#magic door record label

[sinceileftyoublog]

Quiz Show Interview: Montclair-ians Who Rock

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When you haven’t played music for 25 years and get back into it, you take nothing for granted, from the voice memo feature on your smartphone to the ability to self-release music. That was certainly the case for Chris Matthews, the former Shudder To Think guitarist whose official last show with the post-hardcore greats was in 1992. Since then, he played a couple songs at a reunion show, but had mostly, for all intents and purposes, quit music. Fast-forward to the late 2010s, Matthews was living in Montclair, New Jersey, working as a professor at Montclair State. He had been added to Parents Who Rock, a database of Montclair-based parents who happened to play music, in any capacity, and received an email from another person in the organization, none other than Guided By Voices drummer--and former Shudder To Think member--Kevin March. They laughed at the connection and began jamming. Matthews asked his neighbor Frank Gibbons, who had played in bands in college, to join on bass. Quiz Show was born.

When in Shudder To Think, Matthews never sang or wrote vocal melodies, as that was Craig Wedren’s lane. He stuck to guitar parts. Originally, March was the lead singer of Quiz Show, but during a recording session with Montclair-based Ray Ketchem at his studio Magic Door, he found himself singing backing melodies, then asked by March and Ketchem to become the lead singer. Why the hell not? He hadn’t done much music-wise for 25 years. The first song that really clicked with Matthews as singer was “Pom Pom Boy”, his gentle vocal harmonies surfing on top of a disco-rock beat. When he realized that the band could self-release, Quiz Show started uploading songs as they were finished. The first was “Sound of Kissing”, though “Pom Pom Boy” was close to follow, as were the scratchy “Big Bank Theory”, post-hardcore callback “What If?”, slow-burner “Dime A Dozen”, and more.

Eventually, though, March became too busy with the ever-prolific GBV, and Gibbons backed out after COVID hit. But Matthews was having too much fun. March essentially handpicked drummer Joe Billy (also from School of Rock Montclair) to replace him, and Matthews realized that Jesse Krakow--yet another former Shudder To Think member--lived nearby. When Krakow came on board as the new bassist, the new lineup in a couple years recorded and released two EPs, Geographic and Stole the Sky, under Ketchum’s newly minted Magic Door Record Label. Then, in a roundabout way--fitting for the loose, ramshackle nature of how Quiz Show came to be--Ketchum suggested Quiz Show rerelease all of their old lineup recordings under the label, as their debut LP. After a couple hours of remastering, their self-titled debut full-length was born, finally out today.

Though Quiz Show are undoubtedly looking forward, because the band is essentially Matthews’ first lead project, the songs on Quiz Show jive with the spirit of the new lineup’s first two EPs, even when March sings, like on the subdued “Always Waiting”. Deftly journeying from chugging and wiry punk to power pop to dirges, the collection highlights Matthews’ masterful-as-ever guitar compositions and introduces him as an eternally emotive lyricist. 

A couple weeks ago, I spoke with Matthews over the phone about the history of Quiz Show, the new lineup, his newfound appreciation for writing lyrics, and the process of making the band’s look-back of a debut. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Was it always the plan for Quiz Show’s debut album to be a collection of all its previously released singles?

Chris Matthews: No--when we started playing, we were putting things out on our own, because you can put it anywhere without a label. We were recording one or two songs at a time and releasing them as singles. It was exciting to put something out every three or four months. Along the way, the owner of Magic Door, where we record, Ray Ketchem, decided to start the Magic Door Record Label for bands that record there and want to release under his umbrella. He invited us to do that. We released two EPs under that label, and Ray said, “Now that we’re doing this, maybe we should rerelease everything on Magic Door and have everything under the one name.” In the beginning, we didn’t have an LP in mind because we were going song by song. It’s nice it’s lasted this long and we have enough music to put out an album.

SILY: Why did Frank and Kevin leave and Jesse and Joe come in?

CM: The band started with Kevin and me. Montclair is an interesting suburb. A lot of people in media and the arts end up here. I teach as a professor at Montclair State; I just happen to be a musician as well. Kevin lives in town, and we found each other through an organization called Parents Who Rock, which was organized by a woman who realized a lot of the musicians in town had been devoting a lot of their time to raising their kids and didn’t get a chance to play music. She put together events where people, low bar, could play together. Kevin found my name on there and reached out, asking, “Are you that Chris Matthews who was in Shudder To Think?” I wrote him back, “Are you the Kevin March who was in Shudder To Think?” [laughs] We figured it out and started playing music together. It kind of clicked. Kevin’s a super enthusiastic person. I told him, “I haven’t played music in 25 years. This is kind of fun, but I don’t really have the chance to do it.” He said, “That doesn’t matter. You have to come back into it and start writing songs again.” He liked what I had come up with, and we started to put a band together. Frank lives around the corner from me, and we know each other from the neighborhood. I said, “Do you want to try playing bass with us?” He said, “Sure!” He’d been out of music for longer than I had, and he was never really in music beyond college bands. We put that together.

Kevin is the drummer for Guided By Voices, who release a new record every 3 weeks. So he just got busy. He couldn’t commit to doing it. He’s also the general manager for the School of Rock Montclair. He’s got a full-time straight job, running that business, and then is in [GBV]. He didn’t have enough time. With the pandemic, things slowed down, and Frank backed out. At that point, I didn’t want to stop. I knew Joe from School of Rock. My older kid took classes there. Kevin recommended Joe take over for him as the drummer in the band. In a roundabout way, Jesse, who also played with Shudder To Think on tours, ended up living nearby. When I reached out to him, he said, “Hell yeah, I’d love to play!” So that’s who we are now: Joe, Jesse, and Chris, and we’re staying that way. At least for now.

SILY: Had you and Kevin ever crossed paths in Shudder To Think?

CM: One night on a reunion tour in 2010-ish, they played the Bowery Ballroom in New York, and I was living here. Kevin was in that band, so I came up and played a couple Shudder To Think songs with the band just for the fun of it. He and I played two songs together. I hadn’t met him before and hadn’t seen him since. It was a surprising situation. I give Kevin all the credit. He said, “You’re gonna be surprised how much people like having you back in the scene making and playing music.” He’s just been a big fan.

SILY: You’ve said that this band has made you realize you enjoyed singing as much as playing guitar. How did you feel about both before?

CM: I was just a guitar player and hadn’t sang on anything, and you know Shudder To Think well enough to know that you don’t really enter the space occupied by Craig Wedren and his vocal talents. You just let that be, and I did the guitar parts, and it worked great. But when we started playing as what became Quiz Show, Kevin was doing vocals. You can hear him singing on “Pom Pom Boy” and “Withstand” and “Always Waiting”. Even with “Withstand”, I sang in the middle. Kevin and Ray, who we were always recording with, said, “You should just sing. Make this your thing.” I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll give it a shot.” I do like it. It is fun. The best part is not the singing, because I don’t think I can pull it off very well, but I like coming up with vocal melodies and having that be an extra piece of creative work. Craig always wrote vocal melodies, because that was his job. It’s been fun to do that as part of the process. The guitar is just fantastic. One of the things that surprised me was that I played now and again in the 25 years since I was in a band, and you’d think I didn’t remember how to play, but I never forgot. I was able to pick it up as if I never put it down. I’m doing some of my best playing now.

SILY: What would you say is the biggest difference between the remastered versions of these songs and the originally released versions?

CM: I was with Ray, and we didn’t do much. We listened to each song and picked out a couple of really minor things that weren’t mixed just right or had always been bugging me. But we didn’t try to change much of anything. The remastering was just to make them feel like they were all together when recorded, like the tonal mixes, so there wasn’t anything that was radically out of line. It wasn’t like that anyway, since we recorded everything at Ray’s place, so it took [just] a couple hours of work. We weren’t intending to create something new, but to create something more coherent from start to finish.

SILY: In between now and the last time you were writing music, do you have any newfound influences?

CM: Musically, the things I started listening to after leaving the band haven’t really influenced me. I lived for a while in New Orleans and really loved brass band stuff, probably because it wasn’t the same stuff I was playing, and I wasn’t watching it critiquing the guitar player. But I don’t think it had any influence on the way I write guitar. After hanging up the guitar, Built to Spill was the first band I really discovered. They’ve remained a centerpiece kind of band doing it exactly right. I’m always happy with where they’re going, and the feel of their songs--especially the guitar. Bands come and go, but I always stick with Built to Spill.

SILY: What did you think of their most recent record?

CM: I’m not sure I know their most recent record. I’m a terrible music fan. [laughs]

SILY: Did you lead off this record with “Sound of Kissing” because it was Quiz Show’s first-ever released song?

CM: We had always decided on it. Ray especially had influence on it. He said, “That’s your best song!” [laughs] We recorded “Withstand” and “Pom Pom Boy” first but didn’t release them, because we didn’t know what we were doing. At that point, I didn’t know you could just self-release, sign up for a distributor, and it’ll end up being on Spotify, and you’ll be a real band. But “Sound of Kissing” was the most exemplary of what we were trying to do, bringing these three musicians together as a sound. That’s why I’m the only vocalist, because at that point, they had said, “You should just sing.” I’m waiting for someone to say, “You should stop singing,” but as long as they don’t say that, I’ll keep going. It makes it easier. I don’t have to find someone else.

SILY: Did you approach the sequencing like you were making a mixtape of your own songs?

CM: Yeah, Ray and I did that. It might be a small number of people listening to an album in order, but we had that thought of what should come next. We wanted “Mannequin Sun” at the end because it was the only unreleased piece [on a Quiz Show-only release].

SILY: It’s also a good closer, a tonal wildcard, and in terms of pace.

CM: Yeah. It’s a weird song.

SILY: Are you playing these songs live and writing new material with the new lineup?

CM: Yeah. We’re definitely still playing many of these--not all of them. That’s only because some of them I can’t pull off with the vocals and guitar live, and others we haven’t had time for the new guys to learn. The three of us have written, recorded, and released two EPs, and we’re still writing. I love writing music, and the voice memo phenomenon on my iPhone, I remember how many times I sat down to write, put my guitar down to go eat something, and came back and it was like it was never done. Being able to have it as a shitty little voice recording is great. I have dozens of songs we can work on. It’s a matter of finding the time and finding what’s a right fit for this band. After this, we have three songs ready to record, and I don’t know whether we’ll do another EP or collect them as a new LP with the new lineup. We’ll keep releasing, for sure.

SILY: Do you often find yourself coming up with a melody, recording it, and realizing later it’s from something?

CM: That hasn’t happened. I always start with the guitar. The vocal melodies are always built on top of an existing guitar idea. That’s how I’ve always written. I have a three-quarter size acoustic guitar in my office, and that’s how I do most of my writing. I’ll break from whatever I’m doing, pick up a guitar, and that’ll be the start of a song. I don’t think I’ve ever recorded something and thought, “That already exists.” But if I was singing, I’m sure I would do that in a heartbeat. It’s so ethereal, versus your hands doing something.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

CM: Like everybody else, I love the new world of television shows that you can watch. I’m watching The Last Of Us, and I’m not sure I like it. It’s a bit of a strange show. I think I thought it would be something else, and I’m coming to terms with what it is. Reading, I do all my reading for work, so I don’t spend much time reading other things. But I did just read a book by Dan Chaon, a murder mystery. He wrote one called Sleepwalk which was also very strange, which I recommend. I’m also a big Carl Hiaasen fan, if you like trashy Florida man stories. Music-wise, I don’t know if there’s anything new that I’ve paid attention to. There’s a lot of K-pop coming from my house, because my daughter’s a BTS fan, along with everybody else on the planet.

SILY: Do you have a favorite song on the Quiz Show album?

CM: “Pom Pom Boy”. The music, the vocals, the feel of the whole song. I’ve always loved that. It could be the one where even more than “Sound of Kissing”, we realized we knew what we were doing. There were a couple of other songs that don’t exist anymore where [we didn’t.] I love playing “Almost Famous”.

SILY: It’s very hard-charging.

CM: It’s a ton of fun, and I have a couple of friends who love it. “Big Bank Theory”, we don’t play it because I can’t do the guitar and vocals, so I’m trying to see if Jesse on bass can do the guitar line. I really love that one. It’s a quieter song, but I feel like the way it came together as a written song, I’ve always been happy with.

[niiwa-angel]

Hazbin Hotel Incorrect Quotes

Vaggie, going over more ground rules for the hotel: Alright! We will be having weekly team dinners! Everybody will be taking a turn cooking!

Vaggie: Except Alastor, after the roast incident of April.

Alastor: You all said you wanted a shoulder roast.

Angel Dust: Pork shoulder, not Paul shoulder!

~~~

Alastor, calling a meeting: Listen up, you little shits.

Alastor: Not you Nifty, you're an angel and I'm happy you're here.

