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rayroa · 7 months

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Hiss Golden Messenger Q&A for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay (2024)

Photo by Graham Tolbert/All Eyes Media

I'm gonna put some ear buds in here then it'll sound a whole lot better.

OK, and let me know if it sounds bad because sometimes it does sound bad on here. I've been listening to Pecker Power today, on your recommendation.

Oh, really? Yeah, follow that. Follow that page?

Yeah, my buddy told me to follow it. And it's great because you forget that it's you. It's just like a picture of a record in your feed. And then you just make a decision for that moment. ‘Yeah, alright. Let me find that, man.”

I love having that weird little Instagram account that's not trying to sell people anything—nothing. I'm just talking about dorky music stuff. It's kind of like my vibe right now.

And you have The Kitchen Speculator, too. It's cool that you have these outlets to communicate. It's like a less cynical version of social media, or iteration…

That's right, man, I'm trying to keep it kind of keep it pure.

Hey, I know that fall is your favorite season, but I can imagine that the winter is kind of beautiful in the North Carolina Piedmont. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember listening to a podcast or something where you talked about your mom's felt Christmas ornaments with these bells on them. I was wondering, since we're in January, is yours the kind of family that has a tree still up? And do your kids know the sentimental value of the ornaments?

Do they know the sentimental value of the ornaments? Yes, definitely. I don't know if they see it as heavily as I do, but they definitely are aware which ornaments came from my mom. And no, we don't keep the tree up because I love the pageantry of the season—there's something very nostalgic and comforting about things like Christmas lights for me—but I also really appreciate the moving on of January and the feeling of a fresh start if you need it. I kind of think deep into the season and also I'm ready to move on, so I think we had our tree out of the house like just a few days after Christmas probably.

That's an aspirational thing for a lot of families, so it's cool to hear that you have your house in order to that degree.

It's really how I'm wired though. I'm a little bit of an OCD kind of person. So it kind of is in line with that.

Yeah, you gotta check these boxes. You gotta get through the day. I mean, it's kind of a less sexy version of getting a stone up a hill, you know, let me get this tree down first, and move on to the other stuff.

Yeah, kind of.

By the way, I realize there's no way we can like adequately talk about songs in 20 minutes, and I think a lot of people have said a lot of things about Jump For Joy already, so I'm just gonna let those songs kind of speak for themselves and maybe ask some kind of other questions around the band and whatnot.

You've mentioned that the songs are kind of like a long postcard between you and a younger, maybe teenage, version of yourself. And in a way the record's also kind of recalibration of your songwriting, and you're wearing hope, in a way, on this record, and I was thinking about that word "recalibration." And then I was thinking of the band and the fact that Hiss Golden Messenger doesn't do the same show twice—that's a lesson you learned from elders. I want to ask you about this live set. I know after that initial run, you said that the band is sounding good, and the shows are pretty uplifting for everyone. Especially now. Everything considered in the world. Simple question, and I'm sorry, I don't know the answer already. But who is in the band for this spring run coming to Tampa?

Yeah, the band is and has been for several years: Chris Boerner, playing electric guitar, Sam Fribush on organ and piano, Alex Bingham plays bass, and Nick Falk plays the drum kit.

Perfect, and the Hiss Mobile recording unit will be on tour as well. I'm wondering, to stay on that recalibration, Mike. I know that you unpack a tour after a run. How has that recalibration kind of manifested itself within the context of the band? Can you tell me a little bit about how the songs from Jump For Joy have already changed as the shows stack up? And what have these songs revealed to you about themselves in this context, and this run?

It's interesting to take a new record out on the road because we had played a lot of these songs a lot during 2023 before we recorded them, but not in the way that we have been over the past two or three months. The more times you play a new song, the more you learn about how it's working in that sort of heightened or amplified, emotional, state of a live show. And you also see how it's working for the audience. There might be a song that seems like a home run for the audience, and it just isn't like connecting the way that you thought it would and, and conversely, you're gonna find a song that you might have had a question mark about just in terms of how to present it—and it becomes its own.

A song like "Jesus Is Bored " on Jump For Joy. I love that song. I have a super-deep connection to that song; in a lot of ways it kind of feels like a thesis for the record, but it's not the loudest song, it's not the fastest song. I just didn't quite know what kind of quality it would take on live, and it's taken on a really beautiful thing that kind of unfurled really slowly and in a really extended fashion. That's not something I was anticipating at all, but it went there, and I was like, 'This is how we play this song for people.' That's one example of how stuff has started to exist off that record.

That's awesome, and I like hearing your talk about feeling the audience and being aware of it. I think some people would assume that some performers kind of blackout and I guess, to some degree they do on stage, but it's cool to hear that you still get to live in that moment of the live experience that you're creating in this space.

It's a transcendental state for me. So my experience of it is, like I said, is heightened for sure—emotionally, physically. But at the same time, I can feel the energy in the room even if I'm not looking at the audience directly in the eyes, I can feel what the energy is. I would say I'm usually pretty on the money about what an audience wants, what an audience needs, what an audience can take. This is just stuff that, when you spent enough time on stages in front of people, you start to learn how—you can read it.

In that vein, and that kind of context, transcendental memory in that state, are you able to remember anything about geographic locations? Like can you remember, how crowds in Florida have made you feel or is it not like that?

Oh my god, that's a good question. I mean, I want to be diplomatic about it.

I mean, it's OK to be forgettable man.

I don't want to be that dude in the paper that's complaining about the place that he's playing. That's not a good look at all.

Listen, there's a lot to complain about in Florida from a legislative standpoint, historically there are some things...

You don't need more from me. OK, I'll put it this way. I'm fascinated with Florida. I'm not against Florida, you know what I mean? And the last time we played in Tampa, I think, was at a festival many years ago.

It was called Gasparilla Music Festival.

Yeah. And I had a fucking great time. I thought it was really cool. And I thought, 'Tampa seems cool. I'm into this place.' So if I had to talk specifically about my experience with Tampa, that's what it would be: I had a great time in Tampa.

And Tampa has changed a lot, I think as much in the same vein as it has up there with you guys as far as people's concerns about affordability and who matters and what voices get amplified and acknowledged and conversations from a civic standpoint, and things like that. So I think our regions have experienced similar growth.

No doubt.

I want to ask you about November 27 Kitchen Table Speculator. You opened with poems from Diane di Prima and Joy Harjo. You talked about the possibility of a sunset on an empire and whatever this collective thing is that we're witnessing, but then you also talked about holding on to joy and pain and magic and fear all at once—you know, back to getting that stone up the hill. Sorry to kind of bring it down here, but I think I heard somewhere that in spite of all this narrative about joy and this album, in some ways, you're still like the same depressed guy, but you kind of alluded to how the band is bringing some joy and happiness. I'm wondering chemically, or in the inner wiring, how and in what fashion does it change you to play these "happier less cynical songs" every night? Or does it all stay up there, then you get back to the world when it's over.

I mean, this is a multi-part question. First of all, I wouldn't say that I'm the same old depressed guy. And I don't know that I ever would have described myself like that. I definitely struggle with depression and probably always will in some fashion, but also think of myself as a very fun, funny person that can be as light and easygoing or as heavy as the situation calls for. Probably, if you were to ask my bandmates, "Is Mike as heavy as some of the songs might make them feel?," they would say like, "Not at all." So that's that part.

I think that Jump For Joy, in so many ways, is totally consistent, thematically, with the music that I've made all throughout my life as Hiss Golden Messenger. I think that I was working really rhythmically and thinking a lot about tempo for Jump For Joy, and that was very intentional. But in terms of the way the songs exist, the chords that get used, the things that were troubling me, or bringing me joy and peace—that stuff on Jump For Joy feels like it's pretty consistent with the rest of my work. I feel like what people are reacting to when they think of this record as more joyful, which I would agree with, is just the musical feel of the record, if that makes sense.

No, it does. I think from the get go—even on your lo-fi recordings, which I spent some time listening to in the run up to this interview, and revisiting those—there is still this devotion to groove throughout the whole thing.

That's what I'm saying, man. Even the Hiss Golden Messenger songs that are at the slowest tempo, everything always grooves. That's always been almost the most important musical quality of what I do as Hiss, I think. Everything has to feel like it's in the pocket, it's in some kind of pocket, you know? That's really important to me.

Now that you're saying that kind of that out loud, I think of my first—you know, you only get one first time listening to a band—but those first few listens, I think, is interesting how Hiss music does kind of embed itself within whatever tempo you have going on in your life and sometimes Hiss music doesn't fit with whatever's going on in your day at the time, and you realize that, "Oh, this isn't the record for me right now. I gotta find something else." So I've always appreciated that about your music, for sure.

I want to ask you about mystery. I think you've talked about kind of craving mystery and this time of digital media, and endless access and over exposure in a way. What is your mind wandering and wandering about and around today?

I'm working on a lot of projects right now that are Hiss adjacent. I feel like I am just starting a quest—and who knows how long it's gonna last—to find my way back into not knowing, if that makes sense. I'm trying to find my way back to a feeling of mystery and magic. I want that to be the first feeling that I feel when I pick up an instrument. And I'm not saying that I don't feel that already, but it just occurs to me in this moment of our time, that that feels almost like the most important part of music, both as a listener and as a creator—the mystery. So I'm really honing in on that feeling whenever and wherever I can find it. I feel like certainly, part of this year for me is going to be about encountering the mystery, the not knowing, the freshness, the experimentation—encountering it wherever I can find it.

And it's such a wonderful excuse to really work on you're listening, too, whether it's physically listening with your ears or just body listening and emotionally trying to be quiet and tune in.

That's right, man. That's right.

By the way, I liked that you mentioned that you're probably funnier than people might think you are because when I found out that Johnny Fritz was in your “Nu-Grape” video, I immediately went to it because I think he's like, the funniest and best like songwriter with a replaced hip out there.

I mean, that guy is so fucking funny.

But you met the moment in that video. I feel like you two had good, parallel, complimentary performances that were rooted in humor.

Oh, dude. He made that video. I don't even really know Johnny that well, but I'm a fan. It feels like we know each other kind of well now. But before that video, as we were conceptualizing what it was going to be, who, all that stuff, I was like, "We're gonna get Johnny Fritz. It's really like the only way that this concept works, or someone like Johnny Fritz." But I couldn't think of anyone else. I love being with him because he's so funny, and has so many different characters, but he's also a super deep, super smart dude—he's not turned on like that all the time. He's also like a real deep cat.

The songs really mess you up when you're listening to him. He's got those records that like they'll kind of hit you on like the eighth or ninth kind of listen, and you're like, "What did he just say?" You thought it was a song about riding in a tour van, then you realize that he kind of deconstructed this emotion inside of you about abandonment and things like that and it feels intentional once you kind of see it. know?

And I'm sure it is. He's an extremely astute person.

I know we're kind of getting short on time. Mike. I want to kind of go back to happy songs, sad songs, and I want to talk about how those emotions are kind of complex in their own way. Some would believe those emotions are complementary. I know that there is an art to finding the language to write songs about happiness. You mentioned you know, "Jesus Is Bored" as a song that's kind of transformed for you in the live setting, but do you feel like there are songs on Jump For Joy that include both happiness and sadness, in a way, and using language that you're pretty proud of? As far as being a songwriter and being a person?

I think every song on the record is a combination of both at the same time because I've always wanted that to be my mission as a songwriter: to be able to convey like the fullness of being a human—as grandiose or as lofty is that sounds—to convey the fullness of being a human in a song. Part of that, for me, feels like this idea that not everything is either happy or sad. My experience of the world as I walked through it is that everything is both of those at the same time. I mean, not everything, but you know what I mean? My experience mostly is that I'm feeling both at the same time. And I've really chased that ambiguity intentionally over the years with some very specific things that I do technically, from tuning a guitar in a certain way to like leaving the chords very undefined. So yeah, it's a little bit of a cop out answer, but I really think my best songs are songs that feel happy and sad at the same time.

