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literaturelocker · 1 year ago

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20 Questions for fic writers

I was tagged by my good friend @ahunter8056. LOL I don't know if these answers are what you're expecting, my good sir, but it's a good way to get me into my own version of NaNoWriMo since I had to miss last month due to work. Anyway, let's crank these out so I can get to finishing up chapter 4 of season 2.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

The technical number is 8. Two of those works are co-authored pieces, one is a special chapter I wrote for a friend's longer piece, and five are mine.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

This one took some math so I didn't take credit for anyone else's work in the colabs I have going on. Roughly the number sits at

685,899 give or take a few thousand.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

More recently its WWE and Tom Clancy's The Division in my ongoing story with AtkPlatypus, and the WWE and Dr Who universe with @ahunter8056. I've also written for Supergirl and Blindspot, and if you want to do a super deep dive, I have stories for Criminal Minds, Secret Circle, and Chicago Fire that are posted under a different name over on FF.net. And before you ask, no I'm not giving you that info, you have to go find it. Happy hunting!

4. What are you top 5 fics by Kudos?

Fairytales Start With Curses, The Four Horsewomen: Directive 51, Time Bomb, After Rain, Waiting for You to See Me

I went with works I'm either the solo author for, or ones I am posting regularly on. I'm not going to lie; the fact that Directive 51 isn't the top spot threw me for a loop since AttackPlatypus and I have been writing that one for 4 years. And the best part? Fairytales isn't my Supercorp fic! Look at you go, AgentCorp fans!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Are you kidding????? This is my favorite part of posting! I LOVE interacting with the readers! The readers have taken the time to not only read my story, but then comment on it.... the least I can do is interact with them. Not only that, I love reading different reactions people have to chapters I've written. I get a huge sense of pride when a reader correctly guesses a plot twist or picks up on something subtle that I've written in. And just like readers feel certain things while they read, I feel certain things when they guess these things right. It makes me want to keyboard smash right back at them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm with @ahunter8056 on this one. The ending for me should provide the reader with at least a small sense of hope. I'm not saying you can't write an angsty ending, but it's just not for me. I think everyday life is angsty enough, so it doesn't do it for me in my chosen forms of escape. Plus, I'm kind of notorious for writing hugely angsty chapters in my stories, so I like to wrap them up with a hopeful/happy ending.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Easily it's Fairytales Start with Curses. A lot of nonsense goes down in that one, so the ending feels that much more rewarding in my opinion. HOWEVER, Directive 51 is still in progress, so it's very possible that whenever we get around to ending that one, it'll be the happiest ending. But at the rate we're going with that one, it won't end until 2050, so.... let's just stick with Fairytales

8. Do you get hate on any fics?

I can't say that I have. I've received constructive criticism and people disagreeing with the ending or what not. But I can't say it's ever elevated to the level of hate. Now, I did get a chuckle when someone DM'd me to tell us to hurry the hell up on Directive 51. AttackPlatypus and I take the word slow-burn very, very seriously.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not really. It would be extremely awkward if I did, and I don't think it fits into most of my writing.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Yep! I sure do! I find crossovers open up a whole different world for our favorite characters to play in. And what's the point of fic if you can't do things like that. I think the craziest is the Four Horsewomen of Pokemon series. But I'd also say that Directive 51 is kind of out there, but if you know the four horsewomen of WWE, it's not too big of a leap to put those badass women into the Division universe.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. And honestly, if you think my mediocre writing deserves to be stolen, have at it lol. There are much better writers out there that would get you so much more attention. That being said, stealing is bad so knock it off.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of, but if you want to translate one, go for it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sure have! I'm currently writing The Four Horsewomen: Directive 51 with AttackPlatypus. That one is a WWE/Division crossover that we try to update weekly, and it's been going on for four years running. If you like slow-burn shenanigans in post-apocalyptic Chicago, might I recommend taking a look? I've also had the esteemed honor of being asked to co-write the sequel to A Hero Will Save Me Just in Time with the tremendous @ahunter8056. He's brilliant, and I can't believe he asked me to play in the sandbox of that fantastic series. Seriously, go check it out, it is well worth the read!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

This is like asking me to pick a favorite child. And quite honestly, the answer will change depending on the day. So I'll answer it this way: my first ship was JJ/Emily from Criminal Minds. The ship that will always hold a special place in my heart is Clexa from The 100. My angsty ship is Caitlyn/Vi from Arcane. Favorite canon ship? Wayhaught from Wynona Earp. But my all-time favorite? I think I have to go with the four horsewomen on a poly. It's not a popular choice, but those four are so good together, that I just have to give in.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The Four Horsewomen of Pokemon series. I think that series had some solid potential, and the writers involved were all extremely talented. It just became too difficult to stick with on an individual level, which unfortunately brought the whole series down. But I do love those characters and hope to one day pick it up again.

16. What are your writing strengths?

hooooo boy.... um.... I think I'd say quiet, emotionally charged moments between characters. It's kind of a staple of mine, especially in my earlier writing. In the same vein, I'd say characterizations. I love dissecting characters to discover what makes them tick, so a lot of writing could also be seen as a character study. Oh, and angst as a plot device to get us to the happy ending.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

FLUFF. I cannot, under ANY circumstances, write fluff. It's like I'm deathly allergic to the stuff.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue language in fic?

I honestly don't understand this question. But if I had to guess at what's being asked here, the question is about writing in a different language if it's being spoken between characters. And I think if it's done in moderation, it's fine as long as there's a translation at the end of the chapter. But to do large chunks of dialogue in a language other than the original language the fic is written in can be a detriment to the overall story. I think too much of it will take your readers out of the world you're creating, and they'll lose interest.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mutant X. It was a horrendously written Mary-Sue that got posted on FF.net and then deleted a few years later when I realized just how cringe it was. And no, it no longer exists, so I can't post it even if I wanted to.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Oh, easily Directive 51. I never expected it to become what it has when AttackPlatypus approached me about it. My stories are usually only one-shots, or small multi-chapters. And here we are four years later and the story has 888.388 words and 196 chapters. And we're not even close to being halfway done. This story has such a special place in my heart, and I don't want to consider what my life will look like once it's done.

A close second would be Fairytales. That story started out as a dare from my roommate at the time. She had gotten tired of listening to me whine about my several-year-long writer's block. So she went out and found a prompt that was followed by a dare that I couldn't write an AgentCorp fic for it. Needless to say, I was able to write a rather solid story if I do say so myself. It got me back into writing, and I will always love that little story for that.

Well, that was an interesting practice for me. I don't usually stop to think about things like this, but I had a blast doing it. Thanks for reading if you took the time! Any questions you may have about my stories, feel free to drop me a message and we can chat about .... well, anything really.

#writing fun #fic #fic author #ao3

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invisibledevour · 3 years ago

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HEY GUYS!! "Brettsey Finally Happen!! 🥰 It Got Me A Lot!! 😭💔& FUCK OFF WITH THAT FINALE!!"

https://youtu.be/XzJB5k02K2c

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moonlitdesertdreams · 3 years ago

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Saccharine (Eric Northman x Reader)

Summary: You're a powerful enigma in the vampire world. One whose marriage to a certain Nordic vampire lands you in all sorts of difficult situations. This one takes place during Season 2, Episode 2 'Keep This Party Going'.

A/N: Edited from my Ao3 to make it a gender-neutral reader insert <3

Word Count: 1297

Fire and ice was an apt description, at least in Bill Compton’s eyes, of the two beings standing across from him.

In the middle of a department store, holding onto clothing that was supposed to be a peace offering for the life he had ruined, the dark-haired vampire was left speechless. Eric’s towering frame was standing loosely among the racks, holding onto two pair on denim shorts not unlike the pair Bill had moments ago.

A familiar head of h/c hair was faced away from him, picking through the store’s most expensive pieces. A decadent smell infiltrated his brain like a sweet summer breeze, and Bill’s body tensed on its own accord. Eric tilted his head at the movement, amusement sneaking into his blue eyes. It had been many years since Bill had been in the presence of someone who caused him to react with such primal intensity.

“Eric?”

The blonde vampire lifted his shoulders in a disturbingly human gesture. “It’s the new me. You like?”

Bill kept his eyes fixed on you, tucked just beyond Eric, making sure you were still busy sorting clothing. “I do. Very much.”

“Well, glad to have your approval, Mr. Compton.” An arm around Eric’s side, freckled face popping into Bill’s sight. “I did it myself.”

You smiled with pearly white teeth, canines only a fraction longer than that of a normal human’s. Bill resisted the innate urge to bare his own fangs, mind confused as to what you were. You smelled more amazing than any human he had known, but power radiated from your very core. He had not seen you in many years, and the urge to feed was overwhelming. Bill knew restraint from his many years alive and applied it then, knowing Eric would have him flattened in seconds if he made a move, instinctual or not, to harm you.

“Y/N. It’s nice to see you.”

You giggled, tucking yourself under the length of Eric’s arm. The nordic vampire gauged Bill’s reaction carefully, ice cold eyes daring him to make a wrong move.

“You don’t have to lie, Bill. I know you’re never happy to see me.” You taunted him with a goofy grin, eyes lifting to Eric. The blonde had a great deal of height on you, and your neck was craned up to do so. “Isn’t that right?”

Eric’s smirk spread further. “Oh, I think you’d be surprised, dear. Bill has become a very respectable vampire since the last time you saw him.”

You hummed in your throat, taking the pairs of shorts from Eric’s hands into your own. “Well I sure hope so. What was it? 1926? When you and that bitch of a woman were draining people in Chicago? If I recall correctly, you tried taking a piece out of me that night.”

“I’ve had almost a hundred years to grow from that.” Bill returned. He still shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his and Lorena’s activities, particularly their run in with you while at the hotel. “I had less restraint to utilize then.”

“Well, I sure hope so. Why don’t y'all find somewhere to talk? I’m gonna go make my purchases.” You stepped away from Eric, pausing to take the stack of cash he offered.

Once you were near the register, Eric turned fully to Bill as if nothing had happened. “The Sheriff of Area 9 in Texas has gone missing. Have you heard about that?”

Bill was still too surprised by your appearance to respond properly. “Why is Y/N here?”

“None of your concern.” Eric’s reply was instant and practiced, betraying nothing.

Against his better judgment, Bill continued. “You’re still in love.”

Fangs snapped into place, and a hiss escaped Eric’s throat. “Thin ice.”

Humans may have had dulled senses, but eyes still wandered in their direction. Eric’s presence was domineering, heavy in the bright atmosphere of the store. His fangs disappeared, but he still loomed over Bill.

“Y/N is helping me with this problem.” Eric growled. “Of which you haven’t let me explain properly.”

“A witch.” Bill’s natural opposition to their presence was tipping the scale that usually kept him well-mannered in the presence of an elder vampire. “And sought-after by all vampires.”

“Not a witch.” You appeared at Eric’s side once again, this time with a bag hanging from manicured hands. “Won’t you ever understand?”

Between Eric’s stone-cold gaze and your luminescent gold eyes, Bill bit his tongue. “The vampire you spoke of. The sheriff? His name is Godric, correct?”

“Indeed.” Eric looked around the store, obviously irritated at the hustle and noise. You sensed this, and held out a hand. With focus narrowed, you crooked two fingers and spun your wrist clockwise.

All at once, the room fell silent. Everyone but their own selves were frozen in place. You smiled, leaving the safety of Eric’s side to poke at the paused humans. “Still got it.”

“It goes without saying that he needs to be found.” Bill’s sheriff began again, making a small lap around their party. “Which is where Sookie comes in.”

“Oh, the infamous Sookie.” You traipsed back to the men. “I wanna hear all about this.”

Your interest only made Bill resent Eric more. “No.”

“As she’s yours, I’m asking your permission to take her with me to Dallas.” At over a thousand years old, his question was more open-ended than necessary.

Bill’s possessiveness rose to the surface as he faced off with his elder. “Eric, you can do whatever you want with me, but I am not putting her in this position anymore. Y/N should be more than capable of tracking down the Sheriff. Is that not the reason Y/N is here?”

“Oh, you don’t wanna help the cause with your human, so you offer me up?” You raised a brow. “Vampires are attracted to me like bees to honey. And I’m not too stubborn to admit that I’m no match for a large group, whether vampire or human. I can only do so much without risking my own life, and you know that well, Mr. Compton.”

“You could destroy a whole nest with one finger, Y/N.” Bill said, “And you can daywalk.”

“I only have that amount of power to kill vampires given the right materials and circumstances. To have both of those things coincide is unheard of on a normal basis.” You told him, tongue running along the point of her canines.

“Surely the right materials-”

“Enough.” Eric thundered. “Do not try and barter something that is mine. We made a deal, your human and I. If I didn’t kill anyone, she would work for me as often as I like. Now you remember this, don’t you? You were there.”

