#'why didn't you just remake the image if you were editing it this much' it's more fun to be bad at photoshop

[candidateofloyalty]

[image id: heavily edited meme with shen qingqiu on one side and wei wuxian on the other. text in the center reads "mxtx made us in different series because she knew lan zhan couldn't handle me playing resentment of chunshan at him. end id]

[ms-demeanor]

Why reblog machine-generated art?

When I was ten years old I took a photography class where we developed black and white photos by projecting light on papers bathed in chemicals. If we wanted to change something in the image, we had to go through a gradual, arduous process called dodging and burning.

When I was fifteen years old I used photoshop for the first time, and I remember clicking on the clone tool or the blur tool and feeling like I was cheating.

When I was twenty eight I got my first smartphone. The phone could edit photos. A few taps with my thumb were enough to apply filters and change contrast and even spot correct. I was holding in my hand something more powerful than the huge light machines I'd first used to edit images.

When I was thirty six, just a few weeks ago, I took a photo class that used Lightroom Classic and again, it felt like cheating. It made me really understand how much the color profiles of popular web images I'd been seeing for years had been pumped and tweaked and layered with local edits to make something that, to my eyes, didn't much resemble photography. To me, photography is light on paper. It's what you capture in the lens. It's not automatic skin smoothing and a local filter to boost the sky. This reminded me a lot more of the photomanipulations my friend used to make on deviantart; layered things with unnatural colors that put wings on buildings or turned an eye into a swimming pool. It didn't remake the images to that extent, obviously, but it tipped into the uncanny valley. More real than real, more saturated more sharp and more present than the actual world my lens saw. And that was before I found the AI assisted filters and the tool that would identify the whole sky for you, picking pieces of it out from between leaves.

You know, it's funny, when people talk about artists who might lose their jobs to AI they don't talk about the people who have already had to move on from their photo editing work because of technology. You used to be able to get paid for basic photo manipulation, you know? If you were quick with a lasso or skilled with masks you could get a pretty decent chunk of change by pulling subjects out of backgrounds for family holiday cards or isolating the pies on the menu for a mom and pop. Not a lot, but enough to help. But, of course, you can just do that on your phone now. There's no need to pay a human for it, even if they might do a better job or be more considerate toward the aesthetic of an image.

And they certainly don't talk about all the development labs that went away, or the way that you could have trained to be a studio photographer if you wanted to take good photos of your family to hang on the walls and that digital photography allowed in a parade of amateurs who can make dozens of iterations of the same bad photo until they hit on a good one by sheer volume and luck; if you want to be a good photographer everyone can do that why didn't you train for it and spend a long time taking photos on film and being okay with bad photography don't you know that digital photography drove thousands of people out of their jobs.

My dad told me that he plays with AI the other day. He hosts a movie podcast and he puts up thumbnails for the downloads. In the past, he'd just take a screengrab from the film. Now he tells the Bing AI to make him little vignettes. A cowboy running away from a rhino, a dragon arm-wrestling a teddy bear. That kind of thing. Usually based on a joke that was made on the show, or about the subject of the film and an interest of the guest.

People talk about "well AI art doesn't allow people to create things, people were already able to create things, if they wanted to create things they should learn to create things." Not everyone wants to make good art that's creative. Even fewer people want to put the effort into making bad art for something that they aren't passionate about. Some people want filler to go on the cover of their youtube video. My dad isn't going to learn to draw, and as the person who he used to ask to photoshop him as Ant-Man because he certainly couldn't pay anyone for that kind of thing, I think this is a great use case for AI art. This senior citizen isn't going to start cartooning and at two recordings a week with a one-day editing turnaround he doesn't even really have the time for something like a Fiverr commission. This is a great use of AI art, actually.

I also know an artist who is going Hog Fucking Wild creating AI art of their blorbos. They're genuinely an incredibly talented artist who happens to want to see their niche interest represented visually without having to draw it all themself. They're posting the funny and good results to a small circle of mutuals on socials with clear information about the source of the images; they aren't trying to sell any of the images, they're basically using them as inserts for custom memes. Who is harmed by this person saying "i would like to see my blorbo lasciviously eating an ice cream cone in the is this a pigeon meme"?

The way I use machine-generated art, as an artist, is to proof things. Can I get an explosion to look like this. What would a wall of dead computer monitors look like. Would a ballerina leaping over the grand canyon look cool? Sometimes I use AI art to generate copyright free objects that I can snip for a collage. A lot of the time I use it to generate ideas. I start naming random things and seeing what it shows me and I start getting inspired. I can ask CrAIon for pose reference, I can ask it to show me the interior of spaces from a specific angle.

