#best bar hopping in key west

[dirtybitfic]

Concert love

Chris and matt sturniolo x y/n fan-fiction

(contains- flirting in front of a whole crowd, concert, drinking, dirty talk, smutt, threesome, slapping, chocking, use of the names- ma, slut,whore,daddy and I think that's it)

y/n pov-

me and my best friend ybf/n decided to get tickets for the lil skies concert a while ago since the tickets were surprisingly cheap and we've both liked his music since we were in high school

me and ybf/n were getting ready playing music through my speaker and talking and laughing.

we both finished doing our makeup

(your look)

(ybf/n look)

damn y/n your makeup looks so good

thanks you too bitch damn

okay lets get dressed and then ill order the uber

We both go to your separate rooms in the apartment to change. Neither of us know what the other one picked for their outfit but I know hers is gonna be so good and im very confident about my choice.

(your outfits but instead 0f heels your wearing orange nike dunks)

(your best friends outfit)

Y/N YOU READY?

YEP IM READY

OKAY ILL CALL THE UBER NOW

OKAY

I walked out of my room guessing she's already in the living room by the way she was yelling

DAMN BITCH YOU LOOK HOT ASF

YOU TOO GOD DAMN IM NO BETTER THAN A MAN

SHUT THE FUCK UP

we both laugh as we sit and wait for our uber to get closer before we make our way to the lobby.

we were both looking through our fyp page as I realized it had been a good minute since we ordered the uber

hey is the uber close

oh shit yeah two minutes away

fuck okay lets head down

we grab our phones and keys and head to the elevator and take it down to the lobby.

we walked out of the door looking for a black Honda

is that it over there I said pointing to a black Honda a little further down the street

uuuh yeah I think so she says starting to walk over to it as I follow behind her

as we approach the driver rolls the window down

hey is this the uber for ybf/n

hey yes hop on in

we get in the back as we start heading to the venue it was about a 15 minute drive we decided to go pretty early so we could be closer to the front

so you girls going to the skies concert tonight

yep were so excited

damn I really wanted to go but by the time me and my friends went to get tickets they were sold out

yeah tickets were cheap so they went pretty fast and the venue is smaller so you know

yeah makes sense . I know this might be weird but can I give you my phone number and maybe you can send me some videos of the concert

oh my god of course id be more than happy to do that

thank you so much he says as he gives me his phone number and I save it for later and send him a quick text so he has it and knows im the girl from the uber for the skies concert

alright well im gonna drop you here have fun tonight guys

thank you so much for driving us and ill make sure to remember to send you videos

thank you bye

bye have a good night I shut the door as we walked to the entrance door

there were only a couple people already here waiting so we stood behind them and waited for about 40 minutes until more people showed up and doors started to open .

we got in around 7:45 and got close as fuck to the front we were a row behind the barricade . The show is supposed to start at 8:30 So we have a while to wait . I decided to go to the bar to grab a drink so ybf/n stayed back to keep our spot.

I got up to the bar and ordered two vodka watermelon red bulls and payed as she handed them to me and I went back to ybf/n. It was hard to get back through the crowd without spilling them but somehow I did.

hey here you go

thanks ill pay you back later

oh no your good my treat I say smiling at her

okay but next ones are on me

works for me

soon the opening dj comes out and starts playing some good as songs

As hot in here was playing me and ybf/n were dancing with each other as the dj started yelling out

HEY GIRL IN BLACK JEANS AND BLACK TOP WITH THE SPARKLES OVER IT YOU GOT AN ADMIRER FROM THE BALCONY

I look up at him making eye contact with a confused smile pointing to me kinda shocked

YES YOU GIRL he says laughing a little I smile and look up at the balcony scanning it for this so called admirer when I meet eyes with a guy.

NOT JUST ANY GUY .... CHRIS MOTHER FUCKING STURNIOLO

OH MY GOD Y/N ... IS THAT.CHRIS

YES BITCH OH MY GOD

he smirks at me and waves

I smile and wave back and hold eye contact as I see him raise something to his mouth and speak into it

I look at him confused for a second before the dj speaks again

HE WANTS TO KNOW YOUR NAME

I look at him smiling then bring out my phone to type it onto snap and blow it up so he could read it

I hold it up smiling as he reads it then brings his phone out to type something

he holds it out for me to read

" such a pretty name for such a pretty girl it reads'

I smile widely at him before typing "thank you" and hold it up for him to read

he reads it smiling the typing something else

" no problem gorgeous " it reads I laugh a little and smile at him as we hold eye contact

he look back to his phone typing something else

" stay after ill tell them I asked you too"

I got nervous but still smiled as we kept eye contact I was trying so hard to not flip my shit at this point .

I give him a thumbs up smiling and he winks at me then looks back at the stage as a new song starts playing

I love this song so I start rapping along as I look back up at him to see him already looking at me as he rapping along to the song to he starts moving his hands and rapping more to the song as we keep eyes contact then stops and points at me so I took it as a sign to rap the next part and I do as he bops his head smiling at me in awe that I know the song by heart .

he types something on his phone

"you like nardo wick"

I shake my head and type out

'LOVE NARDO WICK"

he smiles and types again

" I like you even more now"

I smile and laugh

" im glad' I type and show him

he just smirks at me and god his smirk has me dying he's so beautiful its actually scary to be honest.

we break eye contact as the song ends and the dj announces skies is coming on in a minute.

BITCH ARE YOU KIDDING ME HOW ARE YOU SO CALM RIGHT NOW

BITCH IM NOT IM FUCKING FREAKING OUT IM JUST TRYING NOT TO SHOW IT

I CANT EVEN AND HE ASKED YOU TO STAY AFTER WTF IS THAT ABOUT

I DONT KNOW BUT I GUESS ILL FIND OUT

I look back up at him admiring his perfect side profile as I smile and look back at the stage as rage starts playing.

skies just finished his last song

thank you guys so much for coming I love you all so much and y/n wherever you are cant wait to meet you after the show he waves and runs off the stage

everyone starts leaving but I stay back

ybf/n gave me a hug and told me to update her later

she slaps my ass you got this bitch don't be nervous

I know ill try not to I love you see you at home

love you too she says as she walks away to the door

as the last people are filtering out I decided to look at my phone to try and calm my nerves. And sent all the videos I got to the Uber driver from earlier.

I get taped on the shoulder I jump from the sudden contact and turn around with my hand on my heart

im so sorry I didn't mean to scare you I was just coming to get you Chris sent me matt says

oh no your good just caught me off guard

follow me were gonna chill in the green room for a bit as they take all the stuff down and pack up

alright lead the way I say kinda nervous and I guess he can tell.

hey no need to be nervous were all chill I promise

thank you matt that actually calmed me down a bit

wait you know my name

oh yeah ive seen couple videos of you guys and a shit tone of edits on my fyp

damn well I hope you liked our videos

oh yeah they were great you guys are very funny

thanks he says as he looks down at me with a sweet smile

no problem I say smiling back

alright were just through this door

fuck fuck fuck oh god is all I can think as he opens the door and walks in as I hesitantly follow behind him

HEYYY Y/N HOW ARE YOU Chris yells coming up to hug me

im a bit caught of guard but hug him back as he rocks me side to side a little causing me to laugh

im g-good Chris how are you I say he's squeezing me a bit tight causing my airflow to sputter.

im good! im glad you stayed after gorgeous

m-me too but y-your squeezing the life out of me I say sounding out of breathe and squeaky

oh shit im sorry he says laughing as he lets go

I take a deep much needed breath as I smile up at him

so uhh why'd you ask me to stay back I say nicely but sounding a bit confused

oh well we thought you were really beautiful to be honest and we wanted to get the chance to talk to you maybe even hang out for the night he says with a smile but sounding a bit nervous

oh well id love that

really ?

yeah of course I say smiling giggling a little bit

heyyy Chris matt you guys in the green room? I hear skies say

yep were in here matt answers

he walks in smiling at matt dapping him up

then walking over to Chris beside me dapping him up then looking at me smiling

you must be y/n its so nice to meet you he says bringing me in for a nice warm hug

its so nice to meet you too ! I loved your show you have great stage presence

thank you I appreciate it ! he says letting go and smiling at me.

I can see why Chris noticed you in the crowd you are beautiful

aww thank you so much I say as my face heats up from the compliment

alright guys I think were gonna hit the road we got another show to get too tomorrow but thank you for coming and supporting me and hit me up later chris

yeah of course man the show was great ill text you later this week when we get back to la Chris says dapping skies up one last time before he says bye to matt.

alright well we should call an uber and head out of here matt says

hey y/n know any fun places we could go to Chris says looking down at me

well I mean it is like 12am so most of the only fun places to go that are open are clubs but I know y'all don't drink right

nope we don't

well we could always go back to my apartment and grab my car and get some food and then go back to my place and watch a movie unless y'all aren't comfortable with that I completely understand

no y/n we trust you you ive got nothing but good vibes from you also what's your address for the uber

oh thank you that’s really sweet I say as I give him my address

of course also the uber is a couple minute away so we should probably head out

alright lets go Chris says as he wraps an arm around my shoulder guiding me to walk with him I smile up at him and he looks at me giving me a warm smile.

we walk out the back door and see what im guessing is an uber black parked at the back .

hey are you lane

yep über for matt?

yep that's me matt says as he opens the door to the back and hops

Chris guides me to the door Do you mind being in the middle your the smallest

I laugh no not at all

okay then lady first he says gesturing his hand for me to hop in and I do as I scoot to the middle and he hops in behind me shutting the door.

so y/n have you lived here you whole life

oh yeah pretty much I mean I moved here from Chicago when I was 4 but I don't really remember life back in there so ive only really ever known life as growing up here

oh nice its a great city I like it here

yeah its pretty cool here

oh yeah I mean its okay ive lived here all my life so it tends to get boring you know what I mean

yeah I get that that's one reason we love living in la now gives us a new place to grow in but don't get me wrong I love Boston with my whole heart and going back to visit our family is great but its nice to be somewhere new for a change

I completely get that . My parents actually moved to San Francisco a couple years after I moved out they love it there and I love getting to visit them its one of my favorite cities

oh yeah I love san Francisco its a beautiful city

right I love it there im just sad I don't get to go visit my parents often

oh why don't you visit them much

well for one my job is very busy and air fair is not cheap so sadly I have to save up for each trip months in advance

oh yeah real airfare is so expensive its kinda crazy

yeah well your lucky with the job you guys have

yeah we are pretty blessed to have a good income coming in but we still like to be wise with our spending

that's good though most people our age would be buying whatever they wanted if they had you guys income

very true but our parents taught us how to spend our money wisely from a young age so thank god for them or wed be half way broke by now

yeah I relate to that my dad was always very good with money growing up even though we have a lot of money he only spends it on things that are worth it instead of waisting money on random shit that well Never use

he sounds like a smart man

yeah he's great I love my dad ive always been a daddy girl

Chris’s eyes slightly darken and he shifts around after hearing me say daddy I didn’t know why but I just looked down at his big hands that were resting on his lap god what I wouldn’t do to have those wrapped around my-

My thought is cut off by the Uber driver announcing we are at our destination

We get out and thank her then head to my car .

Chris gets into the front as Matt gets into the back and I start up my car.

Okay so the only things open right now are like fast food and this one pizza place so what sounds good to you guys.

Honestly I could fuck with pizza rn

Same pizza sounds good as fuck

I completely agree i start backing out and head to the pizza place .

Here’s my phone you guys can queue up whatever you want

They queued up a couple good songs that I knew as we sat in silence giving out to the music until we got to the pizza place.

I parked and turned off the car as we all got out and headed into the place.

Wow it’s really cool in here

I know right this is my favorite place to go after a night out

I can see why it’s so dark but cool with all the colored lights they have

Yeah they turn on their led bulbs when it gets dark it’s such a vibe

Hey how are you guys is it just the three of you the hostes says

Yep just the three of us

Cool follow me she says as she grabs the menus and leads us to a booth

Matt and Chris sit opposite of me as we start looking at the menus

Hey I’m Jake I’ll be your server today what can I get you guys to drink

Um I’ll get a Pepsi please

Cool and for you

Can I get a root beer

Yep sure thing and for you y/n

I’ll get a dr.pepper thanks Jake

Of course I’ll be right back with those

Thank you I say as he walks away

You know him Chris asks

Oh yeah he’s one of my best friend boyfriends

Oh cool

Yeah I say smiling at him

So uhh I gotta warn you their pizzas are big so we could probably all just share a large if that sounds good with you guys

Yeah that’s fine do you like pepperoni

Yeah love it

Cool you good with that Chris

Yeah sounds good to me

Here you guys go Jake says as he sets each of our drinks down then takes our order

As we were talking about random shit I got a phone call

I looked to see it was ybf/n

Hey guys sorry do you mind if I answer this it’s my roommate the one who was with me at the concert

No not at all go ahead

I answer the call

Hey what’s up

Hey I’m just letting you know I’m staying the night at Blake’s house so I won’t be home tonight

Oh alright we’ll I guess see you sometime tomorrow then

Yeah also I can’t wait to hear all the juicy details about you hanging out with your celeb cruuuuwh

Okayyyyy shut the fuck uuuuup I can’t feel my face getting hot from the blush creeping onto then

Okay bye I love you

Love you to and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do

Cool so that means I can do whatever cause your a slut

I am not a slut shut up good fucking night

Good niiiight

I hung up as I looked up at Matt and Chris just looking at me I got nervous

W-what I say laughing awkwardly

Nothing you guys seem really close

Oh yeah no we are! been best friends since 2nd grade that’s just how we talk to each other

Oh no we get but uhhh why did she call you a slut

Oh uh haha well I said don’t do anything I wouldn’t do and she said so that means I can do whatever cause your a slut

Oh damn what a sweet thing for her to say

I know right she’s so nice to me I say jokingly

So I’m guessing she not at home

Nope she’s spending the night at a guys house I also fucking despise the guy but you know that’s just me

Why do you not like him

He’s a dick and he treats girls like shit he also tried to roofie me at the club once but I didn’t tell her so she doesn’t know that but . I get cut off by Chris

But nothing y/n that’s not okay she shouldn’t be with a guy who did that to her best-friend

I- yeah I know I just don’t like conflict I didn’t wanna make it a big deal I say feeling like a kid being scolded by her dad

I’m sorry for raising my voice but that just makes me angry

I’m sorry I shouldn’t have brought it up I say feeling anxious now by the way him and Matt are looking at me

No it’s okay we get it it’s just you know something you might think about telling her you know if he’s ever around you again what else would he try you know what I’m saying

Y-yeah your right I’ll tell her tomorrow

Good girl Chris says making my face turn red as fuck and I look down trying to hide it but he notices

Here’s you guys pizza hope you enjoy

Thank you Jake

No problem

We each grab a couple slices and eat in silence I can feel slight tension in the air but I try to ignore it and just eat my pizza.

Do you guys like horror, movies?

Uhm not my favorite but I guess they’re okay

Yeah I mean they aren’t my first pick but I’ll watch em

Okay cool I’m kinda of in a horror movie mood tonight

Sounds good to me

Yeah me too

Hey you guys ready for the check

Yeah I think so

Okay cool together or separate

Separ-

Together . I got cut off by Matt

Okay cool I’ll be back in a second with that

What- Matt you guy don’t have to pay for me

No no it’s our treat

I mean you are driving us around and letting us come back to your apartment so it’s the least we could do

Well thank you really that’s very nice of you guys

No problem

I smile at both of them as Jake comes back with the check and Chris pays then we head back out to the car.

Do you guys mind if I play some softer music on the way home I have astigmatism so driving at night with loud music makes me really anxious

No absolutely we don’t mind at all I completely understand that. I get driving anxiety too so I get the struggle

I smile at him as we get into the car and I queue up some songs before we pull out and head to my apartment.

You have really good music taste y/n

Thank you I’m a big music lover so my music range is weird as Fuck

What do you mean

If I put my liked playlist of shuffle I can go from rap to classical to edm then to rock all in the span of 10 minutes

Ah so you listen to a lot of genera’s

Yeah I say smiling at Chris

So what’s your favorite genera as of right now

Honestly I think alternative rock

Oh cool we don’t listen to rock much but it’s cool

Yeah deaftones is my favorite band as of right now I would play a song from them but you know

To loud

Yep

Okay one for us when we get back to your place

Okay I will

After about 5 more minutes we parked outside of my building and i but in my favorite deaftones song for them

Oh wow this is actually pretty good

Yeah so far I like it

We sit as they keep listening I watch for their honest reactions seeing if they are just being nice

I can tell Matt likes it for sure but Chris not as much

Damn the lyrics are kinda

dirty yeah

Yeah but I like it

Well I’m glad

Yeah no this shit is good I need to start listening to them

I’ll share my playlist of my favorite songs from them to you

Cool that would be great thank you

Yeah no problem

The song ends and we get out of the car and head into the building and take the elevator up to my floor

I open the door of my apartment for them and let them go in and I shut and lock the door

Woah your apartment is so cool

Oh thank you

Did you set it all up

Yeah I designed all of it but my roommates room

That’s so cool your good at designing

Oh thank you I took some classes in high-school for it so that helped me out a bit

Oh that’s so cool

Yeah it was pretty fun

I love the art wall

Oh thanks yeah that’s one of my favorite parts

It adds a very homey vibe

That’s exactly what I was going for

Well you nailed it

Thanks I said smiling up at him

Okay I’m gonna pop some popcorn but do you guys wanna watch the movie in here or my room it’s up to you

Honestly room sounds more cozy

Yeah I agree

Okay well if you wanna head to my room it’s the second door on the right

Cool they both say as they head to my room

I finished popping the popcorn and putting it in the bowl then grabbed three cherry Pepsis from the fridge and made my way to my room

Your bedroom is so cozy Chris says as I enter with the drinks and snacks

Oh yeah I love it in here

I like how dark it is

Me too I was kinda shocked how big it was when we moved in though

Yeah for an apartment this is huge

Yeah but I’m not complaining

I handed them their drinks and the popcorn and I set my drink on the bedside table

I’m gonna change into something more comfy real quick then we can pic a movie

Sounds good

I went to my closet and picked out one of my least revealing pj sets and changed then went to the bathroom to take my makeup off

Then went back in and shimmied my way in between the two since they were taking up each side of the bed

Wow you look gorgeous without makeup

Yeah you have really cute freckles

O-oh thank you guys I say feeling a little flustered from their compliments

As I scrolled through for a while we settled on watching insidious since I said it was one of the least scary movies I’ve watched

As we were watching a jump scare popped up and Matt jumps launching popcorn all over the bed making me burst out laughing and Chris joined me

Shit sorry that got me good

You don’t say I say as I pull popcorn out of my hair

I started to get a little cold so I got under the covers .

Chris joined me as our legs slightly touched making my breathe hitch

We continued watching as I felt a hand on my thigh and I felt another come behind my head

Chris’s was on my thigh and Matt’s was the one behind my head

I got a little nervous but tried my best not to show it. Chris started to rub small circles with his thumb making me sigh out in both calmness but also a little bit of horny mixed in.

Matt’s hand started slowly caressing my head and playing with my hair.

I started to become relaxed since playing with my hair always sends me to sleep .

My head starts to fall back into Matt’s hand as he rubs my head i let out a soft moan on accident .

Sorry that just feels so good I say looking over at Matt with hooded eyes who’s still rubbing my head softly

Oh I can stop if it’s making you tired

No no please keep going please

Alright he keeps playing with my hair

Chris hand starts to squeeze my inner thigh causing a pool of wetness to form in between my legs

Mmm I softly moan both of them being so sweet making me feel calm yet so fucking horny . Having both of their hands on me is sending me into such dirty thoughts

Making you feel good huh Chris says softly

Mhm feels so calming

Feeling anything else other than calm

W-what do you mean

Is calm all your feeling right now or is their another feeling creeping in

N-no just calm

You sure about that cause … he moves his hand closer to my pussy . I’m pretty sure I can feel a little heartbeat down here

Mmm I moan as he grazes his hand over my clothed pussy

Aww are we making you horny princess

Matt whispers in my ear before tugging a little on my hair angling my head so I look him in the eyes

N-no I… he yanks harder on my hair

We don’t like liars y/n

Chris’s fingers slide under my shorts now rubbing slow circles on my clit through my underwear

Mmm fuck

You wanna try and answer that again . This time truthfully

O-okay yes your m-making me horny okay

Good girl see that wasn’t so hard to admit was it

N-no

God your so wet already

Mmm I moan out as I his fingers now move under my underwear to rub my bare pussy

He starts rubbing my clit eliciting moans to slip past my lips

Matt’s other hand moves under my top to grope my bare tits

O-oh f-Fuck

Yeah you like having both of us touching you

Y-yes

Such a little slut for us aren’t you

Chris slides two fingers into me

Mmm Fuck c-Chris

Answer my question he says deeply causing me to look at him as my brows furrow In pleasure

Fuck y-yes I’m a slut for you

Atta girl he says before pulling my top up and sucking on my nipple

Fuck oh god I moan out as he sucks hickeys all over my tits and Chris fingers speed up .

