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joequiinn · 5 months

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The Dos & Don'ts of Fake Dating | E.M. x reader | pt. 6

[chap five] | [all chapters here] | [chap seven]

summary: You propose a crazy idea to the resident freak of Hawkins, Eddie Munson. But maybe he was even crazier for agreeing to it…

notes & tropes: fem reader, slow burn, faking dating, opposites attract, bratty rich bitch reader, super minor revenge plot, not-quite-enemies-to-lovers

a/n: I feel like this chapter took forever to write, but it was literally only a week (also shoutout to @eddiernunson for helping with it!)??? I put so much work into this one, so I can't wait to see what everyone thinks! Updates will probably change to weekly for the time being, as chapters are starting to get longer. Enjoy~~

wc: 5.7k

taglist: @a-queen-blr @costellation-hunter @daisyridleyss @damon-loves-pie @damp4eddie @delilaaahhh @eddiernunson @em0220 @frogtape @fromasgardandback @kthomps914 @lotrefcp @marrowfrog00 @mewchiili @munsonssweets @no-bueno-writer @rach5ive @sav12321 @sheneedsrocknroll92 @steeldaisies @stormgrl19

Chapter Six

Eddie once again met you outside the school on Monday morning, waiting - presumably for you - near the front entrance. As you spotted one another, Eddie grinned flirtatiously, and you relaxed your face, realizing that before making eye contact with Eddie that your jaw was clenched and your gaze was harsh. You hadn’t realized how cold your neutral expression was up until recently.

Eddie pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, meeting you at the front door in time to open it for you. The corner of your lip pulled up in thanks, and once you were both inside, Eddie rested his arm over your shoulders, causing you to let out a surprised breath as your neck grew just a touch warm. You were glad that you happened to have a book to hold and keep your hands occupied, as you just knew without it you’d have crossed your arms or let them awkwardly hang at your side; even in previous real relationships, you weren’t a particularly physical person.

“Princess,” He greeted mockingly, as if he knew putting his arm around you would make you tense.

Your eyes narrowed a little as you taunted back, “Freak.”

“I thought we said only nice nicknames.” Eddie turned his over-dramatic, sad eyes on you.

“I also remember telling you not to call me ‘princess.’” You retorted, intentionally avoiding his eyes.

“Ah, but it suits you, doesn’t it?” Eddie continued teasing as various students looked your way, some doing double-takes as they realized who you were walking with. Your eyes briefly flicked up to his face, but you looked away before he could notice your gaze.

As the pair of you approached your locker, you were almost disappointed that no one was lingering there prepared to try and drag you back in with the crowd you always knew. It was nearly surprising just how quickly everyone seemed to leave you in the dust the moment you started feigning any interest in Eddie - years of friendship really seemed to mean nothing, huh? But the disappointment didn’t show on your face, as it was outweighed by the opposite sense of relief that you didn’t have to put on too much of a show, that your plan had done its job almost too well.

Once you were at the locker, Eddie let his arm fall from you so you could shuffle around in your bag and your locker. You both took that opportunity to look around, and you nearly smiled when you realized Eddie was doing exactly the same thing as you - that he was looking for reactions, that he was looking for the faces of people that knew either of you. So, you noted, he seemed to be enjoying this charade, too.

“So,” Eddie eventually leaned against the wall of lockers to look at you as you fussed with your belongings, “my band has shows on Tuesday nights.”

“You’re in a band?” You ask with a hint of disbelief, looking up at his face for a moment, which furrowed a little at your question.

“I did mention I play guitar.”

“You didn’t mention the guitar or the band.” You countered smartly, to which Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Alright, fine,” You smirked to yourself while closing your locker, leaning your shoulder against it to mirror Eddie’s pose, “You should come to our show tomorrow.”

Before you could stop yourself, you made a critical face at the suggestion. Based on the way he dressed, you knew exactly the kind of music Eddie most likely played, and you were far from interested in that. And you had no idea if he was good or not, or who the hell his bandmates were - for all you knew, they were even bigger losers than him.

In response to your mean expression, Eddie narrowed his eyes, his jaw a touch tight, “Stop being stubborn. Maybe you’ll enjoy it.”

“I doubt it,” you said with an unamused grin. A moment later, Eddie looked past your shoulder, his eyes showing recognition for whoever the hell he was looking at. You whip around to see a friend of his, the one with the locker near yours; said friend appeared a little confused as he looked between you and Eddie.

Without warning, Eddie snatched your hand and dragged you in the other boy’s direction, causing you to nearly trip in the process. You, of course, glared at him for how quickly he pulled you along, but you said nothing as the two of you approached his puzzled friend.

“Gareth,” Eddie started with a charismatic grin, his voice loud with excitement that you weren’t prepared for. He tugged you alongside him, keeping a hold on your hand as if he were enjoying the fact that you couldn’t just pull away. With his free hand, Eddie presented you as if you were some prize, “You’re familiar with the resident ice princess.”

Gareth’s eyes went back and forth between the two of you, trying to keep his confusion from totally twisting his expression, which he did a poor job of. You, as well, were trying to keep your face from showing any annoyance or disorientation from this whole thing, although you were certain you instead just looked like a total bitch.

“Yes…” Gareth started hesitantly, his eyes finally settling on Eddie’s face, “I didn’t think you two knew each other, though…”

“Recent development.” Eddie shrugged nonchalantly, releasing your hand only to throw his arm on your shoulders again before you could retreat. You side-eyed him, briefly unconcerned with whether or not Gareth saw it - Eddie was being exceptionally annoying this morning.

“How did you two…?” Gareth pointed between you, his muddled voice trailing off.

You and Eddie looked at one another with realization - you didn’t have an answer for that. Neither of you had even considered that that was a story you needed, and you felt stupid for not thinking about it from the get go. Now, one of you had to come up with it on the fly; you weren’t sure if you’d prefer coming up with it yourself or leaving it to Eddie.

You should probably take this one, you decided - just your luck, if you left it to Eddie he’d come up with the most ridiculous story that could never hold up. Still staring up at him, you take a deep breath, prepared to come up with some explanation quickly, but Eddie beat you to the punch.

“We were meeting for a deal,” he began, and you briefly wondered if he was about to tell Gareth the truth, “chatting became flirting, so I asked her out on a whim; didn’t expect her to actually say ‘yes,’ though.”

Eddie gave you that charming smile of his, feeling your shoulders relax - that explanation was nice and simple, believable enough that no one would ask questions. It looked like it appeased Gareth, too, because his confusion didn’t appear nearly as blatant as it was a minute ago. You were sure he still found it odd and probably had minor doubts, but he didn’t seem the type to vocalize those things.

“She’s coming to our show tomorrow night.” Eddie added, to which you turned your harsh stare onto him again. Your mouth immediately opened to dispute, although you hesitated for a moment as you realized Eddie did this on purpose - he dragged you over to his friend and put you on the spot, thinking you wouldn’t be able to argue in front of someone else. And you nearly debated whether or not you should, however, the small, smug look on Eddie’s face was exactly the catalyst you needed.

“I never said that.” You stated simply, watching the surprise that crossed Eddie’s face; yup, he didn’t think you’d debate this if another person was involved. You could see the hesitation in Gareth’s body language, could see that he was still getting over the fact that you and Eddie were, apparently, together.

“I thought you did?” Eddie put on a very convincing look, pretending to mull it over, trying to set you up to agree to it. You’d hand it to him, he was determined.

“No.” You raised your brow to challenge him, and you couldn’t help the small defiant smirk that dared to cross your lips, “I’ll need some incentive for that.”

“Whatever you want.” Eddie said without hesitation, returning his attention to Gareth with a humorous smile, “She’s not so bad once you get to know her.”

To that, you gave his chest a little smack, meeting Gareth’s eyes, which remained just as perplexed as before. Your customary impassive expression was on your face, “No, I’m worse.”

Gareth nearly looked nervous until you finally cracked a small smile, although he still seemed put off - he probably didn’t know whether or not you were kidding, even as you grinned at him. Maybe you needed to relax and not scare Eddie’s friends too much, it may eventually piss him off.

Eddie gave your shoulder a squeeze, as if it were a silent plea for you to behave yourself. You looked at his face for a few moments, once again challenging him, before returning your eyes to Gareth with a sigh.

“I’m not that bad.” You reassure plainly, certain that you don’t sound terribly convincing. Nonetheless, Gareth’s face isn’t nearly as hesitant, although you knew he was far from coming around to you.

“You get used to it.” Eddie chimed in while giving your shoulders a little tug, a signal that you two should start walking, “Don’t let her scare you too much, Gareth, the power will go to her head.”

You gave his chest another small smack while you scoffed. Eddie simply grinned and shook his head in amusement; he gave Gareth a nod of farewell before you two began to walk through the hall towards your first class of the day. Once you were out of earshot, you looked up at Eddie from the corner of your eye.

“Don’t set me up like that.” You instruct plainly, trying to avoid any malice that you would’ve used on him only a week ago.

“Oh, lesson learned.” Eddie retorted with a small sound of mirth, “I should’ve known you’d enjoy being difficult in front of other people.”

You shrugged, finding some mild amusement in it as well, “I just can’t seem to help myself.”

“You can say that again.” The pair of you walk in an easy silence for a few moments before Eddie looks at you with hopeful eyes, “But you will come tomorrow, right?”

You raise your brows at him, your face showing your disagreement with the question, “It’s not like I need to - I doubt anyone will be there to see us.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe how easily his thoughts and feelings about you fluctuated - one second, he enjoyed your company, the next he found you tiresome.

“Oh, come on,” Eddie started, studying your face, “Are we dating or not?”

“Well--”

“Don’t answer that.” Eddie cut you off, knowing exactly what you’d say to his poorly phrased question. You nearly laughed, but tried to keep a straight face - you didn’t need Eddie seeing you amused while you were trying to argue your case with him, “You know you have to meet my friends eventually, might as well be now. And I’d bet your parents wouldn’t be so happy about you going to a dive bar with a guy they don’t even know.”

As you two paused outside of your classroom, you gave Eddie a scrutinizing look, mulling over his two points - the one about his friends was neither here nor there, but he did make a good point about your parents. And from the look on his face, you figured he also knew that it was a good point.

While you studied him, Eddie leaned towards your face, his voice challenging, “Live a little.”

You narrowed your eyes, wanting to argue despite knowing that you were already losing. As you stared at one another, Eddie raised his brows impatiently, urging you to agree already and stop being so stubborn. You finally shook your head with a sigh of defeat, your brow furrowing even more as a cocky grin spread across Eddie’s lip.

“Fine, I’ll go. But I’m not gonna like it.”

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

You sneered with distaste as you eyed the Hideout, your gaze critical as you took in the neon signs, the filthy windows, and the crowds of older bikers and alcoholics. This is the place Eddie dragged you to? You could kill him for not better preparing you for just how seedy and unsavory it would be.

