#i’m also super curious about if she interviewed in the same round that i did. because if i was the first choice and not her… 👀👀👀

[fingertipsmp3]

Did something toxic and now I feel bad

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 5

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: You go to BigHit for your second interview and are surprised to learn the client is a familiar face. 

Author’s Note: TY everyone for reading <3 I am here for the awkward flirtation in this chapter XD

Previous chapter here ---------

You returned to your jobs for the next few days without hearing anything. On Tuesday you received an email **Google Calendar invitation: Audition/Final interview. Very Personal Assistant. BTS Corporate Accept/Decline**

You found yourself strangely nervous as you prepared for the interview. You didn’t actually think you would get this far. You picked out a basic black dress and some cute flats for the day before you left the house. Personal assistant/girlfriend/wife wasn’t exactly a job you had interviewed for before. You found it difficult to focus at your desk all morning; your stomach doing flip-flops. Would you be meeting with Dimples...er...Namjoon again or would you be meeting the client? You had said you didn’t care what the guy looked like, and that was true, but you would like to meet a person and speak to them before making such a big commitment. Before you knew it, the time had come. You hopped onto the subway and headed for the middle of the city.

You entered the BigHit Building with sweaty hands and were waived over to the front desk where a Security guard verified your information. Your throat was so dry you had difficulty answering basic questions. Great. You headed over to the elevator. As you were waiting for it to come down you noticed a tall man wearing a baseball cap stride confidently into the building and right past security. He walked over to the elevators and stood next to you. You glanced up at him. Holy shit that was the famous model, V.  You quickly looked back at the elevator door. You had totally forgotten that models worked here. I guess If I end up working here stuff like that is just normal, you thought to yourself.  The two of you entered the elevator.

“What floor?” He asked, his voice deeper than you would have guessed. You had only seen him in print ads, although you knew he had done some commercials as well.

“22nd please.” You willed your voice to stay calm. How dare a super gorgeous model invade your space and make you nervous when you were already nervous.

“Me too,” he flashed a smile. A very cute smile that made him almost look like a little kid.  He turned back to face the doors saving you from making any awkward small talk.

The ride lasted about a minute, with a few other people entering and exiting. By the time you arrived at the 22nd floor it was just the two of you again. V was a gentleman and gestured for you to exit before him. You did, but then you had to pause and decide which way to go. You looked for a directory. 

“Namjoon’s office is on the right, Jin’s is on the left. And since Jin is out of the country, I’m guessing you’re on your way to Namjoon’s.” V said as he strolled off the elevator and to the right.

“Thanks.” You follow him. “I am meeting with Mr. Kim today. I appreciate the directions.”

“Any time. Hey Jimin.” he said as the two of you entered a wide open area with couches, window views, and a large reception desk. A man who also looked like he could be a model was sitting there, his blonde hair styled absolutely perfectly. “Hey V.” He responded without looking up.

V looked over at you with a grin, pointing to Jimin, then shrugged his shoulders . He found this situation funny. You walked over to the desk. “Umm Excuse me. "

Jimin jumped back in his chair, very surprised. “Shit. where did you come from?”

“I’m so sorry,” you said, covering your mouth with your hands.  V laughed in the background. “We got off the elevator at the same time. You must not have seen or heard me.”

“V. You did that on purpose!” Jimin shouted around you, pointing his finger. V cackled and had a seat on one of the sofas.  

You were beginning to apologize again when you heard the office door open. You all froze.

 “What the hell is going on out here?” Namjoon asked, one hand still on the door. “[Y/N] I should have known.” Jimin turned around surprised that his boss was speaking to you so rudely and casually. “Get in here,” he gestured to the door opening. Jimin opened his mouth to try and explain the commotion, but you were already on your way to the door.

“Oh my God I’m here for an interview, not to get called into the principal’s office.” You responded as you passed Namjoon and into his office.

Jimin and V both stared at each other, determined not to laugh. 

Namjoon stood there with an irritated expression. “Always. Always with the mouth.” He said as you walked through the door. He looked back, “Jimin, hold my calls until I tell you.”

Jimin nods. The minute the door shut he and V started to wheeze while trying to laugh quietly.

V walked over to the desk . “Who is that?” 

“They’re interviewing assistants for Yoongi. The other girl left half an hour ago.” Jimin pauses for a second, “I can’t believe I yelled "shit" at her.”

V laughed again. “She doesn’t seem like the type to be easily offended. So she’s probably a perfect assistant for Yoongi.”

“That’s true.” Jimin agreed. 

On the other side of the door you were still congratulating yourself on your quip against Namjoon when you were surprised to see a familiar face. It was the guy who left his headphones behind last week. Today he was dressed nicer, wearing jeans and a shirt with a vest. His hair was longer than you would have guessed, now that it was free from the black baseball cap. You felt your heart begin to speed up even more.

You had gotten so caught up in accidentally scaring the poor receptionist and messing with Namjoon you had forgotten you were nervous. A fact that you were very much aware of at this exact moment. Your hands were wet and sweaty again and your throat became dry.

“[Y/N] this is music producer Min Yoongi. Aka Suga. Aka the client.” Namjoon gestured to the shorter man and then walked around to the other side of his room, taking a seat at his desk.

You stand there for a few seconds, taking it all in, and then remember that you are being interviewed. You force something out, "Hey there stranger." 

He smirked, “Hey. Welcome to round 2 of the interview I guess.” He sounded almost shy. Which didn’t match his facial expression. 

“Thanks. Are you our chaperone? " You called over to Namjoon who was sitting there barely paying attention to the meeting and scrolling through his phone

" Something like that. Pretend I’m not even here.”

"OK. Well it's nice to officially meet you, Min Yoongi. I'm Y/N. I'd shake your hand but mine are so very sweaty. " You said before you were able to censor yourself. 

You heard Namjoon sigh as your lack of decorum. Yoongi just continued on as though everything was normal. 

"You as well.” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet slightly. “First of all, do you have any questions for me?" 

You weren't expecting the interview to begin like that. But there definitely were some questions you had about all of this. 

"Ooo I get to interview you? This is unexpected.” You paused for several seconds, pursing your lips together in thought, “Ok. I got it! First question: You're good looking. You seem nice enough. I’m guessing you have a pretty good job if you’re working here, so….what's wrong with you? 

Yoongi stood there for a minute with his mouth open. To your surprise, he responded in a whiny voice," Why would you ask me something like that?" He sounded much younger and more casual than he had before and started to rub the back of his neck.

He turned back to Namjoon, “You weren’t kidding.”

Namjoon just raised his eyebrows, still scrolling.

You scoffed," You told me to ask you questions. An arranged marriage was your first choice? Really?" 

Yoongi tried to play it cool. He had come up with his BigHit-sanctioned backstory. "Namjoon, where did you find this girl again?” You couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I picked her up in a bar. I warned you. You pulled her resume," he said almost bored. "Although it is refreshing to have her go after someone else for a change." 

You rolled your eyes. "Why tell me to ask you questions if you didn't want to answer them?" 

Yoongi shrugged, ready to sell the lie. "It makes sense. I gave a list of what I liked and the agency picked you. I'm busy. I'm not interested in dating, but due to circumstances beyond my control I am in need of a long term companion. Someone to attend events with me, travel with me, etcetera etcetera. You read the job description. "

"You want someone to act like your girlfriend?" You asked. Yoongi pulled at his shirt sleeves and hesitated for a moment.

He didn't actually want any of this bullshit, but for the sake of his career and with Namjoon sitting right there, he didn't have a lot of options. He took a deep breath. "Yes. That. I mean a wife would be ideal so we could just skip over all that courtship nonsense."

A dry laugh escaped your lips, "A true romantic. I'm touched, really." You realized the two of you were both still standing. This was by far the strangest interview you had ever been on. "I'm curious as to what your desired qualifications were outside of liking music and a proficiency in Microsoft Word." 

Yoongi paused for a minute, feeling his cheeks blush a little. Surely a little honesty wouldn't hurt. "Ahhh well you see, I can't reveal all of that to you. But you definitely stood out in the interview process.”

You smirked. "Really? What stands out about an average-looking girl that curses too much and drinks waaaay too much shitty coffee?" 

"Shitty coffee wasn't on the list but surely you met most of my criteria or you wouldn't be here." He cleared his throat. "Now it's my turn to ask some questions. Let's start where you did: tell me, what's wrong with you?"

You fidgeted slightly. You sure as hell weren’t going to go into the whole situation with Suho. "My parents are gone and left me and my younger siblings with no money. We're living in a cramped apartment with my aunt and niece. I want to send my sister and brother to school and I want my brother to not have to sleep on the floor or couch every night.” Your honest answers flooded out of you, “I didn't think this offer was real. I figured it would be some weird sex pervert thing or something illegal but I figured it couldn't hurt to go to the interview since it was at a Cafe."

To your absolute shock he responds, "Who says I'm not some weird sex pervert?" He swipes his lips with a tongue.

He had seemed almost shy until about two seconds ago. You kept the same expression you had been wearing. Two could play that game. Your years of bartending made you fluent in flirting. You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, "Guess we'll find out on the wedding night. I need to get back to work soon. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Yoongi was still slightly shocked by the last exchange the two of you had had and he just shook his head.

Namjoon got up from his desk. " Good, I can’t take much more of you two lovebirds discussing your future sex life. Well if that's all, you're free to go. We'll be in touch." 

You picked up your bag and looked over at Yoongi who was looking down and blushing (?!). "I'd say it was nice to meet you but honestly it's just been really fucking weird." 

He laughed and you noticed he has a very unique smile, full of small straight teeth and the tiniest bit of his gums. Cute. He looked back up, his cheeks still a little pink. "I guess if it works out I'll have my people call your people." 

You smiled back, "Yeah, yeah something like that. See you later. Or never again. Bye" 

“You’re not supposed to say the word “fucking” in a job interview Tokki, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Yoongi heard Namjoon scold you on the way out the door as he closed it behind him.

You pouted your lips, “Whatever. I think Mr. Min liked it. And are we back to nicknames again Asshole?I thought we were trying to keep it professional here.”

He rolls his eyes but you can tell he’s trying not to smile. “Oh my God just leave. I’ll email you more information soon.” 

You looked around and found the reception area empty with a little "out of office" sign on the desk. You had wanted to apologize for the interruption earlier. Oh well. You realized that Namjoon had told you he would be emailing you. And you had definitely got a good vibe from the interview, as weird as it had been. You got onto the elevator. You decided you would need to at least tell your Aunt soon about the job you might get so she wouldn’t be totally blind-sided if you moved out. 

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

"So…" Namjoon asked as he re-entered his office, "Were either of those ladies tolerable? I mean… I know the second one isn't really tolerable on a good day but it seemed like it went well.”

"Yeah. Hire her. Thanks." Yoongi responded, trying to ensure his voice remained emotionless. "When is her start date?"

Namjoon was pleasantly surprised at how easy this part of the process is going. "If she accepts she could begin Monday, but she would probably want to give her other jobs two weeks notice, and she has to move. So realistically, two to three weeks" 

"OK…" Yoongi said, coming to terms that this was actually happening.

"I'll draw up the paperwork and send it to her tomorrow and let you know." Namjoon replied. He realized this was the longest he and Yoongi had ever had a conversation without arguing about something. 

"Yeah OK," Yoongi headed towards the door. "Later." 

Yoongi passed through the empty reception area and down to his studio. He put his head in his hands and sighed. So this was happening. Fine. [Y/N] seemed nice enough. Her heart was in the right place. She hadn't even mentioned herself when the reason she wanted the job came up. He could deal with this. He sat down at his computer to try and get some actual work done today. NEXT CHAPTER

@lidda  @anpanman-sonyeondan  @firefairy1  @cuteipat​  @sugaslittlekookies

[burnedbyshoto]

Welcome Home - Part Four

todoroki shouto x mom!reader

warnings: vomit tw, fluff

word count: 3,062

a/n: so we back and better than evah with domestics for shouto and kaito!!!!! got some requests to do this, and finally after having this done since like august. its finally posted!!!!!! enjoy anons!!!! also can totally be read as a stand alone, but ill link the other parts too.

Part One  Part Two  Part Three

It was safe to say you were in pain.

It was currently week twenty of your second pregnancy. To say the least you are always exhausted, in pain, hormonal, sad, angry, elated, and swollen. Even at week twenty, you were not at all showing. It had helped you continue to be an active Pro-Hero until week fifteen. It was now nearing the holidays. Statistic speaking most villain activity spiked around that time. So when you almost fainted on the job, Shouto forced you into maternity leave.

With Kaito still being four and requiring you to be around, you couldn’t go back and teach at U.A.! So you were able to stay at home restless, unattended to, and alone. 

You were now in your second trimester of pregnancy and you still had yet to tell Kaito. Hell! You still hadn’t seen the doctor outside of the pregnancy confirmation! As of lately, the paparazzi were interfering with your personal lives. You weren’t public with this pregnancy secret yet.

To be rather honest, it scared you to tell Kaito. The absolute thought of telling your sweet baby boy made you too nervous. It was to the point you were shivering and sweating thinking about it. You weren’t sure how he was going to react to this news. He would be turning five in a few weeks too. The night you had told Shouto you are pregnant again you promised something. You promised Shouto that the two of you would break the news before his birthday. But your fears were getting to you.

The last thing you wanted was for Kaito to feel that you were going to abandon him! He had bawled so much on the first day of preschool because he thought you and Shouto were leaving him! Yes, he is older than that first day of school, but he was still a mama’s boy! Even at five, Kaito demanded and loved the attention he got from the both of you! Babies were time and energy-consuming. Kaito already had less time with both of you working. Even with the above-average energy and stamina you and Shouto had, you were sure tire every day. 

So there you sat at home. You were crying as you thought about your redheaded baby as you tried cleaning. The other sound besides your sobs was the TV. You were currently watching a LIVE interview with Pro-Hero Shouto. 

Shouto was out on another island of Japan right now. He was finishing a national tour that his PR team made him go on. Given that your pregnancy was still unknown he agreed, as you two said no one could know until Kaito knew. But as you scrubbed the living room table, you wailed looking at Shouto. Your husband was looking way too attractive with his newest hero costume. On top of everything, this pregnancy was making you horny. And you couldn’t even do anything about it without Shouto there! Well, you could, but you ached so much! Most nights you almost always fell asleep the moment when your head hit the pillows. At least when Shouto wasn’t home that's what happened. Stupid baby hormones. 

You turned your attention back to the TV screen. The interview so far had been about a recent villain attack Shouto had put down in world-record speeds. Shouto had captured twenty villains in two seconds because they froze when they saw him. None of which having an effective quirk to counter the ice trapping their bodies. After a commercial break, and a promise of learning more about the personal life of Shouto, they were back! You were curious about what was going to happen. Shouto, after all, was still missing a few situational cues even at the age of twenty-eight.

“So, Shouto!” The TV hostess chirped, pushing the wisps of her hair that fell out of her bun out of her face. “You and another amazing Pro-Hero: Y/h/n make a fantastic duo out there fighting villains! You two have amazing chemistry out on the field.”

You couldn’t help the laughs that escape your lips at that statement. Oh, if only Pro-Hero Shouto was the same as Provisional Licensed Shouto in dealing with the media. He would have been so confused with that statement. You watched Shouto’s composed face melt from his media face into one you recognize as one he uses when you talk to him. “Yes, Y/h/n is, in fact, a wonderful hero, and she is amazing to work with no matter the task.”

“I bet it helps she’s your wife, too, huh?” The hostess blushes as she giggles and shouts of approval and joy echo with the live audience.

Shouto chuckles as he nods his head, “It does help, yes.”

You can’t help but roll your eyes. You and Shouto were one of the first top-ranked Pro-Heroes to get married. The both of you had been the Number One Hero at some point within your so far ten-year career. It also seemed that no matter how many years of marriage went by. Or how many times the media mentioned it, everyone still giggled about your romance. As if you both were in denial. 

“And of course, your beautiful baby, Kaito-kun!”

The screen behind them presents the single photo you and Shouto had shared of Kaito. It was the first day of school for him. Kaito was wearing the navy blue uniform of the school. The shorts ironed, crisped, and clean. The white-collar of his shirt peaked out over the blue blazer of his school. The crest printed over the right pocket. Kaito’s blazing red hair had a styled back into a 'comb-over'. It was fancy for school! But Kaito had insisted he wanted it stylized “like papa” as it was Shouto’s go-to for any fancy event.

