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#did watch the pay per view of the last show tho so
st4rcz4r · 4 months
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You ever heard of this little known band? They’re pretty underground.
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visionthefox · 3 days
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ya know, something about the VA's having a chance to "vent" make fun and sometimes critic us fans and the way they have to work is pretty good- I know the UNO videos can be overall fun to watch- maybe cringe or boring to some but I love this last one were they seems just more open about what's up and how they feel overal - part of me wish the shows- all- would post one video per week- IMAGNE all the good stuffs! if they had a chance to cook! just let them have a way to create something good ! and not to it only because "hey I get payed to read likes and pretend I care"! like I know some do care- love and have a great time but I do worry they will be hitting burn out too much so now they both feed of the discord- comments - or do anything random because of the views and now because they care to tell a story let them just- work with less stress, no rush! maybe then fans wont be "hating all plots" or "be too picky over things" (also I hate knowing that Moon's VAs mostly had to still work while sick because of payment or contract, is why maybe he didnt show off as much but STILL did BM - Jack's voice and Lunars too - while sick! tho I hope im wrong still, too much work on one man's shoulder) yes is a darm YT show. yes is a view farm channel, I know, the moment I walked in the store I knew it was to get eyes on it- lore was second but aa.. one can only dream I guess
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houseofripley · 2 months
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Save A Horse Ride A Cowgirl
Rhea Ripley x Fem!Reader
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WARNINGS: SMUT 18+, Cunnilingus, Strap-On, Riding, Orgasm Denial, Fingering (for like 2 seconds. don’t blink), Light Degradation, Spanking, Backshots, Lil bit of a mommy kink.
WORD COUNT: 2,736
A/N: -panting and out of breath- honey! it took me 800 hours but your oneshot is finished!
seriously tho sorry for the mid! writers block was beating my ass during this for no reason
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Survivor Series, the day the wrestling community waited months for. You were sat at the edge of the bed in your hotel room, staring into the loud TV, waiting for your girlfriend to make her appearance for her match against Zoey Stark. 
You were supposed to be there but of course Rhea’s magment had fucked up their dates, leaving you without a pass to the event.
It killed both of you knowing you wouldn’t be backstage to cheer on Rhea. 
Anytime a pay-per-view even came around you’d clear your entire schedule just to support and help Rhea prepare. She took such good care of you it was the least you could do. Although you couldn’t physically be at the arena you still flew out to Chicago to at least be able to spend a little bit of time with Rhea.
You were pulled away from your train of thought as Rhea’s music soon started blaring through the stadium, “And her opponent, representing The Judgment Day, she is the women's world champion, Rhea Ripley!” The announcer yelled out as Rhea made her entrance, wearing what was possibly the sexiest gear she has ever worn.
“Holy shit-” You mumbled to yourself, leaning forward trying to get a closer look. Rhea looked insane. Her hair was in a faux mohawk, stripes of eyeliner ran over her eyes in a lighting strike pattern, black lipstick was smudged onto her right cheek. 
Rhea’s eyes never broke contact with the camera lens as she made her way down the ramp, she knew you'd be right on the receiving end of her gaze.
Once Rhea made her way into the ring you were able to catch a good glimpse at her gear. She sported a black vest over a black and white plunge top that was split down the middle, her shorts following the same theme while her boots displayed a cow print. But the bread and butter of this outfit was the black assless chaps. 
This outfit had to have been the reason Rhea was so protective over her suitcase these past few days. 
You sat eagerly watching the match, which was short yet action packed. Rhea had thrown Zoey around like she was nothing the entire match, your mind couldn't help but wonder what it’d look like if Rhea had manhandled you in the same way.
Rhea had retained her title with ease, barely breaking a sweat during the length of her match. You were quick to pick up your phone and congratulate her,
Y: YOU DID IT LOVEEEE!!!! and you looked good as hell while doing it….
Rhea replied about ten minutes later with a full body mirror selfie to show off her look, this time with an addition of a black cowboy hat and her hair out of the faux mohawk.
R: thank you baby, my hair wouldn’t fit in my hat so we had to ditch that plan :/ 
Y:  god damn! ditch wrestling and become a cowboy! 
Y: it’s so unfair i don’t get to see you like that rn urghhh
R: i know baby, i promise i’ll make it up to you tonight. look, i gotta go do a few things, i’ll see you in an hour or two okay?
Y: you better…now shoo and don’t keep me waiting for you all night
You huffed as you dropped your phone down onto your lap. The wait for Rhea had officially begun. 
There was one match left before the main war games match. Knowing Rhea would make an appearance in that last match you decided to rile her up a bit beforehand. 
You made your way to your suitcase and began searching for the new lingerie set you had bought just days ago while Rhea was training. You pulled out a bra made of intricate lacing along with the matching crotchless panties and garter belt. 
Once you had slipped into the lace you stationed yourself in front of the mirror. You used your free hand to grope your breast as you snapped a photo and sent it to Rhea.
Y: excited to see mami on my screen.
R: naughty girl…
R: are you really trying to get yourself into trouble right now?
Y: well i just figured since mami sent me such a sexy pic earlier i’d return the favor. i can send another one if you'd like…
You didn’t give Rhea the opportunity to reply before you snapped another picture, this time slightly rotating to your side to catch the curvature of your ass.
Seen at 9:36 pm.
You stared at your phone waiting for her reply but attention was pulled away as you heard The Judgment Day being announced, Rhea was nowhere to be seen as they made their entrance. You pouted as you laid down in the bed, your knees slightly spread as you watched in anticipation for Rhea’s appearance.
After a long match, intense and still no reply Rhea finally arrived at the end of the match, she came barreling down the ramp, this time wearing her cowboy hat with Priest’s MITB briefcase clenched in her hands.
You quickly took the opportunity to send Rhea a picture of your hand resting in between your thighs as she paraded on the screen in front of you. 
Y: just remembered a quote, something about save a horse, ride a cowgirl…
Another waiting game began. As much as you loved seeing Rhea clearly flustered on the screen you couldn’t wait for her to get to the locker room and see the message you left for her.
After a failed cash-in and two surprise returns from Randy Orton and CM Punk the main event finally came to a close, meaning Rhea was finally able to return to her phone. You picked up your phone to view your previous message exchanges with Rhea.
A text bubble appeared, indicating Rhea was on the other side drafting up her response. You chewed down on your cheek eagerly watching your phone. 
The text bubble disappeared.
Seen at 10:24pm.
You whined to yourself, a wetness growing between your legs. You attempted to make multiple calls to Rhea, only for each and every one of them to be ignored. You slumped into the bed, giving up on making contact with the woman.
Just moments later a banner popped up at the top of your phone,
R: face down ass up. you have two minutes.
Rhea had finally given you the attention you were craving. You needed her touch badly, so you gladly obeyed her demands getting into position in the center of the bed. Your face sunk into your pillow while your bare cunt peeked through the gap of your crotchless panties as you took in the sensation of the crisp hotel air that kissed your wetness.
You soon heard the quiet unlatching of the door followed by shuffling fabric. You peeked over to see Rhea, in that damn cowboy hat, discarding her streetwear to reveal the gear you’d been fawning over all night.
Rhea’s gaze was fixed on your arching back as she crept her way towards you. 
“Such a little slut for me,” Rhea husked, her weight sinking onto the bed as you waved your ass in the air. She took a moment to admire the sight of your wet cunt glistening in the dimmed light. 
“Just the thought of Mami has you all worked up.” Rhea relished, her hands skimming over the delicate skin of your ass before dropping a slap down onto you, causing a muffled yelp to leave your mouth.
Rhea moved her pointer finger to your heat and began to trace the skin around your wetness. Her finger took its time inching towards your hole before being pushed into you at a painfully slow pace, making you whine out into your pillow“Mami, please.” 
“What a needy girl.” Rhea taunted, watching you squirm against her finger, “Such a wreck already...” She hummed in response to your whining when she pulled her finger out of you. 
Both Rhea’s hands took ahold of your ass cheeks giving them a squeeze before she brought her face just centimeters from your aching heat. Shivers snuck up your spine as her heavy breaths brushed against your wetness. Her lips wrapped around you, her tongue beginning to draw circles perimitering your clit.
Rhea then pulled back and spat onto your cunt causing a high pitched ‘fuck’ to leave your mouth. She hummed to herself in satisfaction while she took you back into her mouth. Her hands still clenched to your ass as she began devouring you, acting as if she was having her final meal. 
All you could do was cling to the bedsheets and cry out into your pillow as Rhea took as much of you as she could in her mouth, her tongue piercing reaching brand new places. Due to your current position the tip of Rhea’s nose was repeatedly brushing against your entrance, adding fuel to the fire that was burning inside you.
“Gonna cum, Mami!” You pulled your head up from your pillow and moaned out. 
You could feel Rhea scoff against you before prying herself off your cunt, “No you’re not,” She groused, withdrawing all touch from you. “Such a spoiled girl, thinking you get to cum after teasing me when I’m working.”
