#spelldrive discussion

[axvwriter]

Short Spelldrive disccussion

plus Twst Bobo book 2 draft/idea

Since the Spelldrive cards are coming out for the Japanese server, I’ve heard chatter about the discs. I did think they were bulkier than frisbees considering one knocks out the MC. I saw one blog say the discs are made of gold? People been saying it’s lucky all it did was knock out MC.

Though from what I recall, Grim accidentally threw the disc at MC while being real close to them. So to me my thinking is that he released too early so it didn’t have the full power and momentum of a proper throw? I don’t know physics so I’m uncertain.

I’ve been hit with a soccer ball to the stomach while within close range before. It hurt bad, but it didn’t leave a bruise. So with that little information and imagining a metal object being sent to the head, I could totally see it knocking someone out. Probably even doing more damage than that.

Though I do wonder why have the disc be gold and/or heavy at all? If Spelldrive is based off of american football, then the dangerous aspects should come more from the players ramming into each other along with the spells they throw. The disc itself shouldn’t also be a hazard?

If Spelldrive is a bit inspired by Quidditch from the Harry Potter series, then I understand the disc being a danger as well. Quidditch has literal balls that are meant to harm players. Messed up but I guess who cares about damage when there’s potions to regrow bones. Have a Bludger bash out your brains or be tackled so hard your body breaks… I find myself questioning american football considering we don’t have bone regrowing potions as far as I am aware.

So despite the dangers of Spelldrive, I assume the medical staff at NRC is able to handle anything. Though gosh I would hate being the MC forced to play Spelldrive. Like what can MC even do? Maybe throw the disc once if it’s not too heavy… it’s such a magic-heavy sport that all MC can surely do is just run beside the others? Call out warnings and openings, but still, I would like to participate more than feeling like a on field coach.

I also find it a bit disappointing that MC never bothers to ask to see the recordings of the other matches. I know it’s to keep MC from realizing who Hornton is, but we could have had some of the boys decide MC only gets to see certain matches? Like finding any match against Diasomnia to be embarrassing so no watching those?

Ehh, I’m not going to spend too much brain power to figure that out. I just know that such a spell-heavy sport must be so interesting to watch. Though maybe MC is a bit traumatized to the point they don’t want to think about the sport anytime soon. Or has been hit hard enough to forget the tournament was being recorded.

But this does give me an idea for Bobo. I’ve read the translations for the first two manga books and in those both Yuus were suggested to have basically died? Like one almost hit by a vehicle but ends up taken by the carriage to NRC.

So I have the idea that for Bobo splitting off of her canon timeline and into fan twst is where one battle her armor doesn’t activate. She suffers a head injury and blacks out. So upon waking in Twisted Wonderland, she’s quite confused. Was she really hit in the head? What’s going on?

Thus I think being hit in the head by the disc could be a bit of a repeat of her “death”. Heck I need to make some banners to help divide up my posts as I’m about to write a rough draft of what that scene could be like.

~~~

You slowly feel yourself becoming aware of the… nothingness. You must have been sleeping quite deeply. When was the last time you’ve had such a deep, vulnerable sleep? That was something you’d grant yourself within the safety of your home, when naps would no longer suffice. But this time you hadn’t granted such a privilege to yourself.

Aching. Your head is aching. Right, the last time such a deep sleep was forced upon you was when you were… when you were killed, right? But that doesn’t make sense. Those that die don’t wake up. Were you attacked? That lizard… it shouldn’t have been able to land such a painful, ringing blow.

Is your head ringing right now? No… focus… it’s… voices? Voices, which means you aren’t alone awaiting for that lizard to rightfully consume its prey. There’s no sound of fighting, so that must mean… you’re safe.

How did it hit you? Right, your armor never turned on. An impossible feature. It was impossible that defective armor pins were handed to you. Impossible that they weren’t charged. To let such a mistake happen would be a death sentence. Mistakes like that never happened.

Something must be terribly wrong. You have to wake up now! You need to know what went wrong! How could your armor fail?! How could you die?!

Something is touching you now. Something that isn’t human? It feels like fur. Are you not safe?! No no no no no no no No! Calm down, it must just be a bat. If it wasn’t, you’d be hurt by now. The voices wouldn’t be so low.

Where are you? You want to wake up, demand answers, you need to know it was only your armor that didn’t work. That only you died. Died… why do you keep thinking of that word? You’re clearly alive… Something is terribly wrong and you wont get answers sleeping like this!

[cyn-write]

"Waited All Night..."

Prompt - NRC is in upheaval. A video of Yuu singing a song has been circling around the school about her being "bewitched," and everyone is trying to figure out by who. Yuu is embarrassed and upset about her private song being the subject of gossip, so she decides to hide from everyone only for her crush to find her and reveal he has been "bewitched," by her...

Pairings - Savannaclaw x F!Yuu (Separate)

Warnings - FLUFFF; Incredibly shy Yuu; stagefright (Yuu again); swearing (mainly by Leona); Spoilers for book 3 (Jack's part)

Song Prompt - "Bewitched" by Laufey

Prologue - Heartsyble - Savannaclaw (Here) - Octavinelle - Scarabia - Pomefiore - Ignanhyde - Diasmonia

Leona hated the fact that he couldn't get to Yuu. He tried calling her but she didn't answer, he tried going to Ramshackle but the ghost kept him out, and when she didn't show to any of her classes or to clubs that is when his patience broke. He knew the Yuu had feelings for him and was waiting for the right time. When the song came out, he knew the time was now and he had to get her out of the stampped of gossip.

He was in an irritable mood for most of the day and by the end of it, Ruggie was ready to snap Leona's neck. Anytime Leona heard her name or the song or head and tail of the betting pot, he would snap at the closes person to him... which was often Ruggie. The last straw was the absolutely grueling Spelldrive Practice. He worked them harder than Vargas ever would and by the time it was over, half the team was crawling back to their dorms. Ruggie stayed to "help" clean up, but he had anterior motives. Leona was toweling off after showering, still scowling from hearing the guys discussing "the pot." apparently there was a lot of money on names that weren't his... but also the sum on his name was hefty. "Go." Ruggie said, done with the grumbling mess. "What?" Leona spat back. "Go. To Yuu. I'm done with this- whatever this is." Ruggie gestured to Leona, "You've been in an awful mood all day and taking it out on everyone around you. Namely ME. So Go. Talk to her. and PICK SOME DAISES. I don't care what it takes. But if you keep acting like this, I promise to make your life a living Hell if you keep all this bottled up." Leona knew Ruggie meant and could keep that promise. And that is what he needed to hear. "Fine." Leona threw his shirt on and grabbed his bag before leaving. "But If I hear your name anywhere near winning 'the pot', You're a deadman." "Wouldn't dream of it!" Ruggie chuckled as Leona made his way to Ramshackle. He had no clue what he was going to say. but he had to say something. By the time he made it to her door, Leona debated just barging in... but he knew if he did that it would make her even more scared than she already was. He knocked and called for her, when she didn't answer, decided to say what came to his heart; "Herbavior... let me it... I wanted to tell you this sooner or later but... I've been bewitched by you for a while now."

Leona was growing tired of waiting. He had to see her, he had to know how she felt, he had to fight for the one thing he was not going to let pass him by. As he reached his hand out to the know, the door opened.

On the other side, Yuu looked completely exhausted and relieved. She looked into his eyes and asked him, "You mean it? Truely?"

Leona sighed and said, "I won't repeat myself again. So listen." He placed his outstretched hand on her cheek. "I like you. Herbavior. A lot. You're my favorite pillow and one of the few people I can stand being around. But you drive me crazy at the same time." He looked into her doe eyes and closed the gap between him. "So I need to know. Your song. Do you mean it?"

Yuu placed her small hand on top of his and her eyes pricked with tears, "I wrote that song to work out my feelings... for you."

Leona never felt more relieved. He gave Yuu a smug smile and caressed her cheek with his thumb, "I knew it."

He leaned down and claimed her lips. After waiting around patiently, listening to the chatter of his classmates, and getting radio silence for a day, he finally had her in his arms. She wanted him. No one else.

When they parted he placed his forehead on hers. He finally saw her smiling and she had a blush on her cheeks that boosted Leona's ego. "I'm guessing you liked the song?"

"What do you think?" Leona chuckled, "I was hoping to hear it in person..."

That made Yuu divert her gaze and turn around, facing her back to Leona. "I-I... I would love to but... n-not yet..."

He could smell how nervous she was. Ever the smooth prince, Leona wrapped his arms around her mid-section and nestled his head into the crook of her neck. "I'm a patient lion. I'll wait as long as you need me to, herbivore."

Leona walked her to the bed and plopped down with her in his arms. And for the first time today, Leona and Yuu were able to nap.

Leona knew it would take time for her to become comfortable enough to share her voice, and thankfully he was a very patient man. The two spent a lot of time together, and after seeing Leona's arm around Yuu's shoulders all the vultures flew away and Ruggie became very happy. Leona was a lot easier to find, and Spelldrive practices became bearable again! In his opinion, Leona and Yuu getting together made Ruggie a very happy Hyena.

Over time, Yuu began to show Leona some of her songs and hum them, but nothing more. Until one evening after Spelldrive practice, Leona was lying in bed using Yuu like a pillow while she mindlessly played with his hair. The moment was peaceful, and Yuu was mindlessly humming. Leona was about to drift to sleep when he got a pleasant surprise, Yuu began to sing, "While You Were Sleeping,"

Ruggie has an uneasy feeling in his gut all day. He was doing laundry when he heard some of his dormmates talking about Yuu's song, and his heart sunk. He knew Yuu had terrible stagefright, she told him this when directly when they were both doing chores the other day. He tried to call her and text her to see if she was alright but she left him unread. He listened to her song before bed the night before, and his gut began to twist.

He wanted to check on her, but she never showed up to class or clubs. What was worse was hearing the debates. Everyone was taking their bets and at times he would hear his name in the midst:

"It HAS to be Ruggie. They are always together! I saw them doing laundry like an old married couple the other day!" One of the Savannaclaw Underclassman pointed out. This made Ruggie start to blush and his stomach feel light.

Then, a scarbia student pointed out big wall in his way that has kept him from pursuing anything beyond a friendship with Yuu: "Why would she pick Ruggie when she has Kalim asking for her hand? Why choose a pauper when she could have a prince?"

That comment has been haunting him for weeks. Ever since he realized he liked Yuu as more than a friend. He had been able to brush off the feelings for a long time, but Yuu's song and the debate around it made him confront these feelings. He spent the day in a daze and out of it. He got his work done, but he nearly ran into a pillar twice that day and almost walked square into Jack.

During Club, it got dangerous as he nearly got hit in the head with a disk if not for Leona. Leona pulled Ruggie aside and called him out. He knew Ruggie has been crushing on Yuu, it was plane to see, but he also knew Ruggie's dilemma and was sick of it.

Leona dragged Ruggie into the locker room and threw him his duffle bag, "Go."

"What?" Ruggie thought he was being thrown off the team for a second.

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Leona was incredibly annoyed and shook his head, "G. O. to HER." Ruggie just looked flabbergasted at his dorm leader. "B-but-" "If you give me that 'I'm too poor' bullshit again, I will knock your head in." Leona pinched his brow before grabbing his wallet and throwing a bundle of cash at his friend, "You work to the bone. You deserve to be happy. She makes you happy and she is happy with you. I can smell the attraction between the two of you and if I have to hear you whine about it or make dopey eyes at her one more hades-damned time. I will lock you two in a room and make you work it out." Leona sounded threatening, but Ruggie knew this was Leona's way of 'encouragement'. The lion-beastman walked past Ruggie and opened the locker room door before looking back at him. "If you are here by the time I get back and not taking Yuu out to a nice dinner. I swear you will be doing all of the teams laundry until you do." Then stormed out. Ruggie just sat there shocked before looking down at the cash in his lap. He could only smile. Leona may not show it often, but he does care. He decided to shower really quick before leaving for Ramshackle. On his way, he tried to think of what to say, and still even after stopping by Sam to get dinner, he had no idea by the time he got to her door. He hesitated to knock but just spoke what came to him in the moment. "Yuu. I know I'm not the... best choice. I don't have anything in the prospects of money or career besides Leona's runner, but... you've bewitched me and I don't want to get out from your spell..."

Everything was still, and Ruggies heart was teetering on the edge of breaking. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the fleeting moments were just made up in his head. Maybe Leona was lying. Maybe she loved someone else...

He was about to walk away when he heard her move towards the door and twist the handle. As the door opened, he saw Yuu look at him with tear-stained eyes and a slightly agape mouth. "Do you mean it?" Yuu asked holding the door tightly, "You... feel the same?"

Ruggie nodded. His heart was beating out of his chest, his stomach was twisting in knots, but he pushed through those things and was able to give her a small smile, "I do. Every word." He scratched the back of his head and looked at himself then at her, "I know I don't have much, but I will work hard to give you the life you deserve." He looked her in the eyes and took a deep breath before professing his feelings, "I will work hard to be with you because you make me forget my situation for a moment. When we... when we walk together, do chores together, or even just hang out, I feel like a normal student for once instead of the hyena at the end of the food chain... So please," He reaches out and takes her hand in his, squeezing it gently and smiling sweetly, "please give me a chance?"

Yuu stared at him for a moment. She looked like she was about to cry again and Ruggie was readying an apology when she surprised him. She stepped forward and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Ruggie tensed for a second before melting into the kiss. He dropped the bag of food in his one hand and used it to gently hold the small of her back while the other still held her hand. She adjusted the position of her hand to lace her fingers with his and deepen the kiss.

They eventually parted and she was finally smiling. "Is that a good enough answer for you?" She asked with a coy grin.

Ruggie's signature smile returned to his face for the first time today. "Shishishi, I don't know, maybe I need to hear it one more time?~" This time he leaned in and kissed her deeply. She let go of the door and looped her arms around his shoulders this time.

It didn't last as long since Yuu's stomach interrupted the kiss.

Ruggie leaned back and chuckled again, "Someone hungry? Guess I made the right call." He crouched down, picked up the bag, and held it up, "Chicken sound good?"

Yuu nodded and giggled, "Sounds delicious!"

The rest of the evening, Ruggie felt like he was dreaming. Between a nice dinner, snuggling on the couch, and her falling asleep on him as they watched some TV, he didn't want to wake up.

Ruggie has never been happier. He and Yuu spent as much time as they could together between school, work, and chores. The gossip halted quickly as Ruggie made it clear the SHE chose HIM. Leona was also a smug ass for the week after and would throw smug comments at the two in the vain of "finally," and "You're welcome," that even though they annoyed Ruggie, he was grateful to his friend.

It took a while for Yuu to feel comfortable enough to show Ruggie her notebook, and it was even longer for her to start humming. Sometimes, when they are doing laundry, dishes, or some other chores alone together, Ruggie and Yuu would hum or softly sing together to pass the time. Until one night, after a particularly rough week, Ruggies was enjoying a rare night in with Yuu. They were snuggled together on Yuu's bed, just enjoying eachothers embrace. He was enjoying the peace, and Yuu's humming turned into singing, "Dandelions"

Jack was on edge all day. From the the gossip that surrounded him to his friend (who he has had a crush on since the octanvinelle situation) disappearing and ignoring all attempts at contact, Jack felt cornered all day. Anytime someone brought up Yuu's song or the bet going on, Jack's hair would stand on end and he would get tense. Epel, Ruggie, and Leona all knew Jack had a huge crush on Yuu for a while and the former two would ask him if he was alright and check in on him all day which only proceeded to annoy him. When Jack saw Grim, he had to contain himself from punching the cat. He betrayed Yuu's trust and privacy, he hurt Yuu, and Jack wanted to protect her but he had no clue how. Due to this energy and rage being pent up for most of the day, Jack was like a cornered canine all day. He snapped at his classmates, his friends, and what got him was snapping at VIL. Jack was jogging around the school and down the main street where the Film Club was shooting a scene. They were packing up for the day and Vil was talking to an Ignanhyde student about something or other. Jack was distracted trying to think about anything other than Yuu and ran into Vil accidentally. Due to Jack's size, he knocked Vil into the Fairest Queen Statue behind him. "JACK!" Vil called and dusted himself off with grace. Jack stopped and bowed, his ears flattening, "Vil, I-I am sorry." The Ignanhyde student was frozen in place and looked Jack up and down. Vil looked at the student and gestured for him to leave, which his clubmate appreciated. "I didn't see you there. I'm so sorry." Vil looked at his childhood friend and sharpened his gaze, "It's alright." He nods for the underclassman to follow him behind the statue. Once out of sight, Vil crossed his arms and asked, "What is going on? According to Epel, you have been on edge all day. It isn't like you to not keep an eye on your surroundings." Jack shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I'm fine." Vil stepped closer and tilted his head, "It's Yuu isn't it?" Jack's cheeks went red and he looked away. "No." Vil kept pushing Jack as he knew the freshman was lying. He knew he pushed the right button when he said, "You're in love with her aren't you?" "WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE IT!" Jack snapped at the upperclassman and immediately regretted it. Vil wasn't phased but had a stern look on his face, "Jack. Because you are a good friend of mine I am going to let that go. But listen to what I say and take it to heart." Vil's tone was sharp and the beastman listened intently, "Go find her and tell her how you feel before it is too late." His eyes softened and he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Yuu is a shy person and you obviously have very strong feelings for her and a desire to protect her. She is probably scared right now and needs someone to lean on. Go to her and do what you do best. Make her feel safe." Jack rubbed the back of his neck and felt small, "But what if... what if she doesn't feel the same?" Vil sighs and says, "You don't know she doesn't until you try." Jack nodded and released some of the tension in his body. "Thanks, Vil." The Pomefiore Dorm leader nodded and released the freshman in the direction of Ramshackle. Jack jogged over to the dilapidated building and was finally able to get inside. He stood in front of Yuu's door, took a deep breath, and let his heart speak. "Yuu... I'm here for you and always will be... I don't want you to feel any pressure, but I need to get this off my chest... I-I... ever since you saved everyone from Azul's contracts, you... I've been bewitched... by you."

Jack's tail never stopped wagging for the next few weeks. Anytime Yuu's scent was in the air or they were sitting together, his tail would give away his joy at having her near. The other first years did point this out (Ace), but he didn't care, and Yuu found it endearing. Vil smiled when he saw the two and Jack thanked him personally saying that he always knew they were meant for each other (Rook and Vil had known about the two's mutual feelings for a long time now, but it wasn't their place to tell).

Jack felt incredibly self-concise about his size, his hair, his smell... everything. He had no clue how to stand, where to put his hands, and his heart was beating out of his chest. He felt like he was standing there for hours and debated leaving when he heard footsteps on the other side. He looked up in time for Yuu to open the door. He looked directly in her beautiful doe eyes and saw a glint of hope.

She stood there silent for a moment, both of them searching for words. When words failed to come, Yuu hugged him. Her small frame fit snug against him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and the back of her head. He held her with such gentleness as if he was scared to break her.

Jack needed no words to express his feelings, he expressed them in the way he held her close. His large hand cradled her head and stroked it with such love. His lips barely grazed the top of her head, but that is all that was needed. He loved her. He wanted to protect her. And no words could express how much he felt for her, and no words were needed. She knew how he felt.

"... I love you too Jack ..." Yuu said softly and it made Jack's heart jump again.

His tail began to wag and a smile graced his lips. His large hand moved to her cheek and gently guided her to look at him. He stroked her soft cheek with his calloused hand and leaned his forehead against hers, "I know I am not much for words but... I promise, I'll protect you, no matter what comes our way. And I will love you with all my being."

"I know," Yuu smiled, "and so will I,"

With that, the two leaned in and sealed their promise of devotion with a tender kiss.

Eventually, Yuu had gotten comfortable enough with Jack to work on her songs while he was in the room. It was a random Thursday night, Jack was working on homework and Yuu was working on her songs. She caught Jack by surprise when she asked him his opinion on a song. He put down his homework and agreed to listen. He curled up behind her and listened as she sang the song she had been working on the past couple of weeks, all while Jack's tail lightly wagged on the side of the bed; "Lovesick"

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[cheezeybread]

Based off of the headcanon that @thecoolsquirrel made about Yuu losing their memory of their homeworld the longer they're in Twisted Wonderland!

Link to the OG post here!

