#T-Mac Tuesdays

[sesamestreep]

the first tuesday in may

A/N: I originally wrote this as a prompt fill and then decided I hated it and wrote something else instead, but I held onto the draft because I liked the concept. After revisiting it and editing it into something not completely mortifying to read, I decided to post it after all. Double prompt fill! What a time to be alive! (posted to AO3 here)

Sloan thinks she is uniquely terrible at being a famous person. Not that she gets into trouble as a public figure all that often (trouble finds her with alarming frequency, but she does her best not to court it, at least), but rather that she doesn’t care about a lot of the things she thinks she’s supposed to as a celebrity. If she had her way, she could work at ACN, be on several new programs a day as an anchor, and still somehow not be recognizable at all. This doesn’t make sense to her friends and family. She understands that, on paper, it doesn’t make much sense at all. If she wanted to be some anonymous economist, she simply should not have agreed to ever be on television. She’d chosen this life instead. Some days, she still can't figure out why.

All of this is to say, she never really anticipated being invited to the Met Gala. Honestly, she hadn’t even heard of it until she started working with Mac and even then, she didn’t think about it much. She does like fashion, though, and she likes museums in a theoretical way where she wants them to exist and have funding but she also gets bored after 15 minutes in even the more interesting ones. The fervor and fanaticism around the Met Gala, though, had surprised her and then intimidated her, in that order, when she’d gotten her invitation. But a designer had agreed to dress her and she’d managed to walk the red carpet without falling on her face and she’s pretty sure she didn’t say anything to a reporter that she’ll regret, which means the night was an unmitigated success for her. The thing she’s really worried about is how her colleagues at ACN will react the day after. She’s ultimately more nervous about the first Tuesday in May than she was about the first Monday.

Despite her preparation for commentary and possibly mockery from her co-workers, the morning fortunately passes without incident. By the time she’s finished with the 12 o’clock show, though, most of the staff for the prime time shows have started to trickle in and, truthfully, it’s them she’s most anxious about. Neal is the first to say something, but because it’s Neal, it’s also the cheeriest possible comment she could ever hope for.

“Saw pics from the Met Gala last night,” he says, as she passes by his desk. He doesn’t even take his eyes off his computer in order to say it. “You looked amazing. How many best dressed lists did you make?”

“I haven’t checked,” Sloan replies, with a slight eye roll. “I’m guessing very few.”

“No way.”

“There was some debate over whether I dressed properly to the theme.”

“Yes, but that’s what people love about the Met Gala. The debate is the fun part!”

“If you say so.”

“Regardless, me and all the other brave soldiers on Sloan Sabbith stan Twitter have your back.”

“I know what most of those words mean individually and yet, together, they’re a mystery to me.”

“So, a ‘stan’ is actually—”

“Oh, no. I’d like it to remain a mystery, thanks.”

Neal clamps his mouth shut with an amused expression. “Suit yourself.”

“I appreciate the loyalty, though,” she calls over her shoulder, as she makes her way to Mac’s office.

“Always!”

Her knock on Mac’s door is immediately met with an invitation to come in, but she hesitates in the doorway when she sees Will there already.

“I can come back…”

“Not at all,” Mac says, waving her in. “Will and I were discussing what to do with your segment for tonight’s show as it is.”

“We have so many options for what to discuss,” Will says brightly, “since you missed last night’s show.”

Sloan sighs. “Okay, I knew this was coming…”

“Did you have fun at your fancy party? With all your celebrity friends? While the rest of us were working?”

“First of all, Charlie approved it, and I was there representing ACN, so I was working, thank you very much,” she replies, crossing her arms over her chest. “And secondly, you’ve been to the Met Gala like five times! Don’t take it out on me that you got snubbed this year!”

“Why would they want me there, when they can have someone younger and more beautiful?”

“Yes, it’s that and not your feud with Anna Wintour that prevented you being invited,” Mac says, giving him an arch look.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Will says, spreading his hands out in a wide, innocent gesture.

Sloan, for her part, is delighted. “What did you do, Will?”

“Nothing!”

Mac snorts. “He called her a shrew at Anderson Cooper’s birthday party three years ago.”

“That’s not true,” Will shouts. “How did you even know about that?”

“He told everyone at CNN about it,” she replies, looking down at the papers strewn about her desk, like this subject is boring her completely.

“I did not call her a shrew,” Will says, this time to Sloan. “I would not say that about anyone, even if they deserved it, like Anna Wintour very clearly does.”

“He was very drunk at the time,” Mac says, also to Sloan, over-pronouncing the words like she’s speaking about a child. “He doesn’t remember.”

This, at the very least, does make Will look sheepish. “I wouldn’t say it, even drunk,” he insists, though he doesn’t sound quite so confident anymore. “But I think we can all agree that her reaction is not unlike how a total shrew would behave.”

“Just apologize to her, dude,” Sloan says, leaning on the available chair in front of Mac’s desk, rather than sitting in it like a normal person. 

“Don’t call me ‘dude,’” Will says, pointing a warning finger in her direction. “And I’m not going to apologize for something that I never did in the first place.”

“Allegedly,” Mac says.

“Shut up,” Will shoots back.

“I’m just saying, if you smoothed things over with Anna, you and I could be Met Gala buddies next year.”

Will looks incredulous. “Oh, it’s ‘Anna’ now, is it?”

“Well, yeah. We really bonded on the dance floor when Bruno Mars was playing.”

Will makes a disgusted sound, while Mac hides her smile in her fist. “Leona must have been in heaven,” she says, tactfully trying to move the conversation in another direction. “She loves Bruno Mars.”

“She was. I think she invited him to her birthday party next weekend. Reese looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.”

“Leona’s birthday was in March,” Will says, frowning.

“I know,” Sloan says, patiently. “Do the math on that one quicker, Will.”

Will’s face clears with comprehension. “Poor Reese,” he says, shaking his head. “Anyway, now that we’re done gossiping about our country’s elite and their posh exploits at an event designed to market luxury brands to those who will never be able to afford them, we should talk about tonight’s show, which will be dedicated to the working class, the average citizen, and the—”

“And the suit you’ll be wearing will be custom Armani,” Mac interjects, unimpressed. “Nice try, farm boy.”

Half an hour later, Sloan emerges from the meeting with her topic for her segment on Will’s show settled and makes a beeline for her office, praying that she’s already been accosted by everyone who cares about the Met Gala and she can make it through the rest of the day in peace. Unfortunately, she’s not so lucky. 

Kendra offers her some polite praise on her dress in passing, which prompts Martin and Gary to do a quick Google search while she’s standing right there. It’s a new form of torture she was not remotely prepared for.

“Woah,” Gary says, artless as always. “You look glam, Sloan.”

“That’s kind of the point,” she replies, fighting the urge to fidget. 

“Did you meet anyone cool?” Martin asks, and she disappoints him by saying she didn’t. He then swivels his monitor towards her so she can see a picture of her talking to Bradley Cooper, which she fully doesn’t remember happening. When she just shrugs, Martin looks crestfallen and she takes that as her cue to leave.

Later on, when she’s walking through the bullpen after a meeting with Zane, Jenna stops her to say how much she loved her dress and to ask if Bruno Mars was nice in person, which leads to a repeat of the same situation as before, except now it’s Maggie and Jim googling her in front of her.

“I didn’t really talk to him much,” she says, keeping an eye on the others. Jenna’s clearly disappointed by this answer, so she adds, “But that’s only because he made a point of talking to everybody.”

“That’s so cool,” Jenna gushes, mollified at last. “He seems so down to earth, you know?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sloan says, vaguely. She definitely should have paid more attention to who she talked to last night. She was too busy praying to every god she could think of that Bruno Mars would become Reese’s new stepdad to retain any details of her actual conversation with him.

“Wow,” Jim says. “That’s a lot.”

Maggie fixes him with a glare. “Don’t be an asshole,” she says, with real fire. “Sloan, you look beautiful.”

“Oh, thanks,” Sloan replies, shrugging. “It’s like a costume party, kind of, so it’s supposed to be over the top.”

Jim, for his part, looks embarrassed. “I wasn’t trying to be rude! You know that I think you’re beautiful too, Sloan. I was just saying—”

“You think she’s beautiful?” Maggie asks, lightly. Too lightly. It’s the most obvious thing Sloan has ever heard, and she’s intimately familiar with being too obvious with people she likes.

“Yeah, I mean. Clearly,” Jim says, scratching his neck and (if Sloan’s not mistaken) wishing he’d never been born. “She’s—you’re very beautiful, Sloan, in a textbook kind of way.”

Sloan and Jenna wince simultaneously, and Maggie’s head swivels sharply to stare down Jim even more intensely. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asks, and Sloan gets the vague sense that she’s handed them another convenient reason to pretend to hate each other for the day.

“Nothing,” Jim practically shouts. “Sloan’s beautiful. But like, you know, she doesn’t need all this—” he waves a hand in the direction of Maggie’s monitor, presumably at the photo of Sloan on the red carpet—“to be beautiful. I think she looks nice in real life, when she’s more natural.”

“Oh, right,” Maggie replies with an eye roll. “You’re one of those guys who likes women when they wear no makeup, right?”

Jim looks over to Sloan and Jenna, who are watching this disaster unfold with stone faced solemnity. Sloan tries to convey with just her eyes that he needs to stand down or get his ass handed to him, but it definitely doesn’t come through. He decides to dig his own grave, instead.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s preferable, isn’t it?”

“How much makeup is Jenna wearing right now?” Maggie asks, smelling blood in the water.

“Uh, none. Right?”

Maggie swings her gaze over to Jenna. “Is that true?” 

“No,” Jenna says, with another sympathetic wince.

“How many products did you use to get ready this morning?”

Jenna sighs. “Twelve.”

“No fucking way,” Jim says, staring at Jenna like he’ll suddenly unlock x-ray vision somehow. 

“Women have to put so much effort into their appearance just to look like what men think of as ‘natural,’” Maggie says, truly on a roll now. “And then men like you criticize women who wear makeup that looks ‘over the top’ or ‘obvious’. It’s like we can’t win!”

“To be fair,” Sloan attempts to interject, “I don’t think Jim meant—”

Jim doesn’t take the assist, because he interrupts to yell, “I don’t see how it’s my fault that beauty standards—!”

“I wasn’t saying it was your fault,” Maggie replies, hotly, “just that you’re part of the problem.”

“Oh, yeah, because that’s so much better!”

Sloan gives Jenna a sympathetic shoulder pat, as she delicately makes her exit. Jim and Maggie will be at each other’s throats until they run out of oxygen, and she doesn’t need to wait around for that. Unfortunately, Jenna, as an intern, probably will. She returns once again to the peace and quiet of her office. 