Behind you, Eddie and the band were pulling equipment from the back of the van, the clatter of cymbals and their mingling voices drawing your attention. As you turned around, they all quickly whipped their eyes in another direction, quieting just a little - of course they’d been staring at you, talking about you. How could they not, considering that all of a sudden you were dating one of the losers amongst them. And said loser gave you a friendly wink as you met his eyes, but your attention turned back to his friends, making them all nervous with your intense gaze.

Admittedly, you loved that they were scared of you, loved that they were too damn nervous to even look you in the eye. You couldn’t help but find it funny, and you figured it would take a long time to get them to even talk to you without tripping over their words.

You crossed your arms as you looked back up at the bar again, frowning, “This place looks like a venereal disease waiting to happen.”

You heard one of them make a surprised sound at your comment; you’d bet the band was sharing shocked, nervous glances just behind you.

“Relax, princess,” Eddie flung his arm over you, his guitar case in the opposite hand, “just try to have fun, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

You gave him a smart look, “You say that now, but just you wait until some creep tries to grope me.”

Eddie blew air between his lips, “You’d probably scare anyone that even looked at you funny. Besides, you already let one creep grope you.”

He made a grabby hand over your shoulder as if to suggest he was about to touch you indecently, and behind you two the band chuckled, causing Eddie to grin largely. You gave him an affronted look as you hit his shoulder.

“Shut up!” You were taken aback by the joke, but you realized Eddie was probably all riled up by his friends - he was a boy, after all, they always said shit just to make their friends laugh.

“Sorry, sorry.” He raised his arms in surrender, his eyes apologetic as they met yours, “None of those jokes, I get it.”

You continued to glare at him for another moment before looking back towards the band. Eddie introduced the other two that you hadn’t met before, but you were already forgetting their names. Jeff? Grant? You weren’t totally certain. You could see a thoughtful furrow in Gareth’s brow as you glanced over all of them, and something told you to pay attention to him - you had a feeling he didn’t believe you and Eddie, that if anyone were to figure out your lie it would be him. That made him a far more observant friend than any of yours.

Eddie took hold of your hand and started dragging you to the bar, his band following right behind the pair of you. As Eddie held the door open, the sound of bluesy rock music met your ears, and you took in the various patrons and surroundings of the Hideout. You could immediately tell the Hideout seemed to cater to musicians - the stage was cramped, but well-loved, central with bright lights and a crowd formed to watch the band currently in the spotlight. The place wasn’t packed - after all, it was a Tuesday - but there were more people than you were expecting.

You could tell your group brought the median age of the bar down dramatically, everyone else looking 40 or older. As you made your way through the patrons, a few glanced at the band in recognition, one man even clapping Eddie on the shoulder as you passed. Corroded Coffin must have spent a lot more time here than you gave them credit for.

You stayed practically tucked into Eddie’s side as he led you through the Hideout, not wanting to get lost amongst the crowd of drunks. Once you reached the bar, Eddie greeted the bartender with familiarity, pulling you in closer to introduce you to the man with an eager grin, really selling that you were his girlfriend. His tone could’ve even fooled you.

“Keep an eye on her, alright, she’s trouble.” Eddie joked with the bartender, causing you to roll your eyes as they laughed.

“You look like you can handle yourself.” The bartender offered while meeting your eyes. Although he had a rough exterior, there was nothing about his gaze that felt off, so you gave him a small look of confirmation.

“That’s the problem.” Eddie teased, looking at you playfully.

You realized the rest of Corroded Coffin was already waiting in the wings, watching the other band finish up their set. Eddie gave your hand a small tug, drawing your attention back to him; he leaned down a little as he spoke, mouth close to your ears so you could hear him over the loud music.

“Stay here with Jack, alright?” He nodded his head towards the bartender, “That way I don’t lose you.”

“I thought you said this place wasn’t as bad as it looked.” You pulled back a little so he could see you raise a taunting brow.

“It’s not.” He reiterated, “but just my luck, you’ll draw trouble to you.”

You hummed in disagreement, “If there’s trouble, that’s on you.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Eddie grinned in contrast to his words, his eyes amused. He leaned towards you again as if he wanted to put on some show of physical affection, but hesitated; why did that ever so briefly make you nervous? Instead, he pulled his hand from yours while bringing his lips close to your ear again; you unconsciously flexed your hand now that it was free.

“We’re going on soon. Try to have fun.” Eddie took a deep breath before pulling back, and you almost thought that he had smelled your hair, but you figured that couldn’t be true.

As he’d done before, Eddie’s fingers grazed your back as he walked off in the direction of the stage. You watched him closely, the realization hitting you that this was a new place and you knew no one here. And it’s not that that frightened you or made you nervous, but the observation put you on your guard, made you a little more tense and aware of your surroundings.

Your eyes stayed locked on Eddie as he laughed with his friends, taking the stage to set up their equipment. You took the opportunity to study him, taking in the way his laugh spread through his entire body, the way he seemed to be so much more dramatic and playful and boisterous with his friends around. For a few moments, you didn’t even realize you were nearly smiling, although your expression quickly evened out with that realization. What the hell were you smirking about?

“Drink?” Jack’s gravelly voice asked over your shoulder, so you turned back towards the bar and eyed him momentarily.

“No, I’m not--”

He cut you off with a dismissive wave of his hand, knowing what you were going to say about your age, “Does this look like the kind of place that cares?”

His tone was matter-of-fact, and you smirked in appreciation at it. You considered for a moment what you wanted to drink, hopping up into one of the bar chairs as Jack watched you patiently, “What’s the girliest drink you know how to make?”

He laughed at the question, shaking his head but accepting it, “Ah, one girly drink coming right up.”

The corner of your mouth tugged back - there was something about Jack that instantly amused you. Maybe his grumpy vibes were entertaining, or maybe it was the fact that he found his own amusement in your drink order. Regardless, maybe it wasn’t so bad that Eddie effectively left this man as your babysitter.

The sound of a bass being tuned caused you to look back up at the stage. Eddie’s guitar was slung over his shoulder as he discussed something with the band, everyone looking prepared to start any minute now.

As Jack set a pretty drink in front of you, Eddie tested the mic, looking delighted at the crowd as the band finished their preparation. Again, you caught yourself smiling a little, blindly picking up your drink from the bartop as you continued to watch Eddie.

Of course, the almost endearing look on your face disappeared entirely once the music started. Just as you had expected, the drums were loud, the guitar thrashing, and Eddie’s singing rough and whiny. You couldn’t help the sneer on your face - this was so not your kind of music. Although the crowd seemed to respond positively, this just wasn’t your scene, and you unintentionally sat stiffly in your seat.

You hoped the lights were bright enough that Eddie couldn’t see you. Considering that his eyes hadn’t settled on you in some time, you figured the stage lighting made it difficult to find you. You just knew the disinterest that your body language exuded was bound to annoy him to some extent. Sure, you could fake being his girlfriend easily enough, but you couldn’t fake any interest in metal music. It was so damn loud and aggressive that it made your chest hurt and left your head confused.

However, once you got past that, you were able to study Eddie a little more. He was… actually good at this. You knew absolutely nothing about music, but just from watching Eddie you recognized how complicated the guitar was, how much skill it actually took to play these complex chords. His vocals were another story, but with that guitar Eddie showed an impressive amount of expertise, skilled hands with an intense care and focus. At one point, you nearly began to zone out while watching Eddie’s hands work up and down the neck of the guitar, and when you finally shook yourself out of the trance, you had to wonder just how long you’d been staring so damn intently at Eddie’s hands.

As the band played on, Jack brought you a second drink before you were even done with your first. You smiled in thanks before knocking back what was left in your first glass. Like any good popular high school kid, you’d been to your fair share of parties with alcohol aplenty, but that didn’t make you any less of a lightweight. One drink you could handle just fine, but it was always the second drink that started to make things a little blurry. So, you eyed your new glass warily, deciding whether or not you were brave enough to drink it.

But what did you have to lose? Despite its appearances, you were safe enough here at the Hideout, you figured you wouldn’t be out too late, and one more drink wasn’t going to totally mess you up. So, you grabbed the glass decisively, returning your attention to Eddie as you took a sip. You’d just cut yourself off after this one, no need to get plastered on a Tuesday night.

But damn it, Jack was too good a bartender, because as you were about finished with this glass, he put another in front of you. You furrowed your brows a little, stopping him before he could walk away and attend to the other patrons.

“I really shouldn’t!” You had to shout over how damn loud Corroded Coffin was - did someone turn up the speakers, or did they sound even louder because of your drinks? Jack leaned on the counter, his expression gruff but his eyes somehow still kind. He pointed in Eddie’s direction.

“Have one more, I trust that kid’ll take good care of you.” You made a doubtful face, looking between Jack and the drink. Unconsciously, you went back to sipping at the one in your hand, scrutinizing the bartender, “I’ve known Eddie since he was 14 - when I say he’ll take good care of you, I mean it.”

The comment was surprisingly genuine, causing you to cock your head curiously. Seeing something in your expression change, Jack gave you the slightest of smirks before turning his attention onto the other waiting customers. You realized a moment later that you hit the bottom of your glass; you stared at the melting ice briefly before looking at the new drink in front of you. Fine, one more. As you swapped the glasses, you hopped to your feet, forgetting that Eddie had asked you to stay at the bar.

That second drink put you a little more at ease; the loud music didn’t bother you nearly as much as it did before, and you didn’t mind pushing your way through the bar patrons anymore. You didn’t know where you wanted to go exactly, but you knew you needed to get on your feet for a little bit. So, you began to maneuver closer to the stage, keeping to one side of the crowd so you weren’t entirely packed between people. Your gaze stayed almost zeroed in on Eddie, taking in his stage presence thoughtfully.

Aside from him actually showing talent that you weren’t expecting, you also noticed how excited he was to be up there playing for people. The elation in his face, the animation in his body language - he had a lot of love for music, that was obvious to you. And because the drinks had been loosening you up over the course of the set, you realized that you were actually smiling as you watched him, actually enjoying the sight of Eddie live it up on this dinky little stage.

You didn’t even try to fight the look on your face, assuming that Eddie still couldn’t see you - you couldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that you were having a good time, after all. You even caught yourself tapping your foot along to the music at one point, as if the rhythm was beginning to make sense to you. It was more than just cacophonous noise - or at least that’s how it felt now that you were nearly three drinks deep - although you still didn’t quite understand the appeal of metal. Nonetheless, you found yourself trying to enjoy it.

It was as Eddie announced the final song that you finished your drink, leaving the empty glass on some nearby table. For a moment, you caught yourself wishing you weren’t here alone, wishing you could’ve dragged Amelia or Janet here to keep you company. Although the music and venue were far from anyone’s taste, this was exactly the kind of thing you all would have normally done together. But just as quickly as you thought that, you also remembered all the times Amelia had just disappeared on you at parties, all the times Janet flaked at the last minute when you discussed going to shows up in Indianapolis.

