#but it’s 6:30 am and I like how Steph looks so I’m posting it anyway

[sisaloofafump]

Scars

Loosely inspired but the fic So you’ll know where I’ve been by @cacchieressa

[laughingupfromhell]

My Gillette Experience + Pre-Show M&G.  7.28.18 -- Extended Edition

I’m sorry this has taken so long to post, but it’s literally so hard to get my thoughts together because I’m still so overwhelmed by the fact that this even HAPPENED to me. I’d convinced myself it wasn’t in the cards, that Taylor didn’t know me, and that I needed to find a way to be okay with never meeting her. But then, IT HAPPENED. (I’m going to write the whole story from the time I got the DM and it’s going to be really long, so if you just want to read the Taylor part, I’ll write it in bold so you can skip to it easily. Just keep scrolling. I’m just posting the long version so I can look back on it whenever I want and never forget anything. I’ll post just the Taylor part individually too in case you don’t want to hunt for it.)

Friday, July 27th, I had the worst day at work. I work in a cafe, and the AC was out in the kitchen which made the entire place SO hot. Literally, it was 92 degrees in the building and we had the ovens on. I live in Florida, so it was disgusting and I felt so sick. We were shorthanded, I was stressed out about my flight, dealing with some pretty intense anxiety about meeting people I had never met before because I’m shy af, and just overall feeling kind of bleh despite being so excited for the concert the next day. I found out as I was on the way to the airport that my flight had been delayed nearly three hours and that set me into panic mode, because it would put me in Boston around 2 in the morning instead of 10pm. Eventually it got pushed back to only an hour delay, which made me feel a little better, and I passed the time in the airport just walking around the shops and scrolling tumblr. Jaime @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes texted me to tell me that one of my best friends Meredith @meredithswift had just met Taylor and I was SO excited for her because I’ve known how much she wanted this since we started talking in 2008. Jaime was like “you next!” and I was like “noooo, it’s not going to happen for me.” Taylor was intent on making me look like boo boo the fool.

Right before I boarded the plane, around 8pm, I took a selfie at the gate because I was bored and tagged Taylor in it on tumblr and said “I’m coming for you, Taylor!” I didn’t even know she was online, and she never liked the post, so I didn’t think anything of it after that.

 I boarded the plane, but there was a RIDICULOUS thunderstorm going on so we sat on the tarmac for nearly two hours, and I had been DMing back and forth with Jeannine @it-feels-like-a-perfect-night all day, so when I saw a notification on tumblr, I thought it was her...until I opened it and it said taylornation. All of my internal organs came flooding out of my ass in that moment and landed on the plane floor beneath me, not clickbait. I literally didn’t believe it was real for a whole hot ass minute because things like this do not happen to me and I was LITERALLY sitting on a plane about to go to Boston so WHAT WAS HAPPENING??? I open it, and they asked for all my information, and when the best time to call was. I was like????!!!? I’m LITERALLY SITTING ON A PLANE LESS THAN 24 HOURS BEFORE MY SHOW AND YOU WANT TO KNOW WHEN THE BEST TIME CALL IS???? YESTERDAY???? I ALREADY HAVE MY BAG CHECKED, I DON’T HAVE TIME TO BUY ANOTHER OUTFIT, I LOOK LIKE A RAT!!!! So obviously I said “I don’t land until midnight but anytime after that, thank you so much!” 

At this point I’m in such shock I literally have no reaction other than to stare unblinking at the seat in front of me and go into full body tremors. I’m pretty sure the girl next to be me on this flight thought I was scared of flying or something, because I was literally shaking so hard I could hear my teeth chattering together. My heart rate shot through the goddamn roof. If you don’t believe me, here is a helpful graph from my Fitbit. I hit 117 BPM from 58 BPM. I’m pretty sure that is indicative of an actual heart attack.

I didn’t know what to do, so I immediately texted my mom and I KNOW it says the message is confidential and you’re not supposed to tell anyone but I needed my mother to know that if her only child died mid-flight, it was taylor nation’s fault and to tell Taylor I loved her. It was VITAL. The southern jumped out -- I literally haven’t called her mama since I was 10, I don’t even know. 

I also told my friend Lindsey @lskbe because I once promised her she’d be one of the first to know if it was ever going to happen and she was a GEM even though she DIDN’T ANSWER ME RIGHT AWAY BUT ANYWAY!!!! (screenshot provided by her). She made me a playlist titled 7.28.18 on spotify and everything for the occasion because she is extra and I love her. 

 I spent the next 2 1/2 hours literally trying not to pee myself with anxiety and excitement because then of course I start thinking WHAT IF THEY FORGET TO CALL? What if it’s just merch? What if I’m boo boo the fool? What if this isn’t real life? Then we hit turbulence and my thoughts turn darker like WHAT IF THE PLANE CRASHES AND I DIE BEFORE I MEET HER? I literally had to make Jaime reassure me multiple times that turbulence wouldn’t make the plane crash and that I would survive. We love her logical brain. So obviously now that I’ve stopped panicking it’s time to take selfies to post later.

 I finally make it to Boston and at this point I think I’ve dissociated because I just can’t even think about it anymore. My brain was on overdrive and I didn’t even know how to process. It was either shut it down or shout it from a rooftop and I COULDN’T TAKE THAT RISK. 

I got to meet my sweet honeys @straightlinedownx and @heypay FINALLY and it’s up there in my top ten best moments of life. They’d just gotten home from Night 2 so they were pretty spent and it was 1:30 in the morning, so we all headed to bed, but if you thought I was sleeping, you’re WRONG because I was literally peeing every half hour because I was so nervous and excited. I was like a chihuahua I swear to god. I was talking to Brittany @messthatuwanted for most of the night trying not to be suspicious and I guess I did a pretty good job because she NEVER FOUND OUT until I wanted her to. Which is what her snake ass deserves tbh. I literally didn’t get to sleep until 4:30 in the morning and then I woke up at 6:45 am and was like...well they said they’d call me in the morning, and technically it is morning, so I should stay up. Clearly logical. Obviously. We love anxiety. I couldn’t turn the ringer on for my phone because I was sharing a room with people and I didn’t want to wake anyone up so going back to sleep was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. 

I spent most of the morning internally exploding, and I eventually told @heypay because I needed someone to tell me I was being crazy and that they would call and she did a very good job at this, so thank you Paige, you’re the love of my life. We were all laying around, relaxing, watching Lejla and Liana’s pet rabbit eat a salad, you know...typical things friends do, when I got a call from a NYC number and shit my pants. I got up from the floor so fast and ZOOMED to the kitchen and Paige followed after me and practically shoved me out of the apartment door so I could have some privacy lol. It was Sydney from Taylor Nation and she was a sweetie and asked how my flight was and and rambled on about delayed flights and I was like....I literally do not care, I’m so sorry, please tell me what I NEED TO KNOW WOMAN I AM DYING!!!! Eventually she cuts to the chase and is like “have you ever had an opportunity before?” And I was like um...hehe..it depends on what you mean by an opportunity because I REALLY JUST WANTED HER TO SAY THE WORDS and she was like “have you ever met taylor before?” and I was like NO!!! I HAVEN’T!!!! At this point I’m shaking so hard I had to lean against the wall for fear of falling down the stairs because THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING, HUH? Then she asks if I’m going to the show with anyone who hasn’t had an opportunity before and I said YES, my precious baby Emily @straightlinedownx. So she asks for Emily’s information and thank god I had checked her facebook to find out her birthday before just in case they asked (since they asked for mine) because IT WAS A STRESSFUL TIME. So she tells me I’ll get a DM within the hour letting us know when we’re verified and where we should pick up our envelope between 4 and 5 pm and I’m just saying thank you over and over and over again because WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO LIKE WTF IS EVEN HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! 