Getting ready for Market Wrap-Up at four o’clock, she gets into a conversation with the make-up artist—not the usual girl, who’s out with what she suspects is strep throat—about the gala, what it’s like to attend, if the exhibit is any good this year, which are questions Sloan is more happy to answer. No, she didn’t get to keep anything she wore. Yes, she was worried she was going to fall on those stairs. No, she didn’t bring a date.

This last answer seems to displease the woman. “If I was dating someone off the New York Giants, I’d make sure everyone knew,” she says, as she dabs mattifying concealer on Sloan’s nose. It’s to reduce shininess from sweating under the intense studio lights, Sloan knows, but she can’t help regretting the way it obscures her freckles too. 

“I’m not…dating anyone on the New York Giants,” Sloan says, carefully.

“Oh, don’t worry! I’m not going to tell TMZ. You don’t have to pretend for my benefit.”

“I’m not pretending. I’m really not dating anyone from the Giants. Or any other NFL team, for that matter.”

“So, who are you dating, then?” the woman asks, with a knowing sparkle in her eye.

Sloan shrugs. “No one.”

“That’s too bad. You’re pretty. You should be dating someone.”

Sloan wants to object to that assessment, or the overly familiar way this woman she doesn’t know is talking about her love life, but she can’t muster the energy. She’s been on a string of bad dates lately, including one with, yes, a New York Giant, but none of them had come to anything. She’s officially too old to consider second dates with men who can’t be bothered to ask her a single question all night long. And there’s the recent experience with having her private photos leaked by an ex that she’s still reeling from. Overall, her wariness is probably not unwarranted. That doesn’t dispel the loneliness of it all, though.

“Do you think I look old?” Sloan asks, suddenly.

The makeup artist does a gratifying double take, looking back and forth between Sloan in real life and Sloan in the mirror. “Girl, where are you seeing that?” she asks.

“Not here,” Sloan says. “I saw the pictures of me from the event and I just thought I looked tired and old. I don’t know.”

“Absolutely not,” this woman she barely knows says with more confidence than Sloan can imagine having. “Don’t do that. You look amazing. There is nothing wrong with looking your age, but you sure as hell do not look old. Don’t do that!”

“You’re right. I just—”

The woman adjusts Sloan’s head so she’s looking straight into the mirror. “Honey, if you can’t even have confidence in yourself, the rest of us are definitely in trouble.”

That is enough to startle a laugh out of her, though she hides it by looking down at her lap. “Thank you,” Sloan says, feeling far too raw about it. “I…did I even ask for your name when we got started?”

“You didn’t, but it’s Mika.”

“Thank you, Mika. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Mika says, like it really is nothing to her, as she touches up Sloan’s eyeliner with a deft hand.

It’s a couple hours after that, when Sloan is frantically trying to put the finishing touches on her segment for Will’s show, that she remembers she left some of her notes from their meeting behind in the green room. In her rush to go grab them, she nearly collides with Elliot as he’s leaving the room with Don in tow. 

“God, did you get taller?” she gripes, as their almost run-in just brings her attention to the fact that she only comes up to his sternum.

“Nice to see you too, Sloan,” Elliot replies, elegantly side-stepping her. “Rough day?”

She glowers at him. “No. Why?”

“I thought maybe you might have indulged in too much champagne with Rihanna last night or something.”

“I didn’t meet Rihanna,” Sloan says, rolling her eyes. Though, given her Bradley Cooper slip-up earlier, she honestly isn’t even sure that’s true. “And I’m not hungover at work, thank you very much.”

“Just a joke,” Elliot says, holding his hands up in surrender. “My wife wanted me to tell you she thought your dress was beautiful. She’s obsessed with Vivienne Westwood.”

“Oh,” Sloan says, caught off guard by this praise. Elliot’s wife is so much cooler than him. “That’s so nice.”

“You didn’t get to meet her, did you?”

“Very briefly, but all my meetings and fittings were with her people, unfortunately. She was nice, though, when we did meet.”

Elliot smiles. “I’ll tell her. She’ll be so jealous. She really wanted to get married in one of her dresses, but it wasn’t really in the budget back then.”

“Next time we have an office party or something, tell her to come pester me with questions.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

“You’re the best, Sloan,” Elliot practically shouts, as he makes his way down the hall, leaving her and Don alone together.

If she’s being honest with herself (which she tries to do as infrequently as possible), it’s Don’s opinion of the whole Met Gala thing she’s most worried about. Unlike some other people here—she thinks of Mac and Will, specifically—Don doesn’t bother to pretend that he’s above paying attention to the less highbrow items that make the news, but given that he’s also a straight man who wears the same five flannel button-ups to work on a regular rotation, he might be above caring about news that pertains to fashion. He might think the whole thing is stupid, which is the way Sloan wishes she felt. She can’t go in for some of the more avant-garde and impractical sides of haute couture, but she likes a well-made, properly fitted, beautiful piece of clothing as much as any sane person does. Her favorite outfit might be jeans and a hoodie, but she can also appreciate the work that goes into those couture gowns even she, an actual celebrity like it or not, will never have occasion to wear. So, yes, she’s bracing herself for Don’s opinion, provided he has one. Which, obviously, he does, because he’s Don.

“Allow me to be easily the 150th person to tell you that you looked beautiful last night,” Don says, after they’ve been quietly standing there like idiots for a few minutes. Sloan is already in the process of scoffing, when he interrupts to ask, “Did you have fun?”

Sloan makes a helpless gesture with her hands. “I guess…?”

“You guess?”

“It’s…really overwhelming. And exciting! But loud. And there’s so many people and they’re all taking photos. And I had to be careful not to crush my dress when I sat down, so that was awkward. But it really was cool! Seeing the exhibit while the museum was closed was awesome.”

“I bet. Whenever my sister visits the city, she always drags me to some new exhibit at the Met. If I ever win the lottery, I figured I’d rent the place out for her for a big birthday or something.”

“That’s…” Not adorable. Not sweet. Not I’d love to meet this sister I’ve never heard of before next time she’s in town. Has she ever been shown around the Met by someone who saw the exhibit while Gisele Bundchen was six feet away, because I’d be happy to— “That would be such a good idea.”

Don smiles, and his eyes do that thing where they crinkle at the corners. “Well, cross your fingers I win the Powerball soon.”

Sloan very dorkily crosses her actual fingers, making him laugh. “Maybe then they’d let you go to the Met Gala,” she says, like a stupid idiot.

Luckily, Don just laughs again. “Oh, I don’t think they’d ever admit the likes of me.”

“No?” Sloan tries to picture it and fails. Don on a red carpet doesn’t make a lot of sense, if she’s being honest. He has that behind-the-scenes energy, that frustrated stage manager from high school theater aura that he just can’t shake. Still, she can’t help thinking that she would have had more fun if he were there with her, which is a line of thought she’s not allowed to pursue any further. 

“I don’t think schlubby E.P.s of poorly rated cable news programs are ever going to drive viewers to Vogue’s website, even if they happened to be independently wealthy,” he says, plainly.

“You’re not schlubby,” Sloan objects before she can collect her wits. She feels a little bit of Mika’s ire from before when Sloan called herself tired-looking hearing Don put himself down. “Don’t say that.”

He waves her off. “Either way, I have a hard time imagining it will ever be an issue for me.”

“Too bad,” she replies, too incensed to be cautious. “I can’t help feeling like the event would have been way more fun with a buddy.”

He looks at her, in that Don way of his, like he’s running diagnostics or something. Like he’s reading her thoughts and intentions and trying to figure out what the fuck to do with them. Hell, she knows they’ve both been through a lot lately, especially where their love lives are concerned, but how many times can she make her interest clear before they confront the damn thing? 

“But then you’d have to rent a tux, of course,” she says, when the silence stretches too long and she loses her nerve. “And who wants to do that?”

“Well, that won’t be an issue either,” he says, looking at her seriously. 

“Right, of course! I was—”

“I mean, I already own one,” Don says, cutting her off. 

“Oh. Well. That is…good to know for, um…well…”

“Future reference?” he suggests, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

“Yeah, for future reference. Exactly. Just in case I ever, um…”

“In case you ever need a date.”

“Right,” Sloan says, feeling insane. “Like at the last minute or something like that.”

“Yeah,” Don says with a smile. “Something like that.”

“Well, I’ll keep you in mind.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Sloan entertains several bad ideas at once, ranging from making up a wedding she needs a date for this summer so she can see him in this tux he supposedly owns to desperately admitting he doesn’t need to ask her to keep him in mind, that she thinks about him all the time, that she hasn’t figured out how to stop thinking about him yet, but she ultimately manages to keep her cool with great effort. For someone who was anxious to confront this thing between them a moment ago, she’s not doing very much confronting right now. In fact, she’s trying to figure out a way to get out of this conversation as fast as possible so she can retreat to the safety and seclusion of her own office again and regain some damn equilibrium. But they’re in too deep now to cut and run without making things even more awkward. She’s stuck.

“Don, thank God!” Mac exclaims as she rounds the corner, startling them both. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“I just finished a meeting with Elliott,” he says, taking his eyes off Sloan belatedly and managing to sound normal and casual as he does so. Maybe he’s not managing anything. Maybe he feels normal and casual. Maybe Sloan is the only one freaking out. “What’s up?”

“I had a question about—sorry, I’m not interrupting, am I?” Mac asks, seeming to only notice Sloan just then.

Don, of course, being an unholy plague on her peace of mind, looks over at Sloan, as if to pass the onus of answering Mac’s question on to her. Why couldn’t she develop feelings for someone nice? Why did it have to be Don, who’s tough and perceptive and smart, but stubborn and self-effacing and impossible at the same time? Couldn’t it have been someone easier and more laidback and more straightforward? Then again, even as she thinks it, she finds herself growing bored of this hypothetical person. She wants Don, even if it’s a bad idea, but she’s not ready to say it out loud just yet. Not again. The last time had nearly killed her.

“No,” she says, pasting on a smile for Mac’s benefit and hoping it’s enough to fool someone who knows her so well. “Nothing important.”

“Oh, good. You have a second to talk, then, Don?”

“Yeah, sure,” he says, with an easy shrug. “Let’s go to my office.”

“See you in a few, Mac,” Sloan chimes in, as she ducks around them to sneak into the green room.

Don doesn’t let her off the hook that easily, though, because he turns at the last second and says her name, pulling her attention back to him. When she meets his eye, he says, simply, “I meant what I said before, Sloan. I’m here, if you want me.”

