelessly when fingernails dig into your hip. 

Miranda is everywhere. You’re not sure if that’s a product of the Cadou or her, but you won’t complain, not when she controls you so deliciously. 

You’re released suddenly. The whine that leaves your mouth is involuntary, but mirth dances in Miranda’s eyes. She motions back to the burner and you jump to take the eggs off before they overcook. 

Three plates sit waiting on the table, one a piece of beautiful china, inlaid with blue and baby pink flowers, the others plain pieces of porcelain; Eva’s eggs are added to the fine china. There’s already warm toast with accompaniments of butter and jam and fresh vegetables. You turn around and change the old pan to a fresh pot, throwing ingredients into saltwater. 

“Mămăligă cu Lapte?”

You hum, “She likes it.” 

“It’s peasant food.” 

“Peasant food that your daughter enjoys. Your prejudice is your problem alone.” 

Your neck cracks as you’re yanked by the hair, sharp nails digging into your scalp. It’s delightful and awful. Miranda’s form is stiff against your back. 

“Careful.”

“I’m sorry.” You whisper back. 

You’re not. Not even in the slightest. However, you’re going to overcook breakfast if she doesn’t let go of you. 

As if reading your mind, she sighs, “No, you’re not.” 

She lets you take up your place in front of the pot, stirring in slow circles. Miranda pours herself a cup of coffee and settles at the—very messy—table. It’s covered in diagrams and notes bearing her writing. You offer a pointed glance, but she waves you off. 

A haphazard stack of paper is lifted from her place at the table and tossed on another surface. You grit your teeth—her papers should be in her workshop. No matter how many times you move them, they appear back in your space. You’re almost convinced she moves them back to drive you crazy. 

Miranda watches you work over the rim of her cup. You blush under her unwavering gaze, but try to hide your reaction. She’s smug enough. 

Down the hall, a door opens. Miranda’s eyes are drawn to the doorway. There’s the quiet scuffling of footsteps before Eva walks into the kitchen, clad in an oversized nightshirt, hair lying in messy blonde waves around her face. Her fists rub furiously at her eyes. 

“Good morning, Eva.” Miranda says. 

She holds a hand out, which Eva takes, and finds herself pulled in. Miranda kisses the top of her head. 

“Morning, Mama,” Eva yawns, then patters over to lean against you, “Morning, Ursa.”

You smile at the nickname and run your free hand through her hair, gently working through any tangles. She yawns and leans into you more. 

“Morning, my little star, sleep well?” 

Eva makes a small affirmative noise, “Had weird dreams.” 

“What of?” 

“Scary men, like wolves. They had sharp teeth.” 

You share a look with Miranda. Her eyes give away nothing, but the set of her jaw is tense. This isn’t the first time Eva’s had dreams about the deformed creatures that once roamed the village. 

“Those are weird. It’s good that your Mama is around to protect you from odd wolf-men, isn’t it?” 

“Mhm.” 

The burner is turned off and you transfer a healthy portion of porridge to yours and Eva’s plates. She clutches onto your skirt while you drift between the counter and the table. It’s a wonder you don’t trip or spill anything with her hold limiting your mobility. 

Miranda’s acquainting herself with the last of her notes from the night before. A black pen is poised in her fingers and scribbling corrections now that she has a clear mind. You slide a plate in front of her, she only lets out a small noise of acknowledgement. 

“Eva, darling, why don’t you sit down and eat your breakfast?” You suggest. 

You pull out the chair next to Miranda and help the sleepy child into it. She rubs her eyes one last time before they widen, the gorgeous plate before her covered in food. She pokes at all of it with the fork you offer. 

“You did all of this for me?” Eva asks. 

“Of course. Who else?” You grin, pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

Miranda’s eyes catch your own over Eva’s head. The look in them makes you smile wider than before, your heart fluttering in the cage that is your chest. You’re pleased when she takes a bite and nods. 

“Say thank you, Eva.” Miranda instructs. 

Through a mouthful of porridge, “Ph’ank ‘ou!” 

“Eva.” 

Eva swallows down the mouthful, not the slightest bit contrite. Her eyes sparkle with amusement. It’s infectious and you offer her a wink when Miranda isn’t paying attention. The little girl descends into quiet giggles. 

“Thank you, Ursa!” 

“Anything for you, little star.” 

You cross around the table and place a kiss on Miranda’s forehead, ignoring her grumbling, before returning to clean up your mess. You’re more cautious of the hot elements this time around. 

#mother miranda #mother miranda x reader #resident evil 8 #resident evil village x reader #re8 #resident evil village imagine #mother miranda imagine #wlw #wlw imagine #dec2022 #multimilfswritings #multimilfsficmas2022

[aemiron-main]

frame by frame: quit calling everything a production error

One day we will escape the production error allegations 🙏 I find it so funny that people are saying not to go frame by frame for details when in reality there are MASSIVE changes you can spot when looking frame by frame, changes that CANNOT be an accident, unless you expect me to believe that the same show that has the exact patterns for the eye blood on all of the lab kids kept in binders so they can replicate it every time just accidentally replaced the corpses of the children with adults, un-broke their legs, and completely changed their eyes and also moved their position entirely?

Here’s Amy L Forsyth, the head of the ST makeup dept talking about the exact patterns for the lab kids’ makeup:

Here’s a BTS pic of them adjusting small details on the lab kids’ makeup so that it’s exact:

And yet I’m supposed to believe that because these following shots are “frame by frame,” they’re just a production error? I’m supposed to believe that just because the GA wouldn’t go frame by frame, ST wouldn’t include those details and they just accidentally replaced a child with a grown man, unbroke the legs, and forgot to gouge out the eyes?

Like, sorry, but I just find it a little absurd to discount details because someone went “frame by frame,” to find them. And yes, I know there’s been posts today about frame by frame stuff but this isn’t even directed at a specific post because it’s a sentiment I’ve seen repeatedly. And it’s a sentiment that drives me absolutely insane.

People will come on here and say that production errors are sooo common in ST and yet they never provide any actual evidence or source for this, despite the fact that such claims directly contradict what actual st production members have said about the levels of detail in this show.

