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diasomnia-dreams · 8 months

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cant believe yall let this flop! 😭😭

“All in the Golden Afternoon” | Ace Trappola x Riddle Rosehearts❤️‍🩹

thank you for requesting this story !!

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“You can learn a lot of things from the flowers. For especially in the month of June. There's a wealth of happiness and romance, all in the golden afternoon.”

—Alice in Wonderland, 1951

RIDDLE Rosehearts knew two things. One; to his subjects—er dormmates of Heartslabyul he was somewhat of a Queen to them. They bend the knee and bow their heads and curtsy when he has a command. Two; they all do this, every single one of them obeying the rules that the Queen of Hearts laid out just for him years and years prior.

All of them…that is except for Ace Trappola.

The way the young housewarden’s red painted lips quivered into a worried smile each time a professor would approach him and explain their side of the story every time Ace would misbehave in class, he had to grin and bare it. But as a housewarden, it was starting to get less than tedious.

And sometimes it’s not just Ace who causes the mischief. His other Heartslabyul student Deuce Spade is in on the tomfoolery as well. Featuring Riddle’s favorite magicless Prefect and the familiar imp Grim. So there’s no way he could possibly blame all the problems on Ace, but he is sometimes the main cause of all the scolding.

It seems like Ace Trappola gets a kick out of turning Riddle red. His heart shaped antennae like hair always starts to stick up when he’s around. And Riddle absolutely without any fail always, loses his temper.

“If I lose my temper, you lose your head! Understand!?” He would screech at the top of his lungs towards the first year with a heart painted not on his sleeve but over his eye.

Something will have to be done about this card soldier and his knack for misbehaving.

However, Riddle would have to put his little Ace -escapade- crusade on pause for today! Trey and himself were preparing for another beloved Heartslabyul tradition! The Golden Afternoon walk. Based on back in the Queen of Hearts’ day when she would admire the talking flowers and stroll through the gardens with her lowly King of Hearts.

But in Heartslabyul’s case, there’s no king to accompany the Queen. Riddle chooses out of the Topsy Turvy hat, a name of one of his many Heartslabyul students, who would accompany him for a stroll and could converse wirh the housewarden. Something anyone barely gets to do since Rosehearts is always busy with color coding his notes, enforcing the Queen’s rules and Housewarden work for Headmaster Dire Crowley.

Riddle’s heels clicked and clacked against the tile painted glass floor beneath him. His chin held high and perfectly pursed lips red like the roses he was named for. He was a beautiful boy, many who had the pleasure of meeting him would always conclude. They just wished he would act beautiful too.

And Riddle’s attitude was improving, his temper wasnt showing up as much but when it came to Ace— er, he who should not be named… or even Floyd Leech of Octavinelle dorm, his temper snuck back up to him. Ever since that dreadful day of his Overblot, Riddle wanted to be a little more courteous to his Heartslaybul students, not to be too picky and to allow them to make one mistake a day at least.

His dear friend the Prefect of Ramshackle dorm was always there to lend a listening ear in case sometimes he’d relapse on his old ways and become the Bloody Red Tyrant everyone grew to hate. He wanted to be the Rose Red Queen everyone adored.

Which is why when he entered the Heartsabyul lounge room featuring all of the madness and wondrous furniture which can be found still in antique shops within the Queen of Roses, all of the potential candidates to be Riddle’s partner in Golden Afternoon day’s stroll waited for the announcement.

“I would like to thank the five of you for coming! You all have exhibited the most out of all the students in Heartslaybul the requirements to be a candidate for the Golden Afternoon day stroll! “ Riddle’s body though small eluded his voice loud and proudly.

Trey Clover and Cater Diamond amongst the five students in the crowd who made the cut. Cater Diamond, who was currently swiping on his smart phone, most likely checking Vil Schoenheit’s newest recent post on Magicam.

Trey was only glad that so far, Riddle’s mood was normal. The vice-housewarden spent his entire morning setting up the rose garden and walk way and he wants everything to be perfect for his childhood friend. He would know whether he executed the job correctly or not based on which shade of red to even the faintest of pink Riddle’s face would flush to.