So in my head I had this beautiful thing planned for how I would tell Emily she’s meeting Taylor, but it turns out beautiful plans can’t happen when your brain is literally exploding, so instead of doing this elaborate thing where I filmed her reaction and everything, I just went over to where she was lying on the ground and kicked her. As friends do. She turns around and I’m like “Come. Here.” I was probably terrifying, I’m so sorry Emily, but I didn’t KNOW WHAT TO DO. So she follows me out to the kitchen and WHAT DO YOU SAY OTHER THAN WHAT IS HAPPENING???? SO I JUST SPIT IT OUT AND SAID “We’re meeting Taylor” and she deadass goes “No we’re not.” Just so casual.  And I’m like “We are. We’re meeting Taylor tonight. I got a DM on the plane and they just called me. I’m bringing you. We’re meeting Taylor.” AND THIS DUMB BICTH GOES “ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BRING ME????” AND I’M LIKE “BICTH YES????? OF COURSE I DO???” And then she just kept doing this the rest of the day and it was my favorite thing. Here she is in Starbucks ten minutes after finding out. 

So we spent the rest of the day obsessing over make up and hair and we headed to the stadium around 2 PM because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to meet up with people and buy merch etc. Here’s us waiting for our ride (photo credit to angel @iknowplacesclean and a big thank you for letting me stay at your apartment spur of the moment!!!)

 We met up with Steph ( @thesethingswillchange), Leyton, Jess ( @jtmaster13) , and Sammi (@slytherinraven13) and I got to tell them all what was happening and they were SO happy for us because they’re literal angels on earth.

 Once we made it to will call and gave them our names, THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT so I started to panic, naturally, but it was chill because they found it eventually and we immediately started taking pictures with the paper. Some nice lady offered to take one for us, bless her, because the struggle was so real. 

By this point I had told all of my friends but Jaime @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes and Brittany @messthatuwanted because I was planning on snaking them the way they snaked me when they met Taylor, and it brought me the greatest joy in life since they both thought I was incapable of it. Little did I know that Jaime was on her way to SURPRISE ME AT THE SHOW which was a MESS since I was in REP ROOM WHEN SHE WAS LOOKING FOR ME! But more on that later. So we met @ninetay89 at will call and we were all so excited for each other because honestly it’s what we all deserved and we just kind of hung out, waiting in line for the gates to open and that’s when Meredith @meredithswift came RUNNING towards me full force. Meredith and I met when we were 13 and 15. We were each others first online friends, and we became full blown stans together. She was the one that convinced me to make a taylor tumblr blog in the first place way back in 2010. We’d never, ever met before that moment and it was honestly one of the highlights of my entire life. I love her with my whole entire heart and it was one of the best hugs I’ve ever gotten. We didn’t let each other go for like 3 minutes. It was great. 

The gates finally open and me and Emily ZOOM up to the 100 level bathrooms to fix our make up because the humidity was KILLER and we were legitimately melting. Then we had to run back down the stairs to meet at the bottom of 129/30 and met up with @sunflowershealing and she was SO sweet! I’m so glad we got to meet! 

So a security guard comes up to us and tells us we’re actually supposed to meet at the TOP of 129, which isn’t what the paper said but it’s FINE, so we go up MORE stairs and it’s honestly beginning to feel like gym class now but it’s fine because I will do hours of cardio for Taylor Swift if need be. So we go up only to be told to go back down the stairs AGAIN because what is organization and they give us our wrist bands and we’re GOING TO REP ROOM BITCHES. 

Let me just say that I was chill literally the entire day. I was excited, yeah, but I wasn’t nervous or anything. Even when we got to Rep Room, I was totally fine. But when I saw the Rep Room doorway, I was jumping up and down like a five year old because how was this REAL LIFE? I never in a million years thought when Taylor shared the fact about Rep Room and showed us the inside that I would ever see it in PERSON. And here I was, walking through the arch??? SOUNDS FAKE. So we get in there, and there are three polaroid cameras sitting on a table next to the throne, but I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to touch them since I’ve heard that a lot of pre-show meet and greets weren’t allowed to do much in rep room. So Emily and I just kind of hang out next to them and hope for the go ahead, which Steph from Taylor Nation eventually gives us and then she has to help our dumb asses put film in them because we’re USELESS. But it’s fine. We take pictures on the throne first, and they came out so iconic honestly I will never take a better picture. 

Obviously I had to take a picture with the iconic rainbow dress.

My one singular complaint about the polaroid idea is that rep room is SO dark and it doesn’t really work well with the film. 

There was water, coke, diet coke, and sprite available to us, but not the booze or the cookies that were in previous rep rooms. Probably because it’s pre-show or because there wasn’t media that night, I’m not sure. Anyway, we’re able to mingle for about 8-10 minutes maybe? Maybe shorter than that, but Steph tells us to put the cameras up and line up. We were third from last to go in of about 5-6 groups. I’d say there were about 10-12 people in there. I’m pretty short, so  I couldn’t see Taylor when they opened the curtain to let the first group in, but I heard someone say “She’s wearing the purple Olivia shirt” and I was like...I literally hate her. Everyone keeps talking and I just wanted them all to shut UP so I could HEAR HER SPEAKING. Eventually, we’re a few groups from going in and I hear her laugh and that’s when it really started getting real. This was really happening. I was about to meet Taylor. Surprisingly, I managed to STILL hold it together. Right before we went in, “Type” by Todrick Hall comes on and I was screaming because I KNEW that would be her favorite song on Forbidden. 

So they open the curtain and she’s standing RIGHT there and she opens her arms so wide and goes “oh my god hiiiiii” and without hesitation I just go right into her arms and wrap her up so tight and said “Hi, I’m Megan!” and she starts laughing and goes “I know! I picked you last night, I see your posts all the time, I saw your selfie like I’m coming for you...and I was like I’m coming for you, I sent your post to TN and was like I need her, bring me her.” Literally I wish I could describe in detail the noise that came out of my mouth when she said I know, because it definitely wasn’t human. I was like “YOU KNOWWWWW???” But i literally growled it like some kind of rabid animal, I’m SO sorry, Taylor. That was the first time I lost my chill, which surprisingly only happened twice. 

As soon as she drops that bomb on me she turns to Emily to hug her which is what she DESERVES but I was so shook by what she said that I was leaning in for another hug but her back is to me now so I kind of halfway climbed her back I HATE MYSELF. Like my hand was gripping her shoulder and my other hand was pressed against her back and I had to physically talk myself off the ledge like BE COOL BITCH, BACK UP, DON’T BE WEIRD! So I just subtly slide my hands off of her and step back...only to embarrass myself further by stepping closer to Emily, aggressively rubbing her back and shouting “THIS IS EMILY! WE LOVE HER!!!!” Honestly what the fuck is wrong with me? She goes “Thank you guys so much for coming!” And I literally PANTED out “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INVITING ME!” Literally I was malfunctioning. I needed to be rebooted.

She turns back to both of us and shimmies her shoulders because she clearly wants me dead and goes “Sooooooooo....” and without hesitation I go “We need to talk about ‘Look What You Made Me Do’” and she’s like “okay, what do we need to talk about?” And then...I did it ladies. I literally told her I didn’t get the joke when it first came out, it flew right over my head and I thought she was being serious about the old taylor being dead and I was so worried about her that I threw up in a parking lot. She goes “Oh my god WHAT? That makes me so sad!” But she was laughing so hard, she threw her head back and covered her mouth, and for a split second I’m like DID I HURT HER FEELINGS??? DOES SHE THINK I HATE THE SONG??? So I was like “NO NO BUT I LOVED IT!” and she goes “You threw up!” And I’m like “BECAUSE I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU! I WAS LIKE IS SHE OKAY????” And she literally can’t stop laughing, she’s doing that stupid dolphin laugh she does and I literally wanted to smoosh her face between my hands because I adore her so much and she is so fucking cute and GOD I WANT TO DIE. So she goes “I was literally climbing out of a grave dressed as a zombie, you didn’t get how that was supposed to be funny???” And I was like “NO, I understood it was a joke when the video came out but for a whole week before I didn’t get the joke!” And she goes “Ohhhh, when the single dropped and you listened you were like WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER???” And she just kept laughing like honestly what the fuck is my life? I made Taylor Swift LAUGH? ME??? (Emily said everyone in the room was laughing, like the security at the door and everything I literally want to jump off a cliff.) So I was like “YES EXACTLY! I was like is she okay? I’m so worried about her, I need to know that she’s okay!” And she like...touched my arm and goes “But you’re okay now, right?” and made the most INTENSE eye contact like...if there is one thing I will say about meeting her, it’s that she keeps eye contact with you the WHOLE time and you know she’s hearing everything you say, she’s paying attention to every word and you KNOW she cares. And I’m like “yeah! I get the joke now, I get it, I swear!” And EMILY GOES “I don’t think she’s okay...” like honestly... drag me.

