#literally why would Tampa do that

[appleberrycenter]

The Sheriff hands business + mini Slaf fight

[heavyhitterheaux]

Meet Me Halfway

AN: Whewww buckle up!

Synopsis: He's a hopeless romantic, but you can't for the life of you understand why he won't commit. He's attached to you and doesn't want to be around anyone else. Doubts start to creep into your mind and now you're left feeling like you aren't good enough.

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Requested by: @kentuckyboyharlow 🥰

Jack Harlow Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

“That’s my good girl, you better take this shit and act like you want it.” Jack said while hovering above you while you were in the midst of getting your back blown out by him for the sixth time this week.

All it took was a few new outfits from Givenchy and three pairs of Louboutins to have you at his mercy.

But this was the usual thing.

You definitely didn’t need him, there was no doubt in your mind surrounding that.

But you wanted him.

You were successful in your own right having graduated from the top of your class at Harvard and following in your parents footsteps of being a business owner. You had always had an eye for fashion, so that was your go to. High end boutiques that you owned which could only be found in Paris, London, New York, Tampa, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. 

The two of you met when he had ventured into one of your boutiques when you had happened to be there and he was infatuated by you from the first glance. 

And everyone was able to tell. 

This entire friends with benefits situation had been going on for a year and a half, and as much as you didn’t want to admit it, it was now starting to bother you.

Bottom line is that you knew that you deserved better, but you wanted for the better to come from him.

As far fetched as that idea was. 

Jack would tell you all the time how he longed to be in a relationship with someone that would see him for the person that he was and not just what his job entailed.

Well, that was you.

He would admit that you were one of the few people who still treated him like a person and separated him from what his job description entailed. 

He would go to you about everything and sometimes more often than not, you would know things before even his best friend Urban did.

Jack would always tell you how much he trusted you and how much he valued having you in his life, however it didn’t quite feel like it sometimes.

Being that you signed an NDA, there really was no one that you could talk to about your relationship issues and didn’t want the risk of you accidentally letting his name slip from your lips when you were addressing the topic. 

So, you suffered in silence.

But, you honestly didn’t know how much longer you could take. 

Jack literally did everything for you that a boyfriend would do in a relationship, there just wasn’t a title to go along with it. 

As you were both coming down from your high, Jack took the opportunity to pepper kisses all along your skin, before finally reaching your face and kissing the side of your mouth before pressing his lips to yours. 

He slowly slipped out of you making you wince before laying down next to you on his back and pulling you on top of him.

Jack noticed that you had been unusually quiet for the past three days.

He bought the gifts in hope that it would put you in a better mood, but truth be told nothing had changed.

That’s when the thought of him losing you crept into his mind no matter how much he tried to block it out.

You meant a lot to him and when an opportunity arose for him to tell you, he took it.

He loved you and was in love with you but probably would never say it to your face. He was scared that he would either run you off or mess up a good thing and that was honestly the last thing that he wanted to do.

You were his safe place and his safe haven. 

“Babe, why are you so quiet? Did something happen? You haven’t been yourself for these past few days.”

“I’m fine, I promise.” You answered, not bothering to pick your head up from his chest to look at him and you knew that he was going to continue to push until he got an answer that he was satisfied with.

“You know better than to lie to me. You can tell me anything. I want to help you fix what’s wrong if I can.”

Oh, he definitely could,alright, if he would just admit his feelings and stop being scared all the time.

That was the only reason that you could think of as to why he hasn’t said anything to you yet.

“Can we just drop it? It’s not something that I want to think about right now. You asked me to come see you and I did and that’s all I want to focus on before I have to fly back home.”

“We can drop it for now, but before you leave I want an answer.”

“It’s nothing, just work things.”

“That’s bullshit and you know by now that I can see right through you.”

“Jackman….”

“Damn, we on government basis now?” Jack asked as he looked down at you and the two of you finally made eye contact.

You were quiet and simply looked at him. 

When he didn’t get an answer from you all he did was sigh before kissing the top of your head.

“Fine, I’ll let it go for now. Maybe it’ll take your mind off things when we go to see my parents and Clay later.”

“I thought you said that we weren’t leaving this bed when I got here?”

“Well more or less. We’ve been going at it for six days anyway, one night away won’t hurt. And they miss you anyway. I told them that you were coming and they got excited.”

This obviously wasn’t the first time that you had met Jack’s parents. You actually knew them really well. He always introduced you as his friend when meeting someone new and every time Maggie saw you she would ask if her oldest had asked for you to be his girlfriend yet.

Because she honestly didn’t know what the hold up was either.

She would always tell you the way that Jack talked about you and how he would literally light up and get excited. He didn’t do that with anyone else.

Not to mention that when the two of you met, he literally cut off everyone that to him would be seen as a distraction and would take his attention off of you.

You were the shiny new toy that he was infatuated by and as many times as you wanted to walk away from the situation, he kept reeling you back in. 

“So, what do you think of the house?” Jack asked you quickly changing the subject before you had an opportunity to say no.

You had been the first person that he confided in about wanting to buy a house and he wanted for you to go house hunting with him in Louisville, however, your schedule just didn’t allow it. But you promised him you would come and see it as soon as you could.

When he made the purchase, he immediately flew you out to see it, hence, why you were there now.

He still had some decorating to do for him to get it exactly how he wanted it, but the basics were there.

You were the first person to step foot in it besides him and the realtor and you admit that you loved that he confided in you so much because he valued your opinion on different things.

“I like it, it suits you.”

“I got an extra key made for you too.” Jack said while reaching over to the bedside table to grab it and then placing it in your hands.

“Jack…”

“No, I want you to have it. You’re my person and if at any time you need me, you know that I’ll be here and there’s no need to hesitate. I’m always going to be here for you no matter what. If you want to hop on a plane in the middle of the night to come see me, then you can. You keep me grounded and the last thing that I would ever want to do is lose you.”

“Okay.” You said as you reached over to put it to the side of you making a mental note to put it on your keys later.

“Can I be real with you for a minute?” Jack asked you and you simply nodded your head.

“Of course you can, I’m never going to tell you no.”

And truth be told that’s what your problem was, never being able to tell him no.

“I just think about how I can’t wait to settle down and have kids. I highly doubt that I’m going to meet my wife in a club somewhere, but you never know I guess. I want for them to want for nothing and that’s why I work so hard now.”

Luckily you weren’t facing Jack as he told you this because you immediately rolled your eyes.

He always did this shit and made you feel as if you were just a placeholder even if that wasn't his intention. Keeping his wife’s spot warm for when he actually did meet her and then what? He would probably kick you to the curb and would probably have to give him the house key back.

When that happened, you planned on cutting him off for good.

And you weren’t going to run back to him no matter how hard that it might end up being.

Because how in the world would you be able to compete with somebody’s wife?

“I don’t know if that’s what I want in life or if that’s the type of life for me.” You quietly answered and Jack did a double take.

Honestly, you wanted for it to be with him, but the thought of that went out the window a long time ago. 

What Jack wouldn’t admit to your face is that the only person he saw that future with was you.

“Since when? From the moment we met you said that you always wanted a family.”

“Well things can change.” You replied while shrugging. 

“Any man would be lucky to have you and he wouldn’t want for nothing because of how amazing of a person you are. Anyone is able to see that. Especially me."

“I.. just don’t know if I’m cut out to be someone’s wife.”

“You’re definitely more than capable. Just look at the way you take care and do things for me.”

You so badly wanted at that moment to get up and walk out the door and never speak to him again, but of course it wasn’t that easy.

You were too far in and down bad and you knew it. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Jack placed another kiss to your temple and this time you couldn't help but to smile.

“Now let me eat you out before we have to get ready.”

It was now around 8 PM and Maggie had cornered you with a glass of red wine for you to update her about everything that had been going on in your life in the backyard since she ordered out for dinner not having the energy to cook anything.

I guess it was fair seeing as the last time you saw her was a month ago.

You truly adored his parents and looked up to them as they were yours right along with Clay.

“Okay miss lady, spill it!” Maggie said while sitting next to you and handing you the wine.

“Nothing is really going on!” You said while laughing and taking a small sip.

“Nothing? Nothing at all? Including with my oldest child?” 

“Definitely nothing there. We’re friends, that’s all.”

“But the way that he looks at you tells me otherwise. I know that look because that is how Brian looks at me.”

“Mama Maggie….”

“What?! I’m just saying! I know what love looks like when I see it and I definitely see it between the two of you no matter how much either of you wants to deny it, Mama knows best.”

“I’m not saying that you’re wrong but….”

“But what?”

“I just don’t think I’m the perfect fit for him.”

“And that is utter bullshit, excuse my French. You two fit together like two puzzle pieces and not the ones that you have to force together.”

“We’re friends and the last thing I want to do is ruin that.”

“But my question is, what if you don’t ruin it and it turns into something more? Then what? You’re never going to know unless you try.”

Just then Jack made his way over to the two of you and Maggie simply eyed him.

“You two were just talking about me, weren’t you?” He asked while looking between both of you.

“Oh, just telling Y/N how I’m waiting for you to ask her on a proper date. Nothing more or nothing less.”

“MOM!” Jack exclaimed while turning beet red and all you could do was stifle a laugh.

“What? What’d I say? You obviously want me to be honest with you right?”