With Mac watching them like a hawk, Sloan can’t acknowledge that with much more than a nod. “I know,” she says, too softly for someone trying to be casual. It must be enough for Don, though, because he nods too and heads off with a bemused looking Mac. Sloan is sure, if nothing else, that Don can be trusted to distract Mac with work talk and that whatever just happened between them is safe with him. He would never give her away like that, not even to Mac. When she turns back to the room and catches sight of her flushed cheeks and bright eyes in the mirrors that line the walls, though, she’s not convinced their secret will be safe with her for very long. 

[cupidbedsy]

𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 | 𝘲𝘩43 ♔

➪ summary: y/n had always loved quinn but she never got the chance to act on her feelings. and then quinn realized his own, and everything changed

➪ warnings: quinn has a bitchy girlfriend, quinn thinking he's not good enough

➪ word count: 5.6k

➪ file type: song based fic

➪ sunny's notes: the first song based fic i'm reposting and it's probably one of my favorites (there's five and i actually can't choose a favorite one). i hope you guys like this one because it deserves to be loved to be honest

© cupidbedsy (sunflower-lilac42) ; do not copy, repost, or translate my work and designs on any other website or here

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‘you're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset she's going off about something that you said 'cause she doesn't get your humor like I do’

She had just sat down in the living room when she heard voices, more like a voice, outside her door. It really wasn’t her business to know who it was but they were standing outside of her door, so she took it as her duty to know what was going on outside her apartment. 

She walked to the door, abandoning her dinner and computer on the couch. She placed her head against the door, her ear straining to hear anything that was said. It didn’t take long for her to recognize the voice of her friend, Quinn. He sounded lighthearted when he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

Y/n assumed it had been at least a minute or two since Quinn had spoken last, her ear starting to hurt from being pressed against the door for that long. When the man outside her apartment finally spoke again, his tone was much different than before, “I was just making a joke, Chloe.”

There was more silence before she could hear him again, “No you always blow things so out of proportion. It was just a fucking joke you don’t need to get so upset about it. I was listening to you talk and didn’t want to interrupt you.”

Once again silence, and y/n could only assume that Quinn was being yelled at from the other end of the line. She rolled her eyes, she never really liked Chloe, though she only met her once maybe twice. She was always mad about something, and usually, it was because of something stupid. She usually made underlying digs about y/n and her job, stating that she only took it because of the guys and how she wanted to meet someone.

She heard Quinn speak a few more times, mostly mumbling profanities and more thoughts that he wouldn’t even dare to say to her face. It was silent for quite some time after that, not even movement from the man outside as he just stood in front of his door staring at his phone dejectedly. 

Y/n stood up and straightened herself out before opening the door slightly and peeking her head out. Quinn looked in her direction as he heard the door click open and gave her a small smile.

“You okay?”

Quinn only smiled before responding, “Tired of drama.”

She frowned, “Sorry.”

He just shrugged, fiddling with his keys in his pocket. Y/n turned away, looking back at the pot of Mac N Cheese that sat on her stove, ready to offer Quinn to come inside, but when she stuck her head back out into the hallway she noticed that Quinn had already made his way inside his apartment. 

She sighed before stepping back into her entranceway and shutting the door behind her. All she could think about were the three words that she had been wishing to say since she met Quinn.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘i'm in my room, it's a typical tuesday night ‘i'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like ‘and she'll never know your story like I do’

It was a game day for the Canucks meaning that not only was Quinn at Rogers Arena but y/n as well. She was wearing her fleece-lined leggings with a long-sleeve t-shirt, her Canucks cardigan thrown over it. She hadn’t had a chance to wash her hair so she just threw a beanie on top and decided it was good enough.

She had been in her office since the boys had left for the locker room, editing and sending pictures to the social team. She had her earbuds in, not wanting to disturb anyone if they were still at the arena working as well. She was listening to the playlist Quinn had made for her when she found out he played for the Canucks.

When y/n moved in next door to Quinn, he had already been playing with the team for two whole seasons. Quinn had been walking out of the apartment building when he noticed the girl struggling to carry up all of her boxes from the UHaul to her new apartment. He offered to help her, especially since it was a rare day where he didn’t have a game nor did he have practice.

He ended up offering her to have dinner at his place when he realized they were next door neighbors. That night she ended up explaining to him how she got her BA in art and design and got a minor in sports management. He was surprised when she told him she was starting a new job for his team.

『••✎••』

“Yeah, I got my bachelor's in art and design and then I decided to get a minor in sports management just because I was hoping that would boost my chances of getting a job for a sports team, which ended up happening.”

Quinn raised his eyebrows as he cut up his food, “Oh really? Who are you working for now?”

She swallowed the piece of food in her mouth before wiping her mouth with her napkin, “I’m working for the Vancouver Canucks. I was pretty surprised when they said they wanted me, I mean they are an NHL Team.”

Quinn choked on the water he had been drinking when she said the Canucks, “You’re working for the Canucks?”

She looked at him oddly as he coughed up the water, his eyes watering. She didn’t understand why he was acting like this, “Yeah? Is there a problem that I’m not aware of?”

“Um, I play for the Canucks.”

Her eyes widened, “No fucking way.”

“Yeah, Quinn Hughes, number 43.”

“Oh, that’s a weird coincidence, I guess. I mean how often does stuff like this happen?”

Quinn chuckled, “Not very.”

『••✎••』

Later that night Quinn had taken her phone and made a playlist for her of the songs that always made him feel better before a game or just in the morning when he was on his way to practice. Ever since then, she had listened to that playlist when she needed a pick-me-up, wanting something familiar to her. 

She understood why Quinn liked this music before a game, it was upbeat and productive music for her. She was able to go into work mode when the song played, cleaning her office, editing photos, and adding graphics to them when the social team asked for some extra help.

When she was done she sighed when she saw it was 11. She knew she shouldn’t be driving this late at night but she had no other choice. She walked out into the hallway and walked outside the arena. It was cold in Vancouver, snow was falling on the ground. She wrapped herself tightly in her winter jacket as she made her way to her car but paused when she saw Quinn heading to his own.

He turned when he heard footsteps coming from behind him and waved when he saw who it was, “Hey, y/n/n!”

“Hi Quinny. Didn’t expect you to be staying here this late.” 

The boy shrugged, “Had a lot to talk about tonight, I guess.”

She nodded, “Yeah. Sorry about the loss.”

Quinn just sighed and nodded, “Thanks. Do you want a ride home? I know you hate driving home in the snow, especially when it’s this late- wait what were you doing here this late?”

She blushed but it went unnoticed since her cheeks were already turning a slight shade of pink from the cold, “I was editing photos and doing some stuff for the social team. They like it when I help, which is weird because I didn’t even really go to school for that. Also, why do you know that I don’t like driving home in the snow?”

Now it was Quinn’s turn to blush, “I just remembered I guess.”

The two got in his car, Quinn reassuring her that they could go back in the morning to get her car. The first ten minutes of the ride back to their apartments were silent, the quiet sports channel of the radio playing in the background. When they brought up the Canucks loss from that night, she could tell Quinn got tense since his knuckles turned white as they gripped the steering wheel. 

“You okay?”

Quinn relaxed a little at her voice but his body was still tense a little, “Yeah, just… I feel horrible right now.”

“Did Chloe ever text you? You know, to say something about the loss?”

That was a worse question. Quinn was annoyed at the question and also upset. She hadn’t texted him, in fact, the two hadn’t talked in five days with Chloe being across the country doing a string of photo shoots. He shook his head, “Nah, she’s probably sleeping, it’s like what? Three in the morning there?”

She just nodded her head and moved her head to look out of the window again. She watched as they passed buildings, still mesmerized by the snow and how it fell on the ground and the buildings. She looked back over at the boy to now see a sad look on his face, “I know how you feel, Quinn. And just know, it’s not your fault.”

“But it is though, right? I’m the captain, I’m supposed to make them better, I’m supposed to lead them to victory.”

“You can’t make them play better, Quinny. That’s what practice is for. You’re there to motivate them, inspire them, help them. You can’t make them do anything. Trust me, I know.”

Quinn looked at her in confusion, “You do?”

“Yeah, I was the captain of the girls' hockey team in college.”

“You played hockey?” Quinn asked, a grin making its way onto his face.

She shrugged, “Yeah. I was okay, I guess.”

“Okay? If you were the captain you had to have been more than okay.”

She nodded, “I was captain for only half of a season and then I got injured. Really set me back, especially during senior year. I was supposed to be out for almost the rest of the season. I could’ve played if we made the playoffs but we didn’t. And that was the extent of my hockey career.”

Quinn could see how sad she looked talking about this so he was quick to change the subject. The two were now talking about random nonsense, saying whatever was coming to mind until they reached the doors of their apartments.

“I should not have stayed at work that long. Tomorrow’s going to be a pain in the ass.”

“You’re telling me, I hate back-to-backs. We play well for the first one and then suck ass for the second because of how tired we are.”

“Well, you sucked ass today so maybe you’ll play well tomorrow.”

Quinn laughed at this, shooting her a smile, “Or maybe we’ll suck ass even more.”

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘walk in the streets with you in your worn-out jeans i can't help thinking this is how it ought to be laughing on a park bench thinking to myself hey, isn't this easy?’

It was one of the rare off days that the two of them had and Chloe, as usual, wasn’t around. The two were quick to set up plans with one another and go walking around. When y/n walked out of her apartment she saw Quinn standing outside of his, getting ready to text her, “Hey.”

The boy looked up from his phone and smiled, “Hey.”

Y/n gave Quinn a once over, noticing his pair of worn-out jeans, “You need some new jeans there, Quinner?”

He laughs, “Probably, but I never have time to go shopping.”

She grins, “Well luckily we are going out so we can go get some things. Come on!” She grabs his arm and pulls him to the elevator, the two sneaking glances at one another as they wait for it.

Quinn offered to drive them around, but she immediately said no, wanting to be able to walk around. The boy was amused by her immediate response and nodded, “Okay okay. We can walk, you weirdo.”

“Hey! Thank you for noticing.” She smiles and the two walk around downtown Vancouver for a while, stopping at a clothing store to get new jeans for him.

About an hour later all Quinn could hear was the complaints coming from the girl, “I’m tired. My feet hurt. And ‘m cold.”

“I told you we could’ve taken the car.” He threw an arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean some of her weight onto him.

“But I wanted to walk- Quinn look!”

He looked over to where y/n was now pointing and noticed the small ice cream shop on the corner, “Ice cream? It’s like 30 degrees out.”