I profoundly dislike the antipathy that tumblr has for AI art. I understand if people don't want their art used in training pools. I understand if people don't want AI trained on their art to mimic their style. You should absolutely use those tools that poison datasets if you don't want your art included in AI training. I think that's an incredibly appropriate action to take as an artist who doesn't want AI learning from your work.

However I'm pretty fucking aggressively opposed to copyright and most of the "solid" arguments against AI art come down to "the AIs viewed and learned from people's copyrighted artwork and therefore AI is theft rather than fair use" and that's a losing argument for me. In. Like. A lot of ways. Primarily because it is saying that not only is copying someone's art theft, it is saying that looking at and learning from someone's art can be defined as theft rather than fair use.

Also because it's just patently untrue.

But that doesn't really answer your question. Why reblog machine-generated art? Because I liked that piece of art.

It was made by a machine that had looked at billions of images - some copyrighted, some not, some new, some old, some interesting, many boring - and guided by a human and I liked it. It was pretty. It communicated something to me. I looked at an image a machine made - an artificial picture, a total construct, something with no intrinsic meaning - and I felt a sense of quiet and loss and nostalgia. I looked at a collection of automatically arranged pixels and tasted salt and smelled the humidity in the air.

I liked it.

I don't think that all AI art is ugly. I don't think that AI art is all soulless (i actually think that 'having soul' is a bizarre descriptor for art and that lacking soul is an equally bizarre criticism). I don't think that AI art is bad for artists. I think the problem that people have with AI art is capitalism and I don't think that's a problem that can really be laid at the feet of people curating an aesthetic AI art blog on tumblr.

Machine learning isn't the fucking problem the problem is massive corporations have been trying hard not to pay artists for as long as massive corporations have existed (isn't that a b-plot in the shape of water? the neighbor who draws ads gets pushed out of his job by product photography? did you know that as recently as ten years ago NewEgg had in-house photographers who would take pictures of the products so users wouldn't have to rely on the manufacturer photos? I want you to guess what killed that job and I'll give you a hint: it wasn't AI)

Am I putting a human out of a job because I reblogged an AI-generated "photo" of curtains waving in the pale green waters of an imaginary beach? Who would have taken this photo of a place that doesn't exist? Who would have painted this hypersurrealistic image? What meaning would it have had if they had painted it or would it have just been for the aesthetic? Would someone have paid for it or would it be like so many of the things that artists on this site have spent dozens of hours on only to get no attention or value for their work?

My worst ratio of hours to notes is an 8-page hand-drawn detailed ink comic about getting assaulted at a concert and the complicated feelings that evoked that took me weeks of daily drawing after work with something like 54 notes after 8 years; should I be offended if something generated from a prompt has more notes than me? What does that actually get the blogger? Clout? I believe someone said that popularity on tumblr gets you one thing and that is yelled at.

What do you get out of this? Are you helping artists right now? You're helping me, and I'm an artist. I've wanted to unload this opinion for a while because I'm sick of the argument that all Real Artists think AI is bullshit. I'm a Real Artist. I've been paid for Real Art. I've been commissioned as an artist.

And I find a hell of a lot of AI art a lot more interesting than I find human-generated corporate art or Thomas Kincaid (but then, I repeat myself).

There are plenty of people who don't like AI art and don't want to interact with it. I am not one of those people. I thought the gay sex cats were funny and looked good and that shitposting is the ideal use of a machine image generation: to make uncopyrightable images to laugh at.

I think that tumblr has decided to take a principled stand against something that most people making the argument don't understand. I think tumblr's loathing for AI has, generally speaking, thrown weight behind a bunch of ideas that I think are going to be incredibly harmful *to artists specifically* in the long run.

Anyway. If you hate AI art and you don't want to interact with people who interact with it, block me.

[bruciemilf]

No Capes! AU where Bruce and everyone else is an actor.

Famous Hollywood moguls Thomas and Martha would've rather died in real life than make Bruce a child actor so he didn't start till he was 24

It's an ongoing gag that Thomas always tweets "On my way to die again! As if you didn't know" with every Gray Ghost remake

The Waynes are always just. So chaotic

Bruce and Selina constantly bring stray cats on set; Bruce just hides them under his black shirt famously known as a void with no end.

Behind the Scenes cuts have images of this man pulling 10 cats from under there and the director is convinced he has a cryptid on set

They have to edit so much footage because Bruce always says "sorry" after "punching" someone. "Bruce, they have padding, they're fine!" "And no health Insurance. Do something about that."