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"Oh, yeah, didn't your friend Ṡ̷̢̫̞̻͈͋͛̓̅͜͜͜͠͠͠a҉͖̟̜̞̂̃̑̽͢͢͠͡r҉̵҉̛̠̩̥̋ͦ̆͆͟͞͡͞͠a҉͖̟̜̞̂̃̑̽͢͢͠͡h̷̶̘̘̬ͭ̏͞͡ do something like that once?" Ace chuckled, looking over to you.

You glanced over to him after taking a massive chunk out of your sandwich- Ace always did have the talent of asking you questions as soon as you had something in your mouth (something that, yes, he joked about quite often). Chewing thoughtfully, you tried to recall what he had said. Something about a friend of yours? But recalling the name made it sound almost...blurry...in your mind. As if there was a heavy static noise playing over it, teasingly dangling it just out of reach. You heard Ace say it out loud, but thinking about it...huh. Nothing but an itch that it was something you were supposed to know.

"Mmm, mmhm," you agreed, mouth still full. Although you couldn't quite remember what he said 100%, it wasn't that big of a deal, right? Ace had a tendency to get ahead of himself while talking, and as a result, slurred words or babbling slang came out instead. Maybe this was one of those times, where he messed up on his wording and just continued talking like normal, leaving your unfocused self to not hear what he had meant to say.

Nonetheless, your muffled agreement was enough to satisfy Ace, and he, Deuce, and Grim carried on their conversation eagerly, discussing everything from Spelldrive tournaments to school gossip- which was their usual brand of conversations at the cafeteria during lunchtime. You propped your elbows up on the table, only slightly bothered by the odd blank in your mind that the unknown word left behind.

----

There were a few more instances of this happening, and every time, you tried to shrug it off. But it got harder and harder to make up excuses for yourself as time went on.

Kalim was asking you about a favorite dish you had mentioned in your world. You couldn't recall the exact name of it, instead feeling that same static-y blank where you knew the name lie. It was stuck in your memory somewhere, no big whoop. You'd remember it later! Getting put on the spot like this was one way to forget anything- like being forced to do Icebreakers in classes.

Jack wanted to know more about the muscle-enhancing drugs that people took back at your home world, especially the people that overdid it. He was curious to know why someone would do such a thing to their bodies for such a temporary satisfaction. Of course, he was inquiring about all of this while he himself was working out, so perhaps it was just a question to validate his own hard work and make him feel better about himself. Either way, when trying to recall a specific instance of a professional football player who took steroids, you couldn't recall the player's name...nor what happened to him, in the end.

While studying plants in the gardening area for extra credit, Jade approached you with a question that had been going through his mind for a while: how did the flora differentiate between the two worlds? Were these plants similar to yours? Did they share characteristics? Or were these entirely different plant species? You just laughed it off, claiming that you were never one to pay attention to plants back at home. You didn't mention that you were lying, of course, that you often went on short walks to pick flowers and climb trees. That you were quite a curious kid long ago who asked questions about anything you could, especially with the plants.

Late at night, when Grim woke up with a nightmare and curled up next to you in bed, asking for you to tell him a story in that pitiful way of his, you scrunched up your eyebrows and closed your eyes in an attempt to think. You couldn't recall any folklore from your home, probably because you were just tired, right? That fizzy feeling in your head was just because you were exhausted from a day of running errands for students and the headmage, alongside mountains of homework, right? The story you told Grim ended up being your own, from the moment you came to Twisted Wonderland, to the overblots and tough trials you and he faced in the time you've spent together.

But it all finally clicked when you were in Crowley's office the week after all of these events. Of course, you were there to deliver important papers from one of the professors, but he had forced you to stay so that he could update you on his progress on getting you home....and so he could give you a list of things he needed done.

"So the Dark Mirror has been of no help whatsoever," he stated, as he did every time he started a conversation about getting you home. The Mirror never was helpful in the least, despite it being the one to drag you here in the first place "I must make a trip to a country inland nearby in the next month or so, and they happen to have an extensive library, full of books dating back to the time of the gods. If there's any knowledge about your world, it shall be there. Now, what information can you give me about your world? Cultures, lands, religions, wars, anything you think might be helpful?" He tilted his head at you as he looked up, his pen hovering above a notepad as he awaited your response.

You shrugged your shoulders, glad to be able to talk about your world, even if it was just to Crowley for research purposes. Despite some students asking you specific questions, not very many seemed to be too keen on you wistfully talking about your world and how homesick you were. How long had it even been since you arrived here? At least seven months, right? Maybe six, but somewhere in that ballpark, for sure. But when you opened your mouth to speak, it clamped shut just as fast.

Trying to think about something, anything, from your world...it only brought up that static-y feeling again.

"Well, there was a world....war....that was fought because, uh...." the facts and dates to the 'world war', which had been drilled into your head since some...some class in middle school, were slipping away as you tried to remember them. Like a trick of light in the corner of your peripheral vision that darted away as soon as you looked directly at it.

"But there was also a-" a what? "religion-" what sort of religion? How many gods? One god? Two gods? Red fish? Blue fish? Wait, what?

Crowley frowned at you, his posture straightening a bit "If it's too difficult for you to think about, you have a month until I leave- or you can simply write it all down instead of saying it out loud."

"No, no, it's not-" You stopped, plopping yourself down in one of the ornate chairs in front of Crowley's desk. Your hand gripped at the gilded armrest, sliding up and down the cool surface. How could you explain to him that yes, you were feeling rough about it all, of course, but it wasn't so painful to think about that you couldn't say anything out loud? How could you tell him that you wanted to talk about your home, but every time you tried to hold a memory, it slipped out of your hands like running water? How could you tell him that-

"I....can't remember."

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[slowd1ving]

ACT II: WITHER ✦ . 　⁺ VIL SCHOENHEIT

Vil Schoenheit and second place aren't supposed to be a thing. He's supposed to be the very embodiment of perfection, so why the hell is someone else's name usurping his crown on the Potions leader board? In which our starring actor cannot quench the flames of academic rivalry and resentment that consume him, nor can he fathom the enigma that you are. gn! scientist! reader warnings: contains nsfw but only later, angst with a happy ending, spoilers for book five, canon-compliant violence

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Scene I: Rivalry . 　⁺

Vil’s not quite sure when his coldness towards you turns into unadulterated rivalry, but he thinks it started in the middle of the next Advanced Potions class, where Professor Crewel had asked a question and both your hands shot up immediately to answer.

“Shoenheit,” Crewel utters. You put your hand down, shrugging good-naturedly, but Vil can see past that forced body language into the annoyance of that casual gesture.

“The pH in which that particular enzyme denatures should be 2.8. Enzymes after that point should be avoided and Silvertear root is typically added in to continue as the second stage’s catalyst,” Vil’s voice is clear and articulate. Crewel nods in approval and continues the lecture, and he thinks that’s where your feelings of rivalry started blossoming.

He notices the little looks you send his way; the way your eyes are half-lidded in exasperation tell him everything he needs to know. You’ve been goaded into approaching the bait he’s left. No use in crushing you if you aren’t at your full potential, right? That’s the way it should be.

He taunts you with snide comments; you fire back almost immediately. You’re not as bashful as you initially look. This hatred is more cathartic than the deep resentment he has for Neige. It consumes him. It eats at his mind, his heart. When he shoots his movies, you’re always there at the back of his mind, taunting him into becoming impossibly beautiful. Adela’s only got praises for those emerging “fierce eyes” of his.

“What’d you get?” you peer over his papers every time he gets them back. He doesn’t know when sitting next to you becomes a second thought.

“You little fucker,” you always pout in mock-sadness when you see that red circled 100% on his written exams, before showing your 90% on the test that you had to verbally translate for Crewel to be able to mark it.

“You’re always so vulgar,” he scoffs back. He scoffs again when he sees those stupid doodles on the corner of your test paper.

Your remarks only extend to when you sit next to him in the laboratory. Otherwise, you ignore him when walking around the school, always focusing on whoever you’re talking to. It’s always those ruffians of first-years; you’re in the company of that red-haired potato and that dark-haired tuber almost daily. Regularly, you’re seen chatting with Rook. Vil watches from a distance, watching the hunter eagerly discuss the latest scientific theory with you. He watches you accept kisses on the hand from the vice Housewarden with a smile and laugh.

He does not care.

He watches you get along with Leona, of all people. He watches the way the lion actually listens to your suggestions if you have input on Spelldrive practice. Why are you suddenly such a precious commodity? Even the notoriously standoffish Azul makes an effort to at least greet and smile at you if he sees you, even after his Overblot (which you partly caused!). If Vil happens to be walking nearby, you’re always in the company of at least one of your friends, even if it’s only that unsightly cat.

He doesn’t think he cares.

He doesn’t think you care either. If you’re standing next to him in line, or bump into him at the library, you’re always carefully civil. Your eyes slide off him as easily as oil, looking through him. Do you not treat this rivalry seriously? Whatever remark he has always catches in his throat as you act as if he’s nothing more than a goddamn wall. It only fuels his resentment - it has to go somewhere, right?

Adela’s remarked that his eyes, when modelling, have a more wistful quality - nothing like the “fierce” look his fans had come to adore. This new look also garners a lot of popularity, with throngs of fans in his comments expressing their adoration for this newfound look.

Does he not take up your thoughts at all like you take up his?

Scene II: Song . 　⁺

It starts up all over again after the winter break. The sky is grey, peppered with clouds that slowly sprinkle snow all over Night Raven College. Vil’s heard rumours from Rook of you being involved in yet another Overblot; this made four in just as many months. He feels a headache blossoming just thinking about it.

He shivers as he takes his seat in the laboratory. The rankings should be posted within the next three weeks - plenty of time to brush up on his skills for the final assignment. Plenty of time to take back that number one spot. It’s been occupied by you ever since you arrived. Your practical work with potions is always polished to absolute perfection, though your grades with written work rarely ever meet that 100. But when they do, you turn to him with that shit eating grin on your face.

Speak of the devil. The distinct rhythm of your footsteps jars him out of his thoughts. Vil busies himself by looking at himself with his cosmetic mirror. Twice he adjusts his tie, ignoring you all the while. If you want to ignore him, he’ll do the same.

He doesn’t know what he was hoping for. You simply open your notebook while propping your chin up again on your hand, doodling and rewriting your previous notes in your strange Latin alphabet. Vil takes in your tired appearance, how you look more exhausted than usual. A drop of pity splashes into his turbulent mind. Pity. That has no room in his mind, especially with the Song and Dance competition only a few weeks away.

Resentment fuels him to new heights. His dance practice runs flawlessly; spite powers him like an engine. The aches of his muscles leave his mind feeling euphoric as he stretches them out.

It’s only when he spots you and that idiot trio talking to Epel that his good mood shatters instantly. How dare you distract him from singing practice? Vil’s body reacts before he can fully think; he marches himself over to the well with a scowl on his face as he lectures all of you for disrupting such a crucial time. He does not miss the way your eyes smoulder with annoyance - his walk back to Pomefiore is one with a cheerful gait.

To his revulsion, you’re somehow roped into being the manager of the group after the SDC auditions, by Crowley of all people. Even worse, he’s forced to sleep in Ramshackle Dorm with the rest of the team to gain some camaraderie. It’s logical, he can’t help but admit it, but the thought of living in the same space as you makes him shudder. Even worse than that moth-eaten couch he’s currently perching on in the living room after the first day’s gruelling rehearsal. It’s a far cry for Pomefiore, but he’s always been a stickler for routine.

“Hey Rook-” your voice intrudes on his little bubble as you bound into the room, holding what seems to be a microscope and a bundle of mechanical junk, including electrical wiring. Vil swivels his head towards you, but you don’t even deign to look at him. Instead, you approach Kalim who sits criss cross on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

“Have you seen Rook?” you ask Kalim hurriedly. “I need that hunter for an experiment.”

“Nope! He might be in the kitchen though!” Kalim’s enthusiastic voice betrays his excitement. “What kinda experiment are you planning?”

“It’s like you’ve robbed Ignihyde,” Epel comments from behind Vil. “S’full of stuff like that.”

“Just some magic resistivity testing,” you explain, rummaging around in your stash of junk. Your eyebrows furrow and you glance around the room. “Have any of you seen my ammeter?”

As luck would have it, there’s an oddly shaped box lying half-submerged in those ugly rags you’d call cushions on the other end of the couch Vil sits on. A large triangular symbol is painted in black with a circle around it. Vil picks it up wordlessly and clears his throat. Your eyes turn to him finally - finally! - and you snatch the box up eagerly.

“Cool, thanks,” your voice is already slipping away as you turn around, a jive in your step as you seek the hunter.

“Good luck in your experiment,” Kalim calls out after you - with the way you eagerly yell something back indistinctly, Vil is sure you won’t need it.

Scene III: Interlude . 　⁺

Between the constant rehearsing and shaping those potatoes into something somewhat presentable, Vil expects the urge to compete with you to subside. It doesn’t. The fire within his blood isn’t beaten out by the long training he makes himself undertake - it doesn’t rest when he shuts his eyes either. That gnawing feeling of proving himself is fighting to be let out.

“Professor,” Vil’s voice is slightly shaky as he approaches Crewel. Normally he would’ve thought everything out before he came here, but his legs moved before his head had a chance to input anything. It’s been happening more and more lately, and he hates the feeling.

“What is this about? Aren’t you rehearsing for the showcase?” Crewel sounds slightly surprised at Vil’s appearance at his office; it’s very rare, after all, to see him when the SDC period begins.

“I want to hold the poison assessment,” Vil doesn’t need to specify to Crewel what this means. Crewel’s eyes soften with worry, but Vil doesn’t need any of that.

“There’s only one person who could have prompted this,” Crewel murmurs his sympathies to the shaking youth. His eyes flick down to his desk, searching through the schedule for the next few weeks. “It’s unorthodox for a non-Pomefiore student to- but.. if that is what you wish, pup.”

Scene IV: Resistivity . 　⁺

The date for the poison assessment is set for the week before the SDC. Vil receives the missive from Crewel; you, no doubt, have received the same one. For an assessment of this magnitude, there’s several days of waiting for the poisons to be tested and assessed by not only Crewel, but a panel of researchers. It’s a big deal.

It’s how Vil became the Housewarden.

Unorthodox. He supposes this whole ordeal is; the challenger is supposed to be the one vying for the seat of Housewarden. Instead, the Pomefiore Housewarden is challenging someone who isn’t even in Pomefiore. And for what?

It’s the ultimate challenge. The laboratory will be his stage for victory.

You shouldn’t even be allowed to undertake the assessment, but then again, you’re always the exception, aren’t you? Vil chokes back a hysterical laugh. He has to prove himself. One way or the other. He has to beat both you and Neige. Being reduced to second place isn’t an option anymore. At all.

A knock resounds on the wood of his room in Ramshackle. It must be Rook. Surely…

“Come in,” Vil feels as if he’s speaking through water. He doesn’t know why he feels so hollow.

The door creaks open. Instead of Rook, there you stand, holding that damned missive. Your brows are furrowed. You look the part of the mad scientists, with your customised lab coat and goggles still propped up on your nose. The smell of matchsmoke emanates off you in light tendrils. Vil just gazes at you. He doesn’t comprehend you.

“What’s this supposed to be? A duel? Rook just told me to go find you,” you unfurl the scroll again, squinting at the runes before you. With a start, Vil realises that one, he’s not even told you about the assessment, and two, you can’t even read the information anyway. What a fool he’s made of himself.

“Allow-” Vil clears his throat as his voice gives out. “-allow me to explain.”

“Go ahead,” you stride over to him, placing the missive in his outstretched hand. Up close, the coppery tang of wires adds itself to the kaleidoscope of scents he can feel. Underneath all the various chemical traces, clings a pure, unadulterated scent of.. the Dream Flower? Faintly, he remembers eavesdropping on your conversation - les fleurs des rêves. Somniablossoms. That’s what he smells on you, beneath all the conflicting scents.

“Right, the missive,” Vil scans over the parchment; it’s essentially the same letter he’s received, with a few inconsistencies. “It appears you have been selected as the student challenged for the poison assessment. Though you are not a Pomefiore student, your application has been approved by a figure of authority. Your assessment is to brew your most potent poison within a three-hour time limit, supervised by Professor Divus Crewel, alongside your opponent. The poisons are then sent to be assessed across a seven point criteria. May the legacy of the Fairest Queen guide you.”

There’s a long pause. Some rustling. Vil looks up from the letter to see you wiping away smudges on your goggles with the hem of your lab coat.

“Well,” you finally speak. Vil waits. “I’m assuming you’re my opponent?”

You’re taking this differently than he had expected. He thought you’d sneer down on him for this desperate challenge; that’s what he would’ve done had someone challenged him. Deep down, he isn’t surprised by your nonchalance - it’s something that’s intrinsically rooted in your being.

“Yes,” Vil begins to explain himself, but you hold up a hand to silence him. He shuts his mouth.

“Spare me the details,” you shrug it off. Like always. Vil feels a bitter laugh surge within him; it takes everything he’s got to suppress it. “I’ve got interesting news from my findings with Rook.”

The suspense builds. You take your time before your next words, folding your goggles and tucking them into your lab coat pocket.

“Come to my lab.”

Vil blinks, then follows you out the door. It’s a relief. You haven’t yelled at him, cursed him out, or anything someone else in this position would’ve done-

“Look, I really don’t like you,” you mutter, as if you’re deliberating whether you want Vil to hear you or not. “You’re an arrogant prick who picks fights for reasons that are beyond me. But I want to make something extremely clear before we start the assessment.”

You shove open a door before Vil has time to register what you’ve just said. It’s strangely gratifying to be the villain in someone else’s story for a reason other than his beauty.

A gust of warm air barrels past him as you barge into what appears to be your lab. An array of tabletops are arranged in the room, and shoved on top are all sorts of appliances he doesn’t even have names for. He can vaguely make out a fractional distiller perched precariously on the edge of a table, but the clanking and whirring machinery elsewhere throw him for a loop.

Rook stands in the corner of the lab, peering through what appears to be a microscope. He’s also decked out in what appears to be spares of your lab gear, judging by the ugly little doodles embroidered on the fabric. Not drawn on - embroidered. It’s such a waste of thread he almost laughs out loud.

“Welcome to my lab,” your greeting is completely monotone. “Where the equipment here is every scientist’s wet dream.”

Vil ignores this.

“I would know,” Rook chimes in, beckoning you over. Vil also ignores this. You make your way around a table to look at whatever’s on the slide, grabbing your class notepad and scribbling something down.

“The structure’s slightly different,” you murmur, twisting the fine adjustment knob. Vil wants to scream. You’ve invited him here and already you’re sidetracked.

“What’s going on?” Vil crosses his arms over his chest. He feels out of his league here, and as he spots you and Rook sharing a glance that feeling only seems to worsen.

“Magical resistivity,” your pencils scritches the side of your neck as you pull out a stool and sit on it. “It’s the reason why none of your potions or whatever you call it ever achieves that 100.”

“I’ve never heard of that,” Vil scoffs as he stares you down. You meet his gaze.

“Yeah, because I’ve just found it,” you slide your notepad towards Vil across the table. He picks it up, noticing the two diagrams of what appear to be cells drawn on the page. One side is a typical animal cell here, whereas the other… the other appears to be missing a few organelles.

“It’s a side by side comparison of one of my skin cells and Rook’s,” your voice contains an element of barely restrained excitement. “Notice those structures in his? Those magic generator thingies?”

“Yes,” Vil’s heart is slowly starting to race.

“From examining the flora cells here, they’ve got a key difference against the ones in my world. That extra structure is what generates magic power in people here, and it extends to plants here as well,” your eyes begin to light up. “Then, I began questioning why my yield in Potions is so much better than everyone else’s. Rook’s kindly told me that 100 point potions are practically unheard of here, and it occurred more than once so it’s clearly not a coincidence right?”

“Right,” Vil’s mouth is dry.

“So, I ran some magic circuits using some equipment I borrowed, and some stuff I tinkered with, and I used both my hair and Rook’s to test for conductivity of magic. By hooking Rook’s magic pen up to the circuit, he could feed magic directly into the circuit.”

You motion for him to turn the page, where a page of incoherent scribbles meets his eyes. Vil’s eyes almost roll back into his head with exasperation.

“When my hair was hooked up, there was no magic lost - the initial magic was identical to the place where my hair was. But when Rook’s hair was hooked up… the magic output was only around 96%. And when we tested skin cells, his fell to around 94%, whereas mine remained constant.”

A pause.