Kaito's smile was large and wide. His eyes squinted because of the large grin. Despite the amount of excitement and enthusiasm in the picture, he clutched onto your leg. You remembered the tight grip he had on you. Because while he loved taking pictures, he was nervous about starting pre-school. You had been wearing a nice, modest outfit of yours in celebration of his new year. Stylized and with makeup on. You had a hand on Kaito, while the other held onto Shouto. A smile on your face.

Shouto was also dressed up in a navy blue suit. Kaito begged him to wear it in case he was the only one in a navy blue uniform. 

Kaito didn’t quite understand that everyone was going to be wearing the same uniform. Still, Shouto had dressed up the way Kaito demanded to ease his anxiety. Kaito believed no one could make fun of him if the Pro-Hero Shouto–his papa–dressed up that way! Shouto’s hair styled exactly like Kaito, and a gentle smile on his face. His arm wrapped around you as well. His other hand resting on top of your hand resting on top of Kaito’s shoulder.

Of course, after the photo was taken, you and Shouto walked Kaito to the classroom. Kaito bawled for quite a long time, and you cried with him too. Shouto had to hug you that entire morning because you had been so sad. When you and Shouto went to pick him up later that day Kaito was ecstatic to tell you about his day. Many of his classmates were in awe over who his parents were and so it helped him to create friends.

“What a beautiful family, I'm serious. I’m jealous!” The hostess sighed as there was another round of vocal agreement from the crowd. 

“Yeah, Kaito and Y/n make me happier,” Shouto says softly as he continues looking at the photo of the three of you. “They are my world.”

The audience and you make an awing noise, but your tears crack your voice.

“Speaking of family,” The hostess slyly states, a cunning twinkle in her eye. “Can you give us any insight on why Y/h/n retired from the scene for a while? Don’t think we haven’t noticed her not appearing with you for the past few weeks!”

Shouto chuckles as he shifts in his seat, “Is she pregnant again?” The hostess questions, and your heart rate increases, and as Shouto’s mouth opens to lie, your alarm goes off. Cursing under your breath, you run to your phone, it was time to pick up Kaito from school.

“Mama! GueSS WHAT!” Kaito shrieked as he threw himself into your arms, and you groaned as his knee hit up against your sore stomach. 

“Let me see, did your best friend finally get his quirk?”

“Well, he did it’s super cool, he can make food appear whenever he wants! I had so many chicken nuggets!” Kaito exclaims as you press a kiss to his temple, his once styled hair resembled close to a rats nest on his head. Oh, those Todoroki men just could never keep their hair tidy. “But that’s not it, silly mama!”

You hummed in thought. Kaito's waiting for your response as he waves goodbye to his fellow friends and strangers. “Did you find your missing sock? The one you weren’t wearing when I came to pick you up yesterday?” You asked tickling Kaito’s stomach.

“Well… I lied, I well... I accidentally burned it when I was showing off my quirk to my friend.” Kaito meekly stated and you laughed, he had already told you that yesterday. It seemed that he had already forgotten.

“Okay, well your mama is out of guesses, what happened today?” You asked as Kaito placed his head on your shoulder, his fingers playing with your hair.

“Midoriya-chan had a baby brother.” Kaito sighed as he placed your hair against his face, and you looked down at Kaito who stared back at yours. His y/e/c piercing through you, but he had no idea that he was. “Which means that Midoriya-ojii-san can’t come to babysit me anymore!”

You nod your head as you sighed. Typical Kaito forgetting that he had found that out a few weeks ago! You and Shouto had taken Kaito to the hospital to meet Midoriya's new baby too. You and all your female friends had by coincidence gotten pregnant around the same time. It seemed that it was still happening even now.

“We met baby Midoriya last week, remember?” You prod softly as you let Kaito down as he bounded up the door, “Didn’t you say you wanted to be a big brother to him?”

“I want to be a big brother!” Kaito agreed, his head nodding as you unlocked the door, “But only so that the baby can eat my asparagus!”

Laughter overtakes you, and quickly you began to cry as you locked the door behind you. After settling down you instruct Kaito to finish his homework as he was ready to do anything but that.

Later that night, you and Kaito sat at the table eating dinner while singing along to the songs on the radio. Kaito sighed rubbing his face, “Mama, when’s papa coming back? He’s been gone for so long! I miss him...”

Your face fell in the overwhelming love you had for your child and his love for his father. “I miss your papa, too. He’s supposed to be back tomorrow, baby. Remember he called us last night and told you?”

“Yeah, but he could’ve been lying! Like when he tells you he’s doing nothing when me and him get cookies! Okay, but don’t tell him I miss him!” Kaito grinned as he shoved white rice into his mouth.

“Why wouldn’t I tell your papa that?!” You gasp looking at Kaito with squinted eyes, he was such a brat sometimes.

“Easy! I wouldn’t want papa to be sad, and then make you mad because papa loves me more than he loves you!”

You roll your eyes at your red-headed child and sighed. “I can do that, as long as you promise not to tell your papa that he’s no longer my favorite!”

“HAHAHA PAPA ISN’T YOUR FAVORITE—hey, wait, maMA!!”

The sounds of Kaito and you shouting and laughing audible from down the street. The night seems to only begin as you and your son play fought around the dining room.

But it came to a quick end when you had to stop Kaito who was trying to climb up your leg. Your body felt completely nauseous, and the gag in your throat told you that you were about to throw up. So you ran to the bathroom, Kaito’s worried screams following after you.

Bile and vomit rose up your throat as your retched into the toilet. The bitter acid burning your mouth as you threw up for a solid minute. You felt like your body was on fire as you sank to the floor unable to stop your sobs.

“Are you okay, mama?! Please tell me you're okay, mama!” Kaito shook your shoulder, and you could hear the tears in his voice as you rose back up to throw up again.

“Kaito-chan, move please.” The smooth voice of your husband calls and you look up to see Shouto in the doorway, still donning his costume.

“Papa, mama is th-throwing up!” Kaito sobbed as Shouto stepped over to you. Placing his left hand on your back, and his right hand on your neck, your body felt better as soon as his quirk activates.

Your sobs slowly stopped. You felt your sickness ease while Shouto is careful while massaging your body. Kaito is now plugged by your side, his cheeks wet with tears, and you rub your fingers into his scalp. Your free hand moves to touch your beginning to swell belly as you looked up at Shouto. Your head nodding, and a nonverbal agreement came between the two of you. You were sure you had vomit in the corner of your mouth, but Shouto leans down and presses a gentle kiss to your lips. It's an encouraging kiss, and you feel at ease. After flushing the toilet for you, Shouto sat down on the bathroom floor, handing you a cup of water that you swallow down in thanks.

The entire Todoroki family finally accounted for.

“I’m okay, baby,” You whisper, continuing to stroke Kaito's head, “I’m okay.”

“What’s wrong with you, mama?” Kaito asks, his eyes red and puffy as he stared into your face. His tiny hands coming to press themselves up against your cheeks. “You’re not dying, are you!?”

You watch as Shouto comes and places a hand on Kaito’s head, ruffling his hair softly. “We actually have a secret we need to tell you,” Shouto says as Kaito whips his head to stare at his father. “You have to promise to keep our little secret though.”

Kaito blinks a few times. He is unsure of what this secret could be, but he nods his head as he squirms in your arms until he’s sitting in your lap. “I can... I can do that.”

“You know how I asked you if you wanted to be a big brother earlier?” You say nuzzling Kaito’s soft hair with your nose. You feel Kaito’s head nod, he was still oblivious to what's coming.

“Your mama is pregnant, Kaito.” Shouto continues as the two of you study Kaito, who turns his attention towards you. His confusion on the word pregnant swimming in his eyes.

“You’re going to be a big brother, Kaito-chan.” You whisper, tears forming in your eyes.

Kaito stands up from your lap and sits on his knees, staring at your belly. You watch as your breath hitches as he gets rather close to your belly, and places his small hand on you. “Hi, little brother, or little sister, my name is Todoroki Kaito! I’m your big brother! I don’t really know what you do? Did my mama eat you? If so, I will tell her to poop you out because that’s mean of her! I’m mama AND papa’s favorite though, so don’t be jealous when you find out they love me more! Oh! Also! I have a lot of toys you can play with!”

You stared up at Shouto with tears flowing down your face. Your facial expressions changing from glee to utmost sadness. But your eyes gaze lovingly at your husband who also wipes a tear away as your son talks to your belly. You grabbed Shouto’s hands bringing him closer to you.

You kissed him gently, over and over.

“Welcome home, Shoucchan.” You sniffle as he continued pressing small pecks to your mouth.

“Papa is kissing mama, it’s pretty gross!! Papa takes all the kisses away from mama, and all the leftovers are for me, so don’t be sad if you don’t get any! We’ll just have to kick papa out of mama's kiss list!”

A snort escapes Shouto’s as he leans back rolling his eyes, “Damn kid,” He whispers and you laugh full of mirth.

“You know what, Kaito-chan?” You say as your son tears his one-sided conversation from your belly.

“What, mama?”

“Your papa does lie a lot, look he’s back today!”

there’s going to be one more part for this little unintentional series, but i think after that it may be time to retire kaito and co. only because i don’t want to bore you all. i hope you guys liked it! please comment and like if you did ;)

bonus!

“Alright, y/n-sama, and Todoroki-sama, and Kaito-chan! Let’s have a look at the baby!” The doctor smiles as she places the gel on your belly. A gasp escaping your lips from the coldness and sudden pressure of the ultrasound on your stomach.

“So my mama didn’t eat my baby? Are you sure?!” Kaito asks again as he holds onto your hand peering at your relatively small belly still. “She doesn’t look fat enough to have done that!”

“Kaito!” You and Shouto exclaim, staring at your son who decides to laugh as he plays with you hair.

“How many weeks are you again?” Your doctor asked, confusion coming across her face.

“Twenty-two.” You say glancing her way, you were nervous, why was that a major concern.

“Well, if you would like to look, here’s your first babies head.” The doctor states. Her finger pointing at a fuzzy circle. You were never good at seeing the baby through an ultrasound picture.

Wait did she say—

“First?!” Kaito says a horrified gasp on his face, “MY MAMA ATE TWO BABIES?!”

“Congrats Todoroki-san’s, you’re having twins! One girl and one boy!”

You looked over at Shouto who seemed just as shocked as you. “Oh my god…”

Tears flow out your eyes and you see the same for Shouto as he comes down to give you the gentlest of kisses.

“Papa, mama ate my baby brother and sister and you’re kissing her?! You must reaaallllyyyy love her!”

“I do really love your mama, Kaito-chan, don’t you?”

“Of course I do! BUT she ate my baby brother and baby sister. That's CRAZY!"

[jawnkeets]

hi! i hope ur well :) ik ur probably suuuuuuper busy with the oxford life but i just wanted to let u know that i sent in an ask a little while ago about books and ox interviews and idk if tumblr ate it (like it sometimes does!!!) but i’d rly appreciate it if u could answer it whenever u get round to it. thank u sm and p.s. ur blog is goals and i love it!

hi! hope ur well! i’m an oxbridge applicant and i was just wondering, from ur personal experience do they care about what kind of books you’ve read? i’ve read quite a few classics but i also rly like ya fantasy and stuff, does that matter? could i talk about them or does it have to be all books from the canon? i don’t mean for this to come across as rude i’m just genuinely curious! p.s. ur blog is amazing :)

Yo random question: when you knew you were applying for Oxford and were choosing books did you pick ones particularly for Oxford or ones you wanted to read and would have read regardless? Just wondering because I’m a big fan of fantasy novels (particularly young adult) and I don’t think I can talk about those at interview, unless I’m mistaken?... Would love to know your thoughts! Thank you :) p.s. if you could give some advice on choosing good classic books or recommend some that would be great!

hey! so i’m pretty sure the two asks above are both from u (but lmk if i’m wrong!!), so will answer these together ☺️ and really sorry it’s taken so long - has been a very hectic few weeks. and also thanks so much for being so nice about my blog! it’s also almost 1am so hope this response makes sense haha

so, the aim of the game in my view is always always to get across your passion about what you genuinely love to read. it’s possible to just read books you think will please an oxford academic, but it’s 1) it’s naturally a guessing game, and different academics have different tastes and interests anyway and 2) your love of literature is more likely to come across if you’re talking about stuff you’re genuinely interested in. and btw in reference to the first ask you can absolutely question ‘the canon’ when applying to oxford, and whilst at oxford!!

that said, you do need to demonstrate that the course will be a good fit for you, and indicate that you fully appreciate its range (oxford english’s span is brooooad). this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have read old or middle english lit before you came (i didn’t), though it doesn’t hurt, but more that if you’re going to choose to discuss books you probably won’t be studying, it would help to demonstrate that you’re thinking about them critically in a way where the skills can then map on to books you will be studying (which i’m sure you will do anyways!). it might also help to just add a little something that shows you appreciate what you’re getting yourself into range-wise, if it’s not self-evident from the personal statement throughout (e.g. you mention beowulf and paradise lost and mrs dalloway) - i put something about looking forward to studying earlier periods of lit at uni too in my penultimate sentence (though obviously do it in a way that’s natural for and authentic to your particular personal statement).

you also don’t have to see the two as super separate, and can integrate ‘classic lit’ and ‘young adult lit’ into one discussion/ paragraph (and actually, this is good to do)! so if you like medieval-inspired YA fantasy, you could read around actual medieval works, or see what someone like tolkien has said about the medieval period. if you like YA vampire novels, you could delve into gothic texts. i wrote a post that’s kind of about choosing fun classic books if you love young adult too (though it’s great that you’ve read quite a lot already), which is hopefully helpful.

something to finish with that you might find comforting and perhaps surprising - i worked on the UNIQ summer school at oxford this year (a week-long residential, though it was online this year, that helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds put forward a strong application and gain confidence - side note, would be really worth seeing if you’re eligible bc it’s soooo good), and for one talk an oxford academic talked about how you might go about putting together a great personal statement. and she used circe by madeline miller as an example! she suggested putting it together with greek lit and older english lit referencing the same characters etc, how things are shaken up and which things stay the same and why, etc.

hope this helps! also, you might want to check out my FAQ if you’re applying for other tips ❤️

[iliketoreadstuf]

newbie (spencer reidxOC!) Part 1

a/n: if you’ve looked at my blog recently, you would know that i’m obsessed with spencer reid and criminal minds rn so it was only a matter of time before i wrote for it.

warnings: depictions of sexual assault to main character, some violence, criminal minds case stuff

blurb: delaney wilmer is the newest and youngest agent at the bau. she takes a quick liking to the second youngest agent, spencer reid. teasing and fluff ensues.

chapter 1:

Rain pattered on Delaney’s window as her alarm clock woke her up. With a groan, she reached her arm out to turn it off as she checked the time. 6:30. Much too early for her first day at the FBI. Delaney had recently graduated from the Academy and had been through countless weeks of interviews for the BAU. When she finally got the job, she couldn’t believe it. She was 23, and more than ready to start her dream job. She felt like she’d been training for it her whole life. With a small grin, she pushed her blankets off of her and walked to her bathroom.

After making sure she looked ready, she grabbed her bag and walked out of her apartment. Her hands were steady as she drove to Quantico, her body buzzing with anticipation but also anxiety. She was young and although she was qualified and intelligent, she felt underprepared. But that was why she wanted this job, she wanted to get into the field firsthand and help people. She parked her car and walked into the building.

She went up the elevator and walked out with a bounce in her step. With a light smile, she walked into the bullpen. A few curious faces looked at her, wondering who she was. Spencer Reid was the first one to look up. His jaw dropped as he put his file down. Derek Morgan immediately noticed Reid and looked over to who he was staring at. A smirk quickly found his face as he rolled his chair over to Reid’s desk.

“Think she’s pretty?” He asked slyly, watching as Reid’s pupils dilated just watching Delaney walk.

“W-what? No. No, I don’t.” Spencer scoffed, a blush rising on his cheeks as he looked away.

“Okay, sure, pretty boy.” Derek laughed, patting his friend on the shoulder.

After Derek went back to his desk, Spencer looked back over to Delaney. The room seemed to light up where she was. She wore a light yellow pencil skirt with a knitted cream top tucked into it. Her long, golden hair fell down her back, the ends in loose ringlets. She was the most stunning thing he’d ever seen. He was only pulled out of his reverie when she walked into Hotch’s office. He tried to focus on his file as his heart was beating erratically in his chest.

Delaney softly knocked on Hotchner’s door and he let her in with a small smile. He gestured for her to sit and she did so.

“I’m hoping you got here alright? I know you live close, so I hope you didn’t get lost or anything.” Aaron said.

“No, I got here perfectly.” Delaney smiled.

“Good. Well, in a few minutes I’ll gather the team to go over our newest case and we’ll be leaving to go to Atlanta in about an hour. I’m estimating that we’ll be gone for about a week, so if you need someone to take you to your house to pack a bag, you can do it after the meeting.”