So I attempt to change the subject and the bitch CUTS ME OFF and leans in to me, looks down at me with this smirk on her face and goes “....do you need me to explain the joke to you?” like she was TEASING me, but I was being DRAGGED. I was like “NO, I get it now! I get it!” BUT SHE EXPLAINED IT ANYWAY. She explained that the whole concept of the line came from how people were saying Taylor Swift is over, she’s dead, and she was making fun of the whole cancellation culture that social media and media in general has, so she decided to just be like “Ohhhh, cause she’s deaaaaaad” (and she said it in the funniest, whiniest mocking voice I literally can’t stand her) to show them all how stupid they sounded when they said things like that. To paraphrase because I don’t remember exact wording, she said that’s really just the whole tone of the album, reputation, itself. That there are a lot of things that go into building a reputation, but that a reputation isn’t real, it’s a perception that can be formed by any number of things, true and false, but isn’t always based on what is actually happening. It’s fake, just like the old taylor being dead is fake, it’s a joke. I think the entire time she was saying this I kept repeating “No I get it, I get it” because I wanted to be sure she knew that I got it, but I think she really just wanted to explain it in general and I’m so glad she did, because I loved the insight. And then she goes “BUT IT’S SO FUNNY NOW because they’re like ‘What is she doing with the snakes? Why is she doing that? She’s so annoying!’ And I’m just like BECAUSE YOU TWEETED IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN EVERY SINGLE DAY! YOU’RE JUST MAD BECAUSE IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME ANYMORE!” And I shit you not, she was literally screaming this in my face, and acting like she was scrolling through her phone and laughing like...I was scared lmao. I just kept saying “I’m so proud of you, you just took it back, it’s what you deserve!” God, she’s so pretty when she laughs I can’t stop picturing it and hearing it and I don’t know where I could possibly go from here, I’ve peaked. 

She turned to Emily then, and I’m not going to share what happened there because it’s Emily’s story to tell, but I’m literally so happy that she gave her the love she deserves. The moment they shared touched me so much. 

When she looked like she was stepping into position for a photo, I suddenly flashed back to everything my friends who had met her already told me -- that if you stop talking, the M&G will end, but if you keep talking, so will she, so I sort of side stepped and started talking to her about how I’ve dealt with some pretty toxic relationships in the past couple years, and how it breaks my heart to think she’s ever felt the same way as I have in those moments of vulnerability and hurt, but that I was so thankful for songs like Dear John and Better Man because it made me feel less alone. And she goes “it’s always nice to know that you’re not alone in feeling the way you do, I totally get it. But that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? That’s why we come to a stadium and we sing and dance and cry (we said cry at the same time, what kind of shared brain bullshit?) with each other, because we understand each other. We have that connection.” 

From there it got a little personal for me, and I want to keep that for myself, but she gave me the biggest, tightest hug and said some of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me and I’ve never felt more loved in my entire life than I did in those few minutes in a room with her. She said “I love you sooo much” and I said I loved her too, and then she asked what we wanted to do for a picture and Emily goes “I wanna do a smoosh...” because she’s the cutest person that has ever BREATHED and Taylor looked so confused so we both said at the same time (at the suggestion of Paige) “Can we do a Taylor face sandwich?” and she got so excited and was like “YEAH, I’ll smoosh your faces to mine!” So we got in position for that I knew I grabbed onto her, but I didn’t actually know what part of her I grabbed, I think I was reaching for her hand forgetting that her hand was on my face LOL. 

Anyway, we got our picture, she told us she loves us and hopes we have fun at the show and that she was so happy we were there and Emily manages AT THE LAST SECOND to go “CAN YOU PLAY COME BACK BE HERE.....please” and I’m like “Yeah, like....tonight.” And I felt so bad because I know I sounded so forceful and I DIDN’T MEAN TO. And she goes “Well, I can’t tonight because I promised someone else I’d play a different song, but I promise I will play it at a show soon, I know how much you guys want that one, I promise.” And we thanked her and told her we loved her and took our autograph and our dignity and got the hell out. 

I remember I was shaking when I came out of rep room, but I wasn’t freaking out really. I was still pretty chill. Chiller than I expected to be. We got about halfway back to her seats and I screamed “WHAT DID SHE SAY???” because for about five minutes, I blacked out completely. It was such a whirlwind of emotion that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel again. When we got back to our seats, the sweet angel that is Steph came over to me and asked how it went and I managed to get out “I said Hi, I’m Megan and...and....and...” and then I completely LOST MY SHIT and started SOBBING in Steph’s arms. I literally could not process that she KNEW WHO I WAS! I’M A LITERAL GARBAGE CAN! WHY DID SHE KNOW ME??? WHY DID SHE LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT? WHY DID SHE LAUGH SO MUCH? I COULDN’T PROCESS!

Steph: Meg, Taylor wanted to meet you, how do you feel?  

 The sobbing didn’t last long and I recovered just in time to meet my sweet baby Lauren @iknowplaces13 which I was SO EXCITED FOR! She was so happy for me and such an angel BUT THIS WASNT THE END OF THE ANGELS because JAIME APPEARS OUT OF THIN AIR TO SURPRISE ME (even though Dani @screamedsooloud ruined the surprise by accident but it’s FINE) and at this point, I still haven’t told Jaime that I met Taylor and I’m squirming trying to get out of the vice like hug she’s giving me so i can pull up my sleeve and show her my wristband LOL. Eventually she lets me BREATHE and I yank my sleeve up and go “SURPRISE, Snake!” and she literally is the blinking man gif, just no actually expression, raises her eyebrows, looks down at it and back at me and just goes “....when?” and then LAUNCHES herself at me because she is the sweetest, purest bean on the planet and was so genuinely happy for me. She’s listened to me cry about how I was sure this would never happen for so long and she kept telling me she was sure it would happen in Tampa and it was SO fun to outsnake her for once. I started telling her the story and every time I’d tell her something new, she’d tackle me again, it was so PURE. I love her with my entire heart.  Here’s a picture after I’ve cried all my eyeliner off. 

And then I snaked Brittany @messthatuwanted for snaking me because it’s what she deserved: 

The show was obviously amazing and we had great seats near the B stage and were able to make it to barricade, which was such a highlight to an already amazing night. I danced so much and sang at the top of my lungs and had a full on breakdown during long live that Emily the angel had to hold me through because I literally could not cope. Just full on sobbing for half the song. I had so much fun with Emily, Steph, Jess, Sammi, Leyton, Lejla, Sarah, Paige, and everyone else I spent time with this weekend. I’m forever grateful to Taylor for bringing so many amazing people into my life, I don’t deserve any of you and I can’t wait to reunite with 99 percent of the people I met at Gillette in Nashville. 

I quite literally had the time of my life with you, @taylorswift. Thank you so much for loving me like I love you, thank you for loving my friends and for bringing them into my life. I’ll never forget you as long as I live.

[lovemesomesurveys]

1. When was the last time you had an argument with one of your parents? It’s been awhile since we have an argument, but we often bicker about things concerning me and health stuff. They get frustrated and they worry about me, which I get, but it’s just hard. I know what I need to do, it’s just actually doing it.