You sat yourself on a display stand, using nimble hands to disassemble a mannequin and put it back together with the wrong appendages. “Seems to me that Bill has a short memory, sweetheart. He might not.”

Bill suppressed an eye roll, “Taking her across state lines is a far cry from taking her to Fangtasia for the evening.”

“I’m only asking your permission out of respect. If I want her, I can simply take her.” Eric threw a glance over his shoulder to where you sat. “Or have her taken.”

At his words, the hybrid pushed her way back into the vampire’s conversation, “are you sure you want ‘no’ to be your final answer, Bill?”

The hypnotic feeling that took over his limbs was foreign and intruding. Bill turned his gaze away. “Do not do that to me. No is my final answer.”

Eric’s hand lifted to your shoulder and slowly slid down the curve of your waist. “Poorly played, Bill.”

You smiled brightly at Bill, eyes fiery as the sun. “This is gonna be fun, isn’t it?”

If you liked this, please send me more ideas <3

#True blood #eric northman #sookie stackhouse #bill compton #reader #witch #vampire #eric northman x oc #eric northman/reader #youre a little shit #but a cute one

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callmebrycelee · 3 years ago

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9-1-1 REACTION

This reaction is for the season 5, seventeenth episode titled "Hero Complex" which originally aired on May 9, 2022. The episode was written by Stacey R. Rose and Kristen Reidel and directed by Marita Grabiak. Spoilers ahead!

We start this episode with a villain origin story! We see a little boy with serial killer tendencies on a school bus cicra the mid-90s. When the bus driver has a heart attack and crashes the bus, little Norman Bates jumps into action and saves the day. His rescue efforts garners attention from the local press. He's also awarded a key to the city as well as a $50,000 check for college. Throughout all of this, we see him soaking it all up. We then flash-forward to the present and see adult Jonah Greenway (Bryce Durfee) reveling in the attention he receives as a paramedic. Somebody has a hero complex! Oooooh, that's the title of the episode! Cue title card!

The funeral of Claudette Collins (Vanessa Williams) happens and May, Athena, and Bobby attend. May is clearly shaken by the death of her former coworker/nemesis. Athena and Bobby try to console her but May believes that Claudette shouldn't have died. You know who else doesn't think Claudette should've died? Henrietta Wilson! Hen also attends the funeral and does some sleuthing during the repass which takes place at Claudette's home. Side Note: We learn this episode that Claudette Collins leaves behind a husband and a daughter which makes her death even more heartbreaking. Anywho, Hen learns via the medicine cabinet that Claudette had high blood pressure. She presents this information to her bestie Chimney and heavily insinuates that Jonah may have been involved in her death. What I love about this scene is that Chimney doesn't question Hen. He doesn't doubt her claims. Instead, he believes her and tells her that they need more proof.

Hen and Chimney head over to the 118 and wait for those on duty to be called out to an emergency. THey then sneak into Bobby's office and locate the paperwork for two emergencies that were handled by Jonah. Hen reads about Perry - the spider-sitter from a few episodes ago - and this is where we the viewer are reminded that Perry coded and was quickly revived by Jonah prior to being loaded into the ambulance. To further cement that something ain't right about Mr. Jonah Greenway, Hen and Chimney learn he's been with several other fire departments across the country, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Miami. Why all the hopping around, Jonah? Suspicious indeed!

After leaving the house, Hen starts to think maybe she is reading too much into things but thankfully Chimney is there to reassure her. Something is definitely up with Jonah aka Monday and he needs to be stopped before someone else ends up hurt. Or worse. I am so glad Chimney is back because I've missed this partnership and friendship so badly. Hen heads home and catches Karen up on what she's been investigating. We learn that Hen talked to someone at the 122, the house that Jonah was relocated after Chimney came back. The person tells Hen that while responding to a call involving a fender bender, the driver went into cardiac arrest and died while under the care of Jonah. Karen points out that there's a pattern here and here is yet another person who has chosen to believe Hen rather than doubt her.

Hen and Chimney head over to Buck and Taylor's place and ask to see the news footage taken during the call center fire. When Taylor plays the footage, Jonah can clearly be seen in the background injecting some kind of drug into Claudette's IV. When Buck and Taylor ask what is going on, Hen and Chimney ask that what they are about to tell them is off the record. They go into detail about everything concerning Jonah and Buck starts poking holes into their accusations. This seemed very out of character for Buck. Usually when it comes to this sort of thing, he is very quick to get on board. I'm usually a huge Buck fan but he really annoyed me in this scene. Thankfully Taylor is on Hen and Chimney's side and she thinks that Jonah may be a serial killer.

Hen and Chimney present the video to Bobby and Athena. Athena posits that maybe Jonah is some kind of angel of mercy but Hen believes something deeper is going on. She believes that Jonah is bringing their patients to the brink of death only to use his skills to bring them back. Jonah Greenway is playing God and Hen is not here for it. Meanwhile, Bobby learns that an investigation has been opened regarding Claudette's death and Jonah has been placed on light duty pending the results of said investigation. Fearing that Jonah might come after her and the people she loves. On the way home, she receives a call from Jonah and he insinuates that he's gonna do something to get back at her for not giving him a chance. She makes a call to Karen and tells her to get her mom and Denny out of the house. Karen puts two and two together and realizes that if Jonah is coming after someone Hen cares about, it's not her or Denny or her mother - it's the person whose place he could never take. Jonah is going after Chimney.

Hen heads over to Chimney's place and finds the door to his apartment open. When she goes inside, Chimney is nowhere to be found. When she goes to text him, Jonah comes up behind her and drugs her. Hen wakes up in Jonah's apartment and finds herself bound in a chair. On the other side of the room, she sees an unconscious Chimney connected to an IV. Jonah taunts Hen by telling her that she messed things up for him and that they were supposed to be on the same team. Using drugs and a defibrillator he purchased probably off the dark web, he administers something via Chimney's IV that causes him to flat-line. Hen starts to freak out and I imagine this had to be her worse nightmare come to life. Having the means to save someone you care about but not having the power to do so has to be a horrific feeling. Jonah uses shock paddles to restart Chimney's heart and if it wasn't apparent before, this man is a psychopath.

Hen pleads for Jonah to let Chimney go and instead he stops CHimney's heart again and then shocks it back to a steady rhythm. Poor Chimney - he's been through so much just this season alone. He did not deserve this. While Jonah talks to Hen about her needing a new partner, Chimney regains consciousness and starts slipping his hands out of the restraints. While Hen continues to vamp, Chimney presses a button on the heart monitor to make it look like he's flat-lining. When Jonah goes over to investigate, Chimney uses one of the shock paddles on him which knocks him out. He then falls off of the table he is on and crawls over to Hen. The two of them are so grateful to be alive and this moment further cements their friendship.

The cavalry shows up thanks to Karen and Maddie and Jonah is arrested. One of the best moments of the episode was seeing Bobby going into Papa Bear mode and punch Jonah in the face. I know I get on Owen's case for always using his fist but this is out of character for Bobby so I didn't mind it as much. Bobby is clearly rattled by nearly losing two of his paramedics and blames himself for hiring Jonah in the first place. Athena calms him down and reminds him that he didn't know that Jonah was a homicidal maniac. She also assures Hen that Jonah is going to jail for a very long time. Hen and Chimney are sent to the hospital for observation and both are happy to be alive. I'm so glad this nightmare is over and I hope we never have to see Jonah Greenway again.

There are only two other story arcs in this episode and one of them involves Eddie returning home to Texas for his father's retirement celebration. Eddie has a very strained relationship with his dad and resents him for not being around when he was growing up. Let me just say, it was so nice to see Aunt Pepa and Eddie's abuela. I have missed them and I love how supportive they are of Eddie and Christopher, even when Eddie's parents aren't. Eddie is intent on making it through the celebration with no drama but things take a turn when Eddie's parents tease him about the time he wrecked the dad's truck when his mom went into labor. All of the resentment Eddie has for his dad finally bubbles over and he rips into him about how he was never there and how it was Eddie looking after his mom and sisters. Clearly this conversation is too much for the elder Diaz to handle because he starts having what I thought at first was a heart attack. Eddie recognizes the symptoms immediately and asks him flat out if he hasn't any heart stents. Ramon Diaz admits to having three heart stents put in and the rest of the family, including his wife, are shocked. He then admits that pride was the reason why he kept this from his family.

Eddie realizes he and his dad actually have more in common than they realize. They both hide things because they fear the people around them will think they are weak. Eddie opens up about the time he had a panic attack while shopping for a suit for Christopher. Eddie tells his dad that he's spent most of his life trying not to be like his father but all he wants now is to just be a better person for his sake and Christopher's sake. Ramon commits to wanting to be a better person as well, including a better father (and hopefully a better grandfather) to Eddie and Christopher. I really liked this storyline because one thing this show does better than Lone Star is we get to see the familial relationships more. I like Eddie's family and I love seeing their culture displayed openly and proudly. I hope we get to see more of them, especially Aunt Pepa and Abuela.

Finally, let's talk about Buck and Taylor. Now I'm someone who has vehemently defended Taylor in the past mostly because the 9-1-1 fandom as a whole loves to laud Buck for the very things they condemn Taylor for. However, in this episode, what Taylor does is indefensible. When Buck makes her promise to not say anything about the Jonah Greenway situation, I kept thinking to myself, Buck you should have been more specific in your wording. When Taylor got that look on her face, I knew she was about to go behind Buck's back and do something shady. And sure enough, she did. Adding further insult to injury is that just a few episodes ago, Buck and Taylor had a very raw and honest conversation about Buck cheating on her. Taylor tells him to never lie to her again and she turns around and does the same thing to him, albeit there was no cheating involved. A part of me wonders if Taylor did what she did to get back at Buck after seeing him talking to Lucy last episode. Whatever her motives are, I feel like Taylor's days are numbered. One thing Buck thrives off is trust and that is something Taylor has violated in a major way. Ugh - Taylor! I was rooting for you! How dare you! Learn something from this.

Well, that's the end of the episode. What an incredible penultimate episode! The back half of season 5 continues to not disappoint. I'm so happy that Jonah finally got caught and Claudette's death was avenged. Kudos to Hen and Chimney for putting their partnership to good use and saving the day and further proving that Hen was right to not trust Jonah. Unfortunately this episode isn't without casualties so to speak. I honestly believe that Buck is going to break up with Taylor. I don't see him being able to continue having a relationship with someone he doesn't trust. Also, I'm now worried about Bobby. First last week's fire had to be very triggering for him. On top of all of that, he feels responsible for hiring Jonah in the first place. Bobby places so much pressure on himself and some would say rightfully so considering he's the captain. I just pray we don't see him relapse. He's been sober for about two years now since he lost his sobriety. This show and Lone Star loves to have their addicts lose their sobriety for some reason. I really, really hope Bobby talks to someone whether it be Athena or a professional if he considers drinking or using again. I'm really worried about how this season is going to end but I guess I have to wait a week to find out. Until next time ...

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taketheringtolohac · 3 years ago

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i’ve been working on the most self indulgent au for about a week now and I thought i’d share my thoughts. now presenting... my ace attorney blaseball au! including teams, positions, modifications and more about all the ace attorney characters i could think of and how they would play blaseball. you can also find it on ao3 here, but ive included all the information i have below the cut!