“I… I should have never asked. Anyway, Y/N, you ready?”

“But we’re only one glass in, don’t tell me you’re stealing her from me already.”

“She has an early flight mom, so yes I am stealing her from you.”

“Fine, Y/N, just remember what I told you and don’t take so long to come back and see me.”

“I promise I won’t.”

The two of you simply rode in silence back to his house and once there, you immediately went upstairs to begin packing.

“Hey, you okay? I seriously want you to tell me what’s wrong. I didn’t forget.” Jack asked while coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around you and placing a kiss on your cheek.

"I promise I'm okay. I just don't want you to worry about me.'

"But I always worry about you. Can't help it. If it was left up to me, you would be around me all the time."

"I know I would." You said while laughing and Jack turned you around so that you were now facing him.

He was simply looking at you with that famous smile of his and you could feel your face starting to get hot.

"Oh my gosh, stop!"

"Stop what? I didn't even do anything!"

"You're staring at me!'

"Well I can't help it if my girl is extremely gorgeous." Jack said while leaning down to kiss you and you eagerly kissed him back.

"Can't you stay for one more day?' He quietly asked and you immediately sighed.

"You know I can't."

"Yes you can, you're the CEO and can do whatever you want."

"You had me for a week already."

"And truth be told I need another one. Come on babe, please." Jack said while trying to subtly reach behind you in order to close your suitcase to put it back in his closet.

"But…"

"I haven't seen you for an entire month. Everyone was suffering just ask Urb."

"Fine, one more day."

"Good, because I already went in your phone and changed your flight so this would have been real awkward if you had said no."

"Jack!"

"What!? I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"See if you moved down here, I could see you every day and not have to miss you so much all the time."

"Now, Jackman.."

"Hey, it was just a thought!" 

Even though you promised Jack to stay another day, you still packed the majority of your things away so that it would be easier to get ready to leave and hopefully be at the airport on time. Jack had helped you finish and the two of you began to have a movie marathon before you fell asleep. 

Jack was still wide awake and peering down at you while you were asleep on his chest.

His thoughts were running rampant and he knew that you deserved better than this.

But truth be told, he was terrified.

Terrified of his feelings that he had for you.

He didn't really know why, seeing as he knew you like the back of his hand and he knew that you wouldn’t hurt him, but that thought still had residence in the back of his mind.

The biggest thing he had to separate is the fact that you weren't her.

The two of you had absolutely nothing in common and when Jack met you, it was like a breath of fresh air.

You were focused, had your goals, dreams, and aspirations set and he honestly wanted nothing more than to see you win and be by your side through all of it.

But what he didn't plan on was falling in love with you head first.

He wanted to tell you, he really did.

But the last thing he ever wanted to do was disappoint you or vice versa, you disappoint him.

However, the way that you showed him that you cared let him know that he wanted you in his life for the long run.

It was only a matter of time until you got fed up and he didn't know what he would do when that happened.

Just a little while longer and he'll tell you.

The wife that he would always mention that he wanted was you.

He saw a future with you and no one else.

Now all he needed was the courage to tell you.

—

You had been back home for about a week and a half and had been extremely busy getting new designs ready for fall. You admit that you hadn’t been answering your phone much or talking to Jack on a daily basis like you usually did, so it didn’t surprise you when your phone started ringing with his specific ringtone attached to it. 

"Hello?" You answered when you had finally found your phone that was buried underneath multiple fabrics that you were using for the dress you were designing.

"Babe! What took you so long to answer your phone!?"

"I'm working, Jackman. I need to work in order to buy things."

"My girl doesn't need to work when she knows I got her. Anything you ask me for, I get it without a second thought."

"I- cut it out."

"Just saying, but anyway, I got your assistant to clear your schedule for this weekend. Actually the whole week." 

"What the!?!? JACK!"

"My baby needs a much deserved break and I'm spending the entire week spoiling her. You'll thank me later."

"Where are we going?"

"Meet me on the tarmac at 6 am on Saturday to find out. Oh and bring that purple lingerie set that I like."

"What? I don't have a set that's purple." You answered, trying to think of all of the sets you had in your head.

"Yes you do since I got it delivered to your house earlier. It'll be waiting for you when you get there."

"What am I going to do with you?" You asked him while shaking your head.

"Nothing. Been stuck with me this long. And you know you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Jackman, get off my phone and let me finish so I can go home."

"So, is that a yes? That you'll go with me?"

"Well I didn't tell you no, did I?"

As promised it was around 5:45 in the morning when you pulled up to the airport to see Jack already waiting for you.

You had barely gotten any sleep the night before between how excited you were, how much you missed him, and worrying about finishing the designs for your boutique.

Once the car came to a complete stop, the driver opened the door for you and while he was getting your bags out of the trunk to load onto the plane, you ran full force into Jack with him catching you and your legs immediately went around his waist.

“Did someone miss me?” He curiously asked while kissing the top of your head.

“Ehh, I mean I guess I missed you.” You responded as he placed you back down on your feet and began to play with your braids. 

“Wait, you guess? After all that I went through to plan this shit for you? YOU GUESS?”

“Of course I missed you J, now where are we going?” You asked as you began to climb the steps of the private jet with him right behind you. 

“Did you bring what I asked you to bring?” Jack asked while eyeing you as the two of you were now seated next to each other.

“If it’s the purple lingerie set that we’re talking about, I’m actually wearing it right now.”

“Good girl. You’ll see when we get there.”

The two of you were now in Paris near the Eiffel tower having a candlelit dinner for your next to last night in Paris and you were in absolute awe of how much he went through to be able to do this for you and were thankful that he takes initiative to be able to spend as much time with you as he possibly can. 

Tonight had to be the night that he was going to do it.

It only made sense right?

He had to ask you to be his girlfriend at this point, because nothing else would make sense.

Him flying you to Paris?

Having dinner near the Eiffel tower?

Putting you in one of the most expensive hotels in the city?

And not to mention him fucking your brains out ever since the two of you touched down with no end in sight. 

The purple lingerie set definitely came in handy. 

I mean this was one hell of a first date if it could be considered one, but you were definitely convinced that it was.

“J, thank you for this.” You said while sipping on your red wine and he simply looked up at you and smiled.

“Anything for my girl, you know that. I know that this is one of your favorite places in the world and I remember you telling me how you really never get a chance to enjoy it because usually when you come here, you’re working so I decided to bring you when I knew for a fact you wouldn’t be working at all. Only work you’re allowed to put in is on this dick.”

“Way to ruin the mood, Jackman.”

“What?! I was just saying! And do you know that I don’t let anyone call me Jackman, but you? Besides my mom of course, but I just love the way my name sounds when you say it.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Well, yeah. You’re special to me.” Jack replied while shrugging and turning red at the same time. 

“And you’ve definitely shown that to me this week, and all the time really now that I think about it.”

“And I wanted to ask you something.”

“Of course, anything.” You answered as your heart started to race.

This had to be it, it just had to be. 

“I just don’t know how you’re going to take it.” Jack said while scratching the back of his neck, clearly nervous.

“Babe, just ask me.”

“Would you be in charge of designing my wardrobe when I go on tour?”

What.the.actual.fuck.

“Wait, what?”

“Only because I know you have so much to do already, but I wanted you to come on tour with me! I can’t go that long without seeing you or having you near me.”

“Oh.” You said in defeat and now decided to pick up your fork and play with your dessert and trying not to break down in tears in front of him.

“Just think about it, baby. No pressure, but I would love to have you with me. And you already know how much PG adores you.”

“I’ll think about it.” You quietly said and Jack immediately noticed a change in your demeanor.

“Okay, just let me know. Oh and one more thing.”

Jack simply pulled out a box that had Cartier written on it and placed it in front of you and all you did was stare at it.

“What are you waiting for baby? Go ahead and open it.”

You did as you were told and slowly opened it up to see that it was a bracelet.

But not just any bracelet.

It was THE bracelet that you had told Jack you had wanted, but never got around to actually buying it yourself.

“Jack…”

“Do you like it? Here let me put it on for you.” He said while taking it from you to help you put it on.

It was taking everything in you in that moment to not rip it off and throw it into his face.

“You’re my person, Y/N, and don’t you ever forget that. You ready to get out of here?”

You forced a small smile and quickly nodded.

You needed to get away from him.

As soon as possible. 

This had gone on long enough and you were tired of feeling like you weren’t good enough for him.

The ride back to the hotel was awkwardly silent and Jack knew that there was something wrong, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it could actually be. 

He finally cornered you in the master bedroom of the suite that you two were staying in and wanted an answer.

“Babe? What’s wrong? Something’s off.”

“You just wouldn’t understand.”

“Why wouldn’t I understand? Where is this coming from?”

“Jack,  drop it and I mean it.”

“Something is wrong with my girl and I’m not dropping it until she tells me why.” He answered before turning you around to face him.

All you did was look down and Jack quickly put his finger under your chin for you to look up at him.

“I’m tired of not being good enough.” You quietly whispered not being able to hold it in any longer.

“What? What do you mean? Good enough for who? You are more than enough.”

“Obviously not for you.”

Jack wasn’t expecting that for an answer and was now looking at you confused.

“For me?”