“Please Mami! I’ll do anything- Just touch me, let me cum.” You pleaded, turning your head to look back at her with scrunched brows.
“You can beg all you want…but we both know that you won't cum until I say so.” Rhea’s tone was smug as she stood up from the bed. “Now…stay there and don’t even think about moving.” She growled on, making her way into the bathroom before closing the door behind her. 
You humphed to yourself, letting your head fall down to your pillow. It took everything in you to restrain your hands from touching yourself, but you knew if Rhea ever caught you pleasuring yourself she would push you to your breaking point. 
Several minutes had passed, your orgasm that was once near had seemingly wandered off. Your eyes were focused on the bathroom door as the knob rotated and Rhea emerged. Her shorts had disappeared and been replaced with a black strap-on…yet her chaps were still on. The sight alone had you arching your back as she lurched towards you.
“Look at you…all ready for Mami’s cock.” She murmured, crawling up behind you. She spat onto the silicon and slowly began jerking herself off, spreading her saliva over the toy before prodding at your slick coated entrance.
“Mami-” You purred out as the tip of Rhea’s toy pressed into your needy hole. Your walls were soon engulfing the entirety of her length. 
You had little to no time to adjust to her girth before she started ripping into you, leaving you at a loss for words. One of her hands was clamped to your hip while the other delivered a sharp slap to your ass before grabbing a fistful of your hair. “This is what you wanted isn’t it-” She groaned out while your cunt pulsed around her toy. “Sending me pictures of you whoring around the room, you were just begging to be ruined.”
The only sounds leaving your mouth were jumbled vowels mixed in with moans, she had you completely unable to form a sentence. You were powerless as Rhea pulled you up by your arms, bringing your back to press against her chest. 
You threw your head back against her shoulder as her hand trailed down to your clit, massaging quick circles against your swollen bud while continuing her merciless strokes.
“Don’t even think about it.” She whispered as you squirmed against her, letting out constant whines. Her free hand reached to wrap around your throat as you began rolling your hips back against Rhea. “Already fucking yourself against Mami’s cock?” She harshly questioned, her fingers adding more pressure against your clit, forcing a scream to come from your mouth.
“Such a slut.” Rhea lowly stated, letting go of the hold she had on you before pushing you back down to the bed. Her thrusts came to a halt as you rocked yourself on her cock. Her hand dropped a bitter spank on your skin, signaling for you to quicken your pace.
Rhea allowed you to fuck yourself on her strap while she caught her breath and admired the view she had of you. But your motions were abruptly cut off by Rhea’s hands firmly gripping your hips. You whimpered as she pulled herself out of you, leaving you empty.
Rhea flipped you onto your back before pulling you to sit upright. “You wanna ride Mami’s cock don’t you,” Her hoarse voice spoke, her hand moving to place her hat onto your head. You nodded, looking up to her with needy eyes while shifting to sit on your knees. “Use your words, princess.” She warned as her fingers gripped your jaw, taking control over you.
“Please, I've been waiting all night, Mami.” You swallowed, your breath shaking in anticipation as your hips wiggled with excitement.
“That’s it, good girl.” She hummed in approval, dropping the grip she had on your jaw. She brought herself to the head of the bed, resting her back on the headboard. You crawled up to her lap and situated your entrance to hover over Rhea’s tip. 
Your hands clutched Rhea’s shoulders as you began sinking yourself onto her length while moaning her name. As your hips started gradually bouncing, Rhea’s hands found themselves resting against your waist.
Meanwhile the pairs of your lips collided into a sloppy kiss. You whined into Rhea’s mouth, the piercing on her tongue brushing against your lip as her hands trailed to cup your breasts. Your eyes were glued shut as swayed yourself up and down Rhea’s length.
The overwhelming sense of pleasure was already washing over you. The combination of Rhea’s lips wandering to your neck, her digits toying with your nipples, and her cock being swallowed by your insides had your stomach contracting. 
Your pace picked up in speed as you tightened yourself around Rhea’s girth. As you focused on the movements in your hips Rhea’s attention was centered around your neck and collarbones, working on scattering reddish-purple marks against your skin. 
“Please-Can’t hold on any longer.” You pleaded with the woman through whimpers, your nails beginning to sink deeper into her shoulders. 
Rhea pulled herself from your neck, her hands moved to force your hips all the way to the base of her length. “Just one more minute, can you do that for me?” She questioned, her hands guiding you to rock back and forth.
“Y-Yes Mami,” You whimpered out at the sensation of your clit rocking against the leather band at the base of Rhea’s strap.
As the end of the excruciating sixty seconds neared your motions got sloppier with each motion. Rhea was sure guests in the other rooms  could hear your moans but you didn’t care, your mind was only focusing on not cumming at the exact moment.
“Open your eyes, pretty girl.” Rhea’s accent was thick as she spoke. “I want you to look at me while you cum all over my cock.” She added on while her fingers softly danced around your jawline.
Your eyes darted open once you heard Rhea finally give you permission to release yourself. Your vision was blurred by tears as you stared into Rhea’s oceanic blues. “Fuck-Oh! Mami!” You had barely managed to choke out, just seconds away from your climax. 
“C’mon,” Was the last thing you hear Rhea egg on before your orgasm flooded over you, leaving you crying out moans. Rhea’s hands moved to stabilize your twitching and shaking lower half. Quiet praises left your girlfriend's mouth as she helped you come down from your high. Your swollen lips placed a gentle peck against Rhea’s cheek as insignificant tears fell from your eyes.
“You okay, Princess? I didn’t hurt you did I?” Rhea’s gaze softened while her hands hurried to cup your face. 
You shook your head, giving her a weak smile, “Mm-mm, just felt really good…” You quietly replied as your arms wrapped behind Rhea’s neck. You gave Rhea a gentle smooch as she carefully pulled you off her length, the once black strap was now covered with scattered strings of whiteness.
“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up, pretty girl.”
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melo-yello · 3 years
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✨Self-Care Day✨w/ 💥🪨KiriBaku HeadCanons💥🪨
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Off Day
💥🪨 You’re hanging upside down on the couch in your shared apartment with a boyfriend on either side of you. Kiri’s hand in yours while Baku’s had one hand on your thigh and the other scrolling on his phone as some cartoon drones on the tv
💥🪨 This is not how you envisioned your first free weekend into the last two weeks going
💥🪨 You sigh loudly before poking out your bottom lip “Suki? Eiji? I’m bored.” you pout dramatically as you throw a hand onto your forehead before you continue “Can we do a self-care day?”
💥🪨 Baku just grunts in affirmation as he stretches before standing. Kiri just smiles “Of course, Pebble. Whatever you want.”
💥🪨 You pop up pecking both guys on the cheek as you bounce off to the kitchen with Kiri’s hand still in yours “Thanks you two are the best!I’ll make tea!!!”
💥🪨 “And don’t you forget it!” Bakugou smiles popping your soft ass as he follows behind most likely to micromanage
💥🪨 You three chat about your week not having much time outside of courses to really talk. Between studying, training, and hero work you guys just didn’t have a lot going of free time.
💥🪨Per usual you and Kiri really carry the conversation Baku only chiming in ever so often to offer up things that he hates
💥🪨 You pop up remembering one of for favorite parts of a good ole fashioned treat yo self day. The cute headbands for you and Kiri to push your hair out of your faces. You return with a pink bunny one, a brown Teddy Bear one, and a plain black headband. Baku takes the black and Kiri takes the bunny.
💥🪨 “How do I look, Peb?” Kiri smirks flexing to show his broad ass built ass frame after putting on his bunny headband. “Ridiculous.” “-ly Hawt!” You laugh correcting Baku
💥🪨 You film in absolute awe as your Manly bf’s pierce Suki’s ear with ease after the off handed joke you made sipping tea. Cue Baku voguing it up with pride and a freshly pierced ear. Bakugou is slightly leaner and a couple inches shorter but just as toned
💥🪨 “Suki, Eiji, you are too manly!” You hype your man up as you post the video to your IG story
💥🪨 It’s your turn now!! Kiri easily pierces your ears with a red stud in your right and an orange in your left. Adding a second set of holes right above your first ones
💥🪨 Next comes high quality and novelty animal face masks Bakugou buys online to compliment his vigorous skin care routine. It rivals half of the YouTube Beauty community’s
💥🪨 Niether of you have any idea of where he buys them or where he hides them for that matter. He stores them away so you guys can’t steal them when he’s not around. Bakugou allows you and Kiri to use his masks on special occasions tho
💥🪨 “Mr. and Mrs. Dumbass.” He smirks handing you a frog and Kiri a tiger. Earning him a playful jab from you and “A Thanks, Babe.” from the red head
💥🪨 You suggest nail 💅🏾 polish next and Kiri is automatically on board. “Oooooo can you make them Red, Babygirl? Because they’d be so manly!” Kiri beams bouncing up and down. Baku will only allow his middle fingers painted. “I want white with bombs or just F U. Whichever is easier for you, Teddy Bear.” Bakugou nods scrunching up his nose from behind his own red panda face mask.