Blase Attorney (Blaseball Ace Attorney AU)

Phoenix-

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: Seeker

Details: one of the first replacements in the game, he was originally just a blaseball fan who was following around miles edgeworth his childhood friend to his games (disguised as him going to see Larry play) and sort of wished that he could play so he could get closer to miles and is at a magic/steaks game that miles is pitching when someone gets incinerated and suddenly he’s on the field in a jersey with a glove and that really messes him up, he's a pretty good player not a star player but definitely a solid one, gets the seeker mod in the season 19 tarot reading

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: REALLY high martyrdom

Maya

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: Haunted

Details: she replaced Mia when she was incinerated and isn’t a season 1 player but has been here so long that it FEELS like she is, isn’t great at the game and has like really bad forbidden knowledge stats but she occasionally hits a surprise dinger and the fans love her so they infuse her and she becomes a serviceable batter, is constantly filled with guilt and emotions about being the person who replaced her sister she gets the haunted mod in an election

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high base thirst, really good divinity that only gets better after her infuse

Edgeworth-

Team: Dallas Steaks

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: season one player who didn’t really want to join blaseball but he took it in stride and he wasn’t very good at first but he got a blessing that MADE him good and he’s miraculously been on the team the whole time, originally placed in good league because Fran was in Evil and von Karma wanted them to dominate the game and become the best in their respective leagues, still one of the best players in the game, his dad still dies somehow, refuses to “buy into” the dad bit from the steaks and insists that he was just placed here

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: EXCEPTIONAL ruthlessness (one of the highest in the game), good other stats as well, just a really solid PITCHING statline, his other stuff isn’t good

Franziska-

Team: Hades Tigers

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Friend of Crows

Details: season one player who fans LOVE even though she hates everything about the game and the circumstances in which she’s here, she’s a naturally good player but she lets up a lot of home runs, she receives the friend of crows modifier in season 10 much to her dismay, ALMOST pitched a perfect season and then absolutely RUINED it in the last game and it crushed her

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: higher highs than miles but also lower lows, in particular her overpowerment isn’t very good, she is also a more well rounded player and would also be a fine batter (solid thwack)

Gumshoe-

Team: Originally on the LA Unlimited Tacos, then feedbacked to the San Fransisco Lovers

Position: Batter

Modifications: Siphon, Attractor

Details: season one player that is beloved by the fans and he’s decent at the game but he always tries to steal bases but he is so bad at it, he’s the teams siphon but he NEVER drinks blood except to draw a walk, he ends up getting redacted because of consumer attacks and is probably one of the first to do so despite him having QUITE a bit of soul, he becomes Wyatt Gumshoe in the Wyatt Masoning

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: GREAT thwackability, bad everything else which makes for a really interesting player to say the least

Athena-

Team: Miami Dale

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: POWERFUL ARMS also she is a replacement player she probably becomes a replacement after Simon does and she got into blaseball because of that cute flowers pitcher and now she’s here but she LOVES Miami and she LOVES being bad at the game, she leans really hard into the neon aesthetic

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: good unthwackability and ok ruthlessness, shakespeareanism is her highest stat, would also be a great batter and has really good thwackability and divinity, GREAT vibes

Apollo-

Team: Mexico City Wild Wings

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: founding member of the wings legal team who’s another replacement player that FEELS like he’s a season 1 player, he isn’t very good in general but REALLY good for the wings and is probably the mvp at some point but like he’s a really inconsistent hitter but when he DOES hit its POWERFUL and he gets a lot of RBI’s

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: SHOCKINGLY good musclitude and ground friction, GOD awful moxie

Larry-

Team: Dallas Steaks

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: season one player who is like the teams designated player we beat up on because they’re awful but we love them, gets shadowed in the expansion era because he just wasn’t good anymore and he REFUSED to leave, he is the definition of “YOU CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS,” would always party but his forbidden knowledge is TRASH so it was never worth anything because he’s top ten in the league for career strikeouts

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: REALLY HIGH PATHETICISM HOLY SHIT but good ground friction and like, ok musclitude

Ema-

Team: Kansas City Breath Mints

Position: Batter

Modifications: Fire Eater

Details: replaced the first player incinerated on the team so she has a lot of fans because she’s been here a while but like also her career is forever impacted by the fact that people mourned so deeply before really appreciating her and a lot of fans can never really love her in the same way, but she has fire eater now and WILL cut a bitch down to size, she’s also definitely been attacked by consumers though, she also parties a LOT

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: good defender, high omniscience and tenaciousness

Lang-

Team: Houston Spies

Position: Batter

Modifications: Maximalist, Siphon

Details: replaced a SUPER popular player who was REALLY good at the game and struggled with a lot of the implications of their legacy but he ALSO became really good and a really iconic player to the team and eventually became a fan favorite, LITERALLY cannot stop freaking drinking blood hes so fucking massive now holy shit but like only his baserunning

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: PHENOMENAL baserunning just in general but his base thirst is low so he doesn’t actually steal that much, SUPER high moxie and musclitude

Kristoph-

Team: Baltimore Crabs

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Returned, Debt

Details: season 1 player who was a really aggressively middling player who had deceptively high stars and they could never get rid of him until he finally got incinerated in late season 6/early season 7 but he gets necromancy-d on accident and no one wanted this now he just haunts the league, he joined blaseball to get notoriety and some level of fame and convinced Klavier to join him

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high coldness and ok ruthlessness, unthwackability is fine, shakespeareanism is also good

Klavier-

Team: Originally on the Crabs, but feedbacked to the Seattle Garages

Position: Batter

Modifications: Spicy

Details: he signed up when Kristoph did. because he said that this would be something good to do as brothers and they even signed to the same team, carcinization really freaked him out but he was a season 1 crab and no one knew what would happen, he Feedbacked in like season 6 and kris got incinerated really shortly after he feedbacked which messed him up, he loves the garages vibes WAY more than he liked the crabs

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high moxie and indulgence

Kay-

Team: Charleston Shoe Thieves

Position: Batter

Modifications: Flippers

Details: shoe thieves, batter, she was originally a shadows player and just sat there doing great thief things until she got called up for having very sneaky good stats (rod.net style) where she singles a lot and then just steals her way to third/home, voted to trust her in season 11 and now she has cool flippers

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: really high basethirst and laserlikeness, also very high anticapitalism, good thwack subpar musclitude

Sebastian-

Team: New York Millennials, possible feedback to the Thieves?

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: his dad was a famous blaseball player before the ILB so he signed him up to play and didn’t get on the roster until maybe like season 9, really dramatic arc where he starts out really bad but slowly through incremental stat increases becomes pretty ok but then has a devastating allergic reaction and ends up having to be shadowed because he’s just unsaveable at this point, but still a big fan fave and people still talk about them, he would’ve been a pretty ok batter with really high defense but peanut destroyed that too

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high highs and low lows and vibes are just… there

Juniper-

Team: Boston Flowers

Position: Originally a batter, but reverbs into Pitching

Modifications: None

Details: season 1 player who is really popular amongst the fans but isn’t well known outside of the fanbase she joined blaseball because she didn’t really have a choice and she was just working at the garden, she wasn’t a great batter but she’s a shockingly good pitcher, she had partied so much that she is now just undeniably good solely because she has partied THAT much

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: SHOCKINGLY good ruthlessness, its her only good stat though until parties make her good

Simon-

Team: Chicago Firefighters

Position: Batter

Modifications: Ego+

Details: another late season replacement that was made to be a edgelord with really good stat set up and he’s a super consistent batter who just also gets walked a lot and has a LOT of thirsty fans, REALLY good at dunking, one of the best idols for solo seeds but ONLY for a SINGLE season because he just underperforms his stars for NO reason and its infuriating, joined because he didn’t want athena to get recruited but she followed him anyways to find out what the hell happened to him and why he just vanished

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: HIGH musc/thwack/martyr with really low patheticism, absolutely ATROCIOUS vibes

Godot-

Team: Hellmouth Sunbeams, roams to the Tokyo Lift and then to the Canada Moist Talkers

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Roamin’

Details: a season 1 player who would be a MUCH better batter but REFUSES to leave the rotation with deceptively high stars and one of the first players to get roamin’ and actually becomes good because of it infuriating LITERALLY everyone

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: have you seen bright zim? Yeah its just that. He has sixteen fingers for no reason

Trucy-

Team: Originally a Philadelphia Pies player, but feedbacks to the Yellowstone Magic

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: Phoenix becomes her dad after she feedbacks, later season replacement probably surrounding the s7 instabilities and beanings and she got REALLY popular REALLY fast with the pies fans and over siesta but then she gets traded like the Monday after and it breaks the fans hearts, she’s not very good but she gets alternated into BEING good

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: moxie queen! Also chasiness and continuation, as well as good musclitude and vibes

Nahyuta-

Team: Originally on the Beams, but feedbacks to the Hawai’i Fridays

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Attractor

Details: expansion era player who replaced an absolutely GARBAGE player so the fans are DELIGHTED by him, lets up a lot of walks but has shockingly pitched a no hitter despite only being here since season 13, was infused because of his good forbidden knowledge stats, still gets faxed out of the game because he has games where he just lets up a RIDICULOUS amount of runs, actually fit in really well with the Fridays, was observed (by Kristoph?) and then got redacted

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: uncle plasma… 2! Also REALLY big vibes range

Justine Courtney-

Team: New York Millennials, traded to the Breckenridge Jazz Hands

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: joined the team before Sebastian probably around season 5, was pretty average at pitching but ate a peanut and had a yummy reaction which made her slightly above average but subpar ruthlessness made her still not great, traded away to the Jazz Hands after Sebastian was shadowed, really polarizing for fans there was a lot of fighting about whether or not to trade her from fans

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: ok ruthlessness

Mia-

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: was the season 1 stand out batter for the magic, she was a REALLY good season 1 player that fans STILL talk about even though she’s been dead since season 3, she was the person who was standing next to Phoenix when he appeared on the field and caught the ball that was flying towards him before it hit him in the face and she took it upon himself to get him acclimated to the game, she thought of him as a kid brother, she tried to keep Maya away from blaseball but couldn’t stop her from watching on TV, she originally joined to get away from the Fey clan and to try and do something with her life and also possibly find out what happened to her mother and she was promised social power and unlimited access to information

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: really solid statline for someone who never saw any improvements

Phoenix and Miles get together around season 6, right before the Jaylen stuff, then break up because they were both having a lot of emotions about the whole necromancy business and Miles was always on the idol board and there was a lot of uncertainty in their lives. I think a necromancy of Kristoph probably happens in the Expansion Era and he tries to get revenge on Phoenix for god knows what, and Miles ends up getting close with him again after a whole Grand Siesta of just being really emotionally charged friends and finally get together AGAIN in season 13 after a consumer attacks Phoenix, but this time they STAY together and probably get married because they're just so scared of losing each other.

Kay gets to fight god in season 9, no this probably wouldn't have been possible if she was a shadows player originally but uwu <3

Kay and Miles get to know each other because she tried to steal Miles shoes, but he caught her. He offered to make her dinner and they just had a good time, Kay hadn’t really been shown that kind of kindness in a WHILE and she... missed that sort of father figure in her life... so she just keeps trying to steal things from Miles and getting caught until he finally tells her that she can just... come over through the front door. He will never say that she is his daughter out loud, but the collective dadconcious Knows, and tells him that they are proud of him.

Maya and Franziska are rivals. They hate each other. When Maya gets 0 no it only makes it worse because it "ruins" Franziska's perfection as a pitcher and forces her to throw balls. They get to know each other over these pitch offs and start to realize that they actually aren't that different. Gay rights. They kiss. They have a great time over the Grand Siesta and make fun of their brothers, but they both have emergency bags in case the other one dies.

Dahlia Hawthrone would never get involved in Blaseball and everything she does is outside of the game but if she was she'd be on the Boston Flowers and she would be her team's Pudge. A god awful player who on occasion actually does something good and half the fans love her because of her character and half the fans hate her for the same reason and also she sucks at the game.

Most of them also still have their law degrees and also keep some semblance of what they do in the actual ace attorney games, except Ema who has of course factually failed the bar exam by nature of being on The Breath Mints.

#WOW ok this was super long but uwu *forces you all to see this*#anyways PLEASE ASK ME ABT THE ACE ATTORNEY BLASEBALL AU. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE #ace attorney #blaseball #roxy talks

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farfarawaygirl · 4 years ago

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Do you think the fandom has a good grasp on who Sylvie is?

I was rereading fanfic and some posts on here, because I’m obsessed, and I realized that everyone in their stories had sylvie freaking out in the ambo crash and bursting into tears when she saw Matt (even having a panic attack in one). Yet she did none of that 👀 she got Mackey and herself out of the ambo and then helped Halleck. She was completely calm and collected.

I also read some post saying sylvie would break down when she had another gun pointed at her, but she took it so well and was ordering halleck around? No past trauma coming to light at all. She handled it like a boss.

A lot of people also thought she would be mad and yell at Casey for putting himself in danger when he jumped out of 81, but she looked so touched that he was willing to do that for her?

I’m not too sure if I’m reading too much into it, but people are making her out to be so overly emotional and she’s not? Like in all the fics it’s always “sylvie felt tears come to her eyes, or her eyes shined with tears”. Like no? That’s not her.

Also this one is kinda dumb, but in fics sylvie is always the cold one who uses Matt as a heater, but she’s usually the only one who takes her coat off when at Molly’s patio? Everyone is bundled up but she’s not? Maybe because she’s from Indiana? 🤷‍♀️

I know fic and posts on here are opinion pieces, but I’m questioning if people actually grasp Sylvie’s true character.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this 😅 it’s been floating in my brain for a while.

Damn I love a thought out ask!

Like most things with interpretation and fandom, there are a few ways this could be answered.

First, I do not think Sylvie is fragile. Maybe it’s the Hoosier in her, or the farm girl, or just who she is at her core, but there is something solid there. Made me think of that “porcelain, ivory, steel” analogy.

I think that everyone who write fic, puts a little bit of themselves into to words, and so when other (or even me) might see something as OOC there is usually a reason. It might not make sense to anyone else, but for them, something they saw on the show made their brain go “that would be an acceptable reaction”.