“Don’t play dumb because I do not have the patience for it tonight.” You said while turning around and continuing to pack your bag.

“I’m not playing dumb, but why would you say that?!”

“Jackman, you literally do everything as if we’re in a relationship. Down to the gifts, you buying me a car no matter how much I wanted for you to return it, you fuck me whenever you feel like it, fly me out to wherever you are in the world and you literally just gave me a key to your house. And now apparently instead of flying me to Paris in order for you to ask me to be your girlfriend, I get a bracelet and you asking for me to go on tour with you instead. All while still not being able to call myself your girlfriend. You just take and take and take from me and I allow it! I follow you anywhere like a lost puppy! You don’t see any problem with that?”

“Where is this coming from because the last time I checked, you were okay with it.”

“When was the last time you checked? Because I honestly don’t ever remember you asking me.”

“And you’re just saying something now? We’ve known each other for almost TWO years!”

“And that’s all you have to say? You constantly make me feel like I’m not good enough and that I’m a placeholder for your actual wife because you even said it yourself.”

“NO I DIDN’T!”

“BUT IT WAS IMPLIED!”

“Y/N.. just I can’t have a girlfriend right now.”

“But you can have me, who is basically your girlfriend without the title? I’VE MET YOUR PARENTS AND YOUR GRANDPARENTS. WHO DOES THAT FOR SOMEONE WHO THEY DON’T PLAN  ON BEING WITH?!”

“I….”

“And now you don’t even have an answer because you never intended on making me your girlfriend in the first place. Even if you led me to believe that you were. You cut everyone off for me and it’s like for what? You might as well call them back because whatever this is, it’s over and done with. You’re not going to play me anymore.”

“No one is even playing you! You knew this shit from the beginning and how it would be!”

“Jack, you don’t have to worry about me so here’s your key back. And do me a favor. Don’t call me for the rest of your life and I hope that you find your wife wherever she may be.”

“Y/N… you don’t mean that. You…. don’t do this.”

“You don’t love me so why do you even care if I walk out of your life?”

“I DO LOVE YOU!”

“BUT NOT THE WAY THAT I FUCKING LOVE YOU SO I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! I’M DONE, I’M DONE WITH THIS SHIT! I DESERVE BETTER!” You were now crying and Jack was trying to embrace you, but you immediately pushed him away.

“No, I’m not getting roped back in so don’t even touch me.”

“Y/N, you’re crying.”

“BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“Y/N, I just need more time. We’ll do this, we’ll do it all. Be in a relationship and everyone will know about it.”

You simply wiped your eyes with the back of your hand even though they were still steadily streaming down your face.

“No, don’t try to save face now and try to make it right. I meant it when I said I was done. Don’t give me any handouts. I want someone to love me for me and love me outloud and not be afraid to show it. I have never seen someone so scared of commitment like you are. I’m not innocent in this either, however, I realized that I deserve more.” You said as you closed your suitcase and was making your way towards the door.

“I CAN’T FUCKING LIVE WITHOUT YOU AND YOU KNOW THAT!”

“You lived without me for 22 years. I’m sure you’ll find a way to fill the void.”

“Y/N please. I don’t know what I’m going to do if you walk out that door and never talk to me again.” Jack pleaded with you with actual tears in his eyes.

“You’re Jack Harlow. You’ll find another bitch to keep your bed warm at night.”

“But she won’t be you!”

“And you’re damn right about that. Maybe now I can actually look for my husband, wherever he may be.”

“Let’s just sleep on this and we’ll talk about it again in the morning.” Jack said while trying to come closer to you but you immediately backed up. 

“Jack, I made myself pretty clear. The answer is no.”

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[batrachised]

Hi! For the ask game:

🛩 - If travelling was free, where’s the first place you’d go?

fun fact! for one time period of my life, I had ties in the airline industry (which gives free flights to its employees and their families), and so traveling WAS free for me😌Deciding where to go first was actually difficult; the world was my oyster, and I could take a free flight from anywhere from Tampa to Tokyo!

I debated over where to go for a while. It's actually harder than you'd think to make a decision like that. Although it sounds fun, you get the airline ticket for free and nothing else, and hotels are expensive man! So you need someplace that makes for a good day trip.

I'd sometimes talk it over with the people I worked with, to get their ideas and suggestions. One person I worked with was this jock frat boy whom I would make an educated guess came from wealth. He'd grown up on the West Coast and spent his spare time either (1) doing super athletic things like triathlons for fun or (2) tailgating football games. He was actually super nice, but he definitely fell into a lot of the stereotypes of rich West Coast jock.

A fun fact about me: i love cheese. I don't know a lot about cheese, but I love cheese. I also have a friend who loves cheese. Talking it over with my friend, we had a brilliant idea: why not go to Wisconsin to eat the cheese? Wisconsin is known for their cheese, and I thought the idea wonderful. Fly across the United States for that especially.

I vividly remember being by the printer at work, and jock dude coming up. We began to discuss travel plans, and I told him of mine - travel to Wisconsin for the cheese. He then paused, looked at me, and said slowly, with an emotion I could not describe if there was a gun to my head: "An entire trip just for cheese."

"An entire trip just for cheese."

Slow. Steady. Contemplative.

Those words have rung in my head for years. Not because of anything mean - they weren't mean-spirited at all. It was more of a situation in which two alien species encounter each other and leave flabbergasted. Until he commented, I would have said that was the most normal thing in the world to do. It wasn't until his reaction that I registered: I could go literally anywhere on the planet for free--the crisp snow-frosted Alps of Switzerland, the earthy rainbow valleys of Peru, the world-famous artistry of Paris and its culinary masterpieces--and I had chosen Wisconsin, for the cheese.

Entirely for the cheese. Please understand, from what I recall I had absolutely zero plans to do anything else in Wisconsin. The world was my oyster--and I asked to be brought cheese instead.

All this to say, rich West Coast jock, if you're out there, I hope you know you became a meme with my friend for years.

[thatztyv]

I think the new jack fic deserves a part 2🫣

Link 2

Description:

- Jack takes Kennedy on a date

Word Count:

- 1.7k

Kᴇɴɴᴇᴅʏ Dᴏᴡɴs

(ken-nuh-dee duh-ouns)

"Y'all", I hummed as I set my camera up.

I took a step back to show my full body.

"So I got asked out on a date", I said then clapped my hands together and looked at the camera.

"I hope I didn't underdress", I hummed as I ran my hands over my shirt. "I feel like it's a luh calm fit. Can never go wrong with cargo pants and some fours."

"Anyways I'm supposed to be meeting Jack at two. And it's currently", I started as I checked my phone. "Oh lawd it's one forty-five. I'll see y'all in the car."

.☆.

"He told me he like three minutes away so I'm just waiting for him. I left late and still made it before him", I said and shook my head. "Thats a shame."

A knock came from my window and I jumped. I furrowed my brows and turned to look.

I let my window down and side eyed him.

"Why would you scare me like that?", I asked.

"My bad", Jack chuckled. "You ready to go in?"

"Yeah let me grab my purse", I said before I let my window back up and he opened my door for me.

"Thank you", I told him after I got out the car and he closed the door.

"You're welcome", he said as I put my purse on my shoulder then locked my car.

"Say hey to the camera", I said as I turned the camera to face both of us.

He gave me a hug before waving at the camera.

"Hey", he said with a smile.

"So what they got in here?", I asked as we started walking towards the building.

"All types of games. Good food and drinks. Trust me you'll enjoy yourself", he hummed.

.☆.

"Alright so while we waiting for the lady to come back imma show y'all his outfit since y'all seen mine", I said before turning the camera around to Jack.

I zoomed it out to get his full fit. "Okay. He looking real clean, real fresh. You know per usual."

"Gotta make sure I'm looking good for the ladies always", he said and licked his lips.

"You can't be taking me on a date and tryna please the ladies at the same time", I said turning the camera to me.

"I'm kidding", he chuckled.

"Mmhm", I hummed and playfully rolled my eyes.

"If you two could follow me please", the receptionist said as she grabbed two menus before walking off.

I walked beside Jack as we followed her around the arcade.

My hand accidentally brushed against his a few times before he grabbed ahold of it.

I turned the camera down and showed him holding my hand before turning it back to my face.

I'm literally screaming on the inside right now.

"Alright. This will be your area. If you need food, drinks or anything just push this button and a waiter will be with you as soon as they can. All the games have unlimited play for three hours since you got the premium package", she said as she set our menus on the table. "Lastly if you have any problems don't be afraid to come to the front and tell me."

"Thank you", I said sweetly before she walked away.

.☆.

I set my camera up and pointed it towards the basketball game.

He tapped the card on the scanner.

"Three, two, one. Go!", the machine said before letting the balls out.

I quickly grabbed a ball and started shooting back to back. I looked over and saw Jack had a higher score.

I reached over, trying to block him for shooting.

"Kennedy come on you're cheating", he laughed as he moved back from me.

I laughed and stopped messing with him and shoot another ball.

"Player two wins!", the machine chimes.

"You tried to cheat and still lost", he chuckled.

"Not too much."

.☆.

"We found a baseball game", I said after I set my camera up.

I walked to the tablet and typed in our names.

"Okay what stadium we doing", I asked as I swiped through the different fields.

"Uh Tampa Bay."

I swiped through them then selected it.