Amy Parris, head of costuming for ST said this:

Chris Trujillo, production designer for ST said this:

Amy L Forsythe said this about Eddie’s bat bites and how even though some of the bites were never shown on-screen, they did them anyway:

Like, what more do you guys want before you let go of the “it’s a production error/youre looking too far into it” attitude? I continuously provide BTS pictures and interviews with production themselves as evidence of the fact that it’s not a production error, and yet, I never see the same sort of evidence provided by people claiming that things are production errors. Some of you guys need to learn how to cite your sources before dismissing others’ analysis. The ACTUAL PEOPLE WORKING ON ST PRODUCTION ARE TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS THAT THE AUDIENCE NEVER EVEN SEES. And yet I’m just supposed to take your word, with no sources or evidence, that the details we DO see are just errors? Yeah, no thanks, I’ll stick with what the actual people doing the work have said about their work.

Like, the Duffers have said before that they’re not catering this show to the GA/they’re making the show that THEY want to make, so why is the bar suddenly “oh lol if the GA wouldnt notice it/wouldnt go frame by frame, its just an error,” like did you guys miss Murray’s whole speech about “behind the curtain,” or what?

#stranger things #byler #st production #some of you guys dismiss everything as a fucking production error

[herrmannhalsteadproduction]

Game Night 3: It’s Bex Ball, Bébés (Chapter One)

Summary: This is Part Twenty of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.

Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples

Warnings: Swearing and a ridiculous amount of shenanigans

Chapter One

Otis

If Otis had known it would come down to this, he would never have agreed to join in on freaking Bex Ball.

He should have known. This was Bex they were talking about after all. She’d never let them play something normal like soccer or football, hell, Otis would’ve even taken volleyball. Not that Bex Ball hadn’t been fun—

It was just insane.

“Come on, Otis!” Bex squeezed his shoulders, trying to pump him up. “You’ve got this.”

He did not ‘got this.’

“Alright, settle down and shut up,” Chris called out to the teams. “Let’s finish this.”

Ruzek strutted over to stand in front of Otis and smirked. “Heard you might have a little performance trouble with this one,” he said.

Otis didn’t bother dignifying that with a response. Ruzek could think whatever he wanted. Otis was going to focus on…focusing and beat this curse once and for all.

“Hands out,” Chris said, motioning at the space between them. Otis and Ruzek both lifted a fist. “Rock, paper, scissors, on three…”

He could do this.

He could do this.

He could do this.

Otis took a deep breath—

***

Three hours earlier

***

Will

“Come on!” Bex yelled down the hallway. “We can’t be late!”

She’d been on Will as soon as he’d come home from work—literally shoving a sandwich into his mouth and then shooing him toward the shower. It wasn’t like he had control over the ED. He’d come home as soon as he could, but apparently, they were still cutting it close.

Game Night was serious business. Especially this Game Night.

Will was both intrigued and slightly terrified by what Bex Ball might actually entail.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he hollered back as he came out of his room, pulling a shirt over his head. He stopped short when he saw her standing by the front door. “What the hell is that?”

“What’s what?” she asked, nonchalantly shifting the truly gigantic ball in her arms so she could see his face. Barely.

“The gigantic ball that’s almost as big as you!” Will squeezed past her and the freaking ball so he could get his shoes on.

“Isn’t it great?” Bex grinned at him, looking enormously pleased with herself. “We used to have a pretty big one at Chris and Cindy’s, but Lee Henry and Lukey popped it years ago. I found this one online. It got here just in time.”

He peered up at her as he tied his laces. “How were you planning on fitting it through the door?”

“It’ll fit,” Bex said confidently.

***

Five [curse-filled] minutes later.

***

Will

It did not fit.

“Well, shit.” Bex frowned down at the ball in her arms. “I guess I should have waited to blow it up.”

Will studied the ball, glancing between it and the door frame. “If we deflate it a little—”

“No, there’s no time,” Bex said, waving away his suggestion. “I’m gonna have to toss it to you.”

“Toss it—” His brain suddenly caught up with the mental leap hers had taken. “No. Bex! No. You are not throwing that thing at me from the balcony.”

“We’re not that high up! It’ll be fine.” She nudged him out the door, using the ball to help shove him into the hallway. “Hurry! Go!”

“Getting a little fast and loose with the definition of ‘fine’ today,” Will muttered to himself as he made his way downstairs. He stopped on the front steps, shaking his head. Why was he even agreeing to this? Trying to catch that thing would be a guaranteed to the ED and he’d never hear the end of that.

No, this—

“New plan, Will,” Bex yelled at him from the balcony. “The Tin Can’ll catch it!”

Before he could call back for her to stop for one freaking second, Bex was releasing the gigantic red ball and Will watched as it hurtled through the air toward her poor car.

The ball landed on the roof, rocking the Tin Can, before bouncing back up in the air and bumping against one of the first floor balconies. It dropped from there, bouncing a bit more when it landed on the patch of grass in front of the building and then rolling to a stop at Will’s feet.

Hunh. The Tin Can was made of sterner stuff that he’d though. Take that, Jay. He and Bex could pick out a solid car.

“See!” Bex was leaning over the side of their balcony, giving him a thumb’s up and a wide grin. “Worked like a charm! Stay there! I’ll be right down!”

The front door opened a disturbingly short about of time later—seriously, had she leapt down the stairwell or something?—and Bex went whizzing past him, kicking the ball back toward her car while she went.

“Not even a scratch,” Bex declared as she peered at the roof of the Tin Can. She patted it fondly and then went around to open the rear door of the station wagon. Will winced as she tried to shove the ball into the back.

“Bex, there’s no way you’re gonna get the door closed,” he said.

“Way ahead of you.” She whipped a pile of bungie cords out of her pocket. “Come on! Help me strap it in and let’s gooooooo!”

It took some wrangling, but they managed to secure it and then Bex poked at him to get in as she headed for the driver’s seat.

“You know, for someone who was not very into the whole outdoor aspect of this game night,” he began as he put on his seat belt. “You’re pretty chock full of enthusiasm.”

“That was before,” she said, starting up the car. “Now? It’s Bex Ball.”

“Still don’t know what that means,” Will said.

“You will.” Bex let out what he would absolutely classify as an evil laugh and Will’s terror began to outweigh his intrigue. She flapped a hand at him. “Help me look for cars because I can’t see shit out of the back.”

He craned his neck, trying to keep an eye out.

On the bright side, at least if they backed into anyone, they’d bounce.

***

Jay

Hailey stood beside Jay as they watched Bex muscle a truly gigantic ball out of the back of the Tin Can. It was at least three feet wide. Maybe four.