She gave him a look, daring him to argue with her, “So?”

He held his arms up in surrender, lifting his arm from her shoulders leaving her feeling colder than before. His arm felt a little colder too, actually, the whole right side of his body felt colder as she moved away from him. They both looked at each other with awkward smiles on their faces before he ushered her to move forward, “Well come on then.”

She grinned and followed after him, a newfound pep in her step. When they got their ice cream, they made their way over to the park and sat down on one of the benches. Quinn was not fond of this idea, his whole body was cold and with him eating ice cream now, he sure as hell wasn’t getting any warmer.

They were talking about the upcoming banquet for the team, “I don’t understand these banquets. I don’t wanna go.”

Quinn whined like a little kid making y/n erupt in laughter. It was easy between them, they didn’t have to force conversation whenever they were together, they worked together so they saw each other almost all of the time, and they understood each other’s lifestyles, each other’s humor. Quinn could always talk to her about hockey which was nice especially when it was a hard game. 

That’s all y/n could think about as they sat on the bench, how easy it was. She didn’t want to be selfish but truly, why was Quinn with her? She had never once heard her ask him how his game went, he always told her that she was busy at a premier or doing whatever she was doing while she was away. She always yelled at him over the phone, she acted possessive, truly she felt bad for Quinn. He deserved better.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘and you've got a smile that can light up this whole town i haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down’

Quinn’s smile was y/n’s favorite thing in the world. It made her smile, it made others smile, it was contagious. Every time she would be taking pictures on the ice and she would see Quinn with a smile plastered on his face she took a picture and usually saw others around him smiling as well. 

Truth be told, it was rare for Quinn to smile, at least a full one. The most she got out of him lately was a small smirk or a tiny side grin when she would make a joke or any time they ran into each other really. She didn’t know if it was him just being him and not wanting to smile or if it was Chloe.

They fought a couple of weeks ago, probably the worst one yet. She had been granted a small leave from the photo shoot so she came back to see Quinn, which shocked him. He had come home late from the game, they had won by a landslide and Quinn had gotten his first win as captain. They went out for drinks, even inviting y/n and some of the wags to go with them. She accepted and made friends with some of the girls, some even joking that she would be one soon. 

『••✎••』

Y/n might have had a little too much to drink, causing Quinn to have to drive her home, as usual. Quinn laughed as she stumbled down the hallway, talking about how she got so many pictures of him from tonight’s game, “I’m sure you did.”

She giggled, “I did! Believe me! They are all on my computer, I should make you my background.”

The boy blushed and shook his head, “Okay. I think you’ve had way too much to drink. Come on, where’s your keys?”

She could only mumble now, becoming increasingly tired as the thought of her bed on the other side of the door plagued her mind, “Pocket.”

Quinn reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the keys, keeping her upright with his arm wrapped around her waist. He unlocked the door and ushered her inside but before they even got a step into the apartment, Quinn’s door opened, “Quinn!”

Quinn looked surprised as he looked at his girlfriend standing in the entryway of his home, “Chloe? What are you doing here?”

“They gave me a break so I thought I would come and surprise you but I see you’re a little busy.”

A heavy glare settled on her face and Quinn looked apologetic, “Let me just get her inside then we will talk.”

Chloe only rolled her eyes and scoffed, walking back into his apartment. Quinn moved y/n to her bed, taking off her shoes and her jacket, “You need anything before I go?”

She shook her head. Quinn smiled at her before patting her calf and walking out of her apartment and into his own. It was only five minutes later that she could hear the screaming from the neighboring home. Y/n groaned at the noise before getting the urge to puke.

She ran into the bathroom and emptied her stomach into the toilet, groaning from the action. She leaned her head against the wall and listened to the sound of the two bickering back and forth. Ten minutes later she still sat there when there was a slam followed by footsteps outside in the hallway. 

She frowned when she heard something being thrown across the room and sighed to herself, wishing she could help him.

『••✎••』

And ever since then, Quinn’s smiles had been slim to nonexistent even when they won a game, or he scored a goal. When they hung out and watched a comedy movie he didn’t smile, just a small upturn of his mouth and that was it. 

Now it was the beginning of November and everyone was buzzing from the incredible start the Canucks had gotten off to. They were currently 8-2-1 going into the game against the Oilers and they were hoping to extend their win streak to four. 

Y/n was walking around in her usual attire in the arena, gathering pictures for later. She had gotten plenty from warm-ups and during the periods, taking a small break during intermissions before heading down to get some in the tunnel. 

Everyone erupted in cheers when the game was over, they had won 6-2. Y/n quickly put her skates on to head out for the stars of the game, trying not to get in anyone’s way as she did her job and they did theirs. She smiled when they announced Quinn as first star of the game, watching as he threw a stick over the boards, capturing the moment he turned around with a grin on his face.

All she could think about was that she was definitely going to use this in a video soon, even if Quinn did kill her for it. 

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night i'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're 'bout to cry’

It had been a hard game for Quinn. Not only was it hard for Quinn with it being the Hughesbowl, but it was a hard loss for him and the team. They had done so well in getting back in the game, scoring three in 3rd, but alas it wasn’t enough. 

Quinn was taking it harder than anyone else, claiming that he should’ve done more for the team to win. He hadn’t done much in the game, blaming it on him for not doing enough for them. Before going out with his family he told them he had to do something, going to y/n’s office and knocking on the door. 

He didn’t get an answer, mostly because y/n had already left since she was extremely exhausted from the amount of running back and forth she had to do during the game. Quinn left disappointed, meeting back up with his family for dinner. 

He came back home and stopped in front of her door, “Y/n/n.”

Luckily, she had been right at the door, doing a little bit of cleaning around her apartment. She heard the whisper of her name, it was barely audible. She opened the door and smiled when she saw him, “Hey Quinn. What’s up?”

He didn’t say anything, just motioning with his hand if it was okay that he came inside. She stepped aside and the boy walked in, falling down on the couch. She approached him hesitantly, “Quinn? Are you okay?”

He looked up at her with tears in his eyes, “I’m not good enough am I?”

All the emotions came rushing to Quinn. Being constantly compared to his brothers, being constantly asked about them. Chloe was just using him for his money which he finally recognized a couple of days ago. He kept being told that he was overrated and that he shouldn’t be captain.

Y/n’s eyebrows furrowed and she walked over to him wrapping him in a hug, “What? Of course, you’re good enough Quinn. Who said that?”

Quinn shook his head, burying it into her shoulder, “I can’t escape it, y/n. Everywhere I go everyone is always comparing me to Jack and I’m so sick of it. It’s like I can’t do anything right. I let the team down, I should’ve done better tonight. Now everyone thinks I’m the worst Hughes and someone said Luke shouldn’t even be looking up to me. And they keep telling me I’m a failure.

Y/n’s heart broke at his confession but it shattered when he said the next words, “And no one loves me anymore, y/n/n. Chloe’s just using me, she never wanted me. God, I’m so stupid, I should’ve seen it coming.”

She rubbed his back and just let him let out all of his feelings. When it was silent for two minutes she pulled away from him and made her look into her eyes, “Listen to me, Quintin.”

He slightly smiled at the name, “You are no failure, Quinn. Believe me. You have been doing amazing this season, both personally and leading the team. You have led this team to 16 victories this season. And you led them to overtime twice and only lost one of them.”

“Yeah but I still lost them 8 games.”

“You couldn’t have done anything more than what you did, Quinn. You know what your guys’ record was last year through 25 games? 10-12-3. You won 6 more games this year. You have more goals at this point in the season than you did in the entire year last year, Quinn. Who cares that people, who are nobodies to you, are comparing you to Jack? You two have different experiences, you play two different positions, you play for two different teams. You do so much for Luke, I promise you. That kid will look up to you no matter what.”

Quinn’s eyes glistened with tears at her words, and the best thing was that he believed her and that was all that she could ask for. He nodded his head when she was done and slowly unwrapped himself from her, missing the embrace immediately.

She didn’t want him to be sad, or at least leave while sad, so she said the only thing that came to mind, “If it makes you feel any better. I think you’re the best looking Hughes.”

Quinn laughed loudly, wiping the tears from his eyes that were threatening to fall, “Thanks y/n/n.”

“Any time, you want some ice cream?” He only nodded and she got up to get it.

The two spent the next hour and a half eating ice cream on her couch watching a movie, before falling asleep on each other. 

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘and I know your favorite songs and you tell me 'bout your dreams think I know where you belong think I know it's with me’

It was a late night for both Quinn and y/n. The two were hanging out in her apartment after Quinn’s practice. They hadn’t had a game that night so they were on her couch watching whatever hockey game was on at that moment.

Y/n was sitting on her laptop editing some photos from the previous game, switching in between tabs quickly. Quinn was in the kitchen making dinner for the two of them after he offered. She could hear the sizzling from the pan and called out, “What the hell are you making over there?”

Quinn looked down to see the noodles and furrowed his eyebrows, “Noodles!”

“I thought you were cooking up a mean meal, but noodles? I let you into my house and allow you to make me dinner and you make me noodles?”

She walked into the kitchen with her laptop and sat down at the counter. Quinn looked over at her, offended, “Hey you said you didn’t care.”

She giggled, “I know. So Chef Quinn, what kind of noodles are you making?”

“Fettuccine.”

“Oh, so you’re making me fancy noodles. I’ll forgive you.”

“Why thank you m’lady. Whatcha doing over there?” 

Quinn walked around the counter to look at her laptop, “Are you looking at pictures of my teammates?”

“If we’re being honest here, they are my main models.”

“And I thought I was your favorite.” He placed a hand to his chest before going back to check on the fettuccine.

“You are, I finished yours already. See there’s a folder that’s called ‘Captain Quintin’.” She spun her computer around and showed him, “Awe you love me.”

She shrugged, a blush rising to her cheeks, “Maybe…”

“You want to listen to some music?”

She nodded and pulled up Spotify on her computer, “What’s your favorite song?”

“And why do you want to know?”

She looked up at him with a deadpan face, “Are you shitting me?”

He smiled, “No.” He took the laptop and typed in his favorite song and added it to the queue, and then a few more after that.

“What’s your favorite?”

“And why do you want to know?”

“So I can add it!”

“It’s You Belong with Me.”

Quinn quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, making sure that the song played first. When it came on, y/n immediately started singing it and Quinn looked over at her with a smile. He could get used to this.

When dinner was done, she took her computer back to the living room and sat it down before walking back into the kitchen to sit down at the counter once more, making sure they could both see the TV.

Halfway through eating, Quinn looked over at her, “What’s your dream?”