💥🪨 Kirishima’s nails are a simple sparkly red that say 🤍BITE MANLY in white while Bakugou’s middle fingers are white with black bombs with an orange F U on each one respectively
💥🪨 After you peel off your masks, you and Kirishima squeal in nearly perfect sync “Oooooooooooo! Sooooo Soft! Aren’t we hawt, Bakubro! Seeeeeeeeeee!” Both of you placing his hand on your faces
💥🪨Bakugou will just roll his red eyes into the back of his head as you two wrap him in a tight embrace “I’ve told you idiots a thousand times the importance of regular skin care with quality products.” He shrugs nonchalantly even thought he loves when you two are touchie with him. He hates to admit it
💥🪨 As you begin to search you nail kit for your preferred color, Kiri grabs your hand and presses it to his cheek “Can we do yours, Pebble?” He pouts. Bakugou follows suit grabbing your other hand “Pretty please, Teddy?” He whines firmly pressing your hand to his heart.
💥🪨 You buckle so fast it’s not even funny. “Bbbbbbbut...😤😖😞fine.” You concede
💥🪨These two really know how to put on the charm. Especially if Bakugou Kasuki is calling you Teddy instead of Dumbass.
💥🪨 “Great! Y/n, pick out a show to watch before we start.” Baku barks handing you the remote. “Why?” You question snatching it and putting on Criminal Minds. Simply thrilled you were getting to pick (Typically there were mini competitions for such a privilege)
💥🪨 “You’re judging, Bighead. You can’t look til we’re done.” Kiri hums thoughtfully trying to pick a good color combination. Baku already had his colors hidden in his lap before scouting so his hip was against yours sure to obscure your view of your own hand from you.
💥🪨 “Yea, no bias. When I win it’ll because I’m the best! Isn’t that right, Shitty Hair!” The ash blonde smiles cockily at the red head across from him. “In your fucking dreams, Spark plug!” Kiri spits backs just taking all the colors and copying Bakugou’s positioning
💥🪨 “If either of you fuckers, get those polishes on my favorite jeans there’ll be hell to pay.” You warn with a sinister tone to rival even Katsuki’s and the widest smile. The boys shiver at the seriousness behind your smile. Your threat is far from empty
💥🪨 You pretty much figured your nails would probably look terrible with each of your vividly different boyfriends competing with each other. “What do you, dorks, even get for winning?” You muse leaning into Kiri’s broad ass shoulder
💥🪨 “The next date plans and solo cuddles with Teddy Bear for the rest of the night seems fair to me. Huh, Eijirou?” Baku looks up from his work with a self assured grin blowing one of your nails. Vermilion irises float from you to Kiri.
💥🪨 Knowing damn well niether of them could keep you their hands off you. “Deal.” Kiri nods without giving Baku the satisfaction of meeting his gaze.
💥🪨 “Oh and I get shitly painted nails.” You sigh rolling your eyes. You’d be lying if you didn’t find it kinda hawt when they got like this
💥🪨 “There.” Halfway through the 2nd episode Kiri says and finally caps his last polish. Blowing gently across the surface of your nails.
💥🪨 By this time Baku has placed your arm on his lower back and his head in your lap. A firm grip on your wrist so you couldn’t checkout his work until Kiri finished. Your fingers make light circles there despite being held hostage. “Bout time, slow poke.” Baku huffs releasing your arm as you brought both hands side by side.
💥🪨 They had somehow managed to pick colors that didn’t totally clash. Kiri’s hand were mix match rose gold and pink with the teeniest (not to mention even) little white hearts in the middle of each nail.
💥🪨 Baku’s hand was very simple and clean. Black French tips with one red to orange nail with a black X on top as an accent.
💥🪨 You weren’t expecting anything this good. You could barely speak. You hadn’t been this lost for words since they had asked you out. You sniffle a lil bit. Your eyes glass up a little too.
💥🪨 God your partners are so great sometimes. The fact that they genuinely gave a fuck still manages to catch you off guard at times. After so many terrible relationships, effort, in and of itself, is kinda baffling
💥🪨 “Damn Pebs, it’s not that bad if you squint.” Kiri laughs nervously squeezing your shoulders. “Woah there, Teddy Bear, I’ll get the remover.” Baku stands ruffling your curls before you grab his wrist stopping him in his tracks.
💥🪨 “Suki. Eiji. Don’t be mad but I can’t pick! You guys both did really good! Fuck! I couldn’t ask for better lovers. You assholes are so much better than I deserve!” You gush before hiding your face in your hands. A little ashamed you let your boyfriends doing something as simple as your nails make you emotional.
💥🪨 “But Baby you deserve the world.” Kirishima immediately scoops you into a bear hug as he stands spinning you with ease and peppering you in kisses. Kiri places you back down even more gently than picked you up
💥🪨 “Princess, you’re a bad bitch! Don’t you dare forget it!” The shorter ash blonde says unwaveringly lifting your chin so you’d meet his eyes. He softly bops your forehead before kissing it and both cheeks. He pulls you close right as he yanks you up to straddle his waist
💥🪨 “Eijirou, I think our Babygirl needs a reminder of who she is and who she’s with.” His already deep ruby eyes darken lustfully. With no hesitation Kiri is right behind you in seconds
💥🪨 “I know just thing to jog our Pebble’s memory, Katsuki.” He whispers licking the side of your neck just as moves to capture Katsuki’s lips with his own
💥🪨 “Promise?” You moan softly lacing fingers into Kiri’s loose kitchens and trailing a cool hand across Baku’s abdomen stopping only at his joggers waist band
💥🪨 With that the three head to the bed room for some much needed group physical therapy
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oingo233 · 4 years
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By The Lake*Part Two
Summary:  A family friend offers you a place to stay to get away from an abusive past.  Her home is a place that you are familiar with, an old town with a large lake you spent many days in. You went there years ago for one full summer, where you became close friends with a very young Daryl Dixon.  You two were inseparable until you had to leave.  But now you’re back, escaping from a past much like his.  You will need to weave your way through the town's problematic people, your own problems, and above all the confusing Dixon.  Will you two find your way back to each other again?  Or will he push you further away?  And above all, will your past cease to haunt you?
Part One * Part Three * Part Four * Part Five
Pairing: Young Daryl Dixon x Reader
Warnings: Mentions of abuse and violence(potential triggers), cussing, more mature themes(not smut or anything tho), slow burn romance
Authors Note: Daryl Dixon is a character from the amazing show The Walking Dead, but this story is modern AU so not with all the walkers and everything.  I don’t own and I didn’t create his character.  Also this story is in no means meant to romanticize abuse, that stuff isn’t romantic. It is such a terrible, terrible thing, but it is sadly a very common thing as well.  Throughout this series I only hope that I can spread awareness about the matter, and let people know that they aren’t alone, things will get better, and that no one is deserving of any kind of abuse. Ever. Anyways, I’m done with my rant, I hope y’all like it, and if not please send in some constructive criticisms I’m always looking to improve.
Word Count: 2.1k
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The car ride from the ice cream parlor was quite, neither of us even bothered to put on some tunes from the radio.  Cherry’s face was bright pink and her fingers kept clenching and unclenching the wheel, I push myself to the corner of the car.  Carter used to do the same thing when he was angry.  Cherry is not Carter, Cherry is not Carter I repeat to myself over and over again.  
Cherry must have noticed my silence, she gives me a forced smile and reaches for the radio.  My whole body tenses up and I flinch.  The radio starts to play and I feel a soft hand on my knee.
“You’re okay, love.  It is those old buffoons I’m pissed about, not you.”  You open your eyes and rub at your face, fighting the embarrassed blush.
“I know, I know.  It’s just...I’m sorry.”  She shakes her head at me.
“Don’t be.  None of this is your fault, you’re allowed to cope with your past and feelings in any way that you want.  Just know, that if you need anything, anything at all, I’m right next door.”  She parks the car outside the white, old house and smiles. She sends me a wink at the sight of my face.  
“Next door?”  I ask, climbing out the the car. “I thought I came to stay with you?”  Cherry rolls her eyes at me.
“Who do you think I am? Of course you’re staying with me, you’re mother would kill me if I sent you into the woods or something. Remember that cabin you and ya mom stayed in way back then?” My mouth falls open.  Excitement bubbles throughout my chest at the mere memory of that place.  I look behind me, in the direction of the lake, and best of all that cabin.  I turn back around at the sound of Cherry giggling.
“Go on then!  I’ll bring your bags.”  I shake my head at her, fighting my smile.  
“Nah, that’s okay.  Thank you though.  But I really should bring my own bags.”  Cherry scoffed at me.  
She gave me a pointed look. “You get going and I’ll bring the bags.  I insist.  When was the last time anyone treated you?”  I rush to the back of the trunk before she does and grab my bags with a triumph smirk.