“So when potions here are made, there’s always a margin of error in the precision, because of the magical resistance in your very being suppressing the natural magic yield of ingredients. Of course, this means I’m more susceptible to the spells here… so it’s not a complete win,” your ramble slowly dwindles out. Vil feels his eyes about to burst from their sockets. Of course. That consistent 100 in your potion work.

“Plus, my refinery skills are so unbelievably sexy,” you puff out your chest proudly. “It’s like those triple threats in theatres.”

So what’s the third skill? Vil almost allows the biting remark to leave his lips before he restrains himself.

“Anyways, I’m going to wear some lab-issued rubber gloves for the actual poison assessment, so that should bring that magic resistivity up, since the gloves are made here,” you stand up from your stool, walking over to Vil. Your eyes are half-lidded with a deep annoyance.

“I’m going to beat you from square one,” you promise. Vil wouldn’t want any less effort from you.

“I adore the tension here; what a truly stunning display of beauty,” Rook chimes in, and Vil can practically hear the stars in his eyes.

“How did you get Crowley to fund all this?” Vil suddenly asks, as if noticing your lab for the first time. The equipment here almost gleams with technological prowess, and he’s genuinely curious.

“He didn’t,” you shrug. “I’ve made a side hustle selling potions, and I buy old equipment from both Crewel and Ignihyde and convert them into models I’ve seen in my world.”

“Don’t you need a licence for potion selling?” Vil frowns.

“I can’t read,” you shrug again. “That law’s irrelevant.”

Before Vil can respond to whatever the hell that response was, you shoo him away.

“C’mon Rook, I’ve gotta show Crewel these findings,” Vil can faintly hear your voice as the door firmly closes in his face.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

You wanna know what I just realized....You know how in chapters 1-4 MC/Yu kept asking Crowley to go home. But Once Chapter 5-7 they stopped asking to go home and gave up. Why? Did they just change their minds once they got friends or did they just give up on trying completely until Orthro put it back in their brain? Or Did they just gave up on asking adults period?

Oooh, interesting topic 🤔 I went back in each book to see when instances of Yuu asking about going home were brought up and (shockingly) this actually happens very little, maybe a few times max in the main story (not counting the prologue):

***Main story spoilers (INCLUDING book 7) below the cut!!***

In 1-19, Yuu does NOT ask Crowley; Crowley is the one who brings the topic up. He claims he is in the library to research a way to send Yuu home, and definitely is not reading the latest edition to a new novel before anyone else (which, come on, we all know Crowley is just giving a convenient excuse for himself). Crowley's presence here is then used to inform us of a way to dethrone Riddle via duel.

In 2-4, Yuu DOES ask Crowley when summoned to his office. Crowly then says he is busy preparing for an inter-dorm Magift/Spelldrive tournament, so he hasn't made any progress for Yuu. In 2-14, Yuu also wonders about when they will be able to go home while talking around the campus at night, but does not discuss it further with others.

In 3-6, Yuu does NOT ask Crowley; again, Crowley is the one to bring up the topic when trying to get Yuu to convince Azul to stop his shady dealings. He uses their rising food bills and all that "effort" he's putting into researching as a means to guilt trip Yuu into agreeing.

In 4-2, Yuu DOES ask Crowley if he's actually researching. This occurs because Crowley is all decked out for vacationing in a tropical destination, so Yuu of course questions whether he's doing any real work. Crowley defends himself by saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" and that he's broadening his knowledge base by researching in a southern region.

After book 4, there are no new explicit or even implied scenes of Yuu asking Crowley anything about home. However, 5-33 does feature a flashback to the prologue in which Crowley is struggling to find Yuu's home on a map.

There isn't really a strong mention of Yuu going home in book 6, unless you want to count Yuu talking to Mickey through the mirror and wondering what's on the other side.

7-10 and 7-11 has Ortho to concluding that the mirror with Mickey could be a "connection" to Yuu's original world, and can thus serve as a route home.

Most discussion of Yuu going home is concentrated in the prologue (as it is an important piece of the set-up and explanation for Yuu's presence in Twisted Wonderland), as well as book 7, when the issue becomes very relevant again. There is the occasional instance of Crowley using "oh, there might be information here about a potential way home" as an excuse to rope Yuu into an event's story (ie Glorious Masquerade), but nothing meaningful ever comes from it. These are just contrivances to bring Yuu and Grim along for a more immersive self-insert experience.

If you want a boring answer as to why Yuu asks/seems to care so little about going home and stops completely by the start of book 5, I would wager it's the metacontext. Even in books 1 through 4, Yuu going home is mentioned like maybe once and then is dismissed for the rest of the book. You’ll also notice that in these instances where Yuu going home is mentioned, they are almost immediately then used as a springboard to propel the problem of the week onto them to resolve. Yuu going home isn’t a plot point for most of the main story, it’s a plot device to force Yuu into an OB boy’s path.

There is very little urgency granted to finding a way home because you, the player, WANTS to be in this magical world even if Yuu, the actual in-game character, may be uneasy being away from their friends, family, and home world. Yuu's unease is most likely not depicted or not frequently brought up because it would interfere with the player's enjoyment of the escapism to another world. These desires very obviously clash with one another. However, because the game itself is trying to tell you its story, it has to provide a reason (no matter how nonsensical it is) for there to be no progress made in the search (thus keeping Yuu in Twisted Wonderland), and that reason often happens to be Crowley's incompetence. This is not true of all iterations of Yuu (as the light novel has a strong focus on Yuuya’s anxieties about being in a new world), but it must be this way specifically for in-game Yuu since they are the most easy one for players to project into.

If you're looking for a meatier answer, consider this: book 5 is the turning point in the main story. Before book 5, Yuu seems to defer to Crowley for finding a way home. They don't really wonder or investigate into this area on their own. By the start of VDC/SDC training, it's mid to late winter, or about halfway through the year. Given that Yuu is incentivized by the promise of renovations to let the NRC Tribe boys use Ramshackle as their base of operations, I get the impression that maybe Yuu thinks they'll be stuck in Twisted Wonderland for longer than initially anticipated. Rather than an "I give up", it feels like a "boy, this is taking a while so might as well upgrade the accommodations and make myself as comfy as possible while I wait it out" This thought is helped by the fact that book 5 is also the first time when both Yuu and Crowley don't mention them going home, but also nothing disparaging or hopeless is referenced. As I've said before, we still get a flashback from Yuu which is centered on them going home, so it's clearly still a topic on their mind. It's just not consistently shown to us so as to not interfere with players self-inserting or to avoid making the gaming experience not fun by focusing on Yuu's distress or worries.

Many other significant things happen in book 5 which makes it the "turning point": Malleus reveals his true identity to Yuu, Grim finally going a little feral from the blot stones, and Yuu seeing and speaking with Mickey clearly. From there, Yuu starts thinking about the mirror and how it could lead into another world. They begin to take more agency in their own return, later confiding in their friends about Mickey and what he means for them.

Book 6 mostly glosses over Yuu going home because... well, let's be honest, there's a lot more immediately at stake with six students being kidnapped and experimented on. Yuu's focus and concern is on getting them (and especially Grim) back safely. They weren't thinking about themselves or their own situation back then, they were thinking of others.

Going home returns in book 7 because it has story significance once again. Yuu going back to their own world adds to the growing dread and sense of loneliness that our OB boy for the evening, Malleus, feels over Lilia's departure. It helps to push him closer to the brink of snapping. What's more, this contributes to the overall themes and questions that book 7 poses: those of farewells, change, and leaving friends behind. These are sentiments that Ace, Deuce, and Grim discuss in 7-17, and they parallel Malleus's own anxious thoughts. In all previous books, Yuu's own quest to get home is not closely tied to the themes of a particular book, or it simply was not relevant to mention (it would disrupt the ongoing conflict or pacing).

Finally, to more address each of the specific things asked by the asker (since I know the information in this post is sort of all over the place and might be hard to match up to each question):

[Yuu] stopped asking to go home and gave up. Why?

Yuu did not frequently ask about going home to begin with. (Again, likely because on a metatextual level, the story needs an excuse for Yuu, ie the player, being present in Twisted Wonderland and experiencing its happenings.)

At that point, it comes down to individual interpretation as to why, but personally I believe Yuu realized that the solution was more complicated than just poofing up a portal home, so they decided to make themselves comfortable while they waited for updates rather than keep asking only to be constantly disappointed. Later on, events going on around Yuu become too hectic for them to focus on their own wants.

Did [Yuu] just change their mind once they got friends?

Wouldn’t this imply that Yuu didn’t consider Adeuce and Grim “real” friends until the start of book 5??? I just don’t think that’s true; they were friends way before this point, not hanging out with each other for convenience’s sake. Why would they sit together at lunch every day? Why would Yuu try to help Ace make amends with Riddle? And why would Ace defend Yuu when Riddle insults their upbringing? Why would Yuu try to free the idiots of their anemones at the risk of going homeless themselves? Why would Adeuce use public transportation to go all the way from the Queendom of Roses to Sage’s Island because of a SOS text from Yuu? The same logic goes for the Ramshackle Ghosts, who are very friendly with Yuu and Grim. They play games with them, tell them about the school, and even do Yuu’s chores for them while they’re held hostage in Scarabia.

I also think gaining friends isn’t necessarily a strong enough reason for Yuu to renounce their old life and suddenly be committed to staying. Yes, it can be said that this could change depending on individual interpretation of Yuu—but assuming a very basic backstory, a regular person would not be so quick to forgo their old friends, family, etc. I don’t think new friendships are a significant motivator for Yuu no longer asking about home.

Or did they just give up on trying completely until Orthro put it back in their brain?

Yuu didn’t stop thinking about going home just because they stopped asking about it. Post book 4, they are shown to have flashbacks to earlier discussions of going home. Yuu hardly ever expresses thoughts about their original world or wanting to go back (most likely to not break the self-insert immersion of their character), so it’s easy to perceive this as “Yuu gave up completely/Yuu forgot about it until book 7”.

Or did they just gave up on asking adults period?

I believe Crowley is the only adult Yuu really asks about finding a way back. I doubt Yuu actually thinks all adults are as useless in this endeavor as Crowley is, but we aren’t ever shown Yuu communicating in this manner to other adults. Crowley is the only “required” adult to interact with on account of being the headmaster typically forcing you into the plot anyway. In conclusion (I know I keep bringing this point up, but it’s because I truly believe in it), this is all probably done for convenience and/or to allow the player to fantasize and imagine themselves or their own Yuusonas navigating these circumstances. They don't want to constantly keep the story gloomy by having Yuu angst about how they miss home or how badly they want to go back. They want you, the player, to enjoy the world and the people of Twisted Wonderland and never want to leave, even if it may be contradictory to what Yuu themselves fails to express in the narrative. This is 100% intentional, and it's made clear because it ties in very deeply with the themes in book 7, which is when the idea of Yuu going home becomes extremely relevant again. Book 7 creates an analogy between a digital pet that Malleus owns and how sad he is that its lifespan has to end, that the digital pet is just "fiction designed to amuse". This is also true of what Twisted Wonderland (the game) is. The player is in the same circumstances as Malleus, who is too attached to his fiction and doesn't want to let it go.

As much as the game's structure encourages self-inserting, it cannot be denied that, ultimately, the perspective of the player ≠ the perspective of Yuu. The player does not actually have to worry about never returning home or being stuck in a foreign world, at the mercy of strangers (which, if not for entertainment purposes, would be something truly terrifying to deal with). The player is glimpsing into this other world for fun and can step away whenever they want. Yuu can't.

askhdvasoydvuealalf I know this was a lot, but I hope it made sense and properly communicated my thoughts ^^

[yuurei20]

Short Translation from Twisted Wonderland the second novel: Trey's Room (pt 5/5)

"‘It was because of Housewarden Rosehearts? What do you mean?’ Deuce asks.

Riddle glances briefly at Trey, and quietly explains.

'We needed to discuss something concerning the Spelldrive Tournament, so we were speaking together while walking down the hall during lunch hour. It was then that I very nearly fell down the stairs, and Trey tried to protect me…’

It seems that Trey had instantly grabbed for Riddle’s arm and pulled him back, falling down the stairs himself, instead. Riddle had immediately helped him to the nurse’s office. Finishing his explanation, Riddle’s face distorts in distress.

'Normally, this never would have happened. How is it that I came so close to falling down those stairs…I am truly sorry, Trey.’

‘Knowing you, you probably would’ve been able to catch yourself with magic. I did this to myself—don’t worry about it.’

Trey is remarkably mature. He uses gentle words and smiles as he reassures Riddle, despite what it is that led to his injury. This seems to distress Riddle all the more.

‘I’ve been causing so much trouble for you recently…I cannot forgive myself.’

'Now, now, Trey has already said that isn’t so—keep your chin up, Riddle-kun. You look as discouraged as all that and no one’s gonna be able to tell which one of you is the patient here.’

In response to Cater’s reassurance, Riddle manages an awkward smile.

‘I researched ingredients that are supposed to be good for bones and muscles, which might help with healing.’ Riddle produces a folded piece of paper from his pocket. ‘Trey. Eat the things on this list everyday, so that you might heal all the sooner.’

‘I got it, I got it. I’ll do as you say.’

In order to let Trey rest, the group leaves his room together."

[s7-evermore]

Ch. 2 - The Economics of Rumors

This is The Boyfriend Contract series, Chapter 2. Inspired by The Love Hypothesis and The Business Proposal. Azul Ashengrotto x fem! Yuu (reader). You can view this on ao3.

Ch. 1 | Next chapter

In most cases, the economic rumor makes consumers dubious of the product's type, quality, and effects on health, so it can be quite an issue... but rather than an issue, he saw it as an opportunity. To me though, it's a nuisance.

It was foolish of her to believe that everything would be A-Okay after Riddle's overblot. Aside from the usual NRC mishaps (that she somehow got used to), she thought she would be able to live through her first year without any more major issues, maybe live long enough for her to get back home.

But then the Spelldrive incident happened, then the Octavinelle incident, then the Winter break incident, and then more incidents, and then the dreadful, gut-wrenching, absolutely breathtaking (not in a good way) kiss incident. Of all the goddamn incidents-- she did not expect any of them to involve a kiss.

(No. Vil's kiss on her cheek during the Styx incident does not count.)

She knew Azul well enough that he didn't like to involve himself with irrelevant matters unless it benefited him in some way. So even if she had some sort of obsessive guy chasing after her, she'd have to offer him something worthy enough for him to help her.

She hadn't received any message from him so far, and the Leech twins hadn't arrived at her doorstep yet, so... she assumed she was safe. For now.

Unless, of course, he actually did file a complaint for sexual harassment, in that case, the Headmage would have been the one at her door by now.

Yesterday's events had taken up more energy from her than she realized, so she contacted her boss and called in sick. Thank heavens he was kind, almost fatherly, and told her to rest until she felt better. She should have felt guilty for lying, but she was too exhausted to feel anything. She didn't really want to deal with any people right now.

However, as much as she enjoyed days off, Yuu became extra restless when she had nothing to do. Because doing nothing meant her mind was free to go in different directions, and that direction most often went downhill. There had to be something she could do, even if it was small or insignificant, anything to make her think of anything else other than what she didn't want to think about.

She had done as much as she could. She washed the dishes, did the laundry, cooked increasingly unsettling eggs (most of them went to Grim's stomach), washed the dishes again, cleaned the lounge, rearranged her bookshelf, created a new playlist for next week, watched some videos on Magicam, read a book on meditation-- She was slowly running out of things to do when she suddenly remembered the homework they had for History of Magic, it was a paper on any chosen topic among the ones they previously discussed during the past semester. Although the deadline was still in a week, Yuu figured it would be better to start on it early.

After making herself comfortable on her couch, Yuu opened her laptop (a very generous gift from Ortho, who noticed her lack of electronics, bless that sweet humanoid boy) and began to do some light research, but got side-tracked by the string of notifications that streamed from her phone.

With a sigh, she set her laptop on the nearby coffee table and grabbed her phone. A message from...Ace? And Deuce. Ace and Deuce. And Epel. And Jack. And...holy shit.

Was everyone out to get her or something? Why is she suddenly getting messages from Cater and Riddle? Even Sebek?! Of all people???

Before she could open any of the messages, several loud knocks pounded on her door. She knew well enough who it was that she didn't bother getting up to open it, they knew to knock first before entering after all.

The door to the lounge slammed open, startling the poor girl.

"Jesus Christ!" She clutched her phone to her chest, "Ace. You scared the shit out of me! Calm down will you?"

"Calm down?" Uh oh. She did not like that voice. Ace only ever used that voice a few times on other people, but never on her. She was usually the one using that voice on him. You know, to keep him in line.

Oh, how the turns have tabled.

"You want me to calm down?" His voice was like venom. He stalked over to her, almost stomping, as Deuce-- and... is that Epel, Jack, and Ortho?!

"Uh...what's going on?" She looked at their expressions. Ace looked displeased by something, Deuce looked uncomfortable, Jack and Epel both looked unsure, while Ortho simply looked curious. "Why is everyone here?"

"Yesterday."

She raised a brow, "Yesterday?"

"Yesterday!"

She rolled her eyes, "What about yesterday?"

"Yesterday! With Azul!"

She froze. Oh no. "What about him?"

"Don't play dumb with us, Yuu," Ace gave her one of his no-bullshit looks, "What's with you and Azul? Did you make a contract with him or something? Is he holding you hostage?"

"W-What?! No! What are you even getting at?" She didn't like where this was going. 

PLEASE don't say what I think you're gonna say.

"Um, Yuu, yesterday..." Deuce started rather bashfully, "Cater and Trey saw you and Azul together, uh..."

"Kissing." Ace finished, "They saw you kissing."

Is it still possible to play dumb? "Me? Kiss who?"

"AZUL!" The ginger yelled as he hurriedly pulled out his phone and showed her what was on the screen.

It was... It was her. And Azul. Kissing.

The cafe she worked at had been gaining popularity for some time now so encountering students from both Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy was hardly a surprise.

"Cater took that," He explained, "He and Trey were supposed to visit you, but then he saw you go up to Azul and then that happened."

Oh my fucking god.

A memory resurfaced from when Cater and the others heard that the cafe she was working in was gaining a lot of attention. He promised he would drop by sometime with Trey or Riddle, and as luck would have it, it just HAD to be at the time when she...

Oh god. This is bad. This is really fucking bad. If Cater knew, then EVERYONE knew.

"Yuu..." Jack started slowly, "You're not dating Azul, are you?" He grimaced at his own question. Everyone else looked at her waiting for an answer.

She sighed. Even though the reason was going to sound stupid (which it was), she couldn't lie to them when they were looking at her like that. There was no reason to hide it anyway, after everything she had gone through with them.

It's quite a depressing story, but even in her own world, Yuu was an outcast. Since middle school, she had trained herself not to make a fuss over things she couldn't control. If no one wanted to accept her, then so be it, all she had to do was accept herself. She never let other people's opinions deter her, instead, she worked her hardest not to let it bother her. She buried herself in her work, focusing only on her academics and her part-time jobs as a way to cope with the loneliness. It all paid off since she got accepted into her dream college.

She was supposed to start university in a month, but her sudden arrival in Twisted Wonderland changed all her plans. Despite all her hard work, she had to start over again in this new world where she had nothing, knew nothing, knew no one, and as far as the law was concerned, she didn't exist here at all.

Yuu, once again, had to navigate her way through NRC alone-- until... Grim, Ace, and Deuce. Then Jack, then Epel, then Ortho...

In a way, it was like falling in love. She entered Twisted Wonderland a feral stranger, but these people accepted her, as strange and quirky as they were in their own right, she felt right at home in their little group. Even though some of them would deny it, she knew that they always got her back.

"It's a bit of a long story."

And like clockwork, Ace and Deuce sat on the same couch she was sitting on, Jack took the armchair on her left while Epel proceeded to sit on the floor in front of her, propping his elbow on the coffee table next to him, while Ortho simply sat on said coffee table. They did this in sync, with all their eyes trained on her the whole time.

She let out a deep sigh, preparing herself for a lengthy explanation. She had a lot to say to them, and one of them was the fact that she didn't tell any of them about Kelvin Watson and his persistent advances.

"Listen, I promise you guys it's not—"

"Prefect."

Fuck.

She didn't need to look at the door to know who that smooth, melodic deep voice belonged to. But just like dominos, she followed the befuddled gazes of her friends as they turned to the doorway where Azul happened to be standing.

When the fuck did he get here and why do people keep barging into my house???