She finished the piece of fettuccine she was eating and looked at him, “What do you mean?”

“Like what’s your main dream for life.”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I really like my job so probably keeping that job is part of it. I want to have two or four kids. And I want them close in age or at least two of them are. Like the oldest would be close in age and the youngest would be close in age.”

“Why two or four? Why not three?”

“Because I had two older brothers and they were both like 8 years older than me and I always felt left out. I don’t want my kids to feel like that. I mean not that you are like that with Jack and Luke but at least you guys are close in age right? You guys like the same thing, hell you do the same thing for a living.”

Quinn nods, understanding what she was saying, “Yeah, I see that.”

“What about you? What is your dream, Quinn Hughes?”

He looked flustered, “I want to keep playing hockey, of course. I want kids but I don’t know how many. And I want a good partner. I want someone who understands that I have to travel a lot for work and how much pressure it is. I need someone who understands hockey and likes it. Chloe understands it, which is nice.”

She nods and smiles but saddened by the fact he still was with Chloe. She wasn’t good for him and she thought he was slowly starting to understand that. They continued to eat in silence, negative thoughts chewing away at both Quinn's and y/n’s minds.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? been here all along so, why can't you see? you belong with me’

Y/n stepped into the hallway, taking out the trash that had been overflowing in her garbage can for the past two days. She took a couple steps and saw Quinn stepping out of his apartment, “Hey.”

She noticed his tux he was wearing, he was fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves when she spoke, “Hi.”

The two stood in an awkward silence before Quinn asked, “Are you going tonight?”

It wasn’t that she forgot the banquet was tonight, it was more of the fact that she didn’t want to spend an entire night looking at Chloe wrapped around Quinn. She shook her head, “Nah, I’ve got some work to do.”

He nodded, confused a little since she had said earlier in the week that she planned on going. He shrugged it off as just a simple plan change and frowned when he looked her in the eyes, “Wish you were.”

She smiled and nodded, “I’m sorry to leave you to the wolves, Quinner.”

“You should be, it’s heartbreaking to know that my favorite person isn’t going to be there. How will I survive this evening?”

“You won’t, trust me.” She patted him on the back before going to walk to the garbage chute, “Here, I’ll just take it downstairs, I’m going that way anyways.”

She went to protest but Quinn was already taking it out of her hands and walking away, “Thank you.”

He waved her off, shooting her a smile, “Anytime.”

She walked back into her apartment and walked into her room, staring at the dress that hung on the back of her closet. She didn’t want to go, but after the comment that Quinn made she had a change of heart. She didn’t take long putting her makeup on, curling her hair as fast as possible. She threw on her dress and raced out the door, driving to the venue as quickly as she could.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘standing by and waiting at your backdoor all this time how could you not know, baby? you belong with me have you ever thought just maybe you belong with me?’

Walking into the venue, y/n was nervous. She knew little to no people there mostly because her friends had already said they weren’t going or were going to be later than she was. She only knew a few guys on the team, including Quinn, and their wives or girlfriends.

She waved at some of the guys she walked past, lots of people making a clearing for her because of how she looked. Some of the guys that were single looked at her with a wide gaze, trying to decide if she was single or not. 

The piece of paper she had burned a hole through her pocket as she walked. It took Quinn five minutes to notice that she was there, having turned around and locked eyes with her. His eyebrows raised in amusement, a grin making its way onto his face.

He waved bye to the group he was talking to and started to make his way over to the girl. He only got a few steps before Chloe took him by the arm, “Hey Quinn. I’m surprised you didn’t see me yet. You look so hot tonight.”

Quinn just smiled awkwardly before pulling away and continuing his previous path to the girl. Chloe looked at the two in shock and scoffed, walking away from the growing crowd. When he stood right in front of her he smiled, “I can’t believe you’re here.”

She nodded, “Yeah I had a change of heart.”

The boy couldn’t really make out any words, starstruck by how beautiful she looked. The only thing he could do was reach into his pocket and pull out a folded piece of paper. He straightened it out and showed it to her and she grinned, tears making their way into her eyes as she pulled out her own.

Everyone gasped in awe as they read the signs, both of them saying ‘I Love You’. He pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her cheek, “I can’t believe you remembered.”

“I remember everything about you, y/n/n."

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

‘you belong with me’

It had been a long night, the game had lasted longer than everyone had expected. The two now always drove to and from work together when they could. Quinn would stay after the game until she was ready to go and vice versa.

Right now, they were laying in Quinn’s bed in his apartment, Quinn watching as she edited pictures from tonight's game. He had an arm wrapped around her as she laid her head on his chest, her knees brought up so she could lay her computer on them.

He smiled when she kept getting pictures of him and he went to say something, “How many pictures of me do you have?”

She smiled, “You’re my boyfriend now, you are going to have a lot of pictures of you taken. Plus, I don’t think the fans would mine, I’m doing god’s work, Quinn.”

“What are you trying to say there? Do you think I’m cute?”

A blush rushed to her cheeks, “No, like I said. I’m just doing the fans a favor.” 

Quinn shut her laptop, placing it on the nightstand, “I think you’re doing yourself a favor.”

She hid her face in his chest, “Maybe.”

He laughed and wrapped both of his arms around her, tightening his hold, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

© cupidbedsy (sunflower-lilac42) ; do not copy, repost, or translate my work and designs on any other website or here

[mitchbeck]

WOLF PACK WEEKEND RECAP: MARCH 11th, 2024

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT—The Hartford Wolf Pack scored three of a possible four points over the weekend, extending their current point streak to five games (3-0-1-1). Thanks to their three points over the weekend, the Wolf Pack is tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for third place in the Atlantic Division. The Pack spent Monday morning traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they will meet the Checkers on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Friday, March 8th, 2024, Vs. Providence Bruins (7-4 W): The Wolf Pack tied their season high for both goals (seven) and powerplay goals (four) in a single game on Friday night. The Pack roared out to a 6-0 lead, blowing away the Bruins to take a 5-4 edge in the ten-game season series. Brett Berard scored the first hat trick of his professional career, scoring three times on the powerplay. He struck at 7:26 and 14:20 of the first period and made it 5-0 2:35 into the middle frame. Berard's three powerplay goals tie a franchise record for powerplay goals in a single game. Andrew Hutchinson was the last to do in on February 8th, 2008, against the Bruins. Ryan Callahan had previously done it twice. Berard's hat trick goal also stood as the game-winning goal, his team-leading eighth of the season. Alex Belzile also notched three points in his return to the lineup, scoring a goal and two assists. Blade Jenkins and Nikolas Brouillard scored a goal and an assist in the win, while Matej Pekar, Brennan Othmann, and Mac Hollowell recorded two helpers. Dylan Garand made 33 saves to pick up his career-high 16th victory of the season. With the win, the Wolf Pack are now 5-3-1-0 against the Bruins this season. The Bruins, who saw a five-game road winning streak snapped, are now 4-3-1-1 in the head-to-head matchup. Saturday, March 9th, 2024, @ Bridgeport Islanders (3-2 SOL): Trailing 1-0 through 40 minutes of play, the Wolf Pack struck twice in the third period to take a 2-1 lead over the rival Bridgeport Islanders. Belzile tied the contest 6:48 into the third period, jamming home a rebound for his 16th goal of the season. Nic Petan, making his Wolf Pack debut, earned the primary assist on the goal. 2:56 later, Jake Leschyshyn scored his sixth goal of the season at 10:41 to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead and put them in the driver's seat. However, William Dufour tied the game with a shot from the right-wing faceoff circle at 12:03. Dufour's 13th goal of the season would force an overtime period, the second in as many meetings at Total Mortgage Arena between the sides. The Wolf Pack got an early penalty kill in overtime, then nearly won the game when Brouillard set up Berard on a two-on-zero. Jakub Skarek made a terrific save, keeping the Islanders alive and forcing a shootout. In the shootout, Matthew Maggio and Petan both scored to make it 1-1, entering the bottom half of the third round. Ruslan Iskhakov went between the legs and scored a beautiful goal to earn the Isles the second point. The loss snapped the Wolf Pack's seven-game winning streak in Bridgeport and their six-game winning streak overall in the season series. Quick Hits: - Brouillard has been red-hot as of late from the blue line. In his first year with the Wolf Pack, the defenseman scored an assist in seven of the team's last eight games. He's also scored a goal during that stretch and is working on a four-game point streak. - Thanks to his hat trick on Friday night, Berard leads the Wolf Pack with 22 goals on the season. He is second in the AHL in goals among rookies, tied with Tucson's Josh Doan. Logan Stankoven of the Texas Stars leads all rookies with 24 goals. - Both Berard (T-5th, 39 points) and Othmann (T-7th, 38 points) are in the top ten in points among rookies in the AHL. - On Friday, the parent New York Rangers (NHL) traded forward Turner Elson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Nic Petan. Petan, wearing #7, made his Wolf Pack debut Saturday night in Bridgeport. He recorded an assist and scored in the shootout. - On Sunday morning, the Rangers announced a one-year contract extension for goaltender Louis Domingue. Over two seasons with the Wolf Pack, Domingue is 35-19-12 with five shutouts. - Defenseman Zach Berzolla returned to the lineup on Saturday night, playing his first AHL game since November 25th, 2023. He suffered a lower-body injury that night against the Belleville Senators. The Week Ahead: - Tuesday, March 12th, 2024, @ Charlotte Checkers (7:00 p.m., Bojangles Coliseum) - Wednesday, March 13th, 2024, @ Charlotte Checkers (7:00 p.m., Bojangles Coliseum) - Saturday, March 16th, 2024, Vs. Utica Comets (6:00 p.m., XL Center, 'Hartford Hockey Heritage Night') - Sunday, March 17th, 2024, @ Hershey Bears (5:00 p.m., Giant Center) About OVG360: OVG360, a division of Oak View Group, is a full-service venue management and hospitality company that helps client partners reimagine the sports, live entertainment, and convention industries for the betterment of the venue, employees, artists, athletes, and surrounding communities. With a portfolio of more than 200 client partners spanning arenas, stadiums, convention centers, performing arts centers, cultural institutions, and state fairs around the globe, OVG360 provides a set of services, resources, and expertise designed to elevate every aspect of business that matters to venue operators. Service-oriented and driven by social responsibility, OVG360 helps facilities drive value through excellence and innovation in food services, booking and content development, sustainable operations, public health and safety, and more. ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since its inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers' newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOWLINGS Read the full article

[monriatitans]

Ta-Da! List: Tuesday, March 12th

I share my “Ta-Da! List” every day so everyone gets a daily update and I have a reminder of what I’ve accomplished.