Sometimes he forgets to take off the costume after filming. The record set for how many Subways he sent into a panic is infinite

That being said, Bruce's kids aren't afraid of him at all, and WILL run up to him everytime they visit to chant "dork! Dork! Dork!" While flocking around him. He cries from happiness

But he cries all the time, so it's hard to tell for what

The movie's soundtrack is just Bruce's middle school playlist, " They said they needed something rotten and terrible, like, -- poison for the ears. If you listen to it you get sick."

Bruce's biggest "diva moment" was refusing to give up the eyeliner and he still sends apology cards to the cast and crew for his " horrible behavior"

"He just kinda said no a bit loud and ran out of the studio while sobbing quietly."

Literally every villain on set is a sweetheart. Selina does her own make-up as well as Bruce's and Oz's and you can see Carmine lurking like a little gobling behind them just to scare her

There's this joke that none of Selina's streams ever go well because the crew is her curse. She's trying to talk about how to steal on set, meanwhile, Bruce next to her, "Did you know cats have no collarbone. Also, the electric chair was invented by a dentist."

You'd think everyone's favorite duo would be Bruce and Selina, and you wouldn't be wrong, but the public can't wait for Bruce and Carmine to have a press conference or interview together

Mostly because Carmine obviously dealt some shady cards in his past and Bruce is so clueless . " Have I ever tried coke...No, I like Pepsi." While Carmine is trying not to laugh behind him

Edward is just as bad. He's trying to tell the director that's not how bombs are made, and someone's head exploding wouldn't look like that, and Bruce is like :O Eddie, I didn't know you were a gamer

Edward is a menace on set and Bruce stays blind to it because he like him. There's rows of videos of Bruce stopping mid scene, going " Eddie," before jumping on the guy like the kitten he's NOT

Alfred still brings Bruce lunch and snacks and he throws down with Oz for no reason. He always brings the kids (read; they sneak in) and it's very clear they're not getting any shooting done that day

Dick, age 10, impatiently asks why Gray Ghost can't have a sidekick. In the last moments of the movie Dick runs in, improvises a scene with Bruce, and the fans love him too much not to include him after

You just leave Bruce alone when his babies are on set; Damian is strapped to his chest cause he's so small that everyone almost steps on him, Jason is giving the writers tip, Tim is taking pics of everyone, and Bruce smothers them with kisses constantly

[passportinspection]

Remake (from memory) of this. Gordon and Borrower!Barney hanging out in Gordon's room. Poster suggestions welcome. :>

Extremely long rant about this thing's creation under the cut.

aaaAAAUUUGGGHHH okay. So imo this poster is kind of a mess and I'm not happy with the lighting at all, but if I work on it for a single second longer I will simply cry.

So there's a gordon model on the sfm workshop that has outfits like the one above, and I was quite determined to make this in gmod, so I had to learn how to port ragdolls from sfm to gmod. You'd think this would be a fairly easy task - they're both source, after all, and there are tutorials - but it was a multiple-weeks-long journey of roadblocks followed by breakthroughs followed immediately by additional roadblocks. There was vital knowledge not in the tutorials. And I didn't fully succeed, anyway - the above image is his sfm body with his gmod head so so so carefully aligned to it in-game (there is a whole additional invisible gordon body in this image). If I wanted to put him in a different pose, I would have to re-align his head. Which is, like... way harder than it has any right to be. Sooo much harder. And that's with the "reference" head I have - like, okay, sfm-gordon's body does have a head attached, but the issue is that it doesn't have the correct facial posing. So I use it as a reference for placing gmod-gordon's head. I know why getting a functioning sfm-gordon head in gmod is harder than than the rest of him (or at least I think I do), and I think I know what I need to do to make it happen (though it will sacrifice a bit of his sfm-level complexity), but I don't yet know how, and at this point spending like 2 hours getting his head aligned juuuust right in-game is so much less time and effort than figuring out how to do that, so... Later, I'll figure it out. Maybe.

But yeah, there was a hell of a lot of very frustrating trial-and-error involved in that whole process because it's very difficult to find resources for a lot of stuff unless you already have the knowledge to know what to look for.

And that was my first trial.

I liked this desk model the best, but it didn't have a bumpmap, so I generated one for it, which made me feel very fancy and tech-proficient, but really all I had to do was open up the texture in vtfedit and click "generate normal map" or whatever. Oh, yeah, I'd been looking into porting models from sketchfab and such into gmod for a while, off-and-on, a while back (and dabbled a tiiiny bit in map-editing too), so the knowledge from then definitely helped me a lot. I probably wouldn't have gotten this poster done if it wasn't for that, because at that point it would have all been too arcane and overwhelming.

