#while you're there get INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SPACE and EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD

[girljeremystrong]

OUT TODAY grab it from your local indie bookshop ✨️

[lovelybrooke]

Can I request how Sliver, Idia, Kalim, Vil, and Malleus realises he loves Reader?

Totally, hope you liked this.

masterlist

---

Silver

Silver couldn't help but dream. 

He dreamt of adventures, of traveling the lands and discovering its magical wonders. He also has more boring dreams. Dreams of animals and warm sunlight. The smell of fresh cut grass and warm sweets. 

But he's found himself dreaming of you often. 

He drifts away to the memories of your voice, to the shape of your figure, to the remnant of your touch. He thinks he's going insane, the way his mind can't seem to think of anything other than you, even while asleep. 

Somedays, he tries to stay awake, racking his mind on why you were so captivating. He'd come to different conclusions every time. Maybe it was your smile, the one he sees so often in these dreams. Maybe it was your kindness, something that seemed so crucial to your personality. Eventually, he'd fall asleep, and would be gifted with your presence again and again, not that he was complaining. 

It was embarrassing, having to see your face afterwards, across the cafeteria. Watching as you mingled and laughed with your first year friends, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you, as you talked and ate. It was strange in a way, how the mundane became so interesting when it came to you. 

He knew his feelings for you were less than normal, you were different, that's why he liked you. He liked being able to watch you, to learn about you from the background. He liked his dreams, because it gave him the chance to talk to you, to feel your skin, to leave the background and be in your presence. 

But like most dreams, you eventually wake up, and he finds himself sitting behind you in class or watching you in the cafeteria, and he imagines what it would feel like to actually interact with you. 

But, never acts. 

Instead he dreams. 

Idia

Idia is awkward, he's a loser. But at least he's aware. 

He knows why he locks himself in his room for hours, or why he can't talk to people unless it's through a screen, or why he finds it difficult connecting with people. He's awkward and anxious and scared, but he's self aware, and that's more than most people at least. 

He's self aware as he watches you through his camera, eyes almost unblinking as he observes. You fiddle with your hands a lot, he thinks you do it when you're nervous. You also will pet Grim when you don't know what to do with your hands, Grim doesn't seem to mind. Your bag is also too heavy for you since you switch which shoulder you carry it with a lot throughout the day. 

He shouldn't find some gratification in watching you, he shouldn't look forward to seeing what you did throughout the day, but he does, and he knows that, that's why he's better than the others. 

He knows he's a freak, but at least he doesn't sit on top of some moral high ground, acting like he's so much better than everyone else, like he's doing you a service by helping to keep you trapped here. He isn't like the others, jumping through hoops to justify their behavior. He knows he's strange. 

But knowing isn't enough to stop him. 

Knowing he's strange isn't enough to stop his behaviors, it isn't enough to stop him from keeping you whenever he could. Especially now, as he watches you in the library. You're doing homework, reading and scratching notes on paper silently. It's nice, and for a moment he can pretend like he's there with you. He's sitting across from you, existing in the same space as you. India doesn't know how to put it into words, but it's nice. 

He knows it's wrong, he should feel bad about invading your privacy like this. But he's a coward, and this is the best he'll ever get.

Kalim 

Kalim just thinks you're the greatest. You're so funny and kind and wonderful, he can't think of a single bad thing about you. 

Except for the fact that you one day might leave. 

Kalim thinks about that a lot, about you leaving him and never coming back. It happens most often whenever he's alone, so he does his best to stay with you, just so he knows you won't leave him. Maybe it's selfish of him to want to be around you constantly, but he can't help it. He hates the aching, queasy feeling he gets whenever you're away from him. 

As music plays in the background, he watches as you converse with some random first year, he doesn't know their name, and he wonders if the aching feeling will ever go away. It seeps into him like a plague, tears at flesh and threatens to destroy him if he doesn't do something soon. Kalim didn't know he could feel as strongly as he did now, but as he crossed the room and dragged you away from the first year, he knew he didn't care. 

He knew he would spend the rest of this party apologizing to you, hanging off your shoulders as he tried to stay as close as possible to you. He knew he'd promise you something extravagant, and gift you something ten times better in the morning. He knew he'd beg you to stay over at Scarabia for the night, that Jamil wanted to see you and that they could walk you to classes together tomorrow. 

Kalim just thought you were great, that you were so easy to love. But being easy to love means other people felt just as strongly as he did. He knew that he wasn't as stupid as people though, that's why he has to keep you with him. If you were with him at all times, then you weren't trying to leave, and that's all Kalim could ask for. 

Kalim just thinks you're the greatest, but you're even better when you're just with him. 

Vil 

Vil strives for perfection, for beauty. He's dedicated his entire life to being as perfect as possible, and while he's tried to be better at hyper fixating on his idea of perfection, it gets hard when it comes to you. 

You're ordinary, extremely so, but for some reason that draws him to you. Your presence is comforting, soft and light, filling him with a warmth that he's come to crave, especially after his Overblot. 