~~~

Valentino and Velvette, after losing Vox at the aquarium.

Val: He probably went to the shark tank. He likes sharks.

Vel: You're right.

Vel, laughing: He's probably in the shark tank, he likes sharks so much.

Val: Ha!

Both of them start running.

~~~

Husk: Hello, people who do not live here.

Cherri: Sup?

Husk: I gave you the key to my room for emergencies.

Frank the Egg Boi: We were out of molotov cocktails.

~~~

Charlie: What happens at Overlord meetings?

Alastor: Oh, you know. Boring discussions really. Lots of bureaucracy.

cut to the Overlord meeting

Vox, jumping up on the table: If you don't stop smacking me with your tail, I will end your entire family!

Zeezi: Bitch, try it!

Carmilla: Everyone sit down!

Velvette, recording: Can it old lady! This is gonna break the internet!

Clara smacks Velvette in the face with the handle of her spear: Don't talk to my mother like that!

Valentino: Don't smack my costume designer! She's getting blood all over her clothes!

Rosie, sampling: Tasty blood!

Alastor, also taking a taste: Indeed! Have you considered becoming a soup?

Zestial, fed the fuck up, slamming his hands on the table, effectively shutting everyone up.

Zestial: Sit. Down. Now.

Everyone sits down.

~~~

Lucifer: If you make your hot chocolate with water, you're out of the fucking hotel!

Lucifer: If you're lactose intolerant, you can stay but you're on thin ice!

Angel Dust: I just snort the powder because Vagina took my stash.

Lucifer: ...

Lucifer: What the fuck?

~~~

Velvette, kicking through the door to the Overlord meeting: Hello losers!

Carmilla, not looking up from her tea: Hello, problem attendant.

~~~

Valentino, watching Vox freak out because of something Alastor did.

Val: Is it a chocolate pudding at three am type of night?

Vel: Does the day end with 'Y'?

~~~

Charlie: Can you guys get along for five minutes?

Lucifer and Alastor: No!

~~~

Vox and Valentino, aggressively making out in the kitchen.

Velvette: Can I get a waffle?

Valentino, rips his underwear off

Velvette: Can I please get a waffle?!

~~~

Carmilla: I am this close to losing it.

Zestial: Mine dear, there is no room between thine fingers?

Carmilla, watching Vox and Alastor argue viciously while Velvette, Valentino, and Rosie egg them on.

Carmilla: Yep.

~~~

Velvette: Selfie with the fossil!

Velvette, drags Zestial in for a selfie.

Zestial, noticing the filter: What witchcraft is this?

~~~

Vaggie: Okay people! If you're going to have weird food in the fridge, it needs to be labeled as such!

Vaggie: Alastor, that means labeling your demon meat! Angel, that means labeling your edibles!

Nifty, raising her hand: Are my roaches okay?

Vaggie: We're actually going to get you a mini fridge for your room, because your roaches are creeping people out.

~~~

Charlie: I love you.

Vaggie: I love you too.

Pentious, from the wall: AWWWW!

~~~

Carmilla: Acceptable snacks to bring to the Overlords meeting; brownies, candy boards, cheese plates, and veggie trays.

Carmilla: Unacceptable snacks to bring to the Overlords meeting; anything made with demons, magic mushroom cereal bars, and penis shaped gummies.

Zestial, a spider: I am also not a fan of the mint tea.

~~~

Charlie: Okay! I know its funny that Alastor and I can't walk on ice, but that doesn't mean it's okay to freeze the hallway to watch us slip!

~~~

Husk: I have very high standards.

Angel Dust, pulling out a machine gun and opening fire.

Husk: Oh no! He's meeting all my standards!

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

I loved Worship but it got me thinking about like what if someone kept calling her mean stuff during the show and just boys reacting to their girl getting slandered tnx

Guess who got carried away? 😂 I love it guys, thank you for popping into my ask. I really love seeing your ideas!🤍✨

Sleep token x reader

For the record

It’s the usual shenanigans that get the show going. Considering that everyone was in a good mood tonight was already labeled to be a solid night. It always felt the best like this. When everyone was fully relaxed and enjoying themselves. You had lingered back with IV before the show, too lost in bickering until it was him messily making sure that your headset was on before someone thrust his guitar into his hands. A little wink. A little nudge. And it was back to the place you had grown to love. Crave deep within your soul.

It’s behind II that you sing some of your most beautiful solos. Finding your way up on his seat while his hands go up and down your thighs. Mostly trying to make sure that you don’t fall back but enough to seem that he’s more than happy to sit between your thighs while you stand above him. It’s the fleeting kisses that you keep sharing with IV tonight. One after another, every time you pass by. Till it’s almost funny when he’s right in front of you. Pretending as if it’s an unexpected bump in. It’s Vessel that you fall to your knees to and he’s more than happy to brush his thumb over your bottom lip, leaning in only to push your face to the side. Making you fake fallback as you lay your limp there for a couple of beats. Enjoying the roar of the crowd. III manages to trap you in between his guitar and you as you both swing to the beat. Your fingers trailing up and down his thighs.

But it was the odd eyes that you kept on landing on. First row. Right in front of you. Ones that made you sick to your stomach. Ones that you tried to avoid. But you kept on coming and coming back. And it’s when you come towards the edge of the stage to sing yet another part of your siren song that you hear it. “Cheep Whore���, “Band filth”, “Shared bitch”. Rolling in and in. With more and more people turning their heads towards the people screaming at the tops of their lungs.

And it’s as if the words had scorched you. You find yourself backing away. Till you hit something solid and warm. A hand coming to steady you. But you pull back just as fast. Turnning to find a pissed-looking Vess. “Keep going”, your mouth, letting yourself trail your gaze over the rest of the band. Only to find another three pissed faces. You grab Vessel’s hand, pulling him closer, “Do the rest of the show the way it was supposed to be”, you begged, “Leave it and keep going. They will follow”.

A wave of relief washes over you as he steps away. Continuing the next song. III blazing eyes are the next thing you see but you just shake your head at him. Even if the poor pick gets thrown across the stage and not in a nice way. But they stick through. Faces tight. The atmosphere off. The magic faded. The feeling was lost. You stick to the furthest part of the sage, doing your parts as if glued to it. The moment the last sounds of the cords fade, you’re turning onto your heel, diving backstage.

You feel stupid almost, that something that was going on in comments and posts for some time now had finally made you slip up. Cause you didn’t care. Not really…. right? “Y/N”, a bang sounded at the door making you flinch, “You in here?”. A part of you wants to keep quiet. Let this fade into the back too. But you hear the commotion, not enough to understand what the bickering is about, before a much louder banging ring through the quiet space. “Open the door”, IV's voice is much more strict than II’s. The agitation oozed out. “I am taking my makeup off”, your voice cracks, and your silent scream into the void within because you know that they would have heard it. “You take it off in the bus while we drink, don’t start bullshiting me now”, IV rattles the hand and you suddenly start to wonder how long it would take for him to break the door.

“Look”, II cuts in, “I get it, you want to be by yourself but we kind of got a situation going on with III”, and it’s enough to make you step closer to the door. Because you care about them and if III is flying off the handle it would be your fault. “What happened?”, you mutter, pressing your face against the door. You’re met with silence but it’s enough for you to know that they are looking at one another now, silently debating their next words.

“Jumped off stage and took off towards the pit”, and that’s enough for you to yank the door open. You just don’t get to go as far as two pairs of hands pulling you back. “Come here”, you hear IV mutter before you were met with II's embraces. The warmth of him cutting deep through you. Making your eyes sting. Yet you pushed back, trying to escape them both. “Let me go, let me talk to him”, you wheezed. “It’s taken care of”, IV cut in, “He’s backstage somewhere, you don’t need to worry”.

You looked up at them, “You tricked me, idiots”. IV reached to catch your face, “You ran off, locked yourself in a fucking bathroom. What do you expect that we baked you cookies?”. “IV”, II hissed, “What he was trying to say is that we care for you and that shit on the stage shouldn’t have happened”. You fist II shirts, trying to keep your composure, “I don’t care and don’t understand why you’re making a big deal out of it”, you sighed in frustration. You needed out, or you would cry and you hadn’t yet done that in front of the boys.

“This is a mutual choice”, Vessel’s voice fills the space, “If we mess around, we mess around together. One of us having to take shit for it is bullshit”. And that’s when you see him. Rubbing his left hand’s chuckles. Your whole body drains from your body. “You punched him didn’t you?”, you mutter, already thinking of all the articles. And what for? After all the years of staying out of bad PR. Your legs move on their own accord and with a couple of steps you are wrapped up in III’s arms. “For the record, I missed”, he grunts. And that’s the thing that snaps the last bit. A strange strangled noise leaves your lips before you can clap a hand over your mouth. The look in III eyes shifts, “I would go back there, just saying”, he mutters before pulling you back into him by the back of your head.

“I need Chinese tonight”, II throws it out in the open. Making the salty stream of tears down your cheeks feel less pathetic in a way, as everyone snorts in their toes. “I call dibs for the bus bed tonight”, Vess points out and it’s as if nothing had happened. The same dynamic between you five talking is usually formed. “You’ve slept there for the last two stops”, III is quick to remind him, yet his eyes are still on you. Quietly assessing the real damage. “And before you say it, you aren’t special because you’re long and skinny”, Vess simply flips III off before the room is once again filled with laughter. You feel soft hands brushing against your chin before your head is gently nudged upwards. Meeting IV eyes within a blink. “Head up, little siren”, he muses, brushing the tears off your cheeks, “Can’t have you loosing your spark”. You nod tightly, trying to not let another wave of emotions cloud your eyes. “For the record, I would eat you out”, III shrugs, making the rest of them chorus his name with curses following right after.

[whoopsiefuckindaisy]

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Harry curses his luck of finding the perfect Dom, only to have him be the one man he couldn't ethically have. Can they find a balance between desire and duty?

🪻Relaxed Daddy, Tamed Bratty by @somedovesfly [9k]

Established d/s Larry. Louis has a stressful day at work and asks subby Harry to give him sensory deprivation to relax and decompress. However, the brat in him can't resist playing with his tied up Dom and Louis is more than happy to give him some fun-ishment for misbehaving.

or A realistic BDSM story about how couples use kink for not just sex, but also stress relief.

Total Fics Read: 12

[queenofhearts7378]

Tucker and Spud Appreciation: An essay by me apparently.

Tucker leaned back in his chair, “-and that's why we're no longer welcome at that gas station.”

Spud had a wide eyed look of wonder, “Woah man…….That takes some skill.”

“Thank you!” Tucker gestured wildly on his side of the screen. “Sam called me and Danny menaces but she's the one who brought the mace!”

Spud nodded. “It really was a team effort.” He flipped through his notebook, “Anyways how’s the progress on your side? I managed to crack into some uh, supplies and shipment invoices?”

Spud wrote down some notes, before clicking through a couple of the unlocked files on his computer, squinting at the screen.

Tucker groaned as his chair hit the ground, “Man I keep telling the guys hacking isn't like the movies make it out to be. Like yeah, if I got a back door planted I can get in and out no problem. But straight up hacking a new system?”

“The problems with being the smart ones on the team,” Spud said.

“I managed to get some payroll documents, and some employee work times I think?” Tucker blew a raspberry as he typed a few more lines of code, “All fake names. I doubt a place employs 23 different J. Doe's.”

“John, Jane, Janet, Jake, Joseph, Josie,” Spud recited.

Tucker snorted, “Yeah pretty much.”

Spud hummed before something dinged on his side, “Huh. That might be something.”

Tucker cracked his knuckles, “Share with me?”

Spud copied a few of the files before sending them over. “Hang on, I gotta check something.”

Tucker saw Spud disappear off the side of the screen, but could hear him rooting through some papers.

He looked over the information, scrolling through the various invoices. “Dude what are you seeing that I'm not? It's just the shipping invoices for a bunch of different places.”

Spud came back carrying five different notebooks, of varying sizes. “You may be better at hacking, but I'm better with the information man.”

He waved one of the notebooks, “I started helping Jake keep track of the various magic communities around, you know, to help with his duties when they kicked up.”

“Dude, that is so baller of you.”

“Heh, thanks.” He cracked open the notebook and pulled a highlighter out of a cup. He started marking the notebook as he scrolled through the files. “Anyways, I thought I recognized a couple of the areas some of the buildings were placed in annnnnnnd…..”

Spud furrowed his brow and grabbed another notebook, flipping it through it real quick. “What are some of those shipments carrying?”

Tucker started scrolling through his own files, “Uhhhh looks like…..lots of metal and rubber. Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, and a frankly concerning amount of coffee. Office supplies, like so much office supplies and-”

Tucker winced. “Oh man, and a lot of chemicals I recognize from the Fenton's lab.”