But yeah, you can't even actually see anything but the top of the desk, so I could have just chosen a good texture and used a rectangle instead, and the bumpmap is barely visible in this poster, lol.

Then there's the mousepad. It's a re-textured street sign, by the way. :) I put an absurd amount of effort into that too. I got the black mesa logo off google, but the large majority of the effort to turn it into a mousepad involved messing with the texture with tedious in-game tools.

Then, that book, I got it off a free 3d models website, because I didn't like any of my already-available options. I had to learn a bit about UV maps through trial and error in blender to get it to work right, because nothing is easy. That's the first time I've ever actually ported a non-source object into gmod, so that's cool. (Gordon being the first time I've ever ported something at all. To my recollection, anyway...?) Oh, and I had to learn about how to convert a more modern texture format into valve's obsolete one. That involved being subjected to sights like this:

Thank you, developer.valvesoftware.com. (Though really, this part wasn't that hard. I ignored the scary math(?) and it was fine.)

Next was the mug. All the mug models I had were not smoothly circular enough for me (Or I think maybe there was one or two, but I really didn't like their shape either way). They were quite obviously made of a few flat planes arranged into a circle-ish shape, and that just wouldn't do. So I went and found another free 3d model, slapped the black mesa logo on it, and put it in gmod. I... Did not consider how much more complex it would be as something intended for 3d art / ads rather than video games; I think it has more vertices than Gordon, LOL. It's not so many that it actually lags the game, so it doesn't really matter, but I do find it funny.

And then those papers! I remembered that letter sent to Gordon from the PS2 Half-Life case had a coffee mug stain on it, and I wanted it on the table, but, remembering how much of a pain it was to make the mousepad, I opted to actually create my own models for them this time. They're just rectangles, after all, so it's not like the modeling part was going to be a challenge.

Well, it wasn't a challenge, really, but it did take quite a bit longer than I had expected, partially since I had to muddle through stuff I only sort of had an understanding of. Anyway, it took like, an hour and a half, or two hours? I finally get it into the game, and as I'm putting it on the table, I realize... The coffee stain is in black and white. OTL

So. I put the other page on top. Sad. I mean, I could have just added a free in-color coffee-stain png to the texture somewhere, but. *Gestures.* I had expended too much energy so far to be in the mood to do that.

And this barney model... It is cursed somehow. Or it hates me. The more you pose it, the more resistant it becomes to being posed. The posing tools just.. don't do what you ask them to do after a certain point. So I wasn't super happy with the pose but it was good enough. ToT Originally I wanted to post 3 posters with them in different poses as if they were having a conversation, but yeah, I am not posing that Barney any more, lol. It may have been the fault of the tool I used to make him Small, I'm not sure. Will need further testing.

And THEN.

I take 18 different lightbounce renders, writing down the settings I used and whatever I did differently each time, trying to feel out the tool and find a render I really like. (Last time I kinda just did whatever and settled on an early render I liked without really bothering to figure it out much). At render #18, I get one I'm happy with, so I throw it into GIMP and- oh, now it looks different and bad. Wtf. I try a different image editing program and the same thing happens. I google the issue and decide it probably has to do with some crappy default windows color settings getting imported into the program along with the image, and decide I'll go to bed and deal with that tomorrow. (Oh, yeah, I kept staying up way too late thinking I'd just finish the poster before I went to bed, but never finishing it...)

But no! As I find out the next day from more googling and experimentation, it turns out the windows photo app auto-"enhances" your photos. I'd been judging the renders by how they looked in the app this whole time, so the way it looks in GIMP is how it actually looks. All that experimentation on what looks best the night before... Done on the basis of how they looked after windows "enhanced" them without me knowing.. OTL

And so today I do some more lightbounce render experimentation. I try again and again, but I can't get it to look the way I was able to make it look before, even accounting for the auto-"enhancement". No clue what I did different that night, but okay. So I settle for the way the renders have decided to look tonight, and try to get one that I like the best out of the options it's giving me, but... This tool was created by arcane wizards. This tool is a wild, untamed beast. Even in the same session, I'll be like, "How did I do that and how do I make it happen again." Eventually I kind of gave up and just worked with the most inoffensive one I could generate. I suspect this tool wasn't designed with such small scenes in mind.

The main light source render - well, i hardly experimented with it, because I just wanted to be done with this freakin' thing already.