That's a great answer, especially for at the end of a short interview, which I know we're at the end here, and I wanted to kind of leave with this question, maybe. You mentioned you know this mission for this year about encountering that mystery, that not knowing the freshness, that experimentation, and trying to touch it wherever you can find it. Can you maybe tell me—I don't know maybe from a mechanical standpoint or practice standpoint—what does getting small and quiet look like for you? Like, how do you get there?

Well, getting small and quiet isn't the same for me as encountering the mystery because I've actually been doing a lot of work with a lot of different musicians lately. It has been kind of cacophonous in a way. But to answer your question of what it means to get small and quiet, I mean, I think it means me going back to the room that I write in, with a guitar or whatever instruments, and a notebook and, seeing what happens. Sort of surrounding myself with the creative input that still fuels me. There's tons and tons of poetry in this house, there's tons of records, and this is just my place. There's tons of guitars and amplifiers. It's just my place to be sort of quiet and meditative, I guess.

Well, Tampa will be grateful when you get out of that place and come visit us for a few and I think we would all like to join you on the Kamayo Cruise but we'll let you eat cruise food for three days on your own there.

Cruise Food. That's a good name for a band.

It is a great name for a band—that should actually be the sequel to "Nu-Grape," just call it “Cruise Food.”

Haha, that's funny. OK, dude. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for the good questions, actually, they were great.

I really enjoyed talking to you. And thank you for making the time for me and thank you for all your music. It's, been great to have in my life. So I hope you have a great week.

Thank you, brother. Thank you, I appreciate that.

Of course. Bye.

#Hiss Golden Messenger #Mike Taylor #Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

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chengsposts · 1 year

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Aaron Boone: Wee Obtained towards Come across a Direction in direction of Purchase Better

The Yankees are within just critical dilemma. Fresh York incorporates missing 7 of their past 9 game titles and had been swept upon the street within a 2-match weekend collection in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies. Soon after Sundays hottest decline, supervisor Aaron Boone was still left Quite nervous with how the workers is enjoying. Weve bought toward uncover a route towards receive improved, Boone reported. Had been gonna locate out what variety of persona had been created of. Were being obviously within the midst of Quite challenging instances. Weve confronted it this period and were being gonna locate out if had been the staff members we believe we are. At 33-32, the Yankees comprise suffered their slowest get started in the direction of a year mainly because they went 31-34 out of the gate back again inside 2016. Theyve by now fallen into fourth position inside the AL East and are 8 . 5 video games again of the 1st vacation spot Tampa Bay Rays. Any time requested if his personnel includes gotten utilized in the direction of throwing away, the traditionally light tempered Boone turned fired up by means of marvel. I recognize them much too effectively, Boone stated. I dont imagine theres any having utilised towards fricking wasting. Hell, no. Order the hell out of there with that. Immediately after a debacle towards Jameson Taillon upon Saturday, the place he bought knocked out in just the to start with inning, Germán experienced his worst outing of the period upon Sunday, letting 7 operates inside of 4. 1 innings. Just after Germán hard start out, exactly where the offense was nowhere in direction of be learned, the Yankees were being in addition again at it once more with their baserunning blunders Although Rougned Smell bought thrown out at 3rd. Even their commencing rotation, which was when a brilliant destination, retains a 6. 16 Generation within their previous 14 video games, for each Certainly Community. Phillies ace Aaron Nola ruled the Bronx Bombers lineup, who went hitless until finally the 6th inning immediately after DJ LeMahieu led off the activity with a foundation strike. The Yankees incorporate at this time shed 3 video games inside a row, and mind toward Buffalo toward encounter a crimson-warm hitting Blue Jays workers upon Tuesday. It starts off with me surroundings the tone and natural environment the lifestyle listed here, Boone stated. Ideally were being placing them within just a superior placement towards shift out and function at the maximum issue. We incorporate not accomplished that very well ample. Despite the fact that Boone claimed theyve greater their baserunning function and switched up their offensive plan, the Yankees contain nevertheless toward watch Those approaches pay out off, which consists of discovered them wanting considerably less and much less which includes a playoff contender via the contest. Further:Luis Severino Exits Rehab Begin With Groin InjuryJameson Taillon Seeking In advance toward MLB Crackdown upon International SubstancesYankees Gio Urshela Swinging Scorching Bat in direction of Start off JuneFollow Pat Ragazzo upon Twitter. Be indeed in the direction of bookmark Within just The Pinstripes and watch again each day for information, study and even more. Bryce Harper Jersey

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puckslut44 · 7 years

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Tbh my main goal in life is to get a really cool degree in college, and never use it because I marry some guy in the nhl

#nhl #nhl imagines #echl #ahl #toronto maple leafs #dallas stars #las vegas golden knights #edmonton oilers #hockey #puck bunny #i aint even mad #ottawa senators #texas stars #tampa bay lighting

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overmygraves · 2 years

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could you maybe do a little cute swedish landy being very proud of his swedish burky? their interview together was adorable and i love their interactions together and you can always tell the burky wants to make landy proud. if not no worries!

of course!! i love them interacting too, i feel like gabe is kind of a father figure for some guys from the team specially burky lol it turned out to be a little short, but I hope you like it! (also I imagine both of them being awkward on showing affection so theres that akskajs)

Swedish Win

warnings: platonic friendship, father figure

word count: 0,7k

Who could have guessed he would be on to win his very own second Stanley Cup? Well, certainly he didn't. He also definitely didn't think he would have such an important place in the first game from the Stanley Cup Finals against the back-to-back winning team, Tampa Bay Lighting.

When Andre hit his famous wrist shot at overtime, it seemed like time stopped. He saw Nichushkin standing on the other side of the ice, looking intently at him and waiting to see what he would do with it. All of the Tampa Bay players around him seemed to be stopped, and Vasilevskiy eyed him like a mythological creature ready to crush him in a heartbeat.

The puck travelled fast and hard through the ice, making its way past the famous goaltender and entering the net. The Ball Arena horn sounded, deafening everyone that was inside it as it mixed with the shouting from the fans and the players themselves. Andre cheered as soon as he realised they had won the game. They had won it because of him. Soon enough, the whole team was jumping over him, celebrating their win.

After the energy died down, the team hit the locker room, waiting for the stars of the game to be called. Being called the first star, Andre had little time to sit down and process everything. He went back to the ice, all smiles, to have the whole arena cheer for his win once again. An overtime hero as the newspapers would call him the next morning.

Back to the locker room, Gabe, the team captain, was waiting for him sitting at his own stool.

"Bra jobbat, Burra." He said in his usual tone, even though his little side smile was painted on his face, as if he was trying not to smile too much.

"Tack, Gabe." Andre said in response, going in for a tight hug with the captain.

Ever since Andre got in the team, Gabe acted like some kind of father figure towards him. Maybe because they were both Swedish, they had a kind of friendship that wasn't all that usual in hockey teams. In his previous team, even though everyone was very much friendly, he never really had such a figure to look up to like he did in the Avalanche, nor someone who would take so much time to help him perfect his techniques and teach some of his own.

“You could have hit it a little harder, though.” The older player stated, which had both of them laughing a little too loud. "They want us to go for a post-game interview." The captain started, parting from the hug. "I'll meet you there after the shower?" Andre answered with a simple nod, a small smile on his face. He never really admitted it, but making Gabe proud of his game always made him feel even better about it.

The hot shower helped his nerves to relax, and he stayed for a while under the water, letting it run through him and thinking back on what had just happened. Because it really happened.

Leaving the showers, Andre couldn’t help the corners of his lips to slightly tilt up, receiving pats on the back and hugs from other players as he made his way out of the locker and towards the interview room.

He stopped in front of the door, fixing his hat before he went in. Gabe was already sitting on his chair, and smiled at him as he sat before his name tag. André felt all of the eyes on him, all of the reporters anxious to ask him what he felt when he shot the puck, when it entered the net, when the horn sounded.

The whole interview passed by him like a blur. In the end, they took a couple of answers in Swedish for both of the players, and Andre had to hold back his smile when Gabe said that he expected such an amazing play from him. It was clear he had big expectations for the younger player, and the fact that he had met those expectations was huge for him.

Both of them left the room in silence, making their wait towards the cars stopped in the parking lot. It was already empty, since everyone who was there to watch the game had already gone home, including some of the players who didn’t stay for interviews."Didn't expect anything less from you." Gabe said as they walked towards Andre's car, stopping in front of it. "Kör vidare, gubben.”

#nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey fic #hockey imagine #nhl fluff #hockey #hockey fanfiction #nhl writing #gabe landeskog #andre burakovsky #colorado avalanche

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csjanuaryjoy · 4 years

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CSJJ: Week Three Roundup!

Another week, another deluge of awesome stories to while away some time with. We’re in the home stretch and very excited to see what else our writers have in store for us!! 🎉

January 16: Kittens for Quarantine by @delightfully-difficult-pirate Modern AU. During a storm, a stray cat runs into Emma’s home. Killian, Storybrooke’s new shelter manager, comes to help her out.

January 17: a new land of untold stories in artwork by @mariakov81 Just imagine: Henry brings a new book written in Cyrillic, the book opens itself, and Emma and Killian are trapped in a completely different world.

January 19: Sowing Seeds of Trust by @jrob64 Modern AU. Emma Swan is a young woman without a family, friends, a home, and now a boyfriend after he tries to pin his crime on her.

January 20: if you carry the torch (i’ll follow the light) by @beyourlifeline Modern Riverdale-inspired AU. Killian was her first real best friend, close practically since the day he and his brother moved in next door to her, traveling across the ocean from England to Maine to live with their father after their mother passed away.

January 21: Puzzle Pieces picsets by @resident-of-storybrooke Modern AU. During Christmas, Killian and Emma both find their home and put those missing puzzle pieces together.

January 23: love languages by @captain-emmajones During the six weeks of peace, Emma and Killian have an important conversation.

January 24: A New Game Plan by @onthecyberseas Sports AU. Ten years after the events of Not In The Game Plan, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reunite to celebrate the anniversary of the Super Bowl victory.

January 24: home by @thisonesatellite 3B Divergence. Emma stops running because she finally knows what she wants. Now all she has to do is talk to Neal and Henry.

Week One | Week Two | Week Three

#cs ff #cs fic #cs fic rec #csjj #csjj2021 #csjj 2021 #cs january joy

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krakenbait · 3 years

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kraken bait 2: no stats just vibes

hello and welcome back to another installment of the kraken bait list, where i make random predictions about who i think is ending up in seattle come the expansion draft! i’ve got a special edition today, as i didn’t just do a few players. no, i did an entire mock expansion draft, with a player pulled from each of the 30 teams participating. i followed the expansion draft rules and had the help of corwin @chaos-hockey as my CapFriendly consultant (and solver of indecision), but for the most part, this is, as The Broadscast says, no stats, just vibes.

so without further ado, let’s get into it!

Anaheim Ducks: Danton Heinen

thank @charliemashavoy for this idea

Arizona Coyotes: Lawson Crouse

i don’t know many yotes players, so might as well pick one whose name i at least recognize

Boston Bruins: Jake DeBrusk

corwin and i went back and forth on this one a little. it was between debrusk and trent frederic, but corwin as the bruins fan said frederic was too good to give up

Buffalo Sabres: Anders Bjork

this slot was occupied by taylor hall until he got traded, so why not the guy hall got traded for?

Calgary Flames: Matthew Tkachuk

i’m gonna throw them under the bus- this one was all corwin. it seems pretty unusual to me that the flames would leave tkachuk exposed, but hey, weird things happen, i guess

Carolina Hurricanes: Brock McGinn

this slot was originally occupied by haydn fleury until he got traded. finding a replacement was a bit tricky since i don’t know a whole lot about the canes depth type players, but corwin and i settled on mcginn

Chicago Blackhawks: Dylan Strome

one of my original kraken bait picks! (thanks @jakejuentzel) corwin argued with me on this one (they thought it should be adam gaudette), but again, no stats just vibes

Colorado Avalanche: Ryan Graves

i like gravy a lot, but with the avs defensive depth, he’ll definitely be exposed. however, he’s a good enough player that seattle taking him is a good possibility. from one of my favorite teams to another!