“Is this…like…a belated hazing or something?” she asked, shooting a glance at him.

“Nope,” Jay laughed. “I mean, you were at the Grudge Match, right?”

Hailey raised her eyebrows with a reluctant nod.

“Yeah,” he said. “Stuff like this is pretty much par for the course around here.” He paused, shaking his head at the sight of Bex hefting the ball over her head and chucking it at Will as he tried to run for cover behind unsuspecting Connor. 

The ball bowled both of them over and Bex fell down in a laughing heap beside them.

“Uh, tonight might be a little more out there than usual though.” Jay bumped shoulders with her. “Come on,” he said, nudging her toward the group. “We can be on the same team and watch each other’s backs.”

She went willingly enough—Jay was pretty sure she was mostly just curious about what the hell was going to happen tonight. She wasn’t the only one. Bex and Chris had been extremely tight lipped about what exactly was involved with Bex Ball.

Bex had assembled a good-sized gang for the event. Aside from Jay and Hailey, they also had Mouse, Kevin, Kim, Adam, Julie, and Sam to represent 21. Sylvie was there along with Otis, Joe, Shay, Kelly, Stella, Matt, and Gabi from 51. Ethan and April had also tagged along with Will and Connor and Emery had somehow gotten roped in too.

Plus, they had an audience: Bex’s friends Kira, Malia, Isaac, and Devon had arrived loaded down with snacks and lawn chairs. And signs. They had Lexi Olinsky in tow which Jay was going to have to get the scoop on from Bex later. He’d heard something about Emery taking her under her wing? Al seemed less stressed about her lately so whatever was happening, it must be helping.

Beside Bex’s gang, Platt and Mouch had their own little set-up and the two groups were already swapping containers of food back and forth.

Knowing that crew, they’d also be trading bets soon enough.

Chris and Cindy were standing at the side of the field Bex had booked for the occasion; both of them with a shiny new whistle around their necks. Chief Boden and his wife Donna were babysitting the rugrats so they could come out and referee and Jay knew Bex had made more than a few cookie promises to swing that one. Judging by the smiles Chris and Cindy were sporting, it was worth it.

A piercing whistle blew through the air and Chris waved them all into a huddle. “Alright,” he said. “We’re gonna go over the rules, then we’ll divide into two teams, and then…we’ll play some Bex Ball.” He chuckled to himself and sighed. “This is the best day of my life.”

“Really, Herrmann?” Otis asked. “Over marrying Cindy and the birth of your many children?”

“Over winning the Grudge Match?” Cruz piped up.

“He’s waited a long time to share the joy of Bex Ball with people,” Cindy laughed.

“Inflict, you mean,” Chris muttered under his breath with a grin that was giving Jay a bad feeling. Cindy elbowed him and Chris straightened up. “Okay, rule time,” he said. “They’re barely comprehensible—”

“Hey!” Bex protested from the back of the group. “I mean…fair, but hey.”

“—so pay attention,” he carried on, ignoring her. “This is our field of play.” He pointed at the area behind them. It was kind of ratty with patchy grass, but a nice size. 

Chris explained that since the ball was so big, the whole width of each end of the field was the goal line. Whoever got stuck as goalkeeper was going to have to be fast on their feet.

“So, we’re basically playing soccer, but with a giant ball?” Julie asked.

“I haven’t gotten to the play modes yet,” Chris said, smirking as he held up a finger.

Play modes? Jay craned his neck to shoot a WTF look at Bex—who wasn’t even paying attention. She was currently tucked into Mouse’s side as they giggled about something and Jay forgot about listening to the the rules as he watched them for a moment. He hadn’t seen either of them smile like that for way too long.

He waited for that familiar wave of loneliness to flare up, but…there was nothing. He was just happy. Happy for the two of them. Happy to be out with all of their friends.

It was nice.

Bex looked up and caught his eye. He smiled at her and she grinned back before pointing to Chris and mouthing ‘pay attention!’ at Jay.

He stuck out his tongue just to make her roll her eyes and then turned back to the front where Chris was talking about…flamingo mode?

What the f—

***

Sylvie

Kevin jogged up beside her as their team headed to their end of the field. “Hey,” he said, grinning down at her. “Excited for your first game night?”

“I think so?” Sylvie laughed. “I’m a little concerned about that gleam in Herrmann’s eye, but if you’re gonna be my buddy, I think I’ll survive.”

That had been part of the rules. Everyone had to have a buddy in place for some of the play modes? Sylvie didn’t quite have it all straight yet. She’d been expecting something more like ultimate frisbee? In hindsight, knowing this crew, that had been unrealistic on her part.

She was still game! For whatever was about to happen, lord help her.

“Happy to be your buddy,” Kevin said. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward him for a quick kiss. She leaned into it even though she was sure she was blushing down to her toes.

Things had been building between them for a few months now and they’d kept it quiet at first. Dating and kissing in front of everyone else had netted her a healthy dose of teasing from pretty much everyone they knew lately, but despite the blushing, Sylvie took it in stride.

Hard not to when she was so ‘disgustingly happy’ according to Otis. Not to compare boyfriends, but everything with Harrison had been so forced. Like she was checking off boxes with him. Being with Kevin somehow managed to be both fun and interesting and easy and comfortable all at the same time.

Which at first seemed suspiciously too good to be true. Gabi, Shay, and Stella had spent one long wine night talking her through the panic about when the other shoe would drop and helped her realize that sometimes you could just…actually be on the same page as someone.

She knew organizing this Game Night had been a feat, but she was so grateful to Bex for doing it. Getting to know Kevin’s friends and having him spend more time with hers felt like another important step. She didn’t see much of the Intelligence crew outside of Molly’s or at work, but hopefully this would open the doors to more hangouts in the future.

A laugh slipped out as she watched Matt chuck the ball at an unsuspecting Severide, knocking him off his feet.

More hangouts, but maybe with less projectiles.

***

Kelly

“So, it’s basically like soccer,” Kelly said to Stella and Shay.

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Shay argued and Kelly shook his head.

“Yeah, there’s some twists, but it’s a game Bex started when she was what? Four?” He shrugged. “I don’t think it’s going to be that diff—”

A flash of red was all he caught out of the corner of his eye before a force knocked him off his feet and down to the grass below.