Can I take these off ma he asked pulling on my shorts and underwear

Mhm I moan shaking my head yes at him

He yanks them off causing me to gasp

As he gets them all the way off he starts kissing up my thigh as Matt moves to start sucking all over my neck .

Chris starts biting and sucking hickeys on my inner thighs as his fingers keep a steady pace pumping into my pussy .

F-Fuck oh my-god

Are we making you feel good

Yes Fuck yes I moan out

All the sudden Chris’s mouth contexts to my clit sucking and licking .

OH MY GOD CHRIS

Matt’s hand comes around my neck slightly choking me as he comes down to connect our lips

It’s a hungry wet kiss that makes me even wetter .

God I’ve always dreamed of a threesome but this is better than I could have ever imagined

I start feeling my orgasm building . I moan and whimper into the kiss .

I pull away from the kiss and I’m panting and pulling at Chris hair as he sucks harder on my clit and his fingers move even faster as he feels me clench around them.

HO-HOLY FUCK IM GONNA C-CUM

he detached his mouth from my clit

Beg for it tell daddy how much you want it

Pl-PLEASE DADDY please CAN I COME I WANT IT SO BAD PLEASE PLEASE

Yeah you can come be a good girl and cum all over my face and fingers

Matt grips my throat as he makes me look at him

Look at me when you cum I wanna watch you fall apart in our hands

OH MY F-Fuck I’m c-cumming

That’s a good girl cumming for daddy

Jesus CHRIST I moan out as I slowly come down from my high

Did so good for us ma

Chris pulls out his fingers and puts them In his mouth sucking my juices off I watch in aww .

On all 4s now he says deeply. I do as I’m told once I’m in the position Matt pulls my top off so now I’m fully naked .

They both take of their shirts and throw them somewhere in the room .

I hear Chris take of his belt and drop his pants and boxers as he lines his dick to my entrance .

I whine wanting to feel him already.

I’m not giving it to you until you wrap that pretty little mouth around matt

I move as fast as possible unbuckling Matt’s belt and taking his jeans and boxers down so his dick pops out .

So eager aren’t you

Mhm I say looking up at matt smiling then looking down at his dick and JESUS CHRIST HES HUGE.

I take him in my hand he’s so thick my hand won’t even wrap around it fully .

I pump a couple times before taking his tip into my mouth . I start sucking as my hand moves around what isn’t in my mouth.

Chris slams into me causing me to scream around Matt . CHRIS IS HUGE TOO.

I can feel him stretching me out so much as he slams into me .

matt garbs a fist full of my hair and start thrusting onto my mouth .

fuck such a good girl taking us so well

I cant help but moan around him and pulse on Chris from his praise

I start gagging from how deep he is in my throat as spit drips down my chin onto the bed below

fuck your so fucking wet

I moan around matt and he thrusts harder into my throat definitely bruising it but I don't care I feel so good right now.

chris is hitting my gspot repeatedly causing me to shake and scream around matts dick .

fuck keep fucking gagging and struggling

I feel tears start to stream down my face from the pleasure

I start to feel my orgasm building as I moan around matt as he abuses my throat.

you gonna cum on my dick like a good little slut

I shake my ahead yes the best I can

matt pulls my head to look up at him as he abuses my throat harder causing me to cry harder

such a mess for us aren't you ? such a good little whore

my brows furrow as my orgasm rolls through me as I shake around Chris as I cum.

fuckkk so good cumming for me

he fucks me through my orgasm and keeps pounding into me as I come down from my high as my legs start shaking .

he pushes on my back making me arch further giving him a new angle that sends me into oblivion.

I scream around matt and he fucks my throat roughly

I start to feel pressure build in my stomach again making my legs shake and more tears to fall down my face .

all the sudden it snaps and I scream around matt as I feel my thighs get soaked.

god so fucking hot squirting all over me like the slut you are

fuck ive never squirted so much in my life .

he continues fucking into me harshly becoming more sloppy

fuck im gonna cum and your gonna fucking swallow all of it

I hate swallowing it tastes like shit and the texture makes me wanna throw up.

he thrusts a couple times before filling my mouth with his cum.

he pulls out them puts a hand over my mouth

swallow it slut

I shake my head no

he slaps me hard across the face causing me to swallow from the impact .

should have just listened instead of acting like a brat

I whined feeling my face sting

Chris pushes my back down further so im fully arching for him and hold my head up by my hair as matt wraps his hand around my throat.

mmm fuck YOUR SO DEEP

Yeah fuck im gonna cum you gonna let me fill you up

y-yes fuck please cum in me

such a good little cum slut he says before cumming deep inside me

mmm fuck I moan as I look up at matt as he smirks down at me .

Chris pulls out as I flop to down onto my stomach as my legs continue to shake.

oh we aren't done with you yet . flip over on your back for me matt says as he and Chris switch spots .

I watch as matt settles in-between my thighs and lines his tip to my entrance

spread your legs wider for me ma

I do as he says giving him more access as he starts sliding into me slowly.

I whine from how much more he's stretching me out he's even thicker than Chris and the fact my pussy is already sore and sensitive from Chris pounding me isn't helping the pain at all

oh my fuck your so big

yeah you feel how deep I am he says placing his hand on my lower stomach and pressing to feel himself inside me

mmhm fuck I moan out as he starts thrusting into me slow but rough

my head falls back as pleasure start to build inside me

I look up at Chris who's smirking down at me

god you make the prettiest faces

mmm fuck faster matt i moan out as I look back into Chris’s eyes

I didn't hear a please

p-please go faster please I sound so pathetic begging but I don't care

god you sound so pretty when you beg he says before pounding into me

OH MY G-GOD I scream as he is hitting my g spot at the perfect angle

I look up at Chris as he taps his tip on my lips

open

I do as im told and he slides into my mouth before holding my jaw with both hands and starts face fucking me .

the angle my head is hanging off the bed making it easy for him to slide into my throat causing me to gag around his as tears fall from my eyes.

sound so pretty gagging around my dick he says before he slides one hand down to my nipples pinching and pulling at them causing me to moan around him over and over.

he starts thrusting harder abusing my throat as he slaps my tit making me moan loudly around him.

he gets deeper in my throat causing me to gag and cough around him as spit drip out of the sides of my mouth onto my face and the rest of his dick that isn't in my mouth.

keep struggling slut you look so hot when you squirm

I moan around him as I start to feel pressure building in my stomach again

I grab onto matts back as i scratch deeply into it causing him to groan

fuckkk keep doing that I love that shit he says as he fucks into me harder causing me to scream and gag around Chris .

the tension snaps as I squirt all over him and the sheets

fuck your so fucking hot squirting all over me

he continues fucking into me causing me to squirm the overstimulation beginning to be too much .

I claw his back more harshly causing him to groan

god damn fells so fucking good when you claw my back like the little slut you are

im beginning to sob around Chris . im so overstimulated I can barely take it.

I remove my hand from matts back as I try and push on Chriss thighs so he would pull out so I could voice that im overstimulated

he slaps my tit hard as he pushes even deeper into my throat .

nah fucking take it like a good girl

he growls at me as I smack his thigh as my I continue crying .

I cant take it anymore its too much .

I move my hands to matts sides trying to push him out of me . he grabs my arms harshly slamming them down on the bed on each side of my head holding me down.

what's the matter slut? you overstimulated huh? he says in a tone that makes me want to slap him across the face .

I shake my head yes and try to cry out a mhm as Chris still abuses my throat .

well that's to fucking bad . I don't care how much you cum and squirm against me . you aren't done until I fill you up .

I scream around Chris as I feel myself squirt all over matt again causing my hips to lift up off the bed and my legs to shake even more and my thighs tighten around his torso .

he holds onto my hips as he continues pounding into me . now that my hands are free again I move them to his shoulders again trying to push him off of me . I literally can not take it anymore.

Chris pulls out of my mouth im confused as to why until he comes back over me with his belt .

w-what are you doing with that I moan out as matt still pounds deep into me.

since you want to act like a brat and try and push us away . he says as he grabs my arms harshly as he holds them to my chest and slides the belt under my back and secure my arms tightly to my chest.

now you cant use your arms at all

I groan in annoyance as I try and get my arms out but its no use.

fuck you I spit out at him

he slaps me across the face

I cry out from the sting

acting like a bratty bitch isn't gonna get you anywhere he says dominantly at me before grabbing me by the throat roughly.

now open that bratty mouth for me

I groan and shake my head no

n-no I c-cant its to much I cant take it anymore please

matt slaps my thigh so hard I scream

OW WHAT TH-THE FUCK

open your fucking mouth or I swear to god

I open my mouth as I roll my eyes

Chris slaps my face again

roll your fucking eyes at me again and you'll regret it

o-okay okay im s-sorry I sob out as I feel the pressure building in my stomach again causing me to moan as Chris slides back down my throat.

I scream around Chris as my orgasm rips through me ad I buck up into matt

fuck such a good girl cumming again for me god your squeezing me so tight

I sob around Chris feeling like I could pass out from how hard I just came

god so fucking tight and wet around me matt grabs my shaking legs hoisting them onto his shoulders getting an even deeper angle.

this causes me to scream around Chris again and again causing him to moan .

fuck im gonna cum . and your gonna be a good girl and swallow all of it

he thrusts a couple more time before his cum is down my throat and I swallow around him causing him to groan

fuuuck such-a good girl he groans then pulls out of my mouth . I cough as I try to catch my breathe.

O-OH MY GOD F-FUCK I C-CANT T-

I get cut off by matt slapping my across the face

your gonna fucking take it

mmmm fuck FUCK YOU I scream out as

he slaps me harder then grips my throat roughly

act like a brat you'll be treated as one

mmm fuck its to much I cant

i.thrust.dont.thrust.fucking.thrust.care

mmmm I cry and shake under him as I try and wiggle out of his grip

mm mm where you going he says as he grips my throat and thigh tightly causing me to gasp for air through his tight grip

I feel pressure building quickly in my stomach . before I can even speak im cumming again all over him as my eye roll back and I lift off the bed as my hands fist as I shake uncontrollably under him.

aww look at you cumming again such a little whore

FUCKING HELL I-I CANT TAKE IT PLEASE

Oh sweetheart im not even close to finishing he says smirking sadistically down at me

mmmmm I growl in pain and pleasure

he brings both hands to my legs pushing them down to my chest as he thrusts even deeper in me.

JESUS C-CHRIST YOUR TO DEEP FUCK PLEASE I C-CANT chris kneels down so his mouth is right at my ear

matt is groaning as he feels my pussy pulse around him

don't act like you're not loving every minute of this . you love being our little slut he whispers husky in my ear causing me to shudder

you love the way we use you like our own personal fuck doll dont you

I whine unable to get words out as matt is pounding into me so hard I feel him in my stomach

I asked you a fucking question y/n now answer it

Y-YES I LOVE IT DADDY

that's what I thought he says as he kisses my neck causing me to moan even louder from all the pleasure im feeling .

I feel pressure building in my stomach yet again.

F-FUCK MATT IM GONNA CUM AGAIN OH MY GOD

you think you deserve it

Y-YES PLEASE FUCK I C-CANT HOLD IT

beg for it then tell daddy how much you want it

F-FUCK I WANT IT SO BAD DADDY PLEASE CAN I CUM, PLEASE I PROMISE TO BE A GOOD GIRL PLEASE CAN I CUM

yes you can cum . give it to me cover my cock

as soon as he gives me permission I squirt all over him so hard I stop breathing for a second.

JESUS CHRIST I scream as I finally start breathing again

Such a good girl your doing so good for me

Matt starts to slow his pace and he drops my legs pushes them out and apart.

Do you have any toys ma

Y-yes but why

Cause I wanna use one on you that’s why

O-okay I just don’t know if I can handle that right n-now

We know you can ma you wanna be good for us don’t you

Y-yes

Then where are they

In my b-bedside table drawer

Chris stands up now in his boxer as he goes into my bedside table grabbing my wand and handing it to Matt

If we let your arms free do you think you can be good or are you gonna push me away again

I -I’ll be good I promise

Okay but if you act up again we will put the belt back on

O okay I promise I’m won’t mmm Fuck I won’t act up again I moan out as Matt is thrusting into me at a sickly sweet slow pace

Chris just smiled down at me as he strokes my check with his hand then undoes the belt

I groan as I stretch my arms out since they are slightly numb from the position they were stuck in for so long.

Matt turns on the vibrator as Chris walks over and sits by my side as Matt hands it him

He starts thrusting into me harder causing my legs to shake harder .Chris puts the vibrator right on my clit causing me to scream out

JESUS CHRIST OH MY GOD

Yeah that feel good ma

Y-YES OH MY GOD DADDY FEELS SO GOOD

You think you can handle it if I turn it up

N-NO

I think you can ma he says turning it up

OH-OH MY GOD FUCK IM GONNA CUM PLEASE CAN I CUM

Yeah cum for us ma be a good girl

OH GOD MMMM I moan as I jerk around under Matt whose still pounding into me and Chris keeps the vibrator on my clit sending my body into overdrive as I cum all over Matt’s dick.

As I come down I start crying the vibrations are becoming to much to fast my hand flys down to grip Chris’s wrist to pull the vibrator off

He slaps me

Mmm mm you promised to be a good girl and keep your hands to yourself

Y-yes I’m sorry I’m sorry

Keep being a good girl for us your doing so good ma

Mmmm Fuck c-can you just turn it d-down a little please please

He turns it down one setting giving me a little time to breathe and calm down

C-can I at-least touch you

Yes ma you can touch us

I move one hand onto Matt’s chest running my hands down it scratching marks down it as my other hand locks in Chris hair not too tight but enough to make him groan

Fu-Fuck feels so good

Yeah are we making you feel good ma

S-so good so fucking good

Such a good girl being so good for us

Fuck Chris turn it back up I wanna feel her clenching around me again

W-WAIT PLEASE N..

I get cut off by the vibrator going to max volume causing my breathe to hitch and my entire body to shake .

OH MY GOD I C-CANT PLEASE I …

Give me one more I’m getting close I promise ma

Mmmm Fuck okay okay

Chris starts sucking on my neck creating more hickeys in spots that didn’t have them from earlier

I pull on his hair tighter as he comes up and places his lips on mine bringing me into a messy hot make out

I moan into his mouth as I feel my hopefully final orgasm moving in slowly .

As I feel my breathing pick up I pull away and keep eyes contact as I whine and whimper as he watches me struggle with a smirk on his face

God you look so beautiful all fucked out and whiny

F-Fuck I’m so close oh my god

Go on give us one more ma I know you can do it

I close my eyes but they shoot open when Chris hand come around my throat .

Look at me while you cum . I wanna watch you fall apart

Mmmm Fuck I’m gonna cum oh my god I say as I maintain eye contact as my brows furrow and I bite my lip harshly trying so hard not to Throw my head back and close my eyes.

Come on cum around my cock give it to me slut

As soon as the words leave Matt’s mouth I cum all over him causing his to groan and his hips to sputter.

Chris watches my face contort and I moan as I start to come down from my high.

Matt thrusts as deep as he can as he fills me up with his cum .

Holy fuck he groan out as he fills me and fucks it into me .

Jesus Christ Chris turn it off please please I beg as I stare into his eyes with the most desperate look on my face as tears roll down my face.

He turns it of as he places small sweet kisses on my neck .

Your such a good girl you did so good . I’m so proud of you

I smile at him as I try to regulate my breathing.

Matt pulls out of me causing me to hiss.

My pussy is so sore and my legs are shaking non stop .

Matt flops down next to me trying to catch his breathe.

Chris lays down with his head resting on my stomach .

I play with his hair as Matt places a kiss on my cheek.

That was… fucking amazing

Yeah y/n your pussy is the best I’ve felt in my entire life

I’ve never cum so much in my life and might I just say y’all are huge like HUGE

They both chuckle as they both sit up .

I’m gonna go start a shower so we can all wash up .

Okay I say softly smiling at him

Come here Chris says standing up holding out his hand .

I take it as he pulls me to my feet . My legs immediately give out on me as I fall back but he catches me .

Okay Bambi come here he says hoisting me up holding under my thighs

I laugh at his joke put smack him lightly on the arm .

Don’t call me that and just so you know this is yours and his fault just remember that

Oh trust me I’ll remember this forever

Oh shut up

You wanna drop the attitude or keep it and have to crawl to the bathroom

I bring one hand to my mouth acting like I’m locking it and throwing away the key

He just smiles at me before walking us both to the bathroom

As we enter Matt is turned back facing us as he feels the water temperature making sure it’s hot enough.

I gasp as I look at his back.

W-what what’s wrong

N-nothing just your back I’m sorry I didn’t realize I was scratching that deep

No don’t apologize I loved every second of if

Okay whatever you say

Come on pretty girl let’s get into the shower Matt says walking over as Chris sets me down and Matt carries me into the shower as Chris steps out of his boxers following .

Matt hisses a bit as the water hits his back

See I told you they were deep

No I’m fine it just stings a bit

Mhmmmm

Chris holds me from behind at he pumps some shampoo in his hands and begins washing my hair causing me to sigh at how good it feels to have some one wash it for me .

Matt spins me into the water so I can rinse it out then spins me back so Chris can put the conditioner in as Matt lathers my body in body wash .

It’s feels nice to be pampered like this after what you guys just did to me

Oh yeah has no one ever taken care of you like this after

Nope usually then fuck me they cum then leave

Wtf typa Assholes have you been meeting around here

Ones who never heard from me again tbh y’all are the first people I’ve had sex with in a couple years

Wait really why

Well for one I got tired of feeling used and also tired of guys using me for their pleasure and me never getting anything out of it . All the guys I’ve met only care about them finishing but never me . I spent a lot of night alone crying feeling like shit about myself for even fucking with them at all

Im sorry y/n they were Assholes they didn’t deserve you at all he says pulling me into a hug

I smile into his chest

Thank you guys really I’ve never felt so taken care of by 1 guy let alone two

Of course we wouldn’t treat you any other way

I’m gonna be honest I did not think this is how it would go my first time meeting you guys

How did you think it would go

Well I thought I would possibly see you guys at the concert maybe see you walk by ask for a picture and that would be it

I mean understandable but come on your so beautiful we couldn’t have been able to resist you either way

I laugh a little bit as Matt turns me to rinse my body and the conditioner out of my hair.

I’m very glad you guys decided to come back here with me not just because you know you just fucked the shit out of me but because I like being around you guys your so… genuine and sweet to me

They both smiled at me

Of course gorgeous we like being around you too

I smile back as they wash them selves off making me laugh a little .

What’s so funny

Oh nothing your just gonna smell like a girl and that makes me laugh

Oh whatever it beats smelling sweaty and gross

Very true

Chris turns off the water as we all step out to dry off . My legs are still shaky and sore but I can slightly walk normal minus the fuck ass limp I got .

They both laugh at me as I walk to my closet

Stop laughing at me you assholes

Sorry your limp is just so bad

Yeah well I can thank the both of you for that

Oh yeah your very welcome

I flick them both of as I grab just a new pair of underwear and slip them on then limp back to get into bed.

They both lay in their boxers .

It’s kinda hot it the room givin we’re all snuggled up under the covers of my king size bed .

Hey can one of you get up and turn the fan on and shut the lights off I say as I yawn

Mhm I’ll do it Chris says making his way to the switches turning the lights off and turning the fan on .

Matt pulls me into him as he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck .

What time is it he asks in deep sleepy voice

Uh I don’t know Chris what time is it

Umm 4:30

WHAT

Jesus y/n you almost bursted my ear drum Matt says smacking me in the side lightly

Sorryyyy but 4:30 that’s means y’all fucked me for like 4 hours

Uhh yeah seems that way

Jesus y’all got some stamina

Mm meh I guess so

You guess bitch I’ve never had sex for longer than 30 minutes

Well I guess today was your lucky day

Yeah I’d say . No wonder I’m so fucking sore I just got railed for 4 hours

They both chuckle as we all lay dozing off and before I know it we all pass tf out until 5 pm the next day when I hear my bedroom door burst open.

Y/N I GOTTA TELL YOU WTF HE TRIED TO …

I stare at her half asleep as the two boys on either side of me wake up looking at me then her

Well I um … sorry we’ll talk later she says with a smirk slowly walking out

Oh god that’s so embarrassing

What’s embarrassing

She just walked in on me pretty much naked in bed with two guys

Oh that’s not embarrassing

Yeah I guess not since it’s you guys

What’s that mean

Oh nothing I’m still tired can we go back to sleep

Yeah same let’s go back to sleep

Don’t gotta tell me twice

we all fall back asleep

THE END 💋

[dustedmagazine]

Yung Kayo — Holy Grails (self-released)

What is going on with Yung Kayo? Barely four years ago, the Washington, D.C. rapper born Malachi Green was plucked from the SoundCloud backwaters by Young Thug to learn the trade as part of the Young Stoner Life stable. After a string of stray singles and leaks, 2022’s DFTK arrived as complete as one could hope for a debut at this level of hip-hop recognition. There were Yeat and Gunna features; Eartheater showed up; some of the leaks made it. A star was born. But like Young Thug himself (though for entirely different reasons), things have gone largely quiet since — or they had, at least, until the night of Thanksgiving in the U.S., when he dropped Holy Grails on the eve of his 21st birthday.

That’s the most intriguing part: He dropped it, not YSL. It’s unclear what his status is with the label at this point, though he’s wearing a YSL chain in the Korn-like artwork detailing production credits. Why this is self-released and coming now, with almost no fanfare or advanced warning, remains a mystery likely cloaked in the usual monetary disagreements and legal wranglings that make for boring reading but also often make or break an artist’s career. You don’t want to get stuck on a leash in a label interzone where nobody knows what to do with you.

On the other hand, that certainly never stopped Kayo’s mentor. Perhaps he’s learning not just the trade, but the tricks, too; whatever the case, we may never get the whole story. What we do get is 16 tracks highlighting both Kayo’s versatility on the mic and, maybe even more than that, how completely he gels with producer Warpstr, who’s as crucial to Kayo’s future-forward delivery as the man himself.

That’s not a recent phenomenon, as the album showcases. In fact, the other notable thing about Holy Grails is how much of a grab bag from his back catalog it is; the oldest songs here predate DFTK (“Jedi” has been on his SoundCloud for more than four years; “Taycan Key” and “All In” have been up for three) and a few more have been floating for a while now. Kayo’s last correspondence, “Bye,” is nearly a year old at this point. But you wouldn’t know it given a listen front to back — the sounds often pair bright, 16-bit videogame synths with barely modulated low end to great effect. Credit most of that to Warpstr, who’s listed as producer for 13 of these; Pi’erre Bourne (“Flex”), Arkman (“Heads or Tails”) and Maaly Raw (“Cold”) are the lone exceptions. Two well-known names (Bourne’s “Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?” tag is practically ubiquitous in contemporary hip-hop; Maaly Raw has been a regular presence on Lil Uzi Vert albums) and one less so (Arkman’s worked with Kayo a bunch, but most of their tracks together are still unreleased) don’t do anything to disrupt the flow of the record.

That sonic stability foregrounds Kayo’s willingness to experiment with sing-song flows and various rap speeds as he sees fit. His natural ear for melody has always been good, and it’s as prominently on display here as it’s ever been, though his actual voice is more unbothered by digital alterations than DFTK was. The most dramatic singing-versus-rapping dichotomy comes on “In My Room,” which takes lessons from the brooding 808s & Heartbreak-era Kanye West and introvert-mode Drake before pulling the rug out halfway through and diving head-first into some aggressively delivered couplets. It doesn’t take long to see what’s in the tank here. He’s hungry, sure, but his bars also don’t come wrapped in the cartoonishly outlandish delivery that Thugger’s did in his heyday. He strains to reach those heights on songs like “Rockstar “or “Psych Out.” They’re among the best songs of Holy Grails, but they’re also demonstrations of the ceiling.

Ultimately, Yung Kayo’s greatest asset is morphing what he can do to the beat backing him. Nowhere is this better displayed than on undeniable closer “All In,” which is as addicting a song as he’s ever made and one of the two songs (along with “Tell Me”) that got me paying attention to him in the first place. A pleasantly unexpected surprise, Holy Grails both serves as a reminder of why we were excited about him in the first place and widens the question of what he can do next — and where he can do it.

Patrick Masterson

[caraalee]

Basalt and Furnas: São Miguel

After four days in Pico, we went back to São Miguel to see what it was all about. Despite waking up late, we made it to the airport with time to spare—phew! The flight was under an hour, and the rental car company sent a shuttle to the airport to take us to the car pick-up place. Pretty breezy. And luckily, driving was less stressful with bigger and more paved roads. To kill time before our hotel check in, we decided to head straight to one of the beaches, Santa Bárbara.

It was a bit too chilly to swim, but we enjoyed the views and took in the black sand, which we later learned means you’re on a younger island. Lil’ baby São Miguel! It started drizzling a bit, so we headed toward the hotel, Pestana Bahia, and checked out the beach near there a bit, Praia de Agua d’Alto. This was in Vila Franca Do Campo, on the south side of the island. 

A lack of travel over the past couple of years meant some brain farts, including forgetting adapters. We found a 99-cent-and-up-type place and found a couple there. Unfortunately, one of them blew a fuse, and we had to get someone to turn our lights back on. Classic Americans. After all that fuss, we decided to stay in and eat at the hotel buffet, which was pretty good. 

Day Two: Miradouras Galore

For our first full day, we booked a tour around the west side of the island. Our tour guide, Fernando, was so nice and knowledgeable about the Azores. Did you know that in the Azores, the sidewalks are mainly made with basalt with lime stone accents, and in mainland Portugal, the sidewalks are mainly lime stone with basalt accents? And each acquired each others’ stones because they were used as weights to balance boats back in the day?! I didn’t!

The tour was riddled with fun facts like that and beautiful views. We were able to see all the sights on the itinerary except for Lagoa Fogo and Sete Cidades because it was too foggy. That was a bummer, but the other views were magical.

The weather was iffy at the start, and it POURED on us in Ribeira Grande. But we got some good pockets of sun and even dried off for the most part before a HUGE wave in Mosteiros hit us.

For lunch, we ate at Ondos do Mar, which included a buffet, green wine, sweet liquor, and a friendly black cat outside!

After the tour, we headed back to hotel then walked to Bar Praia de Agua d’Alto, right on the beach next to the hotel. I got fried blue mackerel, and Roobz got shredded cod. So much cod!

Day Three: Lava Tube and Furnas

Because we weren’t able to see the lava tube in Pico, we went to check out another one in São Miguel, Grutas do Carvão. It was pretty cool to see up close and learn what a lava tube is. Volcanoes are wild! And we learned more about BASALT. The one con was that there was a bit of a smell down there, including in the helmets we had to wear. Sacrifices for educational experiences. 

For lunch, we went to Baía do Anjos, right on the water in Ponta Delgada. It was yummy! We shared the octopus salad, I got the seafood fettucine, and Roobz got the steak. And we got green wine, of course. Even pretty basic restaurants were good because the ingredients were so fresh.

Later on, we went to the famous Furnas to enjoy some natural thermal pools at Poça da Dona Beija. Despite a tiny parking lot spectacle and closing our locker with the key in it, we had a great time. It was so nice, relaxing, and iron-ful! We hopped around pools and stayed for an hour and a half.

For dinner, a few of our first options were busts, but we ended up at Bar Caloura. It was great! I had the rock fish, and Roobz got the barracuda, which he said was the best fish of his life?!

Day Four: Pool and Beach

On our last day, we wanted to be car-free and enjoy the hotel pool and nearby beach. In the morning, we attempted to go on a hike and walked to a trail entrance near the hotel. It was a lot of uphill climbing after many days of sitting and eating, so we took some photos and then promptly went to the pool.

The rain had different plans, though, so we ran inside a couple of times. We still enjoyed the hotel and ate lunch on our balcony. For dinner, we went back to Bar Praia de Agua d’Alto and got the steak and tuna.

Overall, São Miguel was really fun. It’s a great vacation spot for families, groups of friends, couples—there’s something for everyone! We definitely could have stayed longer to see more of the island. It was a lot bigger than Pico, so I feel like I didn’t know Miguel like I knew Pico. But hopefully, we’ll be back! If we stay on São Miguel again, we’d like to lodge or explore the west side of the island more to see those gorg sunsets. 

The Azores were a great first honeymoon stop and had everything I need: mountains, ocean, wine, fish, and cheese. But it was time to say goodbye and see the main land!

[nightlyla]

Dive Into the Best Nightlife Events in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, the City of Angels, is not only famous for its iconic landmarks and Hollywood allure but also for its electrifying nightlife. Whether you're a resident or a visitor, the city's vibrant scene promises unforgettable nights. From exclusive club events to eclectic parties, Los Angeles offers something for everyone. Let’s explore what makes the La Nightlife Events so captivating and why the city's evenings are unmatched.

The Pulse of LA: Nightlife and Energy

Los Angeles is a melting pot of cultures, and this diversity is vividly reflected in its nightlife. The city’s hotspots are alive with pulsating beats, dazzling lights, and a welcoming vibe that keeps revelers coming back. For those looking to experience the finest Los Angeles Club Events, the options are endless. High-end venues with world-renowned DJs, rooftop bars with stunning views, and underground spaces hosting emerging artists ensure a unique experience every night.

If you want to dance until dawn, the city boasts clubs that cater to every taste, from EDM enthusiasts to hip-hop lovers. These Party Events in Los Angeles are designed to leave you with memories that last a lifetime.

Exploring Upcoming Events in Los Angeles

Los Angeles never has a dull moment, and its event calendar is packed throughout the year. The city's nightlife is constantly evolving, with themed parties, live music performances, and celebrity-hosted soirées making up a significant part of its charm. If you're curious about Los Angeles Upcoming Events, you're in for a treat.

From avant-garde art installations to rooftop celebrations, LA’s event scene is buzzing with excitement. Music festivals, exclusive club nights, and immersive theater experiences are just some of the events you can expect. Keeping an eye on these happenings ensures you’ll always be at the heart of the action.

The Best Spots for Nightlife Adventures

When it comes to La Nightlife Events, location is everything. Downtown Los Angeles is a haven for night owls, with its chic lounges and underground clubs that cater to a wide array of preferences. The West Hollywood scene, meanwhile, offers glitz and glamour with celebrity sightings and upscale venues.

The variety doesn't end there. For a more relaxed vibe, Venice Beach offers nightlife that blends coastal charm with energetic parties. On the other hand, Silver Lake provides an indie twist, where live bands and eclectic events set the tone. Wherever you choose to go, you’ll find Party Events in Los Angeles that capture the city’s dynamic spirit.

Tips for Making the Most of LA’s Nightlife

With so much happening, navigating Los Angeles’s nightlife can be overwhelming. Planning ahead and knowing where to go can make all the difference. Popular Los Angeles Club Events often sell out quickly, so booking in advance is key.

Dressing the part is also important. Many venues have specific dress codes, especially for high-profile events. Staying informed about Los Angeles Upcoming Events can help you pick the best nights that align with your preferences.

Why LA Nightlife Stands Out

What sets Los Angeles apart from other cities is its ability to blend the familiar with the unexpected. One evening, you could be at a glamorous red-carpet event, and the next, enjoying a hidden speakeasy with an intimate crowd. The city's nightlife is more than just a social scene; it’s an experience that caters to every individual’s taste and style.

La Nightlife Events continue to thrive because of the city’s unmatched creativity and commitment to entertainment. Whether it’s the music, the people, or the ambiance, every element works together to create nights you won’t forget.

Final Thoughts

Los Angeles is a city that knows how to party. Its vibrant nightlife, endless Party Events in Los Angeles, and ever-changing event calendar ensure there’s never a dull moment. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the heartbeat of LA’s after-dark adventures, keep an eye on Los Angeles Upcoming Events to plan your perfect night out.

[keywestexcursions1]

Welcome to The Paradise of Key West Vacation Florida

Have you ever visited the long sunny beaches and enjoy the natural beauty of Key West islands of Florida? If yes, then you might be thinking of the wonderful time you spend there with your beloved or with your family. If this is your first stay in Key West Florida then you are on actual treat this time. sunset sailing tours key west is one of the lucrative vacations when compared with other beach vacations. This place is a total combination of long beaches, natural beauty that offer you exotic marine life and wonderful historical artefacts.

Planning a Key West vacation with good key west sunset boat tours and Packages make your vacation much more joyous. This place offers attraction of each and every person irrespective of age. Most of the Key West Vacation packages offer you salt water fishing. Here you can experience an excitement of sight casting to tarpon while crossing the beautiful sandy flat offshore in the Key West back country. Deep sea fishing is also very famous at this place. Most of the Key West vacation packages conduct a relaxing trip to view the dolphins and also arrange for kayaking in the back country in the Key West.

Explore information from the sandbar tours in keywest and get started with a proper instructor. Most of the Vacation packages in Key West offer you scuba diving as the coral reefs around Key West are very famous. Key West vacation covers almost everything you are looking for. If it's a fun trip with your family, you can always get good discounts and deals from the vacation packages. Fun programme for the kids with adult swimming option makes the package more lucrative. The best part is there is always some choice for the kids for joining the kids club or the kid's night out programmes. Most of the vacation packages provide cookies and milk for the kids in the first night and overnight staying is always followed by a hot continental breakfast.

If you are looking for a day out in Key West Florida, you can always avail the best activities guided from the hotels and rentals. The best part of this tropical island is no matter what time you plan to visit, almost every time some festivals or occasions are going on here. Fantasy fest is one of the fun festivals that you will like to enjoy. Ask more about this to your vacation planner.

In Key West Florida there is accommodation for every type of traveller. You will find a good number of exotic guesthouse and inns with beautiful tropical landscape and pool. Almost all the resorts and hotels offer good vacation packages from family and also get good deals for any romantic gateways. The Key West Florida offers you any kind of accommodations you are looking for. For availing more offers and deals contact the vacation rentals. Key West Florida is a place for long sunny beaches, natural beauty, authentic food and exotic drinks. The marine life of this part adds another feather to your vacation.

[freshthoughts2020]

"POP WAS THE KING OF NEW YORK, NOW I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE"

"POP WAS THE KING OF NEW YORK, NOW I'M THE ONE IN CHARGE"

February 18, 2022

The King of New York is one of the most controversial titles in hip hop. Even Nas once said “There's more shit than wanting to be this King of New York shit”. However its still one of the most coveted titles in hip hop because New York was once the mecca of hip hop (which we all know is Atlanta now). There has been many kings of NY, including but not limited to: B.I.G., Hov, 50, just to name a few but for a while that title went void and almost became meaningless. With Atlanta currently having their foot, hand, and Draco on the rap game’s neck, New York didn’t have a true hometown hero they could rally behind for the masses because most NY artists had to keep up with the modern sound to stay relevant.

I.YOU CANNOT SAY POP AND FORGET THE SMOKE!

Then came along the Canarsie MC, POP SMOKE. Pop had all the makings of a superstar and was clearly getting ready to be the undisputed king of NY Hip Hop due to being a pioneer of Brooklyn Drill + His aura that was reminiscent of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 50. When Pop met his untimely demise it felt like once again the King of NY seat would be empty for a while. Lil TJay snuck in some hits, Kay Flock is leading the charge in the Bronx, but are they King of NY material? Who knows beloved. But there is one name that had the potential to take the throne and that is frequent Pop Smoke collaborator and fellow Brooklynite, Fivio Foreign.

II.VIRAL

Fivio may have seem like another notch on the belt which is drill rap but then he got the biggest feature on the critically acclaimed, DONDA album by Kanye West. The track “Off the Grid” which also features Playboi Carti, gives Fivio Foreign the most blatant headstart for a musical run, since 2chainz on “Mercy”. Once the beat switches to the signature Drill slider synth, Fivi goes off for probably 32+ bars of simple but effective lyrics.

That Fivi verse on Off the Grid put him on a whole new radar, next thing you know features everywhere! Also, most of the songs are being tailored to him so he can give that same crushing flow from ”Off the Grid”. Once he dropped “City of Gods” w/ Alicia Keys & Ye, he officially made his claim for the throne,

“Pop was the king of New York, Now I’m the n***** in charge”.

Ok! we all know you have to say it first before we believe it right?! So once he said that he officially placed himself under extreme scrutiny. At this point, we know Fivi is the best doing drill rap right now but what would he have to do to take that King of NY title? A Lot!! He has to have people wanna emulate him, his presence has to be everywhere, but most imporantly that first album has to be a classic!!!

Beyond this point is where I acquired new info for the article after its original written date.

III.B.I.B.L.E. TALK

Fivio Foreign dropped his debut studio album, B.I.B.L.E., April 8, 2022. Let me be the first to say the album is……NOT a classic. It starts off cool and he tries to step out on certain songs but it just don’t capture you like it should. Its definitely a strong debut I would say because he can only go up from here but now we have to ask, can he go up from here? Was “Off the Grid” just a moment? B.I.B.L.E. was apparently executive produced by Kanye but is it or me is it hard to see his(Ye) input on this? With all the hype around the album it felt like we should’ve been given way more.

While Fivi’s debut wasn’t bad its not a undisputed instant classic that it should’ve been for a person who claims to be “King of New York”. The throne is still up for grabs in my humble opinion. Who is worthy of it though? Will it be another new young up and comer or will Fivi make me eat my words and take the necessary steps to become the king he wants to be?

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[robinofgothamcity]

♡ prompt: "don’t leave me. don’t you dare leave me.”

♡ pairing: jason todd (redhood) x fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: "everybody loves somebody sometime. everybody falls in love somehow." 

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i wanna note that this doesn’t follow TITANS Jason Todd. you can use whatever version you want. the reason i say this is because the lack of gifs for Jason that Tumblr provides is w a c k.

“don’t bullshit me Jason, I really don’t need you coming up with any kind of excuse on the spot,” you told Jason. he could tell you were being completely serious. you weren’t feigning anything as you looked him straight in the eyes, “i’m done with the excuse and i’m personally done with waiting for someone who doesn’t make time for me.” 

Jason tried grabbing your hand but you immediately took it back. not caring if you were making a scene or not. 

Dick and Tim were in the unfortunate situation of being present for you argument and although they felt kind of awkward being around, they low key wanted to hear the rest of the argument. they felt awful for you but Jason had it coming. 

“don’t leave me. don’t you dare leave me!” Jason screamed. you shook your head, “you did this to yourself, Todd. you don’t get to play the victim in this situation,” you stated before grabbing your bag and exiting Jason’s apartment. 

Tim as well as Dick stood in awkward silence. not knowing whether to comfort Jason or leave. this was the first time in what felt like ages that they have seen Jason so vulnerable. 

you were Jason’s version of normal. although you weren’t a hero or any kind of sidekick, you did help out any of the teams that needed an extra hand at their respective lairs. you had a flair for working computers and knew your way around them when Tim wasn’t available. 

-

a few weeks had passed since your ‘break up’ with Jason. you had helped out the Bat’s a few times within the weeks but you made sure to keep your distance with Jason. whenever he appeared, you went to another section of the Batcave or moved completely to the second level so you wouldn’t even have to run into him. 

today, however; you were hanging around Tim’s team. you were in the mood to bug Connor as you were helping Jon with some of his schoolwork and decided to stick around. you weren’t particularly close with Connor but he did have a soft side with you so you messing with him didn’t necessarily upset him. 

“Tim or Connor, how much would it cost for you to bring me food from the chicken place around the corner?” you asked the two boys. “Connor could probably take you. I don’t think Tim’s moving from his computer anytime soon but I don’t mind piggybacking you there,” Wally said from the other side of the table. 

you huffed, smacking Tim on the side of the head and getting up. 