Columbus Blue Jackets: Boone Jenner

similar deal to the canes. i originally had one of the goalies here, but apparently elvis isn’t eligible for the expansion draft, and i also don’t really know the jackets roster. corwin tossed out jenner and i said sure

Dallas Stars: Jamie Oleksiak

don’t have much commentary here. the vibes are right

Detroit Red Wings: Christian Djoos

isn’t christian juice just wine? (i’m sorry i’m sorry)

Edmonton Oilers: Tyson Barrie

another original kraken bait! it just seems right

Florida Panthers: Mackenzie Weegar

i do not know the panthers at all and neither does corwin, but i recognized this name and decided to go for it. i will take advice from a panthers consultant for the next edition of this list if you are upset

Los Angeles Kings: Trevor Moore

i don’t know who this is but it seems right enough

Minnesota Wild: Matt Dumba

i kind of protested this one a little because i like dumba as a player, but i could see him getting exposed and taken by seattle

Montreal Canadiens: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

it took me three tries to spell that right. oops.

Nashville Predators: Juuse Saros

corwin and i disagreed on this one again. i thought saros would be the goalie the preds protect since he’s significantly younger than rinne, but corwin argued the preds like rinne too much to leave him exposed (not that i could see seattle taking rinne), so i gave them this one

New Jersey Devils: Nathan Bastian

OUCH OUCH IT HURTS the idea of nate being separated from mikey in the expansion draft is painful. but i was having a tough time thinking of the devils expansion draft situation so corwin tossed out a name. to quote them, “ron francis doesn’t care about your feelings!”

New York Islanders: Sebastian Aho

the inferior sebastian aho gets shipped to seattle. it makes sense.

New York Rangers: Kevin Rooney

it just seems right for this former devil to rejoin the cryptid gang with the kraken.

Ottawa Senators: Victor Mete

i don’t know a whole lot about him aside from the fact that the habs let him go on waivers, but he seems like the kraken bait type

Philadelphia Flyers: Nolan Patrick

again with the controversy! and again i’m blaming corwin. this seems kind of far-fetched to me, but they were adamant, so...

Pittsburgh Penguins: Brandon Tanev

maybe he’ll find some more ghosts in seattle

San Jose Sharks: Mario Ferraro

sharks fan friends i’m sorry! it feels right though. (and just imagine how good @18minutemajor‘s kraken drawings would look...)

St. Louis Blues: Jacob de la Rose

i could not tell you who this is. i am also accepting blues consultation

Tampa Bay Lighting: Blake Coleman

pickles to seattle has become my favorite kraken bait theory of late and i am not getting off this boat anytime soon

Toronto Maple Leafs: Travis Dermott

i don’t know much about the leafs so i’m trusting corwin’s judgement here

Vancouver Canucks: Jake Virtanen

this slot was originally occupied by adam gaudette before he got traded, but i feel like virtanen has equally the right vibes

Washington Capitals: Vitek Vanecek

the only thing i really know about the caps roster is that they’re old as dirt, so this seems about right

Winnipeg Jets: Laurent Brossoit

i’m still a little iffy on this one but corwin and i couldn’t think of anyone better. i think we can do better on the goalie situation for the next go-around though...

and that is that for kraken bait: no stats just vibes edition!

i will probably do another list soon, maybe around the end of the regular season, so if you have strong kraken bait opinions or just know a team that i don’t, drop me an ask or a DM and i’ll cite you as a kraken bait consultant on the next list!

#kraken bait #seattle kraken #expansion draft

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oceantail-oceantail · 4 years

Text

Skephalo Week, Day 1: Soulmates

Title: spin me right round (read on ao3)

Summary:

Bad’s red string of fate that looped around his pinky always jumped around, always spinning around him as his soulmate traveled across the world. They never seemed to stay in the same place for longer than a year.

Every time it moved, he used his father’s compass and globe to estimate where they might be and wrote down his calculations in his journal.

It was quite a coincidence that the locations matched up almost perfectly with Skeppy’s timeline of traveling.

Bad’s string didn’t appear when he was born. It wasn’t a big deal, around 50% of babies were born without a complete string. His soulmate just wasn’t born yet.

If anything, most people preferred to be older than their soulmate. It gave them just a bit more information on their perfect half: the age difference and their birthday.

And sure enough, almost 5 years later, Bad’s string flared to life, stretching northward.

He marked down the date in a small leather journal his mother gave him, in horrible, scribbly four-year-old handwriting.

January 17th, 2000.

~~~

Bad’s string always jumped around, always changing the direction it was coming from.

His soulmate never seemed to stay in the same place for longer than a year.

It started off stretching north. The day it appeared, his father flipped open an ancient looking compass and presented him a massive world globe. Bad spent the rest of the day learning about the Red String of Fate and how to use a compass and a globe to estimate where his soulmate might be, stretching his tiny fingers across the wide expanse of the globe, tracing outlines of different continents and oceans. (Later there would be computer programs to more accurately triangulate positioning, but his father always loved sticking to tradition).

The string only pointed north for a year before it did a complete 180 and now tugged out southward. It was a little embarrassing to admit that he brought his compass and globe to a kindergarten show-and-tell and figured out his soulmate’s new location in front of the class. (“and based on the direction, increase in movement, and degree, I think that they’re in Tampa!”). (Looking back, he was almost right. Clearwater, Florida was only a 30 minute drive from Tampa).

By the end of high school, Bad had several locations scribbled down in his journal, not even including locations that lasted only a week or two ( vacations, most likey).

-North, still in the US, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan?

-TAMPA, FLORIDA

-Farther north than before, Canada or the northernest states??? Ontario (Toronto maybe)

-California? Nevada? Definitely west coast

-Northeast coast, New York or New Jersey area

-Northwest coast? Higher than Nevada/California. Oregon or Washington?

The strangest change happened just after he graduated high school. The red sting pointed directly eastward, out into the open ocean.

That angle was an interesting one. And since it remained steady in that direction, he knew his soulmate wasn’t back in Florida. That means they lived on the other side of the world, and based on some quick calculations with his globe and compass, he would probably guess they were somewhere in the Middle East or Asia.

Bad only lived in one city his whole life and he genuinely wondered how his soulmate felt about having to move around all the time. The thought of having to adapt to a new school and a new city sounded terrifying to him.

But regardless, for as long as he could remember, his red string of fate always seemed to be spinning around him as his soulmate traveled across the world.

~~~

The muffinhead who tried to apply to be a mod on MunchyMC was so annoying. When the call ended, Bad could feel the beginning of a headache building up behind his forehead.

He had no idea why he didn’t decline the call the next time he called.

It was probably his imagination, but his string almost seemed… brighter?

~~~

A simple internet search informed him that Skeppy's birthday was January 17th, 2000.

Bad hit Ctrl+W as fast as he could and slammed his laptop shut.

For as much as he loved puzzling out where his soulmate was on the other end of his red string when he was younger, it was a completely different situation to have his potential soulmate one Skype call away.

~~~

Apparently, Skeppy would be moving in with TapL and Spifey in L.A. Bad was happy for them of course, but he couldn’t help the simmering of annoyance that churned in his stomach.

Did he have the right to be jealous? He and Skeppy had been talking about a meet up for months now and it still hasn’t happened. Bad had always been an indecisive person and he knew his inability to commit to a meet-up must have been aggravating for his much more energetic and decisive friend. It was his own insecurity and nervousness that prevented him from meeting up with Skeppy first, right?

It didn’t matter in the end though, he decided. Now just wasn't the right time. Besides, he’d only known Skeppy for just over a year at this point. Bad had known plenty of other online friends for much longer and he didn’t meet up with them yet either.

Next year, in 2020, maybe he’d be ready.

The day Skeppy was set to fly to L.A. the string slowly stopped from pulling south, and started pulling west.

~~~

The only excuse Bad has was that it was late at night and he was tired.

Vulnerability in general was complex for him. There was a surprising amount of accurate information out there about him either told by himself or his friend. He finds it easy to talk about stories from his life, sharing with his viewers random anecdotes and information but his online personality is different than his personal life. It’s hard to be vulnerable, truly vulnerable, especially with someone you love.

He stayed on TeamSpeak with Skeppy for hours, whispered conversations and secrets spilling out between them with only accompanied by the light tapping of their keyboards and soft mouse clicks as they aimlessly wander around the SMP.

Bad learned that Skeppy’s string was anchored in one spot. No matter where he moved across the world, the string alway pointed unerringly back to his unmoving soulmate.

Skeppy spent the first portion of the night rambling about the places he’s traveled in his short 19 years of life.

It was quite a coincidence that the locations matched up almost perfectly with Skeppy’s timeline of traveling.

When the sun rises over the horizon, they both pretended to not remember what happened.

The string keeps moving and moving, spinning him around and around.

~~~

Skeppy, TapL, and Spifey's lease on their L.A. house expired in Febuary and the string moved back south, stretching towards what Bad knows is Clearwater, Florida.

By May, Skeppy's already bored of Florida and packs up to move to Texas. Bad's string adjusted accordingly.

A trip back to L.A., then back to Clearwater, then to Dubai, back to Clearwater, then to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday, and back again to Florida.

Everytime Skeppy traveled, Bad's string followed.

~~~

Skeppy was a lightweight.

Only two shots in and completely wasted. Truly astonishing. Coupled with the fact that he was streaming, it was just a recipe for disaster.

Bad was trying desperately to keep his frustration at bay, hoping the irritation and desperation didn’t leach into his voice. He really hoped Skeppy wouldn’t mind him pulling this card when he watched back the VOD back sober, but at this point he just needed Skeppy to end stream before he could accidentally dox himself or spill even more embarrassing information about himself.

“Who’s going to pick me up from the airport?”

Skeppy’s reply was tentative, almost fragile. “I will.”

Bad pushed the advantage, ignoring the way his red string seemed to hum at his words. “Well, if you’re streaming you can’t be there.”

“Bad, I’ll pick you up,” Skeppy said, his voice soft, impossibly soft.

Bad felt his annoyance fade away, replaced with a rush of affection. “Alright, well end your steam and you can pick me up at the airport once we meet up in, a couple weeks or months or whatever.”

“Okay fine,” Skeppy whined, burying his face in his hands, “I’ll end it for Bad. Goodnight guys.”

He was going to have a long talk with that muffinhead after the hangover passed.

~~~

Bad didn't text Skeppy when the plane landed.