2. Do you still live at home or with a guardian of some sort? If so, when do you plan on moving out, if ever? If you have moved out, how did your relationship to your parents change after that? I do still live at home with my parents, younger brother, and our dog. I don’t have any plans for the foreseeable future to move out. It’s best for me to live at home at this time and I’m fine with it. 3. When was the last time you were diagnosed with something? Are you concerned about anything regarding your physical or mental health at the moment? I haven’t been diagnosed with anything new in awhile. I’m just dealing with ongoing, chronic stuff. I’m very concerned about things regarding my physical and mental health. It’s not good right now. 4. What’s the longest you’ve gone without talking to other people? How did this affect you? Some days I’m in an extra moody mood and I just keep quiet and to myself, saying little to anyone and when I do it’s short. However, outside of my immediate family that I live with, I haven’t spoken to friends and family for a long time. Some in almost 2 years.

5. What is one blanket judgment you tend to make about people (like, you judge all people who live at home, all people who drink, etc)? Does this judgment come from a particular personal experience? Ha, well I definitely can’t judge people who still live at home with their parents cause exhibit A here. I guess a blanket judgment I might make is when people just don’t own up to their faults or hurtful behavior and just sit there and try to lie to your face instead of admitting to their issues or justifying it in some way. It’s frustrating with people like that. 6. What is something seemingly small and inconsequential that will cause you to avoid a person? Uhh. I admit to distancing myself from people, particularly guys that I’m interested in, because I don’t want to bother them and I want them to reach out to me cause then I know they really do want to talk to me. It’s so completely stupid and childish, though. It also always backfires because then neither one of us will message the other and then more and more time passes by. It hasn’t worked in my favor at all. I don’t know if that quite answers the question, but it’s what came to mind. 7. Does it bother you to see certain traits of yours in others? Do you know why you have this reaction? I don’t like seeing other people be hard on themselves and put themselves down like I always do to myself. I don’t like when others are hurting.

8. What was the last meal you skipped? Do you skip meals often or do you try to avoid that? I pretty much always skip breakfast. it’s quite rare that I ever have it. 9. How do you react to other people yelling or slamming doors? Is this something you ever do too? It’s not pleasant. 10. Is there anything you rely on someone else to do for you, or anything someone else relies on you to do for them? Yeah, there’s a few things. Some things I need help with and can’t do on my own. 11. What was the last thing you had for breakfast? I will say that now and then there are two days a week that my mom has the opening shift at work and she’s up getting ready when I’m still up, so she’ll make me some eggs or oatmeal. That happened Monday and she has the opening shift today. 12. Do you tend to eat the same few things all the time or do you vary your intake? Would you consider yourself to be a picky eater? Are there any commonly enjoyed foods that you don’t like? Yeah, there’s a small amount of foods that I eat and most days I have some of the same things. I am a picky eater, but there’s also some other factors that contribute to my weird eating habits and the certain foods I eat. I used to be such a foodie until a couple years ago. As for foods that are commonly enjoyed by others that I don’t like, I don’t eat sushi or any seafood. I feel like everyone else loves sushi. 13. Do you have a favorite stuffed animal or anything that you sleep with? Where did you get it and what makes it a favorite? I don’t have any I sleep with, but I have a TON of giraffe stuffed animals. I’ve gotten them from various places over the years. 14. Do you have good body image? Do you feel more confident about your body or your personality? What is one thing about yourself about which you do feel particularly confident? Noooope. I’m very self-conscious about my body and my looks. Especially nowadays. I don’t like much of my personality either, except for my sense of humor and I consider myself to be understanding. The only thing about my appearance that I like is my hair after it has recently been colored and layered. Until the roots start showing and the color fades some, it looks nice. 15. How likely are you to compliment other people? How do you react or respond when you receive a compliment? What are your favorite types to receive? I often will think like, “Ooh I like that shirt” or “I really like their hair” or something, but I don’t often say anything unless I know the person. Like people I don’t know will compliment me on my hair or my purse, but I’m not one to do that. I’m too shy for that. Compliments are nice, but I’m so awkward about it.

16. Describe the last thing you reblogged? How many posts do you tend to reblog during a day? Some photos of Alexander Skarsgard from the new show he’s in, The Little Drummer Girl. I like more stuff than I reblog, but it really just varies. Like if there’s new photos of Alex and my dash is like full of stuff, I’ll reblog a lot. And like on Wednesdays for example, I reblog a lot after American Horror Story and Riverdale air. 17. Do you tend to reblog or make your own personal posts more often? On my main blog, I’m a reblogger. I haeven’t made a personal post on there in quite some time. This side blog is all personal posts. 18. When was the last time you felt like you had no one to talk to? When you can’t talk to anyone about your problems, what are some ways you cope alone? I feel that way a lot, even though I do. I know I could talk to my mom and I have friends who would be there for me if I let them, but... I tend to just keep to myself or vent and ramble on here. 19. Who in your life do you get along with best? How about the least? How often do you have to interact with these people? There isn’t anyone in my life that I don’t get along with, but I’m definitely closest to my mom and younger brother. 20. Have you ever lost your cool at work or somewhere else important? What happened as a result? No. 21. What was the last important event or holiday celebration you attended? Was this something you wanted to be a part of, or did you only go begrudgingly? The last important event I attended were a few graduations last year. 22. When was the last time you did something you knew was wrong? What about the last time you did something right just because it was right? Hmm. I guess by not doing some things that I should be doing, and I know I should be doing, regarding my health. 23. When you do good things, do you do them because you want some sort of reward or recognition or do you do them just for the sake of being good? I like to do things for others because I genuinely enjoy it. 24. When was the last time you felt especially appreciated? What about unappreciated? I don’t feel I’ve done anything to be appreciated for in a long time. 25. When you fill out social media bios and such, how do you typically describe yourself? Is describing yourself something you have a difficult time doing? I hate doing that cause I never know what to say. I’m just like, “Hey, I’m Steph” or I’ll just be like Steph|29|CA. lol. 26. Do you feel like you have a good idea of who you are as a person? What you like, what you stand for, what you feel, etc? With some things, but there’s also a lot that I don’t understand about myself or am still trying to figure out. 27. What is one unusual belief you have? Has anyone ever made fun of you for your beliefs? Hmm. I don’t know. 28. What is something that brings you a lot of comfort? I don’t know. 29. When was the last time someone apologized to you? What about the last time you apologized? Are apologies easy or difficult for you? I don’t recall for either one. I certainly have some apologies to make, though. :/ I can admit when I’m wrong and am quick to blame myself anyway, but I just don’t know how to explain to certain people that I need to apologize to what is going on that or even what to say. I don’t feel an apology is good enough at this point. 30. What was the last thing someone else bought for you? My brother bought me Starbucks and lunch a couple days ago.

[regulusarcblack]

Hi I'd like to say/ask a couple of quick tings. 1) Love your friendship with @twoghostsaccustic, did you really meet like that? Did you really have the idea for the HP au cause I 💙 it? Do you write other ships/ fandom's? what WIP did you post I can't find them on your blog and finally you have 15 fics going HOW THE FUCK does your ppl keep up,@twoghostsaccustic writes herself and your beta's mega busy with lots of writers where do they find time to check all dos fics? Keep being cool dear 💞

omfg HHAHAHAHAHAHAH HELLO THERE BEAUTIFUL

ok first things first: thank you for your lovely ask!!!!! :D gotta love those. anyway, no, right now i’m not writing other ships or fandoms but i have a shitton of fandoms so who knows haha. why? do you have one in mind? hmu if u do. dude i ask myself that as well haha but i have this list of fics i wanna write and i dunno man. i dunno. i guess steph and sammie @britpickerhl just really love me?? hahaha or maybe i force them you’ll never know

anyway here are my wips (they’re really wips i totally abandoned them lmao):

the p&p au that never was

steph’s gift (from last year)

damn i’m good with names (not)

and since u asked..... here we go......