“well if that’s the case, come on West, you’re taking me,” you said grabbing his shoulder. Tim from the corner of his eye examined your interaction with Wally. you were getting a bit closer to the redhead and he found it a bit weird considering you weren’t close with him while you were with Jason, “hold on,” Wally smirked as he hauled you over onto his back. 

you laughed, holding on tightly as he zoomed out the door. Tim knew it wasn’t any of his business to get involved in relationship drama. he wanted nothing to do with it personally but seeing you close with Wally rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. maybe it was the idea that he still had hope for you to that made him text his adoptive brother. 

“your girl is going out with Wally. they’re going to be at the restaurant by my place if you’re wondering.” 

Jason had been moping around when he wasn’t going on any missions so when he saw Tim texting him, he found it weird within itself. he hardly messaged any of his brothers so receiving one from Tim no less was pretty odd. 

his heart dropped a bit reading the text. he had no idea you were even close with the speedster so to be going on a date with him put him on edge. Jason immediately ran out of his door and booking it on his motorcycle to the restaurant. 

had any police been on the streets, Jason would’ve received copious amount of tickets by the way he was speeding but he could have cared less. he arrived to the restaurant in due time. he saw you sitting down, eating with Wally as the two of you were basically scarfing down the food in front of you. 

Jason felt a pang to his chest as he watched you talk with Wally like nothing was wrong. he had never seen you so care free before. even when the two of you went out for a date or something, he felt so on edge thinking that something could happen to you. 

Jason didn’t want to sound more problematic than he already was but he felt a feeling of possessiveness hit him seeing you with Wally. like he didn’t want you going out with anyone that wasn’t him. his eye twitched every time Wally made you laugh or whenever you reached over to smack or touch him. 

eventually, he saw you and Wally getting up from the table. he quickly hopped on his motorcycle and drove back to his place, more upset than he thought he would be. 

he shot Tim a text back, thanking him for letting him knowing. 

Jason had heard a few days ago that you were planning on going out with a few of your friends with a club in Gotham and that happened to be today. he knew that following you to whatever club you were going too would be wrong but with the way he was feeling, he didn’t care. he was coming along..even if he had to hide in the crowd. 

he inched his way back to your place a few hours later to see you already getting dressed. you were wearing one of Jason’s favorite outfits and that alone made him want to go over to you and remind you that you were his. (WHY DID THIS GO SO YANDERE ALL OF A SUDDEN PFT).

the funny thing in all of this was that he saw you slip in some crocs into your bag. he knew you hated wearing shoes let alone heels so to see you probably change into them through the night made him chuckle. 

once you got into your car and made your way into Gotham to the club you were meeting your friends at, he walked in through the side and stood in the corner as he watched you get ID’d and walk inside. all of you were sitting at a table and ordering your first round of drinks. you downed a shot of whatever you had ordered before grabbing your friends hand taking her out into the dance floor. 

Jason walked in a bit closer but making sure to stay hidden. he saw you just dancing with your friend and couldn’t help but gulp. the way you were dancing and grinding up against your friend would have had him dragging you to the nearest bathroom for getting him riled up. (insert gif above)

he remained watching you until he noticed a guy approaching you. the guy was on the taller side, greasy hair flopping to the side of his face, and his clothes looked like he hadn’t changed out of it in days. 

“really, I’m fine. I don’t dance with people I don’t know,” you stated as you friend pulling you away. the guy quickly grabbed your other hand, “c’mon, one dance?” you shook him off, stating once again that you weren’t interested before walking back to the table. 

Jason, although the interaction was minor, was seeing red. he waited until the guy left to catch him in the single bathroom, leaving him bloody and bruised. he looked down to the guy before chuckling, “you should really learn what no means,” he spat before leaving. 

by the time he entered the floor again, you were already back on the floor dancing. you were dancing with another friend as you sipped on a drink and minded your business. it took a few internal screams to remind himself that he couldn’t just walk over to you and take you by the hand but almost after that, he heard commotion coming from the other end of the bar. 

closer to where you were.

Jason walked slowly to make sure shit didn’t get out of hand. you didn’t even realize that an entire fight had broken out by you as you were too busy singing to the song that was playing. it wasn’t until you heard gunshots that made you flinch and realize that shit was going down. 

you grabbed your friend, screaming at them to forget their things as you took everything the Bats had told you about situations like this and basically run for your life. you ran to the nearest exit before hearing gunshots going off again. this time, you tried ducking but it was far too late. you felt an impact against your left shoulder blade.

the gunshot immediately made you fall onto the ground as Jason practically sprinted to you. you weren’t even conscious enough to realize what was going on anymore but as you tried to get up to run once again, you felt yourself get pistol whipped on the nose as you fell again. 

Jason finally made it towards you after he signaled the Outlaws and even the some of the Bats to make their way to the club. you were trying your best to keep your eyes open but they were slowly starting to fall shut. 

“hey! hey! don’t fall asleep on me,” you heard Jason’s panicked voice. you laughed, leaning against him, “of course you would’ve followed me here but Jay, I’m kinda tired,” you whispered as your eyes fell completely shut. Jason shook you again as he tried to make sure you stayed awake, “don’t leave me. don’t you fucking leave me!” he screamed. 

it took a few minutes but eventually, the paramedics came in and got you onto a stretcher as Tim, Roy, and for some odd reason, Damian walked inside. they saw your state of being and looked to Jason. 

“a fight broke out and one of them shot off with gunshots. she got shot on the shoulder and hit with the gun to the nose,” he explained as he watched the ambulance put you inside. he knew...he hoped that you would make it out okay because he had some business to take care of before he went to visit you in the hospital, “I’ll be back,” he growled, getting up and running out the door. 

Roy, Tim, and Damian looked at each other realizing what he was about to do. they quickly followed him out the door but by the time they reached him, he was already running down the darkened ally, trailing what they assumed were the people that hurt you. 

Jason managed to tackle them to the floor, getting the ring leader as he stepped on the guys throat. he made sure not to make him pass out as he wanted the guy to feel his punches. Jason was big. size comparison to Superman so the punches to the face felt unearthly. 

“JASON STOP!” Tim screamed as Roy grabbed his best friend along with Damian, “if you get caught up in all this, you won’t be able to visit her. stop!” he yelled as he asked Roy to keep him calm, “go to the hospital. Roy can even take you but Robin and I have this,” he continued. 

he wanted to argue but for the first time in his life, Jason actually listened. he knew that he would get nothing by spending the night in a jail cell. Roy let him go when he realized that Jason was calm enough and let him to his motorcycle to follow you to the hospital. 

Jason got to the hospital about a half hour later. he immediately ran to the front desk, screaming your name to the receptionist who flinched back in fear. she walked him slowly to the room where you were at and informed him that you weren’t severely injured and most of the damage was on the nose. the blood you had lost was already getting pumped back into you. 

he saw you asleep on the bed as he pulled the chair up to your bed. Jason had never saw you this way before and frankly, it scared the shit outta him. he never wanted to see you this way again. 

without realizing, Jason had fallen asleep on the chair with his hand holding yours. it wasn’t until you actually woke up to see Jason asleep that you slowly shook him awake. Jason jumped up in fright and when he saw that you were awake, a sigh of relief was released. 

“how are you feeling? do you need anything?” he asked as you shook your head, “why did I know you would follow me to the club tonight?” you said with a tired smile. Jason shrugged, “you know how hard it is for me to quit you,” he confessed. 

while you did want to keep up your anger towards him, you weren’t even in the mood to start arguing with him. “Jason, seriously?” you said, not knowing what to say. Jason checked the door to make sure it was closed before basically hovering over you, “I can’t lose you. I just can’t. you’re the only thing that makes me feel normal. I know I wasn’t prioritizing you but I just can’t see you with anyone else. seeing you with Wally earlier almost made me want to kill him. I swear, I’ll start being better. I’ll make sure to make time for you but please, don’t leave me,” he yelled but softly. 

you had never heard Jason so vulnerable before, “wait, how did you know I was with Wally earlier?” you asked. Jason smiled sheepishly, knowing he was about to rat Tim out, “Tim might’ve told me,” he said. you squinted your eyes, “that asshole,” you said. 

“Jay, it’s hard to believe that when this isn’t the first time its happened. I just, I can’t be put in third or fourth place anymore. I see the way Dick and his girlfriend are and he still makes time for her and I always question why can’t you do the same!” you replied. Jason nodded understandingly, “I know but please, please trust me. one more chance and if I screw this up, you have every right to leave me for good,” he said almost immediately. 

you sighed, thinking for a few moments, “fine. one more chance and if you ruin it, it’s over. I won’t care what you say or do to try and get me back,” you threatened as Jason sighed in relief. 

he bent down for a kiss that had went longer than usual. it was getting steamier by the second but before you could continue, you heard a knock on the door indicating that the nurse or a doctor realized you were awake, “later, I promise. you’ll have enough time for this when you nurse me back to health,” you whispered making Jason laugh, “good because the way you were dancing with your friend might’ve turned me on more than I want to admit,” he said. 

you rolled your eyes as Jason sat back down on the chair as the doctor walked in. 

[caravelmp3]

FEAR AND LOATHING IN DOMESTICATION

pairing: josh kiszka x reader warning(s): mentions of alcohol, references to sex, depression, & anxiety  synopsis: in better terms, josh kiszka is a rolling stone, and when the pandemic causes the band to settle down for an undisclosed amount of time, reader helps josh come out of his slump note: title & reference to that one interview. you know the one. as someone with a fear of domestication as well, i related so hard to josh when he talked about settling down, and this came out of that. it’s just a lil something !! also posted on ao3 if you would like to check it out there instead. hope you all enjoy !! x 

Josh was a vagabond, a nomad, living a peripatetic lifestyle of hopping from city to city overnight by bus or jet, bouncing between venues and interviews as if he was born to do so. Staying in three-star motel rooms in the middle of nowhere became a part of his lifestyle, one that he became quite adjusted to after three years on the go. Even while visiting home he was between family and friend houses, checking in on old stomping grounds, visiting studios hours away, anything to stay busy. In the clearest sense of terms, he was a rolling stone.

So, as everyone imagined it would happen, he began to lose his sense of self in 2020. One second the band were planning the release of an album, preparing to hit the road and play stadiums in South America with Metallica in the spring, and then the next they were hit with the news of cancellations and push-backs to everything they had been working towards. With the rise of a pandemic they were forced into a hiatus and into the first real break any of them had received, if they didn’t count the few days visiting home last holiday season.

He and the rest of the band hunkered down in Nashville and Josh started to live in his worst fear - domesticity. He was waking up at the same time every day in the same city, he was living the same life day after day, and it became old very quickly. While catching up on rest and exploring a new city was fun at first, it started to look like every other city before long. The adventure he would wake up to with excitement was no longer around. He had been forced to settle down, and he felt like a trapped animal trying to gnaw its own leg off.

And like the rest of the band and the management team, you hated seeing him that way.

The relationship between you and Josh was short, but you knew Josh for years, and you noticed the differences in his personality immediately once you followed him to Nashville following the shut down of your own job.

You once swung by the studio with a surprise lunch for the boys and the team and he was struggling to write lyrics on a notepad in the other room, surrounded by crumpled and balled sheets of paper. He would stay up later at night scrolling through airline websites for flights out of Nashville to random cities (as long as he was traveling, he told himself), and he shifted through hobbies to find anything that stuck (which eventually was reading and painting) (there was a corner of the living room filled with stacks of books and canvas paintings).

And you tried your best, even when times were hard on you, too. In order to boost Josh’s spirits and get his mind off the persistent idea that he was stuck in time, you attempted baking new treats and made him try them after dinner, you dabbled in bartending and made new drinks with tequila, set up painting dates in the backyard after work, bought books from second-hand stores you thought he would enjoy, and bought new and random vinyl for the nights spent in during summer storms.

But the bright blue, cloudless summer skies and warm breezes rustling the trees of summer became the red of maples and the bronze of oaks of autumn. Everyone hoped things would be different, maybe even just slightly, but nothing had changed at all. The band was still in Nashville, making the best of their time off to expand the album and the universe it was set in, and you were back to working, but only remotely, so Josh insisted you stayed with them instead of traveling back home at seemingly the height of the worst so far.

When the long, hot days turned into cooler mornings and long nights with the sun setting at five p.m., the effect of the year had finally hit everyone. Everyone was tired, they felt defeated.

So in one last desperate attempt to boost spirits and morale, everyone set off on their own adventure and escaped Nashville in the early days of December. Danny was going to Los Angeles, Sam was going skiing in Montana, and you knew that Josh and Jake needed their own trip. So after a few phone calls and exchanged emails over a week, you booked a trip for the twins and their family in Key West. It was something small - a rented RV for the dreaded sixteen-hour drive south, but what awaited them was a week in a rented beach house and days on a boat in the Gulf.

You booked it for everyone, you wanted the boys and their family to let loose and spend some time together before work drove them away again, but you weren’t going to lie and say you didn’t book it with Josh in mind. He was a fan of the beach and islands, history, and the water and sun and sand, and after months hunched over a studio coffee table writing and working endlessly on the album design, he deserved time to himself, to recover, to recoup.

You told him before bed on Thanksgiving day. The Kiszka family had come down from Michigan to celebrate the holiday, and they did with dinner and a fire in the pit in the backyard with music and plaid blankets and smores under the stars. After staying up talking to his mom, Josh had come to bed last with the lingering scent of fire smoke in his hair and Corona on his breath, and he met you under the covers, nestling his face in the crook of your neck before pressing a soft kiss against your skin while wishing you goodnight.

Humming, you rolled over and rolled into him. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around you, and that’s when you, in a sleep-deprived state, began to rattle off all of your plans,

“Tell your parents to stay for another week.” You said, eyes still closed, half-asleep.

Josh paused. “Why?” It wasn’t something he was opposed to, but it caught him by surprise.

“I booked a trip for the rest of us. While Danny and Sam are gone.” You laid your head on his shoulder, pressing a gentle kiss to his chest. “We leave for Key West in four days.”

And the shot of adrenaline that ran through Josh was something he hadn’t felt in quite a long time. The last time he got excited about going anywhere was to a new record shop that opened up a few streets over from the house. He quickly sat up in the bed, looking down at you (now laying sideways) in the dark with a smile.

“You’re fucking joking,”

You laughed and reached out for his hand. “Not at all,” you said bringing his hand up to kiss the palm, “I’m going to pick up an RV in a couple of days, and we can surprise your parents and take them shopping for clothes and everything else we need.”

Out of what seemed like a rush of euphoria, Josh threw himself on top of you, peppering your face with kisses and you laughed at the show of affection and at the tickle of the growing mustache he managed to grow (and pull off). You turned your head, holding his cheeks, and kissed him.

“Now, come on, let’s get some sleep.”

“Well that’s unlikely - now I’m going to lay here and think about all the dumb shit we can do.” He said, sliding under the covers and sliding an arm around you.

You just laughed and nestled your cheek against his chest, listening in to the quiet shuffling in the hallway outside the door of everyone going to bed, to the ticking sound of the clock on the wall, and then to Josh’s voice,

“Do you think they have pirate themed dinner cruises?”

“If they do, I’m sure you’ll find out about it.”

And he did.

(There wasn’t one.)

But you found so much more than you two ever dreamed of. Trading dreary Nashville for a bright and warm island, you welcomed the hot breeze and sun-kissed skin.

And even though there wasn’t a pirate themed dinner cruise, you watched Josh come alive in a new environment. You strolled hand-in-hand with him through the butterfly and nature conservatory, letting him rave about the multicolored birds and point at flowers he thought you would like while capturing them on film. On Duval Street he pulled you to get caricature portraits done, he ordered shots for everyone in the bar after a night spent swimming. He roamed Dry Tortugas National Park with Jake, admiring the view and history within the brick fort walls, and first thing one morning he pulled you out of bed to get breakfast and visit the Ernest Hemingway Home, so you sat with him on a bench in the morning light and drank coffee and pet the roaming cats that passed by.

The last night on the island you woke up naked without Josh beside you, and you turned to see him sitting on the balcony with the white sheer curtains billowing around him, writing in the journal he always kept on his person. A smile tugged on the corners of your lips.

Josh was falling in love with life again.

And you were falling in love with life again, too, because Josh was so passionate about living it.

[daisybeewrites]

Academy Blues — Prologue

word count: 1.8k

warnings: not any for this chapter

ship: Dousy, background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

okay y’all.. here it is. the first installment of my first LONG TERM SERIES!!!!!! ahhhh i’m so excited. literally i cant wait to continue this and see where it takes me. i have an idea and a few different planning sheets, but honestly i have no idea where exactly this will end up. i love each and single one of you <3 thank you for reading!! this is also posted on Ao3, and linked in the masterlist.

Daisy hated the sound of the bells at The Academy. Screeching, awful, way too loud, the bells were the bane of her existence. They all wore standard-issue watches from the lab that monitored vitals and gave them reminders, and also told the time, for god’s sake! Fitz had even modified hers so that she could play snake on the tiny watch face! There was no need for the bells to be so excruciatingly disruptive. Though, Daisy guessed, there were many things more tortuous than bells ringing every hour and fifteen minutes.

Daisy slowed to a jog, cutting her morning run short. The bright side to being a third-year was that you chose your schedule, for the most part, and that meant Daisy had a free first period for four out of five days of classes. She usually spent this free period getting an extra hour in at the gym, boxing or sparring with Mack or Bobbi, two fourth years that had reluctantly taken her under their wings, or sleeping in. She reserved sleeping in for especially rough nights where visions of ashes and earthquakes and lightning returned time and time again, no matter how many deep breaths she took or sheep she counted.

But this morning was not one of those mornings. She had been up before sunrise, a little before her usual alarm and silently headed out of her dorm for a run. It was humid this time of year on most Virginia mornings, but never so hot that it made Daisy feel as if she was being smothered. The cooler air chilled her sweaty skin, her chest rising and falling as she jogged up the three flights of steps to the second years’ dorms. Down one long hallway, and she arrived at her room.

Daisy had been given her own room at the start of last year, complete with poly-adaptic-proto-whatever panels, which she had painted a pastel shade of purple, to compliment the greens of her cacti and the dark purples and blacks of everything else in her room. Even May had agreed that the stark white was too ”psych wing” for a bedroom. Daisy was grateful for the space, but considering the panels and the private room were only necessary since...

She shuddered. Grabbing her shower caddy, Daisy set off to the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall, hoping no one else was spending a free first period at the dorms.

Her shoulder-length waves were wet from bouncing against her neck, and starting to become annoying now that the sweat had dried and was starting to itch. Picking the white tiled shower furthest away from the door, Daisy quickly turned the water on, checked the temperature, pulled her sports bra and shorts off and hopped into the shower. Shampoo, condition, soap body, rinse. Checking her watch, Daisy found that she had showered in record time, less than three minutes. After spending another five just enjoying the hot water, she hopped out and changed into her class clothes.

Dark purple leggings, Coulson’s grey vintage SHIELD tee and a pair of white running sneakers she had “borrowed” from Jemma completed her look. Passing the mirrors, Daisy tried not to glance at herself. If her hair was messy or her undereye bags a bit too dark, she didn’t want to know. Instead, she headed back to her room to pack her bag for the day.

SHIELD-issued laptop, extra hard drives and a charger, Advanced CS 3: Ethical Hacking: Theory and Application, Advanced CS 4: Secrets of The Coding Languages, Physics notebook, an essay that was three days late on some boring book about international laws, and her sparring gear were all thrown into the black bag. She gave a second glance at the Russian notebooks Bobbi had loaned to her, promising that she’d learn without taking the class. Oh well, she still had all of this term to start. Plus, would she ever really need more than the dirty words?

One look at the alarm clock that sat on her dark hardwood night table showed that she still had almost forty-five minutes before she had to be in the computer lab. Sitting down on her bed, Daisy ran a hand over the grey blanket May had given her.

Daisy’s relationship with May and Coulson had been something of a problem with other students when she first got here. Some had been okay with the obvious paternal love Coulson showed for Daisy, showing her around and checking up on her, scheduling lunch dates and reminding her of tests. May was more subtle, texting her links to tai chi videos when she noticed Daisy getting too stressed or letting Daisy do her own thing if she saw that she was overwhelmed. Of course, none of the other students knew her family history, what she had gone through just to realize that May and Coulson were more her parents than her biological father and mother could ever be. She would see them later today—May during field training and Coulson in between lectures in the canteen.