“Yeah but see this?” Spud frowned as he tapped the screen, “These shipments are labeled as various different glass equipment shipments. And it's doubled every other month or so.”

“Could be they're using a lot of the equipment.” Tucker said, “We know they're testing facilities. But you wouldn't be singling those out if that were the case.”

“It's the fact it's double shipments of glass, so the handling of them would be different from most supplies to handle the fragile equipment. And the extra shipments have different weights to them as opposed to the originals they're copying.”

“That sounds super sus.”

“Yeah. What makes it more sus is the fact that the sketchy glass shipments originate from B.U.G.S facilities, rather than outside suppliers like the office supplies and the original glass shipments. Now it could be explained as them having the shipments sent to a warehouse, before dishing it out to other nearby facilities, but there's no record or paper trail that shows that. From what I can tell, the sketchy shipments just appear in the records, before being sent out to a different facility, where it immediately disappears.”

Tucker leaned back, suddenly aware that they were stumbling over something bad. “And considering what we know about them, after the guys stumbled across that one……”

Spud stared at the files on screen, “It could just be magical artifacts. But the more likely explanation is they're catching magical creatures.”

The two of them sat in a heavy silence for a moment.

“How sure of this are you?” Tucker asked. “I mean, the magical world would notice the disappearances right? They would have got a hold of Jake or Lao Shi or someone.”

Spud shook his head and held up his notebook. “All the facilities manage to fall near a cluster of magical communities, that's what I was checking. And like I said, the shipments originate in one facility and then get shipped to a completely different one. Never the same one consecutively, and it's spaced out over years. If a bunch of creatures goes missing, yeah someone's going to notice.”

“But if just one goes missing,” Tucker continued, “It's just an unrelated tragedy.”

Spud set down his highlighter and rubbed his eyes, “And it's not impossible. The Huntsclan has managed to kidnap several magical creatures at once for years for their hunting games.”

“Ugh!” Tucker shuddered. “I do not like the implications of that.”

“Yeah, Jake got caught once. There were about four or five others with him, and they were all misfits to their species, and not well liked so most of their neighbors and families just assumed they ran off or had unfortunate accidents.”

“That's……”

“Yeah.”

Tucker stared at his computer, something twisting in his stomach as he stared at all the locked files he still hadn't managed to get into.

“We can't tell them.”

Spud snapped his head up to look at Tucker incredulously, “What?!?! We have to!”

Tucker shook his head frantically, “We can't. You know the guys as well as I do, we tell them what we found and they're going to go tackle the places right away. This is so much bigger than we thought and in so many places. They barely got out last time and that was with the element of surprise and them not knowing about what they can do.”

“It's basically the same as the GIW! You guys deal with them all the time!”

“It's not the same! The GIW have a single base, with maybe 20 guys working there! I've been tracking them and their branch since they first showed up in Amity and they don't go anywhere else. This is the only branch of the GIW. They barely manage to capture the little blobs or ectopusses, and even then those ghosts escape on their own before I even get the alert about them!”

Tucker pushed away from the desk to start pacing across his floor. “These guys have buildings across the country! That one building had about 50 people working for it and that's not even going into all their bosses. They've been operating for years without anybody catching on! And we don't know what they're capable of! They had something that blocked Danny’s powers, and we still don't know what did it. This is so much bigger than what we usually deal with. We have to wait, get some more information, get some more help-”

“Yeah, like telling everybody!” Spud yelled, “This shouldn't even be an argument, Tucker!”

Tucker stared at the floor, pulling his hat down to where Spud couldn't see his eyes. He was silent for a moment.

“......If we tell them right now, they'll get in over their heads and they'll get hurt and I can't-” Tucker's voice broke.

He took a breath, rubbing his face before looking back at Spud. “I am not sending Danny into a place where they'd turn him into a lab rat.”

“Tucker-”

“All I'm saying is we have to wait.” Tucker interrupted. “We wait, we get more info, we try and get the magical communities more wary around those areas.”

“I don't want to lie to them.”

“I know. Ancients, I know.” Tucker crossed his arms, “But we gotta be smart about this. Are you with me Spud?”

Spud let out a sigh as he slumped in his chair. “... Yeah. Yeah I'm with ya. Let the record show I hate this though.”

“You and me both.” Tucker muttered, “Anyways, plans?”

“You keep hacking into the information.” Spud said. “Send me everything you get and I'll start cross-referencing with the known magical communities when I get them. In the meantime I'll talk to Fu Dawg. He's got a ton of connections and can start spreading the word.”

“What about Lao Shi?”

“I'll talk to him, but I want some more information first.”

“You don't think he'll believe you?”

“No he will. But he'll want to take it straight to the Dragon Council.” Spud scoffed, “It's them I'm worried about.”

The two of them sat there for a moment before Spud said, “This sucks.”

Tucker started giggling, “Understatement man. But we got this. Someone has to protect those losers.”

“Heck yeah man!” Spud held up a fist to the camera, and Tucker did the same as the two of them did their virtual secret handshake.

Someone had to have the heroes’ backs after all.

[dcdreamblog]

Did Zatara's adventures in the 40's and with the All-Star Squadron inspire the comic strip character Mandrake the Magician, or was that just a big coincidence?

I'm going to say no for the fairly obvious reason that Mandrake's newspaper strip began publication about 4 years before anyone in the general public had ever heard Zatara's name. Though this does grant me the ability to talk about how Zatara was viewed early in his career as one of the first Mystery Men.

(A still of Zatara from a lost television variety show. Fun Fact, this frame makes Zatara the first Mystery Man, and thus modern superhero, to appear on television)

The Zatara family were always stage magicians, having brought the practice over from Italy when they immigrated just after the Civil War. Young Giovanni was entrusted with the bag of tricks assembled by his grandfather Luigi Zatara, a famous vaudeville and pre-vaudville entertainer.

Giovanni at some point discovered real arcane talent, manifested through his iconic quirk of casting spells simply by speaking his intentions backwards. On the first night of his performance a fire on stage that he was able to put out with his magic inspired him to use his powers for the betterment of others.

Because he was the first "public" mystery man, appearing on the scene when the Crimson Avenger and the Sandman's world rocking debut was still a year or more off it means that the earliest records of his public persona are...strange.

He very quickly made his services available to local police and got into a very public game of cat and mouse with the Tigress, the first true supervillainess. He sold newspapers that was for sure, but nobody really had the terms to describe him.

He's sort of treated in those early days like a Sherlock style civilian detective, a captivating eccentric chasing after equally eccentric criminal personalities with his unique set of skills (obviously no one at that early date believed his magic was real)

It wasn't until after the Mystery Man became public, the JSA was formed, and indeed the All Star Squadron manifested that Zatara made the conscious choice to lean INTO that label. He wasn't even drafted by the All Star Squadron's original sweep. He marched himself up to the front door and volunteered.

This means that, for the war years he holds a fascinatingly weird series of roles. His identity was obviously never private and he continued touring and selling out shows all over the US, Canada and Britain (Even a tour of Australia and New Zealand in '44) with the USO.

He was really the only Mystery Man of his era to be a 100% public and open figure. Lord only knows what might have happened in the aftermath of the HUAC trial if he hadn't already been forced out of the public spotlight because of arcane complications and later the birth of his daughter Zatanna.

I don't really have a closing point here, he just fascinates me. Also I've seen his daughter perform and it is always, ALWAYS worth the money. If Zatanna is coming to your town, get a ticket, leave your skepticism at the door and let her blow your god damn socks off.

[kkrahe]

Unexpected - Chapter 4

George Weasley x Slytherin!Reader

Series Summary: You never expected to cross paths with George Weasley - your complete opposite. But as rivalry ignites between you two, so does something far more dangerous, an undeniable attraction that neither of you can ignore.

Chapter Summary: During a tense detention, your animosity toward George Weasley rises, but when Umbridge's looming presence forces the two of you into hiding, you find yourself reluctantly grateful for George's quick thinking.

CW: None :D

AN: Sorry this chapter took longer to publish, back at uni now and need better time management :(

Previous Chapter - Masterlist

...

The chill of the dungeon air clung to your skin as you made your way down the stone steps toward detention. Your footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, the rhythmic tap of your leather shoes the only sound as you descend deeper into the castle. Each step seemed heavier than the last, weighed down by the memory of your father’s words before you left for Hogwarts.

“Madam Umbridge will be at Hogwarts this year,” he’d said, his voice cold and serious. “She’ll be reporting back to the ministry, and I’ve asked her to keep a close eye on you. I expect nothing less than exemplary behavior. Don’t embarrass the family name.”

The reminder stung as sharply now as it had then. Your father had always demanded perfection, but this year, the pressure seemed more suffocating than ever. With Umbridge watching your every move, failure wasn’t an option. And yet, here you were - marching toward a detention you hadn’t earned, your spotless record tarnished by the antics of Fred and George Weasley.

You clenched your fists at your sides, irritation flaring up again as you remembered the scene in Potions. George’s words still echoed in your head, dripping with judgment and disdain. Typical Slytherin Pureblood, he’d called you, like that label alone was enough to define you.

Of course, he didn’t understand. He didn’t have the same expectations, the same obligations. He was free to play pranks, cause disruptions, and laugh it all off with his brother. But you… you had a family name to uphold, a future to protect. You couldn’t afford to mess around like that.

By the time you reached the door to the detention room, your frustration had bubbled to the surface, and you pushed the door open with a little more force than necessary. The room was cold, dimly lit by flickering torches that cast long shadows against the stone walls. The atmosphere was oppressive, the kind that seemed to weigh down on you like a heavy blanket. You had enough anxiety from your family and school, you didn’t need any more stressors in your life, especially not the Weasley twins.

Fred, George, and Lee were already seated at a long table near the front, their faces illuminated by the weak light of the classroom. Fred was grinning, as if the detention was just another prank in the making, while George looked uncharacteristically sullen. The tension between you and him hadn’t dissipated since Potions, and it thickened the air now, heavy and uncomfortable.

You made your way to an empty seat at the opposite end of the table, keeping your gaze straight ahead. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he was still on your mind, of knowing how much his words had gotten under your skin.

Filch stood at the front of the room, his beady eyes watching each of you like a hawk. This was a waste of your time - and apparently, Professor Snape felt the same way, not even bothering to show up to his own detention.

The task for detention was simple, yet tedious: scrubbing cauldrons without magic. It was the kind of mindless, repetitive work designed to make every minute feel like an hour.

You set to work, scrubbing furiously at a particularly stubborn stain, the scrape of the brush against metal a constant, grating sound in the background. Despite your best efforts to ignore them, Fred and George’s low whispers carried across the room, punctuated by the occasional laugh of muttered joke.

“Oi, careful with that,” Fred chuckled as Lee nearly knocked over a jar of salamander scales. The three of them were clearly trying to make the most of their punishment, but their antics only fueled your irritation.

You tightened your grip on the brush, the muscles in your hand started to ache from the force.

“Could you please be quiet?” you said, your voice low but sharp enough to cut through their chatter. “Some of us are trying to finish this before curfew.”

Fred blinked, momentarily surprised by the venom in your tone, but George’s reaction was instant - his brown eyes flashed with irritation, and his lips curled into a frown.

“Hell, what is your problem,” George shot back, his voice matching yours.

You glared right back, “If you three don’t want another detention, I suggest you stop acting like children.”

Filch’s voice cut through the room, “enough of that,” he barked, his eyes narrowing at you and George. “You’ll finish your detention in silence, or you’ll both be back here tomorrow. Understood?”

You shot George one final glare before returning to your cauldron, but the fire in your chest hadn’t dimmed. If anything, it burned hotter now, simmering beneath the surface.

The rest of the detention passed in tense silence. You scrubbed mechanically, each scrape of the brush only fueled your frustration. George, too seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, though you could feel his eyes on you from time to time.

When Filch finally dismissed you, you wasted no time gathering your things and heading for the door. You wanted nothing more than to put as much distance between yourself and the Weasleys as possible.

But before you could escape, George’s voice called after you, low and laced with lingering frustration. “Wait.”

You stopped in your tracks, your heart pounding in your chest. Slowly, you turned to face him.

“What do you want, Weasley?” You asked, your voice sharp enough to cut glass.

George closed the distance between you in a few quick strides, his expression stormy. “I want to know why you act like this, why you think you're better than us.”

You bristled at his words, crossing your arms tightly over your chest. “I don’t act like I’m better than anyone.”

“Oh, come on,” George scoffed, his voice rising with frustration. “You walk around like you’re above everyone. You talk to us like we are beneath you, you don’t think we notice?”

You opened your mouth to argue, but before you could, a sound caught both of your attention - the unmistakable click of high heels on stone. Your heart seized in your chest. Umbridge.