"Imma put you up first."

"Wait you go first. You played softball, you got more experience than me", he said.

"That was in tenth grade", I chuckled.

"Still."

I playfully rolled my eyes and grabbed one of the bats before going into the batting cage.

I pressed my foot on the base and got in swinging position.

Pitching in three.. two.. one.

The ball shoot out the floor and I swung the bat but missed the ball. I turned back and looked at Jack.

"That was just a test swing", I hummed before turning back around.

"I'm not gone say anything", he chuckled.

Another ball shot out the floor, I swung the bat and hit the ball.

I ended up hitting fifteen of twenty balls.

"Let's see if you can beat that", I said as I put my bat back on the rack.

He walked in as I was walking out.

"Alright let's see if you can hit a home run", I said. "We aiming for a homer!"

He looked at me as he grabbed his bat. "A home run?"

"Yeah. Bring it home, bring it home."

He stepped on the home base and got ready to swing his bat.

The ball shot out the thing and he swung at it.

"Out the park", the game said.

"That's alright. I missed the ball completely the first time", I chuckled.

He shook his head and stepped on the base again.

He ended up hitting seven out of twenty.

"Y'all I won and he hating on me", I chuckled before he gently moved me out the way.

"She won by eight."

"I still won", I said pushing my way in front of him.

"Whatever."

.☆.

"The way it's looking I'm finna order everything on this menu", I said making Jack chuckle.

"Hot wings", he hummed before he chuckled. "That reminds me. You know I watched your last video?"

"You did?!", I said as I looked up at him again and my voice went up an octave. "You watched the whole thing? Beginning, middle and end?"

"The entire thirty minutes."

I looked away from him and back at the menu.

"You ready to order?", I asked changing the topic.

He chuckled. "Yeah."

.☆.

"So I just ordered some fries. They had good stuff on the menu but I didn't know if I'd eat it for real", I said and showed my food on the camera.

I moved the camera and showed Jack's food.

"He got tacos and hot wings. They look so good", I said and zoomed in on his plates.

I set my camera up to show both of us.

"You sure you don't want nothing else", he asked.

"I'm good", I hummed.

I started eating my fries and I could see Jack side eyeing me.

"Why you keep side eyeing me?", I asked turning to him.

"You eating dry fries Kenn."

"Ok and what about it? You know ion dip my fries in no condiments", I chuckled as he just stared at me.

"You gone be starving", he said and shook his head as he continued eating.

Can't lie I was looking over at his plates, his food looked so good.

"Can I have one of your tacos?", I asked and he smirked at me.

"I thought you didn't want anything else", he said, moving his plate over to me.

"I didn't. Them tacos just look good as hell", I said as I grabbed one.

I hummed in delight as I ate it. Taco was delicious.

"Let me get like two wings too", I said and he just laughed.

He slide the plate of wings between us.

"Why you laughing?", I asked while grabbing three flats of the plate.

"I thought you was good with just your fries", he chuckled before sipping on his drink.

"I am. I just wanted to try your food cause it looked good."

"Right", he chuckled.

.☆.

"Don't drop my camera", I warned him as we stood in the checkout line in the store inside the arcade.

"I'm not going to drop your camera calm down", he said as he checked hisself out in the veiwfinder.

"I'm cutting all yo footage out cause they don't want you all in they face like that", I chuckled. "Anyways.. show them the stuffed animal you picked out for me."

He turned the camera around and showed me smiling as I held up the stuffed animal.

"So cute", he hummed quietly.

"He said I couldn't leave empty handed so he said he'll get me this."

He turned the camera back to himself. "She said I could take her on another date. So, win win."

.☆.

"Be safe and text me when you make it home", he said as I started my car.

"I will. You be safe too", I hummed after fastening my seatbelt.

"Alright. Bye Kenn."

"Bye Jack", I said before he closed my door.

I bit my lip as I watched him walk to his car before looking at my camera.

"He know he- chile let me go home", I chuckled before putting my car in drive.

.☆.

"So as y'all can see I got my bonnet and sleeping clothes on and about to get in the bed. I'm just trying to a finish editing this video first."

I showed my laptop before putting it back down.

"Um I just wanted to say I had a nice lil date with Jack. Ian gone lie that's the most fun I done had in a while", I said with a smile. "I didn't really record everything cause I still wanted us to enjoy our time privately."

"But ion wanna say too much cause he already told me he watched the last vid. Ian say nothing too crazy but still", I chuckled. "Anyways I'll just use this as an outro while I'm here."

"Thanks for watching. Like, Comment and Subscribe. Road to three mill baby. And until next time, I love you guys. Byeeeee."

.★.

@TokyoKuri • 1hr ago

I haven't seen Jack or Kennedy smiling this much since they broke up 🥹

👍 433    👎          💬

5 replies

@twiddledeetwiddledum • 1hr ago

awww Kenn looks so happy and relaxed.. love this for her

👍 1.6k    👎          💬

12 replies

@sexyymama-4758 • 49 min ago

The vibes is definitely vibing ☺️

👍 109    👎          💬

2 replies

@FreeK3-867 • 1hr ago

The part when she showed they was holding hands was so cute 🥺

👍 500    👎          💬

8 replies

@Mentality68 • 23 min ago

When he flipped the camera and showed her smiling with the stuffed animal 🥹

👍15 👎 💬

reply

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Angela Well, now Pam and Cece are in the car and they call Jim. They call daddy. This is really cute. So sweet. 

Jenna But this is where Pam is going to find out that Jim is still in Philly and he's not going to make the recital. This investor might back out and Jim can't leave. 

Angela So Jim says Pam will you please film the recital. And he sort of starts talking to her, kind of condescending about how to film it. And she's like, look, I know how to point a rectangle at something and film it. 

Jenna And then he's like, okay. And then it's time to say goodbye. And then there's this pause, and then he's like, hey, Pam, you have to press end, you know, which is sort of meant to be like a dig at her phone skills. Lady... 

Angela Why can't Jim just hang up the phone? 

Jenna This is the scene. 

Angela Oh, that people were pissed off about? 

Jenna For so many reasons. I saw the mail for this episode, and I couldn't believe it. Where should I begin? I'll begin with Amanda C from Montreal, Canada. Amanda says, I have to go on a little rant about Jim, but maybe not from the moment you think. What absolutely grinds my gears about Jim's behavior is when Pam is on the phone with him in the car, and he implies that she doesn't know how to use her phone to video the recital by saying, See, Pam, you still need to hang up the phone. Excuse me, sir. She is driving. Can you not hang it up yourself? And then it will automatically end the call on her phone. Samantha L from Tampa, Florida said, The thing I actually cannot get past is the incident when Pam is in the car on the way to Cece's recital. Why is Jim giving Pam such a hard time for being bad with technology because she doesn't hang up the phone? Pam is driving with your child in the backseat. You hang up the phone, Jim! You're not the one that would need to take your hand off the wheel of a moving vehicle! Let's see. Samantha goes on to say, Who's the one who's really bad with the cell phone technology, huh? Spoiler alert, not Pam. Another letter from Nora E in New Orleans, Louisiana. I want to go on record to say that the tipping point moment when Jim has clearly gone full ass (BLEEP) is in this episode, when he's on the phone with me and he berates her for not hanging up the phone. She's driving. He's at work. He's clearly not in a huge rush to return to his meeting, since he's able to stay at his desk and what? Have a gotcha moment with his own wife? This scene in the car makes me so deeply angry. I need this full dickhead moment to be acknowledged. 

Angela I love that she puts full in front of her curse word. 

Jenna I know. 

Angela Full (BLEEP). I want to use that. He's gone full (BLEEP). 

Jenna I know. I know. So Ange, it's literally what you said. You said it. You're like, why can't he hang up the phone? This is just three of the letters we got about this moment. But this is very good foreshadowing for what is going to happen later, and I think an interesting dynamic in their relationship, which is that and I think some relationships have this. They've got the gotcha person. Oh, I got to point out the little thing. Gotcha. You know, you said that you are good at cleaning out the fridge, but- gotcha. Found a rotten tomato or whatever it is. You know, the gotcha people, the gotcha moments which are just, like, so toxic for a relationship. 

Angela It's petty. 

Jenna Pettiness. 

Angela It's pettiness. 

Jenna Yeah. But Jim's in a mood. He's stressed. He's not handling it well. In conclusion, I hope that us discussing it today on the podcast has brought some of you relief, because the number of heated letters we got about this moment, I felt it. 

Angela We also asked Kelly Cantley about directing this scene, and here's what she had to say. 

Kelly Cantley Cece in the car. Surprisingly, Cece in the car was really hard to shoot because Cece was a little girl and little kids don't do lines. So Jenna, I don't know if you remember, we shot all of your dialogue and then we shot lots of both of us taking turns just saying the lines. I think we started with you doing it. And then we wanted to go from you to the little girl so we would see you talking. So you did it a few times where you would just say her line and she would say it back. And I believe I did it a bunch of times on the speaker in the car. So I actually had forgotten that until I watched the episode again. 

Jenna actually did remember that. I had such a great rapport with those little girls. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm 50 now, which is the decade of tooting your own horn. 

Angela It's time to toot. 