You got so caught up in your thoughts that you hadn’t realized Corroded Coffin just wrapped up their set. And you didn’t come back to yourself until a hand cupped your ass, immediately setting you off like dynamite.

You whipped around to find a grimy but otherwise nondescript man lingering behind you, a slimy look on his face. You were also briefly aware of Eddie’s voice calling something from the wing of the stage, but you were already in go-mode, arm reeling and swinging ungracefully to crack the guy. Your aim was a little off and you nearly missed, but you still managed to make contact, although with his throat rather than his jaw like you intended. If there was any pain in your own hand, you probably wouldn’t notice it until tomorrow.

As he stumbled back, you felt someone else come up behind you, and you were about ready to hit them, too, until you were spun around to face Eddie. He held your shoulders, but you still had to steady yourself by grabbing his forearms, meeting his shocked eyes with far too much of a calmness about you. Eddie’s brow furrowed as he looked you up and down then looked past you at the man you hit, then back at you.

“Jesus, can’t leave you alone, can I?” His tone was bewildered, as if he couldn’t believe he saw you, the ice princess, hit a guy. Sure, he knew you had quite a bark, but he didn’t know you also had a bite.

Thanks to the drinks in you, a laugh escaped your throat - was it a nervous one, or did you find the whole thing actually funny? You looked back at the man to see him already being taken care of, Jack dragging him out of the bar. No one else seemed to bat an eye at the ruckus, perhaps because they were used to it, choosing to carry on and ignore it. You met Eddie’s concerned eyes again, grinning uncharacteristically large.

“Fucking idiot.” Eddie looked nearly offended until he realized you were talking about the man and not him. He sighed, shaking his head with near mirth, still trying to wrap his head around this whole thing.

But after a few moments, he laughed - it was small and breathy, but when his eyes met yours again, there was definitely a glimmer of amusement there. He stepped back from you looking around in disbelief, a smile threatening to pull at his lips.

“Don’t piss you off, got it.” Eddie finally smiled while looking you up and down; now that the shock had passed, he was actually a little impressed by how it handled yourself. Feeling a touch sobered up, you shrugged in defense of yourself.

“Well, he shouldn’t have acted like an idiot.” Eddie chuckled at your comment, nodding in agreement.

“I didn’t know you had a right hook like that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” You counter, swaying a little on your feet yet again, which made your statement nearly laughable. Eddie put out his arm in case he needed to steady you, looking you over heedfully.

“I think it’s time we get you home.” He says simply, putting his hand to the small of your back and guiding you towards the band as they packed up their equipment. You allowed him to lead you, although you rolled your eyes a little at how cautious he was being with you, as if you were a baby bird or something.

“Oh, come on, the night is young.” You say far too lightheartedly, making Eddie eye you with a curious look - after all, this lax attitude was incredibly odd for you. Is this how you always behaved when you drank? Open and approachable and even a little fun? He’d have to keep that in mind, keep an eye on you in the future.

“You’ll regret saying that tomorrow.” Eddie teased while grabbing his guitar case from where it leaned against the wall. Meanwhile, you relaxed against a nearby speaker, watching as the group finished collecting their belongings. You realized Gareth was looking at you, and rather than glower as you’d normally do, you instead gave him a tipsy grin. That seemed to confuse him even more, as he nervously looked back at what he was doing.

“You guys aren’t half bad.” You say to no one in particular, although they all briefly glanced up with varying degrees of surprise. Only Eddie smiled.

“Is that meant to be a compliment?” He ribbed. You playfully made a face, but didn’t grace him with a response.

Eventually, you and Eddie were back in the van, the rest of Corroded Coffin having carpooled separately. As Eddie pulled away from the Hideout, you watched him drive, studying his hands as they drummed on the steering wheel. Some metal music you weren’t familiar with played through the speakers, but luckily Eddie kept the volume low enough that your brain didn’t rattle.

Watching Eddie’s fingers move, you recalled his skill on the guitar, how easily his fingers slid over the strings, how his hands practically danced on the instrument. It was a talent that you actually found quite impressive, although you weren’t about to divulge that information to him. You turn your attention to his face, how the moonlight highlighted certain features; a sheen of sweat caused his bangs to stick to his forehead, his cheeks still flushed, a content look settled on his face. Once again, you found yourself zoning out as you stared at him.

“You were good tonight.” The words left your mouth unexpectedly as you continued staring at him, and Eddie looked over at you with disbelief, as if you actually giving him a compliment was so foreign. His eyes pulled you from your slight daze, and you tried to collect yourself but fumbled, “You’re good at… guitar.”

God, that sounded stupid. And as if to emphasize it, Eddie laughed merrily, clearly delighted by your own confusion in your phrasing. You glared harshly, hating the fact that you sounded so dumb.

“Your singing could use some fucking work, though.” You retaliated unnecessarily, huffing as you crossed your arms and slouched in the seat. Eddie’s laughter died down as he looked at your pouting face, although that in itself made him want to keep laughing. But he pushed down that desire, not wanting to get you riled up.

“Oh, come on,” he reached over to nudge your knee, his palm hot against your skin. If you weren’t so grumpy, you probably would have liked the feel of it, “Sorry… but thank you. Glad to know I’m good at guitar.”

You glanced at him, still glaring, but his expression was genuine and nonjudgmental, sweet even, and you felt yourself begin to relax.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #stranger things #em #dos and donts

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etheries1015 · 6 months

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BOOK 7 SPOILERS BELOW

I finally decided to suck it up and catch up with twst book 7, I stopped after seeing Silver cry because I'm sCARED OF BEING SAD 😭😭 anyway here's a few reactions I had to it 😭

And hearing about the update coming soon-ish to ENG servers I really need to read up

Lilia pressuring Epel like the old man he is 😭😭 I love the moments that they remind us just how old Lilia actually is and how he sees most if not all the students as if they were his children/grand children, making sure they get the most out of the party and drink...its giving "What do you mean you're not hungry? Absolutely not. Here Is at least 5 servings of whatever dish I made to help u grow big and strong."

Okay I didn't take a screen shot of it but the entire section where Lilia looked kind of guilty with Ortho about exchanging addresses because you just KNOW he probably isn't gonna check in, presumably because he doesn't want anyone to get More attached to him seeing as he is nearing the end of his life span (crying shaking throwing up)

THIS. THIS. THIS INTERACTION HE HAD WITH US. I LOVE HIM. I AM SO SILLY FOR HIM. I totally forgot I changed my in-game name from my nickname to my REAL name and when he said my name I verbally yelled "WHAT THE HELL" before giggling and kicking my feet hehehehe I'm clinically insane for him

But the fact that he acknowledged us as Malleus friend probably means we've spent a lot of time at the dorms or around Lilia for him to see how our friendship and interactions with him work, and it melts my heart hehe. Being part of the diafam fr. But honestly bro back me up, I'm tired of being called a hench-human 😭💀

I wonder just how bad we must look with everyone noticing the strange shift??? Either we REALLY made a scene (tripping over, going pale) or the twst boys are just that attentive to us and I think that is the sweetest thing ever 😭😭 Ace and Deuce is so sweet for thinking of us and trying to get us out while also being polite to the people who kindly held the party. Despite not being there long, ace and deuce is willing to skip out on free food and drinks in order to make sure you're okay and I'm just 😭😭 ANGELS. I LOVE THEM.

But also the way Lilia worries for you is so sweet 😭💜 I should write a fic of sick reader and Lilia, or reader trying to tough it out because I know for a FACT Lilia would not let that slide! (Hypocrite 😐)

I ACTUALLY DROPPED MY JAW WHEN SEBEK SAID THIS SHIT. I WAS. WHAT. WHAT THE HELL LMFAOOOOO 😭 thats fucking insane bro I actually found myself chastising him thru the phone, I would NOT let that discrimination against humans bullshit pass fr 😭 slap him right upside the head and give him a stern talking to. I like seeing Lilia get frustrated, he's so cute and UGH. Although it went in one ear out the other, Seeing Lilia mad is so hot if I'm being real with y'all rn BUAHAHA.

I didnt screen shot this either (and I can't fit anymore photos on this post smh) but Silvers nose being red and obvious he was crying but Lilia confused. DudE OF COURSE he was crying!!! You're his dad!! You raised him since he was a baby, he's just now going into adulthood and doing that WITHOUT HIS DAD who is going to a far away land! Sure, traveling is a thing , but honestly nothing beats having that support just a moments away. Silver is literally the sweetest and wants to support his dad , but who's going to support him????!?! Lilia is putting him in a position where Silver feels the need to be strong and hide his tears for Lilias sake, but of course this is hard on him, its so sudden, too! Being so close to your parent and next thing you know mere days later they are stripped away from your arms?!

I just want to give them all hugs. Lilia obviously has some issues and misconstrued ideas of love (a million people have made posts and comments on this, so I will not repeat it) and I just. Need them to all sit around and be their mediator while we go thru their emotional states.

Ugh. I was in my twst burnout stage and still low key am, but fuck does it spark so much passion in you 😭😭

#twisted wonderland #etheries rants💜✨#Twisted wonderland book 7 #diasomnia #twst #lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia #sebek zigvolt #silver vanrouge

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skyenish · 1 year

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Twisted Wonderland Personality Swap AU

Thanks so much for the support on my previous posts, it really means a lot to me. Because of that, I've decided to continue writing for this AU and keep you all updated! I'll also be using this post to answer some of your questions. (In this AU the Housewardens and Vice-Housewardens switched personalities)

I went ahead and made some doodles for Ruggie, Leona, Jamil and Kalim (Ruggie with Leona's eyes scares me tbh)

Questions/explanations/clarifications:

-I didn't change the characters' backstories (unless specifically stated). Riddle still has a horrible mom, Trey's family still owns a bakery, Leona is still second prince, Ruggie is still dirt-poor, etc.

-What changed is how the characters reacted to their respective trauma I guess, which resulted in their personalities changing.

-Their personalities are not exact copies of eachother. For example, Riddle isn't just Trey but with red hair. He's very similar to Trey, yes, but they have a few differences in their personalities too.

-I'll explain how the characters became the way they are over time. Plus, it's also fun to think about it yourself, right?

-I've already worked out Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle and Scarabia.

-I'm planning on doing every dorm, but I play on the English server so I haven't finished book 6 yet.

-Yes, I'm planning on having the Vices + Kalim overblot, and to do that I'll be using their already canonically established backstories.

-I am NOT a professional artist, nor do I have ANY experience with drawing comics, but just know that I'm passionate about this little project and will work hard to make it as good as possible.

-I'm busy with school (I'm busy in general lol), so I don't have a lot of time to work on this AU- I've been sick for the past 4 days, which is why I could post so much.

-If you have literally any questions, just ask. I love to read you guys' reactions!