Vil strives for beauty, he seeks it out in everything he does. But you've taught him that beauty is everywhere, that you can appreciate the beauty in everything rather than change yourself to achieve beauty. He's come to love the world around him more, you included. 

You are the beauty that Vil strives for, the perfection that he craves. There is something so wonderful underneath all that ordinary that Vil wishes to uncover. He wonders how much he missed out on before his Overblot, thinking back on the times he used to look at you in disgust. It shook him to his core, and if he could he'd spend the rest of his life atoning. 

But instead he cares for you. He cradles your face softly as he applies your makeup. He hums softly as he styles your hair, brushing out of your face slightly. He takes your hand and lifts it slightly, latching bracelets onto your wrist that glimmer in the light. 

As he admires you, he wonders if love is the correct word for what he is feeling right now. Does love drive everyone to madness? Does love make everyone so tunnel visioned that they can't think about anything else? Does love make everyone else feel so overwhelmed that you can't possibly imagine a life without this person? 

Maybe love isn't the right world, Vil thinks as he watches you smile at him. Obsession seems more like it. 

Malleus 

Malleus spent most of his life alone before you. 

He wouldn't exactly call his childhood lonely, he had Lilia and his grandmother to care for him, and for a while he thought that was enough. 

That was until he met you. 

Malleus believes meeting you that day outside of Ramshackle was the best thing to ever happen to him. He's never met someone so kind, someone brave enough to talk to him like you were equals. It humored him in a way, someone so courageous. 

From that day on he couldn't stop thinking about you. His eyes would find yours in the hallways, and you'd smile and wave. It was strange how he'd feel his body warm up, but it wasn't out of fear or anger. It was a warmth that was nice and exciting. 

He'd find you again outside of Ramshackle. Sometimes you talk for hours, other times you sit in silence and watch the stars. He was happy either way, getting to spend time with you. He didn't realize how much he craved companionship until now. 

Malleus is sure he fell in love with you the day you first talked with him. Since then, you've been the only thing he could think about, the only thing he craves, he desires. He couldn't live without you. 

Malleus loves you. He loves you completely with his whole being. He loves you like the stars love the sky, like the moon loves the sun. You are the only one who understands him, you can't leave him alone again. 

He can't stand hearing you talk about going home, about that mirror. It fills him with dread, it makes him sick, he hates it. 

You will not leave him.

He will not be alone.

---

[nativehueofresolution]

homophobic shiv memes aside, i do think there is actually something interesting about how shiv interacts with her brothers' sexuality/implied queerness. with roman, she seized on his sexuality as potential weakness, painting him as a sexual deviant to logan and seemingly being the one to reveal to logan that roman has had sexual interactions with men as an attempt to bolster her status and gain leverage ('i mean i think it's a potential problem. there's issues, you know? everyone says that he used to get jerked off by his personal trainer, and now there's this gerri thing... it's a, it's a track record you know?'). she also later uses their father's disgust with roman to try to convince her brother to go against their dad ('rome, you know dad is never going to choose you, because he thinks there's something wrong with you' --an ambiguously worded line but one i think in the context of what had just happened prior to that scene where logan literally asked roman 'are you scared of pussy, son?' during their last conversation, this makes the most sense as a reference to his sexuality).

she also just straight up uses the fact that he Does Not Fuck to be mean when she's annoyed with roman ('you can't hide under the covers with mommy... someday you know you're gonna have to actually fuck something.' a remark that connor and arguably kendall -depending on how sincere you think his comments to shiv are - immediately clock as being over the line, while shiv plays coy and pretends to not understand why roman's upset). it's a vulnerability for her to exploit. (though it's also interesting to note her success with this tactic is limited. logan is furious with roman, but he still brushes shiv off after she outs roman. roman's queerness may disqualify him, but it doesn't change the fact shiv is a woman and so was never a real option to start with.)

the possibility of kendall's queerness, on the other hand, seems more to strike her as a threat, the most obvious example being her already infamous face during the 'you kiss guys on molly' scene. regardless of how much you want to read that as a confirmation of a relationship between kendall and stewy (and i personally am inclined to take it as such), the basic facts are that kendall is attempting to cozy up to stewy and specifically bringing up his attraction to men on molly as something that makes stewy mundane rather than an edgelord, and shiv shows visible discomfort at kendall's blasé attitude and his intimacy with stewy. the director mark mylod has pointed to the scene in particular during multiple interviews as one of the earliest signs of shiv's wobbling, because she sees upfront the closeness between kendall and stewy and how she 'could be sidelined by that relationship'.