Jenna Bailey and Sienna. I just loved them so much, and we would do a thing where we would do, like, repeat me. So I would say their line and they would say their line, and we made a little game out of it. They did great. 

Angela I thought it was so cute. Those girls were so cute. 

[stereax]

in terms of the zegras trade talk, is there any way (in terms of cap situation etc) that it would be possible for him to join jamie in philly?

and which teams do you think it are likely for him to go to otherwise?

thank you in advance <3

Hi there anon! So so sorry for the delay on this, I hope you're not too mad at me.

Your question is incredibly intriguing, but it's not quite exact. Any team, theoretically, can pick up Zegras, as long as they move the right pieces back or conduct the proper cap gymnastics. That being said, many GMs will not find him worth the price, and, furthermore, not worth the hassle of potentially taking a sledgehammer to the future.

Moving Zegras during the season (as in before the trade deadline) versus in the offseason would play out drastically differently under the cap and mean different decisions from Verbeek and co. Meet me under the cut for more!

So let's talk about the cap. I don't know how much you know about it, anon, but let me give a quick refresher. The NHL has a "hard" salary cap; teams cannot surpass the limit, full stop. (This is contrasted with MLB soft cap, for instance, where you just pay more tax for being over the cap.) There is one notable example, however: LTIR. Standing for Long-Term Injured Reserve (well, not really, but we all call it that), LTIR allows teams to surpass the salary cap, as long as a player on the team is "bona fide" injured and will be out for more than 24 days and 10 games.

Now here's the complicated thing: cap "accrues" every day that you're under it. (Kind of like it gains interest.) So, as the cap is 83.5m, if your team only makes 82.5m, you have that extra 1m accruing. This is key at the trade deadline where that 1m can end up as over double that to play with in extra wiggle room. (At the trade deadline, you can trade for a 2m player and be at 84.5m, but since you accrued the cap earlier in the season it averages out and is okay.) However, when you have players on LTIR, your cap basically stops accruing. This is why you'll see teams keep season-ending injuries as regular IR and not LTIR if they can - it helps the cap accrue. (Two instances of this right now are Kirby Dach and Dougie Hamilton, both out for the season as far as we're concerned, neither on LTIR.) Notably, in the playoffs, you can activate players off LTIR and go over the cap because of some badly written rules that nobody wants to fix (literally). This is often colloquially termed "pulling a Kucherov" after the Tampa Bay Lightning did this in the 2020-21 season, putting Nikita Kucherov on LTIR for the entire year, using his cap hit to acquire players, then reactivating him game 1 of the playoffs and going wildly over the cap limit. And it's pretty dang successful too - the Vegas Golden Knights emulated that success with Mark Stone last season.

So here's where we take a look at Philly.

Philly has around $3m in deadline cap space. Zegras's contract has a $5.75m cap hit (for this year and two more). Now, he could be traded to Philly at 50% retained salary at the deadline, but this would likely require giving up a lot of extra capital in exchange for Anaheim holding that 50% of cap hit on Zegras for the next three years. (Generally, retaining salary on an expiring deal costs a lot less than on a deal with extra years left, for hopefully obvious reasons.) Philly won't do this. This would be stupid from Briere. If they want Zegras, they have a much better plan in their back pocket: Ryan Ellis.

Ryan Ellis is a defenseman with a $6.25m cap hit for the next four years. His career is most likely over; he has a rare back injury that he's probably not going to recover from in a way that will let him play hockey again. At least in theory, he plays for the Flyers. However, he's been sitting on IR all year. If Philly wants to acquire Zegras, they will (almost certainly) slide Ellis to LTIR and use that $6m in cap space to put Zegras in. The one problem with this is it forces Ellis to LTIR for the rest of his career, most likely, and disadvantages the Flyers in the long run.

Option three is just to make space with bad or nonvaluable contracts. Cal Petersen buries $3.85m in the minors. (Buried contracts are weird; essentially, if you send guys on certain kinds of contract - as in expensive - down to the AHL, you're on the hook for some or most of the salary.) Move that contract anywhere and Philly should have room for Zegras at the deadline. Plus it makes it easier for the team to deal with new contacts. Or you move Cam Atkinson, an aging vet making $5.875m, to a team that's not on his modified no-trade clause and free that space for Zegras. Or you move Rasmus Ristolainen, an underperforming defenseman making $5.1m... See what I mean? Any team you like has options to move around cap to pick up Zegras. Not only the teams like Chicago, Buffalo, and Nashville who have the obvious cap space, but also teams trying to retool into younger cores could be keenly interested. (I could go through all the teams in the NHL as potential suitors, but that might be too much information. Unless you want that. In which case, ask and I'll do it.)

That being said, it sounds like Zegras will be moved during the offseason - and that makes sense, as usually contracts with significant term and roster-forming implications aren't traded at the deadline. At that point, with UFA contracts going off the books, it can quite literally be anyone's game to pick up Zegras. However, it'll probably be costly - a young, talented center who will be in your NHL top six, has serious upside, is on a fairly cost-friendly contract for two more years and then retains RFA status? Those don't grow on trees. Expect him to be moved for either a blue chip prospect or a first-round pick. Maybe both, if Verbeek is smart. Genuinely cannot think of a trade of such a player in recent history. (The closest off the top of my head? The Matthew Tkachuk trade - that was two prime players, a first, and a prospect for him. Granted, his circumstances were much different than Zegras's, and Matthew was undeniably worth a lot more.)

Generally, you're not trading away or giving up young core players. Verbeek doing so with Drysdale opens the floodgates. Whether it's because Verbeek wants to sculpt this team the way he wants (neither Drysdale nor Zegras were drafted by him) or he simply sees no future for Zegras on the Ducks, it's incredibly puzzling, not least of all because Anaheim seems mired in this rebuild, and Verbeek may be adding years to it if he plays his hand wrong.

[your-queer-dad]

hi dad,

I was recently forced to make a big move from a small town in the southwest to the suburbs of tampa at the worst time of my life.

I'm a junior in high school and was preparing to look at colleges near my state (bc I didn't wanna stay in state and wanted to stay near my family) but now that has completely changed. the colleges here are good but the florida government doesn't look too kindly on queer and/or trans people (which is an understatement) which is why I have have no intention of staying here after I graduate and plan to go back west to be close to my sister.

over the summer I had gotten close to and eventually started dating my now bf and the distance has hit us hard. thankfully we're both mature enough to get through conflicts we've had but missing each other all the time is extremely tough. I've started to forget what its like to be physically around him and it just hurts. we've made plans to send each other things and hopefully visit eventually but as 16 and 17 year olds, visiting feels very out of reach.

the end of my sophomore year made me realize I didn't like my main group of friends and I was prepared to hang out with people who always made me happy but I instead have to completely reset my social life. I'm doing my best and my good friends from my old home have been texting me regularly but it sucks to be alone at school. I'm not lonely necessarily but it would just be nice to have some friends.

I'm always gonna resent my parents for making us move for LITERALLY no reason but oh well. Just had to rant about it to someone. thanks for listening <3

Hey kiddo, that does sound really hard. Making such a huge change so suddenly is really hard, especially with the other factors. I am so so sorry kiddo, I'm always happy to listen no matter what. 🫂🫂🫂

- dad x

[keyshui]

i present to you, a very unserious post in which i insult every NHL team!

(this is all exaggerated so don’t get mad at me)

anaheim ducks - why is it that 1/3 of the way through the season you remember how to play hockey? like at this point it’s useless since you’re not making the playoffs and if you keep up like this you sure aren’t getting bedard

arizona coyotes - i do not like your jerseys. you would be forgettable but you suck too much for it

boston bruins - the only thing your team has going for you are your goalies and i hope next season you end up where the ducks are rn: not good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough for the draft lottery. sorry garnet hathaway (please come back)

buffalo sabres - i can define your entire team in one word: disappointment

calgary flames - anything good about you died when matthew tkachuk decided to go to florida. sorry!

carolina hurricanes - something about the “canes” nickname annoys the shit out of me. i hope you get a first round exit purely so the fans enjoying their team being good for once can be upset about it

chicago blackhawks - do i even have to say anything? because ew

colorado avalanche - literally how did you win the cup last year? thanks for the cup winning goalie btw <3 kuemper is better as a cap

columbus blue jackets - you don’t deserve bedard and i hope you lose the lottery since you’re clearly not pulling yourself out of the tank like the ducks

dallas stars - your jerseys are fucking ugly and the only stars player i can think of is tyler seguin (seriously… why that green…)

detroit red wings - you have the most obnoxious fan base i have ever had the displeasure of being in the same stadium with. LET GO OF THE 90s!!! PLEASE

edmonton oilers - how do you have two of the best players in the league and still manage to fail to get a cup every single playoffs

florida panthers - honestly if it weren’t for matthew tkachuk trade and the all stars game you’d be a dying, forgettable team

los angeles kings - i literally cant think of anything to put here. that’s how little you matter.

minnesota wild - one time in like 2019 the wild squished the caps at a game i was at so i decided that the wild suck. other than that y’all are so forgettable that i don’t have anything else to say

montreal canadiens - how is it that you keep managing to get beaten so so badly by teams that suck?