To learn more about “Ta-Da! Lists”, check out @adhdjesse's book Extra Focus.

Abbreviations

– O&T: Opinions & Truth Blog – WGS: The Weekend Game Show – LRSS: Let’s Read Some $#!7 – LQ: Literacy Quote – VGQ: Video Game Quote – SQ: Stupidity Quotes – BMAC: Buy Me a Coffee – TDL: Ta-Da! List

Ta-Da! List

✧ throughout the day: – kept emails manageable – loaded the dishwasher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✧ on the bedroom setup: – O&T: the scheduled VGQ & LQ posted, then they were manually shared on other social media – BMAC: added the videos and book summaries to the LRSS Post in reverse chronological order – O&T: updated the LRSS Page so the videos and book summaries were in reverse chronological order; shared today's TDL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✧ on the office setup: – Canva: made slight adjustments to the WGS Ko-fi and the O&T & WGS Twitter Cover Images – O&T: began preparing scheduled posts for future SQs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✧ on the mobile phone: – Hive: updated the Cover Image ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ✧ chores and miscellaneous: – watched “The Expendables” repeatedly – checked the mail – “watched” Hello Chef's video “How to dice an onion” via YouTube – cooked Skillet Chili Mac for dinner – “watched” “Camila Cabello – Crying In The Club” via YouTube repeatedly – “watched” Cinema Therapy's video “Movie Couple Therapy: THE PRINCESS BRIDE’s Westley and Buttercup” via YouTube

—

Well, these are all the updates I had for today! Thank you for reading!

May every decision you make be *in the spirit of fairness* and may the rest of your day *NOT go to $#!7*!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy what I do? Please consider supporting via Buy Me a Coffee! Like what you see and want to know when there’s more? Click here to subscribe for updates and/or hit the Follow button! Watch MonriaTitans on Twitch and YouTube! For more about MonriaTitans, click here! The image was made in Canva!

[daveg65]

287 - Guy’s Angry Podcaster Photo from AI and 2024 Apple Predictions With Guest Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, and Ben Roethig

The latest In Touch With iOS with Dave he is joined by guest Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, and Ben Roethig. We welcome back Guy! We have a AI discussion on what it is and how it's going to impact us in the future. Guy asked Microsoft CoPIlot and created an angry podcasters photo. It doesn't quite resemble him and Gaz. Will Apple ever release a foldable iPhone or iPad? We review some of the updates Apple might release in 2024 including a long overdue iPad since none were released in 2023. Plus much more.

The show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com


Direct Link to Audio 

Links to our Show

Give us a review on Apple Podcasts! CLICK HERE we would really appreciate it!

Click this link Buy me a Coffee to support the show we would really appreciate it. intouchwithios.com/coffee 

Another way to support the show is to become a Patreon member patreon.com/intouchwithios

Website: In Touch With iOS

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Mastadon

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Spoutible

Topics

Beta this week. iOS 17.3 Beta 2 was released then pulled as it bricked some iPhones. Apple Pulls iOS 17.3 Beta 2 Due to Boot Loop Issue

Warning: iOS 17.3 Beta 2 Bricking Some iPhones

Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 17.3 to Developers

Apple Seeds Second Beta of watchOS 10.3 to Developers

Could a foldable iPhone happen?

Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing

AI discussion on what it is and how it's going to impact us in the future. 

The New York Times sues OpenAI and Microsoft for using its stories to train chatbots

Microsoft copilot and other AI clients

Microsoft Copilot on the App Store

Microsoft adding new PC button in its first significant keyboard change in decades

Guy asked CoPIlot and created this angry podcasters photo. It doesn't quite resemble him and It doesn't quite resemble him and Gaz.

2024 Predictions we discuss what Apple is expected to do.

Vision Pro

New iPads first time in 12 years no new iPad was released. Plus iPad Air and iPad Mini

AirPods 4 and Airpods Max USB-C new wireless update

What to Expect From Apple in 2024: Vision Pro, iPhone 16 Models, Revamped iPad Pro and More

Apps

Microsoft Copilot on the App Store

News

T-Mobile Will Shut Down the Tuesdays App and Integrate It Into the New “T Life” App

T-Mobile Offers Free Ad-Supported Hulu to Subscribers

Apple Music Bug Related to 'Add Playlist Songs' Setting is Now Fixed

Apple Fitness+ launching Sound Meditations, workouts for golfers, and more Apple news released Apple Fitness+ offers more ways to stay active and mindful in the new year

Miss Physical Keyboards? New 'Clicks' Accessory Adds Keys to Your iPhone

Our Host

Dave Ginsburg is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users and shares his wealth of knowledge of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and related technologies. Visit the YouTube channel https://youtube.com/intouchwithios follow him on Mastadon @daveg65, and the show @intouchwithios

  Our Regular Contributors

Jeff Gamet is a podcaster, technology blogger, artist, and author. Previously, he was The Mac Observer’s managing editor, and Smile’s TextExpander Evangelist. You can find him on Mastadon @jgamet as well as Twitter and Instagram as @jgamet  His YouTube channel https://youtube.com/jgamet

Ben Roethig Former Associate Editor of GeekBeat.TV and host of the Tech Hangout and Deconstruct with Patrice  Mac user since the mid 90s. Tech support specialist. Twitter @benroethig  Website: https://roethigtech.blogspot.com

About our Guest

Guy Serle Is the host of the MyMac Podcast email Guy@mymac.com @MacParrot and @VertShark on X Vertshark.com,  Vertshark on YouTube, Skype +1 Area code  703-436-9501

Here is our latest Episode!

[the-firebird69]

The Battle of Hoth in Star Wars Episode V [The Empire Strikes Back] (1980)

and yes parts are filmed on Hoth.  and part on Norways west coast and iceland and even greenland the same battle yes changes battle fields same folk

and it is sad arn designed them they are cold but see why it is the empire and they hit if theycan. see this as practicce on traitors and it is more or less but yes they work for the empire sorta yup

Thor Freya

Olympus

and ifx the roof then no he is rebel scum stan says.  then perish. tons are at you shortly and your small pidly force.  and weill be eaten up by the others

Hera

tired of it. this place delapitates oif not fixxed 

Zues Hera

we use force here this is tiring.  and yes the psuedo empire will be out shortly.  before the morlock  and now are getting eaten up and their stuff.  and use force and to no avail. they refueland morlcoka re at them take shpos soon.  and the empire sees it and allows it.  shortly they will try for our son as mac did todya and had him harrass cheesemen.  and he saw it he is doing it. sat and did for a time then he was moved. and mac says i saw it too you are at us and how so ding aling.  he raises his voice at us.....ok we are you will fall. the embire is not a match why would you be.turns around an says your so inslting we cnnot stand it and ok dan...and then leaves.  is an ass. tehn this we use this anger them and they all see it we are not nice we fail and made eneimies we cnnot afford. and tons say who then. the empire divied you and you wont stop and hainous shit for me. he says this your a loser and you laugh yeh ok.  heheh.  and smiles yeh we suck. so what we die then. and you shall go  on forg here. soon they fall. and then what. the empire fals and good after and always damnit. fn losers here.

mac says it ad says off us and out find the empire they hve the ships you asholes. and hands them where no. an then this empire is kown by psuedo and sit on them and ok we see they sit on them as justin was. and see it and headed north and mac said oh well sat read the paper.  and need sugar freedoughtnuts coffee. he said good.  lauged at your idaa made some though no.  had other stuff yes.  waffles nope.  

we see 

the morock go and find them and see it bunkers block them they are up there and do it now some ck the empire  the east coast of theusa and say it the are at us and see us.  and they are attacking yes. as said earlei en mass now strike.  and soon the bugs will flow

Thor Freya

we are in the above. see our son flea bit. and are ugly about it. we iht thhise idiots. and pull them o ut need it now.  but they go to see the empire their masters. and talk too. hit and try more. and got intel see it where and why.  and it is the blue and purple now too. saw it and went in though not t he song yet.  it is a special tuesday.  and our tur they say.  we fix them shortly.  all of them.  but hthis is on the bugs are up smell it and smaller groups go but are seen. and then more.  and more ships out soon here.  after.  yes.  tons out shortly. and in from th e south smell it abit and they dont go there ships are out.  and they sense it no food.  are emptying thes outh still yes. soon will be out. and are up in brazil.  and same in africa.  huge lots.  tons ok.  Thor Freya ship ready in hours need it now yes.and all over.  and for our manuevers. tons say it we need them up and out.  mars inside no ship out need it.  and we do this now.  a huge deal the move she made and she has half gravity no it is 75% and we augment it a bit. she is happier sleeps heals. finds it fun she is big.  strong.  uses her skills. and fights finds giant room areas. and there she sleeps...ad she says  it you watch over me from there and sees it the bunker and knows the one.  ken is pissed.  and is madnow at the creature. and himself andmore.  and he knew where they were and teh whole time lol. our son did not say a word. nope.

didntkow either lol

she felt safer knows his tricks security measures and more and riggedbut not for her. he is irate.  inside we turned it all off yes and she idd too well no. we did. had to ok prior to her going there.  and we toldher.

later.  

Nuada Arrianna

Olympus

[jazzruinedmylife-blog]

Tuesday 9/12/23

Circa 7 -- Emailing gig venues.

8:15 AM -- Schlem chat, SU walk. Girls in sports bras. Perfect temp. Sunny.

More band business. Mass gig, at Red Lion Inn, he says. Holy cow. Glad I checked.

3 -- Matt's shop. Gig chat. Gulf station Chocolate chip cookie - excellent.

M&T Liverpool. Deposit checks. Lonsberry on radio. Sheriff shooting teens, Dewitt. Maybe "homicide."

Harbor View for jug wine.

6 -- Turkey spam & salad.

N Syr Tismart. Bourbon Mac. Heavy rain.

9:30 -- DD. Smoke, sip. No Khaos. Lexi bartending.

Tunes w/Mick

Midnight Schlem

Dom relapse. Chatline

[parkerbombshell]

BUSINESS DRUNK RADIO: BDR 91

BUSINESS DRUNK RADIO Tuesday  11am EST bombshellradio.com Bombshell Radio @businessdrunkradio Silver Jews- Punks In The Beerlight Hot Snakes- 10th Planet Guided By Voices- Why Won't You Kiss Me Crack Cloud- Tough Baby T. Rex- Telegram Sam The Kinks- Till The End Of The Day George Jones- Finally Friday The Alarm- The Stand Fleetwood Mac- Emerald Eyes Lael Neale- White T Shirt Lafayette Afro Rock Band- Hihache Water From Your Eyes- Jane Says Headband- Raised In A Cave Chrome- Sun Control U2- Numb (Soul Assassins Mix) Lady Gaga- Stupid Love B O R D E R L I N E   Read the full article

[handelplayssims]

Forgot to check age at this point! Autumn has...81 days until ageing up. Plus three for Saturday, Friday, Thursday and then minus 15 is 69 so...adding a few more days makes it 65 days until ageing up until we leave this household. Eating breakfast of mac and cheese and then editing and uploading video of mixology. And then Autumn sleeps.