Panic surged through you, and before you could think, George grabbed your wrist and pulled you into a nearby broom closet. The door shut with a soft click, and the two of you were plunged into darkness.

You stood frozen, pressed up against George in the cramped space, your breath coming in shallow gasps. The footsteps grew louder, echoing in the hallway just outside the closet door.

George’s large hand snaked up between you, pressing against your mouth to muffle any noise. Every fiber of your being tensed, his hand was big and warm, it felt nice - for a second, before you realized who it belonged to.

You glared up at the ginger, as he flashed a bashful grin back at you, keeping his hand firmly in place.

You prayed Umbridge wouldn’t stop, that she wouldn’t find you here. After what felt like an eternity, the footsteps finally began to fade, growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared altogether.

Geroge slowly removed his palm, you let out a shaky breath, the tension in your body dissipating. George, still close enough that you could feel his breath on your skin, didn’t move.

“Are you trying to get me expelled?” You whispered harshly, your voice shaking with a mix of fear and anger.

George let out a low chuckle, though there was no humor in it. “You’re welcome, by the way. Unless you wanted Umbridge to catch us and give you another detention?”

You bit back a retort, the truth of his words sinking in. As much as you hated to admit it, he had saved you. Another detention would have been disastrous, especially with Umbridge on the prowl.

“Thank you,” you muttered begrudgingly, your voice barely audible. George’s expression softened, just for a moment, and in the dim light, you could see something flicker in his eyes. Something softer and understanding.

“You don’t have to be so alone, you know,” he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

You blinked, caught off guard by the sudden gentleness in his tone. But before you could respond, George stepped back, opening the door and letting the cold dungeon air rush back in. The moment between you halted, leaving you standing there in the broom closet feeling more exposed and confused than ever.

Without another word, George walked away, leaving you alone in the dark.

And for the first time in a long while, you didn’t feel quite as sure of yourself.

[izvmimi]

cw: reader goes to a high profile event with asta. reader is related to the silva family. characters, including reader, are referred to by nicknames. fluff.

One of your favorite but also somewhat exasperating things about Asta is the fact that his voice carries well when he wants it to, and now, as you try to fasten the last of your jewelry, a pale blue sapphire and diamond pendant that once was your mother’s and bequeathed by your father in the spirit of Undine, you realize he’s made it into your wing of the estate and is likely coming up the stairs.

He sings your name loudly and you can imagine he’d be annoying the more uptight maids at the main Silva wing, but the few servants that tidy up your home have already grown fond of him, and it’s soon that you hear a knock on your door from your father’s most trusted employee.

“Precious, your suitor is here, if you’ve failed to hear him hollering already.”

The two of you laugh, and you nod, grabbing a clutch from the edge of your bed and making your way out. Mrs. Doucevoie takes your hand and squeezes it, which makes your heart squeeze, before helping you down the winding escalier where Asta waits eagerly for you. He takes the steps by two on his way up and your maid rolls her eyes playfully before letting go of your hand and letting him take it. 

“You look amazing!” is the next thing to come out of Asta’s mouth.

Instead of saying thank you, in the true Silva way, you reply, “Would you be so bold to tell me if I looked terrible?” 

He looks quite dapper himself, hair smoothed down slightly into a softer silver coif, and a more ornate version of his usual squad cape draping over his left shoulder, lined with warm fur for the slight November chill, the aureate Black Bulls insignia stitched onto the left breast pocket of his high collared shirt. 

“Can’t say for sure given it’s never happened,” he replies with a wide grin.

You hate that he’s wittier than you simply by virtue of being terribly honest and straightforward. Scrunching your face, but inevitably too flustered to say a word back, you rummage into your bag instead to pull out a set of braided gold cufflinks.

“A gift.”

He blinks for a moment, but accepts them, thanking you with a kiss on your cheek, and you help fasten them onto his wrists. Taking your hand again more firmly this time, he bids the rest of the small crew of helpers in your estate adieu, and you wave yourself, the loose and sheer golden fabric overlaying the satin sleeves of your rose taupe dress reminiscent of wings, and you might as well be taking flight.

There is a carriage waiting for you just outside the estate which surprises you, and you can tell Asta is particularly pleased by his own foresight when he sees the look on your face.

“I knew you wouldn’t want to stomp all around the city in your high heels and would make a bigger fuss if I carried you, so…”

Pinching his cheek gently before you peck the other one, you thank him. He warms up to his ears as you pat the cheek you pinched, then make your way through the door he opens for you. The magical carriage takes flight, and soon you’re right before the Nest.

Today’s Magic Knight guards at the entrance of the once monthly engagement are members of the Green Mantises that appear far too excited for the job. It’s understandable, as budding journalists and image capturers conjure up magical paintings and other records of this month’s patrons and their dates, and the selected guards for this occasion will often get publicity in their own right, as well as the first look of the eligible selected ladies who present without partners on their arm.

This will be the first time you’ll be debuting publicly with Asta as your partner, and you know that all eyes will be on him as well. He takes this in stride, presenting your invitation labeled Raven to the guards and flashing them his charming smiles. They bow to the two of you, and you pretend you don’t see one thump Asta on the back cheerfully as you step ahead of him. He skips a few paces to catch right back up to you, his hand placed gently on the small of your back. It makes a shiver run through your spine, but you attribute it to the cold.

The Nest is particularly vibrant and embellished tonight -  

A once monthly event, exclusive to royalty, noblewomen, and women of otherwise great merit, handpicked by the Blackbird herself. You know her personally, and know that she is a lot more than the gossip she’s rumored to be, an actual personal informant of the current Wizard King without a malicious bone in her body. To others, she remains the mysterious cheery head of the Nest’s events and a formidable social force.

Soft power is real power, and the show of force tonight is less the amount of magic or anti-magic that runs in your veins, but your ability to charm and win over hearts.

Asta’s won over yours, and you hope he wins the remainder of the country’s hearts in due time. 

Tonight is open to members and their partners, and instead of games to keep the aristocrats entertained and talking over wine, cheese and fruit, and the bourgeoisie buzzing with things to talk about, the gala is more centered on courtship and networking. New links are formed in the winter Roost and new regulars are introduced.

Last year’s Roost you were arm in arm with your cousin Nozel Silva against your best wishes, and today you come with Asta, who holds your hand eagerly and delighted. You'd have been concerned about the buzz around this, but the vibrant host reassured you that no one would dare cause a commotion.

The Blackbird announces each guest by their invited name, and both you and Asta grin at her in unison as you make your entrance.

“We welcome the Raven and her lovely guest Asta of the Magic Knights, Black Bulls!”

She’s positively glowing from the Master of Ceremony’s seat, and you can spot her own date, Captain Yami Sukehiro, a few paces away and seated, watching the two of you.  You’ll tease both of them about how they managed to get him into a formal outfit but for now you manage a polite wave at everyone as you finish your entrance and get seated. Asta’s excitement has him practically bursting at the seams, and he’s bent over, elbows resting on his knees while he asks you if you want anything to drink. 

“We have to wait for everyone to sit, Asta,” you remind him, and he frowns, but there’s poured sparkling water in the table setting and he offers it to you before downing his own glass.

More guests arrive - Robin who hails from the Forest of Witches, the captain Vermillion on her arm (or rather his hers), Harpy of the Silver Eagles with a date who seems to be being dragged along questionably willingly, along with her younger sister Swan of the Black Bulls with Yuno Grinberryall, Vice Captain of the Golden Dawn; Dove who is the newest addition to the Nest and practically flies down the staircase, mysterious and gorgeous in her own right, but will surely pick a suitor soon; and Hummingbird who comes down the stairs, her eyes lost in those of the vice-captain Vermillion’s.

The seats fill sequentially, as the Blackbird smiles and clasps her hands together in glee. 

The Roost is filled and the doors close, the lights dimming, and the feast begins. 

Asta provides you with drink and dance, and enthuses you as you glide through the groups, playing nice with a couple of ancillary members of the magic parliament (but not too nice because you remember their willingness to put the object of your affections to his death), catching up with Swallow and Finral in advance of their soon to be wedding.

The Blackbird has somehow convinced Yami to dance and you find it hilarious until Asta pulls you to the dancefloor as well and you’re side by side, twirling with him, as Asta and Yami find themselves back to back.

“Not a single damn comment.” Yami warns him.

Asta laughs. “Can I at least tell you you’re at least lighter on your feet than I expected, Captain Yami?”

The two of you twirl and you find yourself back to back.

“Did you see Finch and Nacht in the corner?” you ask.

Blackbird giggles, “I’m surprised he even came to be quite honest with you.”

“Finch is persuasive when she wants to be. And so are you with Captain Yami wearing sleeves for once.”

Yami and Blackbird switch places suddenly for Yami to grunt at you.

“Watch it, you’re still under my jurisdiction until the end of the month,” he warns, and Asta switches places with you.

“She’s behaving,” he says with a smile, as you remind him he’s not your keeper. He dips you suddenly and you gasp. 

“Are you sure that’s true?” he asks, while Blackbird whistles which makes your face warm even worse.

Asta has you lightheaded as he brings you up but he doesn’t dare to kiss you in public even if he wants to, even if you can tell the desire to by the flutter in his lashes. You want to as well, but you’re quickly dispelled by the clink of glasses. The Blackbird moves far too quickly at times, by virtue of her Movement Magic but also because she is light on her feet and soon she is at the center of the room.

“Please let us know if you have any needs and thank your servers. We hope you’re having a lovely time!”

You are absolutely, you think, as Asta takes your hands again, kissing your knuckles, and asking you if you need another drink. You shake your head and place your hands on his shoulders.

“Let’s continue to dance.”

Your waltz continues under the watchful eye of the Blackbird and the rest of the Nest.

[strawberryfairi]

Synopsis🌹: After discovering a strange yet alluring red book in a boutique bookstore, you find yourself sucked into a strange world, where all of your inner most desires exist…

Pairings: Wakasa Imaushi X Musician! Black Fem 🤎 Reader (ANYONE CAN READ🧚🏾‍♀️)  Content: Author AU, scifi, Musician! reader, reader is a talented nerd, smutty romance, tiny doses of angst, adventure, futuristic city, magic?, !!sexual tension!!, etc (just find out the rest, lol)

w.c: 1.2k💠 Released: October 2

Previous | Next | Chapters Masterlist

A/N🧚🏾‍♀️: Stop it's chapter freaking 1 on October 2nd! I'm beyond excited about this story so I really hope you guys enjoy it too! I'm getting heavy in my world building bag with this one y'all💅🏾👩🏾‍🍳

C.W:  None

𝟏 || 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤

(Red Book of Desires Theme: Victory - Lost Traveler )

It's not often you come into a bookstore, but when you do, it's usually when you're on a mission for a specific book you'd like to purchase.

Not today though.

It's a sunny day, the weekend, and everyone's out to enjoy the summer breeze during the early afternoon. You'd just taken yourself out for brunch, and it seemed like a sin to go and head straight back home when the day looks like something out of a movie.

Not a cloud in sight, the sky a vibrant blue, summer flowers are fully in bloom, and friends and families are all walking around perusing through shops or utilizing a restaurant's outside seating.

So voila, you decide to stroll through this quaint, old style looking bookstore. It's a boutique, nestled right inbetween Tony's Brick Oven Pizza Place and a vinyl record store. It's such a cute atmosphere.

The door chimes as you walk in, and the smell of books instantly greets your nose. Shiny, dark wood shelves hold a plethora of vintage stories from Dostoyevsky to Baltasar Gracián, along with newer selections as well. Each section labeled by the genre.

With a slender finger you graze it gingerly along the hard spines of each book, waltzing through the isles pretending to be a princess in her grandiose atheneaum.

"What's this...?" You whisper to yourself, pausing as your finger rests on a bright red book.

It's particularly vibrant compared to the other books on this shelf; and seemingly newer looking.

"There's no title on the spine..." You notice, your brow raising curiously.

With a low "Hmph..." and a tilt of your head, you pluck the book from its home on the shelf, and run your hand across the blank cover.

As your fingers brush the book, royal purple cursive lettering begins to appear like magic, revealing the title. But there's no author.

"The book of desires; by no one." You mumble, and for a moment you look both ways down the isle, hoping this wasn't some kind of wild sex positions book or something.

Biting your lower lip you can't help but look and see what it's about, turning over the cover and searching for a hopefully interesting synopsis.

Instantly your brows furrow. Each page is completely blank. Just pure white paper with a red cover and purple titling. "This book ain't 'bout shit. Is this a journal..?" You question out loud.

"Careful with that." A male voice says from behind, making you nearly jump out of your skin.