it's interesting that this comes after the past few episodes spotlighted kendall's relationship with nate, shiv's ex and the guy who - apart from stewy and possibly the waiter - has the most gay subtext with kendall. in 4x08, the fact that kendall was close enough to nate that he would call him to double check shiv's story and that nate, either on purpose or unknowingly, revealed shiv was lying, ended up destroying her only chance of staving off the mencken call. while the scene itself has nothing to do with sexuality, shiv's goals were undermined because of an existing relationship between kendall and nate. her relationships as a sister and a lover did not give her enough sway to stop the interaction from playing out as it did. as the lone female, shiv is constantly shut out by the homosocial spaces that exist in the business world that she cannot access (we see kendall and roman do business deals in the men's room more than once). still, we have seen with nate in particular shiv is sometimes able to use her sexual appeal to try and achieve her goals (flirting with nate to try and get him to do oppo research on marcia for example), even if it is not her preferred way to deal with things. but if kendall is also able to attract men, this is another way in which he's competing with her, and one she feels poised to lose at because kendall already has access to men in a way she can't in their spheres, and she's seen over and over the bond between men prioritized above all else. she's already inclined to think kendall will sideline her for a man he wants to keep on his good side - she just lived through roman as co-ceo - and now during their meeting with stewy she sees kendall show an easy familiarity with stewy's sexual history with men that he uses to butter him up. even if she isn't taking that to mean they've personally slept together (and i think she is), she's being reminded that kendall is someone who can form intimate relationships with other men (in contrast to roman, who is kind of repressed about it) and use that to his advantage, which undercuts her already limited influence. it's just the eternal boys club taken to another level.

[choccyhearts]

quick apologies for how many imagines i've been doing lately, i just haven't had to motivation/ability to write full fics, maybe i'll develop them into full fics someday but anyways....

imagine moving in with eddie...

you've been having issues at home and as a result, have been spending a lot of time at eddie's

of course he doesn't mind having you with him, and wayne is understanding of your situation, allowing you into his home at all hours of the day and night

but soon you spend nearly a week at theirs and eddie confronts you about it and you break down, explaining how uncomfortable you are at your home

so he talks with wayne one night and wayne, while obviously skeptical of the idea, soon agrees that you deserve a safe place to stay

the next time you're over, he and wayne sit you down and propose the idea of letting you move in

and you're speechless

sure, you've fantasized about living with eddie, but you knew realistically it'd be a while down the line

but they assure you it's okay. wayne even expresses concern for you and tells you straight up he'd rather you stay with them than go back to your home

and later that week, you and eddie pack up your belongings, or at least the ones you care most about, and move you over to his place

everyone knows it's gonna be a tight squeeze but it'll work

prior to you moving in, eddie deep cleaned his room to the best of his abilities, clearing spaces and drawers and closet space. when you walk in with your things you nearly tear up at how vacant the room looks compared to it's previous state

he helps you unpack and slowly get settled in, excited for a new chapter in your lives...

one day, eddie comes home and finds you napping on your now shared bed

he stands in the doorway and smiles before his eyes drift and look around the room

now his desk has your various pens, pencils, and other writing tools along with some of your own little trinkets

in a laundry hamper is a mixture of yours and his clothes, ready to be cleaned with a laundry detergent you picked out because it was gentle to your skin

on the floor is a spread of various objects; his clothes, your clothes, random debris not yet in the trash can, a few of your scrunchies that at this point are fair game between you two, your bag and backpack, your shoes, his shoes

on the bed along with you are his bedsheets and blankets, a few nice fluffy pillows because you couldn't stand sleeping on flat pillows, covering those pillows are both yours and his pillowcases because you both prefer your own for sentimental purposes, some stuffed animals from your home because you refused to leave them behind (though you move them to his desk when it's time for bed so you both can be comfy), and your favorite blanket is draped over you to bring comfort as you adjust to a new living arrangement

in the air is a mixture of his body spray and your scent, now permanently etched into his nose and his walls, as well as a scented candle because you love them and they, quote, "make places feel like homes"

eddie of course sympathizes with the fact that such harsh reasons could drive you to leaving your home, but he also loves that he can be there for you. he can provide refuge and care for you. he and wayne can be family for you

he takes off his jacket and crawls on to the bed next to you, joining you for a good night's rest

right now, things might be difficult but he's determined to make it better

(i'm tempted to make this a series so if anyone is interested plz lmk <3)

[werewolf-witchboy]

Tokoyami Fumikage X Male Reader

Being A Witch Boy And Dating Tokoyami

WARNINGS: none uwu

Being a witch has nothing to do with your quirk, you just like practicing the dark arts and witchy things.

I'm not going to mention what your quirk is, so you can imagine that you have whatever quirk you want, or you can imagine yourself as someone without a quirk.

💀 Tokoyami had been fascinated with your hobby of witchcraft ever since he met you. He was most fascinated with the fact that your actual quirk has nothing to do with how your witchcraft works.

🕯 He had already thought you were cute before, and he had been in that time of his life where he was starting to question his sexuality a little- but after you showed him your witchy interests, he fell hard for you.

💀 He may be a dark and edgy birb boi, but he's also quite shy and awkward. He probably would have never confronted you about his crush if you hadn't told him your feelings for him first.

🕯 When y'all started dating, literally everyone was like "FINALLY!!" cuz it was super obvious that the two of you were meant for each other.

💀 When it comes to what type of witch you are, i'd say you're a witch of all traits.

-You love dark and spooky things, but you also love pastel colors and nature.