"Azul," she stammered, standing up to greet him.

"I didn't know you had company," he strode over to her smoothly. Was it that natural for him to be graceful?!

"Oh, uh.."

"Did you already tell them?" He asked when she was busy mulling over what to say. What was he going on?

"T...Tell us what?" Ace was the first one to ask. Well, the bravest one to speak up first, to be painfully accurate.

"I'm sure you already suspect it," Azul said with a modest smile that almost looked...kind. If the whole contract incident hadn't happened months back she would have believed him to be innocent, and she was sure her friends would have believed the same thing too. "We didn't mean to hide it at first, but with everything Yuu and I were going through... well, I hope you understand."

No way. There's no goddamn way.

"S-So it's true?!" Deuce asked this time, "That you two..."

"Well, we have been going on dates..." She felt a subtle but large and firm pressure on her lower back— no, not her back, but the spot between her back and her waist— steadying her, and she didn't need to turn around to know that it was Azul's hand that was precisely 3.5 inches above her ass.

Holy shit.

It was an intimate gesture that sent tingles throughout her body, nearly overriding her senses. Her friends were staring, and she was sure that they could see the heat rushing to her face in the form of the color rose pink.

How was he this good at being charming?! No, maybe it was the kiss that desensitized her— she shouldn't have to think or FEEL this way about Azul Ashengrotto of all people.

"Is everything alright?" Azul asked in a gentle voice. Azul was never gentle. He was calm, calculating, and cold, but Yuu found it so hard to think when she felt his hand rubbing her softly as if to comfort her, and when he stopped, his hand was now 2 inches above her ass. And it made her so, so, dizzy.

"Just tired, and overwhelmed," she managed to say without stuttering or fainting.

"That won't do," his brows furrowed, he was really good at looking concerned. "Come, let's have some tea at my office."

No. Nonononono— tea at his office means being alone with him, and she does NOT want to be alone with anyone right now. Especially him.

"You don't have to," she said politely, trying to hear her own voice over the sound of her beating heart, "you must be busy."

"No, please. With the disaster of a date we had yesterday, I wish to make it up to you," he continued the act (why was he even doing it in the first place?!?), "Still... I had no idea one of your admirers would be persistent enough to ruin it. I should have seen it coming." He added context. Great. Context means more questions from her friends.

"It's...it's really alright..." and please stop, my brain can't take much of this anymore.

He moved his hand straight behind her back before gently nudging her, "Shall we? I've acquired some rare sweets for you, as well." 

Oh God. She loves sweets and he knows it.

"Um, I guess we'll see you then," Ace scratched the back of his neck, looking rather awkward, "Yuu, I'll text you later when, uh...yeah."

She nodded as Azul took her hand (and heavens his hands were so soft) and led her out of the dorm.

"Is this some kind of joke? Are you trying to prank me or something? Do you have brain cancer? Do I have brain cancer? Is this a new business scheme where you scam a person into dating you so that you can get what you want from them?"

She ignored Jade's look of amusement as he poured tea into her cup, and Floyd's snort as he leaned against the bookshelf right behind Azul. The aforementioned boy was sitting on another couch across from her, leaning back with a deep sigh.

Why is HE looking exasperated?! Wasn't he the one who kept up the whole "dating" spiel?! Why did he do that?! I was about to tell my friends the truth!!

The walk to Mostro Lounge felt longer than it should have. Though it normally took several minutes (even shorter if you ran for your life, ideally away from it though), getting there felt like hours when you're being exposed to gawking students who happened to be passing by, and for some fucking reason there was a bunch of them on the street when they were walking. They surely noticed the hand that smoothly moved to her shoulder as well as their close proximity. She might have even seen a shocked Riddle and Trey.

"I'm not that enthusiastic about it either, okay?" He said, like, y'know, a liar.

"Then why?"

"Because I would like to make a deal with you."

"Of course you do," she rolled her eyes, picking up her teacup, "I've seen this coming. For the record, I'm not setting up Ramshackle for collateral again. I don't think I have anything significant to give you," aside from my newly acquired book collection of The Devilish Duke. A really hot and funny romcom set in the 18th century. Good shit.

"It's not Ramshackle Dorm that I want."

"Then what do you want?"

"You."

At that moment, Yuu experienced a feeling that was dangerously similar to what you call a "hypnagogic jerk", also known as that feeling where you think you're falling in your sleep, only to jerk awake, sweating like crazy on your bed and not falling off a cliff.

Yes, there's a term for that.

That sudden jerk in her body nearly caused her to choke on her tea. She quickly placed the teacup down and coughed into her sleeve several times before staring wide-eyed at Azul.

She expected to see him with his usual infuriatingly attractive smirk but...

Why is he looking away?!

"Ugh, whatever," she composed herself, taking a cookie from one of the plates. As it turns out, Azul did have some sweets in his office. Rare ones too... "The answer is no. Did you know that you're the very definition of a 'red flag'?"

"How flattering," he deadpanned. "Listen, this is important."

She sighed heavily, crossing her arms as she chewed the cookie. She stayed silent afterward, a gesture to let him continue. Azul told the twins to leave the room before speaking.

"I had a meeting with a potential business partner a couple of days ago. It was one that I was particularly looking forward to," he began, "the negotiation was doing well, but there was one setback."

She furrowed her brows, "Which is...?"

"He thought I was too young, therefore, not quite... experienced, or mature."

Her eyes widened. She wouldn't say it to his face, but despite his young age (they were both 17), Azul was already skilled in both academics and business, he gave off an air of professionalism and maturity, the very picture of a sophisticated businessman.

"That's...disappointing," she muttered.

"Very much so," he breathed out, almost exhausted. No wonder he was exasperated, that meeting must have been plaguing his thoughts the whole time...

She encouraged him to continue.

"Well, anyway, I tried to appeal to him to get an agreement, but he insisted that he just couldn't get into a business contract with someone who was 'too young'," he nearly rolled his eyes. Nearly. He didn't, but she had the feeling he wanted to. "Anyway, I looked into his background after that—"

"Of course you did."

"And I found out that before he was a successful businessman, he was the only son of the previous company chairman. When he was our age, he was the very definition of 'immature'. He was a spoiled, trust-fund, party-loving playboy who relied too much on his father's influence and money... well, you understand, don't you?"

She nodded. The guy sounded like every male lead of a typical contemporary romance. You know, the good girl x playboy trope where the playboy's whole world changes after meeting the "good girl" and he starts to change himself. She's read a good amount of those types of books.

"Due to his behavior, his father had him transferred from his elite high school to a public high school to teach him a lesson. He also had his allowance considerably lowered, so he couldn't throw any of his elaborate parties, and he was also given a bodyguard to watch his behavior."

She sucked some air through her teeth. For a trust fund boy, it must have been a hard-knock life. Not that she could really relate, she had to work for almost everything she had, so it was routine for her.

"Apparently, his behavior changed when he met his high school sweetheart and his current wife. He retired from his spoiled ways and turned into a responsible and loyal man. They've been married for twelve years now. They just celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary last month."

"Huh... that's actually quite cute," she smiled a little, thinking of how the man's life must have changed when he met his wife. Given that he met her in a public school, she must have come from humbler origins. "But wait, what does this have to do with me?"

"He's quite a family man, and he has a firm belief that a person becomes properly mature when they meet their soulmate," he shifted in his seat, leaning closer as he looked into her eyes. "He will be hosting a fundraising event next month."

"That is to say...?"

"I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend and go with me to the event. If he realizes I have a partner, he will surely consider me mature enough to pass as a potential business partner."

Wow, Azul must really want this guy's support.

"Is it really that worth it?"

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't be asking you to do this. Having a contract with him would increase the chance of opening a second establishment outside of school, not to mention Mostro Lounge greatly benefit from them due to their influence in the industry."

Leave it to Azul to think ahead. He's always been thinking of how to improve Mostro Lounge, whether it's the quality of their menu or their services.

"Have you considered getting a real date?"

"Have you considered getting a real boyfriend?"

"Touché."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Truth be told, as helpful as it was having Azul's aid with getting rid of Kelvin for a day, she didn't think there would be anything else in it for her to keep up this whole dating charade. It wouldn't have even happened if only Cater hadn't taken that picture.

She groaned, "It's gonna be difficult."

"What would be?"

"To pretend that we're dating."

"How?"

"Well... for one, isn't it suspicious that you and I weren't even that close to begin with? And suddenly we're dating?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Not too difficult. We could simply tell them that we were trying to keep it a secret."

"Do you really think anyone would believe that?"

"Your friends certainly did."

"I'm pretty sure this agreement benefits you more than it benefits me."

"I beg to differ," he said, "I've prepared a list of benefits for you. I'm a rather generous man after all."

"Your tone is starting to piss me off."

"What?"

"You're starting to sound like Crowley."

He snorts, "Very well then. I'll try to avoid that in the future. Wouldn't want to upset my future girlfriend after all."

"I haven't agreed to your contract yet."

"Yet," he emphasized, she followed with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway, I obviously wouldn't leave any job uncompensated. As long as our contract is on, I will be at your service. I can help you with studying and homework. If you need study guides, I'll provide them for you. Given that you're already taking care of your financial needs, I'll take the initiative to pay for our dates. If you need protection from bullies and persistent admirers, I'll be one call away. If you get into trouble and you need a cover-up, I'll be there to help you."

He doesn't finish there, "Jade and Floyd will be at your aid as well. If there's anything that you need from them, you simply have to ask. If you follow my terms, I will follow yours."

She bit her lip, for a fake dating job, all those benefits sound... really nice. Considering Azul's standing and influence in Night Raven, all those would be possible.

"Still... It's not going to be easy keeping up this charade you know? No offense but considering your reputation, people are mostly gonna think that you're holding me hostage through a contract."

"We'll be fine as long as we greet each other in the hallways and walk to each other's classes. Your constant presence in Mostro Lounge will help as well."

She rolled her eyes, "Dude, people who are dating don't just walk to each other's classes together or say hi in the hallways, you know? Do you even know the first thing about dating?"

Azul clears his throat as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I...admit I'm not an expert in this kind of field. But it's not like you can say you're any better."

She rolled her eyes. Again. "FYI, I've dated twice before, so I'd say I'm more of an expert on this than you are." No, she isn't.

Her first boyfriend was in middle school, and the only reason why she dated him was because he confessed to her in front of their whole damn class and all their classmates cooing and cheering pressured her into saying yes to him. They lasted a solid two and a half months.

The second one... was a bit more complicated. They lasted quite long, but that was because Yuu thought that they were going to last the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, that was too good to be true. Everything that seems perfect at first glance never turns out that way in the end.

"Ah... I see. Well then, what do people who are dating do?" For some reason, he sounded a little defeated.

"Well, uh, they...talk."

"About?"

"A lot of things. Their hobbies, their favorite food, the coffee they drank this morning, the shitty customer that keeps asking for the manager just because they thought the croissant they ordered tasted off and therefore demanded a refund even though they already finished it all-"

He snorted. She glared at him, "Hey, that's some serious stuff, okay? People like that are like, the worst."

He raised his hands in mock surrender, "I didn't say anything, but I do agree. Unreasonable customers are the worst. Anyway, what else do people dating do?"

"Uh...They pick apples together, frolic in fields, go on picnic dates." Sounds idiotic but—

"Sounds idiotic," Azul sighed as he crossed his arms, echoing the words in her mind, "Perhaps you should just go tell your friends that we went out and frolicked in the fields."

It was her turn to snort, "Like they would believe that."

"Like I said: idiotic."

"But hey, picnics are fun."

"Sure."

"Ahem. Anyway, aside from that..." she tapped her chin carefully as she continued to wrack her mind. "Well, people who date do a lot of things together, honestly. Hard to pinpoint but, they often eat breakfast together, get coffee together, they know each other's favorite pizza, they hug, hold hands...they...kiss."

"I can't imagine ever doing that." The twitch on his lips was enough to indicate that he was holding back a smile.

She giggled in response, "Like I would ever kiss you."

"Oh? I certainly wasn't the one who initiated it, unless I do have brain cancer and I'm misremembering things."

"I'm really sorry about that," she said, mortified at the resurfacing memory.

Surprisingly, Azul shrugs it off, "It already happened. There's no use crying over spilled milk."

What surprised her more, however, was how casual Azul seemed while they were talking. She failed to realize that at some point, he had dropped his businessman act and started talking to her like... a normal person. Like an actual Azul. It was strange, for some reason.

Silence stretched on for a few moments as she contemplated the offer once more. Dating Azul... even if it's pretend, wasn't an easy choice to make. The thought of fake dating wasn't a pleasant thought to begin with. It seemed more like a waste of time than an investment, but with all the benefits he's offering... maybe having him around would help...?

The biggest thing she was worrying about was keeping up the lie to her friends. They were her world, after all, and she wasn't ready to lose their trust just yet. But their reactions earlier were already enough to make her fall on her knees— Azul wasn't exactly the...best person to date. She was sure that Ace, Deuce, and Grim still have war flashbacks after what he made them go through during the incident with Octavinelle, and Jack trusts that she knows better than to suck up to Azul. Epel wasn't there during the incident, and so was Ortho, but she knew well enough that they were weary of him.

But...

"Well?" He suddenly spoke up, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her very... tired and messy thoughts. "I can write up the contract if you're willing to agree."

She bit her lip, "Can you...give me some more time to think about it?"

He stared at her for a moment before nodding, "Yes, of course. Take your time."

[globalrebrand]

The Marriage of Music and Alchemy: Chapter Two

Warnings: None!

A/N: Posting from AO3.

~ After some distractions, Ace remembers his initial plan. | 5.7K Words

Chapter I | Chapter II

That night, there was little time for Ace to discuss the plan as he intended, as he had “accidentally” pilfered a piece of tart from the Heartslabyul kitchen, which set off a chain of events that consumed him and his friends for the next week. Then an impromptu ghost invasion threw the campus into chaos for a weekend, and for whatever reason Ace had to do all the heavy lifting and could barely focus on his classwork as a result. So after a few weeks of catch up it was nearly the inter-dorm  spelldrive tournament.

In all honestly, Ace had quite forgotten about his plan to get his teachers together until Grim asked him what it was he wanted all those weeks ago once things finally cooled off for a bit. It was a random Tuesday afternoon but it reignighted Ace’s spark. After all if he could convince Riddle to chill out with the tyranny that means he could probably do the same for Crewel, and maybe like Riddle under all of that haughtiness and demanding nature, there was an injured little boy with mommy issues. 

So he pleads with the Ramshackle duo to come by that evening and hear him out regarding his brilliant scheme. 

After dinner, Grim and Prefect make their way to Heartslabyul to hear whatever scheme their friend is cooking up. Deuce opens the door with a wide smile and ushers them in happy to host the Prefect in his room. “Do you know Ace is planning?” Grim asks Deuce over the Prefect’s shoulder. 

“No, clue,” the teen replies. 

“Ace, what’s all of this about?” The Prefect asks, already dubious of his intentions, as they cross the threshold of the dorm, carelessly dropping their bag by his desk and crossing their arms over their chest as settle on the plush card-shaped rug by the foot of his bed. 

Deuce moves to sit next to them, freshly showered and no longer in uniform, but in a pair of navy sweat pants and plain gray t-shirt.  The day is nearly done, the room is cast in a warm glow of waning sunlight. Their other dorm mates, Quinn and Decker, are also in the room, a rare occurrence, but they keep to themselves, studying on Quinn’s bed, the dangling cord of headphones linking them as they flip through their assignments. They offer the Prefect a modest wave before returning to their work. 

Ace takes up his post on the side of his bed, leaning forward dramatically to gaze down at his friends. His brown pinched and expression stern. 

“Something must be done about Professor Crewel.” He begins, seemingly serious. 

“You want us to off the Professor or something?” Grim questions with a tilt of his head. Quinn’s wide brown eyes snap to Ace with deep concern. 

“Grim! No, and you two mind your business!” Ace comes to his knees on the rug, shuffling closer and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. 

“Aren’t you sick of Crewel’s overbearing teaching style?”

“Yes! He’s a demon.” Grim whines.

“Grim, what are you talking about?” The Prefect cast a glare up to the pouty cat loafing atop their head. “Crewel is exceedingly kind to us,“ the Prefect begins, “…in his own way,” they amend shortly after. 

While he’s not the warmest nor cuddliest, Crewel is one of the Professor’s more sensitive to their outsider status. He not only knows that they’ve essentially been stranded in a foreign land with no loved ones, resources, or support system besides an egotistical cat (who, in a few short weeks, they have admittedly grown fond of) but tries to offer aid where he can. Whether is be passive listening after class or even a bit of financial support. The Prefect was, of course, highly suspicious when last week he asked Crewel had asked them and Grim to clean his car, only to find it was already nearly spotless, inside and out, but as payment, Crewel gave them 50,000 thaurmarks, almost three times the amount of the paltry monthly allowance the head mage offers and for far less work. 

Ace rolls his eyes at the Prefect, “sellout.” Thankfully, the middle finger was still a deeply offensive gesture in Twisted Wonderland, so threw one Ace’s way. 

“Deuce, come on, you’re sick of it. I know you are, after last Thursday when Crewel-”

“HEY! We don’t have to relive it.” Deuce sighs, embarrassment warming his cheeks.  

“Besides, it was my fault, and a lot of the teachers at school are…intense. Crewel’s no different.”

“We’re definitely the problem.” The Prefect admits as Deuce nods along sagely. 

“No, we are not the problem! Crewel’s behavior goes far beyond just an intense teacher,” Ace rebuts. 

“Don’t you both see what’s happening here?” He implores, focusing his attention solely on the Prefect, “Deuce and Grim not getting it makes perfect sense, but you?”

“Don’t lump me in with him!” Deuce and Grim shout in nigh-perfect synchrony.

“Ugh, out with it, Ace!” The Prefect implores. 

Settling back on his haunches, effectively catching the illumination of the lamp light from Decker’s desk. He pauses in preparation to make his big push for what admittedly is a ridiculous plan. 

“Guys, Professor Crewel is obviously a deeply lonely, bitter, aging bachelor who’ll become the carbon copy of his probably heartless, tyrannical father if he doesn’t find love.” Ace pleads before turning around and sending a terse scowl towards Decker and Quinn as they snicker amongst each other on the other side of the room, quickly quieting the two boys but doing little to convince them what he just said wasn’t utterly absurd. When he turns back to the frowned-up faces of his friends, it seems as though they aren’t buying what he’s selling either.

“Ace…what?” Deuce questions, his eyes narrowed with incredulity as if he’d just heard the dumbest thing on the planet.

“That’s incredibly specific.” Grim mumbles. The Prefect stands abruptly, sending Grim tumbling to the plush carpet with a hiss. 

“Ace…” They pause, dragging a hand across their eyes in exasperation. “Suck it up. Come on, Grim.” They gesture, and Grim deftly hops on the Prefect’s shoulder as they turn to walk to the door.  

“Wait!” Ace cries. Shit , he was losing his would-be co-conspirators. 

“I know it sounds wild, but what if we got the Crewel together with the new musicology professor?”

“What? Professor Bellamy?!” Deuce questions. The Prefect halts their steps, a hand hovering above the doorknob.

“They clearly have chemistry,” Ace adds as if that were perfect justification to go meddling in the affairs of adults. Especially scary adults like their homeroom Professor. 

“Are you insane?” Deuce replies. “Besides don’t even know if she’s single! Or Professor Crewel.” 

“He doesn’t wear a ring, and neither does she,” Ace reminds them, pretending to be the authority on his Professor's personal affairs. 

“Sam was complaining just the other day about how he spends his money on vintage cars.” Grim pipes up, having turned on the Prefect’s shoulder so that he faces the boys, his tail waving in his henchman’s face.

“No self-respecting wife would let her husband spend so recklessly,” he decides resolutely. The Prefect crinkled their brow at the little beastie’s words, confused about how he’d come to such a conclusion, but Grim isn’t wrong, they suppose.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Grim gets it.” Ace gestures excitedly. Grim leaps from the Prefect's shoulder and darts back to the rug, returning to Deuce’s side. 

“Of course I get it!” Grim declares proudly, puffing up his chest. “You forget who the brain of the operation really is.”

At that, the Prefect rolls their eyes, turning around simply to narrow their eyes at their obnoxious companion. 