Skeppy should know.

~~~

“Hey dude!” Skeppy exclaimed, spotting Bad from across the baggage claim. Bad yanked his last suitcase off the conveyor belt before turning to glance up at his best friend, who was half-walking half-jogging awkwardly towards him. Skeppy’s body language screamed of apprehensive exhilaration, but Bad probably wasn’t much better. His hands trembled as securing his last piece of luggage on his cart.

Skeppy’s gaze was flickering back and forth between Bad’s face and the glowing red string stretching between their pinky fingers. He didn’t look surprised to see it, just nervous.

That one realization sent an inordinate amount of relief crashing over him. Skeppy wasn’t surprised. He knew. I knew. He’s here!

“BAD!” Skeppy finally crashed into him, wrapping his arms tightly around him in a hug, and Bad buried his head into Skeppy’s shoulder with a laugh.

“Skeppy!”

Their shared string of fate glowed brighter.

#this was a wip before the prompts were released lol #i probs wont do the whole week bc i cant commit like that wtf #skephalo #badboyhalo #skeppy #Celia writes

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sheerbeautyreigns · 4 years

Text

SECRET

Part 50 (Last chapter)

Joe sighed deeply and smiled sleepily. “You still awake?” Jade asked, barely above a whisper “Just about. I’m shattered.”

“I wore you out huh? Bet you’ll never live that down.” A smug smile crossed her face as she nuzzled against him. It was almost 1am and they had been fucking on and off all evening. They’d both been so hungry for each other. Joe was so grateful to have her back in his arms, determined to never let her go this time.

The next morning, they both woke around 9am. Joe had persuaded Jade to come back to his house in Tampa. He wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her there. The traffic was terrible but they made it around 3pm.

They spent the afternoon getting cosy, ordering in food and watching TV. “Ugh I’m so full.” Jade groaned after a while, laying back on the sofa. Joe looked at her, trying to contain a smile. “What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing. Just you feeling sorry for yourself.” He shook his head. “Hey, it’s you being a bad influence.” She scowled before he climbed on top of her “Oh I can be a bad influence.” He cooed leaning down to kiss her “Oh stop!” She laughed as he nuzzled at her neck. “I’m still hungry.” He kneeled down on the floor between her legs, fingers lowering the band of her loose fitting shorts. She was breathless, blushing as he removed them, followed by her Brazilian briefs. He prized her legs apart and lowered his mouth down on her clit, gently and expertly massaging it with his tongue. She could cum right there at just the mere sight of him. Her fingers ran through the loose strands of hair that hung around his face. What had she done to deserve such a man. “Aww fuck.” She cried, as he hungrily licked her out. He didn’t care that she just swore. He loved to make her feel good. He then shifted his position and began to massage her clit with his fingers. She knew she was blushing way too hard as he looked down on her. Cries of pleasure escaped her as he forced her to cum. He lowered down on her, kissing her passionately. A cheeky grin appeared on his face before he got up and walked over to the Christmas tree. He mused over the few gifts that were set underneath before picking out a rectangular box and brought it back over to her. “What’s this!?”

“Why don’t you open it and find out.” He urged lowering next to her on the sofa. She grinned as she carefully removed the gift wrap. He watched intently as she removed the lid of the brown box and sifted through the crepe paper. “Oh baby!” She gasped as she laid eyes on a gorgeous black satin gown. “It’s beautiful.” She set the box aside, took it out and held it against her. “You shouldn’t have...”

“Well you’ll need something for tonight.’ He started, rising to his feet. “What to you mean?” She seemed a little confused. “You hardly think we’re going to sit in on New Years Eve, do you?”

“Oh...well I didn’t think considering we just made up yesterday?” She was genuinely surprised. “Well I managed to pull a few strings.” He smirked. “Baby, I would have been happy just to stay in. Are you sure? I don’t mi-“

“Shhhh,” He pressed his finger to her lips. “Now why don’t you go and get yourself ready. We’re leaving at 8.” She shook her head at him before scurrying off with the dress. Joe smiled to himself, lowering to the sofa. He thought about how much things had changed in the last 24 hours. It was like his whole world had flipped and he was feeling more positive than ever. After a few moments he went upstairs to let Jade know he was heading out and told her he wouldn’t be long.

An hour had passed and Joe was still gone. It was almost 6pm. Jade had just finished showering when he returned. “Everything OK? You were gone for ages.” She observed as she sat at the dressing table, towel drying her hair. “Sorry baby, I got held up. I’m gonna jump in the shower.” She pursed her lips thinking something was a little off but she continued to get ready.

She decided to go for sweeping, wavy hair, pinned back on one side and simple, natural make-up topped off with dramatic lashes and a cat eye. After she slipped into her dress, she stopped to admire herself in the floor length mirror. “You look beautiful.”

“You scared me.” She turned to face him. “Look at you.” He looked so handsome in his black suit and black shirt combo. His eyes trailed up and down her body. “It fits you perfectly.” He pulled her into a kiss, just before his phone went off.

“The driver’s here. You ready baby?” He checked. She grabbed her purse and they both headed out. “So are you gonna give me a hint at where we’re going?”

“Not at all. I think you’ll like it. Well, I hope you like it.” He gripped on her leg which was exposed by the slit in her dress. “I already can’t wait to take this dress off later.” A devilish smile crossed her face.

He had taken her to Armani’s Restaurant at the Hyatt. It was busy, yet chilled. They had a table by the window overlooking the bay. “This is beautiful baby. I can’t believe you managed to get us a table at such short notice.” Jade smiled, taking in the elegant surroundings.

They enjoyed great Italian food and drink over the next couple of hours and then moved upstairs to the terrace. Joe had a bottle of champagne delivered as well as two flutes brought to their table as they awaited the fireworks show. “I never imagined we’d be here, after all that’s happened.” She reminisced. He sighed, resting back on the cushions, putting his arm around her. “Neither did I. I’m so glad. They kissed softly before Joe shifted, making a little space before them.

“In the short amount of time we’ve been together, you’ve changed my life for the better. I love you so much baby.” He lowered to his knee in front of her. “I want you to be mine. For good.” He produced a small black box from the breast pocket of his jacket. Jade gasped behind her hands as he flipped the lid to reveal a simple, yet elegant white gold diamond engagement ring. They didn’t even realise that the countdown for the fireworks had begun. “Will you marry me?”

She could feel a huge lump gather in her throat, like she might cry at any given moment. Tears sprung from her eyes “Is that a yet?” Joe’s eyes were filled with hope as his voice was drowned out by the sudden fireworks. She nodded ecstatically before they both embraced. “I love you soo much.” She cried. They kissed passionately to the backdrop of fireworks lighting up the bay.

The End

#roman reigns #wwe #tribal chief #fic #roman reigns fic #fanfiction #Writing

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secretlittlerandezvous · 4 years

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Intimidating - Victor Hedman

Summary: The reader is good friends with Alex Killeen and some of the other players. At a party, she meets Victor Hedman for the first time and immediately feels intimidated by him until he decides to surprise her with the sweetest thing possible.

Notes: I obviously suck at coming up with names for the stories - my apologies 🙈

Words: 1265

“And you, you scare people because you are whole all by yourself.” - Lauren Alex Hooper

Being close friends with a hockey player without a doubt meant many perks. I could go to any game whenever I wanted and it was never a problem for me to bring a friend because Alex got me a seasonal ticket every year and when I needed he’d make sure my company would get good seats as well. I could proudly smile whenever someone (be it in public or in the media) mentioned how good Alex was or that he scored. He liked to bring me to the empty ice rink whenever I was sad or sometimes purely because it was fun, and he loved to teach me how to play hockey. Most importantly it meant being in a good company of his teammates who were all nice and funny guys and one could never be bored with them. They’d randomly come knocking on my door and hang out in the living room and they’d text me to arrive to whatever bar or arcade they were at. Not only Alex but also Sergy, Cirelli, Point, and Erik became some of my closest friends.

There were still players I haven’t met. Usually, the ones who were married with children already and they naturally didn’t have time or interest in partying or playing video games or just hanging out while doing absolutely nothing. But that was about to change as Alex 31st birthday was coming up and everyone (myself included) was invited to the party.

“Happy birthday you old man!” I said cheerfully as I put the gifts on the floor next to me so I could hug Alex.

“I’m in a good mood so I’m gonna ignore the fact that you called me an old man.” He chuckled. “Glad you’re here Y/n.”

“Wouldn’t miss this for the world.” I smiled at him.

“Well, the food and drinks are pretty much everywhere as you can see,” he said as he pointed at all the tables in the kitchen as well as in the living room that were full of food, snacks, and all kinds of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. “The boys are in the living room and I asked them to introduce you to the rest throughout the night. So, suit yourself and have fun.” He smiled and ran away just as quickly as he came to me to greet the new quests.

And the boys did exactly what Alex told me they would do. For the first hour and it was just me and the boys hid in the corner or in the kitchen depending on which room was at the moment less crowded and we talked about life, what was new and what stayed the same, we joked around and drank and completely forgot about the rest of the people around us. Later others started to join us or stopped by to say hi and chat for a bit and that was probably the reason why the boys remembered they were supposed to introduce me to the team. And so, I met the entire team of the Tampa Bay Lighting. Or at least I thought.

One man still remained. The man who distanced himself as much as he possibly could, the man who never talked to more than three people at once and even then, he was usually quiet and let the other person talk. Victor Hedman. Of course, I knew who he was, and I adored him for his talent and loved watching him on the ice. From everyone, I knew he was one of the nicest and warmest people out there. But in real life, I felt quite the opposite. He was taller than any man I’ve met in my entire life, taller than anyone else in the room or in the team, generally bigger and stronger than others. Just watching him from the distance I felt smaller and shorter than usual and it didn’t feel nice. His face was beautiful however I couldn’t say if he was more sad or serious or even angry. He looked serious for the most part and when he randomly smiled I for some reason thought it was the saddest smile I’ve ever seen.

“And at least but definitely not last, Victor Hedman,” Sergy announced as he pulled Victor away from the people he was talking to and dragged him to us. “Hedy, this is Y/n, Alex’ friend we’ve been telling you about.”

“Hey,” he said, his voice was deep but still softer than I expected it to be.

“Hi,” I said back as I shook his hand. I felt my cheeks turn red simply from the fact that this man for many reasons felt so intimidating and I didn’t know how to deal with it. His huge figure and serious face made me lose all my confidence. I felt unsure, nervous, and slightly frightened in his presence although he didn’t do anything bad in fact the truly seemed to be nice to people, he knew.

Shortly after the encounter, I went outside to get some fresh air, pick up my confidence, and put myself together so I could return back to the party without being nervous and intimidated by a man who just happened to be as huge as he was but did absolutely nothing wrong. It was irrational and rude of me to get scared and be frightened when there truly was no other reason than his figure to make me feel this way about his. I always tried not to judge people by their looks and I never did for the most part and happily got to know the people before forming a certain opinion on them. But Victor Hedman didn’t make it any easier for me.

“Hi,” a low voice said behind me, making me shrug a little because it caught me off guard and I immediately turned around to see who it was. To my surprise, it was Victor standing a few feet behind me with a nervous look. “Alex started cutting the cake so I thought I would get you a piece before it’s all gone.” He said with a smile and nervously ran his fingers through his hair.

“Oh,” I breathed out from a shock but quickly got my act together and walked closer to him to take the cake from him. “Thank you,” I said smiling back at him.

And so we stood there in silence, in the dark as the warm summer wind gently brushed against our skin. I stood right next to him no longer scared and nervous but rather curious about this man and what he was truly like. From that moment I wanted to get to know him more than anyone else and couldn’t get this huge man out of my mind.

“Where are you going?” He asked with a slight Swedish accent when I turned around and reached for the door.

“Just wanted to get us a drink or something,” I mumbled and, in my mind, cursed myself for thinking it was a good idea to leave without saying a word.