Now, I’m thinking through things I’ve written - I know that I have definitely had her cry a few times, even stomp her foot in frustration, but - I think Sylvie has always been portrayed as calm under pressure. Good in the action, and more reserved in her emotional/personal life. Not that she doesn’t share herself, but (and I know I’ve said this on a post about Sylvie and trauma) she also does something where she appears very open and engaged with the people around her while actively not sharing her hurt. It’s a coping mechanism! It’s one I use, so I noticed it right away. It’s just this upfront action, here’s a smile and a little bit about me, enough so that you can’t see the mess.

One thing I will say, is that even when I watch the show I sometimes feel like important things are being ignored or missed - like the actual writers don’t get the characters they’re working with. That’s because shows go through changes, actors leave, love stories get rewritten, writers cycle through, people forget the details that the audience connected with.

With Sylvie it’s a bit more complex.

There is her physical representation: people are never really prepared for the slight, blonde, blue eyed woman to be physically competent. But we have seen Sylvie kick out a windshield to escape, we’ve seen her hold a gun to her attackers, we’ve seen her hold the weight of a drugged out girl up while she waited for rescue. Hell, we’ve seen her weld shit. We should not be surprised that just because she doesn’t grab a hose and run into fires that she isn’t physically strong.

Her emotional representation: Sylvie is hyper aware of emotions. Hers, 51, patients. She takes on a lot emotionally because of this. She can coax someone towards calm - the kids in the fire/hostage situation, Logan Miller running for bad guys, even the times she has been in danger her calm exterior has usually desecalated the situation. This ties into her physical representation because people usually don’t see a threat in the slight, blonde, blue eyed women. We’ve seen her grow her emotional maturity, going from crying over a call alone in her car to reaching to people in the house to talk things through. Because she’s so in tune with emotions, she checks in with others - and here’s the kicker, she can turn her emotions of. When she decided to stay on shift regardless of Halleck, but checked in in Mackey. When she just gets the job done then deals with the threat. I think this situation with Matt is the first time she has had a really hard time turning off the emotions. Even when she and Sheffield broke up, she was able to distract herself, but with Matt this is to close to heartbreak.

One of the only times we’ve seen a really big dramatic™️ scene from Sylvie that didn’t really make sense was the plot line around her possibly being pregnant. Knowing what we know, her adoption story, what was happening with Antonio, and that hormones are the worst, we can understand that some of that was out of place but not out of character.

With every fandom there are fics that have insane kudos and people always talk about, but that some readers just don’t connect with. Honestly, that is why I started writing Brettsey - I saw first the lack of fic, and second that when there was sometimes fic I didn’t connect with the characters like I did on my tv screen.

Part of this, I’m sure, is also that Sylvie has been around for a while, but was typically a B storyline character. We’ve had 7 seasons with her, she’s the longest running female character in Chicago Fire, but her importance was really ranked up in season 7/8/9 as far as who she was interacting with.

At the end of the day, I love Sylvie. I think that she is an expressive, complex, silly, caring, smart, dedicated, loving character who would step in front of anyone who had a gun pointed at them. I think everyone gets a little something different from her - and that’s okay! Art/tv/fic is a little about interpretation, so not everyone will share the same feelings or view.

This happenes in real life too, sometimes a new friend will find their way into your friend group, and your kill bill sirebs are engaged, but everyone else is chill with them. There has to be that give and take.

Keep reading! Keep writing! Keep watching! But most important, keep thinking, because at the end of the day the ability to discern when someone is not being portrayed in a way you feel is authentic shows tremendous engagement and thought.

#sylvie brett #chicago fire #it’s always been you #actual badass sylvie brett #kara killmer

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sylvies-chen · 3 years ago

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I finally watched the 200th episode of Chicago Fire and actually one of the most disappointing things about this episode for me was the fact that Matt's sister and niece, Christie and Violent weren't even mentioned.

Even with everything that went on with the Darden boys and Heather, I expected them to at least mention Nancy Casey just to show that Matt truly understood, maybe even more than the boys.

Of course I know that 51 and Brettsey are the most important things but did the writers forget that Matt has a family outside of 51. They should have mentioned his sister and niece.

Y’know, I was disappointed too that we didn’t get a mention of Nancy or Christie or Violet, but it’s not super high on the list of disappointments for me. We only got to see his sister once in season 9 and before that it’d been, what, six seasons since we’d seen her?? Point being, they had Matt make a very specific point last season of talking about him coming from a family full of secrets. He loves Christie and he’s close with her and Violet, sure, but 51 is his real family. They also had only five episodes to build up Jesse’s departure so I have no doubt the reactions of the main characters were their top priority. Make no mistake though, I’m still bummed out about the fact that they weren’t even mentioned!

#abby.answers #matt casey

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

The Public Enemy Solidified Gang Rule Under James Cagney for 90 Years

https://ift.tt/3vfQifQ

William Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931) turns 90 this weekend. When the film first came out, a theater in Times Square showed it nonstop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The movie marks the true beginning of gangster movies as a genre. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar may have hit theaters first, but The Public Enemy set the pattern, and James Cagney nailed the patter. Not just the street talk either; he also understood its machine gun delivery. His Tommy Powers is just a hoodlum, never a boss. He is a button man at best, even if he insisted his suits have six buttons.

The Public Enemy character wasn’t even as high up the ladder as Paul Sorvino’s caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. But Cagney secured the turf Edward G. Robinson’s Rico Bandello took a bullet to claim in Little Caesar, and for the rest of his career Cagney never let it go.

Some would argue genre films began in 1931. Besides mob movies, the year introduced the newspaper picture with Lewis Milestone’s The Front Page and John Cromwell’s Scandal Sheet; Universal Pictures began an unholy run of horror classics via Tod Browning’s Dracula and James Whale’s Frankenstein, with the two turning Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff into household names; and Howard Hawks’ Scarface would land the knockout for the gangster genre, even if it didn’t get released until 1932.

Sadly, the classic “Gangster Film” run only lasted one production season, from 1930 to 1931, and less than 30 films were made during it. Archie Mayo’s The Doorway to Hell started the ball rolling in 1930, when it became a surprise box office hit. It stars Lew Ayres as the top mug, with Cagney as his sidekick. For fans of pre-Code Hollywood, it is highly recommended. It includes a kidnapping scene which results in the death of a kid on the street. Without a speck of blood or any onscreen evidence, it is cinematically shocking in its impact.

Both Little Caesar and The Public Enemy earned their street cred, defying the then-toothless 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, which preceded the Hays Code. After New York censors cut six scenes from The Public Enemy to clear it for release, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) set further guidelines for the proper cinematic depiction of crime.

Public Enemy director Wellman was an expert in multiple genres. He spit out biting satires like Nothing Sacred (1937) and Roxie Hart (1942), and captured gritty, dark realities in The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and Story of G.I. Joe (1945). He won his only Oscar for A Star Is Born (1937). The Public Enemy is the first example of what would be his trademark: stylish cinematography and clever camera-work. The dark suspense he captures is completely different from the look of German expressionism. It captured the overcast shadows of urban reality and would influence the look of later noir films. His main character would inspire generations of actors.

“That’s just like you, Tom Powers. You’re the meanest boy in town.”

Orson Welles lauded James Cagney as “maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera.” Will Rogers said watching Cagney perform was “like a bunch of firecrackers going off all at once.” The New York City born performer explodes in this movie. Even in black and white, Cagney’s red hair flares through the air like sulfur on a match. It turns out to be a slow burn, which will reach its ultimate climax in 1949’s White Heat. The Public Enemy is loaded with top talent, but you can’t take your eyes off Cagney. Not even for a second. You might miss some tiny detail, like the flash of a grin, a wink, or a barely perceptible glare.

Cagney had a simple rule to acting: All you had to do was to look the other person straight in the eyes and say your lines. “But mean them.” In The Public Enemy, the characters communicate without lines. When Tom and Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) sneak a peek into Larry the Limp’s casket, we understand this is the first time the two young thugs lost someone their own age. The scene barely implies how fortunate they are not to be in that box, but their curiosity is as palpable as the loss of their last shred of innocence.

Cagney was originally cast as Matt, and scenes were shot with him in the role. The parts were switched mid-production, but they didn’t reshoot the flashback scenes, making it look like the pair swapped bodies between 1909 and 1915. It’s a shame because Frankie Darro, who plays the young Matt, made a career out of playing baby face Cagney, and later joined the East Side Kids franchise.

Former “Our Gang” actor Frank Coghlan Jr. took on the role of young Tom. He takes the lashes from his cop father’s belt, backtalking him the whole time. Tom Powers is reprehensible. He never says thank you and doesn’t shake hands. He delights in the violence and sadism. Powers doesn’t go into crime because of poverty; he just can’t be contained. Cagney’s mobster mangles, manhandles, maims and murders, and still needs more room in his inseam.

Dames, Molls, and Grapefruits

Besides defying the ban on romanticizing criminals, both The Public Enemy and Little Caesar broke sexual codes. There are explicit signs that Rico Bandello represses his sexuality in Caesar. Scenes between him and his friend Joe, and his gunman Otera, thinly veil homoerotic overtones. Public Enemy’s Powers, by contrast, subtly encourages the gay tailor who is openly hitting on him.

There are strong indications Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell) is grooming Tommy and Matt for more than just fenced goods. Look at the way Putty sticks his ass in Powers’ face while he is shooting pool. Putty Nose’s execution at the piano is creepily informed by the unspoken sins between the men. Tommy relishes the kill.

However, Tommy doesn’t relish being manhandled when he’s too drunk to notice. While the gang goes to the mattresses in the movie’s gang war, Tommy is raped by Jane (Mia Marvin), his boss Paddy’s girl. Powers protests the best he can, but the camera angles leave no doubt. Tommy wakes up hungover, horrified, and feeling impotent. Matt, however, has no trouble getting “busy” with his girlfriend Mamie, played by Joan Blondell, in one of the scenes trimmed by the censors. Blondell, Jean Harlow, and Mae Clarke, who plays Tommy’s girlfriend Kitty, represent a glitzy cross-section of white Roaring Twenties glamour. In the opening credits, when Harlow and Blondell smile at the camera, male audience members of the time blushed.

Harlow was Hollywood’s original “Blonde Bombshell,” starring in the movie that coined the term. Her earthy comic performances would make her a major star at MGM, but she was a dud to critics of The Public Enemy. Hers was the only part which was criticized, and the reviewers were brutal, declaring her voice untrained and her presence boring.

Harlow’s greatest asset had to be contained within the Pre-Code era. Straddled with a wordy part as a slumming society dame, she is directed to slow her lines to counter the quick patter of the rest of the cast. Yet Harlow uses that to her benefit in the film’s best moment of sexual innuendo. While telling Tommy about “the men I’ve known,” she pauses, and appears to be calculating them in her head before she says, “And I’ve known dozens of them.” When an evening alone with Tommy is cut short, Gwen’s exasperation over the coitus interruptus is palpable. Members of the Catholic Legion of Decency probably had to go to confession after viewing the film for slicing.

Most people know The Public Enemy for the famous grapefruit scene where Powers pushes a grapefruit into his girlfriend’s face. “I wish you was a wishing well,” he warns, “so that I could tie a bucket to you and sink ya.” Tommy treats women like property. They are status symbols, the same as clothes or cars. Kitty’s passive-aggressive hints at commitment get on Tom’s nerves. He can only express himself through violence. There are rumors Cagney, who would go on to rough up Virginia Mayo in White Heat and brutalize Doris Day in Love Me or Leave Me, didn’t warn Clarke he was going to use her face as a juicer. According to the autobiography Cagney by Cagney, Clarke’s ex-husband Lew Brice loved the scene so much he watched it a few times a day, timing his entrance into the theater to catch it and leave.

Both actors have said it was staged as a practical joke to see how the film crew would react. It wasn’t meant to make the final cut. Wellman told TCM he added it because he always wanted to do that to his wife. The writer reportedly wrote the scene as a kind of wish-fulfilling fantasy.

The screenplay was written by Harvey F. Thew. It was based on Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon. The unpublished novel fleshed out press accounts of the bootlegging Northside gang leaders, Charles Dion “Deanie” O’Banion, Earl “Hymie” Weiss, and Louis “Two-Gun” Alterie. Cagney based his Tommy Powers character on O’Banion and Altiere. Edward Woods was doing his take on Weiss. The book reflected the headlines in the Chicago papers, which reported Weiss smashed an omelet into his girlfriend’s face.

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The Public Enemy borrowed from the day’s headlines in other ways too. Hymie Weiss was assassinated in October 1926. It was the first reported “machine-gun nest” murder. It is recreated in the killing of Matt Doyle. While shooting the sequence, Cagney ducked real machine gun fire to bring authenticity to the scene. Also taken from real life is the fact that after O’Banion was killed in ‘24, Alterie’s first reaction was to do public battle with the killers. This is similar to Tommy’s final shootout at Schemer Burns’ nightclub headquarters.