“Uh, about 10 minutes ago.” I say, thinking about the ice cream. She shakes her head and grabs onto the bags with me, tugging at them.
“Let me!  Or I’ll send the kids on ya!”  I throw my head back in laughter, and in my moment of weakness she grabs my bags from me.  She sticks her tongue out at me, and I begin to think she is one of the kids.  I shake my head at her.
“Go on, I’ll be right in.  Gotta check the bags for drugs or condoms first.”  My eyes nearly pop out of my head and she laughs loudly, the noise attracting her family inside the house.  The doors burst open and all I see is one navy blur and one pink one rushing towards us like missiles. They both tackle Cherry and she drops my bags to pick the pink one up.  From the sound of giggles I can assume it is little miss Rosie, and little dino man Monty.  
Monty stares at me with a shy smile from behind his mothers legs.  I smile softly at him and wave.  His shirt is navy with one of those long necked dinosaurs on them in bright green.  I point to it.
“Which one is that?”  It takes him a second, but he looks down at his shirt and points at it eagerly.  He steps towards me to show me his shirt better.
“This is an alamosaurus.  He is one of my favorites, and mom says that if I eat all my salad then there isn’t much difference between us. But I ain’t half as cool.  I ‘ave others just like this one, but with different dinosaurs.  You wanna see?” He talks a million miles per hour and I try my best to follow along.  I was more than ready to go look at his other shirts with him but Cherry sets Rosie down and speaks before I could.
“She’s tired dear.  We’re going to let her get settled in then have her over for dinner.  After you can show her all your dino’s.”  He nods excitedly at me and his mother, making my smile grow.  Rosie wasn’t nearly as shy as her brother.  She stares my bags and nudges them with her pink sandals, that match her pink dress.
“What’s in ‘ere?” Her cute southern drawl matching everyone else’s.  I pick up my bags with a sweet smile to her, then give a meaningful look to her mother.
“Ain’t nothing in here.” I say.  Cherry shakes her head with a smile.  Of course she knew I would never bring drugs onto her home.  Mark walks out with a large smile on his face.  He engulfs me in a bear hug and I try not to cringe at all the physical contact I’m getting today.  I force myself to breath and hug him back, a warm welcome didn’t used to be so foreign to me after all.
“It is so great to have you stay with us (Y/N)!  We could use the baby sitter.”  He looks back at Cherry with a wink and we both giggle.  
“I would happily look after the kids whenever you need me to.  It’s the least I could do.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because we might actually need ya to tomorrow.  I know it is a bit soon, but Daryl is comin’ over to work on my car, and Cherry will be outta town.  But it ain’t much to keep ‘em happy, just hang in the lake or somethin’“  He finishes with a shrug.  “And we’ll pay ya!”  He turns around and kisses Cherry on the forehead and I take that as my que to leave.  I thank them, and take my bags with me in the direction of the cabin.  Occupied with the kids and Mark, Cherry didn’t seem to care that I was the one with my bags, which I was thankful for.  I hate people doing things for me.
The cabin is only about a 1-2 minute walk from the house, it used to be a place to store worms and fishing supplies for the lake, but when Cherry bought the house she made in into a little place for people to stay when they came to visit.  It had a beautiful view of the lake.  The lake is what the town calls it, it doesn’t have any special name, it’s just here.  A large lake on this side of town, only about 5 minutes walking distance from Cherry’s and the Henderson's house.  So half of the lake faces their property, and the other half faces a beautiful forest.  That’s where I first met Daryl.
Oh god Daryl!  He was coming over tomorrow and I am almost certain he wants nothing to do with me. I was really hoping Daryl and I could be friends again, he was probably the one thing I was most looking forward to when I moved here.  
My thoughts came to a halt when I saw the little cabin in all it’s glory.  It had green paint, chipping in ever corner, and some dead leaves caught on the roof.  But it felt like the closest thing to home that I have right now.  I climb a couple steps onto the porch with two little chairs that face the lake.  I set my bags down on the dusty wood, and sit down on one of the chairs.
From here I can see the large, flat rock Daryl and I used to lay on and jump off of.  I can see the woods Daryl convinced to go in every once in a while, he’d teach me something he knows about hunting and tracking.  I always loved watching Daryl in the woods, it was in them that he seemed most comfortable. 
----FlashBack-----
I gripped the crossbow tightly in my hands, Daryl's breath on my neck.  He was close, too close.  His warm breath tickled, and I can almost hear him thinking “shoot the damn thing already!”  But I was too focused on him, and not focused enough on the squirrel.
“(Y/N)...” He whispers into my ear.  I didn’t mean to but I shiver, lord help me with this out of control crush.  “(Y/N), you gonna shoot the thing?”
 No, I’m not I think. I drop the crossbow and let out a loud war cry, watching the squirrel run back up the tree and hide.  Daryl lets out a sigh, but I knew that he really wanted to laugh.  “What the hell...”  He says more to himself as he watches me giggle like mad.  He jumped back because of my loudness and I can now breath freely.  He always liked to get close to me when we hunted, watching me, whispering tips on what to do.  Little did he know that the best tip he could give me, was to not watch at all.  I got too nervous.
“I don’t think it had to die Daryl, we can have dinner back at Cherry’s.”  I say.  He nods at me, silently agreeing.  We both sit down, and I hand Daryl back his crossbow.  Don’t ask me why a 14 year old is handling one, he never told me.  He checked it over making me laugh.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t hurt your baby.” I say sarcastically.  He shakes his head at me, laughing, he sets it down and gives me a playful look.
“Just makin’ sure. You’re clumsier than a pig on ice.”  I roll my eyes at him and quickly get up, he watches me lazily from the ground.
“Yeah, well maybe I should have killed that squirrel, cause you eat like one.”  I say that through a mouthful of laughter, and when I’m done I take off.  
“Oh, this ain’t over.”  He yells after me, and I can’t hear him get up, but I can hear him chasing after me.  I burst through the forest line and he is hot on my trial.  The lake glistens before me, I’m standing on the flat rock just outside the forest, it’s about 5 feet above the deep end of the lake. I feel a sense of dread as Daryl comes up laughing behind me.
“Daryl,”  I warn, he wouldn’t... He rushes in front of me, an evil smile on his face, his eyes sparkling with mischief.  He stops and watches me, his lips pursed in fake thought. Debating whether he should do this or not. I notice how he propped his crossbow against a tree, and I already know what’s going to happen. 
 “Daryl, please don’t. This shirt was just cleaned...”  I whine.  He gives me a pouty face before walking closer and closer, until his arms are around me and he walks us over the edge.  His laughter rings in my ear as we fall, hardly a second later everything is silent. We were blissfully floating under the water.  Daryl swims off of me, but grabs my hand, pulling me to the surface. We both take in deep gulps of air, trying to catch our breaths. But it didn’t matter, we were breathless again as we burst into laughter.  
“You’re an ass!”  I exclaim, splashing water at his face.  He shrugs, a huge smile on his face.
“Maybe.”  He says, spitting a mouthful of water at me. We both laugh and spend the day in the lake, not caring that our clothes were wet and dirty.
----End of FlashBack----
I watch the sparkling water until I hear my name being called.  I open the cabin doors with a spare key Cherry gave me, and set my bags down.  I spare one last look at the lake before running back to Cherry’s white painted house, with chipping paint and rhubarb and other foods growing around in the back.  A cute country home.
We ate dinner with friendly banter, and some force eating on Rosie’s end.  After dinner Monty only got to show me 3 of his other shirts before he fell asleep on the couch.  When the kids were tucked in bed Cherry sent me back to the cabin with some bedtime tea.  
I sipped on the steaming tea, while sitting in the same chair as earlier, watching the moon being reflected on the lakes surface.  I could live here forever I think.  With just my family and friends, Cherry’s family, and I can’t help but think of Daryl being in the mix too.  I finish my tea with a frown.  I haven’t seen Daryl in years, why does he matter so much to me now? But I think back to that day we spent in the lake, and I know why. I haven’t finished unpacking but I climb into bed anyway, thinking about how I’ll see Daryl again tomorrow.
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gingervsblondie · 4 years
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Blondie Goes Latin (1941)
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2:27 AM, Thursday, 12 December
Y’all ready for this, buh buh buh bah bah bah ok let’s watch a Blondie.
2:28
Welp, in looking this one up to watch it, I’ve spoiled for myself that this one features Dagwood dressed as a woman. Let’s see how I feel about that once it’s in context.
2:31
Watching it on Prime again for better picture quality, but I’m not falling for their tricks a second time so I skipped the 4 minutes and 20 seconds (nicenicenice) of inexplicable preview footage spoiling the rest of the movie.
Although I’ve already spoiled that Dagwood goes Dragwood so who cares anymore.