Daisy walked over to her window to open her blinds, staring out at the campus she had grown to love. The large brick buildings scattered around acres of the Virginia countryside; green fields meant for physical activities like sparring or obstacle courses, or simply basking in the weather to study or chat; the dorms—red brick and concrete melded together to upgrade and expand the charming style of previously-built homes.

Grabbing a protein bar, Daisy headed to the canteen to make a green smoothie (and maybe snatch a cup of joe before she had to listen to an hour-long lecture on the reason SHIELD must cooperate with the UN’s stupid rules at 7:30 in the morning). Smelling the pines and morning dew surrounding her, she smiled slightly. Maybe this term wouldn’t be so bad.

———————————————————————

Daniel Sousa was a man of honor. He was a man of great strength. Agent Daniel Sousa, previously Officer Daniel Sousa in the US Army, was a man who could fix his damn alarm clock on his own.

Just, not today. Or the day before.

So, Agent Daniel Sousa was now hurrying his way to class at The SHIELD Academy, books in hand and gym bag slung over his shoulders. Catching a glance at himself in the shiny glass doors of the bio-chem building, he groaned. He hadn’t even brushed his hair. And, looking down, he discovered he was wearing two different shoes.

This is the college experience everyone raves about, he thought bitterly. You see, Daniel Sousa had enlisted to the army straight out of high school, forgoing university. He climbed the ranks impressively quickly, earning his place as second-in-command and reconnaissance scout in the 28th Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, after only four years in the army, Sousa was injured in the field, losing his leg and almost his life.

He came back to the US a war hero, and yet, he felt he wasn't finished. So, when a recruiter named Peggy Carter knocked on his door claiming to be from SHIELD (“Wow, you guys are still a thing?”), he leapt at the chance to continue fighti-...doing good. The Academy wasn’t exactly what he had bargained for, though. Trying to earn his B.A. and training to be an agent at the same time was grueling, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

No, six different one hour and fifteen minute long classes plus mandatory physical therapy every day wasn’t going to break him. Learning how to be a communications agent and re-starting field training and catching up on general college education was no problem. Pressuring himself to be the best, to break the limits, to get past all his weaknesses was just another miniscule feather to add to the pile.

Unless his stupid alarm clock broke. Then yes, Agent Daniel Sousa would fail, buckle under the weight and be left on the floor to die.

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic.

One bunny-slippered right foot and a sneakered left leg carried him forward, propelled by a quickly chugged orange Celsius and his sheer will not to be late.

Daniel heard the late bell ring out, understanding that, on his first day of class, he would be counted late. It wasn’t like him, not at all. Especially when his first class was a refresher course on field tactics and covert strategy, something in which he was already aces.

He let out a sigh, slowing as he rounded the corner into the comms building. At the Academy, most buildings were grouped into categories: the cafeteria, gym and pool, and student resource building all to the south; the gun range, obstacle course, and specialized gym to the east; bio-chem labs, tech labs, and smaller rooms for lectures to the west; the computer labs and comms buildings right smack in the middle; and dorms to the north.

He swiped a key card with his driver’s license picture and student ID, unlocking the sliding doors that led to the computer labs. It was quicker to short cut through them than to walk around the building to the entrance closest to communications classrooms.

It wasn’t because he knew a certain broody brunette spent her mornings in the lab.

No, it wasn’t, because she wasn’t in her usual seat in the corner, typing away.

He slowly walked through the rows of computers, searching for a familiar black backpack. Nothing was there.

“Hey, Sousa,” an accented female voice called behind him. He whipped around to see who it was, feeling just a twinge of disappointment when Elena, or, as most people knew her, Yo-Yo, was leaning against the door frame. Yo-Yo, a fourth year operations trainee, who was very close with Daisy.

“Hey, Yo-Yo. Good morning,” he called, “I’m running a bit late.”

Elena checked her nails casually, “Way to state the obvious. You were running faster than I could trying to get here before the bell.”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Yeah…”

“Daisy’s running late today, too.”

Daniel looked around, pretending that hearing Daisy’s name didn’t make him want to smile. “Oh, of course. She’s usually here early.”

Elena nodded, chuckling a little at his response. She couldn’t tell if he was oblivious or just a bad liar. It was charming, really. “Right. See ya ‘round, Sousa!”

“See ya,” He replied. He thought he heard a quiet ‘Lovable nerds’ coming from the direction she left, but he couldn’t be sure.

And so, with a last look around the computer lab, Daniel set off to arrive late to May’s lecture.

———————————————————————

okay okay,,, what do y’all think?? like/reblog and let me know! it’s the best way to support writers and it only takes a second! stay tuned for more chapters!!

[meechibell]

Build Your Own Sims 4 EP Challenge

Uptown World Expansion Pack

*My entry for #BuildYourOwnEPChall by #SimsBogdy99

 The 3 models I made are wearing all black salon uniforms. Dressing in all black takes the focus off of the stylists and puts it onto the clients where it should be.  All of their other outfits are made with their favorite colors in mind and are heavily themed with a 1980's vibe because I'm kind of stuck in that era because the music, fashion, and hair were so cool... still cool. So on with the pack...

Welcome to Rockin Key, the home of some of the world's greatest musicians!  Rockin Key is where the rich & famous go to play, and the locals that keep it going play here too. Located 5 miles West of Del Sol Valley, it's easy to find... follow the endless sounds of great live music across the 5 mile bridge to Rockin Key... the city that never sleeps.  Rockin Key entertainment venues are open 24/7. 

 On Rockin Key you'll find many new venues & plenty of room to build with 15 new lots to build homes/businesses! Including new lot types such as hair salons, Day Care Centers, houseboats, indoor concert halls, and movie theaters.

  Rockin Key (new) Venues Include: -Santiago's Hair Salon - Sims can now visit Hair Stylists, Nail Techs, & Estheticians for a variety of services. Don & Jori and their team are here to help you be the best looking version of yourself. Remember, it's all about the hair!

-Rockin Key's Slice of Paradise Concert Theater - This is the largest new venue. This is where the biggest names in the sim music industry come to perform. It's always the hottest ticket in town.  

-Rhapsody Twin Movie Theatre - Sims can now take their family, or a date, to the movies! The Plaza Twin Theatre has a full service concession stand, and the movie popcorn machine is always popping to make sure the popcorn is hot & fresh. To wash the popcorn down they also serve fountain sodas, and there's a variety of candy to choose from. In each theater for all sims' comfort, they'll find recliner chairs with built in soda & popcorn holders. It's stadium seating so no worries about someone's head being in a sim's line of view while enjoying their movie. And for the kiddies there are booster seats available.

-Sunny Sushi Bar - Indoor & outdoor dining w/ live music nightly by Toffee Butler (piano) or The Dunk-a-noos (steel drum band), located next to the marina. -Moody's Marina - Here sims can buy/own a luxury yacht w/ hot tub & full bar. Yachts can leave port and travel the area. Sims can fish off of a yacht or they can now charter a fishing boat.

-Lil' Sponges Daycare Academy - Sims can now drop off their children at this Nautical themed, state of the art Daycare Academy for ages infant - 5 years old. This isn't just a babysitting service; as an Academy it has licensed teachers to teach age appropriate lessons while keeping track of each child's growth and progress in their speech, fine motor skills, gross motor skills and social skills. By the time these little sponges are ready to move on to Kindergarten at 5 yrs old, many will be able to skip right into 1st grade.

NEW CAREERS

 -Hair Stylist This career is for the sim that believes it's all about the hair. Once a customer has the right hairstyle, anything is possible! Hair Stylists can wash hair, cut hair, color/highlight hair, perm or straighten hair & blow dry hair. Top level Supreme Hair Stylists unlocks hair extensions that come in long, medium, short, & extra short (to add bangs/fringe to most hair styles already in the game) with each length also being in straight, wavy, curly, or braided styles, each available in all colors for both females and males, age teen-elder. Depending on the hairstylist's level will be the outcome of the hairstyle given, so sometimes with lower levels there may be mistakes and corrections needed that result in comedic reactions by sims/hairstylists.  

 *Supreme Hair Stylist Bonus: Becoming a CELEBRITY HAIR STYLIST: Once a sim reaches top level as a Supreme Hair Stylist, they will begin to gain notoriety and in time will reach "celebrity" hairstylist status. Once this is achieved they will start to receive celebrities/rockstars as clients, be asked to go on location to music video sets, and backstage at concerts, to work on musicians'/celebs' hair, and they'll hob-nob with the rich and famous. Also, a celebrity hair stylist can be Owner & Creative Director of a very successful hair salon w/ barely any problems. They'll even be given the opportunity to own a chain of hair salons if the first one is successful. 

 -Nail Technician/Artist 

A career for sims that believe a person can't be their very best without well manicured hands and feet. Services provided, how well and how quickly done, depends on the level of Nail Tech/Artist. Lower levels may either take longer or make mistakes such as wrong nail color or spills water on the client.  Once a higher level is reached the Nail Tech adds Artist to their repertoire and unlocks fun nail art & nail accessories. When a sim visits a Nail Artist the prices are higher, appointment is quicker, and you get to choose the color(s) of nail polish used on the sim, along with a paint design (flowers/hearts/holiday themes) and/or nail accessories such as glitter or rhinestones.  

 -Esthetician For the sim that sees other sims as walking Barbie & Ken dolls and helps them reach that status through ridding them of any and all body hair through artful waxing. Starting level can only provide facials, moustache waxing, & eyebrow waxing/shaping. They also provide skin treatments afterwards to sooth the red hot burning newly waxed fresh skin after peeling off a layer with the hot wax. Clients are taken to a private area (behind a curtain or door) for body waxing. Bikini waxing for female/male adult-elder is unlocked once an Esthetician reaches the top level as an Elite Esthetician.  

(Note on how I see the Esthetician career as working in the game... Once an Esthetician reaches "elite" level they can start body waxing clients, so the nude sim laying on the table will have blurred privates, same as when they shower, but we'll know the spot the Esthetician is waxing as the sim will make some kind of horrible scream and/or face due to the wax being ripped off which makes for funny game play. You see it too, right?

 -Hair Salon Owner & Creative Director  This career is the ultimate goal for most Hair Stylists... a dream come true. This career is best suited for the sim who has achieved the top level as Supreme Hair Stylist because they know what they're doing, what the salon needs, and more importantly what their employees and clients need. Even with all of their experience and knowledge in the hair industry, they still hit bumps in the road and make mistakes. Hair Salon Owner & Creative Director may also work well for other salon employees after a sim reaches either the Finest Nail Artist level or the Elite Esthetician level. They will run into a few surprise bumps that the Supreme Hair Stylist knows how to avoid, but they have a better chance of success than a sim that has no salon experience. With that being said a sim without prior salon experience who can afford it, can be a Hair Salon Owner & Creative Director; however, that sim will  have a much more difficult time in being the salon owner & creative director with more mishaps, unhappy employees, angry clients, and more stress than the Supreme Hair Stylist that becomes an owner & creative director. Their chance of failure with the salon closing down is 50% higher than that of a salon employee & 75% higher risk than that of a Supreme Hair Stylist.  Top level for Hair Salon Owner & Creative Director opens up the opportunity for them to expand into a Hair Salon Chain Owner.

-Professional Contemporary Music Artist This career is for the sim that wants to be a Music Idol & Pop Culture Icon. Those that seek after a career as a professional contemporary music artist include sims that have dreamt about success as either a solo pop or hip-hop artist, or as a member of a rock band, or a member in a popular boy or girl band. Their journey begins when they begin to practice singing and/or playing instruments. As their skill increases, they'll gain notoriety performing in venues around town until finally a big music manager contacts them after hearing them perform in a local bar and offers them an audition. If the audition goes well, they'll then be offered a contract with choices such as music genre & solo artist or in a band to begin their musical career. Once the contract is signed, the sim will start receiving dates for live concert gigs that you will be able to follow and play sim through the onstage performances as well as the backstage after parties. At top level the sim will become known as a "King/Queen of Music" which will unlock many new items made for a rock/pop superstar including clothing,  jewelry, big hairstyles, & other rockstar items themed after 1980's musical legends that are known for their music & iconic fashion styles such as George Michael (Wham!), Prince, Bon Jovi, Tina Turner, Cher, Run DMC, Heart, Janet Jackson, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Cyndi Lauper, & Boy George (Culture Club).

 NEW ASPIRATION CATEGORY: TRADESMANSHIP 

NEW ASPIRATIONS: 

-Supreme Hair Stylist 

-Finest Nail Artist 

-Elite Esthetician -Hair Salon Chain Owner -King/Queen of Music

 NEW TRAITS: 

 FINICKY - A sim with this trait is extremely hard to please & they change their minds often too. Finicky sims are the customers that businesses, hair stylists, & servers have nightmares about. They want things exactly like they want it, and if it's not to their preferences, they'll throw a hissy fit refusing to pay for services. At the hair salon they're the client that will ask for a certain hair style or nail style, and halfway through they'll change their mind or when finished burst out in tears saying they don't like it. If they place an order over the phone, or in a restaurant, there's a good chance by the time it arrives, they'll no longer want it causing them to pout, complain & refuse to pay for it. If they enjoy an activity one day, they may hate it the next. If they have a romantic interest, they may lose interest faster than other sims. They may even become the runaway bride or groom. Their likes & dislikes change often because they are FINICKY. 

LEECH - A sim with this trait is outgoing, cheerful, & charming so making a new friend, or romantic connection, is easy for them & quicker than other sims, but once another sim befriends them they will become the center of the LEECH sim's world. A LEECH will only want to do things with that one friend or love interest, and they will expect the same from that friend or love interest. They want to do everything with ONLY that 1 person, and can show up at any time, & anywhere, uninvited to be with them. When not with their friend, they're calling them on the phone, even if they're at work. And if they see their 1 friend/love interest being friendly with anyone else, they will act out in sneaky jealous "accidental" actions towards the other sim who is "stealing" their friend's attention away from the LEECH, such as spilling a drink on them, or bumping into them hard enough to knock them out of the way, or causing them to trip, or pulling their chair out from under them. A LEECH will talk to anyone that will listen to them, and when they're really lonely they will visit their favorite hangouts to talk to the employees knowing as a customer they have to talk to them and be nice. The LEECH is often a Rockin Key business' nightmare client because they tend to hang around bothering the employees or other customers looking for attention.   Some leeches even ask for free things like a drink. The LEECH doesn't have the same obsession with their family members, only with that 1 special friend/love interest which may be their spouse. With family members the LEECH is known for inviting themselves to dinner, or on outings (and of course leeches always forget their wallet no matter who they're with); however, when they make that 1 special friend or love interest their family is relieved because they get a break from the LEECH that will now come around much less often, if ever, while in the other relationship. Breaking off a relationship with the LEECH is not pretty either. They will throw huge fits no matter where or how the break up happens. And don't be surprised if the sim that broke it off now finds themselves being watched with a telescope or being followed when they go out as the LEECH has a very hard time letting go & may pop up at any time just to say "hi" w/ a creepy smile as they walk away. They also may find that their mail has been stolen when the electric is suddenly shut off due to non-payment since the LEECH out of anger stole their mail, though they're unable to prove it to the police. 

 WALLFLOWER- This sim is a romantic at heart, creative, super sweet & friendly, but has trouble approaching other sims, especially strangers because they're shy. They long to socialize with other sims & enjoy going out on the town to different venues/events hoping to make a friend, or meet that special someone; however, once they arrive, they will stay seated and will not approach sims becoming a WALLFLOWER while they wait for sims to approach them. Once they become friends with a sim, they're charming, super sweet, & a bit more chatty, but still more quiet & agreeable than most sims. Being shy they are the exact opposite of a leech as they will often pay for others, and wait for their friends, or family, to call them to make plans as they don't want to bother anyone. If a sim they care about takes too long to contact them they become gloomy or will sit at home & cry alone wondering why that sim doesn't like them. When it comes to business owners, the WALLFLOWER is a favorite customer/client as they're so sweet they're always happy/content with the service provided for them. 

 COUCH POTATO - They live to entertain themselves from a chair or a couch whether at home, a friend's house, or a night out. They tire much faster than other sims & have to sit down more often if out and about. One of their favorite things to do is sit and watch tv which they also enjoy blogging about their favorite shows and movies. If sim also has an outgoing trait they can often be found out at venues that have entertainment, or activities that require or encourage sitting such as a bar, movie theater, park bench, laying out by a pool, library, or hair salon. These venues look forward to visits from their COUCH POTATO customers/clients as they tend to stay awhile, spending more money, so they don't have to get up and go back home after coming all this way. The thought, or sight, of physical exercise quickly drains their energy, and they may need to stop for a power nap whether they are at home, a friend's house, or out on the town.

  New Objects: 

-Hair extensions (4 different lengths/textures/all colors) & accessories (barrets, headbands, bows, scarves) for all ages -Hair salon accessories - couches/chairs, mirrors, work stations w/ stylists' supplies, shelves, hair products -Nail Technician manicure table & chair, client chairs, nail equipment  

-Nail art & accessories -Esthetician table & supplies/cabinet -5 piece drum sets (2 sizes adult & child) -Steel drums in 4 different sizes 

-Electric Guitars 

-Bongos (2 different sizes)

-movie popcorn machine

-soda fountain

-Recliner chairs with large built in cup holders

-Oversized Kites 

A Special Thank You... I'd like to thank my daughter ( #SparkleMuffin21 ) and my son ( #DarthDjoe ) for their help in listening to my ideas and giving me their own opinions on this challenge, as well as pretty much all my sim's creations. My grown children both play Sims 4, so I value their opinions, and appreciate the kindness/patience they've shown me as they often help me by sharing their opinions on my creations. This time around they gave me a lot of advice on what I should or shouldn’t include, and my daughter helped me with the naming of the pack & the name of the town for this challenge. Thanks kids! <3

[therappundit]

***Best of the 1st Half of 2021: SONG EDITION***

Six months into 2021 and since 2020 wrapped up...some things in the world have changed, while other things remain the same (for better or worse). Folks, it’s time to talk about rap music in 2021...

One trend definitely has continued well into 2021: the underground rap world - I’m talking the artists, the aesthetic, the sound, the full projects, every box you can think of - continues to kick the mainstream rap world’s ass. There are already signs of the two imaginary separate worlds intermingling more and more, and we will have to deal with the pros and cons of that down the line...but one thing is for sure: rap music runs deeper, and more sonically diverse than ever before, and as long as there is an internet to enlist the ears and talents of artists from all over the world, the art form will continue to divide, change shape, borrow from the old and add some new, again and again. And we will all be better for it.

So let’s dive right in. As usual there are about 1,000 more songs that I would love to cram into this list, but there are only so many spots...and I’m married with a toddler, so even though I am listening to rap music for a concerningly large portion of my day, it takes a lot of extra coffee and less sleep to keep these posts going (but it’s still worth it, I love connecting with folks over the same under-discussed but ridiculously dope songs and artists).

There are many lists but none quite like this one, here is THE RAP PUNDIT’S LIST OF THE BEST RAP SONGS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF 2021....hope you find some joints you never heard before and really enjoy.  And to all of the MCs, Producers, mixers, singers, curators, readers, writers, critics - anyone that contributes something to this music I love....thank you, as always. 🙏

[Bonus joint] 55. “GANG GANG” - Polo G feat. Lil Wayne

https://soundcloud.com/polo-g/polo-g-lil-wayne-gang-gang?in=polo-g/sets/hall-of-fame-675200176

[Bonus joint] 54. “Furious Styles” - Illa Styles feat. Nickelus F https://illastyles.bandcamp.com/track/furious-styles-ft-nickelus-f

[Bonus joint] 53. “Box of Churches” - Pooh Sheisty feat. 21 Savage

https://soundcloud.com/ceo-mrpooh/box-of-churches-feat-21-savage

[Bonus joint] 52. “Beating Down Yo Block” - Monaleo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnMPEfV0bSA

[Bonus joint] 51. “BUZZERBEATER” - Rahiem Supreme feat. Al.Divino & Estee Nack

https://franksvinylrecords.bandcamp.com/track/buzzerbeater-feat-al-divino-estee-nack

50. "A Man Apart” - Rx Papi

https://soundcloud.com/rxpapi/a-man-apart-prod-by-noisy?in=rxpapi/sets/100-miles-walkin

(Face it: you’re either feelin’ the Rx flow or you’re not. The endlessly quotable MC is not always taken seriously, but similar to how the saddest clowns are most adept at masking their pain behind a smile, Papi needs to be taken seriously as a talented rap artist.)