-Your room in the class 1A dorm is most likely full of plants, candels, a variety of antiques and trinkets, and shit that you can't buy at stores until it's around Halloween time.

🕯 Tokoyami likes to ask many questions about all of the different types of things you do, and he actually pays attention and is super interested. You'll even teach him some new things, and show him how to do them himself.

💀 You love Dark Shadow as much as you love Tokoyami himself. Though they're both very different in personality, you find them both charming and adorable (despite them both saying they're not "adorable," they're dark and spoopy lmao).

🕯 He also loves your animal familiar.

-Your familiar rarely comes out of your bedroom. Since you're dating Tokoyami, you allow him in your room (which means a lot more than he probably thinks it does, cuz spaces where witches do their magic and recharging are very sacred to them) so he gets to see your familiar quite often.

💀 It's rare for familiars to show affection to anyone that isn't their bonded witch, but your familiar absolutely loves Tokoyami.

-They'll hop onto his lap immediately as soon as he sits down in your room.

🕯 Both you and Tokoyami thrive in the darkness, so there are often times where you both hang around in your dimly lit room cuddled up together just talking all day (or even sometimes laying there in comfortable silence).

-You'll be in there together for so long that all of your friends will start questioning where you're both at, and not even realize that you're just in your room.

💀 He obviously likes you a whole lot, but he's super bad at saying it with words. He's just shy and bashful. BUT THEN DARK SHADOW EXPOSES HIM LMAO-

-You'll be standing there looking super cute, and Tokoyami will just stare at you and want to say something so badly. Then Dark Shadow appears and is all like "wOw yOu'Re sUpEr hOt" and Tokoyami just dies right there in the very spot he's standing cuz he can't believe that just happened.

🕯 That's another thing- Tokoyami stares at you a LOT. He even did it before y'all started dating, but now he doesn't even try to hide it.

-You barely noticed at first, but once you started noticing how often you catch him staring at you, you can't help but tease him a little.

-You'll stare at him back, directly in the eyes, and he'll get super flustered and embarrassed.

-Then to calm him down and make him feel less embarrassed, you'll giggle at his flustered-ness and give him a lil beak kiss...which just makes him even more flustered.

💀 He's definitely the type who wants to be a total romantic, and speak all poem-like to you, and shower you with praises, ect. BUT he gets so flustered when it comes to affection, and second-guesses himself when it comes to his ideas of showing affection.

-He's scared of coming off too strong, or seeming to clingy, or even not doing enough, so he never really gets the chance to act out any of how he wants to show affection- and to top it all off he can't help but be absolutely smitten every time you give him affection of any sort, and he'll not know how to react to it.

🕯 You never call him out on his shyness or how he reacts to your affection, you're not offended with any way he reacts to you. You think it's super cute how innocent he seems when it comes to all of this, and of course you encourage any time he gets a little bit of confidence to hold your hand or compliment you (without the help of Dark Shadow lol).

💀 His feathers get all ruffled when he's flustered, and OMFG it's too cute. 🥺😭

🕯 Something that he loves so much is when you borrow his clothes. Because for him, it's kind of a way to show affection towards you without being super direct about it.

-So him being like "you're cold? here, wear my sweatshirt" translates to "TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME, KEEP IT FOREVER, I LOVE YOU FJSKDJFHR-"

💀 Don't come @ me- Tokoyami listens to death metal, but he'd totally vibe with something like kpop if you introduced him to it.

-He's definitely a Loona stan.

🕯 Highkey though, now that I think of it- he probably also listens to Joji and Billie Eilish.

-Like, really moody sad boi hours indie music.

-He'd have Will He playing in his headphones, and he'd be all edgy and in his feelings, but he'd also be doing something like baking cookies at the same time lmfao.

-He'd have a playlist named "songs to cry to," but he'd be listening to it while knitting sweaters for puppies or something.

💀 No, you didn't ask me what kind of music that I think Tokoyami listens to, but you got it anyway. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

🕯 If he's at a store, and sees something kinda spooky looking that makes him think of you, he'd quickly get it and think all day of giving it to you, and he'd want to watch you add it to your collection of lil trinkets and antiques.

-....But he'd chicken out so hard I stg.

-This poor baby would rehearse how he'd give it to you in his head over and over again, and then when the time comes to give it to you, he'd get suddenly so tongue-tied and worried if you'd actually like it or not.

-But, of course, you love whatever he gets you every time. Your always super surprised when he gets you something, cuz it's not your birthday or any special day, and you never expect gifts from people.

-Every time you accept a gift from him, you always want to squeal, tackle him, and shower him with kisses- but you resist doing so with all of your being, cuz you know he'd malfunction.

-Instead you very profoundly thank him many times, and give him one especially loving kiss.

-Seeing your extra surprised and happy reaction always relieves him so much, and it makes him want to do it all over again and gift you a whole shop full of trinkets. His lack of hundreds of dollars is the only thing that stops him.

💀 You're the type of person who wears a lot of black, and scatters bright colors here and there within your look. Your style ranges from goth to pastel e-boy.