“How do we even know he- you know, likes, um, ladies?” Deuce asks bashfully.

“You saw them that first day of class when she passed the paper.” Ace reminds the group. 

“Didn’t seem like anything special to me,” Deuce argues. 

“Of course it didn’t, buddy.” The Ace agrees with an insufferable patronizing grin on his face.

“HEY! Prefect back me up.” Deuce turns to implore them for support but finds the Prefect deep in thought by the door. 

“Hey…what are you thinking?” He quiets. 

“Yeah,” Ace adds, “Do you know something we don’t? You’ve been awfully quiet,” turning on the Prefect, he pulls them off their feet and pushes them to sit in his desk chair, dramatically shining the pivoting desk light in their face.

“Don’t shine that light in my eyes, asshole.” They grumble. 

Undeterred by the insult, Ace simply says, “ Spill .”

“It really nothing,” The Prefect tries to demure, throwing up their hands in placation, “…but just this morning, when I came into the music room, the Professor was all alone, playing a sad little song. When I asked what was wrong, she confessed she was feeling down because, and I quote, she’s “almost 30 with prospects.” 

Professor Bellamy also said…other things about how her last relationship was a dumpster fire because she dated her brother's business partner, and well, she didn’t say he cheated, but the Prefect could read between the lines. Regardless, Deuce and Ace didn’t need to know that part, but well, Crewel is nurturing and supportive, with good husband traits. 

However, another thing they wouldn’t tell Ace and Deuce was how Trein mumbled something about Crewel being “committed to dying alone for the sake of ego.” And while the Prefect admits such criticism doesn’t exactly make Crewel sound like spousal material, they would argue his actions say otherwise. 

“Ok, Crewel is stern, but he does seem to really care about our development and safety. I don’t think he’d make a bad husband, per se...”

“Woah, who said anything about marriage, I just need Crewel off my back for now.” 

“Ah, and the truth comes out!” Deuce accuses with a pointed finger, which Ace just brushes aside, uncaring carelessly. 

“Whatever, if Crewel gets a girlfriend and chills out, everyone stands to benefit if they get married, great! If not, as long as they stay together like three years, I don’t give a f-”

“How did you ever have a girlfriend?!” The Prefect interrupts. 

“Hey, I know more about love and relationships than you and Deuce for sure . Sometimes things don’t work out, and that’s just the risk we run.” He punctuates the statement with a nonchalant shrug. 

“That’s so selfish, Ace, not that I’m surprised.” Deuce resigns himself, leaning back against the side of the bed, his head hitting the mattress with a gentle puff. Deuce's eyes close momentarily, but he ultimately decides, “If we’re committing to meddling, we have to see it through! Besides, they better get married if they’re dating for three years.” 

“So you admit it! You agree with me, we should get them together,” Ace’s grin grows wider, becoming entirely too self-satisfied. 

“Kinda, but not for your selfish reasons.” The Prefect corrects, and Deuce nods in agreement. “I genuinely think they could make each other very happy.” They confess softly. 

They deserve to be happy, Deuce affirms.

“And Crewel’s just a few short years away from becoming a washed-up old bachelor. This may be his last chance.” Grim adds. The Prefect mumbles the feline’s name in exasperation. 

“He can’t be that old…can he?” Deuce rebuts, clearly trying to calculate Crewel’s possible age. 

“Whatever, so you’re in?” Ace tries to confirm. 

“You’re desperation is showing,” Grim mumbles, mid-climb, settling on Ace’s desk next to his henchman. 

“Grim! Ass off my papers.” In blatant defiance, Grim settles atop Ace’s open alchemy textbook. Ace is prepared to start a full-on war, but the Prefect cuts him off. 

“Ugh, I guess, but let’s be careful, okay?” They finally relent. “I know you don’t care, but these are real people with feelings, Ace. I just don’t want either of them to get hurt.”

“We’re doing a kindness. Professor Bellamy gets to be with a handsome, smart, and probably rich dude like Crewel, and she’s obviously smoking hot, smart, and talented or whatever, so Crewel wins, too. Honestly, we might be saints.”

“Now you sound like the head mage,” Deuce cuts at Ace with a bored look. 

“Whatever. Deuce, are you onboard?” After several long moments, Deuce agrees.

“Fine. I wouldn’t want them to be lonely, and if the Prefect thinks it's a good idea…”  

“Yes! I know just where to start, but first, we’ll need to enlist some help.” 

_______

Apparently, Ace felt that the best person to go to was Cater since he was a notorious gossip who always sticks his nose in everyone's business, and for whatever reason, Cater found this flattering. And was more than happy to help his beloved freshman with their little plot. “For funsies,” he said.

It took a few days, but by Friday night, using time that would have probably been better spent studying had been devoted to extensive research about their professors.  The venue had now changed to Cater’s room since Quinn and Decker couldn’t be trusted with sensitive information. A slide presentation was created, copious amounts of surprisingly abundant internet information compiled and titled, “Project B + C = A’s for All.” Ace thought himself quite clever for it, the others less so. Using an old ruler stolen from the math department, Ace points to the screen of the laptop propped up on Cater’s desk, the first slide with a photo of Professor Crewel on one side and a picture of you on the other pulled up on the wide screen of Deuce’s bulky but wide old computer. Beneath to photos were pictures of your class schedules and bullet points of info taken from the internet. 

“What we know.” Ace begins, pointing to the picture of Crewel.

“Crewel is one of 4 siblings, the middle child, all sisters.” Smaller photos of each of Crewel’s family members appear under Crewel’s portrait.  

“Which is good because he knows how to treat women,” The Prefect chimes in. 

“Or he resents them all deeply,” Cater adds, “Not that I do or anything, we just have to account for both sides.” The Prefect sends Cater a dubious sideways glance but otherwise returns their attention to the presentation. 

“Moving on….his great-grandmother founded one of the largest fashion houses in the Queendom of Roses.” A picture of the brand label appears across the screen, and next to it, a gif of a duck in a red hunting coat diving into a pool of gold coins. 

“He and his siblings stand to inherit 5 trillion thaumarks, the combined fortune from his mother, who is now the head director of the brand, and his father, who is an investment banker.”

“Crewel’s raw stats look pretty good. Good looking, rich, what else could a woman want?” Ace argues. 

“So so much more,” the Prefect rubs their temples. 

“More realistically, would they approve of Professor Bellamy?” Deuce asks, “People that rich tend to try only to marry other ultra-rich people. 

“I think so,” Cater reasons. “The internet says her father is a well-known opera singer, and her mother is a lawyer, so she comes from a good family, too.” 

“I don’t know, guys. If his mom married an investment banker when she was already a trillionaire, I don’t think they’d be very accepting of the Professor.” Deuce suggests.  

“You forget the Professor is like a famous classical musician, she makes a good amount of money, millions wouldn’t surprise me. Trust me that should be elitist enough for them.” Ace points out.  

“Ace is right,” Cater chimes in, “I guarantee if I came home with someone like the Professor, my parents would tell everyone at the Tennis Club, then if we ever broke up…well…”

“Well, what?” The Prefect prods.

“ My mom would probably go on like a smear campaign about how she’s like a serial cheater or something to save herself from the embarrassment of admitting I fumbled the bag with their perfect future daughter in law…

“Well, that’s concerning. Do all rich people think like this?”

“ We wouldn’t know.” Deuce replies dryly.

“Pointless details and hypotheticals. Now, let’s get to what we don’t know.” Ace flips the slide, which is broken into two categories: Daily Routines & Ex-Lovers, both of which are blank. 

“Ok, I think learning routines is the most important, the ex-lover's bit is just Cater being nosy.”

“Hey-” Cater objects.

“Yeah if we can find out their schedules, we can figure out how to get them to cross paths more often.” Deuce reasons.

“I will say that between Deuce and me, we should be able to get Professor Bellamy to tell us her daily goings-on.” 

“Wait,” Ace interrupts, “you, I get, but Deuce?” 

“Deuce is one of her favorites.” The Prefect replies nonchalantly. 

“She said that?!” Ace raises his voice in disbelief, and the Prefect promptly shushes him. 

“I’m a teacher’s favorite!” Deuce exclaims loudly, his chest puffing up with pride. 

“Well, no, but she mentions often enough that she appreciates his ‘determination’ and ‘dedication to self-improvement.’” 

“Wait over me? I take all of her classes!” Cater argues, clearly offended.

“I don’t think it’s in any order, but probably. Apparently, Deuce brought her a hazelnut croissant, and now she thinks he’s the best thing on the planet.” Ace mumbles something about that being ridiculous, but Deuce is all too content to know he has at least one teacher in his corner. 

“Anyway, Deuce and I can just ask the Professor about herself because she likes us most. But with Crewel…I can’t imagine it would be that easy 

“He’s notoriously tight-lipped with students.” Cater acknowledges, “Trust me, I’ve tried.”

“Sounds like you have to stalk him.” 

“Grim, I’m concerned all of your impulses are just committing crimes.”

“Well, how else? Crewel’s not gonna just share everything with us!”

“Cater can just use a clone and sneak out,” Grim offers.  

“Yeah, but how will he not get caught by Crewel? Subtly isn’t exactly his thing.” 

“I can be discreet…when I want.” 

“Wait, Ace, don’t you have a basketball game Wednesday evening?” The Prefect asks.

Didn’t know you pay attention to my schedule so closely.” Ace smirks leaning almost nose to nose with the Prefect, who promptly bats him away, but theres an apparent dark flush to their cheeks. 

“Fuck off, I just meant to say that you and Cater can break off after the game and go see where Crewel goes. 

“Ok, sure, but how will find him?” Ace asks. 

“Bribe the office clerk.” Grim proposes without a hint of hesitation. 

“Grim again, straight-up crime.” The prefect chastises. 

“We could always ask Azul…” Cater suggests. 

“Azul?” Deuce questions. 

“He’s the housewarden of Octaivanelle, normally I wouldn’t trust him, but this is a pretty benign ask, so he should ask for anything too crazy.” Cater speaks mostly to himself before popping up to say,  “I’ll ask him since I’m an upperclassman, spare you froshes the burden.” The first years thanked their senior in unison.   

With the sun well below the horizon, the group then decides to break for the night, their objectives clear, next week, they would hit the ground running on plan “Project B + C.”

______

You realize belatedly that complaining to a student about being single was rather embarrassing, but ever since you turned 27, it has really been top of mind, despite knowing that being married isn’t everything. By all accounts, you have had many accolades and experiences that others who sacrifice for marriage could only dream of. 

However, you couldn’t help how you felt. For so long, your career was the priority, and well your last relationship combusted spectacularly sometime ago, and the dates you’d had since had left you feeling demoralized. Your older brother, an alumnus of Night Raven College, had initially discouraged you from taking the position, but when you explained how much you’d missed being a musical prodigy, he seemed to quiet his protestations. He only advised that you be wary of the eccentricities of the students and faculty. 

You had just given the first years a musical theory exam, and while you didn’t think that grading would be quite so intensive, here you were an hour after classes got out, still marking up tests. 

Distantly, you hear a measured stride approaching the room. 

“Professor Crewel?” You call out. 

“I was worried you were still here. There’s a storm on the horizon you should head out, you walked today, didn’t you?” 

“Oh no.” You bemoan quietly. Glancing out the window you indeed see a cohort of sinister-looking storm clouds approaching the island. You should have checked the forecast. Or at least started keeping an umbrella in your desk drawer. 

“Do you need a ride? I was just heading home.” With a flourish, Crewel flashes a set of keys, his gray eyes crinkling with warmth. 

“My savior.” You cry. 

While you weren’t quite finished with your work, you would hate to pass up a chance to get to know your colleague better. “I mean, if it's no imposition,” you demure, feeling a little embarrassed by your enthusiasm at his offer.

“Of course, I only suggested it because I want to make sure you’re home safely.” Crewel asserts. Not wanting to keep him waiting,  you quickly tidy your belongings into your bag. You tell Crewel that you’ll need to stop by the teacher's lounge to grab your jacket and he agrees and gestures for you to lead the way. 

The building had a tendency to feel a bit menacing at night, but with Crewel by your side the dark, looming architecture and cavernous halls felt less intimidating. 

You must admit you’ve grown to admire your colleague quite a bit. He always speaks so frankly, and you quite admire him for it. So many people toy around with boring small talk but Crewel never wastes your time with drivel. Conversation flows easily between you and frequently veers off course to the intellectually rigorous subject matter. You’re certainly no expert on the sciences, but Crewel’s work intrigues you, and he seems to find your work in music equally compelling. 

“Professor, I have a question for you,” Crewel hums in acknowledgment, the rhythm of your steps against the stone creates a sweet little tune paired with the melody. You’d have to write it down later.

“Please don’t get the wrong idea, but are the boys educated about the dangers of love potions?” 

“My youngest sister is studying at a magical academy for girls and was telling me about a recent lecture they had to sit through.” You admit to him you weren’t aware of the dangers since you didn’t have a formal magic education. Magic always came second to music, and your abilities were almost exclusively supplementary to your musical talents. You could make a quintet of clones and change your clothes, but your special ability was your voice, you could manipulate anyone to do anything so long as you sang the instructions. While you didn’t pursue opera like your father he had gifted you with some pretty nice pipes. Combat, however, was completely beyond you. 

“The science department has a similarly mandatory lecture, but students aren’t required to take it until their second year. Regardless, we don’t teach students how to make love potions anymore, it's far too risky.”

“When you were a student, were they on the curriculum?”

You’ve just finished grabbing your coat from the lounge when you and Crewel run into Professor Trein. As the two of you make eye contact, you offer him a warm smile, then gently outstretch your hand to Lucius, who nuzzles your palm affectionately, as you whisper, ‘ Hi precious ,” completely unaware of the subtle scowl breaching your companion’s features.  

“Unfortunately, Professor Bellamy, love potions were indeed on the curriculum, despite my many protests when Professor Crewel was a student, but he caused enough trouble for the poor young ladies of Foothill Town without them.” 

“Oh, I bet he did.” You cast a teasing grin at Crewel only to see he’s not remotely amused by his colleague's commentary. 

“Were the two of you just leaving?” Trein questions. He, too, is clearly ready to depart for the day.

“Ah yes, Professor Crewel kindly offered me a ride.” You mention Crewel huffs, you look over to see a pout settling on his plush lips. It’s terribly cute. 

“How thoughtful of him.” Trein praises before asking to join you, but his smile has taken on a slightly pompous air. “I seem to have forgotten my spare umbrella.”

“You seem like the type to always plan for the weather.” You remark with a bit of surprise. Trein was always so impeccably polished.

“I appreciate your confidence, yet even I cannot predict the weather,” Trein replies, but his eyes are focused on Crewel, clearly pressuring his former student to provide him with a ride home.

“I walked as well.”

While you’re unsure of what the particular tension was between Crewel and Trein at this moment, you weren’t blind to their seemingly long lived feud. You would hate to upset Crewel by offering Trein a seat in a car that wasn’t yours, so you give space for him to respond, but after several long moments, he says nothing, only a scowl towards his former teacher, who matches his gaze with an equally hostile gaze. 

“Professor Crewel?” You prompt him for a response, feeling that far too many moments have passed by. In the darkened halls of the school building, both men look quite menacing, with intense shadows making their refined features look impossibly sharp.  

“Of course, Professor Trein,” Crewel replies, he’s out of your sight line, but you can here the glower in his tone. “Where are my manners?” He adds facetiously. You see Trein fight and nearly lose the battle, not to roll his eyes.

Trein gestures for Crewel to lead the way, sidles between the two of you, and begins to ask about your day, which turns into a broad conversation about your first couple of weeks, but Crewel’s mood has noticeably soured. 

A short and increasingly tense walk later, Crewel leads you both to a stunningly beautiful luxury car, a lustrous black gloss contrasts with a cognac-colored leather interior, and the hood ornament twinkles in the lamp light of nearby street posts. You don’t want to question how Crewel is able to afford such a nice vehicle, but the question is top of mind. For all of his very apparent faults, staff compensation wasn’t one of the issues at NRC. You felt that you were quite well compensated, and while your salary was now half of what it was when you worked at the Fairest Philharmonic as Concertmistress, it wouldn’t be difficult to make up the difference with the occasional solo performance. However, even if you could not dream of owning such a car, it was easily worth one year of your former salary. 

Between his immaculate wardrobe and this car, it was becoming plain to see that Crewel’s pockets ran quite deep. 

Out of respect for your elders, you offer Trein the front seat, much to Crewel’s chagrin, but you felt it would be inappropriate to force Trein to shuffle into the backseat. Besides, you were the first stop, it would only be ten or so minutes to your home.  

____

Crewel and Trein never saw eye-to-eye, and if they ever did, it would be a sign of the apocalypse, Crewel reasons. Crewel thought his professor was many insufferable things, fussy, pedantic, inflexible, overly traditional, the list goes on, but never did he think Trein would stoop so low as to be a cockblock. 

While Crewel was quite content to finish the car ride in silence, he even pondered just turning the corner and forcing Trein to walk that next few blocks home in a downpour, it appears his former instructor had other plans. 

“Don’t think I don’t know what you're doing, Divus,” Trein accuses tersely.

“Old man, you mistake me for someone who cares about your disapproval.” Crewel sighs, already exhausted by the argument they haven’t even had yet. 

“But since you know everything, tell me exactly what it is I’m doing.” Crewel takes his eyes of the road for a moment to toss Trein a nasty scowl for good measure. 

“So you mean to tell me your intentions with our new colleague are completely innocent?” Trein questions.

“Whatever my intentions are, it's no business of yours.“

“Protecting Professor Bellamy from your unbridled lust is most certainly my concern!” Trein interjects, and Lucius chimes in with an emphatic meow as if to second his master’s point. 

Crewel nearly slams on the breaks. The tires make a horrid squeak on the wet roads, and Lucius nearly jumps to the ceiling of the car interior. 

“Unbridled?! Really, Trein, do you think that low of me?”

“Over a decade , I’ve intercepted far too many a sobbing conquest at the gates of this school do answer that with anything less than an emphatic yes. You’re a wanton, remorseless rake.” 

Ahh, yes, Crewel was well aware of his reputation. It seemed he would never escape it. He only prayed you didn’t take Trein too seriously when “If you're going to call me a slut, just say it, Trein, no need to sugarcoat.” 

“Divus, don’t be crass. Just be careful. The headmage spared no expense to convince Professor Bellamy to take up her post. I would hate for your fickle attentions to dissuade her from achieving a lengthy tenure.” Crewel didn’t dignify such a critique with a response, only pulling to the curb and unlocking the car doors. 

“Oh, look, your home. You can get out now.”

Trein exits the car but not before delivering a final disapproving glare. Crewel fights the urge to  

As Divus begins to route himself to his apartment, he sighs to himself. In truth, he is a bit embarrassed by his past ‘brazenness.’ He was rather careless with his lovers, but he didn’t know what other way to be. Love wasn’t the most abundant resource in his childhood home. Power and control were the preferred tools of his parents, not warmth and affection, and for a long time, he had believed it too. That love was about control. About what other people would do for you, how you could use their affections to enrich yourself. 

Crewel knew for a long time that his approach to romance wasn’t quite right, but he was far too prideful to open up, to allow someone else to teach him what his parents couldn’t. And he certainly would never tell that to that pinched old man. 

In realizing that his past romantic dealings were woefully unsatisfying, Crewel promised himself that he would seek a real relationship, one not predicated control but rather crafting a life with a partner. He realized what he wanted was an equal, but then again, who could possibly be his equal? He was convinced that there was no one in the world who would be sufficiently refined, witty, stylish, and charming enough to meet his tastes. Even with past partners, he never thought they were quite enough . 

But then you appeared to him. Just as he was begging the universe for a chance to find a match to meet his extensive criteria, you appeared. Truthfully, he didn’t know if you possessed all of the superficial qualities he thought he was looking for, all Crewel knew was that when he first met you and questioned if you knew what you, this seemingly warm, profound, benevolent and perceptive soul, were doing at this school for highly talented but notoriously twisted young mages. You merely scoffed and quickly let him know he’d made a mistake in his judgment. “who’s to say I’m not a little twisted myself?” You’d said, a mischievous grin curling across your pretty lips. 

It certainly wasn’t love, not yet, but Crewel knew then that it wouldn’t take much for him to fall for you.