“So, you’ll come back?”

I nodded, my cheeks turning red once again but this time not because he made me feel intimidated but because I took an interest in him and wanted to spend time with him alone. “I will.”

“That’s good,” he reached out for my hand and gently stroked it with his thumb. “I’d like to get to know you more.”

“That’s good,” I repeated after him. “Because I want the exact same thing.” I smiled.

#victor hedman #victor hedman imagine #victor hedman one shot #victor hedman writing #victor hedman imagines #tampa bay lightning #tampa bay lighting imagine #tampa bay lighting one shot #tampa bay lighting writing #tampa bay lighting imagines #nhl players imagine #nhl imagine #nhl writing #nhl one shot #hockey imagine #hockey one shot #hockey writing #hockey imagines

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creaturesfromelsewhere · 4 years

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Gardens of Stone

Let’s face it, as far as cool, gothic cemeteries go, Central Florida certainly wasn’t first in line. Sure, there’s perennial favorite Greenwood in Orlando, & Tolomato in St. Augustine (which has bragging rights to oldest marked grave in the state), but during these trying pandemical times, Greenwood is closed on weekends & Tolomato is always closed. Thus, it is the time to shine for Oaklawn Cemetery in Tampa.

Oaklawn, a fine example of southern gothic, was founded in 1850 & is located right in downtown Tampa at 606 E. Harrison St. Once it was two cemeteries separated by a fence, the other being Saint Louis Catholic Cemetery, but the fence is gone now & one can freely pass between. Oaklawn is amazing. As Stefan from Saturday Night Live might say, “This place has everything: grey stone walls, wrought iron fences with creaky gates, twisted & deformed trees deliciously draped with Spanish moss, neglect & decay, ghosts, & the bouncer is a bulldog who looks like Wilford Brimley & the password is ‘diabeetus.’” Well, maybe not that last part - took the Stefan analogy too far.

But seriously, Oaklawn is a must-visit for the darkly inclined on any excursion to the Tampa Bay area. Just a mile and a quarter from Ybor City, and right off I-275, Oaklawn is easy peasy to find and right in the heart of things. Parking is the only issue. On a weekday...well, just avoid it on a weekday. On the weekends, however, there’s parking as far as the eye can see (you still have to pay for it, of course - Tampa politicians like to buy nice things for themselves, you know).

Once inside, your icy, black heart will soar on demonic wings. First off - blessed shade! Shady spots under Florida’s pitiless sun are worth their weight in cursed pirate treasure, and Oaklawn has an embarrassment of riches. Cast aside, if only temporally, that SPF 100 sunscreen my obsidian clad brethren & cease your squinting and cowering; Oaklawn has you covered - literally. And just to make that shade extra dense, the trees are positively drenched in sheer Spanish moss.

If there’s one thing Oaklawn is lacking, that would be mausoleums. It has but one, a rather modest red brick structure with four internment chambers within - two used perhaps, and two definitely unused. As with much of the rest of the grounds, the structure is not in the best of shape and as it is unlabeled, somewhat mysterious.

The visuals throughout Oaklawn are stunning and I imagine many a goth has photos of themselves posing before one or another of the plethora of interesting graves. For anyone with even a minor interest in photography, the multitude of textures, the interplay of light and shadow, and the fascinating juxtaposition of natural vs artificial offer abundant visual studies. Here are some examples, minus the goth.

The perfect location for the stereotypical goth picnic or just for a late afternoon stroll, contemplating one’s own mortality or just to examine the stone sentinels, Oaklawn doesn’t disappoint. Although many of the gravestones are worn to silence, some are remarkably well preserved and carry their missives boldly, Entropy be damned. Take, for example, the obelesk for one John F. Brown who died in 1867, which appears almost new.

While others...not so much. Take the shattered slab which covers one Thomas J. Cook, for example - did someone break in, or did someone break out?

As with most gardens of stone, it is always interesting to visit with the locals. Let’s meet young Valeria Butzloff, daughter of Paul & Anne who lived from April 29th, 1886 to October 12, 1907, during the height of the Victorian Age. We are even provided with a remarkably well preserved memorial photograph of the lovely Valeria, likely taken just before her passing.

To her right lies her father, Paul, who died 11 years later & to her left is a plot for her mother, which doesn’t seem to have been used, but it was prepared and includes a statue, perhaps of Valeria which has sadly lost it’s head, shoulder, and a hand. Apparently, her mother is interred at nearby Woodlawn Cemetery which was founded in 1888.

And that’s where our knowledge would end, except for the wonders of the world hive mind. A quick search dispels some of the mists of the past & reveals Valeria’s obituary which lists place of death as Denver; her mortal remains being returned to her grieving parents via one final journey upon this mortal realm.

Valeria’s story is but one of scores, hundreds, waiting to be discovered. How Valeria died & under what circumstances seems to be lost to time. Unless you ask her ghost. Yes, Oaklawn is said to be haunted, & although Valeria is not thought to be one of apparitions seen, perhaps one of the permanent residents is an acquaintance & can pass along a message. Regarding that, I’ve been to Oaklawn many times, and have walked by at night many more times, but I never saw anyone of the spectral inclination loitering about.

Or, perhaps I’m just unlucky?

-CreaturesFromElsewhere 1/21/2021

#oaklawn cemetery #goth #darkly inclined #ghost #gothic #southern gothic #Spanish moss #cemetery #gardens of stone

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axiomsofice · 3 years

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2021 NHL Draft: Best Classes

Dallas: it’s tough to get a read on the Stars first selection, Wyatt Johnson, as he didn’t play this year. That being said trading back is usually a win in terms of value, perhaps more so this year than ever. Stankoven and Martino are really good picks that should have probably gone a round earlier than where the Stars got them. I have generally positive thoughts on Grushnikov, Roulette, and Bar as well. All in all from volume to value, Dallas covered a lot of ground with their work.

Minnesota: Judd Brackett might be one of the foremost directors of scouting, and GM Guerin smartly stepped aside and let his scouting staff work their magic. Wallstedt was an absolute steal at 20 and should help carry on the tradition of not conceding many goals against. Lambos was good value just a few picks later, whose play overseas took him out of the top tier of defenders, but he definitely has lots of tools.

Anaheim: picking third was really the first decision of the night, and although maybe not third on my own list, McTavish kept rising as the year wore thru. GM Murray noted that he brings a slightly different style (power) than their the fineness displayed by their other top prospects, Zegras and Drysdale. The Ducks managed to get really nice value on day 2 as well, nabbing borderline first rounders Zellweger and Pastujov in the 2nd round. Tschigrel in the 5th was nice as well.

Columbus: Trades for Bean and Boqvist notwithstanding (huge wins btw) the Jackets had lots to work with. Kent Johnson at 5th was perhaps a bit bold, but tantalizing offensive prowess is exactly what this team is missing. Sillinger is a nice stylistic compliment to Johnson as a shot generator. Ceulemans was a fine pick and has the skating and physicality to be an intriguing prospect as he honed his game in level beyond the AJHL. I’m a big fan of Svozil, especially in the third. In all a huge weekend for the future of a franchise that’s suffered a long few years of talent depletion.

Buffalo: It’d be hard not to cone out a “winner” picking first. I’d send Power back to college for a year, but regardless a turning of the page has been needed for this team, and early positives from Coach Granato’s tenure could create an environment for a blueline with two 1st overall picks to start playing as such.

Detroit: I know many wings fans were hoping for Eklund or Wallstedt at 6th, but they shouldn’t be too upset with getting both Edvinsson and Cossa in the first round. User an is determined to have a defence group filled with towering talent. Edvinsson skates really well, especially for his size, which makes him a near lock to make it to the NHL. He might be a bit raw offensively but he is daring (or creative) and shows flashes. Maybe the fanfare surrounding Wallstedt was a bit higher than Cossa, but it’s never a bad thing to end up with your own top ranked goalie. Buium, Savage, and Mazur out of the USHL along with Dower Nielsen are fine. If I had to guess, stocking up on defenders early in a significant way probably makes sense for a huge rebuild, and adding one of the highly anticipated lottery pick forwards in the 22 and/or 23 drafts means we should expect the Wings to start turning things around 2-3 years from now.

Winnipeg: The Jets had an amazing draft, especially considering their middle of the pack slotting. Lucius is a capable goalscorer, adding Chibrikov in the 2nd was high value as well. Kuzmin is a good prospect, but I really like the fit as Winnipeg is without much offensive skill on the back end (for now, I do like Heinola).

Los Angeles: Like the Jets, the Kings didn’t have many picks but made them count. Clarke is a great player, and an even better fit for the league’s most prolific prospect system. The two parties should really get the most out of each other. Pinelli, Helenius, and Kirsanov we’re good values as well, and all four players bring a distinct style from each other.

Nashville: Svechkov and L’Heureux are two really interesting forwards, and heading to a program that has had trouble developing talent at that position makes their significance that much greater. Svechkov was the top ranked Russian on nearly everyone’s list, noted for a strong defensive results and a player who helps get the most out of linemates. L’Heureux is fiery, feisty, and skilled. Grabbing Olsson, a defenceman playing in the SHL, in the 3rd round is great value as well.

Carolina: The hallmarks of this regime were on full display, trading back and taking lots of interesting prospects. Say what you will about what they’re willing to pay whom, the Hurricanes know how to keep the pipeline flowing. Koivunen, Morrow, and Heimosalmi is a great haul for the second round.

Calgary: the Flames were also picking middle of the pack, and managed to grab 4 players I really like in Coronato, Stromgren, Huckins, and Whynot. There’s a certain, for lack of a better word, pluckiness? Assertiveness? About Coronato that reminds me of Zary, even Dube, meaning he seems right up the Flames alley, although at least for now Coronato seems to have a bit more offensive upside than those two.

Seattle: Getting Beniers, who was the only other name that I saw get consideration at first overall, was the right pick. Especially considering how hard it was to find true centres thru the expansion draft (even for Vegas), the Kraken did well to acquire a staple at their weakest position. Winterton was decent value in the 3rd, while Evans and Ottovianen bring different sets of skills to start a brand new system.

Biggest Steals

Eklund: thinking Eklund would be gone by this point, I imagined it’d be hard for the Sharks to pass on Wallstedt. That being said I had Eklund ranked 3rd overall after an amazing season in the SHL, where he arguably outplayed highly rated teammate Holtz. Since the Karlsson trade, the Sharks have done well adding lots of talent up front that should start making an impact in the next year or 2. Obviously the goaltending has been a huge issue recently, but adding an influx of offensive talent should help get the most out of Burns and Karlsson while they still have something to give.

Wallstedt had such good results in the SHL already, it’s hard to imagine he fell so far. It is always nice to see a goalie of his caliber go to a team that appreciates defence.

Lysell is a really good player with the harmless kind of “character issues” (from what I understand) which sounds like he just wanted to get icetime. He was barely used in the SHL, so his numbers aren’t anything to look at. Mostly I’m just having Pastrnak flashbacks, dreading the day when he starts lighting it up for Boston.

Chayka I really thought would go higher, as he’s a good two way defenceman who plays a strong pro style game. In that sense he fits Vegas’ modus operandi, and really cements the continued strength on the Knight’s back end.

Raty was in the conversation for 1st overall at the beginning of the year, and despite a rough season there’s no way he should’ve fallen to the middle of the 2nd round. GM of the year every year Lou earning his 21/22 award between this selection and his recent cap clearing masterclass.

Behrens was getting some late 1st/ early second hype, so for Colorado to get him with their draft’s first selection at the end of the 2nd round is quite good, not that they are desperate for options when is comes to young blueliners.

Robertsson fell to the 3rd round, honestly this might be the first thing I’ve liked from the Blues since their cup win.

Duke is way too good to be falling to Tampa Bay in the 5th round. Maybe he’s not quite as obvious a steal as Point was, but Tampa is showing how it built its dynasty.

#NHL Draft #dallas stars #Minnesota Wild #columbus blue jackets #buffalo sabres #detroit red wings #los angeles kings #winnipeg jets #Nashville Predators #Carolina Hurricanes #calgary flames #seattle kraken

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amusement-spark · 3 years

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Busch Gardens Tampa part 5: miscellaneous!