2:44
GOT MY SNACKS LET’S GET STARTED
2:46
The usual theme song’s back, and it’s just occurred to me: The lyrics go
“Life with us is fun and crazy,
Baby Dumpling, (read: Alexander Hamilton Bumstead) us and Daisy
What a family
Incredible
Bumstead-able”
Now I know that later on, Cookie Bumstead, their new daughter, will be introduced. I wonder if they adjust the theme song when that happens.
2:56
Starting off strong with a pretty basic continuity error. Dagwood, with shaving cream on his face, runs outside, realizing he’s packed his razor into his luggage which he gave to the cab driver. As soon as he’s outside, the shaving cream is gone from his face.
HOLY SHIT I SPOKE TOO SOON. It wasn’t a bad continuity, it was a good visual gag! He runs into the postman, as per usual, and when they get up, the shaving cream has swapped over onto posty’s face!
Apologies to Blondie Goes Latin. They did a good and I assumed it was a bad because I guess I don’t think highly enough of the standard of production in the Blondie film franchise.
3:01
AND they followed it up with a SECOND solid visual gag! The posty puts his hat and mailbag on Dagwood, goes into the doorway, and runs towards Dagwood, either to get the shaving cream back onto the right face or just out of pure vitriol and malice. He misses, we hear him crash, and the camera cuts to the cab, which is flipped on its side.
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That got a full laugh out of me.
3:04
AnD ThEn ThE ShAvInG CrEaM swaps over to the CaB DrIVeR’S FaCE!!!
3:06
AHB*: Mommy, is Mr. Dithers going with us too?
Blondie: Of course, dear, he’s taking us along as his guests.
AHB: Why?
Blondie: Because he needs a rest.
AHB: Why doesn’t he take Mrs. Dithers?
Blondie: Because Mrs. Dithers needs a rest.
AHB: I don’t get it.
Man they always go so hard with the infidelity angle in these fuckin’ flicks.
*Alexander Hamilton Bumstead
3:08
There’s a character Wikipedia tells me is named Manuel Rodríguez, played by one Tito Guízar. So this could be some more (relatively) positive representation, like that guy in Servant Trouble.
3:12
Manuel Rodríguez fuccin immediately seducing Blondie. Nah yeah this is accurate representation.
3:20
This movie got me AGAIN, this time with a kinda surrealist goof. So they’ve found out that Dagwood has to stay behind to close a deal, but Blondie, AHB and Daisy are going with Dithers. Dagwood and Blondie start crying at the thought of being apart. Daisy cries, and how they got that shot I’ve no idea.
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At first Dithers is telling them not to act that way, but then he starts crying too. Then Dagwood meets a man at the door who’s there to tell them “All ashore that’s going ashore,” and HE starts crying too. And then as the ship’s whistle sounds, it cuts to this:
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3:24
Man and another good goof, Dagwood looks at Blondie and AHB and says he’s gonna shut his eyes so he can remember them just as they are now while they’re apart. Then he runs out the door, immediately crashing into someone.
Is this movie genuinely funnier than usual or am I just in a better mood?
3:28
‘Nother laugh. Dagwood fell while carrying a bunch of drums (in a series of misunderstandings that will eventually lead to him in Dragwood playing the drums with a band that the film is currently introducing, and which is actually kinda interesting and likeable so far) and slid clear across like 20 feet of floor.
3:30
There’s a singing quartet in the band that sounds exactly like the Let’s All Go To The Lobby song.
3:32
The female lead of the band is called Lovey Nelson, and I think I’m in love with her. She’s sassy af.
3:34
I think Michael Jackson might’ve plagiarized some lyrics off Blondie Goes Latin.
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3:36
Upon the development that Dagwood’s playing the drums in this, I considered noting that it would be harder to edit that into a Whiplash parody than that one I did with Hop on my YouTube channel.
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But then Dagwood did an intense drum solo for like 45 seconds and now I’m not so sure.
3:44
ALERT, ALERT, SENTIENT DOLL, I REPEAT, THERE IS A HAUNTED DOLL IN THE MOVIE, SOMEONE CALL A PRIEST, OR ELSE JUSTIN MCELROY, EITHER WILL DO
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3:45
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So you’re saying that you don’t have rhythm.
BUT LISTEN WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT THERE-
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This Blondie is a musical and I’m down.
3:47
Oh God they’re holding on the doll for soooo loooong
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3:58
Alright sun’s getting real low, (Future Euan note: wow, great Avengers: Age of Ultron reference, past Euan.) by which I mean it’s 4 am and I’m gonna go to bed and finish this in the morning.
1:36 AM, Friday, 13 December
Back to it! Looking forward to this given how much I enjoyed it last night.
1:38
Dithers: Falls
Blondie: “Oh, Mr. Dithers! Here’s a drink for you.” Hands glass of water.
Dithers: Drinks, then scrunches up his face in disgust “Oh, that’s water isn’t it?”
1:42
Tito Guízar is now singing in Spanish. It’s interesting, cause it feels totally out of place. Like when Ben Platt sings at the end of the first episode of that show The Politician; it’s clearly just “This person can sing so we better let him sing.” Not so much in a bad way though. Like he’s doing what he’s good at and I like that it’s a bubble of a different culture inserted into this white suburban family sitcom I’m inexplicably exposing myself to.
1:46
This movie’s fuckin’ neat. Blondie’s listening to the song and gets sad cause she misses Dagwood, so she goes out on the deck of the cruise ship that this is all happening on. Tito Guízar follows her out, (I’m pretty sure they’re in front of a projection background) and she says she liked the song but didn’t understand a word of it, so he offers to sing it again in English. And now he is!!! I like that.
It also reminds me of that one creepy Aardman short tho.
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1:51
Oh but then Blondie starts singing with him, and it gets to a point where they’re singing simultaneously but Blondie definitely hasn’t heard the words yet. So it morphs from a realistic enough scene to musical rules where people sing at the same time when they’re on the same page.
1:53
HEY how come it hasn’t come up yet in past movies that Penny Singleton (Blondie) can sing this well? Like the intro song is basically just talking, but she can sing.
1:58
Hey, a Dagwood sandwich! DAGWOOD SANDWICH WATCH 2019 that’s what I do when those show up, right? Been a while since one of those has shown up! It, um… fuck, it actually looks pretty good I’d probably take a stab at eating that.
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2:00
And the crossdressing begins. Lovey needs Dagwood to get to the orchestra and play the drums, but Dagwood knows he’ll get recognized by Blondie or Dithers or AHB. (He’s not supposed to still be on the boat.) So Lovey opens her closet and hands him a dress.
2:02
Haha, the Dagwood sandwich is actually a plot element. A steward brings it away on a tray down the hall and Blondie sees it, adding to other clues she’s gotten that Dagwood’s on board. There’s a great overly dramatic shot of the sandwich coming into focus as he walks it towards the camera.
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2:05
Blondie just barrelled the lens so hard that I felt her looking into my soul.
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2:07
This movie continues to be a full on musical. Blondie’s singing the same song from earlier, but without guitar-man there, just on her own sadly. I wonder if this keeps being a thing in later movies or if this is just the one musical Blondie movie.
2:11
Welp, Dagwood’s crying at the emasculation of wearing a dress.
Coooool.
2:13
I like Lovey’s singing. Ruth Terry’s the singer/actor who plays her, looks like she did a lot of movies.
2:15
The quartet had a nice little choreographed routine during this song. I liked it. I like this one you guys! Maybe you should watch it???
Never thought I’d get to that stage with a Blondie movie.
Future Euan Note: I cannot in good conscience recommend the viewing of any Blondie feature film. Statements made within a Blondie watch are subject to fits of madness and delusion.
2:18
Wow um. Blondie said to guitar-man the sentence “Will you do me a favour? Make love to me.”
I mean I talk about how hard they go in these movies with adult relationship drama, but there’s something so direct about “Make love to me.”
2:20
Blondie’s trying to make Dagwood feel bad by making a show of being involved with guitar-man.
Dagwood’s arc better end with becoming a strong independent woman who don’t need no Blondie.
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2:25
Man okay but there’s an extended dance sequence and it feels so long and it’s making me want this to be over.
Penny Singleton’s a decent singer but a crap dancer.
Maybe that’s unfair actually. She’s kind of in character and needs to convey intentions and that. Not easy to do when you’re also performing a choreographed dance routine.
I just can’t stand when they play the sound of tap-dancing over an actor who’s clearly not tap dancing.
2:31
Welp. That wasn’t how Dagwood’s arc ended.
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2:33
Hehe, they had a satisfying pay-off to earlier gags. First, they had Dagwood run into a steward, the way he does with the posty every movie. Then, just like posty, the steward tried running into Dagwood to get even. But he misses, goes down one of those big ole cartoon ventilation pipes, which leads him to the music hall where he shoots out a grate and penguins across the floor like Dagwood did earlier. Double pay-off.
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THEN Dagwood’s being chased by sailors, so he goes down the pipe, penguins as well, as crashes into the steward a second time.