HISTORY TIME: how did me and @twoghostsacoustic meet??? sit down people cuz we gonna go down memory lane

w e l l in case yall havent realized yet (i doubt it lmao) me and steph are polar opposite. like, she times the day and time she will do smth, i made 3 of my last exams in grad school with borrowed pens because i had forgotten mine. there was one day she was the only student in class, i literally failed 15 classes because of absence. she works hard, plays (QUESTIONABLE MUSIC) hard and is kind. i’m a lazy and mean bitch (WITH AWESOME MUSIC TASTE).

basically, this is a story about slytherin meets hufflepuff.

S O back in 2011 we both made the TERRIBLE mistake of chosing international relations to be our grad course and in 2012 we both passed for the same uni. yayy!! congrats past us for being nerds. so comes freshmen week and lo and behold!!!!! there she is, my girl steph, with her lovely curls and a purple shirt (I STILL REMEMBER OK) among other people i got to meet that first week.

remember the “i’m a bitch” part? yeah, she was the only one i kept talking to. everyone else i just forgot they existed.

anyway.

so past this first week, there we are, classes from monday to friday, about 30 people in our classes. mind you that first semester i went to almost (almost) every class so we saw each other all the time, talked and all, but we weren’t as close as we are today. i would talk to her and also everyone else because, you see, my girl was the quiet type in class, very serious, work hard type. i barely had a notebook, so i had to do our group projects with my kind of people - the procrastinators.

((can you imagine steph doing a school project 4am the day we had to present it? no you can’t because she’s not this type. literally the only group work i didn’t do 4am the day it was due was the one i made with her LMAO))

so how did we get here?

drarry, my dude. it was all because of drarry.

you see, we were in between classes with a group of friends and we were talking about harry potter (all the friends i have are because of hp god bless u scarhead) and one of the people in this group was a high school friend of mine and she already knew i was a slasher so i just said “guys harry should have ended up with draco, end of discussion”

now, it may have been night time, but i swear the angels sang and there was a halo of light illuminating our table when i heard this voice say:

“yes, of course. always.”

ah no wait, wrong curly person.

anyway. she agreed. we looked at each other like BANG! HOLY FUCK I WAS RIGHT THAT EMO SHIT IS A FANGIRL.

and fangirl we were. basically we talked non stop about how drarry and sirem (wolfstar) were the main couples of hp and how everyone else was wrong. so the gateway was opened.

we exchanged tumblr urls, that’s how headfirst we dived after that day.

since then, we shared fandoms, all of then. tom hiddleston thirst? we got that. 1d? mate, we dragged each other to this hellhole. mcu? we watched loads of movies together, same with star wats, b99, whatever. 

we’re there. we reached that point.

besides all this fandom drama we also got involved with each others personal drama so mix those up and BOOM. friendship for LYF. 

she was there when i got bit by an ant and fell down on the pool like a victorian lady. it was awful and i wish i could forget that but @thiccstan doesn’t let me forget it.

anyway. i even bought her a hufflepuff pin and her 1d mug and she bought me my slytherin cup. we’re tight, my man. so tight. as tight as my-

and then i love to tell her about my headcanons. MY GOD have i told her about pwp plotbunnies, i swear if i havent made steph at least 13% kinkier i have failed my mission in life. so anyway one of those days i was talking to her (either at her house, at whatsapp, or tumblr, or facebook, or on one of our 3 shared gc, or ig) and i said “dude i have this hpau listen me out” and so it began. it’s been a year already lmao so yayyy happy bday m&w!!!!

so yeah. we’ve been friends since 2012. seen all, done all. so just to point some of the shit we’ve done together:

1 - written a 200k+ fanfic

2 - graduated together, from the literal first week of college to the literal last week

3 - ate poutine (THIS IS IMPORTANT)

4 - went to the movies SO MANY TIMES 

5 - dealt with each other’s depression cuz listen my dude it ain’t a homie if she ain’t telling u about those bad days

6 - i threw up at her house once lmao fucked up gallbladder am i right my dudes

7 - i literally dreamt about both of us getting matching tattoos lmao (also we woke up together to listen to sott no judgements BUT IT WAS 4AM OK WHO ELSE WAS GONNA BE THERE BUT US FOR US)

so yeah. she a cool one.

[jinandtonics-archive]

Hi my name is Steph and I suck at tag games

I got tagged in a few variations of this, so here is the closest one to combining all of them. I got tagged by: @rosebudjin, @itsjinmin and @cinnamonsuga. Thank u my darlings.

rules: answer 30 questions then tag 20 blogs you would like to know better

honey darling no. The mutuals I have either tagged me or already got tagged by other mutuals ahaha

get to know me:

nicknames: Steph, Neffles, Na.  gender: female star sign: Sagittarius (I just found out and I’m coming to terms with it) height: 5′6  time: 13:08pm birthday: 22nd November favorite bands: BTS (what a fucking shock), Foals, Young the Giant. I cba to list all the kpop ones. favorite solo artists: Khalid, FRANK OCEAN, Hayley Kiyoko, Troye Sivan, Childish Gambino.  song stuck in my head: To Myself - DPR Live (Megan mentioned it in her post so now it’s there) last movie watched: I literally never watch movies. The last one was Wonder Woman almost 2 months ago. last show watched: Brooklyn Nine Nine. I’m finally catching up. when did i create my blog: This blog was 23rd March 2017. But my main was August 2010. what do i post: Mainly BTS, some other kpop groups. My other blog is 90% shitposts now. last thing i googled: “can rabbits eat celery” (Bertie has got so much food today. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bunny eating watermelon.) do you have any other blogs: My main is flareandfadeforever and it’s a state tbh. Kinda regret making this a sideblog now. why did you choose your url: I love puns and I love Kim Seokjin. following: 250 followers: 55 on this blog. It’s still v new and I don’t make my own shit. Yet. favorite colors: Blue! Purple is a very close second. average hours of sleep: 6/7 at the moment. But I sleep during the day too. lucky number: 22! my birthday is 22/11 which just looks pretty, but also a lot of significant things happen on the 22nd for me.  instruments: Trumpet, saxophone, ukulele (badly), and I own a guitar. what am i wearing: baggy sweatshirt and leggings. how many blankets i sleep with: just my duvet. But in the Summer, I just wrap myself around it like a koala. dream job: at the moment, writing comedy for TV/online. But if I’m being 100% honest, I always wanted to do music. dream trip: I want to travel everywhere. But I am hoping to do a road trip across the states with my friends. I also really want to go to Asia at some point. favorite food: pizza. Or mashed potatoes. (yeah, u better cry Megan) nationality: British favorite song rn: I’m listening to Khalid’s album on repeat to the point I can’t name the individual songs. I do really like Don’t Wanna Fall in Love by Kyle too.

bts would you rather:

build a snowman with taehyung OR have a snowball fight with hoseok

get coffee with yoongi OR get ice cream with yoongi (fuckin hate coffee)

go to the cinema with jimin OR the amusement park with jungkook

do a dance cover with hoseok OR sing a duet with jin (honestly is that not the dream)

kiss namjoon OR cuddle yoongi

babysit with jimin OR dogsit with taehyung (looking after puppies with an actual puppy)

meet hoseok’s family OR have taehyung meet your family (my family are fucking mental and I’m p. sure he’d fit right in)

film a commercial with hoseok OR film a sketch with taehyung (I do sketch anyway so that would be fab)

hug jimin OR hold hands with jungkook (squish the squish)

go to paris with jin OR to london with yoongi (I live an hour from London and I hate it. Paris seems more interesting.)

film a drama with jin OR do a photo shoot with namjoon

attend an award show with namjoon OR wear couple t-shirts at the airport with jungkook (the “couple shirt” with kookie would just be my number and “please return if lost”)

spend a lazy day with yoongi OR explore a city with hoseok (megan’s right u can’t choose. Instead, we all go round a city then we go back the hotel and laze about and watch shitty films.)

fall asleep next to jimin OR wake up next to jungkook 

have a fun picnic with hoseok OR a fancy date with jin (mate i’m going for both. Idk about fancy dates but i do know about Kim Seokjin. I love picnics.)

have jungkook serenade you OR have taehyung sing you to sleep (oh NO)

have a dance party with hoseok OR sing karaoke with yoongi (All i want in life is to take Hobi to a gay bar. I’m not saying he’s gay, I’m saying that queer kids know how to fucking dance honestly)

go camping with jimin and tae OR go to the beach with namjoon and yoongi (it would be a fucking disaster and that’s the shit I’m here for)

have a sleepover with the hyung line OR a birthday party with the maknae line 

celebrate halloween with jungkook, yoongi, tae, and hoseok OR christmas with namjoon, jimin and jin (yeah I’m just straight up not picking. Honestly I want all the boys there.)