Kelly groaned, blinking until his eyes focused on the freaking red ball rolling away and freaking Casey bent over, killing himself laughing. Kelly scrambled to his feet.

“Oh, it’s on now.”

***

Cindy

“Are there rules about hitting the other players with the ball?” she asked Chris as she looked through the pages of instructions Bex had left with them.

“Eh.” Chris waffled his head back and forth. “How about, you get a point if it was funny and you lose a point if it was a low blow.”

That sounded fair. Cindy added it to the list.

***

Otis

Otis bit back a sigh as he joined his team.

He was surrounded by couples.

His team had Bex and Mouse and Kevin and Sylvie who were all in their honeymoon period and Matt and Gabi. Jay and Hailey weren’t a couple…as far as he knew, but they were still partners. That left Bex’s friends Emery and Sam, but he barely knew them. Once again, he was the odd man out. They hadn’t even let him and Joe be on the same team!

Although, his team was marginally better than Joe’s. Literally everyone on his team was coupled up. Looked like both of them were going to spend the night as goalkeepers.

Otis trudged toward the end of the field when Bex called out his name.

“Where are you going?” she asked as she ran up to him.

“Figured I’d be in goal since I don’t have a buddy,” he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

Bex shook her head. “No, no, no,” she said. “We’re gonna put Sam and his freakishly long arms in goal.” She grabbed his arm and started towing him along behind her. “You’re going to be Emery’s buddy.”

Hang on—

“Otis, you remember Emery,” Bex said, depositing him in front of a pretty blonde he’d seen a couple of times at Molly’s and definitely at the grudge match.

“Right.” Otis reached out to shake the hand she offered. “I remember the heckling.”

“Awesome.” Bex patted both of their shoulders. “So, you’re basically already friends. Have fun!” She trotted off, leaving them standing in awkward silence.

“Otis,” Emery said, rocking back on her heels with her hands in her pockets. “That’s, uh, that’s a cool name.”

“Oh,” Otis laughed. “It’s not my name. They just call me that because—well, it’s a long, weird firefighter thing, but my name’s Brian. Brian Zvonecek.”

Emery’s eyebrows flew up. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know. Do you prefer Brian?”

“I’ve pretty much given up on being called anything but Otis by this crowd,” he said with a little shrug.

She stuck out her hand again, waiting for him to take it. “It’s nice to meet you, Brian,” she said, grinning as they shook again.

Oh. He ducked his head, his own smile sneaking across his face. He didn’t mind that at all.

“So,” Emery said, glancing around at the two teams. “I’ve just been dipping my toes back into the whole socializing thing—”

“Right,” Otis nodded. “I heard about—” He cut himself off, wanting to smack himself in the face when he realized what he’d just said. Like she wanted to talk about that. Ugh.

“Well, that saves us some time on the intros,” Emery said, a wry twist to her mouth. She waved off his apology before he could even get it out. “Have you ever been to one of these Game Nights before?”

“No.” Otis shook his head, grateful for the change in subject. “I think this is the first one they’ve done with this many people. Have you?”

“I’ve done small ones with her and Will and Connor,” she said. “Sometimes Jay, but not with the whole group. I wasn’t even planning on coming to this one, but you know how it is with Bex. You ask her how her day was and then before you know it, you’ve been added to the roster of some kind of ridiculous shenanigan.”

Otis nodded sagely. “I am familiar with this experience.

“Well, then, Brian, my buddy,” Emery said, bumping her shoulder against his. “Ready to get ridiculous?”

“I was born to be ridiculous.” Wait. That sounded better in his head. Why couldn’t he ever just say something cool—

“Today must be my lucky day then,” Emery laughed.

Hunh. He was beginning to think it might be his too.

***

Will

Will and Connor stood together at their end of the field. Joe was hanging out in the goal area and the rest of their team was scattered in a loose formation. They had a pretty solid group. Aside from the three of them, there was Adam, Kim, Shay, Julie, Kelly, Stella, Ethan, and April. An even match for Bex’s team.

It had taken a few minutes to get everyone organized and ready—with a delay after Matt knocked Kelly over with the ball and then Kelly chased him around with it, trying to get him back—but now it looked like they were finally starting.

Chris blew the whistle and tossed the ball into the middle of the field. There was a mad dash as everyone started kicking it around and also leaping out of its way. Then Cindy pulled out a megaphone. She clicked it on and all you could hear at first was her and Chris giggling before she finally managed to yell out, “Hot Potato!”

Crap. Which one was that again?

Will watched as Bex picked up the ball and tossed it over to Jay who instantly threw it to Hailey who turned around and tossed it Gabi, but it got intercepted by Shay who tossed it to Kelly.

Right. No holding onto the ball for longer than a second.

Connor ran by him, catching the ball and tossing it to Adam. “Bex ball!” he yelled back at Will with a joyful smile on his face.

It certainly was.

Will jumped into the fray with a grin of his own.

***

Matt

“Squad mode!” Cindy yelled out and Matt looked around for Gabi. She was already booking it across the field, linking arms with him as soon as she reached his side.

“How’s it going, buddy?” she asked, holding on tight to his arm.

“Even better now,” Matt said. He had no idea what was happening for most of this game and yet he was having a blast. The two of them ran forward, attempting to kick at the ball together without falling on their faces or their asses.

They were halfway successful.

***

Emery

Emery might murder Bex over flamingo mode.

She was currently hopping up and down on one foot and praying no one tossed the ball her way. Otis—Brian was hopping beside her, cursing under his breath, and Emery appreciated the solidarity. She kind of felt like she might have made a new friend tonight? Bex might have a point about the whole expanding your circle thing—shit!

Emery threw her arms up as Connor's throw went wide and headed her way, stomach turning as she realized exactly how this was going to play out. Between the momentum of her arms going up, the force of the ball hurtling her way, and the fact that she was standing on one freaking leg—she didn’t stand a chance.

She caught the ball and fell backwards with a shriek, taking Brian with her.

“Oh, crap! Emery!” Connor hopped over as fast as he could. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” she yelled, struggling to disentangle herself from Brian. She spotted Jay and Hailey hopping up fast behind him. “Guys, get the ball!”

“Hey, I don't think so!” Connor swooped down, like some sort of elegant frickin’ crane, and grabbed the ball. He tossed it to Ethan and hopped off.