On my most recent visit to BG, I did not ride any rides. I just used the opportunity to enjoy the Florida air, and experience a lot of what BG has to offer besides thrills. I will make a separate post about all the animals. This post will be dedicated to all the random other stuff that doesn't fit neatly another category, as well as some other thoughts I had on this recent trip.

Currently Busch Gardens has three performances throughout the day. I have only had the chance to experience one, Cirque Electric. This dance/stunt show is in the Stanleyville theater over by Tigris and runs every couple hours starting at 3.

The first thing I noticed about the show was it's unique aesthetic. The stage is decorated with gears and other items to build a fun neon steampunk look to the show. The costumes also carry this feel, somewhere between burlesque and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Be aware, there is use of intense lighting effects as well as smoke machines. All the technical aspects of the show, lighting, costuming, sound, etc, are really fun. Arguably it doesn't go with the aesthetic of the park itself, but works as a change of pace from the sometimes generic ruins and buildings of the rest of the park.

The performance itself is a series of circus type stunt acts with dances in between as the transitions. The dances were quick routines, never more than 1 or 2 minutes, but nevertheless had unique costumes for each one, as well as the occasional extra showpiece. The dancers kept the energy going while the stunt performers were setting up for their next thing. You have roller skating, intense balancing, some chair based acrobatics, and a couple other surprises. Sometimes it felt like a mid-tier circus, other times I felt like I was at a particularly nice Ren faire. The final stunt act in particular. Anyone who has been to the Bay Area Ren Fair will likely know what I mean. The performers themselves were all great at managing the crowd and getting well earned applause. It really felt like they were having a lot of fun, even though a couple of the stunts felt just a tad under rehearsed. Possibly part of the showmanship. Still, Cirque Electric is a lot of fun, and a great excuse to get out of the sun for half an hour. If you're wandering Busch Gardens after lunch and need time to digest before your next thrill, check them out. Cirque Electric gets 4/5.

One major aspect of the park that I had not experienced until this most recent trip is the train ride, the Serengeti Express. Currently they only have two of the four train stations open, and since the Skyride is closed, the train is your only way to get around the park while resting your feet. Quick tip, pay attention to the signs that tell you when the next train is arriving. It can hold quite a few passengers, so you don't need to worry about getting there particularly early to ensure a spot on the next train.

The two stations currently operating are Stanleyville, right beside SheiKra, and Nairobi, near the Myobi Reserve and the penguins. Both trips take out around the inside of the park as well as out into the Serengeti area. If you want to spend a but more time out with the animals, I suggest taking the Nairobi station train. However, at least for the time being, you can always get on at one station and ride it until you get back to where you started if you want to see everything.

I'm not gonna lie, the train is kinda magical. The stations themselves have plenty of decorations to evoke an early 20th century adventure, and the train itself is outfitted with old fashioned lanterns. When you're far into the Serengeti, for a moment you can easily forget Tampa, Florida and experience the Safari for what it is. I'm not sure if it's the real train whistle and railroad crossing signs or the fact that that the employees have to wave you off as you embark, but the Stanleyville express is just wonderful. Seeing the rides and everything from a different angle really helps me appreciate all the effort that goes into designing a park like this. Trying to maintain a single theme throughout an entire park is difficult, and the train ride is the perfect way to experience some of the little touches. I'll touch more on the animals themselves in my next post but rest assured, seeing the antelopes and giraffes from the train is one of the best experiences in the park that comes with the price of admission. The Serengeti Express gets a 5/5. I guess I just like trains

The final thing I'm going to touch on here is the Giraffe Bar. Located right beside Cheetah Hunt, and up a whole lotta stairs, you will find, for the time being, the classiest eatery in Busch Gardens. In the same lobby as the Giraffe Bar is the Oasis Pizza, which looks decent, though I haven’t been hungry enough to try it yet. Coming soon they also have the Treetop Kitchen The ambiance of this area is a welcome change of pace. Even the long line felt surprisingly calm.

The Giraffe Bar was quite a few specialty alcohol options. Three frozen cocktails, three on tap, and two curated beer flights. Prices are what you would expect from amusement park alcohol, but on a hot day, a frozen cocktail is more than welcome. I personally tried to Serengeti Sunrise, a fruity rum drink with a orange wedge and strawberry for garnish. As far as ten dollar cocktails go, I've had worse. It was certainly refreshing. Next time I visit I am tempted to try the Thorn & Berry, a whiskey cocktail on tap. A couple of the spirits they use here are from conservation efforts, and presumably these drinks help support those funds. They all sound pretty tasty as well, and a step above the frozen strawberry daiquiri and margaritas you can find at other locations in the park. Bonus note: in order to cut down on single use plastics, the straws for the frozen cocktails are edible. Imagine sucking down rum with a long hollowed Smartie. Pretty dang tasty if you have a sweet tooth like me.

The Giraffe Bar also has three food options meant as small snacks, and not a meal. These were the Giraffe shaped pretzel with beer cheese, a brisket truffle Mac and cheese, and hummus with pita. I tried to pretzel. It's not much to write home about. I was especially disappointed with the beer cheese. Like, you're owned by Budweiser, Busch Gardens. Up your beer game. If you need some carbs, go for it. As expected, a bit pricey but if you're sharing (and have that sweet pass holders discount) not a bad option for an afternoon munch.

The outdoor seating is nice. The Serengeti isnt quite as visible as I would like, but maybe I was just at a bad table. I'll have to go back some time and try different drinks. Oh no, what a travesty. Giraffe Bar gets a 3.5/5. That extra half point was because some birds were chilling on the terrace looking for food and one of them almost went inside. What a cutie. I love birds.

Side note mini review: as part of the Summer Nights event, some of the vendors have new desserts and drink specials. I tried to beignets, nice and soft, and am dying to try the “Churro Explosion” that comes with a bunch of different flavored sauces. Fried pastry gets a 5/5 any day of the week.

Just in 2021, I have already visited Busch Gardens Tampa 4 times. I am still finding new things to experience and enjoy, all included with the price of my annual pass (except for food, obvi). It seems to me that they are always trying to shake things up, especially with drinks and snacks. I just think it’s a really nice park. Later this week I will have my review of the various animal enclosures and experiences. Happy Summer!

#amusement park #busch gardens #tampa #florida #summer #cocktails #trains #roller coasters #circus #acrobats #review

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puckslut44 · 7 years

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I really hope I’m attractive enough to be a puck bunny

#nhl #puck bunny #nhl imagines #toronto maple leafs #dallas stars #las vegas golden knights #edmonton oilers #hockey #boston bruins #winnipeg jets #new york rangers #new york islanders #tampa bay lighting

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bordeleaubeau · 4 years

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my season predictions: RECAP

italicized = season prediction

bold = what actually happened

the metropolitan division.

the flyers will shock most people, pulling a surprisingly decent cup run, possibly making eastern conference finals or the stanley cup final. if they go to the cup final, they will win. since the cup final hasn’t happened yet, we don’t know if the flyers won obviously! but they definitely shocked a LOT of people this season (including myself.) and i’m really confident in my boys and that they’ll go far in the playoffs.

there will be a huge trade within the division that causes an uproar i mean, taylor hall?

kaapo kakko will have more goals than jack hughes - but jack hughes will have more points overall yeah. this didn’t happen but i thought it did. kakko had 10-13-23, meanwhile hughes had 7-14-21. (format goals-assists-total points)

jack hughes will win the calder. lol wishful thinking! still between q. hughes and makar, will definitely end up being makar.

a team expected to be extremely good this year will do the complete opposite and tank. (possibly team that makes big trade?) say it with me: THE NEW JERSEY DEVILS!

columbus will fall to the bottom of the ranks after suffering the loss of duchene and bobrovsky. john tortorello? not happy. columbus didn’t fall to the bottom of the ranks, but they were in the bottom half of the division.

the flyers new young core will start to make an early impact. one of the defensemen will suffer a long-term injury, allowing one of the phantoms to come up and make an instant impact shocking fans. sam morin suffered an injury riiiight after coming back from a torn acl, and tore it again! he wasn’t up with the flyers, he was still in the minors, but he was on the official roster at the start of the season.

joel farabee will make the flyers lineup and be in the calder cup running. (bold. i know.) wishful thinking, again.

sidney crosby will suffer an injury, but it will not be expressed until after the season is over. tba

ovechkin will retire the end of this season or the next. tba

the new york rangers will suffer from the loss of kevin hayes and mats zuccarello – kakko will not be able to fulfill their space. yup! hayes and zucc both thrived on their new teams and the rangers were at a .564 point percentage

standings predictions. (bold prediction is where that team placed and their points)

1st: washington capitals - 94 points 1st - 90 points

2nd: philadelphia flyers - 89 points 2nd - 89 points (spot freaking on)

3rd: pittsburgh penguins - 88 points 3rd - 86 points

4th: new jersey devils - 86 points 8th - 68 points

5th: carolina hurricanes - 81 points 4th - 81 points

6th: new york islanders - 79 points 5th - 80 points

7th: new york rangers - 75 points 7th - 79 points

8th: columbus blue jackets - 72 points 6th - 81 points

the atlantic division.

the florida panthers? yeah, they’re gonna explode. with bobby luo out of there and bob in, they’re gonna be a serious threat. however, bob might suffer a few injuries here and there. i mean, yeah. this happened. but i don’t recall bob having any injuries!

spencer knight will sign his elc at the end of his first year at boston college, starting next season and so forth in the minor league. wishful thinking

this will be a tough division this year! usually the metro is the really close division, the one that you never really know whos playoff bound until the end, but the atlantic might be giving the metro a run for their money. nope! not one bit!

THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS WILL MAKE IT OUT OF THE SECOND ROUND. there, i said it. tba!

the leafs will finally break the curse - however, they do not play boston in the first round and will lose to the b’s in the second round. tba... we shall see.

boston will go onto the eastern conference finals but will lose to the philadelphia flyers in game 7. tba... obviously i didnt predict a pandemic happening

tampa bay will be a powerhouse like they were the previous regular season, but once again will fail to show up in the playoffs. they will not be swept. powerhouse indeed... but not best in their division.

ottawa will have a (slight!) comeback season! they will not be amazing, but they will not be as awful as they have been. i think i just felt bad and said this. this did not happen.

buffalo will have a MUCH better season this year. ummmm kinda?

montreal will have an above mediocre season. carey price will sustain another injury, leaving montreal to rely on one of their prospects. pretty much mediocre. i think i remember price being injured.

cole caufield will sign with the canadiens the end of this season, or will sign if wisconsin loses early in the playoffs and the canadiens make it. wishful thinking... caufield to wisconsin for one more year.

detroit will fall to the bottom of the standings. yes. very much so. #getlarkinout

john tavares will have the c in toronto. auston matthews will have an a. toronto will be set on fire. not literally lmao yup! this happened and i’m proud of it:)

standings predictions. (i am VERY proud of this)

1st: tampa bay lightning - 115 points 2nd - 92 points

2nd: boston bruins - 108 points 1st - 100 points

3rd: toronto maple leafs - 103 points 3rd - 81 points

4th: florida panthers - 99 points 4th - 78 points

5th: montreal canadiens - 94 points 5th - 71 points

6th: buffalo sabres - 89 points 6th - 68 points

7th: ottawa senators - 86 points 7th - 62 points

8th: detriot red wings - 79 points 8th - 39 points

the pacific division:

honestly the pacific is really iffy for me. i dont really like any of these teams besides the flames and the ‘nucks. this is a really mediocre division overall. yes, they were mediocre.

matthew tkachuk will sign with the calgary flames. will suffer an injury early on in the season. he did sign, but no injury for tkachuky early in the season. it was in december.

edmonton will be mediocre. #getmcdavidoutofedmonton connor and leon will carry the team once more, the team will start off weak but make their way up in the standings as the season progresses. by the time they make their way up the ranks it will be too late. nope! edmonton shocked us ALL this year, and even before the pandemic they were on track to make the post season.