Idk if I actually really have many people to tag as everyone has been tagged! As usual, don’t feel like u have to do this! And if you want to do it, say i tagged u

@nochucametru, @williamteaspears, @bemybackpack, @jinsasleep, @hobi4kook, @omfgbts.

[junker-town]

The 27 best moments from the 2017 NBA Finals

From Rihanna, to 3-1 leads, to deleted “Cavs in 7” tweets, the NBA Finals held plenty of surprises.

Look, the basketball: it was good. But, with the exception of a wild Game 4, the NBA Finals unfolded as expected: The Warriors dominated and destroyed the Cavaliers, despite Cleveland’s best efforts.

While the final result wasn’t surprising, we did have some twists and turns along the way. From Rihanna’s appearance, to J.R. Smith’s deleted tweet, to KD and Steph’s moms dancing after a win, here are the best moments of the 2017 NBA Finals.

1. When Rihanna won Game 1

Rihanna showed up courtside and walked by Jeff Van Gundy, who was all of us when he yelled, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

Things only got better from there. Rihanna’s a huge LeBron fan, so she bowed to him during the game at one point, then turned around to dab on the fans who told her to sit down. Never tell Rihanna to sit down.

Amazing. Rihanna bows to LeBron then hits a dab and small waves a Warriors fan telling her to sit down. http://pic.twitter.com/q0IyIPIbGK

— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) June 2, 2017

Not long after, Rihanna’s long time friend and assistant Jenn Rosales yelled out “BRIIIICK” during a Durant free throw. Durant then appeared to stare Rihanna down after nailing a three-pointer, though that depends on who you ask. He wouldn’t confirm or deny. But, I mean ... show me a world in which Rihanna doesn’t get in someone’s head, and I’ll show you a world in which a current NBA team can beat the Warriors.

Steph Curry tried to play it off like Rihanna didn’t have everyone completely shaken, saying that she’s never been on a Warriors locker-room playlist. Which is clearly their loss: There are few songs inspire the vanquishing of enemies like Desperado.

2. When it came out that LeBron and KD once recorded a rap song together

The track is ... something. I mean, it’s not good. I mean, it’s bad. Let’s hope these guys don’t quit their day jobs to pursue their art anytime soon.

Here's the Lebron James-Kevin Durant secret track! 1 million retweets to release the whole song! @espn @NBA @CBSSports @SInow @SportsCenter http://pic.twitter.com/4oCIEHsSJP

— Spider Studios (@SpiderStudiosOH) June 5, 2017

3. When Jay Z taught the world how to take a truly great candid photo

He’s a pro.

4. When we learned that JaVale McGee has a hairless cat named Raja

Where were you when you realized that JaVale McGee not only owns a sphynx cat named Raja, but has created an Instagram account for her?

Where were you when you realized she gets massages?

Shoutout to @sootheapp for the massage.... Mike W. has magic fingers... #sphynxkitten #sphynx #sphynxcat #spynxlair #sphynxlove #sphynxcat #spynxtagram

A post shared by RAJA (@rajathesphynx) on Mar 11, 2016 at 3:02pm PST

5. When we all got to meet LintBron James

I am not in the business of being speechless, but this sculpture made out of 30 pounds of dryer lint rendered me completely mute.

LintBron James. She said she made this out of 30 pounds of dryer lint. http://pic.twitter.com/brkeeITHYn

— J.A. Adande (@jadande) June 7, 2017

Breathtaking.

6. When the dude washing the court pulled off the most incredible scooting motion America has ever seen

But you’ll just have to take a look and decide that for yourself.

7. When KD and Steph’s moms got super amped together after their sons won Game 3

Do you know how incredible it feels to watch your son torch another team in the NBA Finals? Unless your son is an NBA player, then no, you don’t. Seems pretty great, if this video of Sonya Curry and Wanda Durant celebrating after their sons won Game 3 is any indication.

MAMA CURRY AND MAMA DURANT ARE HYPE

A post shared by NBC SPORTS BAY AREA (@nbcsauthentic) on Jun 7, 2017 at 8:55pm PDT

8. When Mark Jackson said “full steam of head” instead of “full steam ahead”

LOL! I could be wrong (gotta check the facts) but I’m pretty sure this was the greatest mix up in the history of the English language. “Play it by year” and “in egg shell sits Deio” have nothing on “full steam of head.”

Slightly related: Highly recommend saying “that train has sailed” or “whatever toots your boat” in everyday conversation. Really kicks people for a loop.

9. When Kyle Korver dunked and Draymond Green smiled

Even Draymond Green liked Kyle Korver's dunk. ( Kyle Terada-USA Today) http://pic.twitter.com/wmYb003B5Z

— SB Nation (@SBNation) June 8, 2017

Look, it’s not every day that we get a Korver dunk, OK? Even Draymond realized this was something special to behold.

10. When Steph Curry appeared to maybe pretend to poop on the court and then said he didn’t (I know, I can’t believe this is where we are, either)

There was this whole thing where Steph squatted down on the court at one point during Game 3, and everyone was like, “Oooooh Steph mimed pooping on the floor!”

So a reporter asked about it:

“Steph, I’m sorry we keep asking you about squatting, but while Draymond and Steve were arguing with the ref and one of them got the technical, it looked like you squatted down. And were you just stretching there, and what did Richard Jefferson say to you?”

“Are you serious right now?” Curry said to the reporter.

“You got to be better,” Durant added.

Sports writers, folks.

11. When Jeff Van Gundy defended Khloe Kardashian?

JVG went on this whole soliloquy about how people should stop saying that Khloe is the reason Tristan Thompson has been playing badly. JVG: not a fan of the Kardashian Kurse.

12. When Dwyane Wade showed up in a track suit to Game 4, and the internet roasted him for it

Everybody had jokes when D. Wade appeared on the sidelines dressed like Usher.

Ready for Game 4 of the #NBAFinals... @stephenasmith, @DwyaneWade & @SHAQ! http://pic.twitter.com/lcLP3FzBhd

— NBA (@NBA) June 10, 2017

13. When Draymond did or didn’t get a technical for elbowing Iman Shumpert in the head

I mean, he did. But then when he got another technical, the refs said that the first technical was supposed to be on Steve Kerr, so Draymond didn’t end up getting tossed out of the game. Which is totally fine and normal and not at all something that would make anyone suggest the NBA is in anyway (to quote Ayesha Curry) “absolutely rigged for money.”

14. This goddamn self-alley-oop from LeBron James ...

LeBron makes me hyperaware of my physical limitations. How do you DO THIS in the middle of a GAME?!

15. ... which J.R. Smith credited to the fact that LeBron is a Gatorade Baby

JR in LeBron's self alley-oop: 'He's a Gatorade baby. He was made in a lab somewhere.' http://pic.twitter.com/41CEC3Trfx

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 10, 2017

What on God’s green Earth is a Gatorade Baby, J.R.? The “made in a lab” part I largely agree with, given what LeBron can do, but the Gatorade part is giving me pause. Maybe J.R. is referring to those 90s ads where Mia Hamm ran around to that “Everything you can do I can do better” song.