“Do you think anyone will notice if we just stay down here?” Emery muttered to Brian. They were off to the side. People could play around them.

He laughed and got to his feet. “Come on, buddy,” Brian said, reaching down to give her a hand up. “As Commander Taggart once said, ‘Never give up—”

“Never surrender,” Emery finished for him as she got to her feet. She caught his surprised look as she brushed off her pants. “Connor made us all watch Galaxy Quest a few weeks ago. It’s one of his guilty pleasure movies.” She held a finger up to her lips when he got a sparkle in his eyes at that little tidbit.

“Won’t tell a soul.” Brian crossed his heart. “Never would have pegged him for a secret nerd though.”

“You have no idea,” Emery laughed. “Find a way to casually bring up Star Trek sometime and see for yourself.”

“Emery! Otis!” Bex yelled over at them. “We’re still in flamingo mode! Come on!”

Brian matched her groan as they both lifted a leg. “I’m gonna flamingo her mode.”

“Don’t make me have to avenge her, dude,” Emery said. “My leg will be so strong after today. I’ll be able to do serious damage.”

“Just the one leg though,” Brian pointed out. “Won’t that mean you’ll just run in circles when you try to chase me?”

Emery snorted. And then switch legs. “There. Now I’ll be invincible.”

“Consider me warned,” Brian said, holding his hands up. Then his face twisted in alarm right as a red blur whizzed past her and took him out.

“My bad!” Adam yelled.

***

Joe

Joe watched his friends galloping across the field for Pony Mode and decided maybe being goalkeeper wasn’t so bad after all.

***

Trudy

Trudy sipped at her drink and watched their gang of idiots scamper around on the field.

“You know,” she mused to her fellow spectators. “I think Bex might just be a genius.”

Mouch, Kira, Malia, Lexi, Devon, and Isaac all nodded as they munched on their snacks and took pictures.

She managed to catch one of Chuckles biting the dust when the big red ball hit him square in the butt.

Seriously.

A goddamn genius.

***

Connor

Connor took a swig of his water bottle while they all stood off to the side for the short breather Chris had granted them. It was hot enough that none of them wanted to risk dehydration.

Ooh. Hot enough for his boyfriend to be taking off his shirt too. Connor watched Will use his shirt to wipe at his forehead and waggled his eyebrows at him when they made eye contact.

Will smirked back, taking the time to slowly stretch.

April came to stand beside Connor, holding her cold drink against the side of her neck. “Next time, I’m hanging out with the spectators,” she said, sighing as she watched Ethan also pulling his shirt off. “Or we play in the fall or something because this is…phew!” She fanned at her face.

Connor laughed. ‘Phew’ pretty much covered it. “I don’t know if I’d want to sit out,” he said. “It’s weird, but it’s fun. Although I have no idea what the score is right now.” Goals had been made, but Cindy and Chris had also been gleefully tossing out bonus points and penalties seemingly at random. Connor had given up trying to keep track.

A shrill whistle cut through the air—case in point. “Will! Ethan!” Chris called out. “Minus two points for peacocking!”

“For what?” Will asked while Ethan shook his head. “We’re not even playing right now!”

“Still counts!” Chris declared. “Put your dang shirts back on.”

April shot Connor a look. “Well, whatever the score was, at least now we know it’s two points less.”

“Break’s done!” Cindy called out. “Back on the field!”

Bex ran by, cackling as she bopped Will and Connor on the head with the ball. “Bex Ball!”

“Come on,” Will grabbed his hand and pulled him on to the field. “We’ve got points to make up.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Shush. You liked it.”

Connor pulled him in for a sweaty kiss because he really did.

***

Sam

Sam sighed as he watched the two teams move across the field in slow motion.

He did a killer sloth. Bex knew that.

Next time, he was putting his foot down. He wasn’t about to get stuck as goalkeeper again.

Sam shook his head at Emery’s lackluster form.

Honestly.

***

Bex

Bex’s head whipped around as she looked for Mouse. Chris had just called for Koala Mode and she needed her buddy. They spotted each other at the same time and he crouched down as she ran over, ready for her to leap onto his back.

He grabbed on tight when she landed, keeping a secure hold on her legs. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and leaned over his shoulder. “Hey, Mouse,” she whispered.

“Hey, Bex.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw the ball go that way,” she continued, pointing at a wooded area just off to the right of the field.

“Oh, really?” Mouse hummed as he watched Jay kicking the ball over to Kevin. “That’s no good. What should we do?”

“We should probably go find it.” She pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “So the game’s not ruined.”

“Can’t have that,” Mouse said, lips quirking up into a little grin. He took a quick look around, making sure everyone was focused on the ball at the other end of the field. Then he took off, moving surprisingly fast considering he was carrying her at the same time.

Hunh. Mouse was a lot stronger than he looked. Bex’s brain filed that very interesting bit of information away.

…how many days until Friday?

He wove through the trees and set her down gently once they were behind a fairly large one. “You know,” he said slowly, leaning back against the tree. “I thought I was supposed to be the bad influence in this relationship.”

“Who said that?” Bex stepped into his arms and slid her hands into his hair, drawing his head down for a quick kiss. “I’ll kick their butts.”

“Aw, thanks babe.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him.

“Anytime,” Bex said, grinning up at him. “But our team’s going to notice we’re gone soon so—less talking, more kissing.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

Jay

Jay kicked at the ball and fought to keep his balance with Hailey on his back. It took a quick sidestep, but he managed to stay on his feet.

Koala Mode was intense. He felt like he was running around way more than before trying to keep up their defense and—

Wait a minute.

Something was off. He looked around and did a quick head count and—hey. “Where did Mouse and Bex go?” he asked Hailey.

“They went that way about five minutes ago.” She leaned over his shoulder to point at a wooded area off to the right.

Oh, hell no. He was not suffering through this alone. This whole thing was her idea! Jay marched over to the edge of the field as Hailey snickered into his back.

“Rebecca Marie Herrmann!”

***

Mouse

Uh-oh. Mouse’s eyes went wide. “You just got full named.”

Bex rolled her eyes with a sigh. “You know, he actually took longer to notice than I thought he would.” She grabbed his hand. “Come on. Let’s go back before he full names you.”

Oh, no way was that happening. “Hop on.” Mouse crouched down so she could jump on his back and took off; Bex’s laughter filling his ears.

***

Chris

They had come to the end of their allotted play time and the game was tied.