phil kessel will have almost no impact on the arizona coyotes whatsoever. he will have a horrible season without crosby. yeeaaahhh. kessel had 14-24-38 this season, but last season while playing in pittsburgh he had 27-55-82.

the vancouver canucks will be significantly better, however, quinn hughes will sustain an injury midway through the season, causing the canucks to suffer. the canucks were actually doing really well! quinn hughes did sustain an injury, but at the beginning of march.

los angeles will still suffer to rebuild their franchise. jonathan quick will be injury plagued. with the signing of turcotte, who really knows however quick did not sustain any injuries this season.

anaheim will be a little bit better than they have been! not amazing, but not bottom of the league rankings. i’m saying they could end up being from 22nd - 18th ish nope! anaheim finished 27th.

viva las vegas! vegas will have a bit of a comeback season similar to their inaugural season. yup!

san jose will fall in the rankings ever so slightly. they will make a decent trade at some point in the season. san jose fell HARD in the standings.

standings predictions.

1st: calgary flames - 103 points 4th - 79 points

2nd: vegas golden knights - 99 points 1st - 86 points

3rd: vancouver canucks - 92 points 3rd - 78 points

4th: san jose sharks - 89 points 8th - 63 points

5th: edmonton oilers - 80 points 2nd - 83 points

6th: anaheim ducks - 73 points 6th - 67 points

7th: los angeles kings - 70 points 7th - 64 points

8th: arizona coyotes - 68 points 5th - 74 points

the central division.

dylan strome and alex debrincat will light the league up again once more - but this time, even more so than last season. they are the toews and kane 2.0 and will certainly be able to hold the fort down in chicago when the two retire. dylan strome had 12-26-38 and alex debrincat had 18-27-45. not awful.

dylan strome will have a 65+ point season. keep in mind strome was traded a few months into the season, imagine what his stats would look like if he had been with chicago the entire season? wishful thinking. but if we had played a full season i believe he would’ve at least made 50.

patrik laine will be traded from the winnipeg jets, but the jets will pull a new york islanders. they lose one of their franchise players but will still manage to kill it. nope! this did not happen, however there were many rumors of laine being traded. fortnite legend.

colorado will be a powerhouse this season. with the addition of andre burakovsky, burky will find himself in denver and will be back to his normal self. yup! colorado managed to surprise everyone with their run.

the reigning 2019 stanley cup champions will suffer the post-cup summer. they will not make it past the second round of the playoffs. well, we shall see.

minnesota will have a slightly better season - they will start to make their comeback. with a new general manager hopefully they will be able to start conspiring a new plan to get their team back up. hopefully they will be better at drafting players they really need. umm... no. but they did make the playoffs with the formatting.

the wild and the flyers will make a trade. nope!

dallas will pretty much stay the same. they wont be much better, wont be much worse. not a lot will happen with the stars this year. pretty much! the stars finished 4th last season and 3rd this season.

nashville will possibly make the playoffs but will have an early first round exit. duchene will be a problem. tba, but dont think duchene is a problem.

standing predictions.

1st: winnipeg jets - 104 points 5th - 80 points

2nd: chicago blackhawks - 96 points 7th - 72 points

3rd: colorado avalanche - 93 points 2nd - 92 points

4th: nashville predators - 90 points 4th - 78 points

5th: st. louis blues - 85 points 1st - 94 points

6th: dallas stars - 83 points 3rd - 82 points

7th: minnesota wild - 80 points 6th - 77 points

final predictions.

eastern conference finals champions: philadelphia flyers

western conference finals champions: colorado avalanche (bold)

stanley cup final champions: philadelphia flyers

i’ll update after the post season:)

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msjr0119 · 5 years

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One Temptation

Part 4

*This new series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

Riley Brooks moves back to New York after leaving five years prior- struggling to get by in life she wanted to go home. After getting mugged, a woman and man come to her rescue and offer her a job at their strip club. A rich business man Liam Rhys is forced to visit the club as part of his bachelor party. What will happen that night?

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, drunk antics 🤣

Tags-if you want to be removed let me know 😊: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @jovialyouthmusic @nz1091 @yukinagato2012 @indiacater @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @cordonianroyalty @dcbbw @qammh-blog @beardedoafdonutwagon @jared2612 @princess-geek

*******

Liam walked towards the strip club- not knowing exactly why. Forcing himself to see the girl who’s heart he broke all those years ago.

Liam entered his penthouse after work, noticing the light off- he switched it on. Jumping out of his skin- he didn’t know that Madeleine was there.

“Why are you sitting in the dark? You scared me.”

“Care to inform me as to why Alice is going out with Leo tomorrow?”

“He’s her uncle! It’s about time that he knew about her and spent time with her!”

“You went behind my back Liam!”

“So what DARLING? You and me are over... I’m fighting for full custody and I want you to leave as soon as possible. You are nothing to me apart from the mother of my child. You were the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Good luck with that!”

“I beg your pardon.”

“You heard me Liam, how do you even know that she’s yours?” Madeleine smirked knowing she was getting under his skin. Sipping the glass of wine- she laughed in his face. “When she was conceived, I was still sleeping with your brother remember. Except I knew that you’d be the better option to be a father...”

“You are despicable. You should stop drinking. Alice is mine whether you like it or not.”

“She may not be... did you know Riley had a pregnancy scare when you cheated on her with me?” Liam’s heart sunk, he had only ever imagined a family with Riley. Assuming that Madeleine was lying with what she had just said- his fists clenched.

“You are sick, a disgusting vile creature Madeleine. I’ll see you in court!”

After his argument with Madeleine there were doubts racing through his mind about the true paternity of Alice. If Alice wasn’t his daughter- he had nothing to lose, he knew he’d win back Riley. Surely? Noticing Riley, he walked straight over to her.

“Hello Riley.”

“Oh hi. Please don’t cause any trouble Liam after the last time you was here.”

“I won’t I promise, I just need a drink, and a friend.”

“I’m working Liam, I can’t talk much.” Reaching over to grab her hand, she fixated her gaze on him. He looked broken.

“I’ll ask if I can have my break. I’ll meet you over by the booth.” Watching him walk of to the booth, she noticed his face fall into his hands. She wasn’t a bitch, before they began dating they were close friends- if he was sincere about his intentions of being there, she would talk to him as a friend.

“So what’s up?” Sliding a scotch towards him, she provided a soft smile.

“I don’t think my daughter is mine, she said she slept with Leo around the same time.”

“Maybe the two of you need to learn how to put something on the end of it? I’m sorry Liam, but this is karma for you.” A sly smirk appeared on her face, but she couldn’t bitch about Madeleine when she herself had slept with the two brothers.

“Don’t you see? If she isn’t mine, we can start again? I’ll make it up to you a thousand times over. I know you still love me and could forgive me deep down Ri.”

“I do still love you- I’ve never denied that. But...” Liam forced his lips on to hers, expecting for her to slap him he was confused when she didn’t. Deepening the kiss, he placed his arms around her- he had missed her. Not giving two fucks that Drake had escaped, he knew he wasn’t with Maxwell so he had gone elsewhere.

“Bastien? What the fuck? Where is he?”

“I don’t know? I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

“For fucks sake!” Storming over to Maxwell’s, he banged on the door. Hoping that Drake was there.

“Liam? Can I help you?”

“Is Drake here?”

“Why would be here? He’s in Texas isn’t he?” Maxwell knew what Liam had done, and he knew to not keep Drake at their apartment- not only for Drake’s safety but also for his.

“Can I check that he isn’t here at least?”

“I’m not stupid liam, but sure check every crevice if you need to. If you do find him please do let me know .”

Knowing she didn’t resist the kiss, he was making it his aim to win her back.

“Liam, I’m so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. It can’t happen again. I think you should leave.” Touching her lips with her fingertips, she immediately regretted what she had just done. Feeling frustrated with herself, she couldn’t make eye contact with him.

“Ri, I felt something that I haven’t in a long time. Please just give me a chance.”

“I can’t Liam I’m sorry. Please.”

“Okay, I’m sorry Riley. I do love you- I always have and I always will do.” Holding her hand he had hoped that she would see that he was telling the truth- he knew he had messed up. Opening her mouth she was about to respond breaking his heart, knowing she could never forget what he had done.

“Liam?”

“Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same. Are you okay Ri?”

“Yes, I’ll be ready in an hour Leo. Goodbye Liam.” To avoid the awkwardness, she gave Liam a quick hug before returning to work.

“What are you playing at Leo? Ready in an hour?”

“I’m taking her out with Max. She’s been down since Drake left- I assume that was down to you?” Folding his arms, his eyebrows raised- wondering what wonderful bullshit Liam would produce out of his constant lying mouth.

“Maybe you are right. I need her back, Drake was in the way. She kissed me back- she loves me.”

“You lost her a long time ago- you didn’t see how broken she was- who was there picking up the pieces? Me! I care about her, she’s one of my closest friends. Get Drake back now!”

“What do you mean you picked up the pieces? I can’t- I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh Liam, whilst you was fucking Madeleine. I went to find the apparent love of your life- I found her. I spent a week with her trying to convince her to come back.”

Leo arrived in Florida six months after Riley abruptly left New York, not knowing exactly where Riley would be- he needed a miracle. He had heard in the past of her talking about her Gran in Tampa Bay. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

After a few days of searching for her- he had given up hope. Sitting down at the fountain in Hyde Village- he had given up hope. Wishing she wasn’t stubborn and kept in touch with the people who cared for her. Believing it was his imagination, he stood up seeing the brunette walk past him.

“Riley Brooks.” Turning around slowly, she recognised that familiar voice- the colour drained from her face as if she had seen a ghost.

“L- Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could kill you at times Missy- we’ve all missed you. It’s a free country, I don’t have to explain why I’m here. How are you doing?”

“I’m better, thank you. How are you? You look more toned.”

“Do you like what you see? It’s what single life does to you... sends you to the gym.” Winking at her, he always flirted with her in the past- it was typical Leo.

“You look good Leo, but I have to go. My Gran is expecting me.”

“Let me take you out tonight please.” Looking into his piercing eyes, she couldn’t resist saying no to one of her best friends- in the back of her mind she was contemplating what his true intentions were for showing up unexpectedly.

“Leo, I’m not interested in Liam. If that’s why you’re here.”

“No, I’m here as a friend.”

“Oh sorry. No funny business though alright Leo? Don’t be getting us into trouble.” Remembering back to the good old days, Leo nearly got them all arrested one night- laughing at the memory she knew if she refused he would be persistent in persuading her to reconsider.

“I can’t promise that.”

“Come back with me then we will go out. I just need to give her her medication and make her some food, change her catheter...”

“Is that why you left? I didn’t realise she was that poorly.”

“No, I left because of Madeleine and Liam- I didn’t realise either until I arrived. Come with me to my grans?” Leo nodded, Riley suggested this as she didn’t want to arrange meeting him somewhere that he wasn’t used to.

Walking to Riley’s grans, Leo’s heart sunk watching Riley fuss over her gran- she was selfless and attentive.

“So where are you wining and dining me Rhys?” Riley was used to Liam treating her to five star Michelin restaurants- she didn’t really appreciate the grand gestures as she was more of a greasy junk food type of girl.

“That is upto you... I’ll let you decide.”

“I know the place, come upstairs with me whilst I get ready- I don’t want you feeling awkward.” Leo covered his eyes as she got herself ready just to provide her with a bit of dignity. He was tempted to peek, but respected her more.

“Whatcha think?”

“You’re beautiful... Erm... I didn’t... I ... you look good Ri.”

“Why Leo, I’ve never seen you this flustered before. Are you okay? Come on....”

“So I know you don’t want to talk about him- but how are you feeling regarding him.”

“I’m still heartbroken, I cry myself to sleep every night- every time I close my eyes I see her smirk in my mind. I just need to move on- have a rebound, get over him.”

“I’ll make you a deal- we will help each other pull tonight, they both fucked us over- we both need to release.”

“Deal!”