Or maybe this doesn’t make sense nor mean anything, but we’re going to roll with it because it’s J.R.

16. When the third quarter of Game 4 turned into a WWE match

LeBron and KD mouthed off at each other, Draymond almost got ejected ... we were one metal ladder away from Undertaker coming out of retirement to drop Kerr with a piledriver.

17. When the Warriors blew a 3-0 lead and the internet exploded with 3-1 lead jokes

They wrote themselves. And namely consisted of: Remember that time the Warriors blew a 3-1 in the 2016 Finals with the first-ever unanimous MVP?

18. When Draymond basically called all of Cleveland stupid

I mean, if you’re going to play games like WWE matches, you can’t begrudge Draymond for really leaning into his role as a heel.

Cavs fans don't like Draymond. The feeling is mutual.

A post shared by SB Nation (@sbnation) on Jun 9, 2017 at 10:32pm PDT

19. When Snoop Dogg showed up to Game 5 dressed like Merlin

Maybe he didn’t get the memo that D.C. wasn’t in the finals, because he was doing his best Wizard impression.

Snoop x 40 Water x Stephen A http://pic.twitter.com/dWMcogXFDk

— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) June 13, 2017

20. When LeBron dunked KD through space and time back to Oklahoma City in Game 5

The laws of physics don’t apply when you’re LeBron James.

21. When David West and Tristan Thompson got into a fight and accidentally kissed in Game 5

Things got heated on the court when West rebounded a layup that Kyrie missed in the second quarter of Game 5, and then Kyrie tried to take the ball back. West snapped, then Thompson got involved, and then all hell broke loose when the two big basketball men appeared to kiss each other before refs and teammates separated them.

The Bachelorette might’ve gotten pushed from Monday night because of Game 5, but at least we still got a make out. It raised the very important question: Is kissing on the court a technical foul?

22. When the intimate moments continued, and Draymond caught Klay and held him up in Game 5

“Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna turn around and desert youuuu...”

23. When the Warriors pulled away like a getaway car leaving a bank, went up 122 to 110 with three and a half minutes left, and we were all like, oh, that’s right. The Warriors have Kevin Durant. And this is all over. And it’s ending just the way we thought it would, only one game later, so we still got to make our 3-1 lead jokes, and now we can all go to sleep and wake up next June when the Warriors are in the Finals again

^That’s all I have to say about that.

24. When Wanda Durant also deserved to get a ring

KD and the real MVP ❤️ http://pic.twitter.com/LSPNrz00nO

— SB Nation (@SBNation) June 13, 2017

25. OK, fine, here’s a celebration picture because KD’s mom is in it

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

26. And the best GIF of all time, maybe

When it’s a school night but ur parents let u stay out past ur bedtime http://pic.twitter.com/yUP8jMvXMH

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 13, 2017

Congrats, Warriors, on the basketball.

27. And finally, here it is, the best moment of the Finals: When J.R. Smith tweeted and then deleted “Cavs in 7”

Minutes after Game 3 ended, a tweet appeared on J.R. Smith’s timeline that said “Cavs in 7.” He or someone else deleted the tweet after it had racked up close to 40,000 retweets.

In the parking lot after the game, J.R. claimed he was hacked (classic) but that he agreed with whoever sent it.

Who knows. Maybe J.R. sent it. Maybe J.R. was hacked. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because that transparency — whether it was Russell Westbrook’s pettiness, or Draymond’s taunts, or the Celtics showing up to Game 6 against the Wizards in D.C. wearing all black — was what kept us on our toes this NBA season. We all knew what would happen. We all expected to be here. It was the little dramas, the glorious gossip, the deleted tweets that gave it life.

So here’s to next season. The Warriors just dunked on a year’s worth of 3-1 lead jokes, and it’s hard to imagine a world in which we don’t find ourselves right back here when June comes around again. So, to that I say: Cavs in 7, Gatorade babies.

[dreamspeardreams]

RAWcap 30/01/17

With the first Pay-Per-View of the year just past, let’s see what the post-Rumble RAW has for us. The Wrestlemania sign looks good hanging from the ceiling, reminding us that we are now firmly in Wrestlemania season.

Starting off with still Universal Champion Kevin Owens, and US Champion Chris Jericho. KO has some tape on his arms and legs and is walking with a bit of a limp. Kevin starts his promo by mirroring Paul Heyman, announcing himself and Jericho as Universal and US champion respectively. Kevin’s promo is blistering, he’s got an intensity that we haven’t seen from him for a while, but the crowd doesn’t seem super into it, at least to start with. Chris starts bragging about being the best man in the Royal Rumble (the 61-minute man, for how long he lasted in the Rumble), and Braun’s music hits. Braun interrupts Kevin to ask for his title shot and the crowd starts chanting “Thank You Strowman”, which I fully support. Braun shows proof of Kevin promising him a title shot. Braun wants his title shot that night on RAW, and Mick Foley makes it so, my guess this’ll be the Main Event of the show, however...

Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn(w) Next up Jericho is in the first match of the night vs. Sami Zayn. This should be a very fun match. We’re reminded that Sami lasted 48 minutes and it took the Undertaker to take him out. Jericho tries to run Sami into the barricade, but Sami instead jumps up onto it and moonsaults onto Jericho. Sami fights out of the Walls of Jericho before landing a huge Helluva kick on Jericho for the pinfall. Good match to start off the night, and a bit of a faster paced match as well. The announcers keep mentioning this could lead to Sami getting a US title shot, so if KO wins Jericho’s title at Mania (since Jericho wants to tour with his band), we could get more KO vs. Sami for the US title.

Backstage, Sheamus and Cesaro are fighting about their almost friendship break at the Rumble, before Bayley interrupts and reminds them of a 6-man tag match between Bayley, Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Charlotte and the Club, who then turn up to run them down. Luke Gallows calls them nerds, before the heels saunter off.

There’s a recap of the histroy between Triple H and Seth Rollins, dating all the way back to 2014, when Triple H chose Seth Rollins to be champion, and now recapping their latest part of the storyline. There’s a reminder that tonight, Seth Rollins and Stephanie will square off Face to Face in the middle of the ring.

Tony Nese(w) vs. Mustafa Ali Next is a Cruiserweight match with Tony Nese and Mustafa Ali. It seems a bit weird to me that Neville isn’t the first Cruiserweight segment from the week, but I guess they might be saving that for 205Live. Tony Nese gets the upper hand early, but Ali gets some good offense in and delivers a great looking Neckbreaker. Mustafa Ali’s starting to impress me in the ring a lot. Tony Nese knocks down Ali from the top rope and picks up a win against Ali with a running knee. After the match Austin interviews him, who gives a great interview, and Tony Nese tell him that he doesn’t have to talk to his critics. Austin Aries once again shows how great he is, and hopefully part of this is introducing him to the Audience so that when he debuts he can make as big of a splash as possible.

Next up is Seth and Stephanie facing off in the ring. Seth calls Stephanie out, and makes a good line about Stephanie disappointing her husband every night. Seth remarks that if Triple H isn’t here, Seth doesn’t care about Steph. Stephanie provides another sort of recap of Seth’s story with Triple H over recent times. The crowd chants “No!” to Seth apologizing the Stephanie, and Seth fakes out an apology, saying he’s sorry for exposing Triple H etc. Seth says Triple H is scared of him for calling security on Seth because Seth is the greatest threat to H’s legacy, and says everyone knows it including Steph (he intimates something about banging her), but Stephanie quickly turns it around by telling Seth he disgusts her. Seth threatens to invade WWE Headquarters, or to interrupt board meetings, and to show up at Stephanie’s house (he seems to threaten Stephanie’s kids here) which is a weird move. Stephanie reveals Triple H is on his way to RAW and he’s coming for Seth. This promo was weirdly sexual and threatening, but both Seth and Steph were selling it well enough. It mainly just builds Seth’s heat with Stephanie, but since Stephanie isn’t going to wrestle, it feels kind of like Triple H should have just showed up. At least we’re finally going to get Triple H tonight.