Characters:

Jamil wears his hair in a loose braid in this AU, since I don't think he has the patience to braid his hair the way he originally does and his hair is kinda connected to his personality. Jamil is much more optimistic and positive, and he's always supportive. People seem to naturally like him, which annoys Kalim. Jamil always tries to look at things from a positive perspective, trying to make the best out of his situation, though it's not that bad for him, because Jamil genuinely thinks that Kalim is amazing. When he got an invitation to NRC he INSISTED that Kalim come as well. Jamil always wants to throw feasts, and if his master allows it, he'll disappear in the kitchen to cook enough food to feed 3 entire dorms for a week. Jamil frequently tries to get Kalim to relax, because he just wants him to be happy, but Kalim then reminds him that they're at NRC to study. (I already talked about Kalim in a previous post but I'll copy paste it here too)

In this AU, Kalim is much stricter, much more focused and MUCH more responsible. He studies rigorously and insisted on actually working hard to earn his position as Housewarden instead of his family buying the position for him. He’s very sharp, quite intelligent, and is annoyed by his naïve servant and his carefree attitude, who keeps following him around.

Leona is a menace, playful, optimistic and cunning, but he also puts a lot of work into his dorm and school. He knows he has to work had to achieve his goals and he knows that he has a lot of responsibilities. He values hard work.

Ruggie is the complete opposite to Leona though. He is lazy, quick to irritate, and forces lower-classmen to do his work for him because he just wants to sleep. Ruggie is a terrible student, never showing up for class or duties and never putting in any effort. He feels like no matter what he does or how hard he works, he'll never make any changes and his life won't ever get better anyways, especially with a high-and-mighty prince as his Housewarden. He thinks that nothing he does is of any use , so why bother at all, right?

Thanks for reading this word vomit, reblogging would be appreciated lol

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mariacallous · 6 months

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Whether you're a student, a journalist, or a business professional, knowing how to do high-quality research and writing using trustworthy data and sources, without giving in to the temptation of AI or ChatGPT, is a skill worth developing.

As I detail in my book Writing That Gets Noticed, locating credible databases and sources and accurately vetting information can be the difference between turning a story around quickly or getting stuck with outdated information.

For example, several years ago the editor of Parents.com asked for a hot-take reaction to country singer Carrie Underwood saying that, because she was 35, she had missed her chance at having another baby. Since I had written about getting pregnant in my forties, I knew that as long as I updated my facts and figures, and included supportive and relevant peer-reviewed research, I could pull off this story. And I did.

The story ran later that day, and it led to other assignments. Here are some tips I’ve learned that you should consider mastering before you turn to automated tools like generative AI to handle your writing work for you.

Find Statistics From Primary Sources

Identify experts, peer-reviewed research study authors, and sources who can speak with authority—and ideally, offer easily understood sound bites or statistics on the topic of your work. Great sources include professors at major universities and media spokespeople at associations and organizations.

For example, writer and author William Dameron pinned his recent essay in HuffPost Personal around a statistic from the American Heart Association on how LGBTQ people experience higher rates of heart disease based on discrimination. Although he first found the link in a secondary source (an article in The New York Times), he made sure that he checked the primary source: the original study that the American Heart Association gleaned the statistic from. He verified the information, as should any writer, because anytime a statistic is cited in a secondary source, errors can be introduced.

Dive Into Databases

Jen Malia, author of The Infinity Rainbow Club series of children’s books (whom I recently interviewed on my podcast), recently wrote a piece about dinosaur-bone hunting for Business Insider, which she covers in her book Violet and the Jurassic Land Exhibit.

After a visit to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Malia, whose books are set in Philadelphia, found multiple resources online and on the museum site that gave her the history of the Bone Wars, information on the exhibits she saw, and the scientific names of the dinosaurs she was inspired by. She also used the Library of Congress’ website, which offers digital collections and links to the Library of Congress Newspaper Collection.

Malia is a fan of searching for additional resources and citable documents with Google Scholar. “If I find that a secondary source mentions a newspaper article, I’m going to go to the original newspaper article, instead of just stopping there and quoting,” she says.

Your local public library is a great source of free information, journals, and databases (even ones that generally require a subscription and include embargoed research). For example, your search should include everything from health databases (Sage Journals, Scopus, PubMed) to databases for academic sources and journalism (American Periodical Series Online, Statista, Academic Search Premier) and databases for news, trends, market research, and polls (the Harris Poll, Pew Research Center, Newsbank, ProPublica).

Even if you find a study or paper that you can’t access in one of those databases, consider reaching out to the study’s lead author or researcher. In many cases, they’re happy to discuss their work and may even share the study with you directly and offer to talk about their research.

Get a Good Filtering System

For journalist Paulette Perhach’s article on ADHD in The New York Times, she used Epic Research to see “dual team studies.” That's when two independent teams address the same topic or question, and ideally come to the same conclusions. She recommends locating research and experts via key associations for your topic. She also likes searching via Google Scholar but advises filtering it for studies and research in recent years to avoid using old data. She suggests keeping your links and research organized. “Always be ready to be peer-reviewed yourself,” Perhach says.

When you are looking for information for a story or project, you might be inclined to start with a regular Google search. But keep in mind that the internet is full of false information, and websites that look trustworthy can sometimes turn out to be businesses or companies with a vested interest in you taking their word as objective fact without additional scrutiny. Regardless of your writing project, unreliable or biased sources are a great way to torpedo your work—and any hope of future work.

For Accuracy, Go to the Government

Author Bobbi Rebell researched her book Launching Financial Grownups using the IRS’ website. “I might say that you can contribute a certain amount to a 401K, but it might be outdated because those numbers are always changing, and it’s important to be accurate,” she says. “AI and ChatGPT can be great for idea generation,” says Rebell, “but you have to be careful. If you are using an article someone was quoted in, you don’t know if they were misquoted or quoted out of context.”

If you use AI and ChatGPT for sourcing, you not only risk introducing errors, you risk introducing plagiarism—there is a reason OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is being sued for downloading information from all those books.

Historically, the Loudest Isn’t the Best

Audrey Clare Farley, who writes historical nonfiction, has used a plethora of sites for historical research, including Women Also Know History, which allows searches by expertise or area of study, and JSTOR, a digital library database that offers a number of free downloads a month. She also uses Chronicling America, a project from the Library of Congress which gathers old newspapers to show how a historical event was reported, and Newspapers.com (which you can access via free trial but requires a subscription after seven days).

When it comes to finding experts, Farley cautions against choosing the loudest voices on social media platforms. “They might not necessarily be the most authoritative. I vet them by checking if they have a history of publication on the topic, and/or educational credentials.”

When vetting an expert, look for these red flags:

You can’t find their work published or cited anywhere.

They were published in an obscure journal.

Their research is funded by a company, not a university, or they are the spokesperson for the company they are doing research for. (This makes them a public relations vehicle and not an appropriate source for journalism.)

And finally, the best endings for virtually any writing, whether it’s an essay, a research paper, an academic report, or a piece of investigative journalism, circle back to the beginning of the piece, and show your reader the transformation or the journey the piece has presented in perspective.

As always, your goal should be strong writing supported by research that makes an impact without cutting corners. Only then can you explore tools that might make the job a little easier, for instance by generating subheads or discovering a concept you might be missing—because then you'll have the experience and skills to see whether it's harming or helping your work.

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wundrousarts · 1 year

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Various Wundersmith thoughts and things I've noticed after rereading the book for yet another time:

This one is significantly longer and a little bit more random than my recent Nevermoor reread, but who cares 🤷 the more the merrier!

There are things both serious (theories, thematic parallels, etc.) and silly (jokes, personal reactions). This time around I discovered the annotations feature in Apple Books and had a lot of fun with that, so I'll try to include the bits I highlighted when necessary. Enjoy!

— I don't mean to have a shippingbrain, but it feels impossible to view Jupiter and Israfel as anything but exes/folks that had a Thing in the beginning, omg.

—— Israfel throwing the "old friend" back at Jove..... my note for this one was "#gay"

— I like the interest Mog has in Bohemia, and I'm interested based on that one Silverborn snippet for her to return (and eventually explore other parts of the city as well)

— Jupiter referring to the junkies as "they're not patrons of the fine arts" feels like a nice little set up for the Museum later on. Thought of and admired as an art piece, but the rich folks at the auction don't actually care about the work put into it.

— Do you think the folks at Wunsoc that organize the little show that welcomes 919 are a little peeved that the Fireblossom's being reignited means that they can't perch creepily in them anymore lol.

— I wonder if the Wunsoc Oath has a pre- or post- Massacre origin

“The nature of Miss Crow’s unusual –" she paused, seeming to catch herself before calling it a ‘knack’ – "situation.” (Ch2)

—— Elder Quinn hesitates to refer to Mog's power as a knack, so I wonder if that's just a general thing of Wundersmithery being different, or if knacks are a post-Massacre categorization

— I love how this book really starts to solidify the theme of family in Nevermoor... Wunsoc, her Unit, the Deucalion, Wundersmiths, the Crows, her mother..... AAAHHHH!!! I can't wait to see where it all goes.

— A "note sealed with silver wax" from "the Celes-" ..... YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!! 😁😁😁

—— Likely about Cassiel but even that and beyond could tie into a lot of other Silverborn Theories..... Noelle..... The Silver District....... I will keep this all in mind

—— Also, updating my SIlverborn Masterpost posthaste ✍️✍️✍️

— It likely doesn't matter and will never be explained, but I wonder if the room between student's houses and their hometrain station is part of the Gossamer, and like a thin place between worlds

— Miss Cheery's first outfit is so y2k I need to draw her. It makes sense because she's like 20 in this book.

— The Wunsoc circle diagram has always interested me since I first read it. I wonder if the size of the circles ever means anything??

—— Could it relate to the probability (?) of the knacks? Mundane is the most common to occur, Arcane more specialized, and then Wundersmiths are very, very rare

—— Something I often forget is that folks in Wunsoc that weren't Wundersmiths have always existed. Were there more than 9 of them in each year? Were there always 9 non-Wundersmiths? Did the trials always exist? What was the relationship between non-Wundersmiths and Wundersmiths like?

—— On that note, did C&D only become the Wunsoc motto / purpose post-Massacre? Or did they do that before as well? If the motives of Wunsoc have changed over the years, has what they look for in students changed as well?

“Everybody at Wunsoc has a job to get on with – every junior and senior scholar, every graduate, every teacher, every patron, every Elder and every Master.” (Ch5)

— I am still forever curious about what Masters are, and why they are on the same level or possibly even slightly higher than Elders

—— Are they previous Elders? Are they people who excel in their craft? I'd like to say there could be a connection to Wundrous Apprenticeships but 1. those seemed like a natural given, 2. likely aren't really around anymore, and 3. I'm not really sure why they would have so much authority if so.

—— I like to headcanon that senior scholars do internships/apprenticeships

— Something that makes me laugh is that I will famously agonize over something, in this case the Wunsoc academic school year, only to discover upon a reread that it is explicitly stated how it works. lol.