Anyway, that's... most of it. How long has it been? Like a month? And I was working on this nearly every day. All just for this thing. But it consumed me, man. I couldn't focus on anything else.

Maybe now I can do other things... Like I said, I'm really not happy with the lighting, but I'm so excited to just put this behind me. orz Hopefully my dissatisfaction doesn't turn into an un-ignorable need to keep fiddling with it. I refuse. I refuse! I am doing something else now!

Oh, however! In the process of all that, I may have found out a way to be able to facepose resized-barney, something as-of-yet impossible for me. Still have to try it out. Exciting stuff...

[beautifully-lumpy]

introducing my new AU...bricks and border!

back in april, jetpackbraggin's thumbnail image for caddicarus' resident evil 4 remake stream series sparked something in me - i started developing an idea for a cartoon series about the personas of online reviewers living in a large city. this idea eventually evolved into bricks and border!

bricks and border follows the escapades of the nintendo-obsessed scott (the woz) - an ambitious guy from the midwest who just so happens to be the younger cousin of the hot-headed mayor, and "laz" (caddicarus) - a brit with a mysterious past who is only known by his nickname. together they solve mysteries and get into other shenanigans in their city of oaksport. nothing is off limits!

this is basically a love letter to the entire comedic review genre on youtube. i'm super excited to start working on this!!

more info about the world and its wacky cast of characters will be revealed soon, but first we need to get into some format/release/disclaimer talk...(some of it's pretty important!)

this project will be written in prose format. i'm still deciding whether it will be in first person with the chapters alternating between scott's and laz's viewpoints, or just in third person. i know first person is looked down upon in fanfic, but that's just what my mind immediately goes to because they're youtubers who review things, and it's easy to imagine them narrating their points of view. i'm still deciding that though.

i will draw a lot for it as it's meant to be imagined as a cartoon series - and just like my previous major fandom project (onward the fanmade series), i will be drawing stills to accompany each chapter/episode! and i will gladly negotiate with any lumpy germ or wozzer who would like to contribute a guest still! and yes - you absolutely CAN create fanart/edits/etc. based on this AU! i would love to see them!

the big differences between this and OTFS are that B&B will not be contained in one book/AO3 work. OTFS episodes were written in script format, and episodes were released as one whole chapter. however, for B&B, "episodes" will be separate stories that could range from 3 chapters to 15.

as to when the first story will come out? i can say maybe soon, but i can't say the exact date and time. i'm gonna be a bit easier on myself with this one - as in, i won't be busting my ass to get a chapter out every single week. not only will i not be able to accomplish that with both my summer job consistently exhausting me and my senior year of college on the horizon, but i also don't want to burn myself out and not want to produce anymore content for the project. that's how the original caddicarus show died.

also, just a little disclaimer - this is not RPF. these are heavily fictionalized versions of the youtubers' already exaggerated personas - i mean for god's sake, B&B!scott is the younger cousin of B&B!AVGN, who is the mayor of the fictional city oaksport. lore from scott's and caddy's shows is referenced, and private people in their lives are absolutely not included in this (for example, cerys and the kids will not be mentioned). however, caddy's sister may be included, as she's a public figure.

with all that being said, i'm doing this as responsibly and cautiously as i possibly can - trust me, i previously wrote realistic non-AU caddicarus RPF and i almost got in trouble for it in 2017 when i was a stupid 15 year old who didn't know better. i know the harm RPF can do, which is why this is strictly being labeled as an AU. also i'm just gonna go ahead and say i won't be shipping characters in this. even though they're fictionalized AU versions of the youtubers, i feel uncomfortable shipping them. if you would like to create your own fan content of this AU where you ship the characters, i can't stop you. but i'm not gonna make it canon or anything.

that's pretty much all i have to say, i think. i hope that the caddicarus and scott the woz fans of tumblr will take interest in this!

[yoontaethings]

normal kind of love — jjk (1)

pairing: jungkook x reader 

rating: explicit

word count: 2.5k

warnings: a lot of cussing and some teasing if you squint, but other than that none really (the warnings will come next chapter lmao)

you’re one half of hollywood’s on-screen it couple. the greatest chemistry known on-screen with the one and only, jeon jungkook, the bane of your existence.

a/n: this was supposed to be a longer chapter but i decided to split it in half to tease potential readers mwahaha btw this chapter is very very unedited, though i did postpone the upload because i had to remove some parts because i just thought the story didn’t need those bits anymore lol but the rest of this story i haven’t even read through yet, i just wrote and wrote and wrote so please excuse any errors (my tenses might also not be consistent but i’ll edit this soon)

taglist: @min-nicoleee @thisartemisnevermisses @ggukkieland @kokoandkookie @somelazysundays

There was no way.