"Oh! You scared me." You chuckle awkwardly, abruptly closing the book as you turn to see the face that matches the voice. You figure they must mean for you to be careful since it's potentially an old book, and could probably fall apart at any moment.

"I didn't mean to touch—" You start, but the man waves you off with a knowing smile.

"No one ever does..." He steps closer, his eyes never leaving the book. "That one's been waiting a long time for someone to pick it up again. Looks like today's it's lucky day." He adds with an inviting smile.

You glance back at the book. It's strange how drawn you seem to feel towards it. "Do you know what it's about?" You ask, voice quiet, as though speaking too loudly might somehow break the connection.

The man shrugs. "It's different for everyone. It shows you exactly what you desire most; even if you don't know what that is." Then his smile widens just a fraction as he says,

"It's not always what you expect, though."

You frown, unsure if the man is messing with you or not. To be honest, wether it's true or not, this man is doing a damn good job at selling you this book though, that's for sure. You look down at the mysterious book, watching the title reappear as your fingers slide over the red cover. A strange warmth spreads through you, and you feel a sudden rush of excitement, or maybe it's more of a curiosity, and something else... It's like a deep, unspoken yearning.

"How much is it?" You ask softly.

The man chuckles softly. "For you? It's free. Consider it a friendly gift."

Your eyes widen as you hesitate, but then, before you can begin to protest, you decide to just thank him.  "Oh, that's so kind of you! You didn't have to-

You cut yourself off as a sudden, abrupt shiver runs down your spine, and for a brief second, the world around you seems to flicker. You blink reflexively, but everything is already normal again before you could even process what you actually saw. The bookstore, the red book that is now yours, the dark wood shelves. Everything's still there.

"Enjoy." The man says from behind you. Yet as you whip around, he's nowhere to be seen.

Back in your little apartment, you sit on your cozy bed, staring at the new book. The sun has long set, and the LED lights you have lining the upper part of your ceiling glow a soft orange-yellow hue, the perfect ambience.

You flip the book open to the first page. There are no author's notes, no table of contents, no nothing. Just a single line that slowly appears, written in elegant, looping script:

"𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉?"

You furrow your brows, feeling a strange, intensely magnetic pull. It's silly, really. You don't believe in magic or anything like that, but the question the book asks you lingers deep in your mind. As if it's engraving itself there.

What do I desire most?

Success, obviously. You've been working so hard to make it in the music industry, writing songs, performing at small venues, sending out demo after demo, reaching out to producers and other artists further than you in the industry, and getting nothing but rejections in return. You want to be heard, to have people love your music, to finally feel like all your hard work has paid off. Has been worth something.

But there's something else, too. Something deeper. A part of you that's always been restless, yearning for something more since childhood. The excitement of a true adventure, probably. Or love. Things like the movies that've shaped you into the starry eyed, hopeless romantic dreamer you always have been. Peter Pan, The Goonies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit to name a few. Then with romance...

You've never really had the time for romance after graduating college. Not with everything you've been focusing on. Then honestly, when you think about it, you just aren't in the mood. Not for another mediocre experience people nowadays love to call "romance" and "a relationship". But sometimes you do dream of it—of passion, of something wild and exciting, of a life that's more than just struggling to get by and toughing and "thugging" it out one disappointment after the other. Telling yourself one day it'll all work out when in the moment you couldn't be any more lost and unsatisfied.

That's the word right there, unsatisfied.

You shake your head, letting out a small "tch" at the way this one sentence had really gone and thrown you into an abyss of depressing introspection. It's stupid, but still, you want to read more.

With a dramatic sigh, bracing yourself for the next simple yet wildly cryptic question, you flip to the next page. And then—

Darkness.

[kaitsawamura]

FICS FOR GAZA

I am proud to announce I will be joining the initiative created over at @ficsforgaza! They, along with all the other incredibly talented participants, are doing some really great work. Thank you to FFG for creating a tangible way for us to help those suffering in Palestine, even if some of us can't afford to offer monetary assistance <3

THIS POST WAS LAST UPDATED 6/25/24

I might open requests in the future but for now, I am accepting proof of donation to sponsor current WIPs only.

Select a vetted donation link. You can find a good list -> HERE <-

Send me a screenshot of your donation through my inbox or in a DM. Due to these factors, donations cannot be anonymous at this time. I will also be sharing screenshots/proof of donation with @ficsforgaza for their records and verification. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU COVER/BLUR ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR PROOF OF DONATION.

I would hope this wouldn't need to be stated but please do not reuse donation screenshots. Make a new donation for each request.

Once you have sent proof of donation and chosen your WIP, you can opt in or out to be listed as a tagged sponsor on the WIP's masterlist. Some of the available WIPs have masterlists already live (I would tag you and repost) and some are oneshots that have yet to be posted (you would be tagged as a sponsor at the time that it is finished and live).

I will label each work individually, but please assume that everything I write will be 18+ MDNI/N*FW at one point or another.

WORD COUNT PER DOLLAR (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

For every $1 donated, I will write 100 words towards your chosen WIP. I.E: If you donate $5, I will write 500 words.

Current Word Count Cap Per One Request: 1000 Words (You can show proof of a larger donation, but this is currently the most words that can be requested per person ☺︎ )

Current Total Word Cap: 500/5000 words (This is currently the point at which I will pause proof of donations until I catch up ☺︎ )

MONEY RAISED: $15.75

Thank you for reading and respecting my rules!

THIS IS CURRENTLY A PLACEHOLDER

SERIES

East of My Heart (West of My Soul) | Estimated WC: 50K | Current WC: 25.5K | Chapter WC: 5.1K/12K | BNHA Folk Tale AU | Prince!Izuku Midoriya x Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: Your life is one that is abundant with family and the magic in small things.  But when a great white bear comes rumbling at your family’s cottage door one winter’s night, you are obviously taken aback.  Even more so when he speaks to you in a language you can understand and asks for your help.  Come away with him, live with him in the ice castle he calls home for a year and day and release him from the curse that blights him.  You agree to go with him even if as time goes along, it is very apparent that there is more to this polar bear than meets the eye.  There is more to a lot of different things as you learn to love the polar bear as friend and companion during the day but are visited by a mysterious man who insists on sleeping in your bed every night.  Can you last a year and a day to save the bear from this strange enchantment?  Will you learn the true identity of the man you’ve come to care so deeply for?  Will you find yourself (and maybe love) along the way?

The Farmer and The Wizard | Estimated WC: 50K | Current WC: 3.2K | Chapter WC: 1.2K/3K | JJK Stardew Valley AU | Wizard!Gojo x Farmer!Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: You need a change, a big one. When your estranged grandfather passes away and bequeaths you his farm in a little town just south of the middle of nowhere, you take it as the sign you needed to make a change instead of waiting for one. The farm, while having fallen into a state of disrepair, is just the thing to cure your modern-world ailments. The people are kind and always ready to offer help, if a bit unusual. They have old superstitions, a haunted community center, and a resident wizard. Spoiler alert: those last two on the list take some getting used to. Yes, things are different here but you have a sneaking suspicion that the slow pace and a certain alchemical practitioner are going to remind you that sometimes, all you need is time and a little bit of magic.

that's just wasteland, baby | Estimated WC: 15K | Current WC: 2.2K | BotW/TotK!Link and Zelda x Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: Calamity Ganon has finally been vanquished for good, Link and Zelda have finally managed to break the wheel. But things are not as either of them had hoped they would be. Zelda is soon to be Queen with all the duties of such a position. Link would remain her knight and yet, he is restless. When he hears of the restoration efforts in Lurelin Village, he decides that he must go. He can’t stay cooped up within the castle walls, not after so long in the wild. Zelda and Link are unsure of the new direction their lives are taking but maybe they’ll find that their true north is you.

ONESHOTS

a shrike and a thorn | Estimated WC: 3K | Current WC: 1.2K | Priest!Kento Nanami x Congregant!Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: You save everyone but who saves you? You don’t know what makes you step foot in that church.  But you do and you spend the next year a dutiful congregant to Father Nanami.  Devoted and kind, he’s exactly the kind of man you would expect to be a priest.  And none of this would be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to see him lose his religion between your legs.  Unbeknownst to you, the good Father is having the same kind of thoughts.  Will the two of you build a new altar at which you might worship?

They Say It's Your Birthday | Estimated WC: 3K | Current WC: 1.6K | Pro Hero!Eijiro Kirishima x Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: Strangers to lovers (they meet in the club), birthday smut for the Birthday Boy, I've had this in my drafts for literally three years to post on Eiji's birthday.

The Indomitable Human Spirit | Estimated WC: 2-3K | Current WC: 366 | Modern!Sukuna x Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: No description for this yet either, just wanted to explore the idea of Sukuna putting his claim on you but not in the way you'd think he would, more in like the thing about how a warring alien race comes to earth and is baffled and fascinated by the enduring human spirit.

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All works marked as such belong to Kait of kaitsawamura © 2020-PRESENT. Please do not alter, repost, or copy my content.

[darkmaga-returns]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In what experts are calling the most startling discovery since learning that repeatedly pressing the CLOSE DOOR button in an elevator does absolutely nothing, the FBI announced Monday that it has miraculously stumbled upon new files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.Well, would ya look at that?

“We totally had no idea these were here,” an FBI spokesperson stated while nervously glancing at an overflowing filing cabinet labeled “Definitely Not JFK Stuff.” The records were coincidentally unearthed immediately following an executive order from President Trump, who did not know of their existence but nevertheless demanded their release along with documents related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr, not that anyone thinks everything we were told about those murders is sus, too. Really.

History buffs may recall how the Warren Commission, in a remarkable display of investigatory efficiency, took nearly 10 months to conclude that the most powerful man in the world was taken down by a lone gunman with a cheap mail-order rifle, firing from an impossible vantage point, using a magic bullet that zigzagged through two people like a snake on roller skates. This groundbreaking report—rushed out in only 888 pages—assured the American public that there was no conspiracy, despite the fact that the assassin was immediately assassinated on live TV by a man with mob ties, and that literally everyone who saw the shooting had a slightly different version of events. The Commission gathered airtight testimony from sources like Allen Dulles—the former CIA director that Kennedy had fired—who pinky-promised that the agency he led had nothing to do with the presidential execution or anything else, ever.

[virtuousrebellious03]

BBC Merlin AU: Book One The Warlock and The Rockstar

Chapter One: A Call To Destiny

As the sun rose upon the UK a golden glow dimmed from a small house upstairs window. A tall dark haired man was dimming down a golden glow from his hands. “I nearly got the hand of it, i need to ask Uncle Gaius some questions when I see him before going to the library” Merlin said wiping some magic off his hands.

“MERLIN!” Gaius yelled from downstairs. Jumping from his bed Merlin ran downstairs in his usual dark blue top and black trousers , topped off with his favourite crimson red bandanna around his neck.

Opening the basement door the cold stone steps chilled Merlin through his slippers. Stepping down the steps Gaius was packing items in a brown cross body bag. “Uncle Gaius, you called me” Merlin said walking to the old gentleman. Gaius looked at Merlin smiling brightly at his nephew. “Merlin I made you a new speciality bag where there’s a secret pockets to keep your magic supplies in safe while keeping your medical books together.” Gaius said gifting his nephew with the bag.

Looking at the bag he smiled sweetly “thank you very much Uncle Gaius I don’t know what to say” Merlin said with a smile. Gaius smiled back “I have a second thing to tell you” Gaius said. Merlin looked puzzled “Go on?” Merlin said puzzled. Gaius sighed “I am gonna be more busy from today due to being a physician to a record label owner and his son” Gaius said.

“Is that record label is Pandragon Reconds LLC?” Merlin said. Gaius nodded “yes he is a very kind fellow, I told him that you are the same age of his son and he asked if you could meet his son tonight” Gaius explained to Merlin.

“Are you sure?” Merlin said. Gaius just nodded “I’m gonna write down his manor address for you to go there after the library since I would be helping the owner Uther recovery from gallstones surgery” Gaius said back to Merlin.

Merlin signed “Ok I’m in” Merlin said with a sign.

After Merlin walked out of his Uncle Gaius’s lab he rushed upstairs to put his medical books in the main compartment of his new bag. “Just going to the Library Uncle Gaius, I got the address you go me” Merlin said from the basement door. “Oh Merlin please behave yourself”. Gaius said in his soft spoken voice. Merlin make sure that his Uncle knows he’s gonna behave himself and both said their byes.

Merlin walked out of the door and walked his 20 minutes walk to the city’s library. “Hi Merlin” Said a curly haired woman, “Hi Gwen, how’s work?” Merlin said back.

“Just storing our new books for the library you know the normal stuff” Gwen said giggling. “Well I am just going to the most quiet spot to study for an exam” Merlin said to Gwen.