Leslie Fenton’s dashing mob captain Nails Nathan (“born Samuel”) flashes the greatest grin in mob movie history. He is based on Samuel “Nails” Morton, a member of O’Banion’s mob. Both “Nails” were driven to their coffins the way it is depicted in The Public Enemy. The real Morton died in a riding accident in 1923, and “Two-Gun” Alterie and some of the other gang members went back to the stables, rented the horse which kicked Nails in the head, and shot the animal. Mario Puzo may have been inspired by this scene when he wrote The Godfather. It is not only tie to the Francis Ford Coppola movie. Oranges have as much vitamin C as grapefruits. Another similarity between the two films is the threat of being kidnapped from the hospital by a rival gang.

The Powers brothers’ relationship vaguely echoes the one between war hero Michael and Sonny Corleone, who believes, as his father does, soldiers were “saps” to risk their lives for strangers. Donald Cook, who played Mike Powers, didn’t pull any punches on the set. In the scene where he knocks Tom into the table before going off to war, he really connects. Wellman told Cook to do it without warning so he could get that look of surprise. Cook broke one of Cagney’s teeth, but Cagney stayed in character and finished the scene.

“It is a wicked business.”

After the stock market crash, get-rich-quick schemes seemed the only way through the Great Depression. The gangster was an acceptable headline hero during Prohibition because the law was unpopular with the press. But after 1929, the gangster became the scapegoat villain. The Public Enemy was the ninth highest grossing film of 1931. But the genre lost its appeal after April of that year, as studios pumped out pale imitations and audiences got tired of the saturation, according to the book Violence and American Cinema, edited by J. David Slocum. Religious and civic groups accused Hollywood of romanticizing crime and glamorizing gangsters.

The Public Enemy opens with a dire warning: Don’t be a gangster. Hoodlums and terrorists of the underworld should not be glamorized. The only MPAA rule the film didn’t break was portraying an alliance between organized crime and politics. The studios passed the films off as cautionary tales which were meant to deflate the gangster’s appeal by ridiculing their false heroism.

Through this hand-wringing, however, Cagney turns false heroics on its head with the comic brilliance of a Mack Sennett short. Stuck without a gun, he robs a gun store armed with nothing but moxie. Powers never rises in the organization. He takes orders and whatever the boss says is a good cut, only asking for more money once from Putty Nose. Unlike Rico, who rose to be boss among bosses, Powers has no power to lose. This is just the first gig he landed since he was a regular “ding ding” driving a streetcar, and it connected with audiences like a sock on the button. They identified with the scrappy killer, and it surprised them.

Even Gwen notices Tommy is “very different, and it isn’t only a difference in manner and outward appearances. It’s a difference in basic character.” Strict Freudians might lay this on his mother (Beryl Mercer), the greatest enabler Cagney will see until White Heat. Ma Powers’ little boy is a budding psychopath knocking off half the North Side, but look at the head on his beer. For audiences at the time, Tom was the smiling, fresh-scrubbed face of evil. He is consistently unsympathetic but likable from the moment he hits the opening credits.

Like Malcom McDowell’s Alex in A Clockwork Orange, he is the fiend’s best friend. Even if it is Tommy’s fault his best pal Matt gets killed. While Cagney spent his career ducking his “you dirty, double-crossing, rat” line from Taxi, the actor wasn’t afraid to play one in Powers. He’s not a rat in the sense he’d snitch on anyone. He’s the last of the pack who sticks it out for his pals when his back is up against the wall.

A Hail of Bullets

Tommy Powers goes by this credo: live fast, die young, and leave a corpse so riddled with bullets, not even his mother can look at his body when he’s done. But then, no one can end a film like Cagney. He’s danced down the White House stairs in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), been rolled across the concrete steps of a city church in The Roaring Twenties (1939), and was blown to kingdom come in White Heat. He gets two death scenes in The Public Enemy, a rain-soaked climax, and a denouement as scary as The Mummy. Tommy only brings one gun to the gang fight, and by the time he hits the pavement, he’s got more holes in him than the city sewage system.

“I ain’t so tough,” Tommy says on his final roll into the gutter. Cagney’s first professional job was in a musical drag act on the Vaudeville circuit, and he called himself a “song and dance man” long after retirement. For The Public Enemy, conductor David Mendoza led the Vitaphone Orchestra through such period hits as “Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye),” “Smiles,” and “I Surrender Dear.” But the song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is the one which lingers in the memory. Martin Scorsese has cited it as a reason his films are so filled with recognizable music.

Street violence comes with a natural soundtrack. Transistor radios accompany takedowns. Boom boxes blast during shakedowns. Car stereos boost the bass during drive-by shootings. In The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, mobsters feed quarters into a jukebox to cover up sounds of a beating.

In The Godfather, Part II, a street band plays traditional Italian songs while Vito Corleone puts bullets in the neighborhood Black Hand, Don Fanucci. The last thing we hear in the abrupt close to the mob series The Sopranos is a Journey song. The first thing Tommy’s mother does when she hears her boy is coming home from the hospital is drop a needle on a record.

The ending leaves us with two questions: Who killed Tommy, and what’s his brother going to do about it? We figure whoever did the job on Powers was probably a low-level button man from Schemer’s rival outfit. Probably even lower down the ladder than Tommy, and on his way up, until another Tommy comes along. Crime only pays in the movies, Edward G. Robinson often joked.

Mike’s reaction to the bandaged corpse is ambiguous. He’s already shown outward signs of the trauma following the horrors of war. Is he clenching his fists in anguish or anger? Is he broken by the battlefield or marching off in vengeance, a soldier on one last duty? Cook’s exit can go either way.

After 90 years, The Public Enemy is still fresh. It’s aged better than Little Caesar or Scarface. Cagney wouldn’t play a gangster again until 1938, but the image is etched so deeply in the persona, audiences forget the vagaries of villainy Hollywood could spin, and the range of characters Cagney could play. He and the film continue to influence filmmakers, inform culture, and surprise audiences. Tommy Powers was just a mug, but those streets are still his.

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redshirtgal · 5 years ago

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So whose job was it to cast all those redshirts (and stunt people) we celebrate here? Who figured out which actors were needed for each scene, which extras needed to be hired (and how much they would get paid) and which props were needed for each scene as it was filmed, in addition to the distributing copies of the scripts to all and sending them updated scripts as needed along with what time everything had to be in place for the cameras? All of these duties and more are usually the job of the second assistant director. The Star Trek set (and those of most television series) needed more than just the main director or even the first assistant because several scenes were usually being filmed at the same time. One of the most personable and popular second assistant directors who worked on the set of The Original Series was a young man by the name of Charlie Washburn. He was also known as “Charlie Star Trek” because one of his duties was to answer the phone on the set. When it rang, he crisply answered “Star Trek - Charlie!” The crew began calling him Charlie Star Trek and it stuck as long as he worked there. The Tennessee native originally wanted to break into writing advertisements. During the the two year program he had entered in Milwaukee, he happened to take a course in television. Charlie became fascinated with all the details of a director’s work and decided that was a far more interesting field. Even though he first began looking for work in television in Chicago and New York (more about that later), he eventually decided to come to Hollywood and enter the Directors Guild program and was accepted.

But before he could graduate, he had to served as an apprentice on an actual set. Luckily for Charlie, he was hired as a trainee on Star Trek for the second season. During his trainee period, he worked under assistant director. (Shapiro had previously worked on My Favorite Martian where he met Billy Blackburn and later he brought him on board The Original Series). Charlie enjoyed Tiger’s sense of humor and learned a lot about making personal connections with both the cast and the crew in addition to all the other duties a second assistant director needed to master. Tiger allowed him to gradually take over more and more of his duties as long as Charlie cleared any changes first. He ended his apprenticeship with over 400 hours of training.

Charlie Washburn graduated at the top of his class, so he did not have any trouble finding work. Star Trek immediately hired him back as a second assistant director. As mentioned previously, the show always needed two second assistant directors so Washburn was able to work alongside his former mentor, Tiger Shapiro, during the third season.

D.C. Fontana interviewed Washburn and another production crew member for an article for Inside Star Trek. Charlie provided many details about his work that he enjoyed, but he said one of the duties he dreaded were the firings. The decision was not his of course, but would get handed down from the producer’s office and it was up to one of the assistant directors to handle the firings professionally. Charlie was involved in the aftermath of the firing of one of the Earp brothers on the set of “ Spectre of the Gun.” Even though someone else had already informed the agent and the actor of the situation, that meant they had to hire a replacement and that was one of the duties of the directors team. When the new actor appeared on the set, Charlie realized he knew him and helped him make the transition as smooth as possible. Although he never mentioned the name of the actor himself, it was later disclosed by Memory Alpha that it was Rex Holman, who played Morgan Earp.

He was always proud of the relationships he had on the set, from the directors on down to the stage hand and electrical workers. Charlie was known and loved by everyone for both his courteous manner and his professionalism. In an article that appeared on the Directors Guild online quarterly newsletter, he was quoted as saying -

"Not a single day passed by that I didn't greet every single crew member by name and ask about their families," he shares. "I'm proud to say I was the first AD to be goosed by an electrician on Star Trek when I was up on the rigging one day putting together the call sheet. After it happened, [gaffer] George Merhoff smiled and said: 'Hey, Charlie. Now you're part of the group.'”

For the same Inside Star Trek article, Washburn submitted one of the call sheets he had written up for a scene in “Plato’s Stepchildren.” This gives the readers an inside look at how much attention to detail a second assistant director had to have as he read the script each day. He needed to be able to anticipate who was needed when and where they needed to be, including make-up call times. Notice since Nimoy, Doohan, and Nichols were the ones who had to be in makeup the earliest, there is a notation in the special instructions that they will be given breakfast that morning. If anyone in the main crew or the guest star had to be on the set at or earlier than 7:30 a.m., that meal was provided. Speaking of breakfasts, providing them (and sometimes delivering them in person) to designated actors was one of Charlie’s duties as a second assistant director. And he had a funny story for that article about the particularly large one that Bill Shatner always ordered. It seems that in contrast to the usual order of one or two eggs, toast or maybe just yogurt, Shatner’s standing order consisted of two scrambled eggs, bacon, grapefruit, wheat toast and a large orange juice. Evidently, unit manager Greg Peters was trying to contain unnecessary costs as much as possible. When he saw the size of that order as compared those of the other cast members, his immediate question was why did Bill need that much for breakfast? Charlie told him there was no way he was going to ask Shatner that question but Greg was welcome to try. And of course, Peters was as reluctant as Charlie was to ask, so he dropped it. But Charlie knew the real reason. Shatner ate the toast and drank the orange juice, his wardrobe man was given the half grapefruit. The rest? That went to his Doberman. Imagine Greg Peters’ reaction if he only knew.

Charles Washburn and Nichelle Nichols were hired during the tumultuous period of the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and the expansion of opportunities for minorities was in its infancy. Charlie often mentioned in interviews that when he first started working for Star Trek in 1967, there were only three black people who were usually on the Desilu set. Himself, Nichelle Nichols, and the guy who ran a food truck in the morning and shined shoes on the lot in the afternoon. Even though he claimed he rarely saw racism on any of the sets he worked on after graduation, Washburn admits it did exist during his time growing up in Tennessee. And an incident in Chicago when he first began looking for AD related work also illustrates the racial bias of the times did not only exist in the South. Some production friends encouraged him to apply for an opening at an NBC affiliate because he was told they were specifically looking for a black in the control room. With high hopes, he went in for an interview, but never heard back. Months later, he called one of those production friends to find out if the job had been filled. He was told no one had been hired. The studio just wanted to be able to say they were encouraging blacks to apply. That was the impetus for his move to Hollywood and his application to the Directors Guild program. Charlie distinguished himself as the first African American to apply and graduate from the program.

Charlie even has a Trek crewman named after him. In “The Doomsday Machine,” we see Lt. Washburn (the science officer above) as part of the landing party investigating what happened to the Constellation. He and two others ran a structural and control damage analysis of the disabled ship, then he was the one who delivered the report to Scotty and Kirk. Coincidentally, Richard Compton (who played Washburn) directed The Next Generation episode “Haven” with Washburn as his first assistant director.

In the latter part of Star Trek’s third season, Charlie received an offer to work on a movie in Jamaica. If he were to stay on until the end of the season, he would miss out. He did the honorable thing and told Gene about the choice he had to make. Gene encouraged him to take the movie offer with his blessings. He told Charlie that if he really thought Star Trek would be renewed for the fourth season, he would not have done so. Gene graciously thanked him for all his contributions.

But his contributions to Star Trek did not end there. Years later, Washburn was one of the production people asked for by Gene Roddenberry to work on his new series, The Next Generation. He served as a first assistant director during the first season. Washburn stayed connected to Star Trek even later, although it was an unofficial Trek fan production. He was hired to work on James Cawley’s Star Trek: New Voyages as the first assistant director of the double episode Blood and Fire which was written by David Gerrold.