🕯 You don't like to change other people's styles or tell other people what to wear, but every once in a while, Tokoyami expresses an interest in dressing like you- which you go NUTS over.

-You'll let him borrow your pastel sweaters, and he'll let you put bright colored hairclips in his feathers.

-He now even owns some pastel colored clothing of his own, that you either gifted him or he secretly bought himself at some point.

💀 He used to be shy about changing up his style every once in a while at first. Whenever you'd take pictures of him wearing bright clothes, he'd softly ask you not to show them to any of the others.

-Eventually he became confident enough to go out in public those rare days he'd wear bright colors, and everyone is always super supportive of the different style.

🕯 He had never been in a relationship with another guy before he started dating you.

-He started questioning his sexuality around the time he started high school, but it was never a priority at first because he was more focused on working hard to get into U.A. and thinking about his future being a hero.

-aNd tHeN hE mEt yOu, and now we're here lol.

-ANYWAYS, y'all go to pride parades together.

-Something he isn't shy about is his sexuality, cuz as soon as he realized how he felt about you, he was all in and that was that.

-Y'all go all out for parades with face and body paint, and shirts with your flags on them, and even sometimes bringing signs and flags to hold up and wave around.

-Some of your friends will come with the two of you, whether they're there because they're also lgbtq+ or just because they support it.

-It's the most social the two of you are the entire year, cuz your both introverted lil emos that don't really talk to many people outside of class 1A.

💀 So yeah- I think Tokoyami is highly underrated and I'm extremely soft for him. He's an emo birb boi, what is not to love.

-I believe in emo birb boi supremacy.

-Rise all Tokoyami stans, we shall take over the entire anime world someday.

[noviceaoiryusei]

「 Dance Square vol. 36 」 Johnny's Jr. Tettei Kaibou file 23 - Daichi Imae

I won't loose to my friends, I want to live a life that's not ashamed (with others)

I liked the dance rehearsal more with Yara Tomoyuki!

I don't remember too much of my memories as a kid. When I started to dance, I remembered it's during my second year of middle school when I unwillingly joined Johnny's. (laughs) When I've heard it from my parents, until then I'm always playing soccer. When I was in sixth grade, I saw people dancing on the tv, I suddenly said "I want to do something like this". So I started learning the dance (because) I wanted to dance at tv but, I thought it was impossible. At that time, my relative's grandmother has been hospitalized, to liven up (the mood) I danced in the hospital room. My relative's grandmother said "join Johnny's", so that I won't give up, my parents seemed to have applied for an audition. I felt it and said "it's impossible", it seems like I had received my intention. (laughs) At that moment, I joined Johnny's, it was around after I've finished first grade of middle school.

The audition was at Hey! Say! JUMP's Osaka Jo Hall concert. On that day, I was called that I passed the choreography and stand on the stage as it is. How many people we're there but they will reduce the persons during the three day production.... The choreography increases gradually as you pass. The third day's song was very difficult, I somehow remembered that I couldn't dance at all. But because I love dancing, (I'm) glad that I danced Gamushara. Johnny-san said "you're liveliness is good" and so, I survived the three days. (laughs)

Then I started working as (part of) Kansai Johnny's Jr. but honestly, I just remembered what choreography was taught just by standing on the stage. I remembered my consciousness had clearly changed when Yara (Tomoyuki)-kun chose me in the audition for Yuma-kun's concert (Nakayama Yuma Chapter 1 "Utaoze! Odoroze! YOLOze! Tour" / 2015). Yara-kun is accurate, it's not yet over if you remembered the choreography, you need to pursue more and more from there. Understanding the points that you're not good alone I said, "I'll do it until I can"; I'm that kind of person. And because the rehearsal was hard, I thought that I'll properly look at it. (laughs) I'm so happy that I became to like dancing more. I thought I've met a good person, that's why it's called a turning point; that's where you've come up the most.

The pleasure awakened in the play "Takizawa Kabuki ZERO"

We often worked together at Yuma-kun's concert but we're not an official group. Because it was also divided into a tour group and a stage group, everyone somewhat felt that these members are not good enough to do it together. With my personality, I originally thought "let's do our best at a given place". When Naniwa Danshi and Ae! group was formed, I didn't particularly thought that it's regrettable. During that time at Kyocera (Kanju Yume no Kansai Island 2020 in Kyocera Dome Osaka / 2020), it made me feel a little frustrated for the first time. For persons like me, the feeling of wanting to do you best was greater.

I think I'll do my best in (this) place because the play is getting a lot of fun. Earlier (days) I had experienced to work on stage during "Shounentachi", the role is something like a "square frame" because there's an image, I have to act properly. But during the time of "Takizawa Kabuki ZERO" (2019), I was told to do things freely so, even though everyone is standing, I just sat down. (laughs) I acted selfishly. Then, Suezawa said "I saw Imae's eyes" well, it might be noticeable (eyes) but it's a national (thing). (laughs) Aah, such freedom in the play is nice. Because of the experience, I was able to try lots of things while consulting with Kong Kuwata-san who is the chief warden during the stage "Shounentachi (Seishun no Hikari ni)" / 2019. The first external work for me is "Boukenshatachi Hotel (~Dragon Quest X ni Tsudoishi Nakamatachi~) / 2019, it's a very fun play! Takizawa Kabuki is I think my another turning point.