Series Masterlist

[midnightmah07]

Info about Rosantée — a made up dorm from RSA based on Belle (Beauty and The Beast)

disclaimer: rosantée is a dorm I decided to create with the help of @viilpstick for our RSA OCs; she was also the one to make the dorm emblem<33

Name (by @viilpstick): Rosantée [rose + enchantée (enchanted)]

Based on: The Fearless Princess (Belle)

Values: bravery and knowledge

Official colors: orange/yellowish orange and blue

Theme: red roses

Housewarden: Isabelle Desroisiers

Vice Housewarden: Adeline Rosique (by @viilpstick)

Dorm background

Other students:

Poppy Cosette (twisted from Little Red Riding Hood; by @justm3di0cr3)

Lucie Dechandelle (twisted from Lumière; by @mhedusard)

Fauna de Lis (twisted from the enchanted rose from B&B; by @shinysparklesapphires)

Audette Plume (twisted from the featherduster from B&B; by @localanimeidiot)

Lucien Feu (twisted from Lumière as well; by @localanimeidiot)

Aurélius Bruntemp (twisted from Cogsworth; by @localanimeidiot)

Daria Olympia (twisted from Athena; by @cecilebutcher)

Others can be added in the future!! The more the merrier!!<33

Rosantée is a dorm similar to Heartslabyul and Pomefiore in terms of strictness. Most students of this dorm are extremely book and/or street smart and with Isabelle as their housewarden they hardly ever fall behind and repeat a year. Isabelle never lets her dorm members slack off but is always willing to give a helping hand, understanding that some have more difficulty in studying than others.

The students in Rosantée excel at both studies and sports, some of them good enough to be a part of RSA's Spelldrive team. Rosantée is often looked down upon for their aesthetics — somewhat of a mixture between Pomefiore and Diasomnia — and for having a small and fragile looking housewarden, but this dorm should not be judged by its cover as it's often more fierce than it seems.

Their dorm is a big castle similar to Pomefiore's, but while it's well taken care of, it can often be scary compared to other dorms because of their multiple gargoyles, — and grotesques, thank you for the distinction, Malleus — baroque inspired architecture and for being placed in a forest that gives it a somewhat gloomy and dark look.

Rosantée's theme is a red rose, being seen in their dorm uniforms and actual red roses being placed at the dorm's castle at diverse places. Red roses are said to be a symbol of a curse The Fearless Princess was able to break a long time ago.

The dorm also has a big library, distinctive place for big banquets which happen often to represent The Fearless Princess usual banquets at her own castle — Be Our Guest reference — and a huge ballroom; The library is a common place used for each student to study and to spend time together, think of it as a common room.

There’s also a place called “west wing”, a tower on the left side of the dorm but Ambrose LXIII forbids the entrance of anyone there. The headmage says that that place contains a curse and whoever goes in there will get a horrible punishment for it. Rumors have it that Adeline's family made the curse. Isabelle is responsible of not letting anyone in there, however she herself has an immense curiosity to know what lies in there. More info about Rosantée and the West Wing in specific can be found in my friend's story event here!

Since we're getting female characters into this school the dorms are separated between the two genders, the left side being for girls only while the right side is for boys only. Isabelle and Adeline have a copy of all the keys given their status as housewarden and vice.

Added information: similarly to Heartslabyul which has flamingos and hedgehogs, Rosantée has a little doggie called Pax!

More information about the dorm may be added and/or changed in the future as I discuss with my mutuals about the subject! Ty for reading this far<3

[rattlyglitch]

The Breaking of a Apple

(tell me whatcha'll think of this in the the comments. Hope you enjoy I was waiting the whole time I was writing to get to this part of the story)

It was nearing the end of the third week since Epel talked with Vil. Rook seemed desperate and Epel often saw him talking with Vil. He looked distressed every time they spoke. Like he was screaming out for help but couldn’t get any. Epel knew that wasn’t the case but the last thing he wanted to do was approach Rook about what he was thinking and end up being forced to talk with Vil.

The others also seemed to stop trying to talk to him about the situation and let it be. Epel knew they would and was glad it happened sooner than later. Cater had only approached Epel to try and see if he was ok to which Epel simply replied yes.

The orange-haired influencer didn’t even push Epel to talk about what had happened when he visited the spelldrive museum which was an added plus. Another thing that was a good thing was that Epel had been able to practice his magic more at night.

Vil always had been strict about making sure Epel went to bed at ten and wasn’t practicing magic past eight but since he hadn’t approached Epel he had been able to work on his normal magic and his unique spell. His durability and ability to hold the coffin that Epel used would help if there ever occurred another problem like the one that had happened when visiting Nobel Bell College. That sure was a scary time but they all made it out in the end.

Epel had decided to have lunch in the courtyard when Rook approached him. “Epel, can you please come with me? I wished to talk with you.” Epel placed down his lunch. “Sure, is here fine or do you want to go somewhere private?” Rook looked around and there was a lack of students in the courtyard for sure. “Here is fine.” Rook sat next to Epel and gave him a stern look. “We need to talk about what happened at the museum Epel.”

Epel could feel his own disappointment when Rook said those words and stood up. “Rook, it's fine. It’s blown over and maybe by sometime next month me and Vil should be back to talking. Anyways I should start heading to my next class.” Rook grabbed Epel’s wrist before he could leave. I’m sorry Monsieur Crabapple but you aren’t going anywhere.” Epel looked at Rook confused. “What do you mean?” Epel could hear the yelling of three people from behind him. “You need to talk with him now. This isn’t being discussed about or ignored” a familiar beastman said.

Epel turned around and was surprised to see Jamil and the now-graduated Leona escorting Vil over to Epel. Epel didn’t stay still though he tried to get Rook’s tight grip around his arm off but the hunter seemed to be holding onto him like his life depended on it. When Vil looked at Epel neither of them said anything. Epel wasn’t sure if he should say hi or wave so no reaction was the best reaction he could come up with. Rook looked between the two of them before beginning to talk.

“I know since the museum incident neither one of you has been on good terms. It hurt my heart to see the two of you shoving it under a rug which is why I enlisted the help of Jamil and Leona.” Epel wasn’t sure whether he should give the two of them a death glare or raise his middle finger at them. He knew disappointingly though that Rook looked prepared for both of those outcomes and paused for a moment before Leona started the conversation again.

“It’s not good to leave family issues like this unsolved. Look what happened to me or Idia or Malleus. Someone is going to get hurt if this keeps up.” Epel glared at Leona. “No one's going to get hurt. If we just let it pass it'll be like it never happened for the most part.” Leona gave a tired sigh at Epel’s response and pintched his brow. “You both seem to think that but that’s not the case.” Vil looked at Leona. “I never thought that exactly. I was hoping Epel would open up to me about the situation." Leona rolled his eyes at Vil's response

“Epel was most likely too nervous to talk with you about it. You need to be the one to initiate the conversation Vil. He is your underclassman and can’t exactly read your mind.” Epel felt like everyone’s attention was turned to him when Rook spoke again. “You know you can always come talk to us Monsieur Crabapple if you need to. You have no reason to be nervous.” Epel looked at them all confused “I wasn’t nervous. If you want my honest opinion I didn’t think Vil would want to talk with me after everything that happened.”

Epel looked away from the other four. He didn’t want to see their reactions to what he said. A gentle hand was placed on Epel’s wrist replacing Rook’s. He looked up to see Vil. “Epel, why wouldn’t I have wanted to talk with you?” Epel lowered his gaze. “I ruined your image. My mom ruined your dad’s so it would have been the same for you.” Vil’s gaze softened as he looked at Epel. “You being revealed as my brother would have caused shock but I highly doubt it would have ruined my image. You didn’t need to stay away.”

Epel looked at Vil and saw the pity. It was those same pity stares Rook had been giving him. It was those same pity stares the villagers had given him. It was those same stares that told him he was a poison. Epel ripped his wrist out of Vil’s grip harshly and held it in his hand as if it had just burned him. “Y-you’re lying. I know you are. Th-there’s no way you're not.” Vil reached his hand out to Epel who only backed away from it more.

“I know you’re lyin! I’m a poison to you jus like ev'ryone else! So jus say it! Say I’ma poison to you! SAY IT AND STOP LYING!” Vil looked worried or scared when he looked at Epel. He didn’t care though he knew what Vil was thinking and hugged himself tightly trying to ignore Vil. “Epel you’re not a poison. Who’s been telling you that?” Epel shook his head. “Stop it! Stop lyin! No one else in my town hid the fact I was a poison! So stop it please. JUST ADMIT I AM! ADMIT IT DAMMIT!”

Epel gripped his sleeves and started laughing hysterically. He was sure it was tight enough to rip but he didn’t care. After the laughs came coughing and it felt like something was leaking from Epel’s mouth and dripping off his body.

“IT'S FUNNY REALLY. I'VE BEEN A POISON SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORN SO STOP ACTING LIKE I’M NOT! I HURT EVERYONE!”

[twstinginthewind]

@twst-the-night-away my beloved posted an amazing idea in a chat today

And I had so much fun answering I want to share it here, too.

Deuce seeing Joker for the first time:

There were an awful lot of first-years being sorted through at the commencement ceremony, and Deuce was trying so hard to concentrate, he found himself not paying much attention to many of his fellow classmates at all, and was only vaguely aware of the other new students that shuffled along with him back to Heartslabyul. The next few days, too, were a bit chaotic, with everything that was happening with that new Ramshackle student, that pain in the butt roommate of his, and, oh yeah, that thing happening with Riddle. Plus in classes, he was keeping his head down a lot and trying so hard to focus!! So it took him until the second unbirthday party to notice her.

And he had no idea what took him so long. She had a laugh that he could hear clear across the rose maze, and when she came up to see if she could sample the housewarden's baking, he could barely form a reply, and just shoved a plate at her awkwardly. And she giggled at that, making his heart start feeling funny. And then the little nose wrinkle when she tasted the salty oyster sauce in the tart...

Unfortunately, Deuce was already down bad.

When she leaned over to whisper "You know, Deuce, I think perhaps housewarden Rosehearts should stick to his day job," Deuce replied with a devastatingly clever "kagsgsisjsv". Smooth. As. Silk.

And THEN he had NO idea how she knew his NAME and oh haha ok it turns out she sits behind him in like every class what the hell Deuce why have you not paid attention?

Epel seeing Punch for the first time:

Epel, he notices the big guy during club recruitment. Punch is unsubtly being approached by several of the athletics clubs, and is awkwardly and politely *turning them down*. The heck?? Look at that idjit's *shoulders*! Why's that big lug lettin' all that go to *waste*?! Why is he talkin' to that durned Ashengrotto?? Board games???? What??????

A discussion later (it turns out they share a class or three), and Epel finds out that Punch was just holding out for a hockey club, then saw his dorm leader's floating tablet and wound up getting talked into joining. For the love of lil' green apples, what is WITH this guy? Anyway, they become workout buddies as a result bc Punch doesn't want to fall out of practice just because he's not actively playing.

Epel occasionally tries (unsuccessfully) to get Punch to switch to spelldrive. Maybe one day he'll get a game with him.

More under the cut!

Trey seeing Joker for the first time:

So as we know (as per one of their ceremonial robes vignettes, i forget which), Cater and Trey got a good look at the incoming freshmen as they received their dorm assignments, and tried to guess where each of them would go. Cater commented to Trey about the long-haired girl with the red lipstick, and Trey got a good look at her just as the mirror announced her Heartslabyul assignment. She gave a huge, happy, relieved smile, and he, of course, noticed immediately that her teeth were just perfect. I mean, yes, cute face nice hair and this and that but that smile, huh. This girl flosses.

Rook seeing Bobby for the first time:

Rook periodically revisits his original dorm; he's still quite attached to Savanaclaw, and is very much an admirer of the wild beauty on display within the dorm. He first sees Bobby during one of his clandestine visits - he wasn't expecting to see anyone else using one of his rooftop hiding places, let alone with a bow and arrow! Ah, quelle surprise! And the lad seems to be a good shot, as well. How intriguing! Perhaps he should subtly leave a message regarding the upcoming archery competition in the courtyard...

Floyd seeing Joker for the first time:

What. Was. That. Sound??

Floyd poked his head out of the Mostro lounge kitchen. That music was different~! That wasn't a piano or a guitar or a saxamophone at all! That was chords and melody all at the same time, and a rhythm too! Ohhhhh man. He was itching to dance already. He pushed aside some other students, approaching the little stage where the lounge staged its live performers.

Okay, there was a bassist, boring. Some guy on drums, whatever, anyone can do a drum. Some singer. Okay. What was making that sound though??

Then he saw the last performer. And oh, she was cute. All squishy and adorable, with a big cheery grin. Long swirly hair that bounced with the beat of the music. And that INSTRUMENT! A keyboard on one side, an array of buttons on the other, and a big ol' whatsit. A bellows? Maybe? In between the two big panels, and it squished and stretched in and out while she played.

Floyd was poised to pounce. He wanted to try that, too! It looked so fun!! He was ready to clamber onto the stage when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head around, glaring daggers that quickly retracted. He wasn't gonna be too mad at Azul, even if he was chewing him out for leaving a pan burning on the stove.

After all, he had to ask Azul who this girl was, and then he was gonna wanna try her weird instrument. Maybe he could squeeze it and her at the same time. That'd be fun.

Lilia seeing Sia for the first time:

Sia transferred into NRC as a third year student, and found herself in a slightly awkward position on her first day of classes. Everyone else already knew one another, and eyed the new girl with a hint of suspicion. She wound up taking a seat towards the back of the room, without wondering why there were so many available seats. Lilia was immediately curious. Who was this girl, who was willing to sit in the periphery of Malleus's overwhelming aura? Oh, and is that an oatmilk latte she has, too? He's never seen this kitty before. He'd have to say hello; it wasn't often that he was willing to acknowledge that he was the second-cutest in the room, but he would admit defeat this time, soon as he found out her name.

Sebek seeing Joker for the first time:

Sebek was absolutely aghast. He was glad that Coach Vargas had acknowledged that he was one of the top students in the class - as he SHOULD! Sebek was proud of the results of his training! - but because of that? He was selected as a peer coach to help out some of the human students that haven't quite got the knack of using their physical prowess and magic to fly. Honestly. They're human, he's fae, there's no way to teach that!! If Malleus hadn't made such a deal of how it would reflect well on him and the dorm, Sebek would have refused to do it outright!!

And what a pathetic human they gave him, too. Soft and overfed, sturdy enough on land but fell apart when a mere ten feet above the ground. And the yelling! He would firmly give his instructions, and she would practically scream back at him to stop being so loud and pompous! Ridiculous!! But he had to get her to do well, or his failure would reflect poorly on Malleus-sama.

So he tried. And tried. And shadowed her, giving constant directions, and just getting human attitude back. And just as she finally reached an adequate minimum height for their flight requirements, she whirled on the broom to scream at him again, went pale, and dropped like a stone.

So of course Sebek had to dive after her. And pluck her from the air to keep her from crash landing. And... huh. She's certainly clingy. And why does he smell roses??

He lowers his broom to the ground, holding onto her with one arm, and a red ribbon flutters to the ground after them. He looks down at her, her hair loose and windblown instead of the tight bun he'd been tapping impatiently all day.

And for the first time, he sees a smile cross those ridiculous red lips.

It wasn't unpleasant.

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Driving Habits -Pomefiore Edition

Can they drive? If so, what kind of drivers are they? What are their car habits?

Characters; Vil Shoenheit, Rook Hunt & Epel Felmier

Content; mentions of road rage, swearing

Word Count; 500+

Find the Rest of the Series; Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Ignihyde, Diasomnia

Author’s Note; As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

Vil Shoenheit

He keeps to the rules of the road and somehow got near perfect on his driving exam. He gives all the learning/beginning drivers lessons, regardless if they want them or not.

Listens to classical music and a radio show that discusses any scandals going on in the acting sphere. If he has a role coming up, he will play any songs that he may have to sing. He does not share the aux under any circumstance.

His phone is on silent and is in his carry-on. He wears a bluetooth headpiece in case chaos breaks loose in the ten minutes that he is absent from the dorm.

Keeps emergency beauty supplies, snacks, and an extra change of clothes; both his casual look and his ‘hiding from the press’ get up. He keeps his car clean, and it’s most likely custom to match his preferences.

Just digs his nails into the steering wheel whenever someone cuts him off or rides his ass. He refuses to give into flipping people off or honking at them, even though he really wishes to in the moment.

Rook Hunt

A good driver albeit a bit fast. He sat in during his older siblings’ lessons, and they then taught him. Likes to go out on little joy rides every so often.

You cannot tell me that he doesn’t listen to musicals and opera when he’s driving. He has several playlists dedicated to Vil’s and Neige’s singing roles. He also does not share the aux, unless Vil is in the vehicle.

Keeps his phone on silent, he doesn’t need the pinging to notify him when someone has messaged him or the latest gossip just dropped; he knows.

His trunk is filled with extra crossbows and outdoor gear; he has gotten pulled aside and questioned heavily. He keeps it hidden now. He also has little keepsakes from people he finds interesting.

Doesn’t get road rage, he just chuckles to himself and keeps on driving as if someone didn’t nearly try to drive him off the road. Someone could be flipping him off and he’ll just have that happy look on his face. But he has a dash cam since sometimes truly interesting things do happen.

Epel Felmier

He is a speed demon. GOTTA GO FAST. Vil is giving him lessons, but if anything it just makes him want to go faster. 

Country boi plays country music or “manly” music [whatever that means] when he’s on the road. Will fight people who touch his aux, and will fight over the aux in other people’s cars; he cannot stand Rook’s opera music.

His phone isn’t on silent, but he doesn’t text or call while driving; he got lectured by his meemaw last time. Will outright ignore the voice messages Vil leaves.

Keeps a bunch of promotional items for the family farm in his trunk at all times. He also has some Spelldrive equipment just in case. The only decorations he has are gifts from his parents and meemaw. If anyone teases him about them, he is kicking them out of his car, enjoy walking.

Has bad road rage; swearing up a storm in his accent, flipping them off, honking, the whole shebang. After an incident, he’s forced to have either Vil or Rook be in the car with him at all times.

[thesimpsbasement]

Hello again! I’m the one who requested the TWST with a William/Sherlock s/o. I was wondering if I could request a part 2 with the other 3 dorm leaders and a character of your choice? If that’s alright

Hello anon and sure! Also decided to choose Deuce for this cuz I had a lot of ideas for him and he's just a silly little guy

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Idia Shroud,Deuce Spade

Author:Mod Betty

Warnings/tags:Ace is in this as a side character ig, Idia uses cringe gamer language, honestly I used Sherlock's personality only for Leona's bit for some reason,mama Spade is also here,reader is a bit confused with technology on Idia's part,not proofreaded yet(might find a day yo proofread most of these fics))

Reader is male

Word count:1,310 words

_____________________________

-Finally he's found someone who's as or even more intelligent than him

-He was impressed by the fact you remembered all 810 rules and that you actually followed them! He's thrilled

-Seeing as you hang out with Ace and Deuce he often asks you to tutor them since they might listen to you more

-Sometimes he does get red faced when you correct him on something, from afar it looks like he's ready to cut your head off but you know he's just flustered ,I mean you aren't an idiot to make Riddle's anger pop out

-When inviting you to unbirthday parties he likes to discuss your knowledge from stuff in your world such as how things work without magic and next you know you're giving Riddle a physics lesson.

-Sometimes you have to take Riddle out of his room so he won't overwork himself

-"____ I'm fine besides I'm almost done" Riddle said, his pen continuing to move on the piece of paper " Riddle,dear I'm afraid I can't let you just sit there,besides you've already said that" you say "Oh I guess I did… but that's besides the point I need to get this done as soon as possible" Riddle says continuing what he was doing " Riddle you need to relax ,the assignment isn't going anywhere I can tell by the look on your face that you're tired come I'll make you some tea " you says taking his hand and start practically dragging him towards the kitchen

-You handed him the cup of tea and he took it in his hands,immediately feeling warmth on his palms.Taking a sip he looked at you " This is herbal tea is it not?" He asks " Why of course after all rule 153 states that in the evening we should only drink herbal tea" you smile at him " Oh it's evening already" he hasn't even noticed how much he was actually working maybe you're right,he should take a small break.