“Um, yes that would be great. I’m sorry I didn’t already have one packed, I wasn’t expecting to leave so soon.” Delaney said, feeling like she’d already failed.

“No, it’s not your fault. Next time you’ll be notified in advance so you’re prepared. I apologize.” Aaron said.

Delaney merely nodded, feeling the tension in her body relax. Aaron also noticed this and smiled lightly at her, standing from his desk. He opened the door and Delaney quickly followed him.

“I’ll introduce you to the team and assign you someone to work with on the case. Of course, you’ll be working with all of us but I’m going to have someone for you to specifically work one-on-one with.” Hotch said.

Delaney nodded, keeping up with him as he walked over to an office near Hotch’s. The sign read “David Rossi” outside the door. Hotch knocked and stopped in the doorway, Delaney beside him.

“Dave, this is Delaney Wilmer, the newest agent we recruited. Delaney, this is David Rossi, an agent in the BAU.”

Rossi stood and walked over to shake Delaney’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Delaney said politely.

“You too. Do you mind my asking how old you are?” David asked curiously.

“I’m 23, sir.”

“You’re just a baby!” David said, his eyes wide.

Delaney just laughed, knowing this would come up. It didn’t help that she looked young for her age, but she was barely allowed in the BAU because of her age. She’d proven her intelligence and that had gotten her in, but she knew people would be questioning her for a while.

“I look young for my age.” Was all Delaney said.

“Dave, we’re meeting in five,” Hotch said and turned away, walking to another office.

Rossi nodded and gave Delaney a wink as they walked away. They got to a smaller office with the name “Jennifer Jareau” on the door. A blonde woman walked out right as Delaney and Hotch got to the door. She smiled at Hotch and switched her gaze to Delaney.

“Delaney Wilmer, right? I’m Jennifer or JJ as most people call me. Nice to meet you.” JJ said kindly.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

“I look forward to working with you,” JJ said, walking past them to what Delaney assumed was the conference room.

Delaney nodded and Hotch took them down to the bullpen. Hotch stopped near some desks with a few people sitting across from each other. Delaney gave them a small smile as Hotch introduced them.

“This is Emily Prentiss. Prentiss, this is Delaney Wilmer, our newest agent.” Hotch said.

“Hi, welcome to the BAU, Delaney,” Emily said.

“Thank you.”

“This is Derek Morgan,” Hotch said as Delaney and Derek waved at each other.

“And this is Dr. Spencer Reid.” Hotch pointed out the last person.

“Doctor?” Delaney blurted out, cocking her head to the side and furrowing her eyebrows.

“Uh, not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate in Mathematics, Engineering, and Chemistry. And a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Sociology.” Spencer said quickly, his cheeks turning pink as he rambled.

“Wow. Are you a genius or something? You don’t seem old enough to get all of those and work here.” Delaney asked.

“Uh, well. It-it depends on how you categorize a genius. IQ or how many degrees you have. Um, analytically speaking—” Spencer was cut off by Derek.

“Yes, the kid’s a genius.” He said with a sly smile.

Delaney merely grinned back at Derek and looked back down at Spencer. He was still blushing, he obviously didn’t like meeting new people. Maybe she made him uncomfortable?

“Cool. Nice to meet you, genius.” She said with a slightly teasing tone.

“Yeah, um, you too.” Spencer looked down, obviously flustered by the conversation.

“Okay, I’m going to assign Delaney someone to stick with for this case. I can choose someone or one of you can volunteer to show her the ropes.” Hotch informed the small group.

“Reid can do it,” Morgan said immediately, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Reid sputtered and looked at Morgan with wide eyes but Hotch dismissed this.

“Alright, Reid. Delaney will be with you at all times from now until we get back from Atlanta. Delaney, this is your desk and you’ll obviously have more time to settle in after this case. Everyone, let’s go to the conference room for the briefing.” Hotch said, his face serious as ever.

Delaney set her bag on the desk that Hotch indicated was hers. It was in front of Spencer’s, the seat facing his. Delaney wasn’t sure what to make of their pairing for the case. Spencer seemed sweet, obviously brainy, but it didn’t seem that he liked her all that much. Maybe she could get him to like her while they were working together.

The team made their way to the conference room, Emily standing back to wait for Delaney. She gave her a kind smile.

“Don’t worry about Spencer. He’s just anxious around new people and he’s not super social with… girls.” Emily laughed lightheartedly. “But he’s sweet. He’ll come around to you.”

Delaney smiled at Emily. She felt better knowing that Spencer didn’t hate her. She walked in and found him sitting at the edge of the round table, an empty seat between him and Derek.

“Should I sit with him?” Delaney whispered over to Emily.

“Probably. Hotch will question you sitting with anyone else. Reid is harmless, I promise. Just talk to him.” Emily encouraged.

“Okay.” Delaney smiled, walking over to the empty seat.

Derek immediately scooted his chair closer to Delaney, obviously on a mission. Delaney rose her eyebrows, leaning back in her chair.

“How old are you, newbie?” He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m 23. How old are you, Agent Morgan?” Delaney asked, crossing her legs and turning towards him.

“A man never tells his age. You’re close to our pretty boy in age, though. How old are you now, Reid? 26?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, I’m 26. I’m curious though, Delaney, what’s your educational background?” Reid asked her.

Delaney moved to face Spencer, turned away from Morgan with her lips pursed. She didn’t enjoy being profiled. Especially by the sly Derek Morgan who seemed to be having way too much interest in this conversation. She did like looking at Spencer, though. She hadn’t had a lot of time to examine him earlier, but now she got a good look at him. His hazel eyes were wide and made him look young, his brown hair was wavy and cut short. He had a couple of layers on with a shirt and tie, a sweater, and a blazer. He was endearingly scratching his head with a thoughtful expression.

“I graduated Valedictorian from my high school in Michigan and have a Masters in Criminal Justice and Criminology as well as a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Penn State. I would ask you the same, but you’ve already informed me.” Delaney smirked at him.

Derek whistled from behind her and Delaney just turned her head to look at him. He was still smirking at her, though she didn’t think he was really being sly towards her specifically.

“We’ve got a girl genius, too. You hear that, Reid? She’s perfect for—” Derek was cut off by an unfamiliar girl walking in.

Spencer was thoroughly flustered when Delaney turned back around. His cheeks were pink and his eyes were darting everywhere. Delaney dismissed it and looked at the girl at the front.

“Martha Alcott, 25, found dead in an alley three nights ago in Atlanta, Georgia. Her throat was slashed and she has multiple lacerations on her body, as well as stab wounds. There are two other victims that were found with similar wounds to their bodies. All victims were between the ages of 23 and 27 with blonde hair. Lindsay Garner and Heather Umbridge were outside of bars in the areas as well.”

“So, he’s got a type. When were the other two killed?” Derek asked.

“Lindsay was the first victim and she was found three weeks ago. Heather was found one week ago and then like I said Martha was found three nights ago.”

“He’s devolving. The unsub could strike at any time, we should move now. Everyone, wheels up in 30.” Hotch said, waving for Spencer and Delaney to stay behind.

“Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia. You’re Delaney, right?” The woman who had just presented the case asked as she came to stand beside Delaney.

“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you, Penelope.” Delaney smiled brightly.

Penelope matched Delaney’s enthusiasm and nodded with a huge grin. She patted Delaney’s back gently as she turned to walk away and leave her with Hotch and Reid.

“Reid, I need you to take Delaney to her house so she can grab a bag of things before we leave for Atlanta,” Hotch said quickly, giving Reid a quick pat on the shoulder as he left.

Spencer faced Delaney with wide eyes and Delaney smiled nervously. She felt bad for making him have to stick with her for the entirety of the case. He started to walk and gestured for her to follow. He went to his desk to grab his things and informed Prentiss and Morgan that they would be back soon. Delaney stuck next to him and waved as they went to the elevator. They stood in slightly awkward silence as they waited to get to the first floor. Delaney took a deep breath and turned to look up at Spencer.

“Look, I’m sorry you got roped with me for this case. I know it’s probably annoying to have to basically be my babysitter.” Delaney said guiltily, picking at her fingernails.

Spencer noticed the action as his eyebrows narrowed. He shook his head quickly, his gaze clear as he looked down at her.

“I don’t mind. And I’m not your babysitter. I’ll teach you as much as I can while we’re on this case.” Spencer spoke simply, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

“Okay. Well, I’m grateful for you.” Delaney smiled right as the elevator doors opened.

Spencer watched her go with pink cheeks, his eyes wide. He quickly shook his head to snap out of it. This girl was seriously distracting him.

“Hey, I can drive us if you want. I can get us there and back in 20 minutes.” Delaney said as they walked out into the parking lot.

“Sounds good,” Spencer said, following her to her car.

They got in and rode in comfortable silence, Delaney turning on a slow song she liked at a low volume. She lightly hummed and tapped her fingers on her steering wheel as they drove. Spencer watched her with a small smile on his face. Delaney was already so different from anyone he’d ever met. She was confident in a new environment and seemed to spread her happiness everywhere she went. Spencer couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her and he’d only known her for a couple of hours. He noticed that her car smelled like flowers, and she had little decorations settled around the car.

He tried to stop staring and look out at the road, but his gaze always went back to her. Her eyes seemed to glow in the morning light, their chocolate brown color making her look even sweeter. She had freckles on her nose and cheeks and dimples that appeared when she smiled. A song that he recognized came on and she immediately turned the volume up. She started singing quietly, which made Spencer quietly sing along. Her face turned to him with surprise as a big smile spread on her face. Her eyes found the road and she sang a little louder, coaxing Spencer to do the same.

Soon both of them were loudly singing and Spencer was dancing a little in the passenger seat. Delaney giggled at his silly moves right as she pulled into her parking lot for her apartment building. They sat there for a second, looking at each other with wide grins on their faces. Delaney turned the car off and opened the door, leaving Spencer in the passenger seat. She stopped walking and looked back curiously. He was sat there, unmoving. Delaney chuckled and walked back over, opening his door.

“Hey, you wanna come in? I’ll only be like five minutes.” Delaney said.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Yep, I’m coming.” Spencer unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly followed Delaney to her apartment.

They walked in and Delaney immediately walked towards a hallway. She seemed to forget that Spencer was there and turned around abruptly.

“You can get some coffee or something. Help yourself,” She said, walking towards what Spencer would assume was her bedroom.

He nodded and tried not to pry. He looked around slowly. Her kitchen was fairly small with a countertop and two stools, everything fairly tidy and very colorful. He chuckled as he spotted a light pink kettle on her stovetop. Her living room was similar with a cream couch and pink blankets and pillows draped over it. It was bright with big windows and white lace curtains pulled halfway closed. The whole place smelled like roses, hints of jasmine here and there.

As he walked around he found her bookshelf in the hallway that led to her bedroom. Spencer could learn a lot about someone just based off of their belongings. Her book collection was no exception. She obviously loved classic literature, having all of Jane Austen’s work, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte. She also had some fantasy and romance novels. He couldn’t help but pick up one of her Harry Potter books. He chuckled as he realized that they were thoroughly well-read. There were annotations in the margins and the pages were worn. She emerged from the room at the end of the hall, a pink duffel bag on her arm. She saw him with her book and blushed slightly.

“I like Harry Potter.” Was all she said as she went to the door.

Spencer smiled and put the book back where it was. She walked to her kitchen and reached into a jar. It was painted all over with colorful flowers. When her hand emerged she was holding two cookies. She bit into one and held the other to Spencer.

“Want one? I made them last night. I tend to bake when I’m anxious.” She said as she got out her keys and opened her front door.

He took it with a big grin and followed her out. She shut and locked her door and Spencer bit into the cookie. He looked over at her in shock. Delaney laughed at his face.

“What? Is it bad?” She asked, starting to walk back over to her car.

“No, it’s probably one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.” He spoke truthfully. “Hey, did you know that the chocolate chip cookie was created by accident? In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, added broken chocolate bar pieces into her cookie batter thinking that they would melt. Instead, the classic dessert was born.”

Delaney didn’t know that. She liked hearing him talk about random facts. He was like a talking encyclopedia.

“I didn’t know that. It’s interesting, though. What else do you know, genius?” She teased, opening her car door and setting her bag in the backseat.

“Um, it's America's favorite cookie. Fifty-three percent of American adults prefer chocolate chip cookies over peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and any other variety.” Spencer rambled out quickly and eating the cookie when he finished.

Delaney just smiled and pulled out of the parking lot. They got back quickly and made their way back up to the BAU. As they made it back through the bullpen, the rest of the team was gathered in the conference room. The two walked in and Hotch immediately had everyone moving to get to the jet.

Delaney followed the crowd of her new team, nerves buzzing through her veins. This was it. She was actually going to work on her first case with the BAU. She held back a grin as she boarded the jet, stashing her belongings in the compartment above her.

She chose to sit next to Spencer with Emily and JJ across from them. They discussed the case and came to the conclusion that the unsub was probably experiencing a psychotic break and that’s why the murders were becoming more rapid and aggressive. They got assignments from Hotch of where they were going, JJ, Hotch, and Prentiss to the police station, Rossi and Morgan to the most recent crime scene, and Delaney and Reid to the morgue to look at Martha’s body.

“Everyone ready?” Hotch asked as they landed.

They all nodded and headed into their separate cars. Spencer got in the driver’s seat as Delaney settled in the passenger seat. With a nod from him, they pulled out and drove to the morgue. Delaney pulled her notebook out when they arrived, a doctor waiting for them.

“Hi, I’m Doctor Bloomberg, nice to meet you.” A middle-aged man said as Delaney and Spencer walked over to where the man was standing.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid and this is Agent Wilmer. Would you mind showing us the body?” Spencer asked politely.

“Of course, follow me.” The doctor said and beckoned for them to follow.

The room had one body lined up, a blue sheet covering its body. Delaney walked over to her and looked her over. Her throat was completely cut open and Delaney could see the long cuts starting at her collarbones. There were some on her shoulders and they went all the way down to her stomach. There were stab wounds on her stomach as well.

“Any sign of sexual assault?” Delaney asked, looking up at the ME.

“Yes on all three girls. It was all post-mortem, the throat being what killed her.” The man explained, looking between Delaney and Spencer.

Both of them nodded, getting a clearer picture of the unsub. He raped and tortured the girls before finally slitting their throats to kill them. Delaney pushed down the shudder that she felt rising in her. Her mind was slipping to past memories of hands on her body and lips forcing hers apart. She looked at the bruising on the girl’s throat and remembered covering her own with makeup.

“Hey. Wilmer, you okay?” Spencer leaned close to her and set a hand on her shoulder.

Pulled out of her memories, Delaney looked up at him and forced a smile on her face. She shook her head with a forced laugh and looked away from his intense stare.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She dismissed his worried look and put a couple of feet between them.

Spencer watched her with a scrutinizing look as the ME continued describing the bodies of the women that were killed. When they were finished, Spencer’s phone rang and he picked it up. Hotch informed him that they found another body. Hanging up, he bid goodbye to the ME and informed Delaney of what was going on.

“Another body was found. We need to go.” He said, beckoning her to follow.

Spencer got in the driver’s seat and handed her his phone. Delaney furrowed her eyebrows and hesitantly took it.

“Hotch realized none of us had time to get your number. Put yours in my phone and I’ll send it to the rest of them when we get there.” Spencer explained.

Delaney nodded and put her number in Spencer’s phone. They rode in relative silence as they made their way to the newest crime scene. Every once in a while he would glance over at her but she didn’t look back at him. They parked right outside the newest bar and walked over to the crime scene where Hotch, Prentiss, and JJ were standing. They turned as Delaney and Spencer came to them.

“Grace Hanley, 22, she was murdered just a few hours ago. Her body is in the same condition as the others but this time the unsub stabbed her around 30 times. The last 3 only had around 5 stab wounds.” Hotch said as they walked closer to the body.

Delaney let out a sharp breath as she looked at the girl. She looked… eerily similar to Delaney. So much that she took a double-take when she saw her. The girl’s hair was the exact same shade of golden blonde and her body was just as small and delicate. Delaney covered her mouth and closed her eyes for a second. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she opened her eyes.

“You okay?” Spencer asked gently, his eyes sympathetic.

“Yeah… yeah, sorry. I normally wouldn’t react like this but she just looks… so much like me.” Delaney said with her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Yes, she does,” Hotch said from behind them. “The unsub obviously has a specific type.”

“And he’s clearly spiraling. The first murders were a couple of weeks apart and now they’re only days apart. From the footage we got from the first bar, the unsub looks to be in his mid to late 20’s. Maybe these women are surrogates for a past lover?” Emily suggested.