“Well I better get back to work, see you later in the traven pub” Gwen said in her sing song tone. “See you there Gwen” Merlin said as he waved to her.

Merlin said down at a table at the back of the library to study and this was the last moment of a normal day before his call to destiny was awaken.

•An Hour Later•

After studying Merlin put his medical books and laptop in his bag and ran out of the Library to get to the bus stop in time. Before he got out to the Main Street he heard a someone calling his name.

“Oi Merlin, is it?” The voice called out to him. Turning around on his heel and saw a blonde haired emo looking at him.

“Um yea I’m sorry who are you?” Merlin said a little concerned. The emo laugh “How rude am i, i’m Arthur and your Uncle is my dad’s physician if he didn’t tell you” Arthur said reaching out his hand.

Merlin put his hand out and Arthur shook Merlin’s hand violently. After Merlin got his hand back the soreness was a dull pain.

A black van with red letters on the sides that read “THE KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT” on both sides drove to the young men . “Here is my band to pick you up for the trip to Pendragon Manor” Arthur said as his arm wrapped around Merlin’s shoulders. The driver was a young man was another emo with a different colour raccoon hair extension and a eyebrows piercing, a small septum piercing and tattoos on his arms with a large scar.

“Arthur, is this Merlin that was dad told you?” The man said. “Yea Gwaine, this is Merlin” Arthur said as he chuckled Merlin into the van and jumped in himself.

The journey was quiet and Gwaine broke the silence “what do you do at University?” Gwaine said to Merlin. “ Medical” Merlin said back. Arthur laughed “Our band mate and bestie Leon is the only one that graduated from University” Arthur said. Merlin looked at Arthur and started to relax. “Really?” Merlin said back. “Yea he’s a dentist and he’s our personal band dentist for tours too” Arthur said back.

Merlin’s face turned paper white and breathing became heavy.

“We’re here” Gwaine said breaking the silences. As the van stopped all three men jumped out.

“My Dad is visiting your Uncle’s laboratory for helping recovery at the moment so we got the whole manor to ourselves” Arthur said as a footman open the door.

All three walked in and right on time a vase was thrown at Arthur’s head but Merlin was quicker and used his magic to reroute the vase to hit a wall.

“What the heck was that” Arthur said looking at the wall where the vase broken in pieces. Merlin knew that this was a case of goblins so he knew he could deal with the goblin while having no one watching.

“I could see what that was and there’s no need to worry” Merlin said as he ran to the direction of the vase.

“Yea sure let’s go to the band room Gwaine” Arthur said.

The two men walked to a door that was soundproof and Merlin ran upstairs.

Merlin looked around until he heard a crashing and laughing. He ran to the door where the noise was which was Arthur’s bedroom.

Merlin opened the door and quickly closed it so this goblin don’t run out.

“Warlock” The Goblin said as he lunged to him.

Merlin knew how easy to get rid of goblins. He used his magic to chucked the goblin out of the window and sent the goblin miles away.

“What a bloody mess” Merlin said. He looked around at the mess and heard Arthur coming up the stair. He got his magic into gear.

“ Hey Merlin, what was that?” Arthur said. “Just a stray cat” Merlin said acting innocent.

Arthur looked around his bedroom and the bedroom was cleaned up like nothing happened. “Come to the music room to hear our demo on Gwaine’s laptop” Arthur said. “Yea sure” Merlin said as he walked out the bedroom and followed Arthur to the music room.

*Hours later late at night*

Merlin was back home sleeping in his bed tired from the day. “Merlin” a voice called from the dark. Merlin woke up to that voice calling his name. “Who’s there?” Merlin called to the voice. A small dragon landed on Merlin’s bed and a golden light surrounded the small dragon.

Merlin was too stunned to speak, “Merlin the young warlock it’s very nice to meet you at last” The little dragon said to Merlin.

“A dragon?” Merlin said in shock. “Yes young warlock, I have been called to assist you in your destiny” The Young dragon said back.

“A destiny?” Merlin said. “Yes you have been chose to protect a young man called Arthur from dark magic that could be catastrophic, a spirit of a woman has task me to add a bit of help for you and your destiny” The little dragon said.

Merlin looked at the dragon “sure thing thanks I would like to sleep now” Merlin said back. “See you in the morning, I will be there when you wake up” The little dragon said as he curled up on end of the bed like a little dog.

Merlin finally got back to sleep still wondering what the future has in store for him as normalcy seems now just a foggy past now.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

*Chapter two coming soon*

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

December Week 5: Looking Ahead

Now that we looked back at the year we just finished, lets look at the year before us. Where is your studying going to take you? Where is your craft going to take you? Where do you WANT them to take you? Don't be so rigid, but make a loose plan. If nothing else just keep it in the back of your mind, if not written down.

Monday - Your Grimoire

Practical - Now that you've begun this year's process of working on your grimoire, how do you plan to continue? How are you going to decorate it? How are you going to organize it? How are you going to carry on what you've started? Finding more prompts? Doing more decorating, bit by bit? Fleshing out the pages you've already started?

Research - Herbal Study - Pick your last herb from your list of plants and learn everything that you can about it! Practical and mundane uses, culinary and magical uses. Associations and history. Myth and legends. Everything!

Tuesday - Your Notes

Practical - Finding more prompts - Where and how can you find more prompts to continue researching? Books, reading, online, asking questions, doing the work and feeling like something is out of place and missing, when you don't fully understand or get curious about some part of your craft. You can utilize almost any avenue as pathway for learning. Of course just scouring the internet and looking up occult terms, or witchcraft related topics can lead to a rabbit hole of learning. Don't let this challenge be the end of your learning. Utilize it as a stepping stone, apply the questions from all these prompts to new subjects.

Research - Gem Study - Pick a gem you haven't researched yet, and dive in! Learn its associations and history, myths and legends, practical and mundane uses. Chemical makeup and where it comes from. How it is formed. Everything!

Wednesday - Actual Practice

Practical - Spellwork - Do a spell or ritual to close out the new year. Close any doors or cut ties to the last year. Something to symbolically end the year for you, and allow you to move into the new year with as little weighing you down and holding you back as possible. Record it in your lab notebook so that you can work through the spell and rework it if you ever intend to cast it again.

Research - Spell Schedule - not really a necessity, but think about all the times we (you) cast spells and performed rituals this past year. Is that a normal schedule you would like to keep? Would you like to work in more spells and rituals? How can you do that? Make a rough outlined plan of spells and rituals for the year ahead, and don't feel bad if you can't stick to it, but give it a shot!

Thursday - Safety First

Introspection - Think about all you learned, not only this year, but leading up to where you are in your practice. What are the safety tips you would give younger witches? What are the safety hazards you have personally discovered? What safety hazard and precautions have you learned about from other witches and resources.

Research - Safety - How can you continue to keep your practice safe? Organizing tools? Labeling spell components? Keeping candles, lighters and matches in safe places? Fire safe tools and equipment? Practically keeping things where they belong? Think hard and see if you can find new ones to make your practice safe!

Practical - Do the thing! - Make your practice safe. Get organized, find that fire safe dish, get stickers and label things. Find a way to do it, and do it!

Friday - Staying Organized

Research - What are ways you can stay organized in your continued quest for knowledge? Setting aside specific time for study? Making sure you have things where you need them? Getting yourself a specific table, bag or shelf for your study materials? Find ways to keep yourself organized in your studies in the coming year.

Planning - Set aside time each week, if not each day, even if only for an hour or a few minutes, that is devoted to learning. To nothing but taking in and recording information. About asking questions and finding answers. Keep to a loose or rigid schedule, but a schedule of some kind.

Well that's it for the challenge folks! Keep chugging along in your studies, never stop questioning, never stop learning, never stop using your discernment, and never get discouraged if you can't find an answer immediately! It has been a pleasure hosting this challenge for the 2024 year and hope that you all enjoyed and will continue to enjoy and utilize this blog as a resource!

Here's to a Happy and Productive, Insightful and Fulfilling New Year!

-Mod Hazel

[bella-atz]

welcome!

✩ timeline: after pirate king era

✩ summary: bella and ateez meet for the very first time.

A petite and delicate seventeen-year-old trainee dressed in cozy clothing strides her legs to a place she calls her “Second Home.”

Every day, Bella would spend most of her afternoons and nights in the KQ Entertainment building. Plus, she does her schoolwork and studies in the practice room to manage time and her rest. At some point in life, Bella’s family was concerned about her choosing this pathway. Despite admitting the challenges to her loved ones and the hardships of becoming an idol, Bella kept going. She doesn’t know how long it’ll take or where she’ll end up, but she hopes for the best. 

KQ Entertainment is a peculiar place, according to Bella. It originally was a marketing business that turned into a record label. They successfully accepted plentiful artists who have been in the industry for years. Not to mention, KQ recruited eight boys and created their first group. Now, they are rising stars. 

ATEEZ has been getting the world’s attention like magic sparked into people’s lives. 

Unfortunately, Bella wasn’t as close to the group. She had seen their faces and their stellar talent but never knew them personally. However, it’s all going to change. Two months after ATEEZ’s debut, the group will be welcoming someone. 

Bella attended a meeting with KQ’s big boss and had a long discussion that would impact the company and the K-pop industry. The boss allowed her to debut with ATEEZ. Of course, Bella was baffled for a lot of reasons. In other words, she wasn’t sure if it was safe. Having only one girl is going to raise eyebrows for many. However, to Bella’s surprise, from what the boss told her, all eight agreed to have her be part of ATEEZ.

So, today, she’ll be seeing the guys.

Once she says hello and bowing to the workers, Bella can feel her nerves running wild. Before arriving, the teenager keeps questioning if they will like her or think she is awkward and strange. Bella has to eventually develop communication skills because it’s a tough world to survive. The girl enters the elevator to take deep breaths and relax. 

Good thing she is a formal person. It’s not that Bella finds herself to be dull. She was raised in a household with manners and being immaculate. Most importantly, she doesn’t want to make a fool of herself. 

As Bella exits the elevator, she heads to the practice room. “Hm. Maybe I’m too early.” The girl figured because she noticed the darkness from the outside. Her hand grabs the knob to open the door. She switched on the lights to have the room bright as day. Instantly, eight handsome, cute, and beautifully bared-faced guys in warm outfits yell at the top of their lungs. 

“WELCOME TO ATEEZ BELLA!”

Lost for words, the girl has her eyes widened owlishly and mouth gaping. The guys couldn’t contain their laughter at her adorably shocked reaction. Bella can see they all have party hats on, decorations layered in the room, and a snack table with a delicious cake. 

“Hyung, I think we broke her,” Wooyoung whispered to Hongjoong. 

“Ouch!” 

The captain smacks the boy, who is pouting like a hurt child. 

Hongjoong clears his throat and goes up to Bella. “Sorry that we scared you. We didn’t know a better way to make a surprise.” He apologizes so politely. Bella shakes her head. “N-No! You didn’t! I thought it was going to be simple and formal.” Her expectations are the complete opposite. 

The guys glanced at each other and started chuckling. It takes them back to when everyone got together, one by one. Most of them had friendly attitudes, but they soon learned they weren’t normal. In a good way, to not be mistaken.

San comes forward with a big, bright smile and wraps an arm around her shoulders. “We thought it would be too lame to do the typical greetings. So, why not throw a party? Also, it’s okay to drop the formalities because we’re family here.” The young man with cute, deep dimples tries to convince Bella that she doesn’t need to shy away from her true colors. 

Bella looks at their sweet smiles. The atmosphere has become fuzzy and warm. She is also feeling a bit emotional. Bella breathed, “Okay, I’ll try to be myself.” She said. All of them cheered. Soon enough, she and the guys form a circle on the floor to talk about themselves, like an ice-breaker. 

“So, what is your position in ATEEZ, Bella?” Yeosang asked the girl.

Not just him, but the rest are curious to know. Bella responded, “Our boss put me as lead vocalist and maknae. I’ve been singing since I was very little and I am thankful that my appa introduced me to K-pop.” She tells them a piece of her background. 

“Ooo~ vocal buddies~” Wooyoung playfully nudges Jongho. The now second youngest shyly smiles. Bella and the others laugh at him merrily. 

“Wait, maknae? How old are you?” San was so straightforward that it kind of surprised the members. Though Bella didn’t mind answering. “I’m 17.” 

At once, they gasped at their new maknae. She is a baby! Their baby!

When getting done with the introductions, Bella can see that everyone has a unique personality. But overall, they are super kind and caring. She witnessed them helping each other give out food because she and all of them were starving. Bella predicts she’ll have the time of her life in ATEEZ.

“Oh! Bella, look what we got for you!” Yunho exclaimed happily.

He and Mingi pulled her arms to drag her to the snack table. They showed her a cutely baked cake of My Melody. “For me?” Bella questions the two. 