Bayley(w), Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Charlotte, and The Club (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) Cesaro has the dangly tape on her arm similar to bayley, but Sheamus has neglected to don them. They all reach towards the roof as the Bayley buddies come out from the floor. Cesaro looks like he’s having a blast teaming with Bayley while Sheamus looks very done with the whole affair. Byron mentions that Charlotte is now 16-0 in PPV wins. Sheamus has Gallows stuck in the ropes, doing his chest punches and Charlotte comes in and kicks him from behind, which distracts him enough for Gallows to get back on the offensive. This is kind of annoying because Charlotte looks incredibly scared of all the men in this match. She shouldn’t be scared of Sheamus, or at least she should be acting tough. It just seperates the divisions more and takes away from mixed tag matches, as it makes them feel like there’s not a whole lot of point. Bayley picks up the win with a Bayley to Belly.

Next up, Stephanie is calling out Mick Foley back stage  and Mick once again reminds Steph that she hired him. This ends up with Steph and Foley staring at each other with tensions high. There was a rumor floating around that Mick was potentially wanting to step away from the GM role, and I could see this leading to that, I hope he goes out with something of a bang though, probably not a match as he’s too old, but there’s plenty of options for a good exit.

Next up is Neville’s coronation. Neville comes out holding the title, and in his ring gear, so I’m interested in what’s going to happen here. Neville cuts another great promo before Rich Swann’s music hit. Rich Swann looks like he’s entirely covered in baby oil. Rich’s promo work this week is pretty strong, and he offers Neville a handshake. Neville tells Rich to bend the knee to him, really playing into the King part of his gimmick, and Rich Swann goes to leave. Neville says ‘You do not turn your back on your king” and goes onn the offense, but Swann gets the upper hand, landing a suicide dive before Neville retreats up the ropes. I really hope Neville is allowed to play into this king gimmick more, he should have some knights that follow him around to protect his honour, go full Game of Thrones with it. We’ll probably see Swann vs. Neville at Fastlane, followed by maybe a multi-man match at Wrestlemania, which could be very good. If Austin Aries is back by then and contends for the title, that’d be incredible. 

Backstage Sasha is getting her knee taped up and Bayley comes back to talk about Sasha’s next match against Nia. Sasha says she has everything to prove by going after Nia Jax again and teases a bit more tension between herself and Bayley. This should be a really good match when it eventually happens.

Chris and Kevin discuss Kevin’s match backstage, and Chris mentions that should anything happen they’ll still be the joint US Champion, and Kevin just brushes it off as being nothing. This is a good small point in the story. The promo ends with Kevin asking Jericho if he’s got his back, and Jericho hesitates before assuring Kevin he does. This match is next up, and it feels little strange to not have this as the main event, and even more so to have this in the middle of the second hour.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman(w) for the Universal Championship with Chris Jericho on Commentary Braun comes out and stares at the commentary tables before attacking Jericho, chokeslamming him through the announce table, and pointing to Kevin in the ring. The announcers return to their headsets and Braun and Kevin square off in the ring. Kevin looks completely terrified of Braun, which is great. Kevin starts by rolling out of the ring, but he goes back in after a minute, and it feels like he should grab his title and walk straight backstage, taking the DQ loss to keep the title. He knows he’s in no shape to face Braun. Kevin tricks Braun into running into the ring post, which seems to be the only way anybody can take him down, which I am okay with. Roman’s music hits and he saunters out from the ramp. He Superman punches Strowman, ending the match in a DQ, but leaving Owens with the title.Roman lines up Strowman and spears him off the steps, before stepping in the ring and spearing Owens. He doesn’t speak or interact with the crowd, and kind of, ever so slightly is acting heelish. Corey points out the Strowman is back to his feet before Roman makes it back up the ramp. This seems fine to me. Obviously Strowman wasn’t going to win the title, and hopefully this leads to a Roman heel turn, but even if it doesn’t this is decent work from Roman anyway.

Outside, Brock Lesnar arrives with Paul Heyman.

And in the middle of an ad for WWE Champions, Brock’s music hits. The “Suplex City” chants are strong. Heyman starts talking about Lesnar’s elimination at the Rumble and the crowd interrupts him by chanting “Goldberg”. Heyman starts talking about every legend having one person who has their number, using Andre the Giant, Rhonda Rousey and the Undertaker as examples, and ends with Brock Lesnar. This promo is pretty good, standard stuff for Paul Heyman, who is always great on the mic, and ends with a challenge for Goldberg at Wrestlemania, the most obvious match from this year. Pretty good segment, good to see it come out of the blue, which is different for how Brock has appeared recently, and it’s good to get the Mania match set in motion.

Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax(w) Sasha comes out for a match against Nia to try and get her revenge again. Nia whips Sasha’s broken knee into the ring post and has Sasha in a submission hold when the bell rings. This isn’t a Screwjob situation, and the camera doesn’t investigate the bell at all, the ref didn’t seem to call for the bell so I’m very confused. Bayley runs down the ramp to Sasha’s aid and Nia leaves the ring. Very confusing, the ref could have easily just called for a TKO or something, this was just weird. Not good.

Enzo and Cass(w) vs. Rusev and Jinder Mahal in a Tornado Tag Team match This match is advertised to end their feud, and we see Sasha being helped back stage by Bayley and a medic, before cutting to Lana in the ring, introducing Rusev. Rusev comes out with the nose guard, accompanied by Jinder Mahal and furthering the Handsome Rusev gimmick which I’m a fan of. Cass rhymes Tornado with Loredo (the city this RAW is in) and the crowd pops pretty big. It’s a decent promo from Enzo and Cass, they’re still some of the greatest on the roster on the mic. Tornado tag matches always seem like something of a mess since it’s just four guys brawling. Enzo gets knocked out of the match for around 5 minutes, then comes back so Cass can help him deliver the Bada-Boom-Shaka-Laka on Rusev for the victory. Hopefully this is the end of their feud. It’s weird to me that this is the Main Event of the show, but for a Tornado tag match it was fine.

For the Climax of the show, we have the long awaited return of Triple H to RAW. Interestingly Triple H seems to have different music this time. It’s still great to see Haitch back for the first time since he gave the title to Kevin Owens. Hunter’s promo is incredible. The crowd doesn’t seem hugely into it, but he’s playing a great heel. The main gist of the promo starts with the story of Hunter handing everything to Seth on a silver platter, and then not being able to hold up his end of the bargain. He then switches to talk about trying to not be the guy who buries people, to being someone who tried to create new Superstars in NXT, and ends with “I’m tired of trying.” He calls out Seth saying “You already know who you’re creator is, come and meet your detroyer.” Absolutely great work. Rollin’s music hits. Both men get ready to square off in the ring and all of a sudden SAMOA FUCKING JOE appears out of nowhere. SAMOA JOE IS ON RAW. He should be on Smackdown but HOLY SHIT SAMOA JOE IS ON THE MAIN ROSTER and he is absolutely destroying Seth Rollins. Rollins is still focused on Triple H, but Joe picks him up and tosses him in the ring as Triple H walks back up the ramp. Samoa Joe gets off some incredibly athletic moves and looks so strong. He gets the Coquina Clutch on Seth and stands tall in the ring as Seth is laid out at the end of the show.

Absolutely incredible finish to the show in my opinion. I have a worry that we might instead of seeing Seth/Triple H at Mania, see Seth/Joe at Mania, and while that’d be a fine match, Triple H can’t have many Wrestlemania’s left in him and a prominent but non-title feud is a great spot for him. Either way, hopefully we’ll get some more idea about where this is going next week. 

Overall this was an entertaining RAW, but not one of the best, 7.5/10 from me. I’ll be back later tonight with a Smackdown recap.