“We should get back to the police station to give the profile,” Hotch said.

They all nodded and got into their separate cars. Delaney sighed deeply and tried to get the image of the victim out of her head. Spencer looked over at her and gently tapped her shoulder.

“The first few are difficult to look at. Especially when they look like you.” Spencer said.

“I’ve seen a dead body before. Trust me, I have had my share of horrifying scenes in front of me. That girl just… she just confused me.” Delaney said, looking out the window.

Spencer was tempted to ask her about the horrifying things she’d seen but held off. She would tell him when they were more acquainted with each other.

They made it to the station and set up in a small conference room. Delaney looked through her files and started making notes. She added the newest victim’s picture to their evidence board. Soon, the whole team was at the station and they were giving the profile.

“This unsub is a charismatic, handsome guy in his mid to late 20’s. He uses this charm to lure young women out of bars and eventually brutally murder them.” Rossi introduced.

“We believe the unsub has a specific type, young women in their early 20’s with long blonde hair and smaller body types,” Hotch said.

“So like her?” A police officer asked while pointing at Delaney.

“Yes, exactly like me. The unsub is using girls like me as surrogates for a woman he believes wronged him. It may have been a past lover or spouse.” Delaney said.

“And he’s devolving. While his first murders were weeks apart, the last two were just days apart. His anger is becoming worse and his murders more violent.” Prentiss said.

“We believe the unsub is experiencing a sort of psychotic break. Something triggered this urge to kill and he’s not going to stop until we find him.” Spencer said.

“So all of us need to be on high alert with the bars around this area. He will be on the prowl for new victims. The press will be notified of his appearance and his type so women are aware.” JJ said.

“That’s all for now. If you have any questions feel free to ask any of us.” Morgan said and the crowd dispersed.

The team went to the conference room and sat around the table. Delaney looked at her watch for the first time that day and realized that it was past 10 at night. Her exhaustion hit her like a truck as she sat back in her chair, closing her eyes for a second.

“I think that’s enough for today. Let’s head to the hotel and get some rest for the night.” Hotch announced as the team sat together.

Delaney sighed with relief. She didn’t want to admit it, but the day had been so long. Spencer had told her the first case would be difficult, but this one just seemed to be hitting all her personal triggers. Everyone grabbed their things and piled into the SUV’s. Delaney slid into the backseat after Emily and Spencer, resting her head against the window.

Soon enough, they were at the hotel and Hotch was passing out keys to rooms. Delaney got hers and quickly made her way to her room, closing herself in immediately and sitting on her bed. The room felt impossibly silent as she stared ahead at the wall.

“What a fucking day.” She said to no one in particular.

After sitting for a few minutes she found the strength to get up and get out of her now uncomfortable clothes. She slipped into her pajamas and washed her face. Finally feeling relaxed, she curled up in her bed in the fetal position. Her mind kept wandering back to that night.

She was still in high school, about to graduate from her senior year, and get the hell out of her town. She’d been a poster child her entire life and decided to let herself be a kid once before leaving for college. She and her friends went to a party on the weekend of their graduation. Delaney had drunk way too much for someone who’d never drunk before and someone was holding her hips as she danced. She didn’t think much until he was grabbing her wrist and pulling her into a dark room.

His hands were everywhere on her, one gripping her throat way too tight while the other roamed her entire body. She tried to talk and struggled against his grip but he held her forcefully in place. Delaney felt her vision darkening as he was unzipping her dress and unbuckling his belt. She tried to say no but it was too late. With mangled cries, he didn’t let her go until he was satisfied. Delaney was sobbing in pain and shame. These things didn’t happen in her town. They didn’t happen to girls like her. She was so careful.

Delaney hadn’t spoken to anyone about it after. She left for Penn State with a broken image of herself and never opened up about what had happened at that party.

Delaney felt the tears falling down her face in her hotel bed. She was hyperventilating, unable to control her emotions. That memory had been repressed for so long that she wasn’t sure how to cope. How had she pushed it aside all these years?

She was so caught up in her emotions that she violently flinched at the knock on her door. Sitting up in her bed she wiped her tears quickly and ruffled her hair, trying to hide her teary eyes. Delaney slowly made her way to her door and opened it. Spencer stood on the other side.

“Uh, hey.” He said quietly, still in his work clothes.

“Hi.” Delaney croaked out, her cheeks turning pink with shame and embarrassment.

“I know we just met today and we’re barely friends but I wanted to check and see that you were okay. I noticed your shift in mood through the day and I’m worried about you.” He said, looking deep in her eyes.

Delaney’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief. If she’d been expecting anything, it definitely wasn’t this. He’d come to check on her? She wouldn’t admit it, but she’d never been very good with friends ever since her incident. She didn’t like trusting people so she wasn’t used to anyone coming to check on her.

“Um, well. It was… it was a tough day. And I was, well. I-I…” Delaney trailed off, her throat closing up and tears welling in her eyes.

“Hey, hey.” Spencer’s eyes widened as he took in Delaney’s state.

Her eyes were red with tears threatening to spill out. Her body was trembling as she tried to cover herself with her arms as an almost shield. He could tell she was trying so hard not to cry. Spencer hesitantly set a hand on her shoulder and she stepped back, shutting herself off.

“I’m fine. Than-thank you for checking up on me, Reid. Uh, sweet dreams.” She said with a pained smile, stepping back into her room and closing the door.

“Uh—” Spencer protested, but the door was already closed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. That didn’t go as he’d wanted. If anything he just wanted to hug her and tell her it would be okay. Maybe he’d come back in the morning.

“Sweet dreams.” He whispered to the door and made his way to his room.

Delaney listened as he walked away, tears slipping down her face. He didn’t need to see her like that. She’d explain in the morning.

With a heavy heart, she turned all the lights off and fell into a deep sleep in seconds.

Spencer lay in his bed for an hour after that, trying to erase Delaney’s face from his mind. What was it about her that he couldn’t get out of his head? Shaking his head, he rolled over and finally fell into a troubled sleep.

[deepdickdaniel]

Ong Seongwu | We Got Married

prompt: you somehow end up on a fan-dedicated season of we got married...but not with your bias.

note: i know it sounds cringey but bear with me. inspired by and dedicated to the ever lovely @mongniel‘s insistence that she loves daniel and not ong. ok girl...also this is my christmas gift to her, but i hope everyone else also enjoys the story and has a wonderful day whether or not you celebrate this holiday!

scrolling through instagram one day, you found out that we got married was taking applications for another season of the show, but this time, fans were encouraged to apply as well.

your friends encouraged you to send in a video audition just for fun and you agreed - even if your chances were low, what was the harm in it?

a few weeks later, to your surprise, you received an invitation to go in for second round of auditions: an interview with the casting directors who would record a video of you describing your ideal type.

there, they also asked you to name which idols and/or actors that you liked.

as a wannable, you tried to calmly state that your favorite member was kang daniel .

the camera crew hid their laughs at the enthusiasm that could be seen through your eyes as you spoke about your ultimate bias.

the staff thanked you and told you that you’d get confirmation of whether or not you made it in the final lineup within a few days.

you got the call the next day.

filming began a week later and you were brought to a cafe, seated at a table with a large box on top of it.

you were urged by the crew to open it, and in it was a letter, congratulating you on your upcoming “marriage” and saying that your dreamy, perfect husband was waiting for you at a park nearby.

your heart buzzed with excitement, especially after you got word out of the camera crew that your husband-to-be was indeed from wanna one.

this was it. you were finally going to meet kang daniel!

but as you approached the fountain that the staff told you that your husband was on the other side of, you noticed black hair as you got closer and closer.

daniel didn’t have black hair...

you were enough of a wanna one fan to know who your husband was without him having to turn around.

but before he looked at you, you watched as he took out a coin from his pocket and threw it into the fountain behind him, shouting,

“i wish for the most beautiful spouse!!!”

you watched for a few seconds in shock after hearing his voice confirm his identity, the staff then urged you to make your presence known.

“ahem” 

you cleared your throat and he turned around.

ong freaking seongwu.

the second your eyes met, he gasped and grabbed at his chest with his hand, falling to his knees.

“uhhh?!” 

you made a move to go to him in confusion, but when he looked back up at you, you could’ve sworn that his eyes were sparkling.

“you made my wish come true so quickly~!”

you could already feel your hands and toes curling up in cringe...

as he got up and formally introduced himself to you, doing a dramatic bow and everything, you couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed at the fact that it wasn’t daniel.

you were also nervous about how this was going to go. ong was super out there at times and you just....weren’t.

when it came to the separate interview portion of the episode, the writers asked you for your first impression of ong.

“he’s very...uhhh....lively...?”

...and whether or not you were disappointed about their choice of husband for you...

“ah...ahahahaha...” 

you were unable to answer. you didn’t want to lie, but at the same time you knew that ong would probably watch this and you didn’t want to hurt his feelings if you outwardly showed any disappointment, so you just went for a safe answer,

“i’m just curious about why you picked him out of all the members for me...?”

the evil smirks of the staff just screamed “you’ll see!”

you really thought you wouldn’t be able to handle ong, at least for a while. but surprisingly, he got a grasp of what made you laugh relatively quickly and was able to really hit your sense of humor, therefore breaking the ice that you thought would take a lot longer to crack.

most of the time, you would try your best to not give in (and therefore build up his ego) by holding in a laugh.

that only made him try harder, and eventually, this teasing, hard-to-get kind of relationship won the hearts of viewers.

they called you the “tsuntsun couple,” which, tbh, you didn’t really understand because you would technically be the only tsun (even though you swore you weren’t one but whatever)

but the name caught on anyway, and every time ong would see you to film, he’d bring up how much people loved you two together and that’s why you should love him too.

you gagged each time.

despite this cat and mouse dynamic, you found yourself really enjoying his company. but you would never admit it if they asked you in interviews.

you just hoped that he would never ask who your bias was in wanna one.

but he didn’t have to.

one filming day, the writers suggested that the two of you watch the first episode of the season, where the two of you met, together.

you were already embarrassed about watching yourself on tv, but nothing could have prepared you for them showing your audition interview.

you could feel ong, who was poking you in the arm teasingly for being so shy and nervous during your audition, get even more excited as you mentioned wanna one being one of your favorite idol groups.

but as soon as the past you spoke the name “kang daniel,” you felt him deflate next to you, the arm that was nudging you suddenly returning to his side.

when it came to his pre-casting interview, all he talked about was how he trusted the writers to find the perfect spouse for him, and that he would treat whoever they picked right because he knew their choice would be wonderful. 

and at the end of the first episode, he said that he was right - you were amazing and that he was happy he got matched with you.

after that, the tv shut off and you were just there, sitting quietly in your guilt that ong had to see that.

you didn’t want to apologize because it was the truth - daniel was your bias and there was no taking that back.

but at the same time, you didn’t want to hurt ong’s feelings by him having to find that out like that. if you had known they were going to show your audition interview, you would have told him yourself.

before you could even decide what to do or say, the director called “cut!” and said it was time for your individual interviews.

ong smiled at you before walking off to his interview, but you could tell that it was pretty much forced.

luckily, this gave you more time to think about how to approach him about what just happened. but by the time he got back, his manager told him he had another scheduled event, and tbh, ong didn’t look like he was really in the mood to talk the awkwardness out right there and then.

when you had your own free time, you watched the episode as soon as it aired in hopes that you’d get a glimpse of ong’s thoughts and find a better way to talk to him about what had happened.

you opened your laptop to a website that streamed the episode, and you were surprised to see comments bashing the writers for their interview questions and the parts they decided to include in the final cut of the episode.

you didn’t understand why until it got to ong’s interview after the two of you watched the first episode together.

the interview began with, “why did you look so sad when kang daniel turned out to be your spouse’s real favorite wanna one member?”

“ehhhh, anyone would be sad to know that they’re not someone they care about’s first pick...”

ong said this with a smile, but after all the time you’ve spent with him, you were able to pick up on the sadness in his eyes as he answered that.

but the question after that is what made you really upset for him.

“do you ever get down about how everyone around you seems to pick daniel over you?”

you felt yourself getting emotional as you watched ong suddenly become unable to answer the question right away.

how dare they ask him that kind of question? you knew they probably wanted to start some controversy to increase views, which was a concept ridiculous in itself because you two already made the show pretty popular, but to do so in this way???

before you could close your laptop in a mix of rage and sadness, you heard ong clear his throat in the interview before answering,

“i’m really happy for daniel. he’s one of my closest friends and there’s no jealousy or sadness there. if anything, that just inspires me to work harder and...”

but the episode cut off with a “to be continued” and you were in disbelief at this cliffhanger.

soon enough, it was time to film the next episode and you were finally mentally prepared to talk it out with ong.

but he just came up to you excitedly, acting like everything was normal, and took your hand in his to hold as the two of you had a shopping date.

“wait...! seongwu! we should talk...”

he just turned around and started walking backwards, switching the hand that was holding yours, and his eyes never left yours, even as you were looking out behind him in worry that he’d hurt himself being dumb and all.

“don’t worry, you didn’t mean to hurt my feelings. i know you were just being honest and that’s what i like about you.”

you just stared in shook™ as he continued to pull you along while walking backwards.

“and besides, now i know to never let daniel have you. i’m never letting you go”

you knew that ong was an actor. he could deliver lines like those smoothly without hesitation. but in that moment, you felt your heart beat faster than it had ever done so before...and it was because of ong, so you felt extra weird about it.

trying to hide your shyness though, you simply retorted, “sure, we’ll see about that.”

for the rest of the day, ong became even more affectionate around you. he still respected the boundaries you made him aware of when the two of you first met, but the effort to make you laugh and smile increased tenfold.

you really didn’t want to admit it but...you had a lot of fun.

he even started to tease/roast you back and a strange, masochistic part of you loved it.

when you had time to watch the episode after it aired, his end-of-the-episode interview threatened to make your heart burst.

“i’m going to be the one they like by the end of the show.”

the way he said it, the smile he gave - even though the show was supposed to be semi-scripted, you felt like he wasn’t just doing it for the sake of entertainment. you could feel almost a genuine?!? kind of vibe and it scared you.

as about two months went by, you got closer to ong, being as much as yourself around him as possible with the cameras on, and acting even more naturally with him behind the scenes.

but when you came in for one episode, you were really surprised to have a blindfold put on you as you were forced into a chair - you didn’t even see ong when you walked in: you were just dragged and made to sit down.

you heard footsteps shuffling in, but other than that, there was complete silence.

finally, you felt someone untying your blindfold, and when your eyes adjusted to the brightness, you were greeted by eleven different faces.

holy...wanna one was right in front of you.

before you could even say something, you heard a countdown and then the familiar chant of “all i wanna do, wanna one! hello, we’re wanna one!” echo throughout the room.

you immediately covered your mouth as your jaw fell open in shock, your eyes darting across the members’ faces in disbelief that they were actually there.

you saw ong smirking proudly at the fact that he could impress you with his group and you almost rolled your eyes at his smugness, containing yourself only because his members were right in front of you.

one by one, the members greeted you while the crew suddenly brought out a long, meeting type table in front of you, with you sitting at the head.

to your right, ong was seated...but to your left, there was kang daniel.

you gasped as you finally made eye contact with the latter, and daniel gave you his cheeky, bunny smile, one of his hands raising in greeting,

“hi, ong talks about you all the time. it’s nice to finally meet you!”

that filming day, wanna one was scheduled to play a bunch of games with you and the guys even hosted their own personally planned roasting session of ong.

you had a lot of fun getting to know the different members, even off-cam while you took breaks. they were a lively, well-matched group who accepted you so quickly as you were.

when they were leaving, the members who weren’t ong hugged you one by one, and you laughed as a few of them muttered phrases of “good luck” or “please be patient with him, we’re sorry for him,really” into your ear.

daniel left last; when you hugged him, you were expecting nervous butterflies because of your “crush” on him, but instead, you felt like you were hugging any other friend.

and that made you freeze for a second.

you let go of him quickly, not wanting to make a scene out of this newfound information.