Mingi nods earnestly. “Yep! We actually made it, and if it’s not good, then it’s okay to get upset.” He is so blunt that Bella starts laughing. Her laugh is so mellifluous that the guys thought an angel from heaven graced their ears. 

She shakes her head. “I’m sure it’s tasty! Thank you so much!” The new member of ATEEZ sincerely appreciates the whole lovely celebration.

[spider-stark]

THE B-SIDE

pairing: andrew detmer x reader

summary: the boys stop by the record store you work at

word count: 1.9k

// masterlist // send me your thoughts // comments & reblogs appreciated! //

Matt Garetty was a repeat customer at The B-side, a record store only a few miles down the road from your shared high school 

It was also your weekend job. 

And Matt Garetty was also a pain in your ass. 

Every time you heard his shitty Corolla trundling into the lot, you’d consider how fast you could race across the store and flip the faded Open sign to Closed. 

On this particular day, misty and boring, you heard the engine’s familiar hack and decided to try your luck. 

The store wasn't too big, but then again, distance wasn't the challenge. It was clutter—the endless rows of low shelves, boxes stuffed with vinyl and cassettes. You cried halfway to the door, your elbow ramming into a CD display. Another few steps, a glance out the window, and your Converse stuttered against the 90's carpet. 

For once, Matt Garetty hadn’t come alone. 

Steve Montgomery slid from the passenger seat, stretching arms-over-head. His puffer coat rode up, revealing the polo beneath—and a sliver of smooth, lean-muscled skin. 

Despite what the saliva pooling in your mouth might suggest, you did not have a thing for Steve. He was Samantha’s boyfriend, which stuffed him in a box labeled: Strictly Off Limits. But, even if that weren’t the case, you’d never actually go for him. 

You’ve never been into jocks. Even the ones as pretty as Steve. 

Of course, that didn't stop your neck from craning for a better view of the G-rated peep show. You didn’t have to want Steve to admire him, to recognize he was the effortless embodiment of cool. 

Unlike Garetty, who was currently fighting a losing battle with the backdoor handle. 

Frustration urged the idiot to prop a sneakered foot against the slick car. He managed one, two, three earnest tugs before losing grip, his foot sliding so that he almost fell right on his ass. Amusement sputtered past your lips. 

Loser. 

Before Garetty could give it another go, Steve kindly nudged him aside. 

The door yielded to his magic, star quarterback touch. Garetty’s Oh, what the fuck! seeped straight through the layer of wall and glass dividing you. Steve’s answering grin was cocky, leading to an open palm swinging at his head. He ducked, and in a blink, both boys were chasing each other around the car, shouting jeers over laughter. 

Correction, you thought, half-smiling. Losers. 

Having abandoned your goal of locking Garetty out, you were about to head back to the counter. As you turned, a bit of motion held you back. 

Andrew Detmer stumbled from the backseat, tugging his zip-up sleeves over his hands. He frowned at the sky, the rain—but not at the two boys goofing off around him. He looked nervous. But, then again, he might always look like that. 

You wouldn’t know. 

It was rare that anyone saw him without a camcorder where his face should be, a glass lens to separate boy from world. 

Beyond the basics, you knew nothing about him. 

But you wanted to. 

Really wanted to. 

With a few mumbled words, the other boys ceased their chase. Steve slung an arm around Andrew's shoulders, shaking him as he spoke. Nervousness turned to nauseousness. As Garetty stomped across the lot, Steve dragged Andrew along, forcing him to keep pace. 

Whirling back to the display you'd messed up, you scrambled to restore the CDs to some semblance of order. By the time the door chimed, you'd already rushed back to the counter, leaning against its surface. 

“Honey,” Garetty sang, striding inside. “I’m home!” 

“Well look who it is,” you cooed. “I was starting to worry I’d make it a whole shift without seeing your ugly face.” 

Glaring, he did a piss-poor imitation of your voice—Lewk hew it eez!—before sticking his tongue out like a brat. Your nose wrinkled at the sight. It was a sickly shade of neon green. 

“Jesus, Garetty. Do you not brush that thing?” 

There was a faint redness to his cheeks. “We got slurpees,” he defended. 

“Looks like you got a disease.” 

A scoff. “It doesn’t—y’know what? Fuck you, actually. It’s green apple.” 

“Sure it is.” 

“It is!” Garetty argued. As if struck by some magnificent idea, his lips curled into a milk curdling smirk. “Wanna taste?” 

Your face dropped. 

No— 

         no  no  nono

absolutely NOT! 

But it was too late. 

Garetty moved fast. A blink and he'd cleared the space between you, thrusting halfway over the counter. His tongue was out, waggling at you through a chorus of gross, exaggerated sounds. A squeal tore from your throat as you scrambled back, pressing flat against the wall. 

“Garetty, I swear–” 

“Come on!” With his tongue out, it sounded more like Tum awhn! “You don’t wanna try?” 

“In your drea–eugh! Stop moving it like that!” 

Eyes rolling, he gave in and tucked the green monster back in its cave. You didn’t move from the wall, not with him so close, still leaning over the counter. 

“Fun sucker,” he declared. 

You flipped him off and, in return, he flashed a crooked grin. 

Jackass. 

“Remind me,” Steve mused, lingering near the entrance. A short step behind him, Andrew was still fumbling with his sleeves. “How old are you two?” 

You pressed a hand to your chest. “Don’t put this on me! It’s not my fault Garetty’s got the mental age of a twelve year old.” 

“Oh, that is so not true!” 

“Says the boy who almost assaulted me with his disease ridden tongue.” You leveled a stare at him. “Do you know any adults who would do that?” 

“Okay, first of all?” He lifted a finger, his expression dead-serious. “It’s 2012. You can’t just throw the word ‘assault’ anymore! And you would know that if you were as emotionally mature as I. Second,” another finger, the corners of his mouth twitching, “we both know you would’ve liked it.” 

You should’ve let it go. That was the smart thing—the mature thing to do. 

Instead, you kicked back to good ole’ middle-school petulance. 

You looked past him, brows drawn as you asked Steve, “Do you hear something?” 

Garetty’s expression went flat. “Seriously?” 

“Oh, definitely,” Steve nodded at you, playing along. “Ya know, now that I’m thinking about it, I was hearing the same thing the whole ride here. Just like this constant buzz?” 

“Yes! Exactly!” 

“Okay,” Garetty huffed. “But somehow I’m the twelve year old, right?” 

Steve hypothesized, “Maybe we have that thing!” He pointed to his ear, glancing at Andrew who clearly didn’t want to be involved. “What’s it called again? Tetanus?” 

You laughed. 

The joke was obvious. Steve was gunning for valedictorian. He definitely knew the difference between tetanus and tinnitus. But, before Andrew could mutter just that, Garetty had already thrown his hands up. 

“You know what?” He gave each of you a look. Yours seemed especially sulky. “Fuck you guys. All of you suck.” 

Steve’s voice was warm, placating, “It was just a joke, Matt. Lighten up, yeah?” 

But Matt didn’t lighten up. In fact, he was already stomping toward the back of the store to mope over a box of records until time to leave. 

You cupped a hand around your mouth. “The philosophical douchebag section’s the other way, Gandhi!” 

With his back still turned, Garetty gave you the finger and kept walking. It was the closest you’d ever get to a victory trophy in this little on again, off again fight of yours. 

You treasured it deeply. 

“So,” you relaxed against the counter. “What brings you to B-sides, Steven? And please, don’t tell me you’re panic-shopping for Samantha’s birthday.” 

It was tomorrow, and the sanctity of girl code meant you'd have no choice but tell her if he'd put off getting a gift. 

Steve clicked his tongue. “Do you really think so little of me?” He joked, ambling closer. Andrew shuffled right behind him, his head low—a dim star caught in the sun’s orbit. “No,” Steve continued, “I know better than that. I got my shopping done months ago—straight from the list, just how Sammy likes it.” 

Impressive. 

“Sounds like you’re a shoo-in for Boyfriend of the Year award, then.” 

“Ah, I don’t know. The year’s still young.” He gave you a wink that made your brow furrow. “Maybe by the end of it you’ll find me some competition.” 

You made a point not to look at Andrew. 

“Doubtful,” you told Steve, as un-morose as you could make it. 

You didn’t need a boyfriend—

Watery eyes flicked up in a half-glance. Nervous. Easy to miss. 

—but needing wasn’t the same as wanting. 

Before you could dwell, Steve changed the subject. 

“Hey, you like all that grungy alternative shit, don’t you?” 

You stared down at your shirt, the wash-faded image of the Around the Fur album cover. “Obviously not.”  

“Great!” 

Steve reached behind himself, guiding the flickering star into the spotlight. A pink flush dusted Andrew’s cheeks. He’d almost tripped over his own feet. 

“So does he,” Steve said as if it meant something grand. You flinched when he smacked the counter, exclaiming, “There! Now you two have something to talk about.”

Before you could speak—think—Steve had already slipped toward the back. He settled next to Garetty, who was scowling over a box of second-hand cassettes, pretending not to eavesdrop. 

Your mind raced, pulse quickening. Did Samantha…?

You didn’t realize your mouth was open, your jaw a broken hinge, until Andrew dared a glance up. Your eyes met, and—

Blue. 

Like crystalline lakes and rushing streams, cool water crashing over warm skin. 

You had to force your mouth shut, ignoring the dry stick of your tongue. 

“I—uh—Sorry—” His attention darted, nervous fingers fiddling with his sleeve. “Matt was right, and this—this was stupid.” 

A question bloomed up your throat, but the answer had already taken root in your mind. The dots connected. Why Garetty hadn't come alone, why Steve was so insistent, why, for once, Andrew wasn't hiding behind a lens. In the end, they all spelled one name: 

Samantha. Your best friend. The only one who knew about your crush on Garetty’s cousin. Samantha, who, apparently, had pissed all over girlhood-sanctity by blabbing to her boyfriend. 

That little– 

“Lhabia.” 

You blinked. “Sorry?” 

Andrew froze. He looked every bit like he’d swallowed a mouthful of pins, debating whether you’d notice if he threw up on the floor. 

“Samantha’s party,” he blustered. “Her birthday, tomorrow, it’s… Tomorrow.” The words hung between you; more question than statement. 

Confused, you told him, “I think we need to backtrack.” 

“Your shirt, it’s… Deftones, that album—Lhabia’s my favorite song off it.” His head shook, lips curving into something faint, a smile tinged with self-deprecation. “I realize now that I probably should’ve just… said that to begin with, maybe.” 

You laughed, because yeah—he definitely should’ve said that. 

“And Samantha’s birthday?” you asked. 

“Steve said you don’t usually go to her parties,” Andrew explained. "Not the big ones, at least, and they're all kinda big, but—I don't usually go either, cause I'm not so... party. But Steve's making me and," he drew an overdue breath. Admitted, "He won't let me walk away without asking you to come with us. 

Behind him, several CD’s up and flung from their display, jostled by some invisible force. You jumped—but Andrew didn’t even flinch. 

“Come with me,” he mumbled, correcting himself. 

Your attention split. Across the store, far from the display, Steve squealed as Garetty smacked him on the back of head with an old record. In that moment, long enough only to think: You break it, you buy it, Andrew took your distraction as something else. 

“You can say no if–” 

“No,” you spoke too quick, saved it with, “I meant yes! I’d love to.” 

Shock, disbelief, joy, more disbelief—they registered on his face all at once. 

“Okay,” he said airily. “Cool. Then I’ll, uh, I’ll see tomorrow?” 

A nod, the best you could manage, before Andrew hurried back to his friends and left your head spinning. 

You were going to kill Samantha. 

After you thanked her.

a/n - wrote this for myself, but i figured you guys could read it too (if anyone is still active in the chronicle fandom, that is). i put the pairing as andrew x reader, but I can't deny that there was weird chemistry between the reader and matt

anyways, thanks for reading and happy thirteenth birthday to chronicle!

[reasonsmandy]

It's me and you

Camila Dunne x Fem!Reader

✧.* requested by anon — Hey there! Hi, I hope you're having a good day. I don't know if you're looking for requests or not (I didn't see anything on your blog, but I could be stupid and didn't see it😅) if you do, I have an idea for a Camila one. It's pretty simple, so you have all the liberty that you want. The reader and Camila met because the reader work at the studio maybe and she quickly become friends with the band and of course Camila too, they start to develop feelings, but the reader is afraid both because of how the others might think and also because Camila is still with Billy. But they have a happy ending ...? Please 😂 maybe with Billy's help too... might be nice 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 Alright, bye❤️

✧.* summary — You have always been a closed person, preserving your secrets and your limits in fear of what the outside would do to you. But with them you found a family, and in Camila more than that, a love.