49. “Moving On Up” - Evidence feat. Conway The Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F35OOXvQ4c

(Evidence, Babu, Daringer and Conway all joining forces on a record feels like a timeline altering reach between two completely different generations of elite underground hip-hop artists, but in the case of “Moving On Up”, it’s not just a “hey wouldn’t it be dope if” fantasy, it’s a sweet reality. Ev has connected with the Griselda camp before and of course the results are dope. Add this one to the list, one of the many fine moments off of Unlearning Vol. 1.)

48. “Gordon Ramsay Freestyle” - Remble

https://soundcloud.com/remble2/gordon-ramsay-freestyle-prod-by-laudiano

(An attention grabbing MC if ever I heard one, Remble clearly hails from the same camp as Drakeo The Ruler - Stinc Team - but with that flow and sense of humor, he may develop a lot more than just a strong following out on the West Coast. Look out for Remble, he is knocking on the door of blowing, he’s just one key feature away...)

47. “The Shifts” - maassai feat. AKAI SOLO

https://maassai.bandcamp.com/track/the-shifts-feat-akai-solo

(If you haven’t checked out one of 2021′s most quietly impressive albums, I cannot recommend With The Shifts enough.)

46. “BOXINABACK” - Bris feat. Alphie Blood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3ai7WYivGo

(The career of Sacramento’s Bris was really beginning to pick up momentum in 2020...sadly, he was killed the same year. I cannot pretend to be an expert in the Sscramento rap scene, I just know that it’s been bubbling for a while, and this song really captured my attention as soon as I heard it. RIP, Bris.)

45. “Last Day Out” - Rio Da Yung OG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB51CUUod1w

(Right before Rio Da Yung OG entered the penitentiary, he dropped “Last Day Out”, a song that perfectly captures what the rap game will be missing while he’s gone - and more brutal honesty than we are accustomed to hearing from Flint, Michigan’s punchline killer.)

44. “Thousand Miles” - MAVI

https://mavi.bandcamp.com/track/thousand-miles

(The whole EP is impressive, but I think this joint most actually captures MAVI’s rhyme skills, flow and song writing ability. With young talent like this bubbling up from the underground scene, the future of rap music is as strong as ever.)

43. “Appletree” - Valee & KiltKarter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPO2AXgZMSc

(Not necessarily a vibe that everyone will be into...but one that if you are into it, you will reap the rewards in abundance. It’s so enjoyable to hear Valee applying his unpredictable cadence to new music once again, made that much more enjoyable by the fact that he has already dropped THREE mixtapes in 2021 and it’s only July!)

42. “Next Chamber” - Peter Rosenberg feat. Method Man, Raekwon & Willie The Kid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1amHQefki98

(Admit it: this is the type of production we have all been wanting on Wu-Tang albums for years. We won’t get it, but this is closer to the sound that they represented....and of course let’s not forget about the always welcome WTK feature, who does more than hold his own over the NY legends.)

41. “St. James Liquor” - Skyzoo feat. Aaria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWC_tFzqUz8

(Pen game’s don’t come much finer than Skyzoo’s. The Brooklyn MC put a lot of work into All The Brilliant Things, and the final result was a collection of thoughtful rap songs like this one: descriptive, autobiographical rhymes over beautiful instrumentation that conjures memories of classic Roots records, and the headspace that only the greatest early 90′s East Coast lyricism could provide. Great song, great album.)

40. “10″ - Drakeo the Ruler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIRJoQFyS6c

(One of the best stories in 2020 rap music was when Drakeo hit the street once again, after a painfully long stretch of time in prison. He really hit the ground running in 2021, dropping one quality track after another...but then again, he never really stopped making dope rap in the first place, be it in the studio or over prison phone.)

39. “MASSA” - Tyler, The Creator feat. DJ Drama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vGz0bFutZs

(When folks were saying that Tyler was RAPPING rapping on his new album, this is what they were talking about. Not since Kanye West has a polarizing rapper-producer excelled so well at spilling his guts all over a track, and moments like this "MASSA” make Call Me If You Get Lost the standout project that it is.)

38. "DARTGUNZ” - Chuck Strangers

https://soundcloud.com/chuckstrangers/dartgunz-produced-by-samiyam

(Chuck Strangers remains low-key one of the best MC / Producers in the game, but Chuck is merely flexing his bar-work on this Samiyam produced gem.)

37. “Messy” - Nappy Nina & JWords

https://nappynina.bandcamp.com/track/messy

(Big shout-out to Pitchfork for putting me on to Nappy Nina within their rap song of the day section, The Ones. I love her music, and when paired with the incredibly gifted producer JWords - who I was only somewhat familar with thanks to previous terrific collaborations with MIKE and maassai - the result is a dope ass album like Double Down.)

36. “Nobles” - The Alchemist feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Navy Blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQoKO_v93g0

(The instrumental sounds as a triumphant as you could expect music from this trio to sound. My only complaint about This Things Of Ours was that it wasn’t 10-50 songs longer.)

35. “Nothing Like The Sun” - Tree feat. Roc Marciano

https://mctreeg.bandcamp.com/track/nothing-like-the-sun-feat-roc-marciano

(Okay so for the past few years, I had been pressing Tree, Closed Sessions, and just about anyone that would listen that a less than a minute clip from an old Tree promo featured an unreleased Tree & Roc Marciano joint. So finding out that this joint would *finally* being released on Tree’s Soul Trap album, it felt like Christmas morning. Now the world finally gets to hear two of the finest rap artists from the past decade plus!)

34. “nine lives” - maassai

https://maassai.bandcamp.com/track/nine-lives

(A great example of a song that seems to get better and better as it goes on, maassai & that horn sample are undeniably good on here.)

33. “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” - Drake feat. Rick Ross

https://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/drake-lemon-pepper-freestyle?in=octobersveryown/sets/scary-hours-2-1

(This one really radiates, “YES, you have heard this before”...but when it works so well, that’s not such a bad thing. Drake came ready to rap, and it will propel this joint to the top of many lists you will find on those other web sites.)

32. “triboro.” - Remy Banks feat. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Wiki & A-Trak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwSJ-DtZRBk

(I dig this in a big way. A few of NYC’s finest, flexing over what feels like blasting Kraftwerk out of a boombox on the L Train? I’m so on board.)

31. “Safe To Say” - Good Gas, Fki 1st & Band Gang Lonnie Bands feat. Band Gang Biggs & Glockboyz Teejaee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aykhcv625u0

(Of all my favorite projects that dropped in 2021 thus far, I don’t know if any have been as inexplicably under-discussed as the Good Gas, Fki 1st & Band Gang Lonnie Bands banger, Street Dream Team. I stumbled upon the project completely by accident one week while thumbing through all of the new joints that dropped from Detroit MCs one week, and I have kept it in heavy rotation ever sense. While not necessarily a spot-on snapshot of Band Gang Lonnie Bands’ typical sound, for a Michigan outsider like me, it makes for a great entry level intro to one of my favorite rappers out of the Motor City right now.)

30. "Early Exit” - Lloyd Banks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BUofKVrb-A

(Yeah the Roc Marciano verse sounds like it was recorded over an old radio on cassette tape, but as someone from the real mixtape era, I’m not going to let shaky sound quality distract from the fact that every other part of the song is fantastic. The bars are there of course, but the beat and hook are all spot-on, and sound quality be damed it’s just great to hear Banks & Roc together.)

29. "Yonkers” - Wiki & NAH

https://wiksetnyc.bandcamp.com/track/yonkers

(Rife with experimentation and half-freestyles, and sonically living somewhere between Company Flow and Ratking, the subterranean metro sounds of Wiki and NAH’s Telephonebooth might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you have been checking for Wiki’s music prior to this point, chances are you are going to be feeling this collaboration with NAH, a producer that I was previously not familiar with, but became a huge fan over night thanks to cuts like “Yonkers”.)

28. “John Wick” - AKAI SOLO & Navy Blue

(Whether you still believe “lo-fi” rap is a legitimate sub-genre or not, there’s no denying the abilities of these two gifted writers/artists. The wind is blowing in this direction my friends, I just hope you get on board soon and stop neglecting all of the great rap music rising from this corner of the underground.)

https://akaisolo.bandcamp.com/track/john-wick-prod-navy-blue

27. “Let It Roll Interlude” by IAMNOBODI feat. Phonte & BeMyFiasco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVA1hXEnwnE

(Hard to believe that arguably the strongest rap verse of 2021 would be so under the radar, but here we are...)

26. "Taylor Made Suit” - Evidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qLIuc3z7KQ

(Perhaps the thing I love most about this new Ev - both the song itself, as well as the entire album - is how incredibly effective he sounds over minimalist production throughout. “Funeral suit, same as my wedding suit”...shout-out to the legendary MC and producer, both for everything that has has endured in his personal life and his ability to turn his pain into art.)

25. “GOOFIEZ” - Mother Nature and Boathouse feat. Valee

https://mothernaturebarz.bandcamp.com/track/goofiez-featuring-valee

(When Chicago talent gets busy on a record, not many can hang with them. Be on the lookout for more and more big things from the likes of Mother Nature, Valee, and Boathouse.)

24. “Peach Cobbler” - Navy Blue

https://navybluethetruest.com/

(I’m not sure if there is a “chosen one” right now, someone destined to reach such levels of success and/or respect that Drake & Kendrick-esque waves are felt over a generation...but if there is, the mega-talented producer/MC/skater/whatever he wants to be Navy Blue might fit the bill.)

23. “Rose Gold” - 42 Dugg feat. EST Gee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmKfKZr-PQ

(There are more than a few songs off of 42 Dugg’s Free Dem Boyz that belong in my Top 50, but “Rose Gold” gets the nod off the strength of the menacing beat paired with 42 and one of the most scorching hot rappers walking the earth right now, EST Gee)

22. "MANIFESTO” - Tyler, The Creator feat. Domo Genesis & DJ Drama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnDXCoHRl4o

(The Selena Gomez/Justin Bieber bar will garner most of the hype around this joint, but don’t let it distract from the fact that this song is one of the best collaborations between former Odd Future members since the collective’s creative peak.) 

21. “What’s Next” - Drake

https://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/drake-whats-next?in=octobersveryown/sets/scary-hours-2-1

(Pay attention to this Drake guy, I think he has a shot of making it. He makes it seem so easy, yet he has no peers at his level right now. There’s the growing underground elite...then there’s Drake, and little competition to duke it out with him when it comes to smash rap hits....assuming that is still supposed to be a thing?)

20. “MOMENTZ” - Mother Nature and Boathouse

https://mothernaturebarz.bandcamp.com/track/momentz-2

(You would be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable, high quality tape than SZNZ. The Chicago MCs rock a beat that sounds like a Camp Lo leftover - and I mean that in the best way possible - and show a natural penchant for earwormy choruses that should serve them very well in this biz.)

19. “Grace Jones”  - maassai

https://maassai.bandcamp.com/track/grace-jones

(Somewhere between spoken word and where Lyricist Lounge-era Rawkus resides, you can find the warrior poet that is maassai: quite simply one of the most impressive MCs in rap right now.)

18. “How It Feels” - Lil Baby & Lil Durk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAsRTTO8L2k

(I know how it feels to care relatively little about a collaboration project between two of the game’s more revered Lil’s, then be blown away by both of them rapping their asses off for like 20 songs.)

17. “Falling Out the Sky” - Armand Hammer & The Alchemist feat. Earl Sweatshirt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctmTme9cG74

(There’s wavy, and then there’s wavy in the hands of The Alchemist, Earl Sweatshirt and Armand Hammer. One of Haram’s many standouts, this one is probably not what fans expected when they first saw the album’s tracklist, but it might actually be more special than we expected.)

16. “Capitol 1″ - EST Gee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ng7Sg1_RTM

(Mark my words: by the time we reach the end of 2021, EST Gee will be in the top 10 of every reputable rap site’s best MC list. At least I know that he will most likely be on mine.)

15. “LUMBERJACK” - Tyler, the Creator feat. DJ Drama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WOjaYotX1c

(Who knew we needed Tyler to join forces with DJ Drama to rap over a Gravediggaz joint? Never one to do what everyone expects, when this cut dropped about a week before his new album was released, it was clear that he was ready to pick up where he left off with his impressive bar-work on a flurry of features in 2020. Now that I think about it, after “Something To Talk About” and “327″ maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that Tyler dropped one of the hardest joints of the year.)

14. “The Stellar Ray Theory” - Mach-Hommy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3GWJrL2ht0

(The single that Mach & Griselda stans were terrified to hear, at the risk of revealing their no-longer-a-secret project to be a painful example of how far the parties had drifted since their over-publicized fallout, only to find the opposite: Mach & Gunn didn’t just find their chemistry once again, they improved upon it.)

13. “Sandra” - MIKE

https://mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/track/sandra

(With his new Disco! album, MIKE managed to step outside of his typical lane of delivery, showing how nimble he truly is as a MC, and even takes his skills to another level as a producer, delivering what might be the most enjoyable album of his career thus far.)

12. "No Time” - Your Old Droog feat. Wiki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8Ozq9tMLE

(The new YOD album sounds so painstakingly written and executed, you would never believe it just casually dropped out of the blue one evening. Few are better at crafting themes without compromising the joy of listening to the music, Droog delivered once again.)

11. "What The Money Taught Us” - Skyzoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV2QEbxMYgU

(This new Skyzoo album has so much beauty to unpack, please dig in if you have been keeping it on the back-burner for some reason.)

And now the Top 10...

10. “Folie Á Deux” - Mach-Hommy feat. Westside Gunn & Keisha Plum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF1-VvJsbqI

(Conductor Williams does it again, putting his own unique touch to one of Pray For Haiti’s standout cuts. The song is almost beautiful sound if it wasn’t for Westside Gunn, Mach and Keisha Plum pumping their own unique rawness into the beat. This one represents everything going right with Griselda right now.)

9. “Hallways” - Peter Rosenberg feat. Roc Marciano & Flee Lord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrDrvozDzo4

(Superior to anything on last year’s Mt. Marci, Disco Vietnam really blessed Flee Lord and Roc Marciano with the type of late night loungin’ in New York banger that Roc knows how to knock out the park better than anyone. “Hallways” screams late night underground radio in a way that feels both nostalgic and fresher than just about anything out right now.)

8. "Seeing Green” - Nicki Minaj feat. Lil Wayne & Drake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diUcHDlCqMo

(Many have tried to recapture the skill, swagger, and star power of The Roc in the early 00′s, but most have not been able to come close. Leave it to the diamonds in Young Money’s crown to come through and capture the pomp and circumstance so successfully, it’s amazing that Just Blaze wasn’t somehow involved. If you aren’t feelin’ at least one of these verses, time to join a hater support group.)

7. “Prayers Over Packages” - DJ Muggs & Rome Streetz & DJ Muggs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r2AYxN20ZI

(Most underground artists must be so excited to have the legendary DJ Muggs lace them with a full project, and I’m sure Rome Streetz was honored. But while Muggs delivered another strong performance on Death & The Magician, it’s Rome that elevates the material to truly masterful levels.)

6. “Wants and Needs” - Drake feat. Lil Baby

https://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/drake-wants-and-needs-feat-lil?in=octobersveryown/sets/scary-hours-2-1

(Yes Drake still has the touch, one of rap music’s few legitimate hitmakers left....but hot damn, it’s Lil Baby coming through to turn the joint to ashes that carries “Wants and Needs” to song of the year caliber levels.)

5. “S.R.D.” - Peter Rosenberg feat. Styles P, Ransom & Smok DZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tzSrIZ8tso

(Don’t overthink it: the watery boom-bap backdrop provided by Buck Dudley is exquisite, and all three MCs go in. I think it’s time to admit that if it wasn’t for the like him or passionately hate him aura around Peter Rosenberg, a lot more folks would. be praising this compilation as one of the finest since peak DJ street tape era.)

4. “Black Sunlight” - Armand Hammer & The Alchemist feat. KAYANA

https://armandhammer.bandcamp.com/track/black-sunlight-featuring-kayana

(What more can I say about this union by now? Al dipping into his breezy bag to bless the lyrical onslaught of billy woods and ELUCID was not something that I thought I needed, but after hearing them cook together I don’t know if I ever want Armand Hammer to go back to the bleak soundscapes they’re often know for. The contract in style was so effective throughout Haram, bringing out the best from all parties, in my not-so-humble opinion...hopefully even more to come from this alliance.)

3. “TV Dinners” - The Alchemist feat. Sideshow & Boldy James

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuUGrlVivic

(A slick, seemingly harmless little head nodder from The Alchemist, Boldy and the rapidly ascending main-stage level Sideshow. I felt this one right from the jump the day Al’s This Thing of Ours EP dropped, and it’s remained high on my list of 2021 favorites ever since. Give me a bunch of chill MCs doing deceptively slick pen-work over a jazzy but simple loop, and I’m set.)

2. “The 26th Letter” - Mach-Hommy feat. Westside Gunn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7jcjW8h230

(Forget the albums that go for thousand of dollars. Forget the mysterious aura around him, forget the Twitter stan-dom and those that loathe them, and forget the flames of Griselda gossip that are fanned by both fans and doubters....and just imagine you never heard this MC rap before and you have just pressed play on “The 26th Letter”. )

1. “Kill All Rats” - Conway & Big Ghost LTD. feat. Ransom & Rome Streetz

https://bigghostlimited.bandcamp.com/track/kill-all-rats-ft-ransom-rome-streetz

(Whenever attempting to wrangle my favorite songs into one tidy list, there is one ex-factor that can elevate a collection of bars to an elite song: execution. You already know that when punchlines kings the caliber of Ransom, Rome Streetz, and Conway The Machine get on a record together, it’s bound to be a bar-fest....but to the extent of “Kill All Rats”??? Not expected. The name of the song itself invites a certain degree of redundancy, but when three great MCs jump on a track and write verses near the top of their skill level - and when a producer like Big Ghost sounds equally incensed with the instrumental that he brought to the table - even a straight-forward posse cut can end up being the best rap song of the year thus far.)

*COMING SOON: BEST RAP ALBUMS, AND RAP VERSES OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2021...stay tuned.* 👀

See also:

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/649527317251670016/best-of-the-1st-quarter

https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/638904640503726080/the-best-rap-songs-of-2020-great-songs-that

[ofthelibertine]

did [DIAMOND BELLEVUE] chase one of seven sins seven miles down the coast? originally from [NEW YORK CITY], the [22] [CISFEMALE] is a [SUPERMODEL] and has lived in the key for [THREE MONTHS]. [SHE] is suppose to call [THE MEADOWS] home, but there is always temptation lurking between the streets and the ocean that keeps [HER] from heading back. sinners and saints take many forms, but they look like [ZENDAYA] and on their way to make decisions, good and bad, they always seem to sway to the beat of [DRUNK WITH MY FRIENDS BY ASHNIKKO].

Trigger Warnings: eating disorder, bipolar disorder, NAS, drugs, alcohol, underage drugs, underage drinking

- B A S I C -

Full Name: Diamond Nathalia Bellevue Nickname(s): Dime, Dia, Di Age: 22 Occupation: Supermodel, but she also runs her own online beauty and fashion shop. Birthday: December 15th Aries: Sagittarius Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Neighborhood: The Meadows

- F A M I L Y -

Father: Winston Bellevue Mother: Betty Bellevue Siblings: Four older siblings (all adopted) Children: She has a 13-month-old son, named Dante.

- B I O -

She is originally from New York City. Diamond was born to a teenaged drug addict and was willingly put up for adoption the second she was born, only to be adopted a few short months later by Winston and Betty Bellevue - an older couple in their late forties who hailed from London, England. They had just moved to the Upper Eastside of Manhattan a few years prior, along with their four other adopted children. Her father was one of the top cosmetic surgeons in the state of New York, while her mother was a leading patent attorney, so they were often kept quite busy with work. Despite that, their work didn't stop them from being really attentive parents to their children. Dime had a great relationship with her parents, and though her siblings were significantly older than she was, she was still quite close to each and every one of them. That said, there were still some clashing personalities and views of opinion from time to time among the family - they weren't perfect, after all - but overall, everyone got along fine. There weren't any disputes that didn't go unforgiven for too long, which was nice. She had a very serious habit of shutting out her family, or even withdrawing completely for a while, as her work or mental state allowed it to happen...but her family eventually reeled her back in and she was grateful to them for that. They really were her rock, at the end of the day.