nashville predators - uuuugly ass jerseys and stuuuupid ass name

new jersey devils - jack hughes isn’t as hot as y’all think he is both in terms of attraction and skill

new york islanders - i hold a deep seated hatred for all new york city teams. you and your fanbases are so goddamn annoying

new york rangers - same with the islanders except 10x worse purely because of the little rivalry the caps hage with you (hope tom wilson squishes you tonight <3)

ottawa senators - really says something about your team that you had to name brady tkachuk of all people captain

philadelphia flyers - literally what is your logo i hate it. the only thing you have going for you is gritty and even that gets tiring REAL fast

pittsburgh penguins - i don’t care if the caps/pens rivalry doesn’t exist anymore it’s ingrained into me i hate you all and especially sidney crosby. you’re an aging team. retire already. ovechkin is better and malkin is overhyped

san jose sharks - wasted a sick ass team name on a depressing team

seattle kraken - y’all were doing so good at the start of the season what the hell happened. now it’s just disappointment…

st. louis blues - you’re one of those teams that i forget isn’t fake sometimes. like you’re not forgettable you’re just not… real

tampa bay lightning - i don’t get the hype the fanbase has for vasilevsky and your gray/yellow jerseys are way better than the normal ones

toronto maple leafs - auston matthews is not hot even slightly y’all just have competency kinks and it’s sad

vancouver canucks - quinn hughes looks so haunted and depressed all the time for a reason

vegas golden knights - did y’all think you were being funny when you decided to match with the kings?

washington capitals - jesus fuck just retire the entire goddamn team at this point. stop sending your prospects to the ahl and fucking play them if you want to give your roster some “youth” (i’m looking at you gmbm & laviolette)

winnipeg jets - if it weren’t for the fact that i used a website to make this list alphabetical order i would’ve forgotten you

[tellmegoodbye]

What would 911: Sunshine* look like?

*Texas = the Lonestar state, Florida = the Sunshine state

LEMON!! This is my dream!!!

And yes 911: Sunshine is absolutely what I would call it!

Okay so first of all, location! I think the city a spinoff would most likely take place in is Miami, but in order for me to really personalize this (it's my dream, I do what I want) I'm going to switch things up and have this take place in my city: Tampa!

This location is interesting for many reasons, but mostly because of its layout and it being on the bay. The city itself is probably where most of the show would take place in terms of emergencies, but there's a lot going on here for a city on the smaller side! Of course, there will also be opportunities to see the rest of the bay area. (Tampa is the city, Tampa Bay is the region)

Here are some potential locations/ideas for emergencies

Skyway Bridge. Visually, it's just stunning, and yes many people are scared to drive on it. It collasped once over 40 years ago and it has safety mechanisms to prevent such an event from happening again, but I'm sure a 911 spinoff would get creative and find another way to make something go wrong.

The airport. Like 3x08 except worse because I have a chaos brain.

The arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play.

Busch Gardens (a theme park)

Pick a beach. Any beach.

Literally tons of forest area where there could be a wildfire. Also tons of natural springs and rivers where you could have accidents.

Toursists. There is never a shortage of snowbirds being idiots in these parts.

Ybor City. There's a LOT of history here. It's also just a really cool place to explore. They have parades here (I've been in a few of them!) so maybe something goes wrong there.

Alligators. 🐊

Now lets talk major disaster arcs. 911 OG has earthquakes and tsunamis, Lone Star has ice storms and tornadoes, and 911: Sunshine would have a massive hurricane arc.

We kind of have an interesting history with hurricanes in Tampa Bay, at least in my lifetime, where every time we're about to get hit it shifts last minute and everyone who evacuated inland ended up being directly in its path. This happened with Charley in 2004, and Ian in 2022. Both made landfall in the exact same spot after shifting away from the bay area, which is kind of eerie.

I'd say a disaster arc like this would have one finally directly hitting the bay, and it would be a lot like the tsunami in 911. Very angsty, similar scenarios where peolpe go missing, and potential for the kind of water rescues Marjan was talking about doing back in Miami.

One little fun fact before I go. This doesn't apply to the city of Tampa, but I absolutely had to share this. If you venture out into the rest of the county like where I live, the firetrucks and ambulances are a lovely highlighter yellow! Or is it green? I've never been able to tell.

Don't ask me why. I have no idea. 😂

[randomvarious]

Dogs on Ice - "On a String" Hardcore Breakout USA, Volume 2 Song released in 1993. Compilation released in 1995. Punk Rock / Pop-Punk

Plays: 6.3K+ on Spotify // 800+ on YouTube

Got a nice, little, early 90s pop-punky gem for you all today from a somewhat forgotten band out of Tampa, Florida called Dogs on Ice. As a staple of their own local scene for sometime around half a decade, Dogs on Ice managed to get signed to San Francisco label Allied Recordings, which was run by a guy who did graphic design work for Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. DoI would end up releasing a 7-inch EP and an album through Alliance before breaking up, which would then lead their frontman, Joe Popp, to pursue his own renaissance man career of sorts as…

a leader of other bands, including one with ex-members of Smash Mouth

a rock musical extraordinaire who'd get one of his own creations directed by the guy who did Rent

an owner of his own music gear shop, for which he would make gear himself

a co-star in a 1996 commercial for MLB on Fox with ex-New York Met, ex-Philadelphia Phillie, and current 100% certified douchenozzle, Lenny Dykstra, who sings one of the single-worst renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" that you've ever heard in your life

a winner of multiple awards for a web docuseries he did that saw him go on a fully-fledged cross-country tour to play music in 48 different states with his sole mode of transportation being nothing but a motorcycle

Whew! 🫨

So, anyway, for the time that they were around, it seems like Dogs on Ice were a pretty big deal in the Tampa area, which is probably why, of all bands that could've been chosen, they were given the big opportunity to open for Green Day back in 1993, right when Billie, Mike, and Tré were on the cusp of breaking out and re-defining pop-punk as we knew it themselves with Dookie. The venue for the show was a small bar and is said to have attracted about 40 people on average for a gig, but for that Green Day / Dogs on Ice billing, it's estimated that they drew ten times the normal amount of folks, and definitely broke occupancy laws, with it being so packed that people were forced to stand on the pool tables 😂.

And the year of that performance is when Dogs on Ice released their debut record too, a four-song EP called Housefly, which featured a track on it called "On a String."

Now, although some profiles list this group as being hardcore punk, and this very track itself kicks off a great comp called Hardcore Breakout USA Volume 2, "On a String" is really not a hardcore song in any way. It's just a pretty sweet and catchy bit of early 90s guitar-bass-and-drum trio pop-punk. Joe Popp—who I should note, literally has the word 'pop' in his own name!—leads the way on both guitar and vocals, with a lightly scratchy and sometimes gravelly street rasp that contrasts nicely with his much smoother and delightful floods of 80s-indie-jangly chords, which themselves get broken up by some sudden, punk-standard chops at times too.

So while doing research on this band and Joe Popp, specifically, I found a forum post of his where he said that he "was pop punk before they called it pop punk," and while I don't think that that's actually true at all, it still seems that he was pretty damn good at making it, because this song in particular really is a pretty top-notch bop when it comes to early 90s stuff.

Wasn't expecting to go down such an extensive rabbit hole today, but as it turns out, Joe Popp's led quite an interesting life for himself. And now you know a whole lot more about this hero of local 90s Tampa punk and one of his first bands too.

[toffoliravioli]

ok serious talk time; things I noticed/what went wrong (bare with me it’s a long one) let’s discuss

if I was the coach of the devils I would be focusing on these points:

the devils were very much trying to match the rangers physically and it’s been biting them in the ass. they’ve been hitting more yes but what does hitting do? It slows you down. And what’s the devils strong suit? They’re fast. They work on speed and skill. they need to stop trying to play the rangers game/style. It’s like they’re playing this “see what they do then respond” game. How about not focusing on them and worry about what you’ve been so good at. Play your own game, that’s how you went 3/4 on them in the regular season. Literally there was no need to be physical bcuz your speed worked in your favor.

Another thing. For the love of all that is holy stop leaving Christopher “powerplay merchant” Kreider alone in front of the net. Don’t leave anyone alone for that matter. Are you dumb or are you stupid. He’s had to score on you 4 times in two games for you to figure this out? He’s literally the perfect example of a net front presence and you leave him ALONE EVERY. TIME. What the actual fuck are you doing, you’re better than that. If anything our pk has always been better than our powerplay so what are y’all doing.

Along the lines of the pk and penalties; how about you stay out of the box? Idk why that’s such a hard task but literally stop. Frustration is a mood killer. You get frustrated and then your stick ends up in the face of a rangers player or you end up hooking them, now you’re in the box oh no, instant rangers goal.

veterans need to step up. doesn’t necessarily have to be on the scoresheet but I want to know what’s being said between periods. I’m hoping you are not going into the locker rooms crying, feeling sorry about yourselves. Remember when the leafs had that sucky game against tampa last year and then spezza gave a speech before the third period and then they went out and won. yeah now give me that with palat or Haula or smith who apparently is such a great locker room presence. EVEN NICO WOULD BE A GOOD SPEAKER. He’s young but he’s the captain for a reason.

head macho man himself lindy ruff; sigh. ok I have many things to say but I’ll keep it simple. this fucking blender-made lines is ridiculous. Enough is enough. You tried every possible line combination and it’s throwing the entire team off. Chemistry will never be made if you can’t stick to one set of lines. Here’s my line suggestions:

Meier-Hischier-Mercer

Palat-Hughes-Bratt

Tatar-Haula-Boqvist

Shara-McLeod-Bastian or Lazar

Siegs-Dougie

Graves-Marino

Hughes-Bahl

Schmid

Vanecek

and last but not least, the dreaded powerplay. what can we even say that hasn’t already been said. shoot the puck more, stop passing something something something. you have some of the best scorers on your top line and all they do is play pass the potato with the puck. who scored tonight? Haula. A second pp unit player. Your second unit is out showing your first, make it make sense. Completely unacceptable. You have to shoot, when y’all try and set up the perfect shot you’re literally giving Igor all the time in the world to set up. We need those ugly goals, the ones he doesn’t see coming.