“As all of you know, it is Heartslaybul tradition that every Spring, we honor Wonderland’s most beautiful golden garden. A place of whimsical charm. Incorporating every element which was once apart of the Queen’s fourth favorite place in all of Wonderland.” Riddle proudly announced. His hands clasped together, regally standing amongst the few students.

One of the Heartslabyul students who didnt make the cut, entered the room with the magical Topsy Turvy hat which basically made almost every decision within the dorm was being held tightly within the student’s grasp.

Sice Club’s dark brown hair which reached down to his back and wandering eyes reached his housewarden’s vicinity and handed him the hat which felt heavier than it looked. Sparks of glitter which emitted a white glow shone within the students’ wake and Cater quickly swiped to his camera app so he could record Riddle choosing a name out of the hat.

“Thank you Sice, you are dismissed.” The second year student bowed his head and exited the room giving Trey and Cater a light wave before taking his leave.

“Alright, by the light of the Cheshire Moon to the wave of the Caucus sea, I wish for you O’ Topsy Turvy hat to reveal the winner to me.” Riddle’s rhyming sounding moreso like an old Underlandish hymn, he stepped back a bit as the hat’s magic did it’s stuff. Revealing a long Oraculum scroll which caused Riddle’s hands to quake once his large grey eyes skimmed the words which were painted in black old ink.

“ACE TRAPPOLA.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Riddle’s voice screeched and he grasped the scroll tightly in his gloved fists. Riddle’s cheeks turned a bright red, redder than the lipstick adoring his lips and brighter than his hair.

‘Not good.’ Trey thought.

“THIS IS A TRAVESTY, A JOKE! A CRUEL JOKE BY THE QUEEN OF HEARTS I DECREE— THIS HAT NO LONGER HOLDS VALIDITY WITHIN THIS HOUSE—

“Heyo Rids chill!” Cater attempted to hold his laughter in. He rested the palm of his hand on the shorter Night Raven student. “Literally whoever it is, it cant be that bad right?” Riddle turned his head to face Cater slowly.

“…Right?” Cater started sweating.

Trey walked over to the duo. “Let me see the scroll.” Trey adjusted his glasses and red the name and then looked back at Riddle whose teeth were bunched and a vein popping from his forehead.

“TODAY I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FREE OF HIS SHENANIGANS AND RELAXING WITHIN THE GARDEN WITH A STUDENT WITH SOME CULTURE! N-not ACE TRAPPOLA!”

And comically as if on cue, the door swung open to the Heartslabyul lounge room. Loud thuds of shoes entered Ace Trappola, The Magicless Prefect Yuu and their familiar Grim!

It took everything within Riddle to not lunge across the room towards Ace let him have it, but he kept his composure as a queen should, not wanting to lose his temper.

“Hey Riddle! Hi Trey and Cater!” Yuu always dazzled the room whichever place they stepped, adored by all in the school. They didnt have anything specifically special about them other than hailing from a magicless world. But that didn’t matter because everyone loved them and wanted Yuu to choose Twisted Wonderland to be their home.

“Where’s Deucey?” Cater questioned, wrapping an arm around Yuu. “He and Jack are at a track meet! Which is where me and Grim are about to go so we can go cheer em on!”

“Oh is that today?” Riddle chimed in. “Well Ace you should accompany your fellow first years and cheer on Deuce in my steed.”

“Not a chance Housewarden, Loosey-Deucey’s got this. Besides, something else is telling me I’m needed somewhere else.” Ace smirked and ruffled Yuu’s hair before waving them goodbye.

Riddle grumbled under his breath, he couldn’t believe this was his life.

“Let’s go henchman! To the field!” Grim squirmed in Yuu’s arms as they held him close to their chest. “Alright Grim relax. Okay Heartslabyuls I’ll see you soon! Be good Ace!” Yuu took their leave.

An awkward silence filled the room as the rest of the Heartslabyul students aside from Ace also left the room due to the fact that for the Golden Afternoon walk, it was supposed to be the housewarden alone with whichever student the hat selected.

“Shall we get going…your majesty?” Ace curtsied sarcastically. One eye closed and the one with the heart painted over it open into a wink like expression. His tongue out, practically taunting the shorter yet older student.