Dancing and doing play are fun so, I have decided that I'm going to do this work but, I said I wanted to quit. When I entered university, I was going to quit. It'll be long when I tell the story. First, I became interested in space when I was in third year of high school so I said "I want to be an astronaut!". After consulting it in school I did a literary but the teachers gave me individual classes for math and science. A teacher who supports people was a great existence. Aiming to be an astronaut is impossible for now even if I study on my own so, I thought I also wanted to be a teacher. The subject that I'm really good at is physical education so, I have decided to get a teacher's license for health and physical education. The university was drawn based on that (exam). So, when I have received it, I really wanted to leave Johnny's and become a teacher.

But during that time, my friends had stopped me, I've decided to try it for 1-2 times. Everyday from 1 to 4, sometimes until 5 I have classes before I went out in a performance. I think I'm honest and worked really hard. (laughs) When I became third year, I can always become (a teacher) if there's a teacher's license so, I thought that it'll be fine by now. Now, I'm not yet thinking of becoming a teacher someday but I've thought that it's good to have a teacher's license. There are lots of people who have became a Jr., I felt that it's also a proof.

The time that I was active with my friends is an important memory of a lifetime.

Until now I have been working with the feeling of "I'll do my best at a given place". It may sound as positive but, that's why there's no individuality. (laughs) From now, I want to have an appetite, I thought I should be aggressive in believing what I can not (do). I think what I want to do right now is (being in a) play. I have been sent and during the practice of "Ponkotsu Bushou Retsuden ~Tonari no Shiro no Aitsu~, Sano (Mizuki)-san said "the one who's growing the most is Imae". That's of course because I don't have valued experience/s. (laughs) That's why I thought I should absorb more and it's also fun. I said "it's also important to study" but I honestly don't know much. After all, I think it won't work if I doesn't stand on the stage. Right now, I want to accumulate experiences.

If that's the nearest goal, then the next big goal is to establish a new path in Johnny's. An idol has an image of singing and dancing, there's also a path to plays just like (Ikuta) Toma-kun. "______ Imae", I also want to find something like that to say. Because I'm still obscure, I'm (being) honest now. I'm doing my best on the rails that has been laid by Toma-kun. (laughs) Because I have lots of hobbies, it's making me lively so, it's going to be interesting. Ramen, anime, universe, soccer, fishing, marathon, there's also a teacher's license, it could be a weapon someday.

Let's say that it's an alley by ourselves. (laughs) Because there were many fans who have supported the members who were together at Yuma-kun's concert, I think there are people who have felt uneasy about being separated. But for us, that time is an important treasure of our lives. I've always had a sense of friendship, in fact, the reputation of my stage play was made by everyone. This time, I went to watch the play "Aoki-san Chi no Okusan" / 2020 starring (Ohashi) Kazuya, Jo (Fujiwara Joichiro), Suezawa and Richa (Kusama Richard Keita). The following day, I went to the theme park with Suezawa and Richard. (laughs) We are connected, we're facing each other now. From now on, I don't want to loose! I want to live my life not being ashamed (with others)

I would like to establish a new path with my hobbies as my weapon

[50funny]

Mage: Chapter 20 - On To The Next Adventure

Written By 50Funny

Part 1- Reunited 

Liz pushed open the large wooden door leading into the Guild Lounge. The sounds of many voices talking and laughing filled her ears as she walked into the Parlor.  Several small circular tables sat around the room with mages bantering and chatting with each other behind them. In the centre of the room was a large bar manned by three tuxedo-clad waiters, handing out food and drink to the patrons. On the far side of the bar, more mages crowded around dart boards, pool tables and other such games. A waitress holding up a plater of food passed by Liz on her way to the tables.

“Um, excuse me Miss,” Liz said gaining the waitresses attention.

“Hm, yes Ma’am? How can I help you?” the waitress replied.

“Have you seen a guy with a small flying familiar with him?”

“Oh you must mean Alex. He’s upstairs, can’t miss him,” the waitress said, pointing up before walking off.

Liz looked up to see a large balcony overlooking the bar beneath. She turned her head to a set of stairs leading up to the balcony and walked up to them. At the top of the stairs where a series of booths lined up along the walls and railing. Liz's eyes scanned from booth to booth before stopping on a familiar figure, facing away from her. Liz approached the booth, placing her hand on Alex's shoulder.

“I’m back, did you miss me,” Liz quipped chipperly.

Liz looked down to see a mountain of half eaten food messily sprawled across the table. Bip sat opposite Alex still digging into the mountain of food. Liz looked down to Alex, suddenly becoming aware of his loud snoring. Bip looked up from his meal noticing Liz.