There was no way in hell they were pairing you up with him. Again.

You were confirmed to be cast as the female lead in the movie before any other characters were casted. They should have chosen a different male lead for this romance film. Heck, even Kim Taehyung, a friend of yours, received an offer for the role and you were certain he planned to take it. Unfortunately for you, even if Taehyung wanted the role, he couldn’t accept it because of scheduling conflict with another film he’s already working on.

Jeon Jungkook, an actor you starred alongside in “Dangerous Illusion”, was just confirmed as the male lead of your upcoming movie “Chosen for Pleasure”. The same man who seemed to make it his life goal to ruin you. After Jungkook was confirmed to play the male lead in your upcoming movie, fans on Twitter have been blowing up about it and made you two a trending topic worldwide. Elated fans mentioned you in their tweets expressing how happy they were to see you two again together. You wish you could say you felt the same.

The previous movie you worked on was a thriller/mystery. You played the part of Jungkook's wife in the film. The film was a blockbuster hit, as a result of the well-thought storyline, yet additionally because of its leads. Fans adored the chemistry between you and Jungkook, regardless of not having a lot of romantic scenes in the film. There were a lot of fans who wanted to see you two on-screen once more, this time, in a romance focused film. Looks like their wishes were coming true.

To add insult to injury, your impending film was going to be an adult romance. It required some steamy scenes that normally didn't trouble you because you were a true professional, yet absolutely irritates you now since you need to do them with Jeon Jungkook.

The script reading was to be done today and your eyes opened an hour later than the time you set for your alarm because of the fucking snooze button. Seriously, why were snooze buttons even invented? They just allowed people to sleep through their alarms continuously.

Hand reaching for the phone on your nightstand, you knocked over a booklet that was over it. It was the script you spent hours reading to grab a sense of the character you were going to portray. Obviously, you already knew the basics about the part you were going to play, but knowing the entire story helped in portraying your character.

Your eyes squinted at the bright light of your phone that had the numbers 8:33 glaring at you, unlocking it to see a couple of texts and missed calls from your manager.

‘Are you awake yet?’

‘Please don’t tell me you forgot about the script reading today’

‘Ok I know you’re still asleep but just make sure you get ready on time, being late won’t do you and your image any favors’

‘I’ll pick you up at 9’

You rolled your eyes at his messages. You loved Hoseok and he was the best manager you could have been given from your agency, but he nagged too much. He was also your friend and his endless nags made you want to rip your eyeballs out sometimes because even when you’re supposed to unwind with him, he never forgets to remind you of your job.

‘I’m the fucking lead, Hobi, they’ll wait for me’

You slapped your phone back onto the nightstand and started going about with your morning routine. You didn’t have a lot of time, and even though you knew they would definitely wait for you, you hated being that bitch who made people wait so you took a quick shower and slapped on some sunscreen, powder, and finishing off with your go-to lipstick. You didn’t bother with makeup and dressing up. This was just going to be a script reading and sure, there were going to be photos taken but the thousands of dollars you’ve spent on facials and treatments already made sure your face was at least flawless despite the lack of effort.

Bringing only your phone, wallet and script, you exited your building and as usual, a shiny black van already awaited outside. Hoseok was leaning on it, scrolling through his phone when he sensed your presence and looked up.

“Oh, thank god you’re on time.” He exhaled in relief, pocketing his phone.

“I value sleep but you’re well aware I also value my career.”

Hoseok grinned. “Now there’s the y/n I know.” He then slid the van door open and you entered without another word.

The drive was pretty much uneventful, with you scrolling through your social media, seeing what fans have been tweeting about recently and with Hoseok humming along to the random pop music playing.

You longed for a distraction, something much more interesting than working your thumb throughout the drive because of the chasm that you were about to jump into when you arrived on set. You weren’t stupid enough to forget about the man who got the role of your romantic interest in the film. But you were wise enough to not let it haunt you for the past weeks. Now though, you can’t really avoid it anymore since you were supposed to be seeing him in person again after almost 2 years. You didn’t exactly leave on the best terms with Jungkook but who knows, maybe you’ll be able to act civil around each other.

At least you were sure you were going to act civil around him, already decided on taking the higher path. You’re not so sure about him, but fingers crossed he’ll at least be an adult about the situation and pretend he can stand being in the same room as you.

Soon enough, you were entering the room the script reading was to be held in. Bowing and greeting the actors and staff seated around the table as you passed by to get to the last vacant seat. You caught Jungkook’s eyes following your movements as you sat down. Luckily, he was seated across from you and it was easier to ignore his presence with the staff members greeting and coddling you.