Dressed in his dorm uniform, the pearly white regalia of Heartslabyul which Riddle thought fit Ace so well. It’s like it was meant for him. The bright red heart painted over his eye and the checkered print on his sleeve. Everything about Heartslaybul, was meant for Ace if only he didn’t behave like a scoundrel. Causing a fuss and a ruckus everywhere he went.

There was a very thin line between tolerance and obedience. Riddle was filled with rage and annoyance—but also a split second away from cancelling the entire Golden Afternoon stroll and retire to his bedroom for the rest of the day. And that would be the end of everything.

“Alright, let’s get started. We shall exit the lounge through the back door. Trey and I have prepared the walk way and the garden to fit the description the Queen of Hearts left for us perfectly to the letter. So now, you shall accompany me.” Riddle began walking ahead, exiting the lounge room, Ace following quickly behind, his arms behind his head in a carefree manner whilst his house warden tense from the mere fact he was stuck with Trappola alone for the hour they have together.

Once they reached outside, it felt like the world was larger than what it was earlier. Ace felt dizzy at first because the flowers were now somehow 12 feet tall and a few of them the same height as he was. The grass was greener even more than usual and the Bread and Butterflies flew over Ace and Riddle’s head as they walked side by side.

“Damn housewarden. You and Trey outdid yourselves with the detail.” Ace exclaimed as he rain his fingers through the Get Up in the Morning Glory’s purple petals which were still damp from being watered earlier.

“Hmph.” Riddle actually felt amused by the recently turned seventeen year old’s compliment.

“We pride ourselves to fulfill the accuracy of the original Golden Afternoon. All the flowers handpicked and grown in the Botanical Gardens from the science team thanks to Rook Hunt.” Riddle took a minute to gaze at the flower beds which were beautifully placed in arrays of genus and color.

“Got a favorite?” Ace asked.

“No one’s ever asked me that.” Riddle stopped in his tracks, his big grey eyes staring right into Ace’s red ones. Riddle kept his composure to not twiddle his thumbs, that was against the Queen’s rules but he was getting kind of frazzled for some odd reason.

Was Ace always this cute?

It’s as if he could hear the faintest of violins within his ears as Ace turned to face the housewarden of Heartslaybul. His smile widened and shown his pearly white teeth, with that stupid smirk which caused Riddle to whip his head away and stare back at the flowers.

“Ahem, well, roses of course are my favorites. Not painted red but naturally red, not with the vulgar paint. But when we paint them all together as a dorm—I enjoy those the most.” The two strolled along the pathway which led to a nest of Rocking Horseflies which were Ace absolutely hated.

“Aww housewarden!” Ace punched Riddle’s arm as delicately as possible, continuing on their trek and few for the few minutes they were silent the two of the Night Raven’s began to hear light chatter.

“Was that you?”Ace whispered, more snickers and chatters returned.

“That was actually the flowers. You know Ace, you can learn a-lot of things from the flowers, especially in the month of June.” Riddle knelt down to the level of the smaller grown flowers which were a singular White Rose who had the face of a fair maiden in the center, and Strings of Violets which were giggling and gossiping.

“Good afternoon Riddle!” The angelic voice of the white Rose said.

“They know you?!” Ace knelt down too and squinted at each flower, and they all had distinct little faces.

“Of course we know Riddle!” One of the violets sneered. “He’s always tending to our petals, keeping us fresh as a Lazy Daisy.”

“Oh to be a Lazy Daisy…they love the very peaceful life they lead huh girls?”

“Mhm.” the flowers talked amongst themselves and if was all so fascinating to Ace, and Riddle was conversing back. It was an odd phenomena and the housewarden wasn’t tense, he enjoyed the flowers and their company.

“It’s so nice to not be in the Botanical Gardens right now. Leona would always lay his tail in our flower bed!” a group of seemingly young flowers squeaked.

“Classic Kingscholar!” Ace sighed and stood back up.

Riddle soon finished his conversation with the white rose who was very enamored by Ace and Riddle’s company.

“Remember Riddle, There's a wealth of happiness and romance, All in the golden afternoon!” which Riddle only returned a light grin.

The sun shone down like a yellow toy balloon and for the next few hours they were strange.