✧.* warnings — none.

✧.* word count — 2.9k

✧.* 🫀 — Camila's masterlist

In the vibrant music scene of the 70s, you embarked on a courageous journey as a music producer. Your passion for creating captivating melodies and pushing boundaries knew no bounds. As you navigated the challenging terrain of the industry, you remained dedicated to your craft, showcasing exceptional talent in music production. Your commitment to professionalism was unwavering, leaving no room for prejudice to seep into your interactions.

You understood the delicate balance between asserting your identity and ensuring that your work spoke for itself. Your focus on maintaining a high level of professionalism stemmed from a deep desire to be recognized for your abilities rather than being judged based on gender or sexual orientation. As a result, you have been cautious about forming close friendships, fearing that personal connections might lead to biases or hinder your professional growth.

However, amidst the solitary pursuit of excellence, destiny led you to a remarkable encounter—the emerging band known as Daisy Jones and the Six. The band's rising popularity within the label piqued your interest, and you became intrigued by their musical potential. It was through their performances and recordings that you witnessed raw talent that resonated deeply within your soul.

With a delicate balance of curiosity and professionalism, you observed the band's progress, contributing your expertise as a music producer to their journey. While you remained focused on your role and responsibilities, you couldn't help but be drawn to their magnetism, the synergy that ignited between their music and your passion for producing.

It was no secret that the band's energy was captivating and attracted anyone who lived with them - despite the fights several times. They made you feel loved and very comfortable, something that you never experienced before in a work environment, it was magical to feel more than at home in what you loved to do.

That band not only acted like a family, they were one, and you understood that when you met Camila Dunne.

Camila intrigued you on every level a person could surprise you on, she was so unique and so surprising that you wanted to swim deeper and deeper into her wonders. When the band was hired she was a frequent presence for the recordings, especially when the instruments were recorded, Julia loved to see her uncles and her aunt play and loved to wander among the instruments, occasionally being caught pounding Rojas' drums or "strumming" Eddie's bass.

And since you were in charge of that room when Teddy Price wasn't there, you always allowed the two of them to be present, because whether you wanted it or not, it was just a matter of seeing the figure of that brunette go through the door with them that your day got better immediately. Billy usually joined them, but it didn't take long to walk out the door with Daisy and come back hours later, so you kept Camila and Julia company while everyone else worked on their parts.

Those afternoons made you connect immediately, you never thought you would get along with someone as well as she did, but it was something as natural as the air you breathe, and little by little it became something as essential as that. With her, things seemed so easy, light, simple, and you came to the conclusion that it was impossible not to fall in love with Camila Dunne.

When you realized the passion that grew in your chest every time your eyes met, you got scared. What would others think of you? What would Billy think of all this? Would you miss this phenomenal friendship? You knew that the oldest Dunne didn't deserve her, you knew that things between them weren't the same for a long time, but something in your mind told you that you weren't within your right to express any feelings for her. You didn't want to mess up the only thing right in your life after so long.

But there were moments where you were sure she felt the same way, moments where it was just the two of you in that studio laughing at the dumbest thing you thought of last night and commented to her, moments where you comforted her when she felt like it was just her against the whole world, moments where she held you close and said she was proud of the project you had done, moments where that smile was directed at you... where you were it's cause, where she was only yours.

Billy and Daisy were a magnificent show, an entertainment that delivered anger, love, hate, passion, lust, need, sadness and all kinds of human emotion between the notes emanating from their voicing strings. A show that would astound any individual amongst the throngs of its audience, a show that was not only memorable for fans but also for art history, a show that Camila Dunne watched daily from the box.

Camila watched Billy and Daisy go up in flames, she watched closely as their souls found each other and shared their wounds and deep feelings, she watched intently as they lost themselves in the intensity that consumed them, intent on filling their own frustration. They needed each other, but they weren't each other's salvation, and she knew it. Quiet, attentive and trying her hardest to keep calm for her daughter as she watched her husband fall in love with another woman.

It was to be expected that she would fall apart, that she would freak out when she saw everything she had built for years slipping through her hands like grains of sand, but there was something holding her that was inexplicable, she expected to feel the thump of the fall as the wave broke into the tide, but instead she felt the water move her smoothly somehow. It didn't wound her as deeply as she expected. It was a puzzle she couldn't comprehend until she confronted the truth: her heart had already begun to wander towards someone else—towards you.

Camila's mind swirled with a flurry of doubts, attempting to unravel the origins of these blossoming feelings within her. How had they emerged? And more importantly, how were they growing stronger? The thought of embracing a romantic relationship with you both thrilled and terrified her. What would others think? Would they understand?

Yet, amidst the fear and uncertainty, Camila couldn't help but envision a future together. She imagined tranquil afternoons in the park, the three of you, sharing laughter and creating memories. She saw herself spending precious free days reading alongside you and Julia, cherishing the simple joys of a life she had always yearned for.

These daydreams gently nudged aside visions that had once featured Billy. Instead, Camila found solace and peace when she imagined herself by your side. And what made it even more remarkable was that you saw her, truly saw her, regardless of the roles she played or the expectations she met. In your presence, she felt valued and appreciated for simply being herself.

As these thoughts danced within Camila's mind, she acknowledged the effort you made to be a part of her life. Your presence, even in a platonic sense, held immense value. It was a testament to the bond you shared, a connection that went beyond professional obligations. Your genuine care and unwavering support touched Camila's heart, assuring her that you were a steadfast presence in her life.

With each passing day, Camila's dreams transformed from mere figments of her imagination into tangible possibilities. And the beauty of it all was that you were right there beside her, making those dreams a reality. Your dedication and commitment to her well-being spoke volumes, instilling in Camila a sense of hope and anticipation for what the future held. Gradually she didn't care anymore about the way Billy neglected her, she only thought about you.

…

Camila played with Julia in the living room of their house, she could hear Billy in the kitchen preparing something for her breakfast, his voice was like a muffled noise she didn't pay attention to anything that he was saying.

"Cami, are you listening to me?" The older Dunne sits with the girls, stroking little Julia's hair.

She seems to be aware of the dispersion, looking directly at her husband. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I wanted to know if you want to go with me to the photoshoot of the album." He cracks a smile, Camila could tell he was distant, something was on his mind since the last time he went to the studio.

"Sure." Camila agrees, letting her hair fall over her shoulders, while touching the doll next to her. "You seem a little restless since Friday." she points out.

Billy shrugs, trying to hide the thoughts of him that had wandered into the kiss he and Daisy shared a few days ago. He doesn't say anything.

"You know Billy, there's a lot of unspoken things between us." Camila says between a sigh, glancing from time to time at Julia trying to make sure she was distracted. "I just wanted you to be honest with me if there's something changing about you, between us."

He looked deep into her eyes, there was something necessary that needed to be said and he knew he couldn't hold back too long. "Look Cami I-, I don't know what's been happening to me these last few days."

Camila sighs, she knew what was coming in this conversation. "You don't know or you don't want to tell me?"

"Daisy she... We have something between us." He says at once, ripping off the band aid. "She makes me burn, it's something I've never felt before. I'm so sorry…"

Camila sighs, opening a smile, he finds the action strange but he watches her carefully. "Thanks for being honest with me, I knew there was something. I know what it's like to see you in love."

His heart squeezes, he felt a huge love for Camila but he wasn't in love with her the same way he was with Daisy Jones, knowing that the woman in front of him was willing to understand his feelings and not only that but also validate them. "I love you Camila, I really do. I just need to figure out what this is. And I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I love you too." Camila says through a smile, wondering if she should open her heart about everything she's been feeling the past few days. "I also need to figure out a few things."

Billy feels a twinge of jealousy, he knew it was selfish of him to think that way so he tried to hide whatever that feeling was. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said, I need to figure some things out too." She shrugs, not wanting to give away too much information. "I only ask you for my space, I want us to maintain a good relationship for Jules, please."

"Absolutely, Cami." He says, kissing her forehead. "You are my family."

…

The wind on top of the hill was freezing, the hairs on your arms stood on end with each gust of wind that made the leaves fly and the branches move. You tried not to shiver as you watched the band get ready to start the photo shoot, Warren and Eddie were eating while talking about something you were too distracted to understand, Karen and Graham had taken another one of those getaways that they swore you didn't know were happening. But pretty much everyone knew, well, except Warren.

Billy Dunne's car parks, it was almost immediately that your eyes went to the vehicle just by hearing the sound of the engine. As soon as your eyes met hers, your heart pounded in your chest like an animal desperate to break out of its cage. She smiles when she sees you, Julia waves happily at you and you blow her a kiss and she catches it in the air.

It doesn't take long for them to get out of the car, Graham appears and takes his niece in his lap to show the surroundings along with Eddie and Warren, not long after they were playing tag around. While Billy and Daisy took their pictures alone Camila approaches you with that smile that makes you melt.

"I didn't know you would be here." She comments, the wind making the strands of her hair ruffled. She tried to fix it and you laughed with her playful face.

You shrug, putting your hands in your pockets. "And lose these goofs in a photo shoot? Never!" You say making her laugh, her laugh makes the butterflies in your stomach dance. "You look wonderful, you know?"

You couldn't contain the compliment, it was inevitable to speak well of a woman like her and admire her in her presence. Camila smiles shyly, looking at the floor. "This coming from you means a lot, thank you."

"No need to say thank you, just facts." You offer her one of the foods that are there for the staff, she gladly accepts it.

Camila sighs, she had so much to tell you but there was something holding her back. Would this be a good time? You can sense her anxiety, with concern you calmly take your hands to hers, your fingers gently brush against each other as a shock runs down your spine like sensational energy.

"Can we talk in a more private place?" She asks in a low voice.

"Want to go for a ride?" You say jingling your car keys, she opens a small smile and quickly asks if Graham can take care of Julia while she needs to go out and he agrees.

When she closes the passenger door, you start the car and then the radio, and as always "Honeycomb" was playing full blast through the speakers. You automatically open a smile of pride, in a comfortable silence that is established between you, after a while her hand rests on yours, your body shivers.

You turn around a curve to a quieter place, which gives you a beautiful view of that place. Parking the car you turn to watch her, trying to understand what was going on there. Camila looked nervous, and you would do anything to calm her down.

"Hey, it's okay." You reassure her, holding her hands. "You can tell me whatever you want."

She squints her eyes shut, drawing in a sharp breath before speaking at once. "I know this might sound really crazy but I'm falling in love with you."

You feel like you've frozen in time, your heart races, your hands shake as your pupils widen at your words. Afraid that your silence would mean rejection for her, you rush to formulate your words.

"Cami... Are you serious?" Your voice was shaky, Camila just nodded. "I've been head over heels in love with you for a long time."

There was a glow you haven't seen in her in a while, which resurfaced when you saw a huge smile spread across her face. She pulls you into a hug, you are quick to wrap her arms around her. Kissing her shoulder tenderly, you remain in the hold for a few seconds until she pulls away.

"I imagine this is all pretty new to you." You whisper, taking her face in your hands, she nods, her eyes wandering every now and then to your lips. "I'm here for you every step of the way, I understand there are a lot of things you need to figure out and-"

"Let's forget about the world for a while." She says, and you feel that with her you could do this. "Me and Billy, we well... we're not us anymore."

You are surprised to hear this, you have never been taken so seriously in this way, you have never been considered the first option in this way. She had made a very difficult decision to risk anything with you... It made you feel so wanted for the first time in your life.

You take a deep breath, containing the emotion that such words caused in you. "I want to kiss you so badly right now."

She approaches you little by little, resting one of her hands on your thighs "Please, do it."

You laugh shyly, gently cupping her face in your hands, your lips touching in a kiss that feels perfect. Her lips fit perfectly, as if you came back to life after years underground, she made your energy resurface with every movement of her lips. She kissed you with affection and need, it was a new path for her but you felt that together with caution she had the need to have you. You get lost in each other there for a few minutes, just the two of you and nature around you.

The silence was comfortable, you felt good in each other's presence, you felt at home, you belonged. Silly smiles, laughs and kisses were exchanged from time to time until the hours passed and it was necessary for you to return.

"Are we going to continue with this?" You question, very much wanting to receive a yes for an answer. "I respect your time, beautiful, I just want to know if we're going to be together from here."

She holds his hands, intertwining their fingers she brings them to her mouth, placing a lingering kiss there. "It's me and you."

You smile silly, how did she make you feel so surrendered like that? You kiss her one more time, with affection and willingness, wanting to enjoy every second left.

She rests her forehead on his, letting out a giggle. "And Jules, of course."

You laugh along with her, nodding in agreement. "The three of us, that's for sure."

...

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it... If you wanted to ask for something my requests are open, and if you want to ask and don't have any ideas check out my prompt list :) xoxo

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