As always, script reading began with actors introducing themselves and the role they’re going to play. As the female lead, you started off.

“Hello everyone. I’m y/n y/l/n and I’m going to take on the role of Yuri.” Hands clapped around you as you sat back down.

“Hello, I’m Jeon Jungkook and I’ll be playing Ryan.”

You didn’t bother clapping unlike the rest and avoided the eyes of the voice’s origin.

The script reading continued without a hitch– for the most part. The other cast members were very friendly, and laughter was exchanged during the read. The same couldn’t be said for you and Jungkook though.

When lines between your characters were exchanged, there was a weird tension in the room. It felt like everyone else were holding their breaths and waiting for either of you two explode and announce that you can’t do this film anymore. As dramatic as that would be, none of that happened. Instead, cheesy romantic lines sounded flat and bored from both you and Jungkook. The director made a tsk-ing sound whenever that happened.

“It’s always been you.” You read. The script said that Yuri and Ryan stared in adoration towards each other before Ryan uttered his next words.

“Marry me?” Jungkook asked.

You nodded your head as a wrap for the script reading. According to the script, there was supposed to be a kissing scene at the end, so you make ridiculous smooching noises. The cast burst into giggles before the director stood from his seat.

“…and that’s a wrap!” He clasped his hands together. “Hopefully when we start shooting things only look up from there.” He flitted his eyes between you and Jungkook.

Honestly, you wish that too but from yours and Jungkook’s history, you don’t really think that’s possible.

You were both professionals though and you’re sure you could at least count on him to make the on-screen romance feel real.

“I’m sorry.” Hoseok said with pity in his eyes.

“Wha- but… why?” You asked, confused with what was happening.

Your part in the new film ‘The Notebook: Remake’ has apparently been withdrawn. As one of the rising stars in Hollywood, this was a really great opportunity for you. It’s one of the most anticipated films and accepting the offer of being the female lead in the movie was a no-brainer. Anyone who refuses that role is just stupid.

But now they were apparently taking it back.

Hoseok sighed. “There were too many scandals surrounding you recently. It doesn’t matter if they’re true or not, but you’ve been seen in hotels that Jeon Jungkook has been in too, and in everyone’s eyes you’re now secretly seeing him.”

“But we’ve never even been seen together in any of those photos. Don’t people know the word fucking coincidence?” Your brows furrowed, fists clenching at your sides. “And what does this have to do with my role in the film?”

“It seems they wanted someone with a ‘cleaner image’ and someone who’ll get the film to be a hit. Apparently, the romance won't be convincing if the female lead is dating someone in real life.”

You stared at Hoseok. He stared back waiting for a lash out, an angry outburst, anything really, but you remained silent, eyes unmoving. Soon enough, the dam doors burst open and the tears suddenly came streaming down your face. Hoseok exhaled and wrapped his arms around you.

“Hobi what did I do so wrong to deserve this?” you sobbed into his chest.

“Shh, it’s not your fault they’re all dumbasses. But you know the industry, y/n. We’ll find better films for you, okay?”

“Why is Jeon Jungkook such a thorn on my side? Why is he always ruining everything for me?”

“We can’t blame him, honey. He’s probably a victim in this too because of those damn rumor outlets.” Hoseok rubbed his hands along your back.

“But I’m getting the short end of the stick! The rumor is probably just feeding his bad boy persona!”

“Life’s unfair, y/n. Surely by now you’re aware of that. Just remember, karma’s going to bite them in the ass someday, okay? For now, do you want to call it a day and go home? I’ll drive you back and I’ll just report to the agency that you’re not feeling well.”

You nod your head, too listless to bother answering with words because there was only one thing on your mind right now.

Fuck Jeon Jungkook and his good looks. He just ruined the best opportunity for you. You were going to get him back for this. Like Hoseok said, karma’s going to bite him in the ass someday. And that karma was going to be you.

You were supposed to be looking forward to filming one of your dream movies with your dream director. But all you felt was dread when you arrived on set. You promised yourself that you’d stay unaffected to Jeon Jungkook, but you couldn’t help the distaste for him to be left on your face while filming.

The scene you were shooting was when your characters first met and the first takes were a total disaster. You and Jungkook barely spared each other a glance, even when your character was supposed to be enticed by him, breaking down Yuri’s cold exterior. A break was called after the 6th take because the director was so frustrated that he looked like he was about to call the casting director and replace his two leads.