Or maybe it was a minute, or actually mere second or two.… A glorious shimmer performed its final bows across the Heartslaybul makeshift sky. White cotton like clouds rolled out along a horizon edged in blues and creamy whites so bright it was like looking into the depths of an Angel’s eyes.

“We dont often to get this much alone time Riddle.” Ace finally used his first name. He rose a brow and gave a smirk. “Ha! It’s like a date.”

And for once in all his seventeen years of living, Riddle was speechless.

“No, No it’s nothing of the sort Ace. We’re barely even friends, merely dormmates. I am your housewarden and you happen to be a troublesome student who I must always pick up the pieces with.”Riddle breathed slowly, his cheeks red.

“Gosh I was only joking Housewarden relax man.“ Ace laughed nervously. “Seriously though we never get to hangout alone, I wanna change that so maybe we can be friends.”

Riddle’s face softened and he suddenly felt awful for letting his temper almost get the best of him. He took another deep breath and nodded slowly. Adjusting the small crown on his head, he spared a passing glance at Ace.

“You actually truly are a dear friend Ace.” Riddle started and the two of them proceeded to walk side by side again.

“Awesome! That’s good to know—

“Let me finish.” Riddle’s voice calm. “You’re a dear friend to me. And without you around, the dorm would truly be a dull place. I enjoy having you around.” Riddle picked up a flower which didn’t have a unique face but also lacked magic. It was a regular old red rose and handed it right to Ace who sheepishly scratched the back of his neck looking down at his house-warden.

“Sure, you’re just my student and I’m your house-warden, I’m also your friend and I view you the same. You cause problems wherever you go and you drive me absolutely mad. And when I think of how lost I’d be without you here I know I’m done for.”

Ace fondled the red petals, gently not to cause them to fall. “Come on man, enough of the sappy stuff…” To be fair, Ace Trappola didn’t really know what to say.

“I look forward to cleaning your messes.” Riddle lowered his voice. “Because I know you’ll always be there to count on me to fix them.” He finally looked into Ace’s eyes. Finally. No longer with disapproval and annoyance. No longer because he was about to scold him, but purely out of admiration and compassion. Riddle allowed himself to smile.

“Riddle, come on man..S’not like I don’t feel the same. I absolutely adore making that little face of yours red. It’s freaking hilarious.” He sat on one of the benches. “And you’re right…I cause trouble with Yuu and the other first years, but I know through it all, you’re gonna be there to swoop me back up and save me from whatever punishment. You’re the best housewarden this school has to offer, I mean come on house-warden, I wouldn’t want it any other way, you’re one of my bestest friends…”

Riddle sniffled slightly but not loud enough for Ace to notice. “Um, well I guess we can stop here for today huh?”

He awkwardly laughed.

“Not much left we can do but finish off with the picnic near the sunset. Trey prepared us strawberry tarts…I know how much you like those Ace. I wasn’t expecting you to be the one I pull from the hat but it all played out in the end.”

“Aww you know me so well Housewarden.” Ace patted the spot next to him on the bench and Riddle walked over, his cape in tow.

“You know, with all this excitement, I haven’t truly given you the full lore of this holiday and why we recognize it.” Riddle magically pulled out a basket of tarts, which just makes sense because this place is the spirit of Wonderland.

“I think I’ve heard you and Trey obsess over it enough.” Ace snickered.

“Obsess? More like prepare to the best of our ability. The Golden Afternoon was a romantic outing the queen and her king took, it was a time where they could have a moment to themselves away from all the chaos that it took to rule Wonderland and— why are you looking at me like that Ace?”

“Ahh, so it is like a date!”

“What!? we thought it could act as an incentive nothing more nothing less!” Riddle blushed, no longer a bright red but a sweet hedgehog pink. His lips pursed into a pout and Ace laughed but turned away when he felt his skin burn too.

Riddle should have been over the moon that the Ace Trappola of all people was delighted by his antics and was now even smiling at him even though they’ve gotten on the wrong foot the week that the blot took control of his heart and darkness overcame him.