Mostly because he and Bex had decided that would be the most hilarious outcome, but no one else needed to know that.

He and Cindy gathered both teams in the middle of the field. “We have a tie,” Chris declared.

“How do you even know that?” Otis burst out.

“Because, Otis,” Chris said patiently. “Unlike you, I have been keeping score.” He looked everywhere but at Cindy because as soon as they made eye contact, he’d break. He could not blow this by giggling. Bex would murder him.

“As per the rules,” he said, ignoring Jay’s snort. “In this situation, we play the tie-breaker game.”

“Is that…something other than Bex Ball?” Will asked cautiously. Skirting the edge of hopeful.

“Yes.” Chris nodded. “And it’s one round. Winner takes all.”

“Sudden death!” Bex cheered.

“One representative from each team, please come forward,” Chris said, stepping back.

After a few hushed, but fierce negotiations, Otis and Adam were pushed into the centre of the group. Chris held up a hand for quiet.

“The game is rock, paper, scissors.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Otis yelled.

***

Otis

He was sweating. This was not good. His team members from 51 were whispering furiously to the others behind him while the ones on the other team grinned widely from behind Adam.

So sure they had it in the bag because of this ‘tell’ they swore he had.

Severide pulled Adam back and began whispering to him; probably sharing said tell.

Otis had gone over it in his brain a thousand times and he was sure he didn’t have one, but the fact was, he never won rock, paper, scissors. Either he had a tell or he just sucked at it.

“Are we allowed to swap our player?” Gabi joked, but Chris shot her down.

“Nope,” he said. “Players are locked in.”

“Come on, Otis!” Bex squeezed Otis’s shoulders, trying to pump him up. “You’ve got this.”

He did not ‘got this.’

“Alright, settle down and shut up,” Chris called out to the teams who were all talking excitedly for two very different reasons. “Let’s finish this.”

Adam strutted back up to stand in front of Otis and smirked. “Heard you might have a little performance trouble with this one,” he said.

Otis didn’t bother dignifying that with a response. Freaking Ruzek could think whatever he wanted. Otis was going to focus on…focusing and beat this curse once and for all.

“Hands out,” Chris said, motioning at the space between them. Otis and Ruzek both lifted a fist. “Rock, paper, scissors, on three…”

He could do this. He could do this. He could do this.

Otis took a deep breath—

“Hey,” Emery popped up beside him. “Remember. Never give up…”

“Never surrender,” he said. She stepped back with a smile and a nod.

He could DO THIS.

Otis stared down Ruzek and the other team and threw both hands up in the air. “I’m going rock!”

***

Adam

Adam took a step back at Otis’s declaration. Was he serious?

He shot a look over at Severide who looked stunned before shaking it off with a wave of his hand. ‘He’s bluffing’ he mouthed at him.

Was he though?

Otis had a manic look in his eye as he put his fist out.

Adam squinted at him, trying to look for the clues the other team had told him about. Chris began his countdown and Adam had to go with his gut.

And Severide.

It was a bluff.

It had to be.

…Adam went scissors.

***

Kelly

Well, crap.

Otis really went rock.

***

Otis

His team exploded once they realized what happened and Chris had to yell above their cheers to declare them the winners.

He did it. He really did it.

“Good job, buddy,” Emery said, punching him in the shoulder. “Knew you could do it.”

“Thanks, buddy,” he grinned.

“Okay, teams, pack it up!” Bex yelled. “We’re all meeting up the diner after this. Dessert is on the winning team!”

Oh, right. He forgot about that part.

…still worth it.

***

Jay

Chris, Cindy, Mouch, and Platt had gone back to the Herrmann house to hang out with Donna and Boden for a bit before calling it a night.

Even with them bowing out, their gang took up most of the diner. Luckily, Bex had called ahead to make sure they had space. Everyone was table hopping, enjoying the chance to catch up and chat. Jay was currently at a table with Hailey, Emery, Otis, Connor, and Will.

He noticed Connor elbow Will and nod at something across the aisle. Will looked over and smiled softly at whatever Connor had pointed out.

So, of course, the rest of them all craned their necks to look too.

“Nice,” Will said. “Real subtle, guys.”

It didn’t actually matter that they were being completely obvious because the people they were looking at were completely oblivious.

Mouse and Bex sat side by side in a booth. His arm was around her, their heads tipped toward each other as they talked. And—Jay couldn’t help the little snort that slipped out when he noticed—they were busy swapping a bit of their meals on each other’s plates so they could each have fries and onion rings.

“Well,” Hailey said as they turned back around. “They’re kind of stupidly cute.”

“They really are,” Emery said, swirling a fry through her milkshake. “I’m happy for her.”

“We all are,” Will agreed.

“I know.” Emery did a little head bob, acknowledging that. “But—” She bit her lip as she searched for her next words. “I know you guys know about AJ, but you weren’t there for it.” She sighed. “You know how Bex is. She puts her whole heart into everything and he might have said he wasn’t looking for anything serious, but he didn’t always act that way and he gave her such mixed signals. He was a greedy asshole who took and gave her nothing in return.”

Jay knew he should have punched him when he had the chance.

“It’s just—after all of that and after everything with Mouse,” Emery said, smiling as she watched them. “It’s so good to see them finally get here. To know that Bex is with someone as all in as she is. She deserves that. They both do.”

“He came by last night,” Will said, sharing a little look with Emery and Connor before grinning over at Jay’s side of the table. “Just to say good night to her.”

Jay stopped with his drink halfway to his mouth as he processed that. “He was at my place to watch the game last night,” he said. “He lives in the opposite direction of yours...” 

"Guess he took the long way home," Connor said softly.

Hailey and Otis sighed beside Jay. “Stupidly cute,” Hailey said again as Otis nodded.

Not that Jay had any doubts left about the two of them, but if he did, the last couple of days would have evaporated them completely.

He turned around to take another little peek at them.

And squinted.

“Is that a hickey on Mouse’s neck?”

Everyone at the table shuffled around to join in on his peering.

“Yup,” Emery said.

“One hundred percent,” Hailey agreed.

Well, that was enough people watching for Jay. “Who wants pie?”

Five hands shot up.

***

Kevin

Kevin walked Sylvie to her door.

“Well?” he asked, leaning up against the frame. “What did you think?”

“I would call that a very successful mingling of the friend groups,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “We should definitely do that more often.”