-He also likes to use you as an example for his dorm members much to their dismay

-" You are so forgetful you should be more like ____ at least he can remember how to take care of the flamingos " Riddle said while scolding the Adeuce duo

"Ugh Riddle's showing off his boyfriend again" Ace muttered to himself "What was that Ace!?" Riddle asks, face contorting into a frown " N-nothing!"

-Cool he doesn't really care

-At the beginning he only saw you as just another student ,nothing special really except for the fact you can't use magic I guess

-He doesn't need your help with studies,half the time he doesn't even go to classes due to seeing little to no point of going

-When Ruggie asks you to wake up Leona and make him go to class ,you somehow manage to convince him to go.Either a bribe or maybe you have a certain charm that he can't escape from

-During spelldrive training since you can't participate you like to point out how to go about scoring a point,which Leona doesn't really need it but appreciates your concern, will probably through a "If you had magic you would've been on the arena not over there flapping your mouth,herbivore"

-Also likes to play chess with you which honestly takes forever till one of you wins

-One time Ruggie checked on you guys only to see you 2 are in the same position as you were an hour ago

-Sometimes you'd sit on his bed and talk about whatever you want which leads to you 2 throwing snarky remarks at each other until Leona has enough of your smartass and pulls you next to him to shut you up

-" Awee did the Prince lose an argument against a herbivore " you teased which caused the lion to growl " shut it " He hissed which only caused you to chuckle " alright alright big guy " you say wrapping your arms around his neck.

-Omg you're like the overpowered genius anime protag!!( the irony)

-Took a long while to actually meet him considering he never leaves his room so Ortho introduced you to him

-The first thing you took note of is his hair, I mean I'm your world you never saw someone with fire for hair AND it changes depending on his emotions,you're definitely intrigued

-All the praise you spew at him leaves him a flustered and confused mess,I mean he isn't that special is he? But to get compliments from such a highly intelligent person ,it's just like seeing a perfect combo after you beat a song on expert level.

-But there is a slight problem, you have no idea what any of this technology is which leads to Idia having to explain how they work

-"This is a touch screened phone basically you can do whatever you want with it make phone calls,send a message, play games" He explains as you sit there in awe at this tiny object in your hands "I swear where you born in the 1900's or something? You really never saw a phone before" " I actually was though it would be tehnecally 1893" you say trying to test out this phone's functions " oh.. WAIT so does that mean that you also time travelled here!?" Idia exclaims " Guess so though I have to say the future sure looks bright with technology like this" you say smiling " Heh at least you aren't a boomer complaining about the younger generation" he muttered to himself " What's a boomer?"....... "nevermind"

-He just stares at you in awe

-He heavily admires you and always asks you how you got to such a level of intelligence

-Often asks you to tutor him and asks for advice on how to improve academically ,he knows he won't reach your level bit he wants to be a partner you can be proud of

-When he scores well on his test he rushes to Ramshackle with a big grin on his face

"____! Look, I got a 78/100 on the History test!" He says as he shows you the test paper "Good job Deuce I'm so proud!You've sure improved since your last test" you say patting his hair "How about we eat something and if you're willing we can look at what you got wrong so you'll know in the future to not repeat said mistakes" you say as you got up from the sofa to get some snacks

-You don't want to overwhelm Deuce since he's still new at the " being a model student" and you don't want him to overwork himself

-Definitely brags about you to Ace about how he scored better because of you,which only results in Ace teasing him( no one is safe from him"

-"We get it Deuce you're head over heels for your boyfriend don't have to mention him every time you see me" Ace says annoyed

" You're just jealous I got a better score on the test, maybe if you payed attention when he was explaining to us the material fortis test you wouldn't have nearly failed " Deuce says crossing his arms " Yeah yeah whatever lovebird" Ace groans in annoyance

-He also talks about you a lot to his mom and oh boy does his mom love you just by Deuce's description alone,will definitely ask Deuce to bring you over because she's excited to meet you in person

-When you do actually visit ,momma Spade spoils you rotten

-You're hungry? All sorts of treats are on the table.Thirsty? A cup of tea is ready.Want to hear funny and embarrassing moments from Deuce's childhood? She already has a photo album in hand ,much to Deuce's dismay

-Before leaving she thanks you for taking care of her son and is very glad he met someone like you.

[fungifanart]

False Happiness

Characters: Male reader, Yuu!reader, Dire Crowley, all of the students, like literally all of them, Nurse OC that's mentioned by name maybe twice

CW: Cursing, trauma (I think?)

Word count: 4.5k

Disclaimer: All of the students (except Ortho for robot reasons) are depicted as being college age and I will die on this hill.

Notes: It genuinely warmed my heart to see some of y'all asking for a part 2 to this fic so how could I say no?

@obamas-divorced-aunt @sacrificialwife1

One week has passed since the Prefect’s overblot and the silent tension in the air hasn't let up even a little as everyone waits for him to wake up.

It would take the most oblivious person in all of Twisted Wonderland to not notice the stark contrast between before and after the Prefect’s incident. How numerous classes go quiet each day as several key members remain lost in their thoughts or are absent altogether. How grades are already going down as a large group of students are too distracted to complete their assignments.

Of course, Crowley knows better than to fully blame the students for this. They're only like this because of the Prefect’s condition and if he wanted to find the catalyst to blame for it, then he would only need to look into a mirror, but this would only bring his mood down further.

And so, he decides to distract himself by making his rounds across the school and its dorms, much to the dismay of their members.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Upon entering Heartslabyul, Crowley is greeted by the usually cheery sight of an unbirthday party, however, the air feels as though it was physically drained of its light atmosphere as Mr. Trappolla and Mr. Spade are engaged in a very intense discussion that looks like it might turn into a fistfight at any moment. Crowley would normally expect Mr. Clover, Mr. Rosehearts, or even Mr. Diamond to have attempted to break them up by now, however, he looks over to see all three of them distractedly doing some other actions.

He sees the vice housewarden absent-mindedly passing around pastries despite his fingers being littered with bandages covering injuries one might have from cooking while distracted. He sees the orange-haired man making numerous attempts at taking a photo of the tart in front of him for Magicam, but failing due to the trembling of his hands. Finally, he sees the housewarden himself languidly picking at his own tart with a dark expression on his face.

"Mr. Rosehearts. A word, please." Crowley says in order to bring the young man from his thoughts.

With a jolt, the shadow cast over the young man's face lifts as he turns to face Crowley, but not before a look of annoyance flashes across his face upon realizing who he's talking to.

"H-headmage! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Mr. Rosehearts says almost robotically.

"I realize that this must be a trying time both for you and your dorm mates, but I don't think that means you can leave Mr. Trappolla and Mr. Spade to get into yet another fight." Crowley replies while motioning to the two men in question.

The housewarden's eyes go wide and he immediately gets up to go break them up.

Crowley can immediately tell that the other dorms must be out of sorts as well if THIS is the state of Heartslabyul. And so, he leaves the dorm to its own devices and begins walking to Savannaclaw.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Now, Crowley is well aware that he isn't exactly the most liked person among the staff of NRC, especially after his role in the Prefect’s overblot became common knowledge, but he hardly thinks being growled at by every Savannaclaw member he walks past is necessary.

Regardless, he will not be deterred.

He starts making his way to the room of Mr. Kingscholar, but is surprised to instead see him, Mr. Bucchi, and Mr. Howl diligently practicing spelldrive on the field below.

At first, it seems like a regular game, but, upon getting closer, the anger and frustration in the air become so thick that one could slice it.

Crowley waits on the sidelines for them to finish, only to be almost clipped by a spelldrive disk embedding itself in the wall next to his head.

"You must have balls of steel to show your face around here after what happened last week." Mr. Kingscholar says while retrieving the disk with a scowl.

"Control yourself. A housewarden you may be, but do not forget which one of us is the Headmage." Crowley warns, not appreciating the younger man's tone.

"And yet, you still don't act like one." The beastman fires back indignantly.

"Enough. I'm simply here to check on the wellbeings of yourself and the other students..........and also to thank you again for being one of the first at the Prefect's side after the incident." Crowley says while mustering every drop of professionalism he has to give a thankful bow without saying anything petty, "I would've thanked Mr. Clover as well, but he seemed...distracted."

"......Hmph. It was the least I could do after everything we'd clearly put him through." The lion replies curtly, but not before Crowley sees a visible shiver go down his spine and up his tail, no doubt as a result of recalling everything they saw that day, "Anyway, as you can see, we're all doing fine as usual and we're still in the middle of practice so if you'd be SO kind."

Crowley nods in understanding before turning to leave, while still very aware of the piercing glares digging into his retreating back from the wolf and hyena the lion was playing with.

--------‐----------------------------------------------------------------------

Crowley can immediately tell that the events of last week had a profound effect on the housewarden of Octavinelle purely by the Mostro Lounge being closed on a weekday.

'It’s worse than I thought...' Crowley thinks to himself, knowing how Mr. Ashengrotto would never risk losing even a single thaumark unless something serious was going on.

Crowley knocks on the office door and enters upon hearing a distracted "Come in" from the other side.

He enters the Lounge and walks towards the back to check on the octo-mer in his office and passes by the brothers Leech who seem too engrossed in their own discussion to notice him.

"I must say, I was quite surprised to see the Mostro Lounge closed during prime business hours, Mr. Ashengrotto." Crowley begins, causing the young businessman to look up from his documents with an unamused glare.

"Yes, well, two of my best workers are still out of it from the incident last week and business has been slow over the last few days anyway so I figured closing for a day or two would do everyone some good." Mr. Ashengrotto says while returning to writing on several pieces of paper at once.

'Yourself especially.' Crowley thinks, noting the dark circles under the young man's eyes.

"If you came in just to question how I choose to handle my business, then I'd appreciate it if you'd see yourself out now." The silver-haired man says while clearly running out of patience.

"O-of course. My apologies." Crowley gives a slight bow before exiting the establishment while still going unnoticed by the brothers Leech. He remains focused on his task, but manages to catch one sentence as he walks by, "Those voices we heard at the end...they were ours, weren't they?"

-------------------------------------------------------------

When entering the Scarabia dorm, one can usually expect to hear the sounds of a parade or even just general merrymaking and have a solid fifty-fifty chance of being correct. This time, however, Crowley is met with complete silence.

He makes his way through the halls, only encountering a handful of students, before reaching the housewarden's chambers.

Just as Crowley is about to knock, he suddenly is grabbed by the arm and dragged into a dark hallway where he finds himself face to face with the vice housewarden himself, eyes practically glowing with fury.

"Dire Crowley, you are going to listen to me VERY carefully." Mr. Viper begins, not waiting for a response from the headmage, "I don't know where the hell you got the impression that you can just waltz on in, but you can’t. Thanks to your little fuck-up, I've had to deal with a mopey Kalim who can't even be bothered to leave his room most of the time, all without the Prefect to cheer him up, meaning that his grades are already suffering and his parents are on MY ass for it! With that in mind, I'd suggest turning around and steering very clear of Scarabia until you fix this mess you've made." He concludes, leaving the headmage in stunned silence.

-------------------------------------------------------------

After being essentially kicked out of the Scarabia dorm, Crowley feels reasonably nervous at how his arrival will be received by the students of Pomefiore. And lo and behold, he was right to feel this way.

Before he can step one foot through the gates, an arrow sails by dangerously close to his face and embeds itself into the ground next to him. Of course, it wouldn’t take much brainpower to determine the culprit, given the students the Prefect is acquainted with, if he weren't already striding towards the frazzled headmage.

"Dearest me! My sincerest apologies, Proviseur Corbeau! I was practicing my archery in the nearby forest when my hand oh so tragically slipped! Are you uninjured?" Mr. Hunt inquires while inspecting Crowley for any cuts or gashes.

"Fortunately, your arrow just missed me, Mr. Hunt." Crowley says, not missing the minute 'tch' that escapes the young man's lips at his response, "In the future, I would recommend you take more care when aiming so as to avoid any real tragedies." He concludes with a hint of warning in his voice.

"But of course! You can expect nothing less!" The young huntsman exclaims, "Ah, but where are my manners? What brings you to our humble dorm on this fine day?"

"It’s my understanding that the Prefect's incident last week has left a significant number of students quite disturbed. So I figured I would check in with you all to ensure you're in good health!" Crowley says with aplomb.

"Ah! Truly you are a role-model for headmages across all of Twisted Wonderland! I already feel my eyes watering at how you care for your students!" Mr. Hunt says while wiping a tear from his eye, "But rest assured, the students of Pomefiore are no worse for the wear than before the incident. So a check-in will not be necessary!"

"Are you quite sure, Mr. Hunt? I should like to talk to Mr. Schoenheit and Mr. Felmier myself just to be sure, seeing as how they are both close friends to the Prefect-" Crowley begins, but is cut off by the young huntsman.

"I CAN ASSURE YOU, Proviseur Corbeau. Roi du Poison and Monsieur Cherry Apple are in NO NEED of conversing with you." The young man says while maintaining his normal composure, but with a hint of warning and something more sinister behind his honeyed words.

".....If that is truly how you feel, then I will not press the issue further. Good day to you, Mr. Hunt." Crowley turns and begins walking back to the hall of mirrors, ultimately deciding to heed the huntsman's warning against poking the bear.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Continuing on to the Ignihyde dorm, Crowley hadn't expected much to change, given the introverted nature of its housewarden and students. However, when opening the front door, expecting to see and hear no one, he instead sees all of the students bustling about with all manner of cleaning supplies in hand.

"May I ask what's going on here?" Crowley questions a passing student.

"Housewarden Shroud enacted a dorm-wide cleaning initiative after the incident a week ago." The student responds hurriedly.

"Correct, which we are STILL behind schedule on because no one in this dorm knows how to pick up after themselves, apparently!" The younger Shroud says in exasperation as he approaches the headmage, causing the other student to scurry off.

"Ah, the younger Shroud! Lovely to see that you're doing well!" Crowley exclaims.

"I'm sure it is, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave now." The younger Shroud states.

"Excuse me??? Why???" Crowley asks, taken aback.

"Idia's explicit orders when announcing the cleaning initiative were that only pre-approved individuals would be allowed inside the dorm until its completion and that Dire Crowley is to be permanently off that list for fear of tarnishing the cleanliness with his 'horrendous vibes'." The cyborg concludes matter-of-factly before beginning to push the headmage back towards the front entrance.

"Wh-- Of all the childish--" Crowley takes a breath to collect himself, despite currently being pushed towards the door, "May I at least ask why your housewarden would enact such an initiative in the first place?"

The younger Shroud pauses for a moment before speaking, "Very well, I will show you a recording from my memory of when I questioned Idia on this decision, but you must leave right after."

Crowley hears a few beeping sounds from the young cyborg before the plating on his forearm opens up to project a video in front of him.

"Brother, I fail to see the point in all of this!" The younger Shroud says in the recording.

"Ortho, didn't you see all those memories of the Prefect tripping over random stuff we've left lying around all over the dorm and getting laughed at for it?! That wouldn't have happened if we were more diligent about cleaning up after ourselves! Taking it a step further, we basically caused his overblot!" The older Shroud's recording replies urgently.

"Idia, I HIGHLY doubt--" The recording would've continued, but is instead cut off by the older Shroud in the flesh.

"Ortho, I believe I was very clear about whether Crowley is to be allowed in the dorm." He says in an uncharacteristically stern tone of voice.

The young cyborg quickly turns around in surprise, "I-Idia! I know! I'm sorry! I was actually just in the middle of seeing him out."

"Well, then let's see him out together." The older Shroud says before joining his brother in fully pushing Crowley out the front door, "Have a good day, headmage." He says as the door shuts forcefully behind him before Crowley can get even one word in.

-----------------------------------------------------------

With his rounds almost complete, Crowley arrives at his final destination: The Diasomnia dorm, which somehow feels even more gloomy than usual.

As he approaches the front entrance, he's nearly struck by three separate bolts of green lightning, but continues with determination and opens the front door only to be greeted by Mr. Vanrouge hanging upside down right in front of him.

"I see that you aren't too keen on taking a hint, headmage." The bat fae says nonchalantly.

"And I see that you're doing well, Mr. Vanrouge." Crowley replies while walking past him into the foyer, "I was hoping to check in with Mr. Draconia and his bodyguards. Are they available right now?"

The bat fae lands on the ground and gives a snide grin, eyes almost radiating distaste for the man in front of him, "Even if they were available, what makes you think they'd want to see you? As you recall, Malleus was quite upset after everything that happened last week."

"Be that as it may, it's still my duty as headmage to ensure the wellbeing of my students." Crowley responds, eliciting a mocking laugh from Mr. Vanrouge.

"Oh, that is QUITE rich coming from the same headmage that somehow managed to cause a magicless student to overblot! We ALL saw how you so heartlessly told the Prefect he can’t go home." The bat fae retorts ruthlessly.

"And I'VE told you all numerous times that that wasn’t how I--" Crowley's rebuttal is cut off by a new booming voice filling the room.

"Excuses are a thaumark a dozen, Dire Crowley." Mr. Draconia says maliciously while entering the foyer and being followed by his two scowling bodyguards, "You've made an impressive show of playing 'The concerned headmage', but I think it’s time for you to take your performance elsewhere."

"I--" Crowley is about to argue when suddenly he feels his phone receiving a call, "Oh, for the LOVE OF--" He breathes in before turning around to answer the call, "Yes? Crowley speaking."

"Dire Crowley? This is Nurse Goht. I was told to call you if the Prefect's condition changed?" The nurse says over the phone, causing Crowley’s heart to skip a beat before turning around and putting the phone on speaker.

"I'm calling to tell you that the Prefect has regained consciousness, but--" The rest of the nurse's sentence is inaudible over the sound of the four other men in the room rushing out of their dorm at a full sprint.

Crowley considers following them, but remembers that the nurse had more to say, "I'm terribly sorry, but I didn't catch the second half of your sentence. Would you mind repeating it?" He asks cautiously.

Nurse Goht clears his throat on the other end before continuing, "Well..."

-----------------------------------------------------------

You'd had quite an interesting awakening with the first thing you saw being Grim's tearstained face rubbing against yours and then being told by the nurse that you'd been asleep for a whole week.

"Oh crap! I'll need to apologize to everyone for making them worry. Geez, and I can already see all the homework I'll have to catch up on." You say before entering deep thought about your next actions.

You're taking the time to plan out who you'll talk to first while comforting Grim who is blubbering unintelligibly in your lap when you're startled by the door to the infirmary suddenly slamming open to let in a large group of familiar faces, all out of breath as if they'd run all the way here.

The nurse tries to tell everyone to give you space, but that doesn't stop Floyd or Kalim as they immediately tackle-hug you back onto the bed with abandon. You're then met with a barrage of the others talking to you at once.

"We all heard from Sebek! How are you feeling???" Deuce asks urgently.

"You sure took your time, didn't you, herbivore?" Leona says nonchalantly, despite his tail swaying back and forth happily.

"All the stress from waiting for you to wake up was bad for my heart, y'know!" Ruggie whines from your bedside.

"You gave us all quite the scare back there." Jade comments.

"I'm just glad you're okay! I barely knew what to do with myself after what happened!" Kalim says while rubbing his face against your shoulder.

"Speaking of, due to those recent events, I've drafted a new contract with terms that I think you'll find more equitable than the previous ones." Azul says while fishing through his coat pockets for the contract in question.

"I'm willing to help you catch up on the material you missed, if you'd like." Riddle offers while already taking out his notebook.

"Oh come on, Riddle. He JUST woke up from a week-long coma after overblotting. Doesn't he deserve even a little break?" Trey points out.

"Trey, that's exactly why he needs to--" Riddle would've continued, but Trey's last statement compells you to speak up.

"Wait, what? What do you mean 'overblotting'? Who overblotted?" You say in confusion.

A wave of silence washes over the room as everyone takes in what you said.

"WH-- HUMAN, THIS IS NO TIME FOR JOKES." Sebek scolds you as you look at him with genuine confusion in your eyes.

"Sebek, I'm not joking! I actually have no idea what you guys are talking about! Did someone overblot while I was unconscious or something??" You say while racking your brain for any applicable memories.

"You mean you seriously don't remember?" Silver asks with concern in his voice.

"Well, the last thing I DO remember is making my way to Crowley's office 'cause he wanted to talk to me about something, but I tripped at the top of the stairs and fell all the way back down and blacked out." You say thoughtfully.