After The Original Series ended and his work on that film was finished, Charles Washburn was hired for The Bill Cosby Show as a second assistant director for 19 episodes, then as first assistant director for 16 more. Other TV shows he worked for as a first assistant director were Vega$ (9 episodes) and of course, the previously mentioned Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Charles Washburn also found steady work on movie sets as either a second or first assistant director, including such well known films as Dirty Harry, Sounder, Lady Sings the Blues, and Uptown Saturday Night (as seen above with Sidney Poitier). He was a unit manager for 6 episodes of McMillan and Wife and 2 of The Six Million Dollar Man as well as for the movies Bustin’ Loose and Fly Away Home. Charlie also was the associate producer for one episode of Get Christie Love! He even had a few acting roles squeezed into movies or TV shows he worked with. He was a Papuan in one of his earliest movies, Skullduggery (where he also appeared with Roger C. Carmel) and an intern in Dirty Harry.

But remember his ultimate goal was to be a director. Yet, for all his experience, he never achieved this position. Washburn explained in the Inside Star Trek article that even though it was possible for second assistant directors like him to eventually advance to be an assistant director and then be hired eventually as a director, that was not the only path. Actors often used their own experiences and their relationships to their directors to learn how directing was done. And if someone were highly acclaimed as an actor, name recognition would open many opportunities to leave acting and to immediately begin directing. So progressing from second assistant to first assistant director did not guarantee that person would be hired as a director.

Charlie’s last years were spent at the Screen Actor’s Home in a small apartment. His good friend Larry Nemecek helped him move. But Charlie stayed as active as possible, considering his kidney dialysis treatments. He organized screenings and shows for the residents there as long as he could. But Charlie lost his battle with kidney disease at age 73. Larry Nemecek wrote a very nice memorial article on his blog, complete with some personal photos. Ten months later, Larry Nemecek was contacted by the people responsible for the memorial reel at the Oscars. He handed over all the personal photos he had of Charles Washburn. However since this was for the Oscars, nothing from the years of his work on Star Trek was mentioned. The team decided to use a short clip from Lady Sings the Blues where Charlie was the assistant director and a photo Larry sent in of Charlie sitting at his desk, overflowing with papers and other mementos. The above photo is a clip from that tribute.

#Star Trek TOS #Charlie Washburn #Behind the scenes #Directing

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invisibledevour · 4 years ago

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HEY GUYS!! "Ritter + Gallo Are Precious 🥰🥰, This Ep Got To Me! 😭& FUCKING OMG THE BRETSEY FEELS!!

https://youtu.be/PqeojGQNRLM

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sueboohscorner · 5 years ago

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Top 10 #OneChicago Crossovers #ChiHards #ChicagoFire #ChicagoMed #ChicagoPD

The Chicago series has been around for eight years and while we've had three out of the four still on the air and being part of the Law & Order universe; maybe this would be a great time to do a Top 10 list of the best Chicago Crossover episodes that include SVU.

Let me just say that this is my list of what I consider to be the best crossover episodes. There will not be any mention of the backdoor pilots; because it was a one episode event and not two series or more. So let's begin.

10. Chicago Fire-Chicago PD "A Dark Day"/"8:30 PM"

This was the crossover that started it all with a two-night event. When Chicago Med gets bombed during a fundraiser; Gabby is trapped and while Casey and the rest of the 51 not only try to rescue her and others. Boden and Mills stop a second bomb from going off. Voight and the team come in and learn the stakes that this is an act of revenge against Chicago's finest. And Burgress's niece's life hangs in the balance.

That was such a huge event seeing the promo and getting ready for it. I still get chills from seeing Voight going after the suspect yelling out "I want him alive" and start shooting at him. This episode event had me, even more, wanting a Chicago Med series with Dylan Baker as a badass doctor saving Burgess' niece.

9. Chicago Fie-Law & Order: SVU-Chicago PD "Nobody Touches Anything"/"Chicago Crossover"/"They'll Have to Go Through Me"

When Severide and Firehouse 51 rescue the owner of a house that's on fie; Severide finds a suspicious box that leads to Voight and team to team up with SVU. They take down a child pornography ring that also reunites Erin with her brother.

This was the first three show crossover that added another depth into the crossover with a powerful story and amazing performance from Sophia Bush. Bush and Mariska Hargitay sharing scenes felt like the passing of the baton to the next strong actress in the crime drama.

8. Chicago PD-Chicago Fire "Profiles"/"Hiding Not Seeking"

Why not celebrate the 100th episode of Chicago PD with a crossover event with Chicago Fire, right? When Trudy goes on a local television program a bomb goes off in the middle of the interview. Voight and team investigate to learn that the suspect is seeking revenge on the media for what they had done to him. Voight gets 51 to help and event stop the suspect from harming others.

This was a close second in the Fire-PD crossover event episodes that I really enjoyed with the ripped from the headlines type of story. A real on the edge of your seat story with some amazing moments; one of them being Jay Halstead driving a motorcycle like a badass superhero.

7. Chicago Fire-Chicago Med-Chicago PD: "The Beating Heart"/"Malignant"/"Now I'm God"

It's the first three-show two-night crossover event that got started at the end of the season four fall finale of Chicago Fire when Herrmann gets stabbed. While Herrmann's life is in balance; 51 gets called to house fire of a cancer patient but the doctors at Chicago Med learn that not only that patient. But a multiple like her that were diagnosis for cancer but never had it. Voight and team investigate, but learn that the suspect doctor happened to be the one that took care of Voight's late wife.

While this was the first crossover with all three shows, it was a powerful story all the way through. While each show had its moments, it was Chicago PD that saved the best for last when we learn that the doctor that treated all these patients that didn't have cancer took care of Voight's wife. Jason Beghe gives a stunning performance.

6. Chicago Fire-Chicago Med-Chicago PD: "Going to War"/"When to Let Go"/"Endings"

This was the crossover that we had hoped for since we learned that all three shows will air on the same night for the season. When Firehouse 51 gets called an apartment fire in the city while trying to save the residents; things took a hit on the chin when Jay was looking for his dad, Otis sees a mother and baby die and Kidd sacrifices her life to save Severide that sent her to Med. While at Med, Will, and Jay lose their father. Dr. Charles tries to help Otis from his PTSD. Chicago PD takes over to find the suspect that started the fire, while Halie and Voight think that Jay isn't stable to help, he goes on his own and stops and kills the suspect.

This came close to being like a movie event. For the first episode of the crossover, in the beginning, it felt like a salute to the city of Chicago. This whole event felt it belong to Jesse Lee Soffer, who gives a stunning performance. That scene of Otis seeing that mother and baby died in the elevator from the fire was so powerful. Heck, that scene of 51 trying to save Kidd on-site was powerful too. While this crossover is ranked at number six, wait till you see the top five.

5. Chicago Fire-Chicago PD: "Three Bells"/"A Little Devil Complex"

After Firehouse 51 lost a well-beloved member at the beginning of the third season. After a string of fires, Dawson and Severide team up to investigate these fires that turned out to be arson made and there was a connection to Shay's death. While they couldn't prove it, Dawson brings in the big guns of Antiono and Intelligence. The suspect gets under Voight and the team's skin after blowing up Burgess and Roman's squad car. After learning who this guy is, Dawson becomes the new target.

While this was a two-night crossover event, it should have been a one-night event. This was such an emotional episode from Chicago Fie's standpoint as in the end they honored Shay's life in a way that still gives me chills and the waterworks going. This arsonist was terrifying. Stong story, well-performed from the cast. These crossover episodes took a step up from the previous crossover episodes.

4. Law & Order SVU-Chicago PD "Nationwide Manhunt"/"The Song of Gregory William Yates"

Criminal mastermind Gregory Yates escapes New York State prison and gets Voight and team to help with SVU of the manhunt. Yates plays to Lindsay's mind and follows him back to Chicago, where they have a standoff that could end deadly.

While this was a second chapter of the creepy criminal Gregory Yates; I didn't know this was going to be a crossover. Once again Sophie Bush gives a stunning performance and the ending to this story leaves you on the edge of your seat with goosebumps.

3. Chicago Fire-Chicago PD-Law & Order SVU: "We Called Her Jellybean"/"The Number of Rats"/"Daydream Believer"

When Firehouse 51 gets called to an apartment fire that has a connection to a case of attempted rape and murder in Chicago. It just so happens to resemble an unsolved case in New York. This leads Voight and team teaming up with Benson and SVU where they meet with the man that every One Chicago fan knows, Gregory Yates. Yates, the modern-day Ted Bundy, starts with his fascination with Erin Lindsay. Just when Lindsay got the drop on him, he takes a step further by taking someone close to Erin and Intelligence.

Like #5, this crossover plays with all the emotions and thrills. And it marks the second time a supportive character gets killed on Chicago PD. That was so heartbreaking!!!

2. Chicago Fire-Chicago PD-Chicago Justice: "Deathtrap"/"Emotional Proximity"/"Fake"

A Ripped from the Headlines episode of a fie of a complex/warehouse building leads Firehouse 51 to a dangerous rescue, while Chicago Med tries to save as many lives as they can. Voight and the team learn that the fire was arson while Al watches his daughter die after Will and Natalie try to save her. It introduces Chicago Justice takes down the suspect for his revenge on a girl that dumped him.

This was literally a four-show crossover event with Med being in-between Fire and PD. When this crossover aired it felt like a giant event tv-movie of the week type of thing. The beginning of Chicago Fie just took my breath away as they get going and head towards to scene of the fire. And during PD, you knew you were hoping that Al would go full Voight on the suspect. And while Justice got a mixed reaction; I'd enjoyed the show but they could tweak it more.

1. Chicago Fire-Chicago Med-Chicago PD: "Infection"

When a deadly bacteria has been spread in Chicago; Chicago's finest tries to stop it before more people can get infected. It's basically the Chicago movie that we've been waiting for with the suspense, thrills, scares and even action. Once it started there's no point in stopping in the middle whatsoever. This crossover was the best crossover One Chicago has done since they had started. And at the end of the event, there's a heartwarming message that really holds up to what's going on right now.

What’s your Top 10 list of One Chicago Crossovers? Leave a comment and tell us your list.

You can catch Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD Wednesdays on NBC.

#Chicago Fire #Chicago Med #Chicago PD #ChicagoFire #ChicagoMed #ChicagoPD #ChiHards #OneChicago #Crossover Event #Top 10

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bookdragonlibrary · 5 years ago

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Third Tuesday YJ appreciation

1-3 ; 4-6 ; 7-9 ; 10-13 ; 14-16 ; 17 ; 18 ; 19 ; 20 ; 21 ; 22 ; 23 ; 24-26

—————————— Early Warning

- Star Girl is back.

- We didn’t see their mission in Chicago :(

- “The Outsiders are bigger than the Big League.” Seriously? So Gar has reach his goal to inspire people.

- We’re 21 December. Will we have a Christmas episode?

- Santiago de Cuba. Is this the whole city name or it’s just to specify is the Santiago located in Cuba, because you know USA have a lot of countries which names already existed in other countries, so it’s confusing...

- Mother of Goat xD

- 04.31 is indeed too early to go to school...

- “You mean I’m Gabrielle’s corpse brought back to life by the energy of a dead motherbox.” Violet, you need to chill. It’s really sad you see yourself this way :(

- What do you mean she’s dying? She has better superhealing than a speedster!

- I like that the first thing she does is healing herself.

- Months left? Well, all her previous dead must have been painful... But I’m sure Jace had misinterpreted what she saw. Maybe Violet has a high metabolism like a speedster with a fast regeneration of her cells so maybe they would discover this later by her aging slowly.

- Her mentor? Who could that be? Was they the person she called in the 15th episode?

- Wait to tell them? How is this supposed to be a good idea? One secret is enough of a burden.

- A funeral? Who’s funeral? :’(

- They are up against who to make Zatanna worry? Maybe she would bring Traci with her *finger crossed*

- What is this big pink cloud? It’s up to no good...

- Klarion? Of course Zatanna would be worried! The Team never succeeded to win against him! It was always Dr Fate.

- So he was the one who chose Project Rutabaga name? It’s difficult to understand which only one side of the conversation, more difficult than with Jaime and Scarab actually.

- “Stop to ruin my fun, Teekl.” He’s indeed the Witch Boy with that pouting xD How old is he to still be considerated as a child?

- I didn’t know human can have a reddish brown skin. Where is she from?

- It’s me or he’s dumb not remember what he’s supposed to do?

- No need to explain it to us, I’m pretty sure we all understood as we are now in an adult plateforme...

- So the teen could speak? I thought she was mute. Because of trauma maybe?

- Change of eye and hair color plus... gills? She can’t breathe? Can’t she be like Kaldur and has a double breathing system? :(

- So that’s where the mark in the forehead comes from... So he already sent teen in to Granny before. How could he forget if it’s not the first time he does it?

- So now she’s a red gaz and... does it where the big cloud comes from?