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. “Except maybe next time—”

“Not Bex Ball,” Sylvie said quickly and he nodded.

“I’m putting that firmly in the once a year category,” he said. It was fun, but they’d gotten lucky this time. Putting that game in the regular rotation was asking for bloodshed.

“Maybe a movie night or something,” Sylvie mused and he could practically see the lists being written in her head.

“I’m up for anything,” Kevin said. “As long as it’s with you.”

“Mm. Smooth talker.” Sylvie grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a slow kiss. Then she unlocked the door. “Want come inside and talk some more?”

Kevin grinned and let her tug him inside.

***

Bex

“So, today is Wednesday,” Bex said as Mouse walked her to her car. “And tomorrow is Thursday.”

“I believe that is how the days of the week go,” Mouse said. “Yes.”

She rolled her eyes and tugged on his hand. “I just want Friday to get here faster.”

“Two more sleeps.” Mouse grinned at her. “Almost there.”

“You should come to Molly’s tomorrow night,” she said. “And help me close. We can send the rest of the staff home early and make out on the bar.”

“Bad influence,” he murmured, leaning in for a kiss.

“That’s not a no,” she whispered against his lips.

Mouse pressed her against the side of her car and kissed her thoroughly. “It’s a yes,” he said, eyes going bright. “And then it’ll only be one more sleep.”

“Aha! A perfect plan.” Bex hugged him. “We’re good at this.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, a note of pleased surprise running through it. “We are.”

Click here to read Chapter Two.

Click here to read Game Night 3: It’s Bex Ball, Bébés on ao3:

And here is the tag list (let me know if you wish to be added or removed):

@sorry-i-spaced, @iunnowatuwant, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @ivyalmighty, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3, @multifandomgrl08, @foxes-and-cats, @sensitivemallysix, @thebewingedjewelcat, @emme-looou,

#A Herrmann/Halstead Production #one chicago #chicago fire #chicago pd #chicago med #jay halstead #will halstead #christopher herrmann #oc character #rebecca 'bex' herrmann #a herrmann/halstead production #alternate universe #not canon #not beta read #romance #fluff #shenanigans #team as family #friendship

[avioxi]

[All Seeing Eyes Hermitcraft AU]

TRIGGER WARNINGS IN TAGS

Chapter I: No Sweeter Taste Than That of Bitter Liberation

Grian had done it.

Escape.

Sure it was insane, and sure he hadn’t technically fully escaped, but damn, he was close.

And now he was being chased.

The moon hung high as storm clouds gathered. He could hear wingbeats behind him. The yells of guards shouting orders at each other, chasing him. The watcher felt his heart pumping, his white wings rapidly beating, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He spotted the clearing, he was so close.

He dived quickly, as he had practiced for so long, and sharply veered left, carefully dodging shrubs and tree trunks, the foliage helping hide the bird.

Grian just had to fly. Just keep flying.

Thunder boomed overhead. Good, the guards can’t fly in the rain well. Nor see very well either. Once the storm started they’d have to return.

The watcher felt triumphant. He’d escaped. After so long he’d gotten out. It wasn’t without sacrifice, of course, but totally worth it. He could feel the discomfort in his leg from jumping from a ledge and landing wrong, and the hot stinging pain all across his body of sword slashes. It didn’t matter though, he was out.

It wasn’t the first escape attempt.

He couldn’t help but be reminded of last time.

This time was different.

He was out.

Free.

Grian couldn’t help but to smile. The joy didn’t last for long though.

Rain began to patter down, then with a flash of lightning it was pouring. His wings struggled to keep up in the wet. Sure the guards couldn’t fly in this downpour, but neither could he. The thunder and lightning intensified. Crackling and booming, vibrating the air.

Suddenly within a sharp change in gust, he was thrown off. The bird panicked, trying to realign his wings. The trees were rapidly approaching.

Crash!

It was too late.

-

Sunshine filtered through the leaves. Scar found it much better than the storms that racked the trail they had to travel the previous night. The air damp from morning dew, and birds chirped in the trees.

The vex looked at his companion. The companion who of which was also a vex, and that vex had been driving the wagon all night, and looked rather exhausted.

“The sun feels nice,” Cub commented, putting Scar’s thoughts into voice for him, “Trail’s all muddy ahead though. We’ll have to make camp.”

Scar chuckled, smiling to his large gray and white feline sleeping in the back of the covered wagon, “I’m sure Jellie would be pleased to be out of the wagon. Plus the horses would probably want to rest as well. You too.”

Cub rolled his eyes, smirking, “I’m fine, man. Think what you want.”

Scar and Cub had been traveling for a while now, visiting city after city, selling goods from their wagons.

The caravan consisted of three horses, used to be four but one was sold after running into trouble with a group in one of the cities, a covered wagon, which helped house most of living supplies and revenue gained from the endeavors, and a smaller wagon used to carry the products, which consisted of nothing consistent whatsoever, as they sold whatever they had and whatever makes money.

The business Convex was a great idea.

The two vexes, a mountain feline, and three horses. Yeah that’s a totally normal group.

As the wagon halted to a stop in a clearing close to the trail, Scar hopped out, stretching. His mechanical fitted legs whirring as he moved. It wasn’t an annoying sound, of course, but they for some reason needed to buzz every morning.

He hummed a playful tune as he set up the camp with Cub, helping assemble the tents, and grabbing dry sticks out of the wagon to start a fire for breakfast.

Scar admired the clearing, lined with beautiful pines, patches of lavender and poppies scattered throughout the edges. Songbirds tweeted and flew from branch to branch.It really was pretty, wasn’t it?

He stiffened at a crow's warning call. The sound of rustling came from within the woods. Of course peace was disrupted.

“Cub,” he shout-whispered, “there’s something in the trees.”

His friend stared at him, “I’ll grab your bow,” Cub murmured. The group had run into various thieves and creatures in their time of these journeys. Once they had a dragon who had ambushed their camp while they were unprepared, and burned and stole more than half of their stock, and left Scar with some nasty, well, scars.

Not that he didn't have a bunch already.

Thieves were also a big issue with the amount of attention Convex’s wagons receive, and not much guard the rich would have. Numerous times they’ve been raided. Luckily, over time they’ve gotten more skilled and ready for these raids.