— Brilliance Amadeo and her predecessors are referred to as "First-Line Wundersmiths." This likely relates to the chambers in the Liminal Hall in Sub-Nine that we see in Hollowpox.

—— Knowing Jess, I bet that either Mog or Squall are part of the Ninth Line

“Your kind are … all … dead," continued Professor Onstald. "And if they’re … not –" he blinked his watery eyes at her and took a long, rasping breath – "they should be.” (Ch6)

“My duty is not … to save you … from yourself. It is to show you … that you are … beyond saving. All of your … kind … are beyond …” (Ch6)

“If you were half the Wundersmith you ought to be by now, it wouldn’t be possible for me to tap into your power like this. (Ch24)

— I've had a theory post on the progression of Wundersmiths in society towards the Massacre in the works for awhile that I've postponed until after my Hollowpox reread, but:

—— What if it was a group effort?

——— There's a part in one of the books that's like, "Squall led his fellow Wundersmiths in a coup, and then turned on them" and as much as Wunsoc likes to spin and fabricate things, I think that this could also be true. What caused Squall to turn? That's a mystery we'll have to unravel later...

———— This book is heavy on Squall controlling and manipulating folks, both literally with Wunder but also mentally with words, so could be interesting if that played a part in the revolt

— Regardless, something spooked Onstald enough to turn from admiring and studying Wundersmiths and their ways to hating them, and I'll forever be interested in what happened.

—— I think there could be some slight truth in him viewing all Wundersmiths as bad, because some stuff, like Mathilde's Morbid Museum (lol), could indicate some darker inclinations by folks other than Squall

— Maybe I'm an idiot for not realizing this before, but I don't think it was Jupiter that got Mog/919 into the Maps class.

“I have dedicated my life to taming this monstrous city, and I love her with every fiber of my being.” (Ch8)

“Goodness. You’ve only been here a year? And yet you and Nevermoor seem to go hand in glove. It’s almost like this place was made just for you.” (Ch8)

—— So Squallish. I wonder if anything he said was coached.

—— Do you think this is how he got him on his side? Did they bond over both being obsessed with Nevermoor?

— I think a lot of Mildmay's problems would have been fixed if he had simply been more proactive about networking instead of turning to a life of crime. I mean, he's only 19, just out of school! Way to quit early, dude.

One bite brought on the specific sensation of bittersweet late-summer nostalgia … which sent Francis straight back to the test kitchen, as he’d actually been aiming for the carefree abandon of a mid-summer music festival. (Ch9)

— I wonder how much of Francis's knack/what he cooks/cooks with has a Wundrous origin. I'm also often reminded of the Smoking Parlor.

—— I like to relate it to my Communication "Art" but alternatively... does remind me of Israfel's voice. Curious about how Celestials and Wunder interact.

—— Alice Frankenreiter of 915 is mentioned as a shapeshifter..... how Masquerade-esque. Another point for the "knacks being related to Arts" theory?

——— I also have to point out how funny to me the "Franken-" is with the knack. lol. (makes me think about Frankenstein)

— There is a "noise like a thousand tinkling bells" when the Ghastly Market is revealed. This noise also shows up in the other two books during the Christmas Eve battle. In a world where magic by Wundersmiths heavily involves singing in order to use Wunder, I like the further comparisons of magic and sound. Will keep an eye out for more during Hollowpox.

—— We see this as well with this line:

Her fear and revulsion and rage swelled inside her like a symphony (Ch16)

which I just annotated as "music/art comparison. slay."

——— On that note, I feel like the connection between Wundersmiths/Divinities and the Celestials being explored more could be interesting, as both of their powers involve singing. I'm curious how/if their magic overlaps.

— The fact that the Loyalty Trial was from the Elders and thus they were the ones who asked Cadence to humiliate Baz will never not be funny

— Chapter 18 mentions a "Polaris Hill." Named after Griselda Polaris?

— Have to say: Between being excited about a killer flytrap and teaching 919 swears, an underrated Mahir trait is that he is actually very silly.

— If you've ever seen me call the Gossamer-Spun Garden the "Wundergarden", please know that the Murdergarden is 100% why lol

— I hope hope HOPE!!! we get some proper definitions someday for the Wundrous Act Classifications. Like Spectacle, Phenomenon, Singularity, etc... I hope we get to learn what they each are someday!!!

“To do just what a Wundersmith does," One corner of Squall’s mouth twisted into a quarter-smile.” ... "To grant your fondest wish. To give you the thing you want more than anything else.” (Ch19)

— I feel like this line is often overlooked and is an underrated hint at what a Wundersmith's role in society was like

— I'm a bit of a pessimist (SORRY) about the movie adaptation, and once thing about this book is that I'm mourning that it'll probably never get adapted.

—— I think that the idea of Nevermoor as a movie musical works so much better with Wundersmith because there's so much more magic and music and singing in this one, with both Israfel and the first Nocturne lessons. I could see it the integration of the non-diegetic (?) songs that the characters sing and the themes of the movie/books work better with this book than the first one just because of that.

—— Also the theatricality of characters such as Squall and Mildmay is off the charts in this book! I'd even throw Dearborn and Murgatroyd in there as well. I think they could make for more interesting characters in a movie musical than the general supporting cast of the first book.

—— I'd say that perhaps they could mix and mash stuff from both books 1 and 2 into a single movie, but I don't know if they have rights past the first book.

Squall cocked his head to one side, a deep frown etched into his forehead. ... Squall took a step towards her. He looked like he was remembering something. (Ch19)

— I wonder why he recognizes the song!

—— Curious if anyone else has their own theories on this they want to share. I brought this up in the discord a few months ago and have yet to make a proper post but here's my idea:

——— Squall's song and Mog's song are very similar in a few ways, so perhaps one of the songs was influenced by / is “descended from” so to say from the other, or they have a common ancestor.

——— Could explain why Little Crowling is familiar to Mog and Morningtide’s Child is familiar to Squall

... into the cold embrace of a capricious and unknowable city. (Ch19)

— This is like, baby's first comparison, but I do enjoy how this refers not only to Nevermoor but also Squall just a moment earlier. They are sooooo linked. I wonder if there's other moments like this in the book that I've missed.

— The Jemmity Park stuff is interesting to think about because I think Odbuoy is the youngest Wundersmith present at the time of the Massacre.

—— The idea of him being the youngest I feel then fits with him making the park only work for children, as that seems appropriately mischievous.

——— Because of my (outdated tbh) Eventide theories, I had a silly theory he was 7 when he made the park, but when you think about that more, it falls apart. A little funny to think about though, ngl.

— Anyone else think that the Elders should have told Jupiter about Sub-Nine in case he wanted a part in that? I feel like as a patron and adoptive father figure of a Wundersmith, he might want some access to Wundersmith history and culture. His excursions to the park and Cascade Falls really prove an interest and he could be helpful to the group.

— Morrigan compares Squall's Séance Synchronicity to Coven 13 in the Fright Trial... are these magics connected at all, or will we learn more about the different magics in the world at some point?

Squall held his hands out – palms downward, twisted into claws – and made his fingers dance like a puppeteer twitching strings. (Ch24)

— I find it so funny how the Puppeteering (also known as Marionette) parallels– the statue in the Elder's hall, the stunt with the Charlton Five on the platform, and this scene– were so obvious, and yet it took a solid 2 years after Wundersmith's release (right before Hollowpox was out!) for somebody to bring it up for the first time. And now everyone accepts it as basically canon lol!

— Wonder if the Wundrous Arts sign got changed to Wretched Arts before or after Squall's exile, in order for him to know about it. I have some theories on the timeline of all that that I'll share at a later date.

— I often forget and I think it's often overlooked that the Magnificub growing was Squall's doing, not just Mog's.

—— Wonder if he was stalking her that night as normal OR detected her intention and swooped in OR was there already due to the auction

— The way that Squall bows dramatically to tease Mog and then Mildmay does the same a chapter later is so funny.

“There are far greater monsters –" his eyes flashed – "and far greater dangers. Miss Crow, we have a shared enemy you could never imagine. If the Wundrous Society doesn’t take you off the leash, if you aren’t given the freedom to grow, to become the Wundersmith I need you to be … then terrible things are coming down the line. For both of us.” (Ch24)

— War in Arc 3 pleaseeee

—— It's interesting because it seems that Nevermoor/Free State has been relatively peaceful ever since restructuring… but the Wintersea Republic has had the same amount of time to build up! And now they’re looking to take the last slice of the pie…..

“There. That feeling. That fire in your heart, that spark of anger and fear. Focus on it. Feel it. The flickering, burning anger inside – THAT is Inferno.” (Ch24)

— What if each of the Arts are bolstered by an emotion? Doesn't seem so but 🤷 could be a fun AU idea perhaps

— A lot of the description of Inferno in this book– a flame or firework in Morrigan's chest– reminds me so much of Howls Moving Castle (2004) that it's on my eternal to-do list to draw.

— Between Mog's lessons in this book and Goldberry's circular breathing, I think it's interesting how much of Inferno relates to breath

—— "Breath of life" ?

—— Could relate back to music/singing, which is needed to summon Wunder

—— Do any of the other Arts (excluding Nocturne and Inferno) have any connections to breath that we know of? Or even are just aligned with a specific part of the body? If anyone has any thoughts on this, please do share!

— Anyone else like to think about the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow and the way the Hollowpox hunted? No? Just me? Okay

—— I think that Wundersmiths definitely probably have specialties– and these are based on natural affinities, NOT lineage– and Mog's is likely Inferno whereas Squall's is likely Veil

He took a deep bow, still laughing. (Ch25)

— My note for this line and the whole scene was simply, "🖕 WORST 19 YEAR OLD EVER" lol

“You saved my life tonight. I find myself in your debt." He watched her for a moment, pressing his mouth into a line. Morrigan could tell he wanted to say something more, but wasn’t sure if he should … or perhaps he couldn’t quite find the right words. Israfel breathed a deep sigh. "You’d do well not to mention that to the folks at Wunsoc. I shouldn’t be in your debt.” (Ch27)

— What does this all meannnnn

— Interesting how Jupiter mentions that he thinks Cassiel's disappearance is unconnected to all the Ghastly Market stuff

—— I've mentioned before (maybe not on here, sorry) that the timing could perhaps line up in order for Cassiel to be the Celestial that Noelle's knack is stolen from, if we want to go with that theory

— Mog saying that Squall said something funny, as in weird, yet Jupiter's first response is to ask if he said something "funny haha" is so funny to me. Why is that his first response.

— Folks have mentioned it before, but I'd love some more bonding between Mog and Lam based on the fact that they're both from the Republic

— Elder Quinn refers to Mog as "our Wundersmith" as in like, just another brother and sister in Wunsoc, but it could be interesting if that wording is ever brought up again to try to use Mog, or make her do something no one else can because of her powers, like in the days of old

And finally (about 3k words later):

— Lam is referred to as "the smallest of all of them" in terms of 919. Not to me! While I wholeheartedly believe she is certainly short, she's not the shortest for me. #ShortMogSupremacy.