Jamil quickly speaks up before anyone else, "Right! Of course! A random student ended up overblotting near where you fell and we'd assumed that he was the reason why you were unconscious! Right, guys?" He says while making eye contact with some of the others and they nod their heads in agreement.

"Hmm, I do think I remember feeling an earthquake and seeing that black miasma that always shows up before I blacked out so that tracks." You say as you reevaluate your memories, "Oh yeah! I still need to hear what Crowley wanted to talk to me about! Do you guys know where he is?"

What you weren't expecting was an immediate "NO!" from everyone present before Ace speaks up.

"I wouldn't worry about that! It was probably just some generic progress report about him trying to get you back to your homeworld--" Ace's sentence is cut off by Deuce throwing his hand on top of his mouth, but that doesn't stop you from hearing the end of it.

"My 'homeworld'? .....Alright guys, come on. I thought we were past this." You say in an unamused tone.

"Uh...past what, exactly?" Epel questions cautiously.

"Oh, don't play dumb! I know my hometown was pretty remote compared to everyone else's homes, but you don't have to go acting like it was in a completely different world!" You accuse Epel as you feel Floyd, Kalim and Grim go stiff in your lap.

"Y-your home...town?" Floyd repeats in a shaking voice.

"'Was'?" Grim quotes nervously.

"Yes? My hometown was destroyed by a freak hurricane a little while after I came here? I'm pretty sure you guys would remember that, considering how I shut myself in Ramshackle for a week after I found out." You say, once again, with great confusion, but also sadness at remembering the deaths of your family.

Another wave of silence washes over the room, this time, accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature as everyone's faces go pale.

"What is happening?" Idia whispers to Ortho.

"No idea." Ortho whispers back.

"A-ah! But of course! How could we forget such a painful time for our dear Trickster? You have our most sincere apologies!" Rook says while elbowing Epel and Vil.

"Y-yeah, you're right. We're sorry for bringing up bad memories." Epel says while bowing apologetically.

"Indeed, how careless of us. How about we go fetch you some refreshments to make it up to you?" Vil offers while already motioning for the others to follow him out the door.

"Oh-- no, it's okay! You really don't have to!" You try to protest, but most of the students have already cleared out, leaving just Floyd, Kalim, Ruggie and Grim to keep you company.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Trey can already feel death glares from some of the others as they walk out into the hallway outside the nurse's office. Of course, he knows that he kind of deserves it for dropping the ball like that.

However, a new voice breaks the silence before anyone else can.

"I assume you all just finished speaking with the Prefect?" The headmage says while walking towards their group.

"Yes, but we still don't know what's going on!" Cater says urgently.

The headmage sighs before responding, "It would seem that the Prefect was in a worse state than we thought. After Mr. Draconia and the others left, I spoke with the nurse some more and found out that the Prefect seems to have repressed all of his memories from his homeworld and unconsciously rewritten his current ones." He explains.

"Wh-- rewritten how?" Jack asks.

"From what we've gathered, the Prefect seems to think that he's always lived in Twisted Wonderland and the reason he can’t go home is that it was destroyed." Crowley concludes with a troubled expression.

Trey is at a loss for how to process this information, "So...what do we do now?"

Trey's question hangs in the air for several minutes as they all wonder how they could possibly proceed in this situation.

The silence is finally broken by none other than Malleus.

"I say we do nothing." The dragon fae says, earning confused stares from Trey and the others, "The Prefect’s overblot made it exceedingly clear that his memories from his homeworld were a continuous source of pain for him, which is why his brain went to such lengths to repress them. Therefore, if we play along with these new memories he's created then he won't have to face that pain anymore. 'Ignorance is bliss' as they say." The housewarden proposes.

"But are we willing to accept that burden?" Lilia speaks up, "I understand your wish to protect your friend, but if something happens that causes his old memories to resurface then he may end up in a worse state than before. He may even overblot again." He warns.

".....Then it's up to us to make sure that doesn't happen." Trey says resolutely.

"Heh, you've finally said something I can agree with." Leona remarks, "Though, I'm surprised that the 'headmage' over here isn't jumping for joy already. If the Prefect thinks his home doesn't exist anymore then he doesn't have to keep pretending to look for a way to send him back."

"I will have you know that I have been and will continue to look for a way to send him home!" Crowley says, getting looks of genuine surprise, "Whether he remembers them or not, the Prefect still has a family in his homeworld that is waiting for him to return. With that being the case, my duty to him as headmage has not changed. I will see to it that he gets home, no matter the cost." He concludes, earning only a few unimpressed huffs.

'......huh.' Trey thinks to himself, 'I'm interested to see how long this sentiment lasts.'

"Hmph, very well. Let's assume he's telling the truth for now." Riddle says with authority, "In the meantime, we all know what we must do, correct?"

They all nod in response, ready for the long road ahead.

-------------------------------------------------------------

And so, they all begin lying to the Prefect.

They never once bring up his homeworld, or rather, homeTOWN ever again.

They never ask about his family and specifically avoid talking about their own in front of him unless he asks.

Whenever it seems like he might remember even a part of the truth, one of them always distracts him long enough for the memories, the pain, to reshroud themselves in fog.

Trey invites him to an unbirthday party. Kalim takes him on a magic carpet ride high above the clouds. Leona challenges him to a game of chess. Ruggie snatches something from his pocket to get him to chase him. All of this amongst numerous other ploys.

In every instance, the usually intelligent and inquisitive Prefect always ends up stopping right at the cusp of remembrance, as if even he is unconsciously holding himself back.

Of course, they all realize this may seem immoral from an outside perspective. That the Prefect may end up hurt even worse because of their actions.

However, if they have the power to preserve the smile on his face when he sees them for even a day more, to keep the fire of hope burning inside him for just a moment longer, then they will use it without hesitation.

After everything he's done for them, they would do anything to protect their beloved Prefect.

[20elements]

I’ll be discussing some of my favorite perspectives on each of Night Raven College’s seven dorms and/or their chapters. If I sound like I’m using “fighting words”, it’s not my purpose to roast or insult any characters (I just like reading my own words). A lot of these may also tie into the deadly sin their Overblotters embody. Be forewarned that there will be Chapter 7 spoilers and more in this entry.

Heartslabyul - Rush the Roses Red

For why Heartslabyul marks our first chapter, I’ll get the obvious explanations out of the way first: We know both the game’s title and which dorm’s based on Wonderland itself. Not surprisingly, we get Ace and Deuce as joint tritagonists even before Chapter 1 starts. Additionally, the Queen of Hearts’ role in Alice was relatively short, so it’s easy to see why Heartslabyul would get the shortest hence first chapter in the game. But what I really want to go into is Riddle Rosehearts.

We now know that Chapter 1 is earlier than the writers had planned to explain Blot, but they still use so many puddle scenes to keep us in anticipation. And who better to use than Riddle, the irritable teapot despot? If I’m not mistaken, there were more Blot sightings in Chapter 1 than any other, not to mention how soon we would fight his Overblot. As Chapter 6 would confirm, Riddle easily produces Blot because of both his temperament and his exhaustive use of magic. In short, because Riddle's so quick to anger, he's also quick to OB, which is why he's up first.

Savanaclaw - Pawn Promotion

“If you intend to stay in this dorm, there is but one rule you have to follow. Obey me.” —Leona Kingscholar

What makes Leona so effortlessly charismatic is not only his strength and skills, but more importantly, how he strategically instructs his underlings just like a game of chess (in good faith to Scar’s campaign). As long as his leadership guides his team where needed, Leona can always get away with slacking himself; even the Spelldrive Club attests to this. But the clearest example is in Chapter 2, go figure.

For starters, Leona doesn’t have a high opinion of Ruggie’s UM, yet he invests a great deal into the hyena. Leona turns Ruggie into a serial “assassin” who successfully injures so many potential competitors, including even some vice housewardens. He even gets Ruggie a UM buff to carry a stadium’s worth of people. (When I first saw Chapter 2, I even wondered if Ruggie would be the one to OB instead, tbh.) 

As efficient as Leona’s tactics usually are, however, the king himself barely moves a square. When cornered, Leona just drops the ball on his plans, yet Overblots when pressed further. Still, as lazy as Leona is, stepping too close to the king is dangerous for both parties, but on this occasion, he doesn’t bring home a “checkmate”.

Octavinelle - Inciting the Impoverished

In order to make my point about Octavinelle, or at least Azul, I’ll also have to make this about “us”, or the MC. In Chapter 3, we are both Azul’s foil and a testament to his avarice. It’s harrowing enough for the MC that we’re isekai’d into TW with zero superpowers, but now our closest friends are “un-maged” and we lose our only shelter for trying to save them. In the end, we’re left with… Jack—whoescortsintolion’sdenandfindsushelp!! 

(…Ahem.) So for once the villain’s challenging the MC, our stakes are direct, and we have to explore options ourselves to protect our livelihood. In fact, this is the only chapter so far where the MC proactively contributes to the story. And although we still need help from reluctant allies, we ultimately come up with a solution that foils Azul’s plans completely.

So why is this significant to Tako Bell? Because the MC embodies everything that Azul’s afraid of becoming: a “nothing”. Azul attributes his own self worth to his possessions, but after his greed reaches the MC and pushes us into survival mode, Azul gets outwitted by someone so empty-handed. In contrast to the MC, none of Azul’s many gifts could prevent Leona from destroying his prized contracts. When Azul is reduced to desperation, even his most trusted Leech Bros. turn on him; at that point, not even Azul’s OB would save him from defeat. Justice couldn’t be more poetic in this chapter.

“Sorry, Azul. You’re just not as dastardly a villain as ___ is.” —Leona

Scarabia - Veiled Venom

At this point, Jamil is notorious for “acting mid” to hide his charts, no small thanks to social hierarchy. But TW does even more to hide our dragons; remember the housewarden greetings? Unlike other dorms, if you’re sorted into Scarabia, Kalim gives you a nice warm welcome describing only the perks of your medicine; no indication of side effects whatsoever. He’s not here to lie, but Kalim’s hospitality masks Scarabia’s fangs as effectively as Jamil’s cookings lure prey. 

And then there’s the timing of Chapter 4; as if to keep most of the student body in the dark from Jamil’s potential, Scarabia’s story takes place in the middle of winter break (go figure, the usual tritagonists are off-campus too). As a result, only a relative few are around to witness the first vice warden OB this year.

“Mediocre, nothing. He's easily one of the top magicians in the entire school, to say nothing of Scarabia!” —Azul

But while Jamil is sold as a dark horse and established as Scarabia’s true face, we owe Kalim another look. As carefree as he is, Kalim’s potential is also a crouching tiger. He was able to surprise the Octavinelle guests twice, with a heart strong enough to deflect Jade’s truth serum and an abundantly resourceful UM for the sea creatures to use (ntm Azul’s potential cash cow). Yet, Jamil belittles Kalim the same way he himself dreads and it becomes his undoing in Chapter 4.

"You clearly don't appreciate Kalim's power for what it is, then." --Azul

Pomefiore - Mirror Mirror Magnified

“As I often remind you, I spend more time looking at you than you do looking at yourself in the mirror.” —Rook Hunt

Chapter 5 is no exception to reflecting its mascot in some way, but it’s because of Vil’s pride that the story does a few things new. As a deadly sin, pride is often considered the “mother of all sins” and yet a reasonable amount can also be a virtue. Until Vil crossed the line, the story even justifies the confidence he exudes. Hence my gist: Vil's "magic mirror" is not merely on his wall (nor pocket), but the very world around him.

All of the previous Overblotters qualify as antagonists throughout their chapters, but Vil, despite a few quarrels, has mostly remained on our side. His motives may be self serving, but he puts an earnest effort into training his team. While his critiques may be harsh, Vil explains in painstaking detail why he finds them necessary, if not agreeable. Whatever his faults, I’d argue that Vil’s the most leaderlike out of all the housewardens bar none. And when Vil deserves to be proud, the story smiles on him…

Just as Pomefiore boasts being NRC’s oldest dorm, Vil is representing the whole campus rather than just his dorm (ntm it’s Chapter 5 that recalls “Piece of My World”). Vil's pride continues to be mirrored, now using the coliseum he's performing on. Thus, when his ego does drive him out of line, we fight Vil’s OB in this very location, where the weather now sucks, “repairmen” fill his audience, and the stage is wrecked. (To add insult, the masses were off-stadium to watch Vil's brainwashed rival instead.) Chapter 5's whole mirror theme comes full circle when "Spudling 2" literally reflects Vil's own power against him two-fold, finishing his OB off. This battle even compromises his team’s ability to perform at their best afterwards. 

“The skies were clear and sunny before, yet now a tempest rages... Truly, it is like a reflection of Vil's own heart.” —Rook

So we see just how much Vil’s ego can hurt himself, but the story does still give him a lot to be proud of. Even if his OB wrecks the place, Vil’s the first boss we fight outside of his dorm and it’s on NRC’s grand stage. While drawing the line between a healthy pride and its sinful counterpart, Chapter 5 uses everything to reflect Vil in both cases.

Ignihyde - Buried Blazes Burn Blue

“Maybe to Idia and Ortho, this nightmarish situation is the reality and their life at school was more like a dream. One they’ll forget as soon as they wake up.” —Riddle

Sounds about right, we don’t even get a tour of the blue dorm in their own chapter! Instead we get STYX, which is a glorified prison as far as Idia’s concerned and that sums up his mentality. Idia rarely has the heart to explore opportunities outside, but will sing like a canary inside his own fort. But more deeply than the STYX as a whole, the most powerful metaphor for Idia’s heart is Tartarus.

Idia has a dangerous UM buried several stories underground in a fixed location and reaching it is more tedious than its stair count. If a mage’s UM reflects their heart, this tells us just how trapped Idia feels. All his talent and passion are forced under a tight lid until it bubbles up and bursts. Case in point, when we do dig deep enough, literally all hell breaks loose: Idia’s Overblot battle outscales any of the previous...

…and may take a while to break down. It’s inferred that Idia’s curse burned enough Blot from creating his own Phantom. And although he still experienced a “rush”, Idia is still level enough to talk to Ortho pragmatically and be self-aware of his own OB (a first). Speaking of, Idia’s not the only trapped heat now venting; we also have Ortho who’s been below Tartarus’ gate for nearly a decade but has consumed enough Phantoms to cause this whole incident and become the giant “Hades” we see.

In addition to the Blot burner, if I assume that Phantom Ortho is backing OB Idia without draining him like the usual, Idia gets the perks of OB free of price! All the more reasonable then that our battle against the Super Shroud Bros. would take three whole phases alongside other housewardens, Rook, Epel, and three Thunder Spears to best! Meanwhile, Idia heals at every turn, inflicts burn debuffs, and uses his “triple threat” more freely than previous OB bosses. This is the monster we find at the bottom of Tartarus—the Idia we unravel.

Also notable are Idia’s flame colors. He confirms that touching his hair wouldn’t burn us normally, but as long as blue’s hotter than orange, that tells me it’s trapped heat. But when he’s extremely pissed, Idia lets his sparks fly orange and while cooler than blue, it’s widespread enough to become his ultimate during his final OB phase. Just as his flames reflect his emotions, trapped or freed, the Tartarus towers that symbolize his depressors are the opposite element—a deep freezer for the Phantoms. 

Diasomnia - The Truest Tall Tales Told

Silver: “This isn’t a game. This is our reality.”

Idia: “W-wow! Man, that was totally protagonist dialogue! I wish I could say cool stuff like that…”

Even by TW’s standards, the Diasomnia tribe looks straight out of a fairy tale in body and soul (go figure, they even have real Fae). They’re not trying to be fictitious, but members of other dorms may still find them “chuuni”. Conversely, Diasomnia can make the rest of TW look “realistic” by comparison. And I honestly find this amusing—just picture a more “normal” sports team losing to fantasy warriors; the Spelldrive results would be even less surprising but in the most comical way possible.

On the flipside, it’s not unreasonable for Diasomnia’s characters to have a peculiar view of others as well. Take Sebek, who patronizes mankind and barely wants anything to do with us. His background might have something to do with that—Sebek grew up with very lofty figures like Malleus and Lilia to look up to, long enough to skew his own standards. But his case is a much smaller example of my point compared to the most mythical housewarden in the game, Malleus Draconia…

“Even if I had great power, I couldn’t get anything. I keep losing them. Everyone will get up from their seats and leave me. …There is no one to invite me anymore…” —Malleus

A deity among mages, Malleus embodies many “unrealistic expectations” and probably feels that the real world has no place for someone like him. His own common sense sounds alien to everyone else’s (including his own dorm members’ at times) and vice versa. Yet here he is in this reality being feared for his strength and isolated by his own lifestyle. To add to his grievances, two of the few people Malleus could get along with have plans to leave. Overall, this is not a reality Malleus is happy with and his solution couldn’t be more on point: Trap everyone in an Infinite Tsukuyomi.

“If you surrender to sleep, 1000 years will pass in a blink. You will all become the main characters of a fairy tale.” —Malleus

Sounds a lot like Silver, who’s already a shining knight in all but armor. His UM is literally NiGHTS Into Dreams and helps us traverse literal fantasies. But ironically, the most fantastical dream we visit is Lilia’s true story (aside from the added guests) and it takes us along a mapped RPG quest. Back to my point, what’s real for Diasomnia is a fairy tale for everyone else. Only way my perspective can come full circle is if Malleus’ OB fight takes place in a dream world as well, but Chapter 7 is still a ways from done as I’m typing this.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi, Miss Raven! Since you seem to be a Leona fan, can you explain what his plan and goal was in book 2?

Eh… I don’t think being a Leona fan is a prerequisite to understand his motives and plan 😅 AND FOR THE RECORD, I DOn’T LIKE KINgSCHOLAR, OKAy??????? (<- tsundere)

It’s spelled out pretty plainly in book 2, albeit in a sort of scattered way. Here’s the Sparknotes:

Many of Savanaclaw students tend to get picked up by professional magift/spelldrive scouts at the inter-dorm tournament. However, they haven’t been able to stand out recently because Diasomnia (and more specifically Malleus) crushes them in their matches. This has made many Savanaclaw students worry about their futures once they graduate. Leona, being the dorm leader, decides to cook up a plan to help his dorm members.

Importantly, Leona also has complex selfish motives (which, sadly, are not fully explored in the game). He, being the scorned second born prince of his country, was put down his entire life and compared to his older brother in spite of him constantly trying to demonstrate his merits. His whole bid in book 2, then, is partly fueled by a personal disdain for Malleus, wanting to help his dorm out, and that desire to prove he has what it takes to be a “leader”. This is his time to shine—and that’s why he reacts so poorly when his plan falls through. This failure is, to him, just another kick to the teeth, another reminder that he was so stupid to have had any hope at all, that he shouldn’t have even bothered trying. (The light novel explains Leona’s innermost feelings a lot better than the game does, so I’d recommend that you read this post for more context!)

Anyway, Leona decides to use dirty tactics to get their main rivals and most threatening opposing players out of the way so Savanaclaw can have the spotlight. He has Ruggie use his UM, Laugh with Me (which allows him to force others to mimic his own body movements), to injure other students who may pose a threat in the tournament. Notable casualties include Jamil from Scarabia and Trey from Heartslabyul. The ultimate goal, however, is to take out Malleus.

Leona made a deal with Azul in preparation for his attack on Malleus. He basically forks over a lot of money in exchange for a magic enhancing potion. The idea is that Ruggie will take this potion, which will magnify his UM and allow him to control a lot more people at once. When Malleus comes out, Ruggie will control the bodies of all the spectators in the arena and they’re supposed to… trample Malleus I guess? (It’s not clear if Leona’s intention was to outright kill Malleus this way or just to incapacitate him to the point where he cannot participate in the tournament.)

Leona reasons that Malleus would not be able to use his magic on civilians, so he would be caught in a position where he cannot escape, but… well, let’s just say there’s a reason why book 2 is commonly regarded as the “worst” of the main story. There are SO many plot holes book 2 might as well be swiss cheese 😭 Like, what the heck is stopping Malleus from teleporting away??? Or using magic to heal himself back to full health if he did get injured??

Leona’s plan is so stupid and unimpressive in book 2 that it makes HIM also look stupid and unimpressive. I always, always have to get a dig in whenever I discuss this part of the main story because it makes me SO salty. It’s such a half assed introduction to Leona as a character and it forever stains his legacy… 💢 You’ll find many book 2 rewrite/fix-it posts and fics because of this. (I have one of my own; you can read that here!)