Despite being adopted by a wonderful and loving family, that did not erase the damage done to her by her addict birth mother. Dime was born with NAS (Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome) and this is believed to be the leading cause of her overall mental illness and eating disorder and later on, her own drug addiction later down the road.

When she was just toddler she was diagnosed with ARFID - she'd always had an aversion to food, starting from infancy and that never changed as she grew older. It worried her parents, because there were many times when she just wouldn't eat anything for days - refused all kinds of food - and it would end up with her in the hospital, being force-fed through a feeding tube, lest she starve. Her childhood diagnosis of ARFID has since turned into a full blown and rather serious eating disorder that she is still constantly battling to this day. When she turned seven, she was officially diagnosed with Bipolar, which she had apparently inherited from her birth mother also. The diagnose did not come as a huge shock to her family, since Diamond had always had very extreme mood swings - one minute she would be incredibly social and rambunctiously hyper, talking people's ears off and the next she would go very quiet and closed off and sink into a very noticeable depression. So by the time she was in middle school, she was taking meds and seeing therapists frequently, which was...tiresome to say the least. Despite her rather poor mental and physical health, Diamond still led a pretty normal life in Manhattan. She was a major hobbyist, even as a child, and so she was always bouncing from one activity to another, easily bored with things once she'd mastered it. She was always wanting to try and learn new things. Dime took up dancing, vocal lessons, piano and violin lessons, and dabbled in painting, scrapbooking, journaling, photography, needlework...you name it, she's very likely tried it at least once. Her interests in dancing, painting and photography were still strong, especially dancing. At the age of five her parents put her in her first dance class and she fell in love with it. She learned ballet first but quickly grew to love contemporary hip-hop the best and delved right into it. She still danced today, and could have gotten a full ride to Juilliard if it weren't for her modeling career taking off as quickly as it had. She was first introduced to modeling at the age of nine, when she was scouted while in the mall with her mother, and after getting both her parents' consent, Dime was allowed to be signed on to the agency and soon she began work as a child model. Child modeling soon turned into full-time as soon as she turned sixteen and by the age of nineteen she was at the top of her stardom. With her parents’ naively trusting that she would be well looked after, Diamond moved out of her parents’ home at sixteen, once she began making really good money off her modeling, and into an apartment with several other young models - five others, to be precise. So it was crowded, with it being only a three bedroom place, but they managed. The apartment building was full of other models who lived in various apartments, women and men alike, and soon these people because her ‘crowd’.

They partied together, slept together and fasted together. Fights were also not an uncommon occurrence among the models, since the industry was known to be quite competitive and brutally cutthroat. Within her first year of living with the other models, she became heavily addicted to narcotics and alcohol - it was ridiculously easy for her to get addicted, too, since she was predisposed to it from her birth. Sadly, in her new social circle, drugs and alcohol ran rampant at parties, even to the underaged.

It didn’t take long before she stopped taking her meds altogether and stopped going to therapy sessions, and instead Diamond submersed herself deep into her new life. Outside of modeling, when she wasn’t working, she often spent her nights out with her fellow models - partying, drinking, doing drugs and having a lot of fun and a lot of sex and she grew further and further away from her family. A family that she still loved with all of her being but whom she rarely saw anymore. She let the lifestyle pretty much consume her life, to the point where her world became a permanent sort of blur; she was rarely sober. Just shy of turning 20, Diamond met an older man named Ivan, who worked as an up and coming actor. He lived in Los Angeles but had been in New York shooting a film. The two had ended up bumping into each other at a party and had hit it off and began dating shortly thereafter. It would prove to be a very short-lived relationship - lasting only a few months, just long enough for Ivan's film to finish and for Diamond to fall pregnant. Unsurprisingly, Ivan flipped the hell out when she told him the news and he immediately fled back to California with his tail between his legs, wanting nothing to do with the baby. Deep down, Diamond couldn't really blame him - his career was just getting off the ground, same as hers and becoming a parent was a total derailment of his plans. As a young working woman herself, Diamond understood that...but she was no less pleased about it. After four years of living on her own, away from her parents, Diamond returns home - not really knowing what else to do, now that she was knocked up. Thankfully, her family welcomed her back with open arms. No one was anymore thrilled with the news of her pregnancy than she or Ivan were, especially given her obvious addiction to drugs, but they were far more supportive with her decision to keep the baby. However, her parents had insisted that she go to rehab and get clean and get back on her meds, first - for the sake of both her and their unborn grandchild - and though she initially fought them on it, Dime had agreed to go in the end. She ended up spending three months in rehab, getting clean and sober and getting back onto her meds and starting up therapy once again. It was an arduous process, but one she wouldn’t regret. When she welcomed her son, Dante - with a clear mind and a heart filled with nothing but love for the infant boy that she cradled in her arms - she’d felt immense relief that she had listened and had gone through the program. A year later and still clean and living with her parents in Upper Eastside Manhattan, while raising her son and still working full-time as a pretty well known supermodel, Dime made the rash decision to buy a beach house down in Key West, Florida. For her, her son and her family when they needed a place away from hustle and bustle of the city. She loved New York City, it was her home and where she worked, but she didn't want to raise her son there, at least not solely. Their Manhattan residence would always be there as their primary home, but a vacation house in the Keys sounded rather nice.

- W A N T E D   C O N N E C T I O N S -

OLDEST (ADOPTED) SIBLINGS - She is the youngest of five, and all of the Bellevue children are adopted so ANY ethnicity will work. (age ranges: 26-40)

BEST FRIEND(S)

Casual Friend(s)

Bad Influences

CLUB / BAR HOPPING BUDDIES - people she can rely on to always be up for going out drinking / dancing with

DANCING OR WORKOUT BUDDIES - She loves to go dancing (she’s a trained dancer) and working out, either at the gym or going on hikes and long walks, so it would be fun to have someone she can go with.

Fellow Models that she’s possibly worked with in the past.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rivals / Enemies / Frenemies

Neighbors of Silverwood Terrace

Babysitter / Nanny / Daycare - for Dante

LOVE INTERESTS AND / FLINGS & ONE-NIGHTERS - She’s got a thing for older men, so it would be fun to explore that a bit, in either a serious or casual fashion.

[skullrock]

the partners, chapter four - Steve x Reader

chapter four: heaven knows I'm miserable now

series summary: you and Steve are police apprentices at Hawkins Police Station in the fall of 1986. you get along famously, but there’s something Steve is hiding, and there is an unknown evil lurking in Hawkins. [friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff]

chapter summary: You and Steve tip toe around your feelings; You find evidence that might link Chief to the death.

warnings: swearing, mentions of death, pining

word count: 4k (oof!)

a/n: here’s the Spotify playlist that goes with the series, and you can catch up here. would love to give the biggest possible shout out to @comedy-witch who helped me go through this entire plot line and find the essence of the story!!! em is the best and im love her. I hope you folks enjoy this chapter!

------

“And so Tommy was like –“ You make a stupid face. “’Oh, look who it is!’ And Steve was like –“ You make an exaggerated frown. “’Oh, hello!’”

“That’s not what I said,” Steve laughs.

“Um, I think I’d know, I was there,” you respond, then continue. “And so Tommy was like, calling me a slut, and – oh, and Carol touched Steve’s hair – and then Tommy got really close to Steve—”

“And Y/N shoved him away, and I tried to stop her, I did –”

“Yeah, but I was really mad, and then Tommy called Steve a fuck up, and that really made me mad, and so I took the lid off my slushie and I went –“ You mimic pouring the slushie over Steve’s head, and he makes a shocked face. “And then I was like –“ You grab Steve’s arm and twist it behind him, gently enough so it doesn’t hurt him.

“Holy shit,” Mike says, leaning forward.

“You did that to Tommy?!” Lucas says in disbelief.

“Oh, that’s not even the craziest part,” Steve says. “Then she was like, ‘Tommy, if I hear you say Steve’s name one more time, I’ll kill you,’ and then, she was like - “ he turns to you, intending on reenacting when you kissed Tommy’s nose, but decides against it. “And then she kissed his nose!”

“No way!” a few of the kids gasp in unison.

“It’s true, I was there,” you repeat.

“It was so badass,” Steve says. “I thought she was just gonna tell him to tuck his shirt in or something –”

“Steve, when have I ever –”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” he says, and you slap his shoulder.

“And you didn’t get in trouble?” Will asks nervously.

“Not yet, hopefully never,” you respond.

“Tommy’s got a thing against girls standing up to him, he won’t say shit.” Steve assures.

Your watch starts beeping – it’s 10 pm. You have a shift in the morning, while Steve gets the day off.

“I’ve gotta run, guys,” you say, grabbing your jacket.

“Don’t beat someone up while you’re at it,” Max jokes, and you roll your eyes.

While talking to everyone, you didn’t notice Robin standing in the corner, arms crossed, and eyes narrowed. Her eyes narrow even more as Steve grabs your arm when you try to go, telling you to be careful. She watches as your face flushes and your hand tucks a stand of hair behind your ear.

You walk out to your car, and Robin bounds up behind you. “Y/N!”

“Oh, hey,” you say, as if it’s the first time you saw her all night. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” she asks, scoffing. “What the hell was that?”

“What was what?” you ask, laughing nervously.

“Are you kidding? Y/N, when have you ever been physical with someone for someone else?”

You shrug. “I’m emotional.”

Robin laughs. “Well, sure, but you’ve never been outright violent.” She narrows her eyes again. “Spill it.”

“Spill what?”

She laughs in disbelief. “You’ve got it bad for Harrington!”

“No, I don’t!” you defend, but your face turns red and your eyes shift over to the right. “We’re just friends.”

Robin sighs. She reaches out for you and pulls you into an embrace, which you return happily. She pulls back, placing her hands firmly on your shoulders. “You need to be careful with him.”

You furrow your brows and open your mouth to question it, but she cuts you off.

“Steve has completely shut down after last year,” she explains. “And I’m very happy he’s letting you in, he must think you’re really special to have done that…. But he’s definitely not ready for any type of relationship. I’m worried you’re going to fall for him, and not be able to have him. You both deserve to be happy – I don’t want this to end badly for you guys.”

“Robin,” you say, irritated. “I’m not catching feelings.”

She rolls her eyes at first, but her expression softens. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m not going to,” you say, rolling your shoulders. “Robin, I promise.”

She bites her lip and starts to smile. “You would be cute together, though.”

You blush, smiling, but quickly shake your head. “I’m not into him, Robin. I promise.”

Robin clicks her tongue. “If you do get into him, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

=====

The next time you patrol with Steve, you are acutely aware of just how much Robin was right.

Every time Steve would smile, you’d notice how cutely his nose would crinkle. You got goosebumps when he would laugh, and you found yourself laughing at almost everything he said. One time, his forehead creased, and you reached out to smooth it, stopping yourself just in time.

Keep it together, idiot, you tell yourself, diverting your hand to act like you’re rubbing a crumb off of Steve’s shirt.

“What do you think about the Chief?” Steve asks suddenly, making your brows furrow.

“I mean, we’ve agreed he’s pretty odd,” you say. “I don’t have much of an opinion beyond that. Like, he taught me everything I know – how to shoot, how to detain… how to bully guys from high school.”

Steve bites the inside of his cheek, and you laugh. “What’s your latest problem with him?”

He continues to bite his cheek, and you wait for an answer. Finally, he talks. “Before you got to the scene last week, it was just me and Chief…. Well, those weird government guys were there, too. And… I don’t know. Chief was being really condescending, and he kept deflecting me when I said I thought it was something worse than a suicide. He seems pretty hell-bent on not letting either of us around this investigation, too. I don’t think that’s what we signed up for, do you?”

You shake your head. “I think it’s weird, too. They won’t even let us look at the photographs.”

“Right,” Steve says. “Right. Something really doesn’t seem right with this. And don’t you think it’s weird that he was first on the scene? It’s usually the lower level people who respond first.”

“Damn,” you say, leaning back. “You’re right.”

“I know,” he says, and you roll your eyes. “Something’s up.”

At that moment, a car goes down the road. It wouldn’t be odd, except it was irrefutably Chief’s yellow ’67 Corvette. Your brows furrow and you lean forward. Chief never comes to this side of town – he lives on the outskirts on the very opposite side. You don’t even have to tell Steve your thoughts; he’s right there with you. He quickly puts the car in drive and begins to follow him from a distance.

“We really keep having these coincidences, huh?” you ask. “First Tommy, now Chief.”

“I think he’s heading towards the Source,” Steve breathes.

“The source?” you ask.

“I mean – the crime scene,” he corrects quickly, licking his lips. “You know – the source of the crime.”

That statement doesn’t sit right with you, but you don’t question it.

You follow Chief all the way to the west side of town, on the very outskirts. You watch as he pulls down a side road, and Steve takes another one, so it doesn’t look too suspicious. Your anxiety continues to grow, as does Steve’s, and you notice his jaw clenched tightly.

“Steve, you’re going to hurt yourself,” you say.

“Sorry,” he says, absentmindedly, and unclenches his jaw only slightly.

Steve’s confused. He thought Chief was going to Rimborn, but now they’re on the other side of town. Nothing makes sense, but he thinks something is about to happen. He’s not going to give up now.

A bright building illuminates the end of the road, surrounded by thick woods. A neon sign reading Bartini hangs off of it. Chief’s car pulls up to the front, and Steve continues down the road a ways before pulling over. You both whip around, Steve grabbing a pair of binoculars off the floor.

“Bartini?” you ask. “That’s lame.”

Steve shushes you, and you scoff. “Do you think you can hear them from he—”

“Shh!”

You both watch as Chief gets out of his car. He goes into the bar through a side entrance instead of the front. The side door is guarded by two tall people – Steve thinks they look an awful lot like the government men from the other night. He watches as Chief flashes something – it’s too dark to tell what – and Chief enters the building.

“What’s happening?” you whisper.

“He went inside,” Steve whispers back.

“Riveting,” you reply.

Steve turns back around in his seating, letting out a sigh. He brings the binoculars to his lap. You see that same thoughtfulness from earlier. You again wait for him to speak.

“I know it sounds weird. I know it does. But something bad is happening. I want to get to the bottom of this. I wish I could explain this to you, but I can’t. And I really need you to believe me on this.” There’s a desperation in his voice that you haven’t yet heard. It makes your heart hurt.

“I trust you,” you say, despite being confused as all hell internally.

And you mean it. You would trust him with your life. Even though his vagueness and attitude are a bit annoying and frustrating, you believe his judgement. You can see in his eyes that he’s not messing around.

“You’re my partner, remember?” you add. “I’m in this with you. I believe you.”

Steve sighs, looking at you gratefully. “We’ve got some sleuthing to do.”

=====

The next few days at the station are spent sneaking around. You both would wait until Chief went to lunch or to a meeting before raiding the office, trying to find anything to work with. You both knew most of the evidence for the case was in the evidence room – ironically, made from Hop’s old office, despite your protests – and that room was under strict lock and key.

While you tried to find things from the investigation, Steve researched building permits for the town at Town Hall. He finds the one for Starcourt Mall and sets it aside. He feels disgust churn in his stomach as he reads Mayor Kline’s signature, signing off on making a capitalist nightmare that nearly killed him and his friends a year ago. A pang of guilt runs through him. He shouldn’t have added you to this mess. If his hunch is right, you could be in serious danger. But he swallows the feeling, knowing he needs your support and help more than anything right now.

Not long after finding the records for Starcourt, he finds the records for Bartini. Steve’s heart races as he reads – Bartini was proposed the same day as Starcourt, built by the same company, and also signed off by Mayor Kline. Steve shakes his head, mumbling a “you son of a bitch,” and jumps up from his seat with the records in hand. He wants to believe that the government wasn’t that stupid, that they had realized this coincidence and checked it out. But the other part of him remembers the atrocities of the lab and thinks maybe it wasn’t a mistake at all.

At the same time, you find scans of the photographs from the crime scene. They’re shoved haphazardly into an empty drawer in the main office, and you truly can’t believe your luck. You scan through them carefully for any clues, and you strike gold. In a photograph of the back of the body, you notice a napkin sticking out from the man’s pocket. You grab a magnifying glass and look further – an illustration of a martini glass with an olive inside is printed on it in red ink. The emblem looks familiar, and you think for a moment before realizing it’s the same emblem that was on the Bartini sign.

You jump up and at the same moment, Steve walks in. He looks equally ecstatic and like he’s seen a ghost. He holds up the files with a small smile and settles at his desk. You run over and stand beside his chair as he pulls them out.

“This one is for Starcourt,” he says, placing it down. You scan it over and nod at him.

“And this one is for Bartini.” He places them side by side, and while you notice the similarities, you’re still confused.

“If Starcourt just caught on fire, then why does it matter if they are related?” you ask. “I mean, I know Kline was a crook, but what’s the connection?”

Steve curses under his breath. He forgot you didn’t know the whole story. He briefly considers telling you at least some parts but decides against it. You’d already agreed that you would take the information you were given, and you can’t break that agreement now.

“Just trust me on this,” he says slowly. “I think there’s a connection here.”

“I mean, alright,” you say, also slow. “I do have something that may reinforce your theory.”

You show him the photograph and explain the emblem on the napkin. Steve’s eyes widen and he grabs you, spinning you around. Your heart leaps and races as you laugh. He puts you down, beaming. He still holds on to your arms though, and his warm palms are all you can think about at the current moment.

For a fleeting moment, Steve’s stomach flips, thinking of how beautiful you look when you’re happy. But he pushes those thoughts to the side with an anxious pang in his gut.

“This is it!” he cheers. “This proves it. The bar is involved.”

“Bet you’re happy you let me help, huh?” you ask.

“You’re wonderful,” he says. “I knew I could count on you.”

You feel yourself blush, so you quickly pull away, walking towards your desk. “Do you think the napkin would be in the evidence room?” you ask, looking anywhere but at him.

“Most likely,” he says. “And I know just the way to get in.”

=====

Steve’s idea was admittedly pretty stupid, and a little rude, too.

His plan was simple – flirt with Veronica, who has the key, get her to go in to find the napkin, and bring it to him.

“Veronica’s not an idiot,” you say. Something about the plan makes you feel sick, but you push it down - again. “She’s not going to just waltz in and steal evidence for you.”

“You underestimate my charm,” he says. He’s looking into a mirror in the annex and fixing his hair.

“We don’t need the napkin,” you say.

“Oh, but we do,” he replies. “Chief went to that bar last night, remember?”

“Yeah,” you say. “I don’t have a memory problem like you.”

He rolls his eyes. “Chief. The bar. Starcourt. Body. Chief goes into a private entrance at the bar – that implies that he is some sort of VIP, right? The bar’s emblem is on the dead person’s body. The bar was made at the same time as Starcourt. Chief probably has something to do with the bar, Starcourt, and the body. He doesn’t want to be caught, so he takes evidence and destroys it. We need to get that napkin before he does.”

The feeling of dread and uncertainty permanently attaches itself to your stomach, and you feel nauseous. “What if you’re wrong? What if Chief isn’t involved?”

He turns around from the mirror to look at you. He did fix his hair up pretty nicely – the handsomeness he exudes sidetracks you for a brief moment.

“Don’t you think he is involved?” he asks.

“I mean, I guess, but Steve, you’re not giving me a lot to work with here,” you say, bouncing on the balls of your feet. “And if we get caught, we’re done for.”

“We’ve been living on the edge for a while now, Y/N.”

“Patrolling on our own is completely different from breaking into the evidence room and stealing evidence.”

Steve sighs. He walks over to you, taking you in his arms again. “Don’t you trust me?”

You roll your eyes, fighting a smile. It feels good to be in his arms. “You’re lucky you’re cute, Steve.”

“Do you think so?” he says cheekily, flashing a smile. It’s enough to make your knees weak.

Still, you force yourself out of his grip. “I’m sure Veronica will think so.”

You both go out to the reception desk, meeting with Veronica. Veronica was usually a pretty quiet gal, but when she saw Steve, she could not stop talking. He flashes her the same smile he just flashed you, and your heart equally leaps and sinks.

“Veronica,” he purrs. “What’s been up, doll?” Steve admittedly does not really remember how to flirt with women, but is trying to channel his high school self as best as he can right now.