In conclusion I’d be a much better coach than Lindy, Fitzy this is my official job application, pls take my notes into consideration thank you very much have a lovely night have a cookie 🍪

[grapefruit-personified]

I'd be interested in hearing about the racial and socioeconomic disparities in hockey.

Ohhh buddy okay, now I want to state the info I have is mainly based on the US hockey system however a lot can be applied to Canada hockey.

So firstly it’s important to acknowledge that hockey is white it just is. Let’s focus on the women’s national teams to give examples A. Cause that’s what I’m most familiar with and B. It’s a small pool so easier to explain. Please any of my lovely hockey friends please correct me on any demographic info I may have incorrect. On the USWNT there is zero black players there have been no black players on a USWNT Hockey roster ever and a soul indigenous player our lovely Abby Roque sadly Abby has only really gotten her footing in the team in the past two or so years meaning up until then the team had been solely white. Now this isn’t shocking really. Hockey is an extremely expensive sport making it inaccessible to many, it also has little outreach. I’ll use my local team for example they do inline street hockey clinics in the community the community is predominantly black young boys. Now they host these clinics which is great they however do nothing to expand these kids interest or desire to learn more so many of these kids are left with the want to learn more without the financial stability to do so leaving many of them without a way to grow meaning they leave the sport all together. USA hockey will host clinics these however are for kids already invested in the sport which does little to help kids interested but without the means.

Up until 2021 there had never been an all black line in an NHL game (thank you Tampa for being the first and hopefully helping young black kids see that this is a sport for them to) the NHL itself is riddled with homophobia,sexism, ableism and racism making it an unwelcoming space for many and sadly a lot of this behavior comes from the fan base making it not the just teams that feel unwelcoming but the fan groups as well. Would you want to be in an environment where a lot of the fans feel unwelcoming?

Canada hockey is in a similar boat having Sarah Nurse be the only player of color on the team. Now I’m not a hundred percent sure what Canada hockey is doing to improve diversity I have seen and heard that they are definitely working on inclusion.

And probably the biggest issue when it comes especially to women playing hockey, there is no sustainable professional league within North America, there is the PWHPA which we support in this household it’s making major moves towards a proper league. There is also the PHF which is just a no they have teams playing in literal shopping malls, players and management have to work full time jobs on top of playing hockey “professionally” this is just unsustainable. The women in that league deserve much better.

So basically Hockey especially Women’s hockey is very much in a place that Women’s soccer was back in the 1990’s - 2010’s that’s why it is something me and many others such as @footygirl114 @usahockeybutmakeitgay @good-f0r-her and @gotham--fc are trying to expand and spread across this platform. The more people engage with particularly the PWHPA and women’s hockey as a whole the more opportunities they will have. Also the more this community engages with hockey as a whole the closer it gets to being even just a little more diversified.

[3416]

Confusion and hurt ripples through Maple Leafs in wake of Kyle Dubas’ dismissal

By Jonas Siegel | May 25, 2023 | The Athletic

Anger. Confusion. Shock. Disappointment.

Those are some of the feelings reverberating around the Maple Leafs right now in the aftermath of Kyle Dubas’ firing as general manager last week.

The Athletic reached out to several people who work for the Leafs this week. Anonymity was granted to them as they were not permitted by the team to speak to the media.

This story reflects their feelings at the moment and speaks to a level of disillusionment that team president Brendan Shanahan and the next GM of the Leafs will have to work to unwind.

“I’m in mourning right now,” one person who worked in the front office with Dubas during his time with the Leafs said.

There’s a real sense of loss for staff members. Dubas was their leader and the one who hired many of them. Suddenly, he was gone a week after the season came to an end – and without, in their minds, a satisfactory explanation as to why.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” a Leafs front office member said of the way Dubas was let go. “That’s why it’s disappointing.”

Shanahan went from wanting to bring Dubas back to firing him in a matter of days. And then offered his version of events in a press conference that left people inside the organization confused and upset.

Jason Spezza resigned before that press conference even began. The popular former Leaf who retired into a role with the front office after the 2021-22 season has declined to address the matter any further than that. That was intentional. Spezza wanted his actions to do the talking.

Read between the lines and it’s obvious he was unhappy with what transpired and was willing to sacrifice the beginnings of his own post-playing career for it.

Spezza was working for his hometown team. He had his family here. He had every reason to stick with the Leafs, where he could pursue his future in hockey further but left anyway in support of his boss.

After a 19-year playing career in the NHL, in which he earned an estimated $90 million, according to CapFriendly, Spezza could afford to walk away. Others who felt the same, who were inclined to follow their leader out the door, couldn’t given they lacked that same sense of financial security.

It’s security they have because of Dubas.

Though he wasn’t offered an extension himself, not until after the trade deadline, Dubas fought to extend staff members who entered last season with expiring contracts. He got them extended with one, two, and three-year deals.

At least one staff member was inclined to ride things out with Dubas for an uncertain year. Dubas insisted — take the security, protect your family.

“Don’t worry about me,” he told his people. “I’ll be OK.”

Those close to Dubas insist they liked working for him. Dubas put them first and had clearly grown into his leadership role.

It was early last season, when the team was stumbling badly out of the gate in October, that Dubas gathered the entire Leafs operation together for a meeting.

He calmed a tense group down. “Be the best you can be,” he told them all. “Just do what you do.”

The overriding message: Everything was fine. The team would be OK. And indeed, the Leafs finished with the second-best record in the league from Nov. 1 onward.

To at least one person who works for the Leafs, this past season felt like the first time when everybody in the organization was pulling in the same direction. It was about their shared mission, of course, of trying to win the Stanley Cup.

But it was also about Dubas. Everyone knew he was in the last year of his deal. And though everything appeared the same on the outside with Dubas, that he was treating the job exactly as he had before, they knew as well as he did that his job was literally on the line (even if they assumed he would be back after the Leafs’ first-round win over Tampa).

Many in the organization had worked with Dubas before he became GM of the Leafs, when he was toiling under then-GM Lou Lamoriello, leading the Marlies to the Calder Cup in 2018. Over the last five years, they saw firsthand how he built the Leafs into a finely tuned, sprawling machine that sought to maximize everything it possibly could in the organization.

“People don’t understand how much work he put in,” the Leafs front office member said. “They had it made with this guy.”

This explains why Dubas seems to have vaulted to the top of the Penguins’ GM search this week.

It was Dubas, then the assistant GM to Lamoriello, who oversaw the addition of Jeremy Bettle and the creation of a sports science department. It was Dubas, with the support of head coach Sheldon Keefe, who oversaw the expansion of a skill development program that allowed players to hone their abilities throughout the season.

Auston Matthews and John Tavares, in particular, have raved about the operation. Players like Conor Timmins spent morning after morning with skating coach Paul Matheson while skill development consultants like Denver Manderson joined the team for skill sessions on the road. The Leafs even brought their practice goalie, Andrew D’Agostini, on road trips, even the long ones, to spare their regular goaltenders some wear and tear.

That didn’t exist in the pre-Dubas era. There was no “process” in place, an organization-wide way of doing things that trickled down from the top into every corner of the organization. Information was more siloed in the Lamoriello days. After Dubas became GM that changed. Staff members from the research and development departments started attending practice regularly. The dress code was relaxed. Players and staff were free to sport facial hair and felt more comfortable being themselves.

They saw Dubas pouring everything he had into the organization. They saw that he watched as much or more video than many of his own scouts. That he pursued relationships and information from people in other sports and businesses, anything to push the Leafs forward.

Staff were encouraged to do the same.

That’s what made the way Dubas was dismissed so unnerving to them. They believe it wasn’t about money or power for Dubas, and they were skeptical he would insist on changes at the last minute. That wasn’t the way Dubas did business.

If he was insisting on changes to the chain of command, as has been reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, it would have been so he could operate more efficiently and effectively, in their estimation. As for the family concerns that Dubas alluded to in his season-ending press conference, the belief is he simply wanted to take a beat, look inward, and figure out how to make everything work better for himself, his family, and the Leafs.

There is a sense of disbelief in the organization that Shanahan would be willing to change course from someone who had grown so much over the years and who was so committed to the Leafs and who, in Shanahan’s own telling, performed well last season.

It was “unfathomable” to Leafs staff that it would end like it did.

And now, some staff wonder, how will the Leafs find someone better? Someone prepared to execute a series of franchise-changing decisions in a matter of weeks? Someone who will foster a similar work culture. And what will that mean for the Leafs?