His fellow vex quickly made his way to the wagon, and tossed the bow to Scar. It was a nicely crafted thing, honestly. Built with walnut, and laced throughout with vex crystal. His hands naturally fell into place as he raised it. Ready for any beast or foe to exit the brush.

Suddenly, a ragged avian appeared, looking rather half dazed. His wings seemed to be one of a mockingbird. His dusty blonde hair and gray feathers caked with mud, and my gods, is that blood? Poor guy.

Scar lowered his bow. The avian stared up at him, looking honestly terrified, and tried to scrabble away, but his leg gave out from under him.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay,” Scar soothed, “I’m not gonna shoot you.”

Trembling, the bird eyed him with uncertainty. He looked so defeated.

Scar tossed his bow to the ground as a show of peace, and took a step away. He glanced back at Cub and gestured him forward. He needed to show that they didn’t intend to hurt him.

The vex lowered himself to a crouch, “Hello there. I’m Scar. We don’t want to hurt you, alright? No harm intended whatsoever. So, to start with, what’s your name?”

He noticed the scar that traveled up his face, slashing into his eye, which was foggy.

He’s half blind, Scar thought, no wonder he’s so wary. Plus, looks like he’s been through something rough.

The avian slightly relaxed, still tense though.

“I’m Grian,” he hesitated, “sorry for stumbling into your camp. I would leave but..” He gestured hopelessly to his leg, “can’t exactly do that right now.”

Scar looked at Cub, then looked back at Grian. An idea forming.

“We could help,” Scar offered, “Cub knows healing, and if you have nowhere to go, we’re heading toward somewhere you can stay. Right, Cub?”

Cub hesitantly nodded, giving Scar the eye. Which clearly indicated Scar would receive a firm talking to later, not that it mattered, he never listened.

Grian looked at the two, and seemed like he was considering it.

Eventually, he sighed, “I suppose. It’s not like I’ve got very good chances out in the wild like this anyways.”

Scar rushed forward to help the mockingbird up, but stopped when Grian flinched away.

“I’ve got it,” he muttered, attempting to get up, “I can- hrng- handle it”

His eyes were so very glazed with pure pain as he limped to cloth that was laid out to eat on earlier, now given a much more important purpose. He collapsed onto the fabric, clearly trying to stifle a groan of discomfort.

Now that Scar was able to fully observe the bird, his heart almost broke for how ragged he was. His hair knotted and unkempt, caked with mud. His face and skin dusty and dirty, oozing not quite dry scabs covering him. One wing twisted at a clearly uncomfortable angle, and it seemed to be broken. His feathers were all ruffled into different directions, several were damaged and broke off.

This man was truly the embodiment of disheveled.

Scar couldn’t help but wonder what happened to him.

-

Grian couldn’t believe what had happened.

How could he crash?

At least he hadn’t been captured but now he was surrounded by two complete strangers who were both readily able to attack him until they saw how pathetic he was.

Now it was around the height of the day, the dew had far lifted. He looked to the two vexes who had taken him in.

Scar, the one who was initially going to shoot him and then immediately offered sanctuary, was rather happy looking, and seemed to be getting scolded by Cub as of right now. The happy go lucky vex had dark brown hair, which at the moment was pulled back into a low bun, stunning green eyes, and everywhere where any skin showed, there were scars visible.

As for his friend, Cub wore a dark cloak, which had rather pretty pale blue-gray highlights, had black hair, and was currently glaring at Scar. Clearly he didn’t exactly agree with Scar’s idea to take in a complete and utter stranger. Grian didn’t blame him

Grian sat, absentmindedly picking at a scab that had formed on the back of his hand. He ultimately decided that he might as well travel with this bizarre band to their destination. If they let him stay, that is.

 He would fare better with companions rather than alone.

Cub had put ointments and bandages onto the worse wounds, and built a makeshift splint out of materials they had at hand.

Oh gods, his head hurted. The crash had been rough. Grian had been knocked unconscious for the night, covered him in even more scratches and bruises, and severely damaged his wing. His hollow bones were so fragile, so he wasn't completely shocked.

Many times growing up he was injured, considering he had often played too rough, or would fall from trees, or would get distracted and miss the landing. But this one was a tad bit more rough than the childhood injuries.

Grian attempted to stretch his wings out, to test how much it would agonize him. He immediately felt a spasm of pain flow throughout his wings and body. Yeah, can't do that.

He grunted with pain as he brought them back in, bits of dirt and dried mud falling off of his feathers. Grian glanced back at them. Gods, they were so filthy. It’d take ages to preen, though he couldn’t do that right now.

“Too sore,” he muttered to himself. He pricked out a broken feather to admire his new plumage. Admittedly, he was shocked he had been able to shift so quickly. Grian seemed to have changed into a mockingbird.

Huh.

Grian was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed a rather large feline eyeballing him from behind the wagon. It’s tail twitching back and forth.

He felt panic rise. He wouldn’t be able to run or fly, and cats seemed to think birds were a great snack.

“Hey guys- come help,” he squawked panickedly, frozen in place, “I seem to have an issue!”

The two companions hurried over, both wielding weapons, ready for attack. But both immediately became just unconcerned.

Cub huffed and rolled his eyes, “That’s just Jellie.”

Scar was giggling, petting the feline, “Why hello Jellie! You’re scaring our new friend!”

She rolled onto her back, purring loudly. Grian stared incredulously at the vex who was now rubbing the giant cat's belly and making baby noises.

Scar turned his head towards Grian, still chuckling.

“She’s friendly!”

Grian had a hard time believing that.

Cub cleared his throat, gesturing towards the camp, “So, Grian. I understand you’ll be traveling with us, correct?”

The avian nodded, and Cub continued, “Luckily, we are only a few days' journey away from our destination. We should be able to make ground again in the morning.”

Scar looked up from petting Jellie as she got up and prowled away. He was grinning.

“So you’re joining us?”

Grian sighed, “I suppose so.”

Scar’s green eyes shone, his grin widening.

“And so the journey begins!”

#TW blood #grian #Hermitcraft #Hermitcraft fan #hermitcraft fanfic #All Seeing Eyes AU #Gets #Goodt #goodtimewithscar #cubfan #Watcher #watcher grian #Avioxi writes #Will be posting onto Ao3 once my invitation gets sent through since this is my first time writing #I plan onto making this a long running fic/au #I can't wait to share it with everyone !! #Cw long #cw long post