You scrunch your nose in disgust – doll? – but quickly go back to being pokerfaced.

“Ugh, it’s been so busy today, oh my god. First Chief has a ton of meetings, then Callahan isn’t here, so I have no one to talk to, and did you see what happened on 8th and Oak this morning? What a wreck, probably going to take a while to –”

“Veronica,” Steve interrupts sweetly. “Can I ask you a favor?”

She smiles brightly. “What can I do for you?”

Steve pauses – he didn’t think this far ahead. He looks back at you with his mouth slightly open, then back at Veronica, smiling cockily again. “Any chance you could grab something from the evidence room for me?”

Now you know why this display is sickening to you. Steve’s treating her like a pawn to help him excel in his mission, and it kind of feels like he’s doing the same to you. You remember what Robin said – how he isn’t going to catch feelings – and the impact of those words settle in your stomach like a rock. You are no different from Veronica; just a girl helplessly infatuated with a boy who will never reciprocate, wanting to help him as much as you could in the hopes that maybe he would like you back. These thoughts pull you from the situation unraveling, and you don’t even notice Veronica skipping off.

“Hey,” Steve says quietly, bumping into you. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah!” you say after a pause.

“I got her to go in,” he says.

You force a tight-lipped smile, and his falters. “What’s wrong?”

You bite your tongue, afraid to speak. Is it even worth it to bring it up? Would it give your feelings away? But you decide to do it anyway, because ragging on each other is kind of your brand.

“Just seems kind of mean,” you say slowly.

“What does?”

“Using Veronica to get shit done for you.”

His brows furrow and he shakes his head slightly. “What are you talking about?”

“Steve, she’s like, in love with you,” you say nervously, “and you’re using her to break into the evidence room. She could get fired for that, man.”

Realization dawns on Steve’s face, and he looks disappointed with himself. His epiphany calms you, because at least he wasn’t doing it on purpose.

Either that, or he’s just a really good actor.

“I didn’t think of it like that,” he whispers, eyes downcast.

“Yeah,” you say. “Maybe you should reexamine your relationships with wo—”

“Stevie,” Vanessa calls as she walks out of the evidence room.

Steve spins around on his heals, dashing smile plastered on his face again. “Yes, sweetheart?”

It infuriates you that he goes back into this bullshit façade, but you decide to question him on it when you aren’t in front of Veronica.

“No napkins are in there,” she says.

Steve furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”

“No napkins,” she repeats. “Nothing that even looks like a napkin, actually.”

Steve stills and your mouth falls open. Someone did tamper with the evidence.

“Oh, well, thanks, Roni!” he says quickly, and pulls you back to the annex, leaving a confused but happy Veronica in your wake.

He shuts and locks the door and starts to pace.

“Holy shit,” you say, stunned.

“We’ve got to go in there,” he says, voice wavering.

“Into the evidence room?”

“No, no, the bar,” he says. He runs his hand through his hair – a nervous tick you’d picked up on – and he taps his fingers against his crossed arms. “Chief took the napkin, I know it. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

You swallow, hard. “And what are we supposed to do there?”

“Get to the bottom of this,” he says. “Find out what Chief goes for, see if there is anything up with it. Try to find out what the connection is, who owns it, who runs it.”

“We’re underage,” you point out, and he deflates. You sigh and add, “But I know a guy.”

Steve spins around. “A guy?”

You sigh again and pull out your wallet. You hand an ID over to him – it’s a fake. Steve looks between it, back at you, then back down at it, mouth open. “You have a fake ID?”

“How else was I supposed to drink when I was at school?”

“You just don’t seem like the type.”

“Does it matter?” you snap, snatching it back. “Look, if we are going in, we have to be disguised to the max. I’m talking wigs and an entire wardrobe change. We cannot be found out, because if Chief finds us, underaged in this bar, we are getting kicked into the sun.”

“Or he could get his Russian cronies to kill us,” he mumbles. His eyes widen and he looks like he regrets it immediately.

You know it’s against the rules to push, but you do it anyway, because how the fuck can you be quiet after that? “Russians?”

“I said – I said he would be rushing – rushing to get cronies to kill us.” He laughs sharply. “Uh, damn Y/N, get your hearing checked.”

You narrow your eyes. “If you don’t explain this shit and stop gaslighting me in five seconds, I’m out.”

Steve grabs your hands and pulls you towards him. This is getting ridiculous, you think, as your heart yet again goes crazy over his touch. You look away from him, but he softly says your name, so you look back. You see sincerity in his eyes, and he looks solemn.

“I promise when this is over, I’ll explain everything,” he says. “But I can’t tell you until I know you’re safe.”

“Oh, like you care about me,” you say. You try to smile through it – like it’s a joke - but it’s still a bit painful.

Steve’s brows furrow and his face goes soft. “I’m not trying to use you or Veronica. What I did with Veronica – that was stupid, and you’re right, I shouldn’t have done that. But I really do need your help. I’m not telling you things because they can really hurt you. I should never have let you in on this anyway, but I need you. You keep me going, Y/N. You’re….”

He trails off as he takes your face in. The innocence in your eyes, the rosiness in your cheeks, your widened pupils. How beautiful you are throws him off guard again, and he swallows hard, recovering and pushing past his anxiety and attraction. Being with you is simply not an option, and he feels foolish for even having the fleeting thought.

“You’re my best friend,” he finishes. “I couldn’t do this without you. Honest.”

You stare at his chest for a moment before smiling. “I thought Dustin was your best friend?”

“Oh, I forgot about Dustin. You’re right, he’s my best friend.”

You both laugh and the tension dissipates. You sigh and look back up at him. “Saturday night, we go in.”

Steve steps back and offers you his hand, and you shake on it, but you can’t help to notice how nervous his eyes look.

=====

taglist (message if you want to join!):  @comedy-witch @wolfish-willow @harrington-ofhawkins @sassisaluxury @m-blasterrr @gothackedalready @bluebellbrooke​

[nwbeerguide]

Inspired by the outdoors of the Methow Valley, Zeeks Pizza collaborates with Old Schoolhouse Brewery to release Moon Booter IPA.

Did you know there was once a period in which breweries and publicans would cooperate to make a beer for the pub? It’s true. Back in the ought-early years of the pub, publicans would seek local breweries, for a unique recipe or blend, served on the bar top or via a cask engine (hand pump). Today, the practice is still in use and it’s because of this symbiosis between bar and brewery that we announce the release of a beer from two Washington businesses.

Our story begins along the Methow River, just minutes from the beer garden at Old Schoolhouse Brewery in Winthrop, Washington. Located inside a, well, school house, lies a brewery, taproom, and restaurant open during Central Washington’s coldest Winters and its hottest Summers. 

Home to such beer as Ruud Awakening IPA, Hooligan Stout, or Methow Blonde, Old Schoolhouse Brewery has continued the tradition of producing award-winning beers, enjoyed anywhere. Course it also helps that Winthrop rests in the Methow Valley home to many recreations from cross-country skiing to river rafting, kayaking, hiking, or mountain biking. Naturally, the brewers and ownership of Old Schoolhouse hope you will stop by for a takeout four-pack, or relax at a table, after a day of the outdoors.

image courtesy Zeeks Pizza

Recognizing the romanticism Old Schoolhouse enjoyed, locally owned pizza restaurant chain, Zeeks, sought the brewery for a unique collaboration, named Moon Booter.

At Zeeks, we are strong believers that a great beer becomes something beyond great when paired with the natural beauty of the PNW. We also love bold flavors in our beer and food. OSH shares this philosophy maybe more than any other brewery we know. So, when I thought about a spring collab beer partner to celebrate the early blooming of life in the PNW, OSH was the obvious choice. Thankfully, they were down!

image courtesy Zeeks Pizza

But name and location isn’t enough when you're Zeeks pizza. There’s got to be an inspired spark or feeling, when you sip a beer from a brewery. For Zeeks pizza, that word or phrase was. 

Holy hops Old Schoolhouse makes great beer. Like world-class great. 

Through the masterful imagination of head brewer, Kyle Kroger, Old Schoolhouse Brewery has created beers that are an exhibition when one combines a variety of grains, hops, yeast and water. And water, for the brewery along the Methow River is the key. 

The science part is real: Water in beer is an underrated element in beer quality, and it can make a huge difference in your drinking experience. OSH has a distinct advantage here. Straight from the source: Unique to Winthrop, we are fortunate to be provided with chlorine-free water flowing from the pristine North Cascade mountains. This clean, uncontaminated water helps enhance the natural flavors of the malts and hops bringing you a superior beer drinking experience.

Like so many publicans, Zeeks remains apart of the independently-owned craft spirit that motivates brewers, cideries, and wineries. During the decades, Zeeks and its owners have seen beer styles evolve and sometimes fade away. But they have always had a softspot for a West Coast IPA. 

West Coast IPA’s are characterized by a more assertive bitterness and overall balance compared to NE-style hazy IPA’s. In that balance, they tend to be drier and lighter in body and therefore more drinkable. I wanted to make sure not to sacrifice any of the bold hop aroma typified in hazy IPA’s though and have the best of all worlds: A supremely balanced, refreshing IPA dancing with bright, bold hops from start to finish. 

During several conversations, Kyle and Zeeks developed a recipe that matched Zeeks had in mind and the result is a beer that is light, refreshing. 

But the beer needed a name and Zeeks didn’t need to go far. In fact they only had to look to their founder and the next generation Zeek owner, Tom and Sam. In Zeeks words, here is where the name, Moon Booter came from.

image courtesy Zeeks Pizza

Zeeks founder Tom and his son Sam were the inspiration behind the Moon Booter name and label. If you know Tom, you’ll recognize the dude ripping through space on the can. Tom keeps us grounded more than anyone at Zeeks. He checks us when start taking beer and pizza life too seriously and centers us on keeping things fun and light. This beer represents that spirit.

Produced by Old Schoolhouse and available at Zeeks restaurants throughout Western Washington, Moon Booter West Coast India Pale Ale, is available in 16-ounce cans, on draft, or to go in growlers and crowlers. 

For more information including hours, menus, and delivery options, visit https://zeekspizza.com/.

from Northwest Beer Guide - News - The Northwest Beer Guide https://bit.ly/3bFerWx

[keywestexcursions1]

Key West Sandbar Excursions

A sandbar charter is a small boat cruise to the sandbar, perfect for folks without access to their own boat. You get the boat and a professional captain who is an expert at navigating the local waters. The captains are guides who know where the sandbars are and the best ones for your adventure. http://keywestexcursions.com/

[sportacringe]

Give and Take (ch 1)

Íþróttaálfurinn walks into a bar (and recruits his frenemy with benefits to solve a mystery)

crossposted on AO3

Íþróttaálfurinn finally caught up with Glanni at a rundown old casino on the outskirts of Lake Avarice City. The building was made from crumbling yellow brick and filled with several half-broken slot machines, wobbly card tables, and cigarette smoke. Glanni had been hunched over at the bar wearing a crop top and ripped jeans, sharing a hand-rolled cigarette with a woman who wore flaking makeup over her desperate eyes. The two of them leaned towards each other and talked quietly over the bustle of gambling and static-y country music. They passed the rolled paper between them and stained it with two contrasting shades of lipstick.

After a moment’s pause at the door to take in the scene, Íþróttaálfurinn strode towards them, laying a hand heavily over Glanni’s shoulder and looking past the conman over to his companion.

“Hallo!” He smiled, nodding his head in cheerful deference as he tried to put the woman at ease—if he’d felt a surge of jealousy at her closeness to Glanni he quickly quashed it down. He was here for business, and likely so was she. “I need to speak to your friend here, I’ve been looking for him for quite some time.” Íþróttaálfurinn was prepared to use force if necessary to get Glanni somewhere private where they’d be able to talk, but only if necessary.

The woman glanced at Glanni’s face, which had drawn into a grimace. Quickly the criminal nodded and she left, hopping off the barstool and quickly snatching the cigarette from Glanni’s bony fingers as she left.

Íþróttaálfurinn frowned as he watched her leave, noting the red stained bandage around her leg that peeked out from under her black pleather skirt. She reminded him of Glanni.

“You could have waited until I went back to my motel room,” the conman rasped, looking mournfully at his smoke stained hand.

“If I had, you would have slipped away again somehow.” That’s what had happened in the last town, and although Íþróttaálfurinn favored being polite if possible, he was not above interrupting if it meant that he wouldn’t have to hunt his antagonistic friend down again.

They were friends, for all that neither of them quite knew how that had happened. Over time their goals had shifted from those of enemies to those who sought a common end and then back again like the changing of the tides, and at some point within the ripples they had come to enjoy one another’s company. By the time that Íþróttaálfurinn caught up with Glanni in Lake Avarice City he had come to rely upon the conman as a valuable informant on the happenings of the criminal underworld, if not as someone who was easy to find.

From the look in his eyes it was easy to see that Glanni knew that he’d come to him for answers. The conman had always been able to tell when a visit was for business rather than pleasure. Íþróttaálfurinn smiled at him tightly—his expression friendly but not quite happy—and led him out the door by his elbow with all the grace of a courting gentleman. Somewhere by the slot machines a gambler wolf-whistles at their departure.

  “So what do you want?” Glanni asked, not hesitating for a moment once they were out of earshot of the casino. The heels of his shoes were quiet against the pavement despite their height; the two of them were nearly silent as they made their way west out of the city. Íþróttaálfurinn sighed softly before responding.

“Have you heard anything from Busy City lately?”

“Nope,” the criminal replied shortly as he pulled a half-crushed box from his pocket and pulled out another hand-rolled cigarette, the brown paper crumpled and messy. Frowning, Íþróttaálfurinn slowed and turned to face Glanni.

“Are you high?” The conman stopped, pulled out a steel lighter, and lit the rolled paper, taking a deep drag as if to spite him.

“You asked the last question,” he teased. “It’s my turn now, Elf.”

“Fine,” Íþróttaálfurinn huffed, “ask away.” Glanni could be frustrating but Íþróttaálfurinn was willing enough to slide back into their usual game. Their conversations often went back and forth like this, ebbing and flowing. Whether they were allies or enemies, they always operated on a steady give and take.

Glanni bit his lip, looking pensive. Íþróttaálfurinn wondered if he’d even had a question in mind when he’d pushed back against him. Still, their game was on and the only next step was to wait patiently for Glanni’s query.

“How did you find me?” He asked, after taking a long drag and exhaling a cloud of foul smelling smoke through purple-painted lips. Íþróttaálfurinn laughed.

“There was a trail—wealthy socialites reporting robberies who were too embarrassed to explain how the thief had gotten into their bedrooms in the first place. Some tried to lie and claim that they weren’t at home, but every crime followed your pattern.” He smiled slightly. “And so I followed the trail to you.”

“Are you high?” Íþróttaálfurinn asked again, tilting his head slightly as he watched Glanni smoke.

“Not yet. I’m working on it.” The conman grinned, lopsided and smug. “I only really got one hit in before you dragged me away, and Eva stole my joint.” The woman with the bandages must have been Eva. Íþróttaálfurinn wondered if he should follow up on her later but decided not to meddle—chances were that she wouldn’t accept his help even if she needed it.

“Well please stop, I don’t want to watch and I’d rather not smell like it.” The hero was fairly certain that Glanni was smoking pot, but with Glanni you could never tell. It worried him to see his friend treating his health so cavalierly, but he knew better than to dive into that conversation again when he already had something that he wished to discuss. Glanni seemed to sense that Íþróttaálfurinn meant to get back to business because he pinched the joint out and in the next moment asked—

“Why did you ask about Busy City earlier? Do you know something that I don’t?”

“People are being killed—girls, women,” the hero replied shortly. Íþróttaálfurinn glanced around them, wondering who could be listening in from the shadows. “The method is atypical, almost like assassinations, but the girls…  As far as anyone can tell they’re just normal civilians with very little in common.” When he had read the initial report, his first thought had been that perhaps it had been drug related, or even some sort of hate crime, but the more he investigated the more these very normal women’s deaths seemed to reflect political assassinations.

In a low voice Íþróttaálfurinn explained that the women had all been killed after dark. At festivals. Inside bars. Always at large, loud gatherings and always with a single long-range bullet through the head. It appeared to be the work of a trained sniper who had access not only to a long gun but a silencer. Each time no witnesses had been able to see the killer or hear the shot over the noise and chaos of the setting.

“I need you to come to Busy City with me. I don’t have the contacts necessary to investigate this quickly, and I want this over with before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Well of course not.” Glanni frowned. “You have the subtlety of an ox.” The conman looked contemplative; he rolled the extinguished joint in his hand, smearing ash along his fingers. “What’s in it for me?”

“There’s a cash reward,” Íþróttaálfurinn said. He knew better than to appeal to Glanni’s morality. It was apparent that his friend had standards, but his code of ethics was both loose and decidedly dark gray. Anything that even implied that Glanni was virtuous would cause him to respond with dismissal and theatrical disgust. Over time, Íþróttaálfurinn had learned that allying with Glanni required a certain amount of coercion, but it could be done.

“Now you’re speaking my language.” His interest was piqued. “How much?”

“Two million króna.” The reward was a bit high, even for a serial killer, but the case had been going on for long enough that the local police force had become desperate. Desperate enough to seek out help not only from the Numbered Heroes but the public at large.

As Glanni and Íþróttaálfurinn talked they approached a seedy motel on the edge of town, and they paused outside a door at the very end of the building as Glanni reached into the pocket of his jeans, fumbling for the key to his room. Íþróttaálfurinn peered at him through the dim yellow light of the streetlamps. His friend’s eyes were weary, caked in smudged flaking makeup that did little to hide the deep bags underneath.

From what he’d gathered from his own sources, Glanni had been on the move a lot recently, hitting one wealthy house after the next. Once upon a time Íþróttaálfurinn might have confronted him about that, done his best to bring Glanni to justice, but now he simply wondered where the money was going. He hoped that by leading Glanni to bounty hunting he’d be able to nudge his friend towards a more honest living, but wondered if the conman would ever have the willpower to pass up the instant gratification of crime. Both occupations were dangerous, but he worried that constantly being on the run would slowly drain Glanni dry, until one day his friend would slip up and make a fatal mistake. If he could find a legal occupation, then at least he wouldn’t have to constantly worry about shaking law enforcement from his trail.

The key slipped into the lock, and after a moment of rattling, the lock turned and Glanni opened the door, gesturing for Íþróttaálfurinn to follow him inside.

Before the door was even properly closed, the criminal had kicked off his shoes and thrown them across the room. Íþróttaálfurinn winced as they hit the wall shared with the neighboring room. Glanni flopped onto the bed gracelessly and slouched against the headboard, leaving Íþróttaálfurinn to shift from foot to foot in an attempt to resist the urge to jog in place.  He hated rooms like these, with dirty floors and no space to exercise.

“So will you do it?” the hero prompted.

“I’ll think about it,” Glanni replied as he stretched his arms high above his head, exposing more of his torso as his top pulled up. Íþróttaálfurinn glanced away, feeling the tips of his ears flush under his hat. Glanni laid back languidly, his eyes meeting Íþróttaálfurinn’s. “Do you have a place to sleep or are you planning on sleeping on that deathtrap you call a balloon?”

“I hadn’t put much thought into it, I was focused on finding you.” He hoped his blush didn’t show in his face. Thankfully the room was dim.

“Well now you’ve found me—way past your bedtime, mind you,” Glanni teased again, his wide lazy grin showcasing where his smoking had worn the purple lipstick from his face. To the hero he was as beautiful as he was ragged, and the raggedness was half his charm. No amount of elegance or poise could ever match up.

But he was here for business, not pleasure.

“I did. You know you don’t make it easy? It took me nearly a week to track you down.” Íþróttaálfurinn was probably the only person in the world who could have found Glanni so quickly.

“Well I’d offer you a drink but the only thing you could have here or from the bar is water.” Grin replaced with a grimace, Glanni sticks out his tongue in disgust at the very thought.

“You don’t need to give me anything.” He paused. Glanni patted the spot on the bed beside him and on an impulse Íþróttaálfurinn sat down, feeling the warmth of his friend’s body against his own.

“I know,” Glanni said simply, leaning over him, “but I’m selfish, and for some reason I like you.” Íþróttaálfurinn’s breath caught in his chest as Glanni moved closer.

“I know that if I give you just a little, you’ll let me take twice as much”