You sighed, not knowing what to do with yourself after the announcement of a break. Your feet led you to your dressing room, ready to pass out on the couch but before you could, someone barged in. Your head turned towards the door, expecting it to be your manager or the director or anyone really, just not the person who currently stood at the doorway.

“Can we talk?” Jungkook asked. Your eyes were suddenly drawn to his biceps which bulged from his shirt as he crossed his arms. The damn arms looked delicious. Too bad they belonged to someone you would never ever be attracted to.

“Sure.” You shrugged your shoulders. You were sure he came here to talk to you about filming and how to work out your indifferences and shit like that and honestly, you were so tired of hating him you’re ready to just go along with whatever. Hating someone actually takes a lot of effort, you realize.

Jungkook stepped towards you until he’s close enough that you had to tilt your head upwards to look at his eyes. His eyes locked on yours for a moment before his arms uncrossed and one of his hands landed on the wall behind you. He successfully caged you in with no way out. His lips part and your eyes are drawn to the movement, feeling his exhales on your nose. You swallowed nervously.

Good lord his breath smelled so good.

“Babe, I’m sure you’re just as thrilled as I am to be working with you again as you are with me, but let’s not mess this up okay? Let’s get this over with perfectly and quickly so we don’t have to deal with each other again after. Deal?” His eyebrows raised in question and you nodded dumbly, unable to form a coherent sentence with how close he was to you.

You felt a sudden rush of heat down there and was mentally cursing the man in front of you for how much he was affecting you. He tilted his head to the side and leaned in closer to your face as if he was about to kiss you then he suddenly stopped, his mouth forming a smirk, taunting you.

That smirk was all it took for you to snap back to reality. No, you were not going to let him take the upper hand here. A burst of confidence surged through you as you leaned closer to him too and allowed your lips to brush lightly against his cheek.

“Deal.”

You pulled away, satisfied with how his lips drooped apparently not expecting that. You looked down and there it was, the tenting of his pants that brought a coy smile to your lips. Ha, take that.

You glanced back up at him, your fingers trailing over his thighs. “Aw, didn’t realize you saw me that way Jeon.” You abruptly pulled away and walked out of the room without another word, leaving him hard and defeated.

This is the beginning of his karma, you thought as you grinned to yourself.

[otnesse]

Well, if they were indeed Belle's sisters, all they needed is to be depicted in a significantly nastier manner and they'd actually WORK regarding being adapted from the original fairy tale, and especially being Belle's foil for the overall moral. What a true waste. We get a radical rewrite from the original fairy tale, deleting Belle's sisters from the original tale and even Aunt Marguerite from Richard Purdum's take, and THIS is the best they could do? "Dumb blonde bimbo" stereotypes who DESPITE everything arguably were NICER than Belle in the first half (and unlike Gaston never even became villains in the second half)?! Sheesh, with how nice they were, I'd even argue they'd have an easier time actually BREAKING the curse than Belle did. One good thing about the remake is that they at LEAST made sure the triplets there were made significantly nastier so they'd actually FIT their intended role as Belle's foils befitting the moral of the tale. As far as being Gaston's siblings... Well, guess it could work, even if it does seem to imply they have an incestuous relationship with him. Being Adam's sisters might raise questions as to why implied Noble/Royal blood would be working at a low class tavern, however (or heck, why they weren't transformed. The Enchantress didn't have any problems cursing completely innocent kids like Chip or animals, I think she'd curse them just for being related to him even if they never actually deserved it).

BTW, I don't remember that group pose ever being used in the film. Think you can direct me to the origin of that?

EDIT: Since they are brunette, ravenhaired, and sort-of redheads in these images, this if anything seems to emphasize just how much of a mistake it was to give them those kinds of bods, since even without the blonde hair, they STILL look more beautiful than Belle DESPITE the story narrative (which is supposed to have them be implicitly inferior in terms of outer beauty than Belle). As I said, those three with their physical appearances in the story would not be out of place in a Dead or Alive game. The Blonde (canon) versions look like Helena, and the raven-haired (Gaston's sisters) versions look a bit like Kokoro or even Momiji, and the brunette (Belle's sisters) versions sort-of resemble Hitomi, or even Misaki or Tsukushi (granted, those three don't nearly have long enough hair, but still...). Certainly Mai Shiranui (I know she technically isn't Dead or Alive, but she's appeared in two games as a guest, so she counts ultimately). And the quasi-Redhead (Adam's sisters) versions have a passing resemblace to Kasumi from Dead or Alive.

What if the Bimbettes were Belle/Gaston/Adam’s sisters? :D