He should have felt happiness and satisfaction in his heart that he had never known before that he carried out one of the Queen’s favorite days. Rather than wallowing in failure and his own scorn or self hatred, he had surely impressed his hero. It was a glorious, greedy feeling. One that the Queen of Hearts particularly inspired. But the feeling of Ace having a good time, learning from the flowers and spending time with him all in the Golden Afternoon, the wealth and the romance of it all, he could see himself doing anything to recapture that feeling, to make him feel that way about today or him in general again and again—if he couldn’t feel about him any other way.

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thank you for reading !! and here you go RiddleAce fans ♥️‼️i hope i did your pairing justice. Lots of Disney Alice in Wonderland references !! remember to reblog, comment and like <33 im so glad to be writing again!!

ART FROM THE TWST ANTHOLOGY COMIC, “A blessing on our Unbirthday” by Himako Neko♥️

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diasomnia-dreams · 8 months

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Fathoms Below

an Azul Ashengrotto supplementary short story

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It was night. It was always night when he snuck in here. There wasn’t a single Octavnielle student to spot him, to catch him in the act.

One would assume that he was sneaking off to get a midnight snack, from the dorm kitchen…but the way his barefeet collided against the sea foam green carpet floor, you would think otherwise.

Azul Ashengrotto HATES his feet. The feeling of sinking them down beneath him, and although he was sensible and well, practical…his feet were never on the ground unless they had to be.

He quickly entered the dorm bathroom, and locked the door. Being the house-warden of such a dorm, he couldn’t risk his own dorm-mates to become skeptic. Floyd would never let him hear the end of it.

Now that he was all alone, in his thoughts, he began to focus. Focusing on the thought of home under the sea, no longer part of this world. He removed his glasses from his face and unbuttoned his uniform pants, as they dropped the floor with a clink of his belt, he then unfastened each little button upon his uniform jacket and quickly slipped off his necktie. Leaving himself in only his underwear.

Azul made haste of this procedure and, quickly opened one of the mahogany colored cabinets under the dorm sink, and revealed a bucket which had a white lid tightly secured. He made sure to open it slowly as possibly so not a single grain of salt was spilt out and then he emptied the bucket into the large bathtub in the middle of the bathroom. Taking a slight whiff of the salt.

That’s what it was. The strangest thing one could ever witness when it came to Azul. His baths are always cold and usually with mineral salt. This time he raided the cafeteria’s storage when Jamil Viper was busying himself to creating some new sort of confection for Kalim Al-Asim of Scarabia House.

“Kosher salt would just have to do, huh?”Azul muttered to himself, and with a swift flick of his finger, using some of his elemental wind magic, the faucets of the bathtub turned. Only the cold faucet.

Azul then removed his underwear and stepped one foot into the bath, his eyes closed quickly and he took a deep breath. Trying not cry or let a tear stray from the corner of his eyes. Stepping another foot into the water he felt the water which feels so cool against his skin, trickling and rippling as he began to settle down. There's a salty tang in the air, which you can taste as you breathe it in. Maybe you can smell seaweed. If only he knew to grab some from the kitchen, but that would be too risky, Jamil was an observant student. He probably was already skeptic about him taking a great amount of salt.

“Whatever!” The Octavinelle students would say one time amongst themselves when noticing their housewardens odd behavior. This happened often. “He’s stealing from the kitchens and pantries of the school to finance his stupid desires and his stupid baths!”

“Shhhh! Keep your voice down!” Another Octavinelle student would say. They once chanced a look at Azul through the cracks of the bathroom door, and sometimes as he passed, they would try and guess what did he do in there every night with all that salt.

From the moist air that hit the bathroom a moment later it was obvious that Azul was in the middle of one of his fancy baths right then. The mirrors fogged up with musk and the reflections of whomever would look at themselves no longer visible. Good. It gave Azul time to be his true self. He knocked tentatively on the top of the bathtub to ensure that no one else would come, this was to make noise, hoping that no one would hear. If anyone noticed that sound, they would surely notice the rest.

Alas no one came to the bathroom, much to Azul’s pleasure. He then relaxed and reclined into the bathtub and began to transform. His bipedal appendages ripped apart into fours, and then into eights, violent and muffled winces were released from Azul’s full pink lips, he then cupped his hands onto his face, trying to keep himself from shrieking in pain. The human magic was wearing off and he was returning. He was Azul Ashengrotto again, the young Cecaelia from the deep dark depths of the Oceans of Atlantica.