2:41
Recently, for my annual Christmas watch, I watched It’s a Wonderful Life, but for the first time I watched the colourized version. It was really weird seeing this movie I’d watched in black and white on a VHS tape on an old CRT for the first time in full HD on a big TV, and also with the extra dimension that colour lent it.
It’s gonna be some time before we’re gonna be able to do that to any of the Blondie movies, because
A) Nobody’s going to meticulously go frame-by-frame painting in a Blondie movie, and
B) I doubt somebody saved the masters, so these movies probably don’t and won’t exist in HD.
Just gotta wait for upscaling technology to advance real fast, and then for some kind of automated colourization process to get invented. But you know, once those things become possible and accessible, I’ll be on the forefront remastering Blondie.
2:46
And that’s the end of Blondie Goes Latin. An above-average Blondie, and an out-of-the-ordinary one. There were laughs-a-plenty, a crying steam whistle, a creepy-ass haunted doll, Dagwood in Dragwood, and a handful of solid musical numbers.
My Dagwood Sandwich Rating is: a really pleasant sandwich. Like a posh one you’d get at a food court when you’re on vacation. With spices and shit. And you don’t know what the bread is called but it’s not the usual kind of bread you have at home and it’s a bit tough but the sandwich is good. Hell yeah.
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alainas-adventures · 7 years
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Guilin/Yangshuo!
For months, I had been looking at images of the picturesque towns of Guilin and Yangshuo, China. It was a goal of mine to visit these places by the end of the summer, and we made it! Homer and I spent a 3-day weekend enjoying nature, spectacle, and culture in a more provincial region of China.
Note: I found it pretty difficult to gain specific information about traveling in Guilin and Yangshuo online, so hopefully this is helpful for those who are planning trips there!
Thursday, September 7
There are two main ways to get to Guilin from Hong Kong: by plane or by train. We found that there was only one flight a day going to Guilin that was very expensive (Cathay is the only airline that does direct flights from HK to Guilin). Also, since we only had two nights there, we didn't want to arrive at 4 or 5pm, by which time all the outdoor experiences would be closed. So we opted to take a train. From Tsuen Wan, we took a public bus to Sha Tin, then a train to Shenzhen, and then another train from Shenzhen to Guilin. We booked our tickets from Shenzhen to Guilin online ahead of time. In total, it took us about 7 hours to get there; but if you take the earliest train, you can arrive by 1 or 2 in the afternoon and still have most of the day to explore. 
We took a cab from the station in Guilin and arrived at our hotel around 3:00 PM. (Side note: cabs and communication in general is a lot easier if you’re able to speak Chinese – even just a little bit goes a long way. Of course Homer did most of the legwork in this department, but even I was able to converse with the locals from time to time.)
By 3:30, we were bummed to find that the bamboo rafts and other attractions were already about to close. However, our hotel was able to help us book a nighttime boat cruise which toured the architecture of Guilin. In the meantime, we chose to shop and dine in the area to kill time.
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In this area, there were a lot of touristy shops, tea (especially mango tea) places, a few restaurants, and stands serving local delicacies (fried bugs and crocodile meat). I’m not even sure what this plaza is called, but it was just a few steps away from the Sheraton Guilin.
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By nightfall, it was just about time to board the Two Rivers/Four Lakes boat tour. This is definitely worth doing, especially at night. All the buildings and mountains are lit up colorfully and you get a really good view of the famous Sun and Moon towers. There are two versions of this tour: one has English and Chinese narration and is an hour long, and one just has Chinese and is about 80 minutes long. The former stops halfway through to watch a piece of performance art from the boat; the latter basically skips it and turns back. There are some great photo ops along the way, as you’ll see...
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The Sun and Moon Towers
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As this picture was being taken, I heard “aww”ing next to me and looked over to see two parents, bemused at the fact that their kid was decidedly enamored with me. I began to “aww” myself but then noticed that the kid had on no bottoms. No pants. No undies. Just livin’ free. I wish I could say this was the first time this has happened on my travels, but alas.
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This bridge reminded me of the floating lanterns in Tangled. What else?
Friday, September 8
This was our only full day of the trip, and was therefore our big touring day. We booked a tour to Yangshuo through our hotel, the first leg of which was a 90-minute bus ride to the coast of the Li River. There, we disembarked and (after waiting for the rain to settle) boarded bamboo speed boats in groups of four. I was actually expecting those stand-up rafts that you paddle with a giant stick, but this was a good experience too. (It turns out those kinds of rafts are mostly found in Yangshuo proper, and they’re really just for leisure, not for transportation purposes.)
These speedboats took us on an hourlong cruise down the river, past the beautiful knobby mountains – including the famous “Mural Hill Nine Horses” mountain. Personally, I don’t know if this was totally worthwhile. It was really interesting at first, but after 60 or 70 minutes, we were pretty bored. Unfortunately, the main attraction (Nine Horses Mountain) was the last thing of the tour, so I suppose it’s worth it if you really want a great view of that.
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Can you spot nine horses? I could make a case for maybe three.
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The boat dropped us off near a taxi stand, where transportation had been pre-arranged by the tour group. We piled into 10-person tuk-tuk-style taxis and took a quick ride to the nearby town of Xingping. We only had a few minutes here to poke around the souvenir shops before catching the tour bus to Yangshuo.
The tour group offered an extended tour of the sights of “Shangri La” for whoever was interested. But since we only had one day in the area, we decided to do our own thing for the rest of the day. After grabbing a quick lunch at a place called “Demon” (????) (I know) (the food was good tho), our first order of business was finding a place to rent scooters. We found one without too much trouble – 100 RMB per person bought us each a scooter for the day. For another 100 RMB, we hired a guide to take us around the countryside of Yangshuo. This was undoubtedly the most priceless experience of our trip, as well as one of my favorite things I’ve done since living in Asia.
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This was literally advertised to us as “the place where they took the photo for the default background on Windows XP.” It exceeded expectations. Also, my Lizzie McGuire dreams came true with this mint green vespa. I mean are you kidding?!
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Our guide – a sprightly older lady – helped us find a half dozen hidden gems that we never would have seen on TripAdvisor or Instagram. She took us to a place with an old mill spinning in the water, a cavernous mountain area where you could sing and your voice would echo off the mountains (and we did), a mountain with a piece missing from it where the light shone through, and an area where 20 RMB would buy you a bucket of arrows to shoot at makeshift targets beneath the mountains. To top it all off, we got to see the sunset as we rode back into town. It was truly unforgettable.
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After returning our scooters, we headed back into what seemed to be “downtown Yangshuo” (I’m not actually sure what this area is called), and grabbed some snacks. Homer got a hot dog covered in hash browns, and I got a ramune/vanilla flavored ice cream. 
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Still having dreams about that ice cream, from a place called Youngsun.
That night, we had tickets to see “Impressions of Sanjie Liu,” a music, light, and water show performed nightly by an ensemble of hundreds of Yangshuo locals. There's not much of a storyline, but the inspiration is a character from a Chinese legend named Sanjie Liu, a girl with a beautiful singing voice who won the heart of her lover by singing to him from one mountain to another. Going in, our frame of reference was Macau’s House of Dancing Water and Disney’s Fantasmic. It wasn’t on the same scale of course, but this is still definitely worth seeing – if only for the moments when 200 people in costume light up the lake in front of you. Scenes of local choirs singing native folk songs, and performers walking their cattle along the river give you a feeling of what traditional life is/was like in these villages of China. And there are also more spectacular moments, featuring dance, large floating set pieces, and even lighting up the entirety of the mountains in front of you. We also enjoyed being far enough away from light pollution to be able to look up and see the stars. Tickets range from 200-500 RMB as I recall, and we got them through our hotel.
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Saturday, September 9
On our last morning in Guilin, we decided to pay a visit to the Ludi Yan reed flute caves. This is a place to see the natural cave formations that have been "enhanced" by tourism companies; the formations are all colorfully lit, and it's a really interesting way to experience nature. You can buy tickets at the door. The tour was just over an hour long and the narration was all in Chinese. We really enjoyed this. (Except for the part where a kid dropped trow in the middle of the caves while his mom held a Ziploc bag for him to pee into. She then sealed the bag and dropped it into a trash can. I can’t make this stuff up.)
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After stopping by the souvenir vendors outside the reed caves exhibition (and using my limited Mandarin to bargain with them), it was just about time to head back to Hong Kong. Guilin and Yangshuo were a wonderful retreat. If we could have stayed longer, I would have loved to try the stand-up bamboo rafting and maybe a hot air balloon. These towns are truly diamonds in the rough, and I recommend them to anyone traveling in Asia. Especially if you have a China visa that’s good for the next ten years!
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firebunnylover · 7 years
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Hannah Watches LOSH - Man of Tomorrow
This is my start on what will be a one episode-per-post re-watch and review/analysis of Legion of Superheroes. I am going to go through all the episodes of both seasons, and when I finish the show, I will also go into the comics afterward. I will try to aim for once a week at minimum, but that depends on school. The reviews will be made while I’m watching, with much pausing and commentary being made and screenshots being shown, and a final word at the end on both the episode overall and the characters.