#nevermoor #nevermoor reread #nevermoor theory #wundersmith #this is 3k words including the quotes so ummmm sorry lol. buckle in I guess!#if anyone has any thoughts after reading this or any theories of their own that they want to discuss: my inbox is always open!#I am insane about this series and you should be too <3 #incapable of ever writing anything that isn't exceedingly long and rambling though. and for that I am sorry.#I also feel like my reading(s) of the book(s) is often prob unintentionally biased bc it's filtered thru my own theories and headcanons #so I always love hearing what other folks have to say. esp bc sometimes folks will say stuff that have me realize that I'm wrong lol!

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josiebelladonna · 5 months

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this whole thing with the bank, it’s totally illegal.

this is a bank that my mom’s been with since 2011, when she and i were going to school, and subsequently, it’s primarily used by college students. i moved banks a long time ago, but we’re just looking at the utter flood of reviews and complaints from people in the last two days alone, since they implemented this bullshit update: “i’m in school and i can’t get money to buy food”, “i’m in school and i can’t get money to pay my rent”, “i’m in school and i can’t get money to buy books”, the list is truly endless.

these reviews are coming in so hot on the heels of their sweeping change to their app which they did in hopes to look trendy. think: what tumblr does with us all the time but much more horrific and infuriating and frankly, cruel; i found the boop meme really stupid and braindead (seriously, wtf is wrong with all of you) and what the hell were they thinking with live and tumblrmart, but even as cloyingly stupid as those were, those don’t hold your money hostage.

i have a feeling that mr. taxman is going to see this and find out what’s happening with bankmobile vibe, especially since tax collection is a government thing. i was thinking about this on the way home, too, like this could be one of those things. one of those things where someone on the inside sees something is up, like a bounced check, and does something, like call up the bank, to get to the root of it and it sparks a chain reaction (keyword there is “could”; for all i know, nothing could happen and i’m packing this fucking house by myself because my mom can’t lift more than 10 pounds).

i say this because i really hope the feds fuck them so far up the ass they turn inside out because overnight, they have betrayed their entire customer base—and i was a college student once, too, money is dead center on your mind, and that was back in the early 2010s when we were still reeling from the recession. can’t imagine what it must be like now following quarantine; nevertheless, you need something happening to your money like you need a hole in your head.

it’s also actually a breach of contract with the f.d.i.c. we, as american citizens, are quite literally obligated by u.s. law to have our money within arm’s reach: no bank can bar you from it, and no amount of “oops error~!! yo, try again later~!!! ^_^” will change that. so, it’s totally illegal. they can’t withhold people’s money like the way they’re doing: they especially can’t withhold money that’s going to property taxes, either.

so… moral of the story? be yourself, kids. trying to be k00l and hip is not only cringey and a dickhead move but can possibly get you popped with the mother of all class-action lawsuits.

#text #money #economics #taxes #personal

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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Do you think if idia tries to meet the RSA ortho, it will result in the dreamworld's destruction?

I havent watched the newest update and just read descriptive posts so sorry if i'm misinterpreting stuff, but the dreams that malleus has created seem to operate based upon the dreamers memories, its just an altered version of events..so while he can create this information that Ortho is well and alive, Can he actually show Idia a believable teenager Ortho?because Idia doesn't have such memories, so making up RSA ortho's personality and mannerism might be were he messes up.like sure it might not be hard to create a teenager's voice and face , based on informations that we have of them fom when they were 5..but an actual personality??could this be the actual reason behind Ortho attending RSA instead of NRC in dreamworld?Like wouldnt the most ideal and dreamlike situation for Idia be going to the same school with his brother?but maybe malleus knows of the dreamworlds limitations so he had to come up with something..idk...maybe i'm just reading too much into it😭😭

[I gave my own initial reactions, thoughts, and a plot overview on book 7, part 3 in this post!]

Mmm, I do think that the dreams are made from the dreamer’s memories, but that’s only natural given that memories make up who the characters are and form the basis for their understanding of reality. I don’t think that’s the full extent of their dream worlds. There’s also a clear wish fulfillment aspect of it, and that, tied with the memories, forms kind of an “ideal” situation where the world literally exists and alters the circumstances to suit an individual’s wishes and whims. So… rather than “it’s just an altered version of events”, it’s more like the dream actively knows what the dreamer wants to see and then provides it for them.

For example, Idia’s dream is technically based on a memory of attending the NRC entrance ceremony. However, he also has a deep-seated desire to see Ortho survive and grow up, instead of perishing as a young child for a mistake he feels a lot of guilt and personal responsibility for. That would be Idia’s happiness, so the dream world centers around catering to it.

I actually don’t know at this point whether or not Malleus is actively controlling the details of every dream world. To me, it feels like he couldn’t possibly be doing that since he’s always described as lonely, hard to approach, and standoffish; when would he have had the time to get to know all of these intimate details about all of the people on Sage’s Island that he has in a magical slumber? (Like… would Idia share something so deeply traumatizing with Malleus??? The post-OB flashbacks don’t count, as we’re never fully sure who in the main cast views this information or if it’s just an internal dialogue the OB boy has with himself. Even if the other students knew, Malleus was not present when Idia woke up from his OB to be told his backstory.) And how is Malleus simultaneously monitoring and controlling all aspects of everyone’s dreams? Monitoring alone, maybe. But being the metaphorical “God” behind an entire island population’s worth of dreamers??? I don’t know if I entirely buy that, even if it’s Malleus Draconia we’re talking about.

I think that, even if there is no actual reference for what a grown up RSA-attending Ortho is like, the dream world and its residents would just shift and fill in the gaps according to the dreamer’s expectations. After all, the dream itself is constructed from Idia’s wants, his very point of view. We are not only seeing things from how Idia wants them to be, but we are also seeing this version of Ortho through Idia’s eyes. This Ortho is a creation manifested from how Idia wishes Ortho had the chance to be, based on Idia’s perception of the kind of person Ortho was and what he hoped Ortho would become.

The dream could easily extract information from Idia’s head and work with that to make a passable Ortho. In fact, it could also work from memories of robo!Ortho, since originally robo!Ortho had all the memories and experiences OG!Ortho had. Robo!Ortho started as very robotic and learned to be more human-like thanks to his advanced artificial intelligence program. He was even acknowledged as Idia’s brother and as a freshman student of Night Raven College. Robo!Ortho has been through so much growth beginning with the same memories of the original that passed—almost as though he were a real boy growing up. So knowing that, what’s to say the dream doesn’t use robo!Ortho as a basis for dream!Ortho’s character? It already seems to me that the dream is doing that, since dream!Ortho and robo!Ortho’s personalities are very similar. They’re chipper and supportive of Idia—just like Idia has always perceived Ortho to be in reality.

I was surprised to hear that dream!Ortho attends RSA instead of NRC, but thinking about it more, I’m not sure if I would attribute this to dream world limitations if we’re going with the idea that Malleus is controlling every dream. (It overcomplicates things if he has to come up with individualized reasonings to conveniently write out characters which may have no real life basis to work with, but I digress.) My thought is that Idia, the dreamer, is the one who thinks Ortho is best fit for RSA, or, alternatively, he wants Ortho to attend RSA and not NRC.

This circles back to the residual guilt that he feels about causing Ortho’s death. Maybe Idia (on a subconscious level) feels as though it’s better for Ortho to spend time away from him, who put him in danger in the first place. Maybe he thinks of his personality as a wet towel over Ortho’s sunshiney one and doesn’t want to be the so-called “bad influence”. Maybe Idia genuinely feels that Ortho would fit in with the nice, almost sparkling Royal Sword Academy kids. Maybe Idia knows the students of NRC are trouble and that he’d rather have Ortho fostered and growing up among more amicable peers. (Think about it, how many times have we seen Idia freak out over Ortho’s safety during his time at NRC?) All of these ideas basically amount to the possibility that Idia wishes Ortho to be his best self and to live his best life, even if that comes with the stipulation of not being able to be with him all the time.

Additionally, recall that Idia in the real world is socially anxious to the point where he usually refuses to go anywhere without his emotional support robot brother. In the dream world, it’s an alternate universe in which Ortho never died, and thus Idia isn’t consumed by remorse, and is less socially anxious (Idia physically attends the opening ceremony in the dream, but in reality he was only present via his tablet). This implies that, in the dream world, Idia does not have that attachment issue with Ortho and feels comfortable with knowing that Ortho can be on the other side of Sage’s Island and still be totally fine without him. This also opens up Idia to actually interact with his own peers on his own terms, without needing Ortho to encourage him—and companionship, as much as Idia shits on normies, is definitely something he craves (as we see at the end of book 6 when he’s gaming with everyone). I think that this makes sense for him!

Being that this is book 7, we should expect Idia to “wake” at some point and join the others that have “woken up” to help save the day. We already notice that Idia is pointing out little discrepancies in his dream! But what I’m really wondering is what will be the impetus that “shocks” him awake???? Because truth be told, it’s extremely difficult to walk away from something you’ve wished so much for: the return of your deceased sibling—however, it’s also fitting and a good way to round out Idia’s character growth from the last book. In consciously choosing to reject the dream, Idia will have finally accepted Ortho’s death and be able to truly “move on” 😭 I don’t know that it would be meeting dream!Ortho that does the trick though, that would be feeding into his wishes and encouraging him to indulge more. That’s hard to break away from—and even Silver, who was already awake in Sebek’s dream, sounded conflicted when he rejected dream!Lilia’s offer to stay with him forever.

This is a shot in the dark, but we don’t yet know the mechanics of how dream!characters work when the real!character shows up in the same space. Like, in Sebek’s dream, he seemed to be looking for Silver. Was there no dream!Silver his mind made for him to interact with? Or did dream!Silver vanish as soon as real!Silver dreamhopped into Sebek’s dream world… Or will two the Silvers meet randomly and recreate that Spidermen pointing at each other meme???? My point is (and this is a big stretch so bear with me here), what if robo!Ortho finds some way to enter Idia’s dream at the same time that dream!Ortho is also present??? So suddenly there’s two Orthos and Idia has to make the ultimate decision between living a pretty lie with dream!Ortho or accepting the ugly truth by going with robo!Ortho to fight Malleus or something 💀 Probably not going to happen, but it’s an interesting scenario to think about!