(...but ong noticed and took it as a sign that you still liked daniel like that.)

filming soon wrapped up for the episode, and you were notified that the schedule for the next one was still unknown due to wanna one being too busy to plan for the time being.

this gave you a lot of time to think...almost too much for your heart to handle.

your mind started to wander to all the time you’ve spent with ong over the last few months. sometimes filming would have to be cancelled due to bad weather or last minute changes in staff availability.

those days, ong hung out with you just for fun.

you once asked him why he didn’t just return to the dorm with his free time so he could rest for a bit, but he only responded that he knew his time with you was limited, so he wanted to make the most out of it.

remembering that made your heart hurt. you didn’t want your time with him to end.

adding the fact that you no longer found your eyes immediately looking for daniel while watching wanna one videos - instead you searched for ong - PLUS your phone background changed from daniel to just a default picture...

when you allowed these thoughts into your head, you groaned in frustrating realization: “oh my god, i actually have feelings for ong.”

knowing how you felt at that point, you, too, wanted to make the most out of your time with the boy you’ve come to adore.

but time wasn’t on your side.

you soon got the phone call that you would be filming the last episode of your “marriage” to ong soon - wanna one was just too busy for it to continue how it was before.

when the last day of filming came, ong prepared a special ballad for you, and you weren’t able to stop a few tears from slipping out of your eyes.

after his performance, he gave you a letter. in it were words of gratitude for putting up with him for so long and for giving him the time of his life.

“you were the perfect spouse for me. i know you asked why you got me of all people, why the staff thought i would be good for you. but i think it’s the opposite. they knew i needed someone like you. you bring me up, but you keep me grounded. you inspire me to continue to work hard, to work even harder. more importantly, i know that under all of your ‘tsuntsun’-ness, you care. for that and for all you have given me during our time together, i am eternally grateful. if only i could tell you everything you’ve done for me, but i know our time has been cut short. we’ll see each other again soon. ongly yours, seongwu.”

you couldn’t even laugh at his signature - you were trying too hard not to cry.

by the time the episode ended, you were 100% sure of your feelings for him.

but by this time, he was already gone.

a few weeks went by, and you couldn’t shake the emptiness in your heart that the ending of the show, that your separation from ong, left you with.

sure, the two of you would text from time to time, but it really couldn’t amount to hanging out with him in person.

and he seemed to distance himself from you, no longer as flirty or playful as he once was. was it truly only just for the show...?

but you couldn’t blame him. he really was busy, and as the days got darker with winter approaching, you felt your life get a bit dimmer without him.

however, on a snowy christmas day, you heard a few knocks at your front door.

it was almost midnight, only thirty minutes until christmas was officially over for the year, but there someone was, knocking on your door.

when you looked through the peephole, you saw a familiar view.

the figure was turned around and all you could see was his black hair.

but just like the first time you met him, you could tell who it was in an instant.

when you opened the door, he turned around, gasping and grasping his chest once again, but this time only with one hand as the other carried a medium-sized box.

ong fell to his knees, eyes sparkling up at you seemingly even brighter than they did on that very first day.

“tell me i’m not too late!”

your heart skipped a beat, “w-what?”

“for christmas of course!”

you mentally smacked yourself. you couldn’t believe what you were unconsciously hoping for...

you told him to give the act up as you let him in and he made himself comfortable on your living room floor, patting the space next to him and insisting you sit there.

when you joined him, he handed you the box, bursting out something along the lines of “before christmas ends...!”

“but i didn’t get you anything...”

“you letting me in was enough of a present for me.”

you stared up at him, knowing somehow that his words held a double meaning. but he simply smiled and nodded to the box, silently telling you to open it already.

when you did, you could see a wooden box with clear glass panels all over it. under the glass were pictures that the two of you took during different wgm episodes and some fun selfies from behind the scenes.

you opened the box’s top to see another box inside.

and when you took off the lid of that one, you saw a silver, constellation necklace with three bejeweled stars.

you looked up at him in wonder and he grinned excitedly,

“so i watched your last interview...”

“uh huh...”

“daniel doesn’t really seem to be your favorite anymore, huh?”

(...you completely forgot that you even said that...)

“listen. i was really emotional after your letter to me...”

ong peered into your face, taking your inability to continue speaking as a sign that he should go on, “you know, you really made me jealous with that long hug of yours with daniel back then...! that almost made me give up until they finally aired the last episode!”

“i can’t believe you. thanks for the gift, now go away...!”

“no take backs! you’re my fan now!...and maybe even more?”

your blush alone was enough to give ong the strength to kiss your cheek. he pulled you in for a hug that turned into a tackle onto the floor.

as the two of you lay there laughing and you let out some feeble attempts to get him off of you, his eyes never left your face,

“i told you already - i’m never letting you go.”

[lizacstuff]

Asks

Under the cut you’ll find a sampling of the asks I’ve gotten since yesterday. If you are upset about cancellation or love Lana, I’d advise you to skip. 

Anonymous said:

Hi Liza - sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don’t quite understand how pilot season works. Can actors that are still working on OUAT (e.g. Colin) audition for and act in this year’s pilots? How would the timing on that work? I remember Jen saying she was only able to do the OUAT pilot b/c the HIMYM producers flipped things around for her. I’m hoping Colin can get into this round of pilots, but afraid he might have to wait until next year…

Not at all a dumb question, and I’m certainly not an expert, but I think timing is the issue.  Since he will not be under contract next year, he technically can audition and throw his hat into the ring. However, actually getting time off to audition and more importantly shoot a pilot, if it shoots prior to April, would require his current job being flexible and giving him time off.  Just as HIMYM did with JMo and is why she is always talking about them in such glowing terms. The same goes for the entire cast.  Obviously, the show can’t make allowances in the shooting schedule for everyone, we’ll have to see what happens.  Right now Colin is still under contract and his first duty is to the show. 

Anonymous said:

omg apparently colin liked everyones goodbye post (even the problematic eb) except lp’s post lmao

I’m guessing that is an over sight, Colin doesn’t strike me as someone who thinks that hard about what he likes on social media. 

Anonymous said:

I think you are right about Colin, that he would leave after this season no mether what. He does not seem sad, his answers on twiiter was preety cheerful all day

It’s true, he has seemed very cheery. However, Colin also doesn’t strike me as someone who overly expresses himself on social media. He seems to present as upbeat and happy no matter what. (I did notice that his post was just about the only one that didn’t effusively thank A&E.) 

Anonymous said:

Hey, I’m seeing so many posts from not only the mains but also recurring/guest stars talking about how grateful they were for OUAT. This is the first time since I’ve gotten into fandom that a show I follow has been cancelled and I’m curious if that’s common, especially for guests? I’ll say this much, I’ve been so upset and bitter about this show for the last several months that seeing all the love for it has reminded me how good it once was and how blessed we were with CS and a lot of the cast.

I assume it depends on the show and the circumstances surrounding cancellation.  Most of the shows that I’ve been super invested in that then came to an end late in the run, were before social media made it easy for the actors to respond directly to fans.  This show is probably special because of the large online fan base, the huge number of guest actors that have come and gone and the generally happy experiences they all seem to have had on set.  

I agree that we were very lucky with Colin and Jen and the original cast.  What a ride!

Anonymous said:

Am I alone in thinking it odd that Lana has yet to post anything about the cancellation? Even EdR, JMo, and Robbie Kay have made comments about it being grateful for their time on the show and none of them are in it anymore.

She was pretty much the first one to post, check her Instagram.

Anonymous said:

I’m kind of at peace with the whole news today. I did get a good laugh out of a tweet I saw that said at least Lana will have a lot of time for cons now. I wasn’t sure if it was an ironic tweet or not.

Ha! I think the only way to tell if it was serious or not is to see if it was posted by a Regal.  Her fans don’t have any sort of sense of humor about her, so if it’s one of them, they are 100% dead serious and think meeting with them at cons is a soaring career path.

Anonymous said:

I think you hit the nail on the head in saying youre relieved. That was my feeling too. I didnt watch S7 past 7.02 and feel such joy over the way CS got sent out. From my observations, nothing in S7 has tainted that happy end and has made rewatching S1-6 that much more special. And its great to know they wont have time to give WHook a love interest. I hope A&E will take this opportunity to wrap the show up well, whether that involves the old characters, new characters, or both. I still love OUAT

Yes, I’m with you. I hope they wrap up the show well and give Henry an appropriate happy beginning. My followers know that Henry is not my favorite character, but I would hate it if S7 did not give a character who is so important to Emma (and Killian) an appropriate send off into the future with a chance at happiness.  

Anonymous said:

And here we go again l***’s fans are tagging popular show to get her roles. It’s like the ellen show all over again.

Oh that is hilarious.  It didn’t work trying to get her on a talk show, do they really think that casting directors are going to put her in a high-profile role on the recommendation from evilboobs38 on twitter?

Anonymous said:

I think we are about to hit the pilot season. How’s ****’s resume looking atm?

Well the last seven years will have but one line item. We’ll have to see how she does, I begrudge her no success, but will believe she’s destined to be the next Meryl Streep (as the manipulative shit-stirring troll claims) when I see it.

Anonymous said:

Waiting for their “inside sources” on what’s redacted’s next project would be lol

I don’t know, something about her last vacation has me thinking she might next star in a fitness video with her personal trainer/travel companion…

Anonymous said:

Did you read what the weasel eddy said that fans didn’t have to watch the season in his interview of the show being cancelled. I’ve literally never saw writers be so dismissive with their fans. Ugh wth is wrong with them.

 And

@bravebuttercups said:

Did you see the interview with E&A about Once ending after season 7? There were some particularly bitter/underhanded moments…but I’ve come to expect no less from them.

There were some decidedly questionable responses. However, I think most of them were from Eddy. Adam seemed able to control himself and was pretty diplomatic and gracious, it’s Eddy (it’s always Eddy) he can’t help but let his butthurt show. I think Eddy doesn’t know how to react to that sort of question, so he just dives directly into defensive mode and goes to the petty Emma Booth place of “don’t like it, don’t watch!”  I suppose he can do that, since the show is cancelled, he can be petulant with fans without fears of network reprisals.

Anonymous said:

Well, the Lana stans weren’t wrong. Lana did carry the show on her back. All the way to cancellation.

Oh man. Like I said earlier, this cancellation is bittersweet because it feels like the end of an era, but I will never get tired of Lana jokes.  Can I also add that I LOVED that TVLine used a solo photo of her in character on their cancellation story.  Fitting.  She’s the face of this season’s failure.

 Anonymous said:

It’s bittersweet for me. I’ll always love and be grateful for S1-6, and S7 as an extra, if I’m feeling happy, but this show needed to die before it got ruined further.

Yes, that’s how I feel as well.  I’m relieved that it looks like Captain Swan will escape unscathed (knock on wood) but I’m also feeling very nostalgic.  I had some really good times watching this show and getting excited for spoilers and fangurling. It was the best.   

Anonymous said:

Is it bad that I’m thinking that now Once is ending, we might finally get some talk and insight about any bts drama?

You never know, someone might eventually spill some juicy gossip.  However, I kind of doubt it.  People like JMo, Colin, Josh and Ginny have too much class. Also some of the juiciest gossip is already out there, you just have to know where to look. (Google Emilie DeRavin and Tom Ellis)  

Anonymous said:

Hey Liza, do you think they knew they were getting cancelled when they did the hot seat interview? Still trying to figure out if those bitter answers we got about anything Hook related were because of Colin, or if now maybe they were just bitter in general.

No, I don’t think they had official word of cancellation when they did that interview. Just my opinion.

 Anonymous said:

I totally think Ginny and Josh will return, whether it be present day, flashback, vision, etc - I just have a feeling they will make an appearance. They’re actually closer to A&E than any of the other cast members and I find it hard to believe that they won’t be worked into this season.

I guess we’ll see.  Eddy’s comment in Variety about not wanting to ruin any of the happy endings they’ve already delivered made me think we wouldn’t see Snowing or Captain Swan.  

To be honest, I prefer they don’t return.  I don’t want anything to have even a whiff of ruin, and the timelines of S7 are so wonky, they might do that if they show CS and/or Snowing.  If Henry, Regina and crew spent 8-10 years circle walking in the faux Enchanted Forest, I don’t necessarily want to see CS and Snowing 10 years after 7x02.  When it comes to them, I prefer to think of it as 6 months after 7x02 and they are just about to have their baby.

[wineanddinosaur]

Next Round: Jessica Tomei, Winemaker at Cupcake Vineyards

On this episode of “Next Round,” host Zach Geballe chats with Jessica Tomei, the winemaker at Cupcake Vineyards. Tomei details exciting new developments at the vineyard, including the introduction of Cupcake LightHearted Wines. In addition, Tomei showcases Cupcake Vineyards’ lineup, which includes its Butterkissed Chardonnay, Red Velvet and Black Forest red blends, even a Prosecco Rosé.

Tomei also explains why low-alcohol wines may be healthier options. Tomei explains that, at Cupcake, she aims to create a lighter, more refreshing wine that can be easily taken on the go. Thus, Cupcake Vineyards is now producing canned wine.

Tune in to learn more about the exciting new developments happening at Cupcake Vineyards.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check out the Conversation Here

Zach Geballe: From Seattle, Wash., I’m Zach Geballe. And this is a “VinePair Podcast” “Next Round” conversation. We’re bringing you these episodes in between our regular podcast so we can explore a range of issues and stories in the drinks world. Today, I’m speaking with Jessica Tomei, the winemaker for Cupcake Vineyards. Jessica, thanks so much for your time.

Jessica Tomei: Thanks for having me.

Z: Yeah, our pleasure. Let’s start with your background. How did you get involved in wine and winemaking?

J: Well, I was a premed student at UC Davis, and as I was taking all the classes for the program and doing a lot of internships in the medical field, I realized that it wasn’t the right path for me. I started to take some other classes, and one of the classes that was offered was about the world of wine. I grew up in a close-knit Italian-Greek family where we always had wine on the table. My best friend growing up, her dad was a home winemaker. I had always had an interest in wine and the opportunity of attending UC Davis and its viticulture and enology program. Once I took that class, I said, “OK, this is really cool. I would like to learn more about this.” It was a perfect match for science but I was also interested in art, culture, and cooking. It seemed to encompass all of those subjects. I actually studied abroad in Spain for a year. Upon my return, I changed my major and started the viticulture and enology program, as well as my double bachelor’s in Spanish as well. That’s how I got into it.

Z: Then how did you end up at Cupcake?

J: Throughout my career, I worked in Sonoma, and then I worked in Italy and Chile, so I had this global experience. A recruiter alerted me to the Cupcake position, and I was really excited. I was hired in 2013 to work on a brand that was globally grown. One of the first wines I tasted during the interview process was the Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc. The idea of being able to make a wine that was really expressed in the region in which it was grown and then being able to sell it at this affordable price point where everyone could enjoy the wine was really impressive. It was something that I was really excited to join. I started with Cupcake in 2013, so it’s been almost eight years.

Z: Obviously, I imagine a lot of our listeners are pretty familiar. But would you mind giving an overview of Cupcake and some of the different wines that you make?

J: Sure. Cupcake Vineyards is based in California, but we are one of the first brands that were globally grown. In California, we make our Monterey County Chardonnay, our Butterkissed Chardonnay, our Cab, our Pinot Noir, Merlot, and also our Red Velvet and Black Forest red blends. We also are growing and making wine in New Zealand. We have our New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We work with partners in Italy to grow and make our Prosecco Rosé and our Pinot Grigio, our Moscato d’Asti, and our Moscato. Then, we also have Malbec from Argentina, Shiraz from Australia. We think it’s a great brand to explore not only California wines, but also the globe.

Z: It sounds like you probably have some pretty serious airline status.

J: I did, that’s true. Also, we now have our Cupcake Lighthearted Wines, which are all grown in California.

Z: Yeah, I want to talk about those, and in particular the Rosé Prosecco in a minute. I do want to ask about some of the more core wines or at least the ones who have been around a little longer. One of the things that I think defines some of what Cupcake does is you have both a mix of varietal-driven wines and then blends. Especially with the blends, there must be a lot of consideration given to keeping the profile of the wine really consistent because that’s what consumers want, right? They know they like Red Velvet or the Black Forest. How do you do that as a winemaker? What are some of the considerations when you’re putting those wines together?

J: It all starts in the vineyard. We are making sure that we are working with the growers. We grow our own fruit as well to have the best quality fruit to start with, and then work with those vineyards year over year. That provides consistency in terms of the quality of fruit. Of course, the wine industry is in the agricultural business, so it depends on the growing year, weather, and climate as well. For the Red Velvet and the Black Forest, we use a consistent regime on those wines, which provides some of that mocha that the consumers really enjoy.

Z: Then, when it comes to adding new wines, and I’m going to talk about this through the lens of both Rosé Prosecco and the LightHearted wines, where does that process begin and how do you see it through? You can pick one or both, if you want to answer that. I’m just curious about how that comes about?

J: Do you want me to start with Cupcake then?

Z: Sure, that’s great.