I will also be comparing my view when I first saw the episode vs now. Also please keep in mind I did not start with the first episode when it aired. And these will all have my opinion alone, and if you have any feedback/comments you want to give, go ahead ^^
So, let’s start of with the first episode.
Man of Tomorrow
So we first get the preview of the Legion fighting the Fatal Five before cutting to Clark Kent during his last night in Smallville before going to Metropolis.
Watching this again, it struck me that Clark probably didn’t get the best support from his parents on the super power part.
What do I mean? Ma Kent said “Just please be careful. Remember Clark, your not like the rest of us.” Which he replies with “I know.” Now in the animated show most people are familiar with, the superpowers came into being around high school. But his parents seemed to have handled it rather well, as does Clark in the end, and he is given a device that has a message from his birth parents to give him an explanation. But here that’s not the case. I think it’s more likely that the parents were less ready to deal with superpowers, and god, given Clark didn’t know squat about Krypton as evident in the comics that tied into the show – will go into that eventually, who knows how well Clark was dealing with the powers when they first came up. Probably much worse than in the Superman animated series.
Speaking of parents, noticed that Pa was not in the episode. Where is he? Is he dead in this version? Ho geeze, adds to the stress the poor guy must be under.
And then we get our time bubble trio aka TBT: Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, and Bouncing Boy. I wonder what the decision process was behind them. Which will be discussed in a bit.
Cutting back to the fair, we get more evidence of Clark not dealing the best way with his powers after a Jock taunts him and his physical abilities. He is getting ready to toss the ball, recalls Ma’s words. And god, the facial expressions now have the ability to pick apart my heart now.
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Just. Ow.
And then comes the trope-tastic faulty Ferris wheel. I bet Grunkle Stan branched out to this fair.
And then we get back to the TBT. What do you mean food on a stick is not normal?! WHAT DO YOU DO FOR POPCICLES?! COTTON CANDY?! CANDY APPLES?!
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Wait, how did he get that food? Was it samples? Or did the trio steal it?
I couldn’t help but snicker at Brainy’s and Saturn Girl’s expression at Bouncing Boy. Imma have to go with “stealing”
Also, what performance would the TBT be part of? I mean, I understand cosplay at a convention, but they look a little off the mark at the fair for me. But I would totally pay money to see that performance.
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And it happens.
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The beginning of what was one of the many triggers in many for shipping a gay ship.
When I first watched this show, I was in elementary. I was having some curiosity towards gay ships – I was in a very heavy weeabo state, and especially into CLAMP’s manga, which is filled with LGBT characters. I was also going through a bit of a religious phase, and my parents aren’t the most accepting people, especially back then. So I was scared by possibly shipping anything that wasn’t deemed right. I wouldn’t go bashing in public, but I wouldn’t confide with others. I wouldn’t really support the LGBT community until high school.
But now, I can fully appreciate the show and what it tried to do. The storyboards probably have more representation for the LGBT community by far, but still, I will take what I can get with this show… THAT’S A LIE I WANT THOSE STORYBOARDS.
Gotta appreciate the dramatic music that comes with the scene as well.
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Look at those two concerned guardians.
Now back to Clark.
Given my earlier talk with him and his powers… THIS BOY MUST HAVE HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN BOUNCING BOY SPOKE TO HIM. HE WAS CAUGHT. YET HE GOES “EVERYTHING IS FINE HERE,” AND PROCEEDS TO SWOOP IN WHEN THE THING STARTS TO FALL APART. KUDOS TO MY BOY IN HOLDING HIMSELF TOGETHER.
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GRUNKLE STAN YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING ON THE STATE OF THAT FERRIS WHEEL.
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Saturn Girl, I don’t think now is the time for intros.
Pfft, BB is confused by this as well, to the point where his animation is a wee bit off.
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And then he proceeds to walk behind Clark and… what’s the best word for this…
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 WHAT A PRECIOUS FACE THAT FOLLOWS THAT SILLY BOING NOISE. AND THE WAY HE SAYS “help?” AFTERWARDS IS SO CUTE. EXPRESSIONS IN THIS EPISODE ARE SO GOOD.
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I never realized how big Bouncing Boy could get.
Clark starts to nope out, and Saturn Girl said she did the same thing when she saw Bouncing Boy to do that as well.
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And cue more internal panicking for Clark.
So, did Saturn Girl like did the whole fair a mind wipe, or just the guys who were witnesses?
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More gayness, both sides.
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And Clark has a gay panic.
Which will eventually turn into “I’m not Straight” in the future. I’ve been through that phase my boy.
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Saturn Girl looks like a mom here, telling the kids to stop flirting atm.
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Oh man, Clark asking them not to tell anyone about the super power thing. What a heart breaker.
“It’s okay. We know all about you.”
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Wow, great conversation starter B5, totally not sounding like a stalker.
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BRAINY WHY DID YOU CUT OFF BOUNCY?! JEALOUSY?! LOOK AT THESE GOSHDARN EXPRESSIONS.
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Good job B5, weirded out your crush.
At least Saturn Girl knows saying “Coming to the future” sounds crazy.
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“Clark!”
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“Wait!”
Oof. My heart at his voice.
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And Cool Mom has to step in.
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He looks like a kicked dog at this frame.
Let us appreciate how immediately when Saturn Girl says “Let’s just give him some time,” the episodes is edited so that they show up in the kitchen at his house.
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So Saturn Girl has a coffee mug, Bouncing Boy has pie, and nothing for the green child. Oh, and embarrassment for Clark.
Well, okay, B5 kinda looks like an angry kid who’s upset their BF is an hour late to the date.
And the introduction the do at the home seems to be much smoother at the fair. Think they did rehearsals waiting for Clark to get home? Did they switch out constantly? And how far did B5 take his crush with the rehearsals?
But Clark defiantly has a lot of self-doubt at the idea of him being a super hero. He uses his powers for good, but he definitely lacks the confidence that he’s good enough for it. He laughs it off at first, then seems a little angry and scared at how much they knew about his powers. Reminds me now of Yuuri Katsuri. And given how little confidence I have had in the last few years about myself, I can further appreciate him now than what I did back then.
Clark was very tempted in coming at “Come with us and you won’t have to hide them anymore.” It’s like getting a safe place to come out, finally, after years of being told that it’s safer to hide himself. Further more appreciative with time for me.
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Wow, B5 looks so demanding here.
(Where did they keep that time bubble tho?? It just appeared out of nowhere?)
I kinda laughed at the part where Ma goes “Take a sweater!” then comes down stairs, confused at what he said. “Future?”
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I like the atmosphere of New Metropolis in this show. Good use of complementary colors in this shot.
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AND THANK ****ING GOD LOOK AT TRIPLICATE GIRL IN HD HER SKIN IS DARKER
I CRY BLOOD AT THE FACT THAT THE FACT SHE WAS SUPPOSE TO BE MUCH DARKER AND THEN SHE CAME OUT SO PALE IN SD QUALITY THANK GOD FOR HD
Granted the concept art of her gave her darker skin but SHE’S SO BEAUTIFUL WITH DARK SKIN
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And here we have Queen Sinnamon Roll and Lighting Trash Baby, who PG proceeds to sass out with an eye roll and reality, and then has Trips back her up. Positive female friendships, that’s an instant gold star.
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What a jealous baby, getting phased through and shoved aside. Thinking back to the jock we saw earlier, I find it interesting that Lightning Lad was made to fit that image on the first episode. Interesting move. Perhaps it was to show the character development as we went along?
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The girls look so disappointed that the skinny Superman came out instead of some muscular guy. Personally, I prefer the skinny Superman design. Muscular guys just don’t seem as attractive to me as often. Might have something to do with that I find myself attracted to girls more often. But I love all girls, and buff girls are on the list of those I am weak for, so I’m just further confused. Maybe I just need another 10 years to figure this one out.
And when Lightning Lad proceeds to poke fun at B5 and Clark…
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Brainy looks like a cat who is planning his demise. I had cats for a little over ten years. I know this look. Brainy is giving him the look that says he will murder him in his sleep. Painfully.
And then Lightning Lad proceeds to be a jerk, doing the last thing Clark needs: degrading him on his powers. After everything I talked about earlier, this hurts me in the hard. Trash Baby will be sent to the garbage pit as required.
We cut to the Superman museum, where Saturn Girl brings Clark to speed what’s going on, explaining who the Fatal Five are.
While watching this episode, I realized how much emotional support and guidance Saturn Girl provided for those in need – particularly B5 and Clark in this one. And she doesn’t seem to need to read their minds to figure out what they are feeling. So really, that is really thought provoking. Maybe she studied psychology or hosts therapy groups. In any case, it makes her far more interesting as a person.
I’m kind of interested to see what the military forces were like in this show’s universe, given that they were deemed not available for help against the Fatal Five. How restricted are they? Is there restrictions based on international laws? And as for the Science Police… well, I’m going to discuss that in a future episode.