Unlike Floyd and Jade Leech, confident in their Moray Eel form, it took a-lot of willpower, self love and courage for Azul to commit to transforming into his true self. Being alone in the bathtub with his own reflection was a step up for sure.

And while he was alone, there were other things that filled Azul’s heart with joy. Things he wouldn’t air out to the rest of the Night Raven College student body, other than his joy of board games with Idia Shroud, he did like to sing. And oh boy did he have the pipes. Maybe it’s because Cecaelia are so prone to stealing the voices of poor unfortunate merfolk, but his was special and it was also his own voice from

“heartless witch of the sea…heartless indeed, ensorcelling me…” The air was luxurious bath which could be obvious that Crowley spent über amounts of Thaumarks and funding to this school was obvious and the way his voice echoed against the wall but never allowed the sound to seep through proving how much the headmage put into it.

“Oh, let him see me for who I am, for without a voice, my face alone must speak for me…” his voice was airy and gentle and it gave off an aria of unspeakable siren like notes. Azul and any other sea-being had the biology which could write them as sirens, bringing down forces of nature with their very voice.

Azul’s pajamas were thrown sloppily over a lavender colored hamper which indicated that any of the clothes within it belonged to him. Something he didn’t think he would have to do but merfolk like Floyd existed, so he had to label it.

“If I could dance with him but once, I know he would love me….One waltz in the sand; I would be free…. I don’t know, it’s really not so great. Not much to write home about. The sand, I mean. It gets positively everywhere and feels nasty in your foldy bits.” Azul lamented about his distaste for many of the human things that he’s come to adapt to while he was on Sage’s Island as he continued a song he heard once or twice by a Cecaelia woman when he was a young cephalopod in the sea.

“What a lovely little bride I'll make, My dear, I'll look divine! Things are working out according to my ultimate design! Soon I'll have that little mermaid, and the ocean will be mine!” Azul gave out one of his famous cackles as he sighed dreamily, clearly enjoying his bath. That verse was engraved and carved into an old relic he found one day under the sea during one of his many excavations as a child, and he couldn’t help but wonder whose words were these? The words sent him into a nostalgic state although he had never heard of them before.

His lavender hair when it wasn’t styled in such a way was slippery and flowed straight down to the middle of his neck. The one bang which would remind anyone of a purple tentacle hung loose atop his head. Fathoms of bubbles and suds filled the top of the tub and spilled out onto the floor, slowly dripping down like the tentacles of his octopus counterparts , Azul was splashing and talking to himself and playing in the bath almost like a child.

His tentacles sprawled out against the waters and his back reclining against the porcelain tub. The purple and black colored appendages contrasting greatly. Azul remembered, the stories his mother told him about the Little Mermaid and the amazing Sea Witch Ursula. He was told of the wonders—the truth of what foam and bubbles and suds meant in theory to his merpeople. When he was in the bath how could he forget? Foam represented death to the ocean people, their bodies would reduce to foam like a human to ash. And to think he’s flailing and squirming within it for fun, not out of mourning but for ‘cleanliness’. It was a strange concept.

Jade brought the topic up once. Under the sea, they didn’t have such thing as Air Baths or Air pools like they do here. Not for fun or cleanliness. So what was the human’s deal? Azul knew that he shouldn’t question everything the humans on dry land did. He tried not anyways. So he sat down in deep thought for the remainder of his bath, basking in the makeshift saltwater ocean beneath him, he let himself go too easily, he became too vulnerable, thinking that he was in the real thing.

For a slight second—so quickly that Azul could have dismissed it as a shadow or a trick of the light and bubbles if he didn’t know better—a tentacle snaked out of the water, then quickly back in, like it had forgotten itself for a moment.

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inspired by Part of Your World by Liz Braswell and Disney’s Little Mermaid

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diasomnia-dreams · 10 months

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my twisted wonderland hyperfixation is back!!!! writing time is nigh🥺

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diasomnia-dreams · 1 year

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of course! i wish i had more twst friends 😭♥️

Reblog if it's okay to befriend you, ask questions, ask for advice, rant, vent, let something off your chest, or just have a nice chat.

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