...so Sims can now just turn up asking to become best friends. High School Years addition. I thought it was only for teens but nope! I got Belle Brandt popping in to ask to become besties. Listen lady, it was one chat on the dance floor. We ain’t that close. Waking up and Freddie’s whims are to buy a new computer and chat with Mitchell. ...sure he would think the downstairs computer needs to be upgraded. Also since Belle is here, might as well tend the massage chair and see if she wants to go for it. And she does! Nice! And hey! So does Mitchell! Nice nice nice. Need to make that money back. Also Mitchell seemed drawn to the keg I bough for this household so...I have a second idea! But in setting up for that idea, Mitchell woke up Autumn with playing the guitar nearby! How rude!

JUICE! JUICE! JUICE! JUICE! JUICE!

Let’s check on Autumn now. Her whim is to – be friendly with a non-household Sim. Sounds like a good launch off point for making another teen friend! Going off of who I remember at school, and wanting to make another gal friend, we’re visiting the Caliente household! To visit Maria Caliente During our chatter we find out that she likes video games! Well, why not head home and play on Autumn’s console then? (And it works for the, ‘win a competitive game whim.’) Annnd she lost. Welp. Over to Freddie and his whims are to level up in Charisma, as a tie-in to his aspiration, and to have a drink at the lounge. Hmm. Let’s pre-plan a party shall we? A keg party on Tuesday! Anyway, whim is still up on Autumn to win a game so uh, let’s go with a chess game against her brother. ...results inconclusive, I set her up to go to the restroom and it somehow took priority. Also the two are now good friends. Woo. Autumn’s heading to bed and- hmm. Freddie probably has too little energy to properly enjoy a lounge drink. Alas! Vibe until bedtime!

Neighborhood Watch!

Avani Srinivasan in the Srinivasan household has died. Avani blushed so much she exploded.

Fabian McMillan in the McMillan household has died. No cliffanger here; Fabian slipped while rock climbing.

Autumn is waking up sore from punching a boxing bag in her gamer rage. Things I wish I had when I am in gamer rage. First whim is to- oooh, list an outfit on Trendi. That is something that’s tied into this aspiration. We got four hours until school so let’s save that for after. Second whim is to make someone happy. Easier said than done with Meaningful Stories. I mean, making friends is one way to do so. Things to do, things to do before school… like actually doing homework? Sure why not. Only got it 25 percent done. Alas! Let’s see...now is the time to make judgements on the teens and their fashions so I can make a new friend. Let’s go with...Sidney Price! Introductions and finding out he’s active guy and a cheerleading dude. To math class! Which raises logic skill! Fair enough. Fashion judgement round 2! Let’s go with...Koichi Takeuchi! He’s a Cat Lover! ...and also Mean. Welp. Next school job thing is to...do the T-pose challenge. Well, hey, we can do that! And we have a little time left so let’s chat with Sidney some more. Next is Science class. Also raises logic! Right! Enough of school! Let’s finally check out the Thrift-and-Bubble Tea store! Weird combo but eh, Sims.

This is my first time actually checking out this place! Even in an alt file where I played the Prescott household, I didn’t find too many excuses to come over here.

Anyway, this is a tie-in with a fashion reseller called Trendi, where evidently, you do similar things on this app that you do here. Find fashion and resell it. As someone who’s not into fashion normally, this is WAAAY out of my league. Also -leers at advertisement- Hilariously, this is considered the most well-realized part of the pack. But also, this reminds me that styles are a thing also introduced in this pack. I might as well poke through the fashions and see if any of Autumn and Freddie. Seems to be a basics lean for Autumn and a preppy one for her brother. Annnd we’re over at Freddie since he was the one I was on screen last. Back to your sister! Food seems blech! It’s sliders and corndogs. That’s stuff high school sells!

Fashion is certainly...a thing. Anyway, what’s trending is Country stylings. Heh. Topical considering what other packs are released....I’ve having fun seeing that what I would like to wear veers more boho than country. Sound about right!

So I got my country look and what I would personally wear. Of course it's comfy casual. Let’s go and sell the Country outfit on Trendi. Now from what I understand, you can make LOADS of money just selling stuff but for right now, all I have is 164 followers from repeatedly posting my look. Let’s just keep it neutral and sell it for a modest price. Anyway, enough with fashion! It’s time to go and talk with Sidney some more! Found out his fashion preferences which is, dislikes outdoors, likes basics and likes streetwear. And it’s time to work for Autumn! Man I completely forgot about that. A few more socials and- welp. She has a crush on Sidney. I am PRETTY CERTIAN he’s gay. Weeeeeelp. Let’s head home and get to work. Let’s see what’s trending on the video machine and if any can have lifestyle reviews...same as before so not really! Anyway, Freddie wants to watch sports on tv, which I would leap into like, playing with the soccer ball or basketball or something but it’s far too late. Perhaps a run on the treadmill before bed. Oh and I checked my inventory before sending Autumn to bed and Akira Kibo wanted the dress-y outfit. You do you, you ghost.

Neighborhood Watch

Brindleton Bay: The Cormier household has moved in.

[iceeericeee]

tag game!

spell out one of your mutual’s url with songs and then tag them!

(@atthispointeverythingischaos I hope you don’t mind)

A - Any Weather (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

T - The Chain (Fleetwood Mac)

T - T.N.T (AC/DC)

H - Hold the Line (TOTO)

I - In the Meantime (Spacehog)

S - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)

P - Paint it, Black (The Rolling Stones)

O - One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21 (The Flaming Lips)

I - Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)

N - No Sleep Till Brooklyn (Beastie Boys)

T - Too Bad on Your Birthday (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

E - Enter Sandman (Metallica)

V - Voices Carry (‘Til Tuesday)

E - Everyday People (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

R - Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions)

Y - Yesterdays (Guns ‘N Roses)

T - Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)

H - Home Sweet Home (Mötley Crüe)

I - I Hate Myself for Loving You (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

N - Night Prowler (AC/DC)

G - Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Queen)

I - I Was Made For Lovin’ You (KISS)

S - Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)

C - Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)

H - Hells Bells (AC/DC)

A - All the Small Things (blink-182)

O - On With the Show (Mötley Crüe)

S - Stacy’s Mom (Fountains Of Wayne)

no pressure if you don’t want to!

[ranganick]

Design Thinking and Innovation Online Blog

Nick Herbertson

I was unable to attend week 1 which left me in an unassigned group. No progress made as of yet.

I joined a group with Jack, Jay, Jade and North. The idea was previously set on which wicked problem to solve before I joined. We spent the class time researching the Mac Museum to try and find any big reasons for why their attendance would be so low in our targeted age demographic. 

I immediately noticed that the museum Closed at 3pm which struck me as a big red flag, “Regular hours of Tuesday to Sunday 9am - 3pm” (MAC Lake Macquarie)

We started collecting our ideas on what we thought was impacting the museum and providing a brief solution to said problems.

After class I began wondering what a Wicked problem actually is. Going through the course readings led me to a definition, “Wicked problems are real world problems that acknowledge the complex interdependence of diverse factors and stakeholders, rather than simplistic linear cause and effect abstractions that isolate the product of design from its context” (Wahl, 2017). 

In my head I translated that to, “Wicked problems are not a simple dilemma that can be solved in one direction. The solution needs to be broad but thorough in each aspect to cater for all affected parties to create a positive outcome for all”.

I was tasked with creating the persona for our presentation. I tried to create it on the stormboard website provided to us but was unable to operate it. I ended up using the examples provided in the week 4 slides as a template for how I would lay it out and filled it in with relevant information from our work. Initially our age demographic was from 12-25 which is where I set the persona but would later be changed after our first presentation when we narrowed the demographic down to 18-25. 

The next few weeks leading up to the presentation I was unable to attend the classes with alot of big changes happening with my work. This led me to not focusing on this class and my other classes. I let my team down as I did not communicate what was happening with them nor did I make much progress on helping with the first presentation.

I missed our presentation rehearsal and was ultimately underprepared when we actually presented, affecting everyone's mark in the process. 

After the mid semester break I had my external life sorted and was committed to helping the group create the best campaign we could to solve the Wicked problem.

In our next class we were tasked with creating a prototype design with lego pieces, to give a more interactive and visual descriptor of our idea. Our design showed what would be the end result of our campaign if everything went as planned, withtik tok challenges, the already present events getting more engagement and our media/ influencer present to entice fans to come.

On the left side of the picture, I added some questions to showcase when we presented this to the class, plus our answers to those questions with a brief of how those answers will be done.

For example, I asked how will our target audience see what is happening at the MAC?

Our main answers were targeted advertisements and Tik Tok trends. On the next two sticky notes I outlined how targeted ads and tik tok trends would help our campaign.

Targeted ads -

- Helps gain followers

- Pushes campaign to a wider audience

Tik tok trends - 

- Viewer engagement

- Virality

- Attendance (by completing trends at the MAC)

In class we did an exercise called rose, thorns and buds. The idea was that we would all privately fill out what we thought was going well, what wasnt working and what needed attention. After some time we would put them on a wall for us all to see and discuss each point we came up with. Below is an image of our exercise.

This really helped us fine tune what we planned on doing and allowed us all to become aware of each other's thoughts, creating a more harmonised group in the process.

When looking at the answers we all gave, we all agreed that we thought the use of social media as the central idea for our campaign was positive and gave us a solid foundation to work from. We also agreed that something that needed attention was how we would get around the council's heavy restrictions over the museum's social media pages.

One point that stood out to me a lot was actually something I suggested, Testing. We had a solid idea but haven't done any testing on how to gain a following on each social media platform. Because our campaign was about marketing the MAC on social media we also needed to promote the social media pages, which we couldn't do without another platform with a heavy influence to do so from. Even after presenting I feel that this wasn't focused on enough and I should've been more vocal about my concerns.

Jack and I made 2 accounts with the @lakemacmuseum. Jack created the instagram page and I created the TikTok. unfortunately due to the time and group members commitments outside of Uni we couldn't create a promotional TikTok video, but Jack had managed to post a few photos to the instagram to get the testing for growing the pages underway.