Okay so tallying up the other legionnaires who were mentioned when the code red was sent out. Shrinking Violet was undercover, Colossal Boy is on Rawl (did I spell that right?), while Cosmic Boy, the leader, is at the outpost, where it is commented he won’t make it on time. Good god, they were spread thin. Just how much shit is going on elsewhere?! Just leave less than ten people at the HQ where one of the biggest problems will find them. NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL.
So the Fatal Five show up, and at least the police try to do something, but still get their asses kicked. A for effort.
And what does Clark do when confronted with his first Comic Villain fight? At first he seems like he’s running away. Leaving the Legion to get their butts kicked. But instead he’s getting the costume, and tries to fly. He’s taking a step forward to define himself as someone who can help. He’s becoming Superman.
But how did that costume just suddenly adjust to the tinier frame? Krypton Science?
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And what about his hair? It changed too! It just popped out that signature curl!
Regarding the fight, there are several things I noticed: Triplicate Girl can be forcibly merged back into one singular being, and all three of her can carry Persuader and PG with the ax. Validus chased Bouncing Boy like a dog, which was kind of funny. Lightning Lad abandons his original opponent during fight to go help his teammates, and manages to resist for a while. And then he gave Superman tips in fighting. Saturn Girl is the first to break out of the control, and uses her powers to free the others. B5 has strong robot muscles (what’s the mechanical equivalent?)
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Also, I think I should thank this episode for giving the idea of the ax for a weapon in the SU AU i work with, since she got to hold it several times in the episode.
Now regarding the villains, honestly the only one who I find of any interest is Emerald Empress. She was just so causal to Superman when she sees him in costume, and sounded disappointed at the small number of the people who came to confront her team, which gives her some character. Also, I heard somewhere that she is a lesbian. If anyone has a source that can confirm, I would appreciate it so much, cuz I need more queer ladies in my life.
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Post fight, Lighting Lad says he knew Superman could do it, only to get the look from everyone. Karma much?
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And we see sad Brainy when he says Superman has to go home.
But then Superman is the one who proposes he stays.
And as one last boot to the episode, Superman steals what Lightning Lad’s spot during flight with Brainy’s help. Continuing Karma on the trash baby.
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So final thoughts on the episode overall.
It’s a good start the first season, definitely. But I feel there could be better execution. Like the first bit can get people to think that the fight happened before the Legion went to fetch Superman. Like only some of them managed to get away from the Fatal Five, and realize they need help in rescuing the rest of the Legion. That would be more interesting for a first episode, to me anyway.
Villains could have used more development.
Maybe seeing a bit more of the life back at Smallville would have been nice as well.
And how did that decision for the Time Bubble Trio/TBT go? I know B5 probably demanded to go, justifying he was the one who built the device. And wanted to see Superman first. But why Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy? Did they draw stick, or was it based on the idea that they are probably the most responsible of the group? TELL ME~
But given what we got, I love it. The members of the legion are fun to watch, and it’s a good take on the younger Superman, and the interpretation I got out of the episode was so much deeper than what I got when I was younger.
And kudos out to the staff in trying to squeeze that gay stuff in.
Characters in this episode:
I really like Superman/Clark’s personality here. I can relate to it now better than how I did when I was younger. And now the experience seems like a parallel to finding a safe place to come out. Gold. Star.
Brainiac 5 was nice to see, crushing on Superman. We discover more of him personality wise later on, but it’s so good to see the gay game getting on this early.
Saturn Girl – god I love how she’s so emotionally aware of others in parts of this episode. This girl is definitely someone I would talk to during a hard time.
Lightning Lad… thank god for later character development. He’s a lovable brat here, but needs that character development stat.
Bouncing Boy is a delight. Such goodness in a person. An early-version of Hunk from Voltron. Good emotional support as well.
Seeing the sass that just oozes from Phantom Girl is a joy. My beautiful daughter.
And Triplicate Girl… THANK GOD YOU ARE NOT AS PALE HERE IN HD AS YOU WERE IN SD. I feel that we could have seen more of her and PG, but I really love how they got along in the HQ before the TBT got back.
The villains. Not much to say other than what I said about Empress earlier and that they needed development overall. Sorry.
Well, that’s all for this episode! Hope this was a good read for you all! lemme know if i should put any under a Read More bar.
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junker-town · 7 years
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14 moments that defined the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight
From the TKO to the memes, everything you really need to know.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor. It happened. They went to Las Vegas. They threw punches. They dodged some of those punches. They got paid. Mayweather defeated McGregor by TKO in the 10th round of one of the fiscally richest and morally bankrupt boxing matches of all time.
You may have opted to tune it out. You may have tried to tune in but been thwarted by pay-per-view problems. Or you may have watched and been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the fight.
Spoiler Alert: No one was sent into orbit.
Whether you skipped the fight or just want to relive the action, here are some of the defining moments of the night:
The Pay-Per-Drama
As has become the norm for Mayweather fights, the pay-per-view streams were struggling. The outages and complaints were so widespread that the fight was actually delayed until midnight.
.@UFCFightPass customers: Due to overwhelming traffic you may be experiencing log in issues. This will be resolved shortly.
— UFC (@ufc) August 27, 2017
We r in panic mode / Waited all day for PAY PER VIEW OF FIGHT / not getting it & we can't get anyone on the phone ! http://pic.twitter.com/oTnandYpHU
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) August 27, 2017
Meanwhile, is that Grimace’s music?!?!
The highlight of the Mayweather-McGregor undercard may very well have been Gervonta Davis’ fuzzy gear.
Grimace looked great last night! http://pic.twitter.com/cRduF4LX9B
— SB Nation (@SBNation) August 27, 2017
Finally, here comes Kylo Floyd!
WHO IS THIS MASKED COMPETITOR http://pic.twitter.com/azQd3eb1jS
— SB Nation (@SBNation) August 27, 2017
Whoa ... Conor looks ... like a boxer!
McGregor appeared confident and competent in Round 1, pushing the pace in the cagey, early going.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
And, he’s taunting Mayweather
Showtime
No hammer fists, please
Referee Robert Byrd chastised McGregor for using a move not permitted in boxing.
Showtime
These hug memes will go on
Whether it was because Floyd was actually turning his back or McGregor was sidestepping in an unorthodox fashion, there were several odd spoon clinches that inspired the jokes.
#MayweathervMcgregor http://pic.twitter.com/kdBjCyRlpA
— Angel Smith (@Cali_Angel54) August 27, 2017
Here comes Floyd...
After the boxing debutant set the tone for much of the first three rounds, Mayweather began to assert himself in the fourth. His strike pace and combination complexity picked up through rounds five and six as well.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Fatigue joins The Money Team
Not simply contending with Mayweather, McGregor slowed noticeably as the fight entered it’s final third.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Stop the fight!
Referee Robert Byrd halted the fight in the 10th round as Mayweather landed an uninterrupted flurry of punches on a wobbly McGregor.
Mayweather vs McGregor Finish #MayweathervMcgregor #MayweatherVsMcGregor #MayweatherMacGregor http://pic.twitter.com/rf2YNMtFvY
— Fancy Combat (@FancyCombat) August 27, 2017
Then there was ... SPORTSMANSHIP!
After months of trash talk, #McGregor and #Mayweather show respect after the fight. http://pic.twitter.com/ZSxm8LanI8
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 27, 2017
Nothing but #Respect #MayweatherMcGregor http://pic.twitter.com/Vp1KA7ELHe
— UFC (@ufc) August 27, 2017
50 and Done
.@FloydMayweather reaches 50-0 and calls his career a wrap. #MayweatherMcGregor http://pic.twitter.com/uO6nj4Duap
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 27, 2017
Conor says the ref should have let him get knocked down
Hats off to @TheNotoriousMMA. #MayweatherMcGregor http://pic.twitter.com/ih2wGFbjMH
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 27, 2017
Boxers and MMA fighters praise McGregor
Conner kept it interesting but he was outboxed and outclassed in the square ring. Nothing to be ashamed of tho. I like him even more now!
— Lennox Lewis (@LennoxLewis) August 27, 2017
Respect @TheNotoriousMMA showed the world we can compete #MayweathervMcgregor
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) August 27, 2017
Damn good fight. Mayweather put on a hell of a show. Conor did much better than I had expected. Hats off to both guys. Worth the money
— Shane Mosley (@ShaneMosley_) August 27, 2017
@TheNotoriousMMA u are the man brother!! U fought the best of our time in his game and fought like a champ. We are all proud of you. DC @ufc
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) August 27, 2017
Mayweather won the fight, McGregor won the event. Cheers
— Sergio Mora (@TheLatinSnake_) August 27, 2017
Bonus Round: Complete fight highlights
What a show. Mayweather defeats McGregor by TKO. http://pic.twitter.com/OH3zxJwsfw
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 27, 2017
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