J: OK, for example, our Chardonnay, the way that we make our Monterey County Chardonnay is that we are growing it. I’m based in Monterey County and we’re growing it anywhere from five miles from the winery to 20 miles from the winery. We bring it into our facility here. We press it and barrel-ferment it. The majority of the Chardonnay for Cupcake is American oak. We stir it on the lees until we get the mouthfeel that we want. Then it goes through a bottling. If you talk to a lot of winemakers, it starts in the vineyard. Yes, sometimes with larger brands, people think we’re just receiving wine from all over the place and putting the blend together, but really with Cupcake, we’re starting in the vineyard, growing it, working with the same growers, and growing our own fruit so that we can really control the quality in the vineyard. I spend a lot of my time actually with our growing team and out in the vineyard.

Z: Gotcha. I should have been clearer in my question, I apologize. What I was trying to ask is, when there’s a decision made to say, “Hey, we want to make Rosè Prosecco. That’s a category that we see real potential in,” for one, can you talk a little bit about that wine and also how the decision is made to add another wine to the lineup? As you said, there are growing partners and things around the world that require a lot of consideration. There is also market positioning as well. From your perspective, what goes into that whole process?

J: Oh, I’m sorry. Prosecco Rosé is a great example because the rosé category has exploded in popularity, and it continues to grow. Not only that, but it’s now a rosé wine you can find year-round, which is really exciting. As soon as the DOC in Italy approved that we were allowed to make Prosecco rosé, of course, we wanted to make one. It not only follows the market trends, but it’s also something we think we can do a really good job of making a Prosecco rosé and providing it to our customers. The DOC allowed 10 to 15 percent Pinot Nero [Pinot Noir] in the Prosecco Rosé. We’re doing around 10 percent. It’s really fun because it’s the first time the Prosecco Rosé is being made, and we’re one of the first ones in the marketplace. It’s fun for both winemakers and wine lovers that we now have the Prosecco Rosé. Then, the Cupcake LightHearted is something that created a new market segment for wine in terms of the trend of hard seltzers and beverages. There were some wines that were out there that were very interesting. They’re interesting, but they’re not, to me, it’s not something I would go back and buy again. I really wanted to make a wine that fit into being lower-alcohol, lower-calorie, but also delicious because I think as wine consumers, we drink wine because we find it delicious.

Z: Yeah, absolutely. Can you talk a bit about how those wines are made? I know we’ve had a couple of conversations on the podcast before looking at these lower-alcohol or -calorie wines, but I don’t want to assume that yours are made the same way. How do you get to that finished product?

J: Yes, we’ve been working really hard with the varietals that we’re making for Cupcake LightHearted. We’re making a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a rosé. We’re starting in the vineyards so we’re picking at a lower level. That lower brix level is translating to a lower alcohol level. If we’re going to make a Cabernet and pick it at the lower brix level, it’s going to be super green. We’re working with varieties that tend to still have really nice aromas and flavors at those lower brix levels. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are historically picked earlier for sparkling wine. We’re just making these now for lower-alcohol wines. Again, starting in the vineyard and then it follows the same protocol that we make for our wines in terms of they’re stainless-steel fermented and selecting yeast that will produce specific esters. It’s just wine picked earlier in the vineyard. The Cupcake LightHearted is 8 percent alcohol, 80 calories, and less than one gram of sugar per serving.

Z: Gotcha. Obviously, as the winemaker, I’m sure you talk with the marketing and sales teams. Is the audience for those wines the same as the audience for the Cupcake wines not in the LightHearted line? Are you finding that you’re getting a different segment of the audience?

J: Yes, I think there’s definitely some overlap in the audience. Both Cupcake and Cupcake LightHearted wines are, I think, the customers looking for something enjoyable. A wine that they can enjoy and celebrate with friends or even for Taco Tuesday. I’m not a marketing expert, but I think that we’re also bringing in some new consumers to wine from those consumers that are drinking the hard seltzers, for example. It’s a better-for-you option, but it’s still early. We launched this in 2020. The idea is we’re bringing in consumers that are more mindful about their choices of what they’re putting into their body. One of the reasons I am really excited about Cupcake LightHearted is that, obviously, I am a winemaker and wine connoisseur, but I also have three kids. I am super active. I like to hike, run, go surfing, and golf. I want to make sure I can still drink wine and not throw off my fitness routine, my work routine, and my family routine. These lower-alcohol wines still taste delicious. They offer up an option that still tastes delicious but won’t throw off tomorrow’s schedule.

Z: Shifting gears just a little bit. One thing that is done with the wines is a lot of the wines obviously are bottled, but you guys have a growing presence in cans. I’m wondering, as a winemaker, are there any different considerations when you know that a wine is going to end up in a can versus a bottle. Consumers, people in the media, and the trade sometimes view those differently. Is there any difference in the wine? If not, is there any consideration given to the final destination, or once you drink it, it all tastes the same?

J: At Cupcake, we have our Sauvignon Blanc, our rosé, and sparkling rosé in the cans. They are the same wine that you’ll find in the bottle. However, the one thing that we do have to take into consideration is the SO2 levels. In wine, we add S02 as antimicrobial as well as antioxidants, and you want to have it at a lower level than what you would in a bottle because of the chemistry that happens in the can. That’s really the only difference. But yes, they’re the same wine.

Z: How is the decision made then? What wines get put in canned versus not? Obviously, you’re not putting the entire lineup in cans. How has that been determined?

J: I think that’s a great question. I was thinking about that where you don’t find our Cabernet in the can or the Red Velvet in the can. It’s the idea of the occasion. Putting them in a can makes them portable when you’re going to have them at the pool, at the beach, or in your backpack for a hike. That drove the decision for those varietals. They can be their best chilled. For those activities, the lighter, refreshing, delicious wines are portable and packable. I think the occasion is driving the decision for putting those in the can. Also, Sauvignon Blanc is one of our best sellers and rosé as well. There are two and a half glasses of wine in the can, so you can share. You definitely can share it with a friend.

Z: Is there a thought to put the LightHearted lines in cans? It seems to be a natural fit.

J: I know. There are talks about it, but not yet.

Z: I’m not trying to get you in trouble here. You talked about this at the beginning, and I want to come back to it. But pre-pandemic, as I joked about before, I’m sure your job involves a fair bit of travel, but what was it like trying to coordinate the production of wine on multiple continents when you had to do it all virtually? Was it a lot more difficult than presumably in years past when you have been able to go visit, whether it was New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, or Italy? All these places I would actually love to go to. Now I’m really jealous, but what was it like or what has it been like?

J: I’m not there all the time. We already have a great team on the ground in those countries. A lot of communication and tasting of wines and blends was already being done remotely by sending samples. Then emailing or calling on the phone. I believe we were already set up pretty well for Covid. What has been interesting is domestic traveling. We are an essential business as a winery, we are in the food and agriculture sector. We have never stopped working. The safety of our employees in both the cellar and the vineyard was of top concern and always has been. We made sure everyone keeps distance, which is easier to do in the cellar and the vineyard than in some other industries, but that was the one thing with our marketing team and our winemaking team that really had to change. We launched Cupcake LightHearted virtually with our customers and our distribution teams because we couldn’t travel throughout the U.S. That was actually really fun because we would send samples out to everybody and then hop on a call, and everybody would be tasting at the same time from wherever they were. It was fun to see the innovation that stemmed from the challenges of Covid. In terms of production for international, it didn’t really change anything except for the actual in-person visit that would happen.

Z: Another question that occurs to me. During the pandemic, one thing that’s certainly true is that more consumers saw their wine purchasing shift to grocery stores. Cupcake obviously has a very strong off-premise presence. Was it hard keeping up with that increased demand? Wine isn’t the type of product where you can just turn a dial and make more. We’re not out of the pandemic yet, so how are you dealing with what I presume is increased demand?

J: We definitely have seen an uptick in sales, which is great, but we haven’t had to scramble in terms of making sure that we’re being seen on the shelf. We’re in a good position in our vintage ‘18 and vintage ‘19 because those are bigger harvests. What we have seen is that we’re transitioning to the newer vintages sooner than planned. We have plenty of wine, so that’s good, and we’re able to keep Cupcake on the shelf for our consumers.

Z: That’s obviously very important.

J: Yes.

Z: Well, Jessica, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. It’s always interesting to learn more about a brand that’s so visible. I think sometimes in the wine world, it doesn’t really get talked about much. I really appreciate you taking some time to talk with us, and I look forward to seeing what you have in the works for the years to come.

J: All right. Thank you for having me.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, then please leave a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and in Seattle, Wash., by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tasting director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who is instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

The article Next Round: Jessica Tomei, Winemaker at Cupcake Vineyards appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-cupcake-vineyards/

[fivecentimeterspersecond]

under the cut: a feelings-dump over figure skating at the 2018 olympics, a week later!

these olympics have been such an emotional roller coaster honestly if not for my heart rate tracker i would not have known just how deeply i was invested into this entire event. i have anticipated this all year and yet i still have no idea how i made it through (shout out to my friends who watched with me as my emotional support either in person or via video chat). although not every event went exactly as i wanted, overall compared to the mess that was the sochi olympics, i’m pretty satisfied. but while the events are still relatively fresh in my head, i just wanted to get down a bunch of my final thoughts on each of the events. 

pairs:

my beloved sui/han - what more can i say except for the fact that i absolutely ADORE them and i think these olympics have officially boosted them into favorite pairs team of all time (even above shen/zhao). i was (and still am a bit) absolutely devastated that they lost out on the gold medal by less than half a point, i have a lot of respect for the team they lost to (i think i was more sad about how devastated they looked afterward). i still think they were lowballed in PCS in the SP (it really should’ve been a WR), which is honestly my favorite pairs short of the season. but i think if there’s anything that runs true about chinese pairs it’s their longevity and dedication to hard work. if they could come back after such severe injuries to accomplish what they did (becoming world champs in 2017, olympic silver, not finishing below 2nd in any event since their comeback), they will be a force to be reckoned with for the next quadrennial. mark my words, i will be there in 2022 to cheer for them even if i have to swim to beijing.

savchenko/massot - all i can say is that while she was never my favorite coming into any olympics that i’ve followed (2010, 2014, 2018) i so respect her perseverance and she is 100% deserving of the gold medal. this season’s FS is my favorite free skate she’s ever done; it’s a masterpiece. if i had a criticism: i only wish that she was still with her old partner (robin szolkowy) because she and bruno still never look like a cohesive unit when they skate together, and i honestly feel like the judges give PCS based on aljona not bruno. 

duhamel/radford - as much as i really dislike meagan’s air positions in her throws and jumps (they make me cringe EVERY TIME) i was really happy for them when they won the bronze. they were so elated and meagan’s sportsmanship is really admirable. i’m so glad they went back to hometown glory instead of their muse FS from earlier in the season, and they also prevented a russian team from making it to the podium so that’s always a +1 in my book.

tarasova/morozov - honestly with that candyman program they were absolutely doomed to fail. i don’t know how and why it happened, but while i still think they were massively overscored in PCS in the short program, their classic russian style still suits them much better. i still remain curious of what a clean FS would have been scored as, had they delivered it here. 

men:

YUZURU HANYU - has there ever been a more captivating skater in this generation? he is truly an angel sent from heaven to grace us with his existence. i have been dreading/anticipating the olympics for the past year because of this man and the STRESS he constantly puts me under. despite a nearly career-ending injury, he still managed to put together two solid programs (did he deserve the WR in the short? fuck yeah) and in the process nearly stopped my heart from beating (seriously, my heart rate went up to 188 bpm during his short program). i am just so thrilled that his most iconic programs got their deserved olympic moments. yuzu is the epitome of what it means to be an athlete and an artist - he stops at nothing to reach his goals and yet wears his heart on his sleeve at every moment. his future is uncertain for now (i’m begging you please withdraw from worlds) but as of now i would be more than happy to just watch him do crossovers for the rest of eternity. 

shoma uno - i am SO excited for what’s to come with shoma. what he lacks in height he really makes up with his presence on the ice and his skating! once yuzuru retires (cries) he will surely leave the future of japan’s men’s skaters in good hands. i absolutely love his short program this season, but i just really hope he stops making my heart clench when he jumps. thank your knees after every competition, shoma. he’s definitely the most well-rounded member of the sQuad skating-wise and will be a force to be reckoned with in 2022. 

javier fernandez - my sentimental fave. in the beginning of the season i was really not feeling the charlie chaplin SP but as the season progressed i felt myself falling for the charm of that program. it’s just so fun and javi has so much personality. i don’t think anyone skates character programs as well as him, and i am so sad that he is retiring but at the same time i understand his sentiments. absolutely thrilled that he got the first figure skating medal for spain! 

nathan chen - i truly believed that this olympics was just one cycle to early for nathan. i know a LOT of people said that this was the perfect time for him since his body is in peak form for doing the quads, but i really didn’t think he had the maturity to both handle the pressure of being a top figure skater nor the artistry or skating skills to match the top men yet. but he’s just 18 and it’s only his 2nd year as a senior. although i am really sad that his SP never got an olympic moment (it’s a fantastic vehicle for him when he’s clean, kudos to shae-lynn) i am thrilled that he got his redemptive FS (what a moment!), but i hope that he learns that changing jump layout from competition to competition is probably not the best strategy going into the olympics (or worlds). in four years i’m sure he’ll be the full package - with the artistry and technical capabilities. 

patrick chan - i’ve got complicated feelings about patrick, only because while i felt sorry for him in sochi and i appreciate his beautiful skating skills (seriously, he glides across the ice like a feather) he has a habit of putting his foot into his mouth during a lot of his interviews and they’ve unfortunately soured my impression of him as a skater. i never really bought that his comeback was about skating for himself, i always just thought it was because he still thought he could compete with everyone and win. whether or not that’s true doesn’t really matter in the long run, but i’m happy that he was able to land a 3A in his final performance and got that gold medal he desperately wanted.

boyang jin - i love how emotional he got when he finished his free! while his FS is still a little gimmicky to me, his SP truly shows off how far he’s come in the past 2 seasons wrt his skating. for all that the media likes to bash his lack of transitions, he’s not the only one who lacks them and it makes me so sad that he’s the only one that gets criticized for it. he def still has a lot of work to do but i think that he can definitely make the podium in beijing if he continues to improve. he still has the most hilarious mid-jump faces. 

vincent zhou - i was not prepared to cry at his reaction at the end of his free skate! to be honest, i don’t really feel much when he skates to moulin rouge (mostly because i’m so used to tessa and scott’s version, but also because of the lack of transitions) but you could tell after he finished his last jump that he was skating with so much freedom and really enjoying his olympic moment. especially after all the pressure he must have felt after making it on the team over ross miner, he probably wanted to prove that he deserved to be in pyeongchang and he definitely did, landing in 6th place. he really needs to work on the spins and the footwork (and learn to use his arms more effectively) but he’s just 17 and he’s never been to senior worlds yet. give him time. (and please stop hiring new coaches)

ice dance  

virtue/moir - i was really worried that they weren’t going to be able to pull it out because of the judging situation but at the end of the day the stars just aligned in all the right ways for them to win. it’s amazing to me that after 2 years of not competing they’re in the best form they’ve ever been (their 13-14 season was pretty awful competitively). but if anything, v/m have always been able to deliver when they need to. truly one of the best and i will miss seeing them compete, assuming that they’re retiring.

papadakis/cizeron - my heart broke for gabby in the SD when i saw her wardrobe malfunction. that being said, i think they were massively overscored in the SD, which is just bad judging. i think that this silver was honestly the best thing that could’ve happened to them, because if they had won over tessa and scott they probably would have to face judging controversies and shit like that. their FD is such a thing of beauty but you could tell that the audience didn’t quite get it, unfortunately. but they’ll be there in 2022 - that OGM is just waiting for them

shibutanis - ARGUABLY THE RESULT I WAS MOST EXCITED FOR IN ICE DANCE. i’m still mad as hell about that lvl2 rhumba but it’s fine because i was so excited for them that they skated 4 clean programs at the olympics since their last two competitions had been a bit of a struggle for them. i was worried that the past mistakes would prevent them from skating free but they really let it go in that final minute of their individual FD. i’m not even a huge fan of their FD but they skated their asses off to it and you could tell that they were super invested in it and they ultimately convinced me in the end. the fact that they got on the podium despite constantly being lowballed for being a sibling duo speaks volumes about what they’ve accomplished here. so so proud of them.

chock/bates - i’m gonna be honest, i was really never into any of chock/bates programs in the past 4 years. but my heart really went out them when they fell and you never wish for that kind of mistake on anyone. not much else to say.