After this, Jack, Jay and I established a time and day to visit the museum. This was so we could interview a key stakeholder and also to get a first hand experience of the place so we could draw on not just secondary but primary research. This idea about different types of research I found in a course reading titled ‘4 types of research methods all designers should know’. The article explained the different research types including “Primary, Secondary and Interviews” (Esposito, 2018)

The Archibald prize was also being hosted at the Mac when we attended which allowed us to see what type of demographic it actually catered for. We weren't too surprised when we saw that most people seemed over 45.

On his way to the Museum Jack got lost which sparked another idea for our campaign that slotted in well with our idea of advertisement. He got lost due to a lack of signs indicating the direction of the museum so he took a few photos in spots he thought were perfect to have a simple sign with an arrow indicating the direction of the Mac. 

The photo below is the first major sign I saw indicating where the MAC was, unfortunately it was right out the front which disappointed me. This was because if someone had made it all the way to that sign in their car, it was because they intended to be there and knew where they were which defeated the purpose of the advertisement.

I also took some photos of the surrounding area and noticed a QR code and brief description on a sign in front of a tree.

This also gave me an idea, we could use this trail for engagement and advertise it on the new social media pages we would create. Ultimately the idea wouldn't work as most people in our target age demographic aren't into learning about tree types.

After adding the relevant information to the slide, Jack gave everyone roles for what we needed to do in an even spread so we all had work to complete. I needed to redo the persona to more accurately fit the new approach we had for this task. In addition I also made the ‘scaling up of proposition/ future growth and plans slide. To keep it streamlined with our idea of using social media I decided the next step for this plan was a podcast. 

Podcasts are massive right now and are growing rapidly in numbers so to introduce this we would need a platform to promote it on with a large following. Making use of our new social media pages I thought we could use them to promote the podcast.

Jay and North are both completing animation courses and were tasked with creating the 1 minute promotional video which I felt the animation for was brilliant. Personally I would've liked to be able to help them with the video to help with the audio as I major in songwriting and production and know my way around creating clear audio and also could have created a personalised backing track for the video, which we then could have used in future advertisements. Music is a great way of clicking connections in the brain to bring back memories or remind the person of something which I feel a lot of great advertisements do. Unfortunately due to time constraints I wasn't able to help.

I felt our presentation went well, we were mostly prepared and delivered it confidently. I think we could have and should have done better with the product testing side in terms of creating promotional material for the social media accounts. Overall we started slowly as a team and not many of us were committed fully, myself included, but after the first presentation I think we worked well together and worked much more like a team for the final presentation.

Word count - 1549

References

Esposito, E. (2018) 4 types of research methods all designers should know, Inside Design Blog. Available at: https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/research-methods-designers/ (Accessed: 08 April 2023). 

Wahl, D.C. (2019) Facing complexity: Wicked design problems, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/facing-complexity-wicked-design-problems-ee8c71618966 (Accessed: 18 May 2023). 

Visitor information, Museum of Art and Culture | Yapang. Available at: https://mac.lakemac.com.au/About/Visitor-Information (Accessed: 09 June 2023). 

[idolze]

—- P•O•W•D•E•R•P•A•S•T•E•L —- #MACTREND TUESDAY Eyes MAC ART LIBRARY: ITS DESIGNER PALETTE LIPS CORK LIP PENCIL CANDY YUM YUM LIPSTICK MAC LIPGLASS - CLEAR . . . #maccosmetics #powderpastels #mactrend #maccosmetics #maceyeshadow #maclipstick #pastelmakeup #pasteleyemakeup #springmakeup #springpastels #eotd #lotd #eyeshadowlook (at Lekki Phase 1, Lekki, Lagos) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpxr8IQDnr4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jsbmarketresearch01]

OnePlus Introduces OnePlus 11 Premium Smartphone, OnePlus Pad Tablet, and Other New Products at an Event in Delhi

In an in-person event in Delhi on Tuesday, OnePlus debuted its series of new products such as the OnePlus 11 smartphone, the OnePlus Pad (the first tablet by the brand), and others in the company’s largest launch in one go. The phone segment in India has seen another top pick with OnePlus 11. It comprises of 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz OLED display, 16GB RAM, and Qualcomm’s updated high-end Snapdragon Gen 2 processor. There are three cameras on the rear by Hasselblad.

The price of the OnePlus 11 appeals to premium users, and is an affordable contrast to the Galaxy S23 by Samsung and iPhone 14 by Apple, as it comes at Rs. 56,999 onward. Though around the world the demand for smartphones is dulling a bit. But in India, the demand for premium smartphones is still at its peak. To introduce a premium mid-range smartphone, OnePlus 11R is a viable selection.

OnePlus 11R is especially for those who want to own a quality device filled with features as a lower-priced substitute to the OnePlus 11. The former has a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display and Qualcomm’s last-generation Snapdragon Gen 1 chip. Though OnePlus is not in tandem with the performance of the iPad, its OnePlus Pad is an Android tablet. And it is for the first time that the brand has taken an initiative like this.

The tablet has a circular camera bump at the rear and an 11.6-inch display. It has a magnetic stylus and keyboard. OnePlus Pad will give users options besides tablets offered by Lenovo and Samsung, among others. OnePlus also launched OnePlus TV 65 Q2 Pro and Buds Pro 2, wherein the latter aimed to offer a longer battery and better sound quality and in competition with Samsung’s Buds 2 Pro and Apple’s AirPods Pro 2.

As a premium end product, Buds Pro 2 is priced at Rs. 9,999 In India, adding to the significance of the true wireless buds market in the country. The Tuesday event by OnePlus saw the brand’s ambition of building a cohesive experience with an ecosystem of products across its televisions, smartphones, and tablets. With a similar goal, Apple has been able to provide interconnectivity between Macs, iPads, and iPhones. We can say the same for Samsung, as it is also planning to promote interconnectivity between the Galaxy devices.

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[bballinspiration]

Kobe and Tracy had two of the deepest bags in NBA history and borrowed a lot of moves from each other. The move that these two purists both mastered better than anyone was the spin jumper, no one else had it like this

[daveg65]

247 - How Do We listen to Podcasts on iPhone and iPad. - With Guest Guy Serle and Jeff Gamet

The latest In Touch With iOS with Dave is joined by Jeff Gamet and Guy Serle.iOS Apple will be releasing movies in theaters. Friday Night baseball is back and you can listen to local announcers. iOS 16.4 release candidate is out and we expect a public release next week. Who is listening to podcasts? Apple Podcasts is number one what are the others? We discuss the report from podnews. Is the TV networks still relevant? We discuss the popularity of streaming channels. Macstock 7 is here and both Dave and Jeff will be speaking. 

This episode was recorded on March 22, 2023 but published March 31st.

The show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com


Direct Link to Audio 

Links to our Show

Click this link Buy me a Coffee to support the show we would really appreciate it. intouchwithios.com/coffee 

Another way to support the show is to become a Patreon member patreon.com/intouchwithios

Website: In Touch With iOS

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News

Apple Working on Beats Studio Buds+ Earphones

Dark Sky database and Carrot 

Google Opens Up Access to Bard AI Chatbot 

YouTube TV Price Goes Up to $73 Per Month

Apple TV+ Shares 2023 Friday Night MLB Schedule, Subscription Now Required Dont forget T-Mobile Tuesdays free MLB TV subscription 3/28

T-Mobile Scam Shield, Guy mentioned he installed it and had no scam calls. 

Apple Reportedly Planning to Release Movies in Theaters and Increase Spend to $1 Billion Per Year

Apple Stops Allowing Sprint iPhone Activations, Removes Sprint References From Online Store

An AirTag helped the DEA in a narcotics investigation

Topics

Beta this week. iOS16.4 RC is out we have a final version coming next week. 

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Versions of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 to Developers [Update: Public RC Available]

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Version of watchOS 9.4 to Developers

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Version of tvOS 16.4 to Developers

Here's everything new for Apple Watch users with watchOS 9.4

watchOS 9.4 WilHere's everything new for Apple Watch users with watchOS 9.4 - 9to5Macl Prevent You From Accidentally Silencing Your Apple Watch's Alarm While Sleeping

iOS 16.4 Further Optimizes iPhone 14's Crash Detection After False 911 Calls

iOS 16.4 Seemingly References New AirPods and AirPods Case

​​iOS 16.4 Expands Duplicate Image Detection to iCloud Shared Photo Library

iOS 16.4 Adds VoiciOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls - MacRumorse Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

iOS 16.4 allows health authorities to end their support for Apple's COVID-19 Exposure Notifications feature

This 'horrific' Apple Music bug is syncing playlists with different users' libraries updated in 16.4

Three hidden iOS 16.4 features you’ll love—once we tell you where to find them

iOS 16.4 Has 47 New Features and Changes for iPhone You Won't Want to Miss

Podcast reports showing interesting changes to listening. We discuss this report and how many listen to podcasts. Industry 'report card' shows Apple Podcasts extend its lead as top overall platform  and The Podnews Report Card - 2023 results and now YouTube release podcast tools to all

We talk In Touch with streaming this week. Is future network TV in doubt? We discussed that broadcast TV could become less relevant in the future due to the growing popularity of live-streaming channels. However, it is unlikely to become completely obsolete as there is still a large audience for major events. Broadcast TV may need to adapt to remain relevant in a changing media landscape.The future of TV is up in the air.

Macstock 7 is here! Tickets are now available and the speaker list is filling up as Dave again is speaking at the event. Please join in all the fun July 22-23, 2023! Speakers Link. 

Our Host

Dave Ginsburg is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users and shares his wealth of knowledge of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and related technologies. Visit the YouTube channel https://youtube.com/intouchwithios follow him on Mastadon @daveg65, 

Twitter @daveg65.and the show @intouchwithios

  Our Regular Contributors

Jeff Gamet is a podcaster, technology blogger, artist, and author. Previously, he was The Mac Observer’s managing editor, and Smile’s TextExpander Evangelist. You can find him on Mastadon @jgamet as well as Twitter and Instagram as @jgamet  His YouTube channel https://youtube.com/jgamet

Ben Roethig Former Associate Editor of GeekBeat.TV and host of the Tech Hangout and Deconstruct with Patrice  Mac user since the mid 90s. Tech support specialist. Twitter @benroethig  Website: https://roethigtech.blogspot.com

About our Guest

Guy Serle Is the host of the MyMac Podcast email Guy@mymac.com @MacParrot and @VertShark on Twitter Vertshark.com,  Vertshark on YouTube, Skype +1 Area code  703-436-9501

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