“Liz!” Bip exclaimed as he hovered over to her and hugged her tightly. “I was so worried about you, I thought you might have been gone for good.”

“Haha, it’s good to see you too, Bip.”

Alex’s eye began to blink open. He stretched his arms out as he slowly began to gain awareness of his surrounding.

“Oh Liz, you’re awake huh,” Alex yawned.

“More than I could say about you.”

“So you gotta tell us, I’ve been dying to know,” said Bip as he returned to his seat.

Alex shifted over in his seat, giving Liz space to sit down next to him.

“How did you manage to cast magic like that?” Bip continued.

Liz's eyes shifted down to the table below her.

“Yeah. I gotta admit, I’ve been wondering that myself,” Alex said.

“I’m sorry but I’m pretty much as in the dark as you are on it. Until a couple of hours ago I didn’t even know I could do it,” answered Liz looking back up to the pair.

A brief silence fell over the group.

“Hmm, well even if you don’t remember how you did it, the fact that you did means that it can be replicated. If you train you may even be able to do it at will someday. While its usefulness in battle will be situational at best, it goes to show just how much potential you have,” Alex explained. “I knew there was something special about you when we met.” 

Liz looked across to Alex, her eyes beginning to well as his words touched her deeply. Alex looked across to her, noticing her display of  emotion.

“Aww, did I make ‘wittle baby cry?” Alex teased.

Liz looked away from the pair, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

“Shut up! I’ve just had a near death experience!  I’m allowed to be a bit emotional!”

Bip raised his hand to his mouth, covering it as his let out a slight giggle.

“So anyway. What’s next for us then?” asked Bip.

Liz quickly snapped her head around to face Bip.

“Are you kidding me? Isn’t that obvious?”

Alex and Bip looked across to each other before turning back to Liz and shaking their heads.

“We’re mages now right? So we should go on an epic quest. Slay some monsters or save a prince, you know, typical mage stuff. Where’s the mission board anyway?” ranted Liz.

“It’s out in the courtyard I think. You would have walked past it on the way in,” said Bip.

Liz slammed her hands down on the table before pushing herself up out of her seat.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go have a looked.”

Liz began to stride towards the staircase. Alex and Bip looked at each other for a moment, then at the mound of uneaten food, before shifting out of the booth and following in Liz footsteps.

Part 2- Job Search 

Liz, Bip and Alex walked down the well-lit cobblestone path in the large garden that connected the various Guild facilities. In the centre of the garden was a large oak tree with a wooden bench in front. Standing next to the tree was a wooden board with numerous sheets of paper pinned to it. Liz approached the board, scanning from note to note.

“Here we go. Let’s see, hmmm. Tax collection, good’s transport…” Liz’s face began to sink as she continued to read. “Gardening services… where’s all the fun stuff?”

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Alex said as he approached the board. “Let me have a look.”

Alex’s eyes jump from note to note, scanning them intently. His face suddenly sunk into a serious scowl as his eyes fixed on a sheet of paper. Liz looked across to Alex noticing his sudden shift in mood.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

Liz followed his eyes to the sheet of paper that held his attention. She reached out, unpinning the note from the board.

“Work type: Semi-permanent protection work,” Liz began to read. “Location: Sol Dantol. Payment: One hundred rallod a day. Description: We require 2 mages for semi-permeant bodyguard duties for the master of the house until such a time as his life is no longer in danger. Job posted by Mr Charles Morhan.”

“Charles Morhan? Wasn’t that the guy Lance mentioned in his journal?” Bip asked.

“That’s him. That’s our next target.”

A dark aura began to emanate from Alex filling the air and sending chills down Liz's spine. Bip reached out his hand resting it lightly on Alex's shoulder.

“Alex.”

Alex quickly snapped back to his senses.

“What, oh right, yeah.” Alex stammered as he turned his head to face Liz. “You don’t have to come with us, Liz. If you do, you might end up seeing things that you rather not.”

Liz's eyes shifted down to the ground as the memory of Alex’s bloodstained face from his battle with Lance. She hesitated for a moment before giving her answer.

“I won’t lie and say that the thought doesn’t scare me. But if I give up just because I’m scared then I might as well never left Norik Island,” Liz looked back up to Alex, her eyes burning with determination. “I’m coming with you whether you like it or not. Besides I’ve always wanted to visit Sol Dantol.”

Alex let out a slight smile as he heard Liz words.

“Well ok then, just don’t slow me down,” Alex joked.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Come on let get a move on,” Liz said as she turned to face the exit.

As Liz turned around she was greeted by 3 walking towards her from one of the surrounding buildings.

“Ah Miss Liz, good to see that you’re feeling better. If I might, would you mind if I had a moment alone with Mister Alex.”

Liz turned around to Alex, a serious expression once again etched onto his face. Bip noticed Alex’s shift in mood, and flew quickly over to Liz.

“Come on Liz, let leave them be,” Bip said, dragging Liz towards the exit before things had the chance to get serious.

Part 3- Confrontation

Alex and 3 stood staring off at each other, an uncomfortable silence falling over them.