#twst #Lilia Vanrouge #Malleus Draconia #twisted wonderland #Diasomnia #Idia Shroud #Ignihyde #Silver #disney twisted wonderland #Sebek Zigvolt #Ortho Shroud #notes from the writing raven #question #twst theory #twisted wonderland theory #twst theories #twisted wonderland theories #spoilers

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surviving-cptsd · 4 months

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Current Events before we get into the Early Years - Part 1

So I promised to start with my early years in this post but before I get started I wanted to share more current updates that may help explain why I'm choosing to come forward now. I'm nearly 40 years old and I was born in the mid 1980s so I've had plenty of time to talk about all this and to be completely honest, I have spoke about it, but never this streamlined. I had often spoke to therapists about writing a book (which I did start to do a few years ago), but I found that every time I'd write a chapter, I would almost relive the events and need a cool down period. These cool down periods could take months and then of coarse I got sidetracked and now here we are, 5 years later from when I started writing and I literally only have 3 chapters fully written down. I find myself in my Facebook groups instead writing down bits and pieces, however those 'bits and pieces' can be several paragraphs long. Writing all that can even be more discouraging at times because I tend to get the same reaction where people say, "I'm not reading all that," or I'll get the people who pick the information apart just because it doesn't match what they believe reality should be. Most times the only reason I even write on these Facebook groups and share with them is because I'm listening to other parents who are in a crisis and I don't want them to feel alone. So, I begin to share my personal experience with them to show them that I support them and their choices and provide advice without judgement. Something I've learned through EMDR therapy, that I'm actually seeking myself. Which brings me to the 'current events': My step kids. You will hear me refer to my step kids as my step kids a lot but I may slip and call them my kids because I care about them just the same as my own flesh and blood. I see no difference between them and my biological children, but for the purposes of information and avoiding confusion, I have to point out they're my step, although it pains me to do so. So all that said, my current event happening has to do with my youngest stepson. He will be 17 years old this coming weekend and before he turns 17, I will be transporting him to a Residential Treatment Facility up in Erie, PA (tomorrow). It has been an agonizing choice but I left it up to his therapists in the end to make this decision. I've been trying to avoid it for the last 3 years since he came into my custody. I am his sole custodian, he suffers from C-PTSD, RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder) along with some anxiety and depression from his upbringing by his biological mother, my husband's ex-wife (I promise, you will hear all about it in future posts). A month ago he was charged with a first degree felony of aggravated assault after he attempted to attack a peer at his alternative school. The resource officer and several staff members got between him and the other students and he attacked the resource officer instead, which lead to the charges. My stepson is about 6'2" and over 200lbs. He's physically fit and can do incredible amounts of damage with little effort. Unfortunately his mental capacity is well below his actual age level due to his traumatic events so he is like an adult throwing temper tantrums at times over small things. This also isn't his first rodeo of being charged, it's his 3rd assault charge in the past year and given his age and how the level of violence is escalating, not to mention these charges would almost guarantee some kind of incarceration somewhere, the therapists wanted to be proactive and find a suitable place that will help him work through his traumatic past without the courts imposing it on us first. The one in Erie is a trauma focused RTF and has promising results so we are hopeful he will come out a much different person. But it doesn't stop me from feeling like a failure inside.

#cptsd vent #actually cptsd #cptsd recovery #living with cptsd #just cptsd things #actually ptsd #tw ptsd #ptsd #childhood trauma #trauma recovery #ptsd recovery #complex ptsd #trauma #teenagers #sensitive #teenage #late night #late night thoughts #growing up

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blindinghope · 8 months

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reading harry potter for the first time: the prisoner of azkaban

the chamber of secrets post

notes/reactions, updated as i go

10.01.24 -

-sirius being on muggle news ?? woah

-the drastic difference of the knight bus from the movie v book is so interesting. harry learns more about sirius simply from stan. like in the movie harry just knew to be careful and sirius was dangerous, i don't think he had any idea of what he had "done" until hogsmeade

-i live for scenes in diagon alley!! it's criminal they removed that entirely in the movie. replacing it with fudge bringing his books and harry only spent one night in the leaky cauldron when it was actually a week

leave it to any interaction of the twins to have me smiling like an idiot in public

29.01.24 note: i've had poa in my bookbag for the longest time and probably pulled it out twice since the semester started..noticing damage on the corners too from me throwing stuff in my bag😭 eventually i will finish..!

-one aspect i've always been hung up on from the movie is the dementor attacking harry on the train. i thought the book would be a bit different like why ron assumed harry was having a "fit". did neither of them know what dementors do?? that harry's soul was being sucked out?

-the knight painting in north tower is killing me😭😭😭 need to insert an excerpt here if i remember

02.02.24 note: watching poa and i realized the scene of the boys in their dorm eating jellybeans was written in😭🤍 poa being the end of their childhood is so heart wrenching..beautifully directed too

i thought this was silly imagery, besties sharing a big umbrella together

remus is so loved as a professor and i know he loved teaching too :(

oh....oh god. (x)

-ok i can't finish this chapter without voicing my opinion but the way harry's hogsmede trip via marauder's map is playing out is so strange to me!!! once again the movies heavily influence my views. i'm torn between romione's shrieking shack moment + harry pummelling draco with snowballs but.. the trio bonding from the start..!!their friendship is truly so strong and something the movies did not emphasize enough like harry walks up to them in honeydukes while they're discussing what to get him!!

-wait why are they allowed in the three broomsticks and drink butterbeer? they're 13...little babies..

-i completely understand where the "evil harry" fanfics came from now because learning sirius was there to take harry that night yet dumbledore intervened with hagrid. ugh... (x)

-wood being quidditch obsessed is so amusing to me bc he's always talking about it like he's at the brink of a breakdown😭😭 when he learns harry was gifted a firebolt but mcgonagall confiscated it and wood is just like, "she wants to win as much as we do...i'll make her see sense..." I'LL MAKE HER SEE SENSE??😭

-crying again at the mention of snape teasing mcgonagall about the quidditch cup,, so wholesome

-no one gives a FAWK about divination this is getting embarrassing

-brooo...sirius and remus explaining literally everything in the shrieking shack is,,mind blowing..what do you mean dumbledore arranged a separate place for remus when he was a student so he had somewhere to go once a month..!!! james and sirius became animagi for him!!!!???

-AAAAA THE DETAILS OF SIRIUS TRICKING SNAPE??? JAMES SAVES HIM FROM REMUS????

-TRIO??? hitting snape w expelliarmius they really are ride or dies for each other

-"just give me a reason" goes hard idk

-the imagery of snape floating and sirius bumps his head everywhere like first of all...!! that's kinda funny,,but also hasn't he suffered enough

-the way harry jumps at sirius' offer to live with him feels a little too erratic for me like it was much more well done in the movie imo because why are y'all discussing this when you haven't even gotten out of the passage and sirius is letting snape's unconscious body hit every corner

23.05.24 note: screaming and crying at the thought of remus never getting this kind of treatment from harry like they never have a close relationship AND IT SUCKS SOOO MUCH !!! THAT'S UNCLE MOONY😭😭😭😭

also i rewatched poa and i see it so much more differently especially from remus' pov because how do you remain normal meeting YOUR BEST FRIENDS KID for the first time (tho i'd like to think marauders met baby harry) and not be like: your father was my best friend. straight off the bat..! and when he sees harry has the marauder's map i wanted TO SOB....remus' mention of knowing lily and james is soo casual probably to not freak out harry or something idk i just think there was more potential in a relationship between harry and remus maybe as strong as with sirius. the godfather title must be comforting for harry since it shows how much james trusted him but regardless, remus was also his best friend??

#text #reading harry potter #the prisoner of azkaban #books

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thelonelyme · 2 years

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♡ʏᴀɴᴅᴇʀᴇ ᴅᴏʀᴍ ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴs/sᴄᴇɴᴀʀɪᴏ] 2♡

𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞: ディズニーツイステッドワンダーランド[Twisted Wonderland]

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐨/𝐢: Kalim Al-Asim, Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud, Malleus Draconia.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: The yanderes finds out mc is now a fallen angel due to them.

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: Hello honey, this is my first time asking you but please listen to me.. What do you think the reaction of the yandere house leader's reaction to their lover who is an angel has now fallen and become a demon's. especially the reason why they become a fallen angel is because they want to continue to be with the leaders of the dormitory even though their God forbids them, and to the point of plucking out their wings. Pretty pleaseee 🥺🥺

𝐀𝐕𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐙𝐄: GN READER. That's the second part of this post, so if you want to read about the whole dorm crew, make sure that you've read that. There will be explicit scenes of poisoning, blasphemy, allusions to rape, implied murder, delusional behavior, mention of not-voluntary imprisonment, allusions to NS/FW themes, kidnapping, explicit stalking, cyberstalking, mention of blackmail, mention of torture, mention of imprisonment. Sorry everyone for the prolonged time of inactivity, I did not feel good, and moreover I had for a period lost the motivation to do anything, so sorry again. I’ll try to bring my life back to order, so update more often. I hope you like it, honey💗. I don’t have the responsibility of who reads such my works, however good reading <;3.

-𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝐀𝐥-𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐦-

For such a solar and enthusiastic magician as Kalim, your arrival at Night Raven College could not have been described in other words other than a literal blessing from God. The young student and dormitory chief of Scarabia had always been considered the exception to the college rule: in contrast to violent and petty behavior like those of Savanaclaw, or like those shy and manipulative as apparently almost all the students of Ignihyde, possessed a natural kindness and genuine concern for others; something that many times had made him get into some trouble.

He seemed like the perfect candidate for the famous college in the south of the island, with a young and fresh look like his and with a behavior worthy of the best prince straight out of a fairy tale, Many students in his dorm couldn’t and still haven’t been able to understand, how he ended up in a place famous for cruelty and for the rigor in training his students in the best possible way.

But Kalim could not have cared less, after all education is education, no matter whether in one apparently better school or another, and not understanding the reason for such a tense rivalry between the two schools.

So, during the upcoming Christmas holidays, he never expected to find himself in front of a literal angel. The first time he saw you, he would immediately be enchanted by your figure accompanied by two boys in the hallway. At that moment, he could literally drop all the books he had in his hand that Jamil was asking for and immediately run in your direction, as if he were a magnet and you were the magnet of his heart.

As in the fairy tales that by now Jamil had been forced to mark in his memory how many times he had to repeat them to the silver-haired and scarlet-eyed magician, that feeling of complete stiffness and a warm feeling in the heart that made him warm up in ways that no one had ever managed to do, the acceleration of his beat in a few seconds from your sight and a priminente redness on his cheeks- he was certain that he’d just seen his one true soul mate.

He had waited years and years to find the person who would be by his side all his life, and you finally showed yourself to him! Just as his parents had always told him, as he had always dreamed from an early age! You can’t blame her excitement and all her heat the moment you felt a pair of calloused hands on your shoulders.

"I’m touching them! And I can feel how soft their skin is even from over this uniform! I swear, I’m going to die of joy!"

He hoped that his heart would not keep beating so hard all the time, otherwise you would surely be frightened, and he did not want to cause you any kind of pain.

He was sure, and the brilliant and kind smile you gave him was only helpful in confirming it: You were certainly his soul mate.

From that day on, things would change dramatically: now all his attentions and his whole routine revolved around you, with his one and only Habibi ¹.

He could not help it, by now your presence was simply essential for him to function normally; basically for him you were like oxygen for a drowned, fresh water for a thirsty in the desert, abundant food to a hungry, you were a drug. Just being yourself with him had somehow made him feel like the only person with whom, according to him, you would share all those hugs and words of encouragement late at night on the large balcony of the castle in Scarabia.