weaver/poje - i fucking love je suis malade and i am so excited they brought it back for the olympics. kaitlyn looked stunning in her SD dress and i’m so sad that they never made it back up in the world rankings in this quad but they really skated their heart out in both programs (even though i held my breath during those twizzles)

bobrova/soloviev - honestly i’m glad that they’re not skating together anymore (i think) bc i have really nothing good to say about them lmao

ladies 

alina zagitova - while the judging of this event was completely wild, i want to protect her so much bc with all the new young talent that’s coming up she’s probably going to get passed over soon like all of the russian girls that never make it past puberty. she’s such an angel and while i hate her backloaded programs and i hate that she’s crazily awarded PCS there’s absolutely no denying her technical mastery. don’t think she deserved the gold but PCS was judged wildly this entire event so i absolutely don’t blame alina at all. and the mental fortitude it takes to tack on a 3Lo to her 2nd 3Lz after the first combo attempt was landed poorly is so fucking impressive.

evgenia medvedeva - my heart absolutely broke for her because this was supposed to be the crowning moment of her amazing 2 last two seasons but it just didn’t happen. the grace she showed after she saw her score and realized she was silver was just awe-inspiring and it makes her even more admirable. 

kaetlyn osmond - i personally did not like her fp this season at all but kaetlyn REALLY held it together during the free skate where she usually messes up and for that she has my kudos. her jumping is super impressive but definitely makes me hold my breath because she REALLY LAUNCHES herself into her jumps but they could go either way. luckily for her they went pretty well and the judges were ready to reward her if she skated clean. 

satoko miyahara - THE BRONZE MEDALIST OF MY HEART. she is the ONLY skater whose sp and fs i really loved and the fact that she was SO undermarked in PCS is just criminal! the nuances of her arm movements! the depth of her edges and the intricacies in her choreography were so underappreciated and it drives me absolutely wild, and it’s definitely bc her jumps are so small. the fact that she spins in both directions is so impressive and she switches so seamlessly that you can’t even tell she when she does it. i was SO proud that she got full credit on all of her jumps in her FS and she was so close to the podium. i hope she sticks with lori bc she had some real masterpiece programs this season. 

kaori sakamoto - she has so much potential and i’m so excited to see how she matures as a skater! her jumps are so powerful and she has a lot of musicality but i just feel like her programs here weren’t a good match for her. i hated the moonlight sonata edit (why do ppl change the key in classical pieces!! drives me insane, as someone with perfect pitch) and the miming choreo in the amelie program was giving me bad eteri-skater flashbacks.

mirai nagasu - i was so proud of her amazing skate in the team event but i definitely feel like she lost steam in the individual event :( yeah some of her comments after her bad performance were a little messy but i mean c’mon everyone makes excuses after bad performances. men say shitty things all the time after they do poorly idk why it’s so important to keep going after mirai

karen chen - SUCH GORGEOUS SPIN POSITIONS but gaaaaahhhh the jumping consistency!!! they’re so powerful and impressive when she hits them but they take the wind out of her when they go wrong. i know she was having boot problems before the free skate but this is not the first time this has happened to her and i really think that should’ve been addressed. nathan had boot problems at worlds last year and he brought like 3 pairs to PC. karen has a lot of musicality but when she botches the jumps i feel like it just takes the wind out of her and she loses that spark in her performance.

bradie tennell - i honestly don’t know what to say about her. she did pretty solid in the team event and placed just about where everyone expected her to even with a clean skate. she just skates with a very juniorish vibe and i admit that she did shock me when she fell but this is only the 2nd major international competition i’ve ever seen her at so i’m like...should i be this surprised??? the SP drives me nuts bc she clearly has never seen the movie where the soundtrack is from and the FS drives me nuts bc i feel like i’m watching disney on ice. i will be curious to see how she fares internationally from here on out, bc i will admit that her technique is really pristine, but i think she needs like a dance coach or a choreographer like lori or shae-lynn to help her mature artistically.

[yutasbirthchin]

Hero - Chapter 1

Group: Seventeen Member: Vernon Word Count: 1171 Genre: angst/fluff/tear jerking/idk

Prologue / Chapter2 / Chapter3 / Chapter4 / Chapter5 / Chapter6 / Epilogue

Trigger Warning: Mentions of a massacre (like a news report, its not super detailed nor gruesome but I’ll put a TW here just incase.)

Neither his mother shouting something at him from the kitchen nor his younger sister playing loudly across the room from him could break his focus. Even when his father came up behind him and gave him a little whack on the head with a stern ‘Your mother is calling you.’ Vernon’s eyes remained glued to the screen, fixated on the news report that was playing out before him on the television, ‘a national hero’, the news headline read.

Only when the TV was switched off did his focus shatter, and he spun around quickly to find out who on Earth had dared to ruin his focus. He quickly shrunk down though when he stopped face to face with his very angry mother.

Despite it being a gruesome story, he couldn’t help being drawn to it. Every spare second he had was spent reading every article, watching every news report, witness report and reading every comment and reaction. By this point he knew every fact released to the public. He knew that 48 year old Ong Daeshim, an accountant with no known family, visited a shopping centre in Incheon with a M4 Carbine and 450 rounds of ammunition concealed in a side bag. He knew that the man started his murderous rampage in a cafe, managing to shoot 17 people before moving through the rest of the shopping centre and eventually killing himself. He knew that unfortunately 23 people had died, whilst another 59 people were injured.

Vernon also knew about Kang Younghee, a 19 year old girl who had managed to warn and save a number of people. She had been a waiter who served Ong in the cafe where he started shooting, who had ran out of the cafe to warn people in other shops and had even been so brave as to try and stop him herself. Whilst the nation had hailed her as a heroine and idolised her, Vernon had recognised her and was sure he had finally found his childhood crush.

After she had disappeared without saying goodbye he hadn't forgotten her, and had thought about her almost everyday. When he got a bit older he'd tried searching her on various social media sites and even on Naver, but he'd never found her. He never gave up searching, but he hadn't expected to find her through a news article reporting a tragic event.

He’d almost missed it. As he came home from school, walked into the living room and greeted his mother and sister, he wasn't even paying attention to the television or what was going on. When he'd retreated back to his room and done whatever it was that teenagers did on the internet, he ignored all the news articles that popped up on his front page. It wasn't until his father came home from work and the four of them sat down to eat dinner that he noticed.

“Why is the TV on?” The boy asked his parents, confused as to why they would leave the telly on when they usually switched it off during dinner.

“A major incident happened in Incheon, we’re waiting for more details.” His mother responded.

The boy rolled his eyes, annoyed at the TV; background noise gave him a headache. It wasn't until his father exclaimed ‘I'm so glad people like her exist.’ That he decided to actually look at the screen. The boy was glad he had a strong stomach, because some of the details were brutal.

‘19 year old Kang Younghee was a waiter at the cafe in which the incident started. The brave teenager ran from the cafe and visited as many shops warning people of the gunman and telling staff and customers to hide and eventually hid herself. As the gunman had worked his way through the shopping centre and exited into the car park, Kang attempted to restrain the man before being shot in the leg by him.’ The news reporter stated and the teenager felt this fuzzy feeling in his stomach. She had the same name and she was the same age, it had to be her.

Vernon couldn't believe his ears. “Noona?” He asked aloud, receiving questioning looks from his family.

“You know her?” His father asked.

“She was my friend in elementary school, the one that moved away.”

“You mean the girl you have a crush on?” Sophia teased.

“I don't have a crush on her!” The boy defended, but it was to no avail as even his parents knew he was still smitten with the girl he hadn't seen or heard from in ten years.

“They haven't even shown a picture of her, how would you even know?” His sister questioned.

“I don't know. I just.. I just know.”

‘Well, if it is her, at least you've got good tastes.’ His mother muttered under her breath, unheard by the boy who now seemed to only have ears for the television.

Vernon hadn't slept that night. He spent the whole night strengthening his new obsession for the case. Not only had he found the girl he'd been searching for for a decade, but she was also a heroine, a girl who had risked her life to try and save as many people as possible. The media hadn't released an image of the girl, and so he knew there was a chance that this heroine wasn't even the girl he knew. But something deep down told him it was her, somehow he knew that without even seeing her picture, that it was his long lost friend.

The 17 year old used this opportunity to try and find out as much as he could about her, but he could find much. It was reported that Younghee was a high school dropout who had worked for the last two years as a waiter at the cafe, little else about her was known.

A few days later it was announced that she was recovering well from her injuries, but that she had refused to do any interviews or to appear on national tv; they didn't even show any pictures. Due to the fact that Mr Ong had shot and killed himself after the rampage, there was no trial. And so the nations heroine remained semi-anonymous.

He didn't know what to do with himself, he'd found her, he knew he had. But she was in Incheon, a seven hour train ride from his small village, how on Earth would he ever get in contact with her again. The boy contemplated taking a trip to Incheon, but knew that it would be near impossible to find her.

He was so curious. What kind of person had she become? How was she? Why did she disappear? He had so many questions. More than anything though, he wanted to lay eyes on her, at least one more time. It didn't matter how hard he tried to picture a 19 year old Younghee, he always saw the same short little 9 year old.

Vernon sighed.

Will I ever see you again?

[thewidowstanton]

Kalle Nio, magician and visual artist, WHS: Lähtö, London International Mime Festival

Kalle Nio is an award-winning magician and visual artist from Helsinki in Finland. His stage work combines historical stage magic techniques with contemporary video projections. In 2000, he won third prize at FISM in the invention category and the same year co-founded WHS – a collective producing new circus and visual theatre – with juggler Ville Walo. WHS has played a key role in the rise of contemporary circus in Finland and has been seen internationally. Its show Pinta was at Jacksons Lane in London during CircusFest 2016.

Kalle is also one of the founders of Teatteri Union, an art-house cinema and performing arts venue in Helsinki. His works as a visual artist involve the collision of magic, cinema and the human body. He now appears with Vera Selene Tegelman in his award-winning production Lähtö, which he also directs. The show has its UK premiere at the Platform Theatre in London and runs from 10-13 January 2018 during the 41st London International Mime Festival. Kalle takes a break from “testing some scenes for a new show” at Teatteri Union to chat to Liz Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: Do you come from a showbusiness background? Kalle Nio: No… well, sort of. There isn’t any in my family but I started to do magic when I was a really young child, like maybe most magicians. I had my first performances when I was five years old and then never stopped doing it. So I’ve been doing magic all my life, basically.

Many magicians start out with a little kit, such as a Paul Daniels’ set. How did you learn? Yes, like that. Exactly the same old story. I got a magic kit from a toy store and then I started to learn from books. Then I went to some youth circus schools and things like that, but I don’t have any official circus training; I’m really self taught. Paul Daniels was really big in Finland as well when I was kid and I watched a lot of his shows. 

What made you start it so young? I suppose I saw some magicians on TV and stuff like that but it was something that always felt like my thing. It’s curious because when I started it was just so natural for me; ‘OK, I will do that‘. Then I did magic almost professionally from when I was 14 because I won the youth championships of magic in Finland and that led me to perform on some TV shows that were really popular. After that I had so many possibilities to perform everywhere it kind of became my profession. It was a very natural thing to do.

Is magic big in Finland? I only know of Marko Karvo… Well, there are a lot of really good magicians here but I don’t think it’s any bigger than in any other European country. There are a lot of magicians everywhere and I feel that in recent years magic has become more and more popular. There are lots more professional magicians performing and doing interesting things. It’s a really good time to be a magician at the moment.

What was your invention for FISM 2000? It was two tricks. It’s a funny story actually, because I went to FISM to compete in the close-up category but the judges asked me to go and meet them after the show. They felt that maybe I wasn’t the winner of the close-up category but they wanted to know how I did my tricks. I explained how I’d done them and then they gave me a trophy in the inventions category.

Will you describe the tricks without saying how they were done? The first one was with a soda bottle. I blew into the glass bottle and it inflated like a balloon… [Laughs] … and the second one was a card trick. One of the volunteers picked a card and signed her name on it, then the card vanished and reappeared inside a block of ice.

Where did your interest in historical stage magic come from? I read a lot about the history of magic. I’m really into like, ‘What were the first tricks that magicians started to perform? What are the greatest illusions that no one does anymore?’. I love to read about those and a lot of my influences come from there. I’ll see some old trick that I’d like to try and maybe I’ll start to test it, ‘Could it work? What’s really the secret there?’. Then quite often I’ll forget the original thing and just take some elements from it. So it may be that the theme, or the secret or a visual idea will develop into something completely different.

For instance in Lähtö there’s this trick with mirrors. Normally in that trick, when it was originally performed, you don’t really see the mirror, it’s hidden, so that’s kind of the secret, but what we’ve done is just the opposite. Originally we had just one giant mirror, but to make things more interesting we decided to spit it into several smaller ones. We’ve placed the mirrors so that they are visible for everyone and we manipulate and levitate and move them round the stage. It’s completely different than the original but there is still the foundation it came from, the idea of testing the old illusion but developing it. 

You mentioned going to youth circus, have you got any circus skills? I practised juggling for many years; that’s something I like to do, but I’ve never performed as a juggler. I’ve done some shows together with jugglers and I really enjoy seeing jugging and also thinking about it, but I’m not so skilled as a juggler that I’d like to perform as juggler. In some of my previous shows I’ve used magic and juggling and perhaps at some point I’ll do more of that.

And you’re also an artist. Did you study art? Yes, I have a masters degree in Fine Arts. I went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in the department of Time and Space. It means it’s time-based arts, like performance and film and also spatial things, like installations and stuff like that. I studied there, and so I’ve been working as a visual artist as well.

And you’ve had exhibitors all over the place! Yes, it’s true. For me, they’re pretty close to each other, actually. In the performances I do in theatres I consider the lights, the video projections and set decorations and everything that is on the stage to be as important as the performers themselves. So for me, it’s like a work of art. Everything has to be connected together, everything has to work at the same time. So basically, the exhibitions I do are pretty much the same, but one difference is that usually there are no live performers.

The biggest difference between an exhibition in a gallery and a show in a theatre is the way that I can manipulate time. In a theatre the audience comes and will sit there for an hour and normally they don’t go away in-between, so I can have a linear timeline. But in an exhibition people come and can spend maybe five minutes, maybe an hour, you don’t know and you cannot control that, so it’s a really subtly different way of how you can control the audience. I think that’s really interesting because it makes how you have to see the linearity of the work so different.

When was WHS’ first show? Our first premiere was in 2002. We did something like five shows together, the last one in 2008. Since then we’ve been working separately; we run the theatre, where I am at the moment, but for the past ten years it’s been more like two companies or like a collective/producing facility. We also produce other artists and circus performances so it has grown into many companies under one name. Yes, we interviewed the artist Salla Hakanpää about Dive.

Does your association with circus artists come from youth circus? I’m a magician and did a lot of juggling, so I started to work with jugglers and the first shows I did were pretty much circus kind of shows, but they also used a lot of projections. For me the development has been that I started with more common circus elements but bit by bit it’s developed more into visual theatre or theatrical things that I’m interested in. I still feel that the circus is somehow there in the background. I still enjoy seeing tricks and I like elements of the realness of circus.

Tell us about Vera Selene. Is she a circus performer? No, she’a dancer and an actress. I started to work with her on Lähtö and since then we’ve done Cutting Edge; she also performs in that. She’s a really great dancer and I love the way she performs onstage.

The illusions in Cutting Edge look really intriguing! I really love the theme of that show. It’s curious, if you take maybe 100 of the most well-known magicians’ illusions that there are, like, sawing a woman in half, putting swords through a woman, cutting a head off somebody, putting spikes through somebody, it’s all super-violent things. It’s like the magic is full of these really, really violent tricks and for me the question was, ‘So as people, why do we want to see that kind of thing? Why is it fun for us to see somebody being sawn in half?’. That was the starting point of the show.

Also the sawing a woman in half wasn’t actually originally sawing a woman, but a small boy. It didn’t become really famous until they switched it to being a woman; then it became a huge hit. It tells us so much about how our society in Europe… how the European culture is built, that we actually want to see, especially women being sawn and tortured in whatever way. If you take the history of art you have these paintings where everybody has been decapitated and in reality, with the French Revolution with all the guillotines and such. Every country has its own horrible culture of cutting off heads and it started to interest me, the decapitation as a spectacle, because in most countries it was like a piece of cruel theatre. It still exists on the internet and people really watch it. So, what’s wrong with us?

With Lähtö, you perform, you’re the director, and you’ve designed the projections and the illusions. Can you reveal something about it? Lähtö means ‘departure’ and it’s about this couple who have a sort of complex relationship. They are perhaps splitting apart or perhaps not, and it’s not so much about the story but about the atmosphere and the emotion of what they are going through at the moment. What we’re trying to do is have the exterior elements tell us about their interior or internal feelings. We’re not trying to act so much, it’s more about how, for instance, the curtains behind us can express the feelings we have inside. We want all the external elements to be expressive. It has a lot of elements using magic and a lot of visual things like projections and things like that.