“Alone at last,” 3 quietly observed.

“It’s time I got some answers,” Alex demanded. “I don’t remember ever meeting you before, so why does it feel like you have some sort of special interest in me? And why do I get a bad feeling when I look at you?” 

“Aw, you're being so serious,” 3 sighed.

Without warning, Alex’s dagger appeared in his hand. He shifted into a fighting stance.

“That not an answer,” Alex said in a threatening tone. 

“I was hoping you’d be more fun. I’m not here to fight you, and even if I was I wouldn’t confront you inside the Guild,” 3 said, as he walked over to the bench and took a seat. “All I want is to talk.”

3 tapped on the seat next to him beckoning for Alex to sit down. He stared down 3 for a moment, wary of his proposal. Sensing no hint of malicious intent from him, Alex sat down, leaving a wide gap between them.

“You’re right. We have met before, and considering the circumstances on that night I’m not surprised at your anger,” 3 explained.

3 words clicked something in Alex mind as a flood of realization and remembrance washed over washed over him.

“You're… You’re the one who delivered the news of my Dad’s death,” gasped Alex.

“Ahh so you do remember.”

“But, why you. Why would you have been the one to deliver the news?”

“Well that’s quite simple,” 3 said, taking a brief pause. “I’m sure by now you’ve noticed that I and the other Guild higher ups go by numbers instead of names., You’ve probably met most of us by now. Our leader is 2, but that wasn’t always the case. We once had a member going by 1…”

A wave of realization flooded over Alex.

“Wait… Are you saying…?”

“Yes. Your Father was once our leader… And more than that, a very close friend of mine.”

A cool silence settled over the two as Alex took a moment to sit with the revelation.

“From the moment I first saw you on the train, I knew fate would end up bringing you right to this very spot.”

“So If you were friends with my Dad, you must know more about how he died right?” 

3 looked down to his hand as he let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry but I’m just as in the dark as you. All I really know is what happened in the months leading up to his passing,” 3 explained. “Your Father had retired about a year prior, to spend more time with you.  One day however some government officials came to the Guild with an important job. They didn’t give us much information on what the job entailed. They said they would only give that information to the mage who took it, and the only mage they wanted, was your Father. At first, he refused our requests. Eventually though, after a behind closed doors meeting, he came out of retirement for one last job. Everyone tried to get him to spill the beans on what the mission was, but he refused. He said it was safer for us if we didn’t know. We didn’t hear any updates from him for two months. Until one day we received a letter saying he had been killed. No further explanation. A few days after that, a bunch of people washed up dead on Seaside Beach, including the officials who first came to the Guild. And well that was the end of that. I was selected to deliver the news to you. And the Guild moved on.”

Alex's eyes slowly sunk as he listened to 3’s explanations. What Alex had hoped would offer him more insight had only raised more questions.

“If you’re anything like your Father, you’ll find whoever’s behind all this. Promise me that when you do,” 3 said, his voice welling with determination as he clenched his fist. “Give them hell for me.”

Alex let out a slight smile as he stood up.

“You can count on it,” Alex said. “Anyway. I should get going.”

Alex began to walk towards the exit, waving behind him as he left.

“See ya,” said Alex.

3 watched as Alex walked off, smiling contently to himself.

“Good luck.”

“So that’s really him,” came 2’s voice from the other direction.

3 turned his head to see 2 approaching him from where she had been watching on.

“Yes. I’m surprised you didn’t notice sooner,” teased 3. 

2 watched on as Alex continued his stride out of the building.

“Alex huh,” 2 said. “Do us proud.”

Part 4- To The Next Adventure 

Liz, Alex and Bip walked down the busy city’s streets, the overwhelming sounds of hundreds of voice and the rumble of car engines filling the air.

“So your Dad was really the founder of the Guild?” Liz said in amazement.

“Yeah I know right, a pretty big coincidence hey,” replied Alex.

“Maybe it was destiny,” Bip stated.

“Hah, yeah right. There’s no such thing,” Alex teased.

“We should really hurry up if we wanna get to Sol Dantol any time soon.”

“We’re not heading to Sol Dantol just yet,” Alex stated.

Liz turned around to face Alex, confusion swirling in her eyes.

“Wait! What? Then where are we headed?” Liz questioned.

“We’re going to the Bontan Mountains to see our sister,” Bip blurted out nonchalantly.

Liz shifted her gaze to Bip, her jaw dropping at his words.

“What! You have a sister?” Liz exclaimed.

“Well adopted sister, but yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve been home to see her and it's on the way after all,” Alex explained.

“Wow, poor girl,” Liz said.

“Hey what’s that supposed to mean?”

Liz, Alex and Bip continued their walk towards the train station, still chattering amongst themselves as they looked on the new adventure unfolding in front of them.

________________________________________________________________ Thank you for reading chapter 20 of mage. If you like what you see consider checking out my AO3 at this link https://archiveofourown.org/users/50Funny to see all new chapters 3 days early. If you feel so inclined please consider following my tumblr for all updates and other tid bits. Until next week, have a good day.