After a meal, they headed over to a bar. Leo did his usual trick attempting to pull- it wasn’t working as he had expected it to. Riley sat the bar witnessing him failing - laughing to herself she felt sorry for him. Ordering them both another drink- Leo disappeared out of her view, smiling she had hoped that he had finally pulled. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey beautiful, are you alone.”

“Yes. No. I’m with a friend.”

“Shame. Are you single? You know if you are I could change that?” Feeling his warm breath linger in her ear- her skin crawled.

“Sorry, I really need to go. Nice meeting you.” ‘Not’, she muttered.

“Don’t go, I haven’t got started yet!”

“Get your hands off me you creep!” Leo returned from the bathroom, seeing the commotion- witnessing Riley slap the man.

“Hey, are you okay? Hey mate get your hands off my girl.”

“She gave me the impression that she was single.”

“Not anymore.” Leo cupped her cheeks forcing a kiss on her lips- Riley knew it was for show so decided to go along with it hoping the creep would move into his next victim.

“You okay?” Pulling her towards him, he watched the man walk away- hoping he wouldn’t bother Riley again, as he would sure teach him a lesson in how to respect women.

“Just peachy Leo, thank you. Why do I always attract the bad eggs?” She laughed trying to make a joke out of the bad situation.

“At least you pull. How about we go back to my hotel room and raid the mini bar? No creeps involved.” Heading towards the exit, she turned around wondering why he was hesitating leaving.

“What are you still doing here? Come on Rhys.” Holding her hand out towards him, he eventually snapped out of his gaze- and led her to the hotel.

Arriving at the hotel room, they decided to play drinking games both becoming intoxicated far too quickly. Both laughing like the old days- they collapsed on the couch, she had missed Leo as well as Maxwell and Bertrand. Hoping that eventually she could return back to New York.

“We should have just stayed here- avoided you pulling creeps, avoided me becoming embarrassed at the lack of pulling.” Snuggling into him, she laughed- they were both useless.

“Do you ever think about what our futures would have been like if they didn’t cheat on us?” Leo looked at her, noticing that her smile had soon disappeared- seeing the tears fall down her cheeks, he caressed both cheeks.

“Well I’d have potentially been in prison for murdering her. I think you and Liam would have been married, had kids- I’d be the cool wind up merchant uncle.”

“The biggest wind up merchant. I’ve missed you Leo- you’re still one of my closest friends.”

“Likewise Brooks. Do you miss him? I don’t miss her one bit.”

“Of course I do. I’m just sexually frustrated as I still love him. I wish I could forgive and forget -but I can’t. If I did he would do it all over and over again. He would continue to make a mug out of me.”

Leo too was sexually frustrated, an idea popped into his head but he knew she would potentially slap him as she was in that kind of mood.

“He was an idiot letting you go. Please don’t slap me, but I have a suggestion. How about you and I... help each other... no strings attached. I’m here for a week or so...”

“Why would I slap you?”

“Because you may think that I’m using you- but you admitted that you are sexually frustrated as am I... we can just you know.” Riley always thought Leo was attractive- he was a Rhys after all. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the desire to just have sex that made her crash her lips onto him.

“Have you got a condom?” She asked breathlessly.

“Of course I do... just for precaution.”

Leo turned to face her, knowing he was now the one breaking the brother code- no matter how appalling Liam was towards her, he was still his brother- his brother who betrayed both him as well as her. Hesitantly pulling her towards him- he didn’t know what to expect as she was one of his closest friends. He believed that she was beautiful, there was no denying that. In the back of his mind, they were both each other’s rebound- no strings. But he didn’t care- if they could both make each other happy as friends with benefits- he was intending on doing it. Both their heartbeats increasing, they both closed the distance, matching baby blues containing desire. Their lips crashed onto each other’s as if their lives depended on it. His tongue slid across her cherry bud lips before entering inside her mouth, starting off gentle but soon turned demanding- their tongues battling against each other. Riley’s fingers ran through his hair - knowing it was just sex, she inhaled the familiar scent, it was as if she was sleeping with Liam again. Leo’s hands held her hips, pulling her closer to his muscled chest.

The kisses became more passionate as the time went by. Leading her over to the bed, they stripped each other’s clothes off eagerly- pausing to admire each other’s bodies. Falling backwards on to the bed she pulled him down towards her.

“ Are you sure about this Ri?”

“Yes. Stop teasing me Leo. We both need this.” Not sure if it was the alcohol that made her feel intoxicated, or the presence of someone with her- she didn’t care, she wanted him. All of him. Staring into her eyes, they pleaded with him, he nodded in response. Her heart began pounding as he stood up, placing the condom on before he forgot- licking her lips, he smirked rather than physically responding to her by speaking.

Gently cupping her cheeks as he hovered over her, he kissed her forehead. Guiding her hands above her head, he held them with one hand- whilst his other hand explored her body, circling her breasts- before kissing her hard.

“This is going to feel so strange, if you want me to stop just tell me.”

“Leo, just shut up and kiss me. It’s just sex remember. ”

Leo slid his hand between her legs- positioning his fingers and thumb at her entrance. The slightest touch, made her damp- Leo wasn’t expecting her to be like that. Kissing her neck, whilst working his thumb over her clit in a tantalising rhythm, she couldn’t contain her moans, hearing her scream him name made him want to skip pleasuring her and just get to the main part. All her muscles began to quiver- Leo smirked knowing he was showing how to treat a girl. Seeing her breathless already, he removed his fingers, replacing them with his tongue instead. Witnessing her eyes widen, he wondered how long it had been for her since she had this pleasure. Was Liam the last man to taste her?

“You taste so good, baby girl.” He said before plunging his tongue deeper inside. “Fuck!” Riley screamed, as she dug her nails into back- making the slightest mark. Removing his tongue, he placed his fingers there giving her that bit more pleasure- smiling at her as her whole body trembled.

Before she could recover from the actions he had performed on her, he rubbed against her entrance, before forcing his cock inside of her. Holding that position, their eyes fixated on each other. Slowly Leo began to thrust in and out at a steady speed, before increasing it- hitting her deeper. “You feel so good, Leo.”

His thrusts were powerful as their bodies collided in sync perfectly together. “This is just the start baby.” After a while his movements slowed down, as he released himself.

“Well that wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. Thanks Ri, you’re amazing you know that?” Riley opened her eyes, as Leo removed himself off her, laying at the side of her. Both staring vacant up at the ceiling. Holding his hand, she turned to face him. “No it wasn’t awkward at all. So what are we now? Fuck buddies” She laughed whilst snuggling into his embrace. Both breathless, they laid in silence- until Riley heard him take a deep breath.

“Come back to New York with me, it is your home. We all miss you. Maxwell and Bertrand especially.”

“Leo, I cant. Not whilst my gran is poorly. Maybe in the future. Thank you for tonight- I really needed it.”

“So did I. You’re amazing Ri. Best friends, friends with benefits. No strings.”

“Damn right Rhys.”

“So if you’re free tomorrow... how about you show me around your new stomping grounds?”

“Is that all you want to do?” Leo looked at her puzzled, with the seductive tone of voice she had provided.

“Yes. What do you take me for? You could show me around, then I’ll thank you by doing this...” Kissing her neck, she immediately felt turned on once again. He could see it in her eyes, rolling her on to him- they both gave each other that knowing look.

“Round two Miss Brooks?”

“We slept together for that whole week- she soon forgot about you. What are you going to do? Get rid of me too? You lost her. Get over it! I’ll pick Alice up at ten in the morning.”

“How could you do that to me?” Riley looked over at the two men, Leo looked smug- whilst Liam looked as if he was about to break down uncontrollably. Feeling her heart beat increase, she was intrigued as to what was included in their discussion.

“No strings attached my dear brother. She was single, as she was single when she slept with Drake. Don’t worry there wasn’t any feelings between us- it was just sex. If you love her you’d let her go Li. Just think about it. Oh and remember if she knew what you did to Drake, she would never forgive you. Maybe you should find him and make amends!”

*****

Liam stormed out of the club and made his way back to his penthouse- Madeleine was in her designer dressing gown. Pulling her up from the sofa, he pulled her into the bedroom. No strings attached, he thought.

******

Leo and Riley met Maxwell at Kismet, the friends kept drinking shots- all almost ready to pass out. Riley noticed that Leo’s gaze was fixated on the red head at the bar.

“Hey, Max. I think Leo likes her over there look.” Maxwell followed to where Riley’s finger was pointing. “He’s hypnotised, shall we play matchmaker?” Maxwell nodded, he was too drunk to function correctly- he needed to inform her about Drake. Waiting for the right opportunity, he knew if Leo copped off with the stranger he could talk to her in private.

“Hey, my name is Riley and this is my friend Maxwell.”

“Olivia.” Maxwell pulled the stranger and Riley into a group hug- the alcohol had gone straight to his head.

“Nice to meet you Olivia. Our friend over there the handsome blonde with the piercing blue eyes can’t take his eyes off you. Would you like to join us for a drink?” Olivia looked over, and saw Leo wink at her.

“He looks like a player. Not my type sorry.”

“He’s not a player. He’s a good shag.” Maxwell looked confused at the statement. How the fuck does Riley know? This woman is going to kill us if he’s a shit shag.

“And how would you know? Are you his ex or something?”

“No, I’m his brothers ex. But I slept with him for a week- no strings attached- so i know he’s a good shag. You won’t regret it. Give him a chance. I’ll pay you $20 to just talk to him.” Olivia smirked, grabbing the money she walked over to Leo- winking at his two wingmen, leo was grateful for their spontaneous matchmaking.

“We need words now Riley!”

“Max, I need more shots- I’m not leaving this bar until I have them. I’m missing Drake- how could he leave me?” Beginning to cry, she would regret this drunk breakdown over a man she hardly knew.

“So when did you and Leo sleep together?”

“In Florida, he came looking for me unlike you guys... sorry... it just happened. It meant nothing. The only person I’ve felt something towards left me.”

“I need to talk about that to you. We are going to Bertrand’s.”

“But I’ve just ordered these shots.”

“Drink up buttercup. Bertrand is expecting us.”

“What about Leo?” Both looking over towards the table, Leo had his tongue down Olivia’s throat- he wouldn’t care if his friends ditched him as he was most likely getting laid later that night.

“He’s fine with Olivia. Come on.”

*****

The cold air had hit the two friends walking from the cab towards Bertrand’s front door. Spying through the peep hole forgetting to knock on the door they both had giggles- not realising why Bertrand wasn’t answering.

“B... b.... let us innnn... pleasssee...”

“Bertrand... I need to wee. I’m going to do it ... on the door...”

“Don’t you dare... piss all over me Max. You’re disgusting....” Riley began banging on the door and pressing the buzzer frantically, as Maxwell whipped his cock out spraying all over the door.

“BERTRAND OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR NOW!!! Why are we here again? How much have we had to drink? I think I’m going to be sick!” Riley placed her ear next to door, hoping to hear footsteps. The door suddenly opened- both Riley and Maxwell fell through it landing on the floor.

“Hey Riley, are your legs open like that on the pole.”

“Fuck off Beaumont, I don’t dance.”

“You would do if I was a certain tall dark handsome strangerrr...Who are you?”

Both looking up they saw a woman staring at the two of them with a perplexed expression.

“Can I help you? Where’s B?”

“I’m Savannah, let me help you both up.”

“Riley! Maxwell! Can neither of you contain yourselves?” Both biting their lips, attempting to hold their laughter in- they knew they were in the doghouse.

“Savannah darling, please make them a strong black coffee.” Riley and Maxwell both looked at each other- before bursting out laughing. Riley decided to mimic Bertrand’s voice, much to his annoyance.

“Savannah darling, could you add a bit of Irish whiskey in it. I need it after the day I’ve had. Fucking Liam. Thanks babe.”

“What’s he done?”

“Kissed me. I pushed him away. Fucking wanker. Karmas hit him though - hard. I’ll explain tomorrow. So are we having one big sleepover B? I think we will have to sleep naked though. Have you got a spare toothbrush? Toothpaste? Where are we all sleeping?”

“Arsehole...forget the sleepover essentials... we’ll just be dirty stop outs for the night... I forgot why we actually came here... oh yeah... Ri. Go in the spare room.”

“Why?”

“Erm, there’s a secret stash of booze.” Bertrand shot him a stern stare. “Sorry she wants booze what else could I say?” He whispered to his older brother who just shook his head.

“Why didn’t ya say so before?” Stumbling into the spare room, she opened the door- believing she was hallucinating.

“D-Drake?”

#theroyalromance #choices trr #trr au one temptation #drakewalker #riley brooks #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #liam rhys #bertrand beaumont #savannah walker #drake x riley #riley x liam #riley x leo

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