- That monster looks like the one in FMA. So the Light is trying to create a mix of metateen with different powers combined for one super powers soldier? We already saw of terrified it could be with Amazo in season 1...

- So the minidrones come indeed from Blue right?

- RIP minidrone :(

- “We saw so pretty weird days.” Does he speak about the Reach? :(

- The way Gar said funeral shows he’s so used to it...

- Joan is dead?! So quickly? From what? Aging?

- Virgil is so cool with blue eyes!

- “Outsiders away!” “Dude, that catchphrase, need work.” You mean “Outisiders go!” right? it was an easter egg right?

- Klarion seriously didn’t recognise them? Or never be against them?

- “Flesh Monster” I know you are sadistic demon, but it was really disrespectful :(

- Gar is so clever to attack Teekl! Mouse to elephant, the two opposites!

- Klarion, we really don’t need your explanations, everyone had seen season 1... (why are you watching season 3?)

- No don’t use a bazooka on those kids! :( Yeah Geo-force! o/

- “No, not in the house.” New Team catchphrase?

- Did he just killed Beast Boy? Desintegrated him? It’s not possible! :’( Not another funeral!

- Yes he’s alive! Stop with the fake deaths!

- No Cassie! :( Did anyone how the monster become huge with Wonder Girl addition? She’s really strong!

- Virgil horrified to see his BF like that :(

- Yeah! They are free! Except for the girl who still can’t breathe.

- We need to bring Zatanna to Granny’s place so she could free the other teens.

- Klarion is still busy with a hornet? Seriously?

- They are in Tower of Fate? So the balance between order and chaos are unbalanced in the place of power of one of them?

- “Still in the Tower? *meow* Dang it!” It shouldn’t be that funny! xD

- Virgil, you’re hanging out with Ed and Jaime, your Spanish should be better than this...

- Yep, the girl still can’t breathe! :( Gar save her! :D She said “Thank you!” :3

- “Where is Violet?” Probably not well after learning she’s dying...

- Tara’s struggle with English vocabulary (especially oral expressions) feels so real!

- We’re going to see Harper? :D

- Is that guns and alchohol? Seriously? Is that beer or stronger alchohol? --’ Violet doesn’t seem at ease....

- It’s cool Harper ask about the alchohol being allowed for Muslims. She’s the first one in the serie to ask VIolet about Islam. You can’t learn about it if you don’t ask to people :) But maybe Violet isn’t the best to ask as she probably doesn’t know much. Wait, does she know about alchohol by the way?

- “I’m not a Muslim.” Is Violet rejecting everything about herself because she’s dying? Or is alchohol a way to cope with the big new? Or is she rejecting everything about Gabrielle’s identity because of the murder or Brion’s parents?

- She doesn’t want to talk to Brion and doesn’t like the taste :/

- What?

- “I have a boyfriend.” She clearly doesn’t need this to her emotions... And she sounds surprised? Is this a reminder or a news for Harper? It’s like 2 months she’s dating Brion so she should have told Harper right?

- “So do I.” The bi cheating trope, really? I HC a lot of characters as bi or pan and it’s not the first rep I wished... And it could have been handled better. Like Harper not kissing her a second time after she said no (I have a boyfriend so I’m not available for kissing someone else, if it wasn’t clear for everyone...). Harper not having a boyfriend but a crush on Violet for a long time, for example? Because the kiss seem to mean nothing to Harper, just a funny thing to do... You know, because bi people can’t stay in a relationship and get bored... --’

- How Violet could be so good at firing? Thanks to her training with Artemis? Motherbox senses?

- Wait, they are in Mount Justice beach, isn’t it private? How a cop could be there in the middle of nowhere or almost? Why didn’t she show up when Dick were firing with an ever bigger gun? It doesn’t make any sense! Or it’s just plot convenient...

- Violet’s hesitation really show how much she became self destructive because “I’m dying so why not? I have nothing to loose” kind of logic...

- Why they made the General so heartless? :( The cliche of the male soldier who is heartless and the female soldier who cannot do her mission properly because of love/mother instinct...

- I need to check YJ comics because I’m sure I can find some of them in it. *check* Ok I just found Serpenteen...

- Colonel Ramon Bracuda. So he’s indeed a Colonel xD

- Tara and Artemis!

- The slap at the end was unnecessary, Slade. She was already down... è.é

- Artemis is so good as a mentor! She understood what Tara had been through!

- Tara is surprised and afraid Artemis discovered she was trained. Maybe Artemis will be the one who understands she’s a mole and try to reason her. (Like she tried with her sister...)

- I love how Artemis shows her she can relate to her trauma and reassure her she won’t do the same.

- Tara’s smile again!

- Police station. Right.

- So Harper’s father is an alcoholic? That would explain why Harper want to forget about her life too... And where she found the bottle. Did she try to take the bottles away and wanted to try it instead?

- A whole day waiting? That parental abusive!

- I’m not sure Violet truly understood what happened to be honest... It’s a lot in a day! She’s sure having a bad one :(

- Guess it was an animated error last episode: Wendy still has her collar :(

- Of course Kaldur will find a solution for the girl :)

- Virgil, awkward... When he said “excuse” and then close his eyes because he realises it wasn’t the best word choice and Bart reassuring he understood he meant no harm :3 I love the Team dynamic :)

- With Ed, I’m never sure he’s looking at Bart or Wendy...

- “I want in.” In the hug? Of course he’s talking about the Outsiders xD Wait, what?! Doesn’t it seem out of character?

- Even Virgil didn’t seem to know.

- So Ed went to the funerals to support/confort Bart?

- So he talked to Bart and Jaime first? Ouch for Virgil...

- So half of the Runaways in the Outsiders. When do we get to see Tye and Asami? They should have been there in episode 16! Are they ok? Are they kidnapped again? :(

- “The kids here just don’t know you.” Yet! Come on, Ed, you could have invited all the Runaways, the first abducted metateens so the kids could relate to someone who go through the trauma. Virgil should be known in the Center! He is one of their own already! And that should have been Virgil’s character motivation to be part of the Outsiders and not the skin color... Black characters are more than just black they’re humans, you know? Where are the writers who wrote the other POC characters in the previous seasons? Anyway, the reason to do this for the kid would have been unnecessary if it was written properly with this character arc for Virgil because Ed was fine as a peer councelor to show to the kids there are other ways to use your powers than fighting bas guys, the living example for Paula’s point.

- So great everyone supports Ed’s decision.

- Yeah Virgil, his dad would totally freak out...

- Wendy is so small compared to the others! She seems to be 12. And Ed seems to have a big brother reaction who wants to be praised by the little sister ^^

- The comments said “The Outsiders are the best” in Spanish, no idea for the second one and “The Outsiders are unbeatable” in French :)

- “the Outsiders are bigger than the JL.” *Kaldur raises an eyebrow* priceless xD

- Klarion is still trapped in the Tower and it’s still so funny xD

#young justice #YJ reviews #watch young justice #watch young justice outsiders

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statusquoergo · 5 years ago

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S09E04 - Your recaps continue to be amazing and appreciated, thank you! I have yet to see the latest episode, but going by your recap, it seems like Donna and Lily were rather chummy (?). What are your thoughts on that? I have no eloquent reasoning here, but I feel like anyone who cares about Harvey would (should?) be more… not that. And I don't know why that of all things bugs me so much. Please analyse?

Oh,thank you! I’m so glad you like them! Yes, Lily and Donnahad quite an abbreviated interaction in the show proper, but theysure seemed to get along like a house on fire; “Lily, you have noidea how long I have been wanting to meet you.” “Probably just aslong as I’ve been wanting to meet you.” I’ll admit that myinitial reaction to that exchange was confusion at the whole “meetyou” part, since they were just…talking on the telephone, which,especially in the era of Skype and FaceTime, seems about asimpersonal as you can get (maybe not as bad as email, but you get mydrift), but you raise an interesting point. I apologize, this isgoing to get a little long, but… It’s all for a purpose, Ipromise.

Let’s start with “The Painting” (s06e12). In a flashback to,presumably, 2007, Donna tries to convince Harvey to attend hisfather’s funeral against Harvey’s objections that he doesn’twant to run into Lily: “She’s gonna be there, Donna.” “I knowshe is. But this funeral isn’t about her. And it’s not aboutyou.” So Donna knows very well the nature of Harvey’s relationship with hismother, despite never having met her; Harvey must have spoken abouther, so it’s a safe bet that Donna’s only (or at least primarily)heard bad things.

Yet the trigger for this episode is that on the heels of Jessica’sdeparture for Chicago, Mike has rejected Harvey’s offer to rejointhe firm as a consultant; Harvey expresses his fears to Donna that“they’re all leaving,” and she beseeches him to make up withhis mother so he’ll stop trying to use the firm to “fill thatvoid” in his life.

Minor aside, but it just occurs to me that this flies right in theface of the “found family” message this show keeps pushing, fromprior seasons (Mike and Harvey, e.g., “Harvey, you didn’t justgive me my dream. You gave me a family” [s05e10]) all the way up tothe current one (Samantha and Alex, e.g., “Well, maybe you should spendthe evening with your family.” “Who’s to say we wouldn’t be?”[s09e04]).

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Harvey is on the verge of ameltdown because his family (found family, to be specific) isbeginning to break up. We know Harvey is prone to panic attacks,triggered by, among, other things, perceived abandonment; I wouldn’thave been shocked if he’d had one right then, but I also wouldn’tbe shocked to learn that the writers forgot that that’s part of hischaracter, and in any event, Donna’s solution to this fracturing isfor Harvey to make amends with Lily.

Question: Why? Harvey has,to the best of my knowledge, good relations with Marcus at thispoint, so he’s not completely bereft of blood relatives toturn to for support, andMarcus is married with two kids, so he even has an extended family tofall back on. Harvey and Lily haven’t had a good relationship sincehe was, at most, 16 years old, and Donna thinks that the perfectmoment for them to starttalking again is right whenHarvey is, arguably, the most vulnerable? Thatis a bad, bad idea; if things gopoorly with Lily, Harvey willend up even worse off than before, and who knows what might happenthen. (I’m not even saying it didn’tend up badly, but this essay isn’t about Harvey’s willfulobstinacy or his submissiveness during stressful situations, so let’sjust skip over that.)

Now,why is this important? As you mentioned, it’s a bit odd thatanyone who cares about Harvey asmuch as Donna claims to woulddefect to his mother’s side during… Well, anything. Nevertheless,well before they ever meet, when all Donna knows about Lily is whatshe’s heard from Harvey, meaning that she has no reason to thinkLily is anything more than a toxic stain on Harvey’s past thathaunts his psyche to this very day, she goes out of her way topressure him to reconnect with her.

Somehow, at some point, Donnagot it in her head that Harvey can’t be estranged from any of hisfamily members, no matter the reason for that estrangement and itspotential benefit to him. Maybe she doesn’t think anyone should ever be at odds with their family and she’s just been waiting all this time for an opportunity to push Harvey and Lily back together? Who knows, that’s as plausible a theory as anything else.

So Donna’s decided Harvey needsto make up with his mother. He attempts to do soand, according to me, theendeavor is an abject failure, but according to canon, he’s quitesuccessful, so let’s go with that.Harvey returns triumphant, informs Donna that “It went well,” andpresumably embarks on an amicable relationship with Lily, or maybeeven a downright friendly one. Vindication for Donna!

And yet by the middle of Season9, Lily and Donna still haven’t met. Donna has done all thiswork—from forcing Harvey to attend his father’s funeral despiteknowledge that Lily will be there (s02e08) to forcing Harvey to meetup with her again and try to patch things up (s06e12)—andreaped none of the rewards. Very rude.

Although it’s possible that all this meddling somehow circles back to Donna’s relationship with her own parents, I think the more likely explanation is that as Harvey’s become increasingly broken by themounting losses in his life, culminating with the departure of Mike, Donna hasmolded him into an ideal (i.e.,compliant)partner for herself, part of that being his reconciliation with Lily,and she wants to settle in to harvest the fruits of her labor. She doesn’t carethat Harvey and Lily had such a terrible relationship for so longbecause they’re (supposedly) thick as thieves now,and from Donna’s perspective, that’s all that matters.

In essence, Donna doesn’t seem to be willing, orperhaps able, to take the past into consideration when conceiving ofthis oncoming relationship. She’s been hearing about Lily as longas she’s known Harvey; it doesn’t matter that it’s been mostlybad, because things are good right now,so all of that garbage is just something to look amiably back on asthey move into a brighter future masquerading as a storybook romance.Harvey, having lost most of his personality over the past two orthree seasons, isn’t really in a position to object, so I’mafraid this is what we’re stuck with.

I hope I addressed your question alright; thanks very much for asking!

#suits usa #s09e04 #season 9 #analysis #Anonymous

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junker-town · 3 years ago

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The Bulls’ big market vision is coming into focus

The Bulls are done thinking small about team building.