From the description in the programme, I was expecting some circus skills… We don’t have acrobatics or juggling but the magic is the circus element that’s definitely there. There are a lot of tricks and then there’s the question of the definition; would you see magic as part of circus? I do, so I think that it’s not wrong to say it.

You do see magic in the circus… The definition of circus is quite curious because so many people have different ideas about it but there’s also the definition of magic. That’s always a really good question for me because sometimes some people will say about some of the tricks I do in the show: “This is not magic.” And for others it is magic. So it’s like, ‘What is magic actually?’. Why isn’t an aeroplane magic because it’s flying or a refrigerator, because we don’t really know how it works? For me the circus is like… if we talk about traditional circus I don’t feel it is a tent with animals. Circus started much earlier; tenting circuses just arrived in the 1820s or something like that. I feel it goes way back into times where they had magicians and curiosities and all these kinds of things. That’s what I’m interested in; going way back.

Have you appeared in the Mime Festival before? No, and I’ve never performed in London or anywhere in the UK before. I’ve been to London for two hours once when I had a fight connection, so it’s a really new world for me. I’m super excited about it and really curious to see how people in London will feel about our show.

Kalle appears in Lähtö at the Platform Theatre in London from 10-13 January 2018 during the 41st London International Mime Festival.

For tickets to Lähtö, click here

Picture credits: Headshot, gallery shot and Cutting Edge heads, Kalle Nio; Lähtö, Tom Hakala; Waiting Room, Jeongah Ha

WHS on Facebook

Twitter: @MimeLondon @TheatrePlatform

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

Read our other interviews with Finnish artists: Hanna Moisala, Salla Hakanpää, Heidi Niemi and Saara Ahola 

[astrotranslations]

[XP Star Shot ③] ASTRO Who Are 1 Year into Their Debut, the Most Memorable Moment

Our leader JinJin! We thought he was a manly man but….

Patting his shoulders from all around him.

The year 2016, which moment lingers the most in JinJin’s memory? JinJin: Our debut showcase, I cried all three times we held our mini lives. I was talking about our fans, my family and the members when the tears just started to pour. Moonbin: JinJin and Cha Eunwoo are the official crybabies in our team. JinJin: I’m the sort who doesn’t lie about my emotions. And I don’t want to either. When the tears start to fall, I don’t force myself to hold them back and just let them all out. (in unison): What, so you’re saying we lie? (bursts into laughter)

The eldest MJ, what in the world is this pose that one can never figure out? MJ: My pose is like having achieved something. I expressed the feeling of having attained my goals. I felt really good when we went for KCON in LA, America. The stage was super big as well. So I expressed my feelings of shock and joy from that time. JinJin: Seems like you just struck a random pose and fit you answer to it though? MJ: No! I did the ‘Hooray!’ pose with one hand. (in unison): How you fit your answer is amazing.

The ‘Figting!’ pose of ASTRO’s visual, Eunwoo.

One person, two persons, they gathered stealthily and the group picture is complete!

Cha Eunwoo: When I’m happy or when I braved through something, I often strike that kind of pose and make that kind of facial expression. It’s like the feeling of “We’ve ended it well! We’ve wrapped up well! when we’re done with music broadcast promotions. Everyone else is probably the same too. Having gone through three rounds of promotions is what is the most memorable so I did that kind of pose. We’d dine out together and eat meat when we finish with music broadcast promotions and I’m really happy then. We typically like meat.

“Heart attack"… Moonbin’s pose, won’t AROHAs be able to guess it?

Moonbin: The stage that I was the most nervous for in my life is our debut showcase. I’ve never been that nervous in my life. It’s a picture that expresses my nervous self from back then. I was a bunch of nervous at the beginning but I was so happy at the end of the showcase. The thought that I’m debuting really hit me then.

"AROHAs will know"… What is it that Rocky’s holding?

Rocky: We received a rookie award that fans made for us after debuting. They personally made the award and gave it to us, I was really happy when we got it. I bragged to my mum, "Our fans gave us an award” and she told me, “Your fans are really kind people.” Of course they are!

The youngest, Sanha, is happy today as well.

There’s no reason, I’m going to annoy you (feat. Rocky)

Yoon Sanha: It’s the first new year since having debuted that I’m welcoming as ASTRO. There were many happy events last year and I spent an enjoyable time with fans. I’m now in my 2nd year of high school so I think that there will be more pleasant episodes. My goal for this year is to build my body! My shoulders are too narrow. Moonbin: You don’t have to grow any taller now. You’ve done all the growing. MJ (with a serious facial expression): Yeah. That’s right. You have to work out. Yoon Sanha: Yeah, you too~

In the end, ASTRO are-

They urgently did push ups after the interview ended~ (not a set up)

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fanclub, AROHA? JinJin: Thanks to AROHAS who ardently cheered us on throughout 2016, we received greater strength. We probably wouldn’t have been able to endure if we didn’t have the support from AROHAs. There’s something I’m curious about. How did you come to know of ASTRO and how did you come round to liking us? Cha Eunwoo: There are times when we can see our fans when we’re in the music broadcast waiting rooms. They came a long way to see us for 10~20 minutes and when I see them keeping line for a long time, I get really touched. It crosses my mind that I should treat AROHAs better. I want to tell them that I’m thankful, that they’ve worked hard and to look after us this year as well. I hope that we’ll be together for the long run. Rocky: To be honest, we don’t do well on all our stages. There are times when we’d make ridiculous mistakes and there are also lacking aspects. But even so, they like all those sides of us and look over us prettily so I’m just happy, fascinated and thankful. Also, maybe it’s because the weather’s cold but I’m curious whether or not fans are sick. Are you healthy? JinJin: When it comes to fan love, we won’t fall behind other groups. I’ll try to continue to communicate with AROHAs and to listen to their stories. Rocky: Can you write 'ASTRO and AROHAs, They’ll Grow Together’ in your article? Reporter: I’ll write it as a picture caption.

If there was any final thing you want to say to your members? Moonbin: You’ve worked hard. Let’s start again! Cha Eunwoo: There’s actually something I couldn’t answer to the question, “Are there good points to being a sextet?"…. it might come across as cringeworthy but more than it being good that we’re a sextet, it’s good because it’s MJ, because it’s JinJin, because it’s Moonbin, because it’s Rocky and because it’s Yoon Sanha. (in unison): How corny~ Cha Eunwoo: If it’s these members then it doesn’t matter if it’s an ASTRO with 100 members. MJ: How would it be if there was 50 of me? Cha Eunwoo: Um, I can’t agree to that (everyone bursts into laughter together)

Source: http://m.entertain.naver.com/read?oid=311&aid=0000697794

Translations by @99pmh​ Take out with full credits

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 11/23 NXT 11/25 NXT UK 11/26 Smackdown 11/27

Raw:

Such a hollow promo by Lana tbh. “I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up.” ??? You were the sole survivor by proxy, it’s not like you did anything. Like good for you, but come on now.

I mean sure, hand out a title shot to fucking Lana, not like anyone else in the entire company cares about that belt. God I miss Becky.

“You may go home Raw women’s champion” HAHAHAHAHAAHHA sure.

“Nikki Cross blames herself for what Alexa Bliss has become,” she should, she straight up threw her hissy fit cuz she didn’t win the title, and then she bailed.

Now don’t get me wrong, I get that Alexa has been... possessed, if you will, by Fiend... but I’m not seeing any signs of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to her and Bray. Aren’t they both trapped by Fiend in lore? Bray seems to genuinely care about Alexa. Am I off the mark here??

Oh my god this moment of silence for the fucking frog, I--

Topped with them laughing about his death, oooookay. I’m left speechless once again.

Commentators come back with, “Is Alexa Bliss too far gone...” LMFAO bye.

See I love this bullying Lana storyline cuz Nia and Shayna have no real reason to despise her 1/8th as much as they do. It simply boils down to ‘fuck Lana’ and like your typical high school bullies, they seethe when their victim succeeds at anything. It’s old school, believable, and doesn’t cross any lines that would upset parents or sponsors.

Also don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that this title match is just a vehicle to advance the feud while involving Asuka, I simply wish the creation of the title match itself had been a bit more interesting. Lana’s dialogue ahead of it with both Sarah and Asuka just fell flat for me.

Omfg Asuka threw water on Nia and Shayna, bahahahah I can’t breathe. That might be the highlight of her entire reign, holy shit.

Negative points for her being floored by one punch though.

Well at least the segment ends with both Asuka and Lana standing, that’s not the worst.

Not much to say about this match, it’s really just Nia and Shayna bullying Lana lol.

I’ll give them this, there is absolutely nothing about neither Nia nor Shayna that is even remotely likeable. They play mean really well, and not ‘annoying yet funny’ mean like Bayley, just straight mean.

It’s not that I hate this submission ‘hold’ by Shayna, where she steps on the back of their neck while pulling a leg back, but I’m curious why she switched legs lmao. Awkward.

What a knee strike by Shayna to Asuka, whew that looked nasty.

Lmfao Nia took herself out by charging into the announce desk. I cannot. What a bump. Comedic bump, but a bump. Points.

Haha Shayna ate a rollup. A happy ending indeed. Lana sold that ending well, but it was a weird choice to have her and Asuka on the opposite ends of the ramp.

It’s been like 2 years and I’m still shocked Alexa never turned on Nikki.

This video is kind of just skipping over Nikki throwing her tantrum huh? Alexa played backseat cheerleader just to watch Nikki lose against Bayley 16 times and what did she get in return? Disrespect. Tsk.

Great package though. Points.

Nikki is so inconsistent. Internal conflict is valid, but she’s standing here claiming Alexa gave up on their friendship. First of all, this was initially instigated by Nikki. Second of all, she did nothing but trash Alexa’s boyfriend(?) when Alexa was nothing but kind to her after Nikki was a douche. She was confused so she gave Alexa an ultimatum, and now she’s pissy cuz Alexa chose him. This is toxic, I honestly have no sympathy for Nikki.

“I’m going to beat the Fiend out of Alexa Bliss” that’s... that’s not how this works... alright well you’re a shitty friend so, anyway.

Alexa slaps the back of Nikki’s hands and claims she won. I fucking can’t, she’s such a treat.

Lol Alexa’s just laughing at her.

My first introduction to Alexa was her as a master manipulator. Not a damn thing has changed.

Alexa has lost her god damn mind rofl.

*Bonus* online exclusive: victim Nikki, everyone. Why wasn’t this on Raw? Jesus they fill Raw with so many garbage replays while meaningful interviews to fill plot holes are put online. Dumb.

Lacey’s really running around calling Peyton “PeyPey” good lord.

I mean she’s right, Peyton was the weakest link. Just saying.

“10 sizes too big” shot at Uncle Melted Cheese.

I fucking love how Lacey pronounces “opportun-tit-ies” lmao. I thought it was an accident at first but honestly it’s great.

They have zero chemistry in the ring but at least they’re fun outside of it.

Highlight: I know I say Alexa every single week but shrug it’s Alexa

---

NXT:

Alright Ember’s theme is wearing on me. She just has awesome theme songs.

Indi is really pretty and I love how she does her hair.

All nxt heels are the same; cowardly run from fights, slow methodical wrestling in the ring, recruiting muscle optional. It’s tired. At least be a good promo. Dakota is a good promo. She’s buyable. Actually where’s Dakota, I wanna see Dakota wrestle. No more Candice.

Holy shit that fall away slam onto Candice. Fucking THREW her ass across the ring. Whew everyone wave bye to Candice.

The setup to that step up senton by Candice was way too obvious.

Candice is too whiny.

Ah just as I’m beginning to get bored, Dakota comes out. It’s like nxt knows me.

Haha KO correcting Vic being a bad commentator.

See Candice isn’t even a bad wrestler, her style as heel just fucking blows.

Peeped that call by Ember.

Such a stupid setup to have Indi push Candice out of the way to take an Eclipse herself. It’s not like jumping in front of a bus. There was time. Whatever. I hate Candice matches 9 times out of 10 so there’s that lol.

...so is Toni a heel yet??? I’m guessing they’re going for “badass loner babyface-leaning tweener” for Ember, but Toni is not a tweener. She could’ve been, alas she is not.

Haha Toni is funny. Good, let her be heel. Maybe she’ll show some personality.

Alright but hear me out, what if we had a War Games team without Candice???

You did say we’d see a whole new side of you, Toni. Been waiting to see it though.

Wait back up, didn’t Toni attack Candice after their match recently?? Okay anyway.

“Rhea Ripley/Io Shirai? Doesn’t get any bigger than that.” True Rhea, now move up to the main roster plz.

Oh man Io’s basement dropkick fucking nailed Rhea in the face lol, oof.

“Where do I go from here?” TO THE MAIN ROSTER.

I don’t hate the tank and I don’t hate the idea of wearing a helmet, but those horns are super pointless.

Shotzi “pyromaniac” Blackheart. Stealing one of Alexa’s gimmicks.

It’s gonna be Shotzi, Io, Rhea and Ember, right? Who else would it be??

Rhea says she’s there to stay. Ma’am I stg if I have to wait til after wm to see you on the MR...

Me: super invested in Rhea cutting a fantastic promo and seeing how far she’s progressed as a well-rounded talent; Candice: “lol fuck you”

I hate Candice. I will fill this review with vitriol for Candice, I don’t care.

How... how did Io “steal” any victories from Candice? What help did she have? Is it drugs? Is Candice on drugs?? Candice you haven’t even held the title, shut the fuck up. Also all of y’all can sit down cuz only one woman on that entire brand has had a singles match at wm.

Oh shit they laid Io out. That’s a yikes.

In kf, the only threat to Rhea on that entire team is Toni.

I mean sure 4 people was way too much for Rhea to handle, but man they let her look pretty fucking good. The way she immediately slid out to give Raquel the high boot was smart as hell.

Dakota looks good. She gets style points.

Soooo Xia gets acting points, but what in the fuck is going on with her and Boa’s story...

Why do I have to see or hear Candice again? Jesus lord.

There’s someone else masked? *sigh* I don’t care, goodbye.

Highlight: Rhea’s promo that Candice ruined

---

NXT UK:

I enjoy watching neither of these women wrestle, but at least Jinny’s persona is appealing and she has solid character work. She’s easy to dislike, so she gets heel-potential points.

Did they say Isla’s mentor is Nikki Cross? That’s... interesting...

So is this match gonna be interrupted by Piper? Probably not.

“This is an aggressive Isla Dawn,” well hey, maybe she actually started working on her stamina.

Jinny is vicious lmao.

Probably Isla’s best showing tbh.

I hate it when people jump off the top turnbuckle and then break into a slow, clunky roll, just to stand up and act as if their knee is tweaked. It’s so messy to me. Be smoother or don’t aimlessly jump off the turnbuckle.

Whole lotta yelling in the match.

Really don’t give a shit about a future Jinny/Piper match but okay.

Highlight: Jinny comes off as a vicious bitch, so that’s nice

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Smackdown:

Oh snap Bianca’s graphic has some real potential.

Ayyyeeee it’s Captain Bayley. We starting our Bianca/Bayley feud?

oof Nattie straight outsmarted Bianca as the vet, there. Bianca friggin speared that ringpost.

“I think I did the world a favor, we got to see Bianca Belair shine,” she’s not wrong, Bianca was absolutely my mvp from SvS. In hindsight speaking from current day, Bayley really set up Bianca to be the upcoming star of this division, starting with SvS.

Oh snap did Bianca just call Nattie a bitch? How dare she, that’s Nattie’s only patented insult!

“You don’t want to get counted out again,” lmfao Bayley’s so annoying.

pppffffftttt Bayley inadvertently getting her ass whooped tonight.

Yeah somehow this is all Cole’s fault lol.

No, stop, no more “them” promos. Bayley cut this promo literally a year prior, we don’t need to hear it from Carmella, too. Besides, she was never necessarily a fan favorite that the crowd gradually turned against like Bayley was. It’s different.

WHAT SHOTS ARE YOU CALLING?? Is this about Reggie? Has he even appeared on screen yet?

Lmao Sasha beating her ass. Good for her. Looking good while she does it, too. Sasha in shiny silver... whew.

The wwe shop ad with the Riott Squad was worth a mention. They entertain me and they deserve tag titles. Not sure why wwe is still dragging their feet, but commit to them already, damn it.

Highlight: Bianca/Bayley seeds being planted

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*Smackdown shined the brightest this week. Short, simple, straight to the point. Left me wanting to throw on next week’s episode, which no other show accomplished.