Shanahan’s explanation only left staff more confused and upset, that Dubas would be maligned like that, with an odd play-by-play of negotiations and inference that more money was insisted upon at the last minute, on the way out. It irked them that this was how Dubas was being portrayed.

He deserved better, they said.

Dubas wasn’t the type to defend himself either, one of the staff members said, so those suggestions would go undefended.

And indeed, in his only public comments, Dubas has declined to address any specifics.

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

july 4, 2021 7:30 p.m. adam's house

[wyatt] maybe you’re bored of it and that’s fine! but dad says you were really, really good, like you have trophies and all kinds of stuff like that, and you got on the local news one time because you won the state championship, and, uhhh, you have a friend that plays in the NHL and he was really nice to me that one time...

[grant] hey, buddy, the answer is yes, i promise.

[grant] seriously, it’s not a problem. i'd also be happy to teach you or practice with you. i may not play anymore but that doesn't mean i wouldn't change that for you. i love you guys. you're family. i would literally do anything for you.

[wyatt] dad doesn’t know how to skate at all, so he can't help. and if i go without help, i'm gonna suck. i mean, i can skate and shoot and everything, but i'm not good.

[grant] look, you won’t be bad at it! it’s just a learning curve, but you’re young. kids are like sponges. you absorb skills so much easier at your age. and by the way, listen to me, when you play in games, call me and i'll come to them, too! i'll be so annoying in the stands with your parents. you’re going to wish we weren’t there, that’s how annoying we’ll be.

[wyatt] yeah. i just think it’d be so cool to play in the NHL. i wanna be like, uhhh, gordie howe or steve yzerman! or like your friend!

[grant] i think you should go for it, then! anything is possible if you set your mind to it. and i'd be thrilled to help you get there. just remember us little folks when you hit the big stage.

[wyatt] but mom says education is important and i should do college hockey first.

[grant] i agree with her. i mean, college isn’t everything, and it’s not a requirement, but if you become a pro athlete, you usually, like, are skipping out so much on middle school and high school to get there. that’s what really hurts you. college helps you avoid going out into the world clueless in that case.

[grant] but not to get on my soapbox there.

[wyatt] did you like it at michigan?

[grant] uhh...

[ezra] he didn't!

[grant] why you all want to know so much about me? i'm a just a boring old man who apparently played video games in black and white. surely there’s way more interesting kid-friendly stuff to chat about. like the actual hockey season that just wrapped up a couple months ago? we’re sick of tampa bay winning, right? like i couldn’t stand to watch the finals with them in it.

[wyatt] you hated it.

[grant] you really want to know? why so curious?

[ezra] i'm making the catboy! i'm naming him, uhhhhhh, spongebob. can i name him? pleaseeeeee.

[wyatt] make it spongebob catpants!

[ezra] okay! uhhh, s, um, p...where’s the o…oh, right there.

[ezra] he’s gonna be a magician guy, too. no weapons. only magic. i wanna melt people with lightning.

[grant] oh man, uhhh, mage kinda sucks in skyrim, plus we’re playing khajeet...you know what, we can work with that. excellent choices. i love it. i gotta get you on oblivion, though, if you like magic.

[wyatt] soooo, can i be nosy? mom says i'm nosy. especially when i'm not on my ADHD meds.

[grant] i don’t think you plan to stop asking, do you?

[wyatt] no.

[youareinlovees]

Tbh, I don't think this happened weeks ago like the statements are saying 🤐 If it did, why would Tree have put out that article saying that they were ok in their rs and he would be coming soon to see her shows? Even if that was them trying desperately to fix things, it wouldn't make sense for Tree to put that out if they were already done. I think they planned to spend Easter weekend together in the UK, she was planning on doing the mv too ofc but again if they'd broken up weeks before tour why would she go to the UK on the week she had off? She would've had enough time to change her plans and do the mv somewhere else idk. Imo they broke it off (or she pulled the plug on impulse idk) literally this past week in person in the UK but obviously things hadn't been ok for a while and they realized there was nothing else to do. Or she realized she was done and wouldn't put up with stressing over him not making an effort to be there when she has such a demanding tour to go through, idk.

I think the reason Tree is saying that they broke up before tour is bc it's probably in everyone's best interests (both from his side as well as hers) that the media and the public believe that she was already broken up with him during all the shows so far where she's been looking super happy, healthy, and performing wonderfully. Imo they want to reassure that she's able to perform and put on a great show in spite of going through the end of a six and a half year long rs. Particularly bc the ticket sale for this tour was a whole fiasco and many ppl spent an obscene amount of money to get a single ticket. My guess would be that she will go out of her way this weekend in Tampa to make a point of being perfectly fine and not devastated independently of whatever she's feeling in private :( she's stronger that I could ever be tbh

Yeah I agree abt it being quite recent, but obviously they don't want the general public to think she'll be a mess on tour or anything, hence how dry and clinical the press release sounded.

[supportingfire]

              so here’s a fucking vent idk where else to put but as a floridian STILL riding out this shit, i’ve been seeing a lot of gross shit on social media regarding SW florida and the people still there. 

“why didn’t you evacuate?”

“you should have listened. this will be a lesson for you.”

“you had plenty of time.”

             FIRST AND FUCKING FOREMOST these people who say shit like this , i can guarantee, more than 90% of them have never lived in a major hurricane state, much less florida, because they wouldn’t say shit like this. there is so much that goes into the decision to up and leave, and this is coming from someone who evacuated way back when we were slammed by four hurricanes within a month in ‘04. we stayed for charley, and my mom didn’t think our house would last another one right after, so we left. she cried in the car as we crossed over into georgia, while i held my two cats with my brother in the backseat. we were LUCKY ENOUGH to have a vehicle to get us out, and money to make arrangements elsewhere. but we almost didn’t. 

            you have to have a lot of resources available to be able to just up and leave. you never know how long you’re gonna have to stay away, first of all, not to mention you don’t have guaranteed availability ANYWHERE (hotels book up quicker than graduation weekend at your local college) and even if you do find accommodations, a lot of them don’t cater to pets or disabled guests. my grandmother is at an ALF nearby and thankfully we felt safe enough for her to stay there, consider the elderly and disabled who don’t have that luxury. are they expected to just up and leave, too? and if they didn’t do they deserve the ten feet of water destroying their lives, or worse, fucking actual death? you need a means of transportation, money, and somewhere to go. having access to all three of these is a privlidge. 

“you had a week. you knew it was coming.”

            when you live somewhere where hurricanes happen so often it’s literally a season, like fucking winter and summer, you treat these kinds of things a little differently. yes, we knew ian was brewing, yes we knew it had potential, but there was no actual guarantee where and when it would hit. imagine going to your boss and saying “i need two weeks off because of a potential.” right now, as i type this at 11:30 on thursday DAY OF, we got hit with the eyewall TWO HOURS AGO, and i am still expected to clock in and work remotely “if i am avaialble to do so.” and i have the luxury of being able to do remote work. a lot of middle class people do not. they stayed to work. they stayed to keep the lights on, and they stayed to see what was going to happen. the trajectory of this hurricane changed within hours, and fort myers had no chance. naples had no chance. to assume you know better than the people who actually live and work and die here, shame on you. not to mention, when you issue “mandatory evacuation” and offer NO HELP to facilitate it, that’s basically the state going “well, we’re not going to take responsibility, we told you to leave.” its desantis and florida absolving themselves of responsibility for the outcome of it’s people. “just go to a shelter” ALSO A FUCKING ABLEIST THING TO SAY. 

            when evac orders started to roll in, it was almost too late. twelve hours might seem like a long time to you but when you’re on a peninsula, it feels like there’s one way out, and there kind of is. it’s north. some people took a gamble and went south to miami, and even miami got some severe rain and wind. people evac’d tampa TO FORT MYERS thinking they’d be a little bit better off, only for ian to take a fucking right turn and go south and slam fort myers FIRST. this happened within six hours. 

            and finally, yES there are assholes and idiots who go by the mentality that “floridians are built different” and “we’ll be fine, lets have a party!” and they stayed, and they got far more than they were expecting. they got a very, very harsh lesson about taking weather warnings seriously. i have a great uncle who was one of them, and there’s a good chance he didn’t make it through this, no one’s heard from him. does that mean they deserve having their entire lives destroyed? do they deserve to die for being cocky and stupid? the utter lack of compassion from other people blows my fucking mind. SW florida is going to be feeling this one for a long fucking time. death tolls haven’t come out yet because WE’RE STILL DEALING WITH IT. 

            i’m so fucking livid, being on tiktok trying to find updates. there’s a woman on a literal pool float in HER OWN LIVING ROOM as water rises, only for the comments to be “should have left” or “dumb for staying.” how fucking dare you. 

           fuck this man. if you can help, please help, whether it be monetarily or just spreading some sort of compassion. below is a twit thread i found of some reputable organizations providing help on the ground. we’re doing alright in orlando, downtown flooded a lot and i imagine roads will be closed a few days, but southwest florida is literally underwater. please be kind and please be compassionate. 

https://twitter.com/ChelseaClinton/status/1575232946860331008

https://www.newsnationnow.com/weather/hurricane-ian-latest/hurricane-ian-florida-heres-how-you-can-help/ <-- a news article advising how to help