The Chicago Bulls spent the 20+ years following the end of their Michael Jordan-led dynasty as the biggest small market team in the NBA. With John Paxson as the long-tenured leader of the front office under owner Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls built their teams with a conservative approach that prioritized stability, flexibility, and profitability. When they got some good luck on their side, it worked out pretty well.

Paxson hit on a string of draft picks in the ‘00s that laid the foundation for a playoff-caliber team without a superstar. That changed when the Bulls cashed in a 1.8 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft and rights to Derrick Rose. Chicago leveled up again two years later when it hired Tom Thibodeau, a revolutionary defensive mind who earned his shot at the right time to take advantage of the league’s changing rules. He took the Bulls from a No. 8 seed to a No. 1 seed in his first year as Rose became the youngest MVP in league history.

Those Bulls teams were built through two methods: taking high-character college veterans in the draft, and signing role players to mid-sized contracts on the free agent market. When Chicago took its big swings at a superstar, it routinely came up whiffing. It couldn’t land Kobe Bryant after a highly publicized trade request, it struck out on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010, and it missed once more on Carmelo Anthony in an attempt to salvage the last vestiges of that era. Carlos Boozer and Ben Wallace were as good as it would get.

When bad luck came for the Bulls in the form of Rose’s injury issues, the front office couldn’t find any way out. Instead, Chicago management reverted back to its worst tendencies with decidedly different results. Doug McDermott, Denzel Valentine, and Tony Snell were a far cry from Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Taj Gibson. They threw foolish amounts of money at hometown players like Wade and Jabari Parker in an attempt to sell some tickets and capture the lost local magic of Rose. They fired Thibodeau to hire another buzzy name on the coaching carrousel — Fred Hoiberg — only to see he couldn’t live up to the hype.

The Bulls lucked their way into a superstar anyway when Jimmy Butler scratched and clawed his way into one as a former No. 30 overall draft pick. When it came time to pay him his value, Chicago balked. The Bulls traded Butler two years before his contract expired for a package of young players and one pick swap to start a long descent into the NBA abyss.

Over the next four years, the Bulls would win the fewest games in the NBA. Head coach Jim Boylen was an embarrassment to the team and the city on and off the court, with a high school gym teacher routine that didn’t play well with seasoned pros. As the losses piled up, fans started to take matters into their own hands calling for an overdue change in the front office. ‘Fire GarPax’ billboards and grassroots protests popped up around the city. Things reached another level when Chicago hosted the 2020 All-Star Game and the locals loudly chanted ‘Fire GarPax’ during an interview with aspiring All-Star Zach LaVine. Reinsdorf still wouldn’t fire Paxson, but Paxson eventually took the fans advice and stepped aside.

Somewhere along the line, the Bulls lost focus of what they should be. They had a global brand born out of Jordan’s greatness, but they acted more like the Indiana Pacers or the Orlando Magic. They crossed their fingers for lottery luck every year, but were lost when they didn’t get it. Even with ‘90s nostalgia hitting its peak, the Bulls had never seemed further away from the glamour franchise they once were.

Every team in the NBA can lose and pray the draft leads them to a star. Only a few can have star players want to join them. With the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas as the franchise’s new lead basketball decision-maker, the goal was get to the Bulls back to their rightful place in the league’s hierarchy.

If it hasn’t happened yet, it finally appears that the Bulls are on their way.

Photo by Ashley Landis - Pool/Getty Images

One year ago today, the Bulls felt lost and directionless. The franchise had pegged its hopes and dreams to Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Coby White as top-10 draft picks with little progress to show for it. LaVine was ascending, but there remained a debate over how much he really impacted winning. Boylen was still the head coach.

GarPax had left the cupboard incredibly bare after whiffing on at least eight consecutive first round draft picks following the selection of Butler (White would be No. 9 if he doesn’t pan out). None of the Bulls’ own players were were worth much in trades. Karnisovas had two options: trade LaVine amid his first All-Star season and rebuild again on his own terms, or get desperate and start trying to win now.

He made his decision on day of the 2021 trade deadline with the Bulls still sitting far out of playoff contention. Chicago traded two first round picks and Carter to the Magic for Nikola Vucevic, a 30-year-old two-time All-Star who had become one of the best post scorers in the NBA and was now shooting threes at a 40 percent clip. The move for Vucevic came completely out of left field, as did the next deal the Bulls made that day by sending out three more players, headlined by Daniel Gafford, and receive Daniel Theis and Troy Brown Jr. in the return.

It was easy to see the move for Vucevic as a shortsighted overpay, but it was the aggression and creativity the Bulls’ new front office showed that was really promising. The short-term returns on the deal were putrid: LaVine was placed in Health and Safety Protocol shortly after the deadline, and the Bulls failed to even make the play-in tournament. They surrendered the No. 8 overall pick to the Magic and still owe one more in 2023.

Karnisovas was adamant he wasn’t done, and knew he had major work to do entering the offseason. The Bulls had some avenues to cap space, but they chose to operate as an over-the-cap team. That meant Chicago’s long-rumored affection for restricted free agent Lonzo Ball would require the New Orleans Pelicans to cooperate. It happened in the first minute of free agency, with the Bulls working out a sign-and-trade and inking Ball to a four-year, $85 million deal.

Hours later, the Bulls struck again by signing Alex Caruso for the mid-level exception of $37 million over four years. Chicago had improved the team considerably, but the picture still felt incomplete with a gaping hole on the wing. That’s when Karnisovas made his most audacious move yet, acquiring DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade that sent out Thad Young and another first round pick (this one in 2025). DeRozan signed a three-year, $85 million deal.

While the Ball move was met with universal acclaim and the reaction to the Caruso signing was also positive (unless you were a Lakers fan), the Bulls were bashed for their DeRozan deal. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gave the Bulls a D- grade for the move. John Hollinger of The Athletic also panned it, writing “Chicago set itself up to chase a .500 record and a low-end playoff berth this year … and likely kneecapped its ability to do anything beyond that for the next half decade or so.”

In a vacuum, it certainly feels like the Bulls overpaid for DeRozan both in terms of his contract and the trade assets going back to San Antonio. The move shouldn’t be judged in a vacuum, though. The Bulls had a clear hole on the wing around Ball, LaVine, Vucevic, and last year’s No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams. Their trade assets were limited. LaVine is on the last year of his contract, and Vucevic is another year older. Chicago was desperate to make a push up the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and this was the best way to do it.

The Bulls didn’t care about ‘losing the deal’ when they signed DeRozan — they only cared about winning games. Given where they were a year ago, it certainly feels like they built the best team possible out of the assets at their disposal.

Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images

The Bulls now have a five-man lineup that fits together exceedingly well on the offensive end. There are four three-point threats in the starting lineup. They have two dynamic on-ball creators in the halfcourt. They have a big man equally comfortable scoring in the post or popping out behind the arc to hit threes. They have an ideal linking guard who can connect their backcourt star and frontcourt star together while igniting their transition attack.

LaVine and DeRozan were both excellent as pick-and-roll handlers last season. LaVine spent 43.5 percent of his possessions on those play types, per Synergy Sports, and scored exactly one point per possession, which graded out in the 82nd percentile of the league. DeRozan took 84 percent of his possessions as a pick-and-roll handler, and scored 1.02 points per possession. While LaVine has been used almost exclusively on the ball since coming to Chicago because the team has lacked competent playmaking, DeRozan’s late career leap as a facilitator could finally unlock his off-ball game in the halfcourt.

Even on the brink of his 32nd birthday, DeRozan can still bend defenses with his burst as a ball handler. He has improved his vision and his passing touch year-over-year after breaking the first line of defense, finishing with a 31 percent assist rate last season that ranked in the 100th percentile among forwards, per Cleaning the Glass. It’s easy to envision LaVine whipping around screens to look for an advantage as DeRozan directs the offense against a set defense and works to find his spots in a reliable mid-range game.

The LaVine-Vucevic pick-and-roll should also still be effective even if DeRozan fails to space the floor off the ball. LaVine is a dangerous pull-up shooter with a lightning-quick first step who can usually blow by his man and put the opposing defense into rotation. His issue has been consistently making the right decision with the ball after that happens, but he showed signs of progress last year by posting his highest assist rate since his rookie year. He just pulled off one of the most difficult tasks in basketball, posting great scoring efficiency numbers (63.4 percent true shooting) with a high (31 percent) usage rate. His job should only get easier with better teammates this upcoming season.

That starts with Vucevic. Vooch has always been something of a high-volume battering ram in the paint since entering the league out of USC. He is still living up to that reputation, posting the sixth highest frequency of post-ups and scoring the third most points per game on those play types, per NBA.com. His inside scoring touch is now complemented by a sweet shooting stroke. Between his time in Orlando and Chicago last season, he hit 40 percent of his threes on 6.3 attempts per game.

A more under-discussed part of Vucevic’s offensive profile is his passing ability. He has been one of the best passing big men in the league over the last five years, finishing in the 93rd percentile or higher in assist rate for centers over that time, per Cleaning the Glass. Vooch’s playmaking will provide an additional path to halfcourt offense, and should become even more effective now that the Bulls have an wonderful connecting piece in Ball.

Ball is one of the oddest players in the NBA. Despite being drafted as a point guard with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, his game hardly resembles a traditional floor general. He struggles to break down opposing defenses off the dribble and is allergic to both attempting shots at the rim and the foul line. Instead, Ball thrives as a quick ball mover, a reliable high-volume floor spacer (around 38 percent from three each of the last two years), and a transition spark plug. His feel for the game is his defining quality, and it should pop even more within a team contexts that tailored to suit his strengths. To add a soon-to-be 24-year-old of this caliber is a major addition in every way.

The wildcard is Williams. As the youngest full-time player in the NBA last season, Williams made 71 starts and drew the defensive assignment on the league’s biggest stars. He hit 39.1 percent of his threes, but was still a reluctant catch-and-shoot threat who often got in his own head after a couple misses. As the Bulls wait for him to become more confident as a shooter, Williams can also make an impact as a cutter and on the offensive glass. His defensive role will be far more important than his offensive role on this team. Williams has flashed impressive rim protection instincts, and has the frame to absorb contact at the rim. His development represents the organization’s cleanest path towards an even bigger climb up the standings, but it’s worth wondering if such a low-usage offensive role is what’s best for his long-term growth.

The Bulls’ offense ranked No. 21 in the league last year and could be due for a climb in or around the top-10. The defense is a different story, but it was surprisingly competent in Donovan’s first season, ending the year No. 12. Ball will help on the defensive end as an opportunistic playmaker who can force turnovers, while Caruso provides elite point of attack defense for a team that badly needs it.

Chicago still needs a backup center who can offer some rim protection (update: they signed Tony Bradley). They could use a more versatile forward with superior defensive capability on the bench than what Markkanen can offer. The wing depth could still be a problem. Even at their best, the defense may very well be an adventure.

With these caveats aside, the most important thing is the Bulls now have a five-man lineup that fits well and makes sense. The scope of the rebuild over the last five months as been remarkable. Given how aggressive Karnisovas was in getting to this point, there’s no reason to think he’ll start settling now.

It’s easy to think the Bulls overpaid for what’s likely to be a low-end playoff team in the East. The Bucks and Nets are still way, way ahead of the rest of the conference, and breaking into the second tier of the East — alongside the 76ers, the Heat, and the Hawks — would be a huge accomplishment. The third tier — led by the Knicks and Celtics — won’t be easy to surpass, either.

For the Bulls, cashing in their future draft picks and giving up a huge contract to DeRozan was simply the price of doing business. Whatever the reward is at the end of the season is also only a small piece of the big picture. For once, the Bulls are acting like a big market team and may just be establishing themselves as a destination for top-end talent down the line. Given the way superstar transactions work in the NBA — with the player often picking his destination rather than the team trading him to the highest bidder — it would be foolish to think they’re locked in to this current group. The Bulls only need one true A-list player to like what they’re building and see his future in Chicago.

Fans and media have a way of romanticizing building from the ground up through drafting and development. It’s incredibly satisfying when it works out, but teams also run the risk of wasting year after year if they don’t get the proper lottery pick or make the wrong pick. The end of the GarPax era is proof of that. The Bulls were going nowhere fast without some dramatic moves, and Karnisovas had the guile to pull them off with the help of GM Marc Eversley (who had a close relationship with DeRozan) and cap expect J.J. Polk (who figured out how to add all these pieces without cap space).

The Bulls would like to view these moves as a first step, not a final one. Their draft pick ammunition is depleted for the next few years, but they suddenly have a lot of tradeable pieces. The way the new front office has reworked the team in such a short timespan should be encouraging for future transactions.

Chicago’s new front office seems to be operating under one guiding principle: improve the team at all costs, and figure out how to do it again later. Regardless of how it plays out, it’s clear the Bulls are done thinking small. It’s about time.

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