Your magnificent and splendid body would only be the icing on the cake, for him you would have been perfect in any way you could have been. What brought him even closer to you had been your magnificent personality, so kind and comforting, so good and perfect from any kind of external or internal point of view.

He could not live without him with you, he had developed an addiction to your sweet caresses and your words so reassuring that they never failed to make him burst into tears for the ardent and genuine love that simple words positioned in the right way contained.

He could not help but imagine you together with your future children, biological or adopted, playing with them while gently stroking your head and watching with dreamy eyes your beautiful features. You would have both worn dresses worthy of a fabulous and fantasic person like yourself, traditional clothes of the Land of Hot Sands, dancing together dances in the center of the huge ballroom of the family villa during your future wedding. He already had in mind the perfect wedding for both you and him, even though he couldn’t bear less than what the main colors or how the flowers should have been arranged until he was with you. But he would do it with immense pleasure and joy knowing that everything would be for you and only for you.

He had already written tons of letters over the past months to his parents where he described your love for each other in the most disparate and romantic ways, even to the point of convincing and constantly writing them that soon you two would really get married, which the two were extremely happy about, and get them to send as many letters to convince Kalim to bring them home during the summer holidays.

For the next few months, Kalim was literally clinging to you, or continuing to praise you incessantly during every single moment of the day where unfortunately he could not be with you, and forcing the strict and diligent Vice Dorm Leader Jamil to endure hours and hours at night of awkward words and thoughts from the red-eyed boy, and ordering the latter to reassure him on his growing concerns. His need for you had become morbid, leading him to increasingly monopolize your blessed time along with him and Jamil, who obviously would have taken advantage of it in the best possible ways.

"Jamil, tell me they’ll never leave me."

"Jamil, they always say they’re happy to have lunch with me, but then why do they have lunch with others?"

"Jamil, do you think I should send them more presents? Maybe this way they’ll realize I’ll never get tired of them."

"Jamil, which chains do you think are better, the silver ones or the gold ones? I sincerely prefer the gold ones, but please choose! You always do a great job at these things, and as you know, I’m not very good at making decisions, hehe."

Unlike the imaginary world that Kalim had built in his mind, his ebony-haired servant would instead have seen beyond those walls with which the blood-red-eyed boy had long since begun to dodge all kinds of normal reasoning. He had seen all that time your face slightly frightened and surprised by the huge amount of gifts that Kalim had daily sent from home just for you, he didn’t lose how your presence had become a fixed point in his day. About how now he should not only look after the needs of the white-haired boy, but now also your own under the orders of his master.

"Remember Jamil, every wish of my Habibi must be fulfilled immediately, okay?"

And of course he always did, noting in the meantime how your simple word could change any previous opinion of Kalim.

"I think that’s a kind of fruit a little bitter, I didn’t remember it so-What? You don’t like it so much? True, not even me, actually."

Surely he would have noticed this, causing him to cling more and more to you, telling him that he had to spend all his time with you and instead leaving the duties of dorm head to him, something the silver-haired boy was extremely willing to do: all for her beloved and adored Habibi.

The ebony-haired servant would remain silent, as he had always done since his childhood, continuing to pull the strings of this little theatre so that he would finally have a real place in society; he did not care at all about your ever-increasing looks at him, or how he would always try to get the sticky kid to go away, but this would just reset everything he had done and built in the last few months in the dorm, reborn under a new regulation and under a new rigor rediscovered.

If he stopped you meeting with Kalim, everything would be erased, so you could definitely suffer a little longer before you left.

But Kalim wasn’t a complete fool, and he knew it.

He knew and saw the way he was subtly threatening you by threatening to spread disgusting rumors about you, about you not being such a pure, chaste angel, about all sorts of things that would bring you down at the slightest exit without him. He knew what power was, and he wasn’t below using it to hold you to him, not after what happened with Jamil before.

If you had refused or even hinted at a possible breakup of your relationship, the first reaction it could have had is to immediately throw yourself at your feet, tightly grabbing the fabric of your school uniform and crying, begging in sobs and wondering if it was his mistake, he swears he’ll make it up to you!

And if I kept trying to avoid him gently, since you’re such a nice person that you didn’t immediately kick him out of your life, it would have to come down to the ways he absolutely didn’t like to use. Usually his conflicts were not even resolved by himself, but this was neither a conflict nor a problem- don’t misunderstand, he still thinks that there were problems in the relationship because of your ever-increasing thoughts of wanting to leave, but he thinks there are problems for a completely wrong reason, which he swears on his own life and on those of his whole family never to repeat again.

He would never want to get to do this- after all he wants the person he will marry in the future to have a good reputation and be loved by everyone- so this move will be used as a last resort in case of failure of any previous attempt to make you stay with him.

He knew that Jamil was not one of the most sociable and transparent people you could ever meet, but he knew that he would never do something as petty as hypnotizing him again- and he was sure! He could remember every single moment of his days, unllike of when he had whole lapses of memory scattered throughout the days. And then he was helping him with his relationship, so he was certain that he could trust his and your life in his skilled hands.

And it hasn’t been that long since you last saw the bright sunlight, at least not in person.

He knew that every beautiful dove must fly, so he compensated for the time you normally spent in the luxurious rooms of his castle in the Land of Warm Sands riding with you on his magic carpet. But not before you have sealed your wings with a beautiful padlock and gold chains: after all, white and gold were such beautiful colors together. After all, as kindness had put Kalim in some trouble, and in a world like the human one, yours has put you in far worse trouble than you could have ever imagined.

You were enchanted by the mesmerizing eyes of the beautiful snake that, slowly and patiently, while you remained staring at the blinding vermilion, wrapped like a powerful and heavy gold chain tightly to your body. Making you immobilized by your own mistake, and remaining forever enchanted by the red gems that the young man possessed, those same irises that had been your end.

-𝐕𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐭-

Vil Schoenheit, head of the dormitory of the ancient Pomefiore, a very famous actor with an unnatural beauty and rigor, would never have thought he could fall so low for a simple person. The blond-haired perfectionist so focused and so devoted to achieving the perfection of himself and everyone in whom he could see potential, could not help but describe you as the exact opposite of what he would have considered his perfect soulmate: although you too could also have had a strong potential like that first year Epel, but, from what he’s always seen, you haven’t even tried to achieve the best version of yourself.

Like the scarlet-haired dorm boss or the smart silver-haired octomerman, he wouldn’t even have time to even know what you look like.

At least, before he heard about you.

With his increasingly emerging figure in entertainment and fashion, with his excellent school career to keep such, his relentless search for beauty and the burning desire for revenge on that useless being who had always stolen all the spotlight, he had a very narrow daily schedule. And the fact that he had to manage a dormitory full of people who still had to see that beauty and charisma were an immense and unique source of power, did not help at all the coverage of his imminent dark circles.

At first, and as I said before, he wouldn’t even want to know who you were. But the quick tongues of all these dirty hicks he had to endure in school, would let slip away in the luxurious dormitory room that in his school there was a particular little student who had the reputation of being the most beautiful in the entire realm of Twisted Wonderland.

Even more than Neige.

It wasn’t enough just that stupid idiot with a rosy face to put a spoke in the wheel, now there was also a third person against whom he had to win?!

He couldn't believe it.

He did not want to believe that a simple person like you could be considered by all even more beautiful than him and that idiot without even making an effort, while he had to work hard to get to the point where he was now.

He was jealous, he just wanted to be the one adored by everyone for once: not Neige, not you, just him.

He knew what it felt like to be one of the most beautiful of all, but he didn’t want to stop there. No, he wanted to be the one and only to hold the power of eternal beauty, he wanted to ruin your smiley faces to death so that you two couldn’t even get outside without you being labeled as deformed monsters, he wanted to destroy your lives, he wanted to eliminate you two.

But Vil was not such a reckless and incautious man, he already had a plan in mind, and now he just needed to add a few more details thanks to your arrival. He would have called his trusty hunter, and he, being a good subject as he was, had immediately satisfied the bizarre requests of the poisonus man.

A little setback, this was you in his eyes. Like everyone he had to compete with to get to the top, he just had to make sure that you didn’t get a chance to be better than him.

But your presence irritated him so much, he hated so much how your eyes didn’t even have a hint of make-up but that they still turned out to be absolutely delicious for the blond-haired man as he continually struggled against the increasingly strong feelings of desirability he was developing towards you, he hated how he would always have to pay attention to his strict diet to stay online while you would try every cake that Trey would cook for any unnecessary parties in his dorm.

He hated how he could not stop watching you as you posed as the hardworking and always available person you were, thus bringing to your side a herd of rednecks and useless potatoes that were shamelessly hovering over you, using flimsy and shabby excuses just to get a speck of your attention, and leaving a bitter taste in his mouth as he turned abruptly and forced himself not to curse everyone with his Unique Magic.

And while the handsome man was slowly falling into the abyss of madness, his trusty Rook would notice every single look of Vil directed at you, a look of such primitive hunger and such magnificent and pure hatred, a poison so limpid and deadly that it made to praise even more this new love of his.

But unfortunately such a scruffy and tacky frown did nothing but ruin the beautiful features of the poisonous beauty, the expressions of anger that did not belong to him did nothing but position themselves on his immaculate face as soon as he saw the dirty hands of a student of Savanaclaw on your shoulders as he hugged you, while that disgusting being was clearly looking for more from you.

"Oh, that student, la beauté de cette école, quelqu'un qui possède une beauté d'un autre monde ² , but not so much to compete with our wonderful head of the dormitory in appearance" And throwing a mocking and nonchalant grin at the other man. That made the handsome man frown even more for the casual tone of the hunter in talking about you so freely.

"Yeah, whatever but when- Umh, I apologize Schoenheit-senpai, but when can I train for Magishift tryo-?"

"Rook, I need your services one more time."

"Oui."

"And Epel, keep practicing your etiquette, your manners and the way you speak are barbaric. Don't forget what I've told you."

And suddenly, all those nights spent studying for the various tests that until then had not weighed on your physical health, had done nothing but drain you of all your energy, making you feel completely grounded. You wouldn't be able to understand why these sudden changes, until that moment your routine had never given you any kind of problems, but Ace would have just swept it all away by saying that most likely it was you who were just stressed out and that finally all that workload was hitting you all at once.

And you, being such a responsible student, despite all the warnings of Jack and Epel to rest, would have continued to help Riddle with all the preparations of the VDC instead. You couldn’t help helping all those people who didn’t ask, but clearly needed help. Something that the man with lilac irises had noticed from the beginning.

And how can he not exploit to his advantage a situation so useful to his cause?

And working with the Heartslabyul's leader, he would subtly observe you several times under the guise of having to control the stage setup process for NRC’s biggest event himself.

Normally he would have hated all those people who would only take advantage of the opportunities on the fly, and in fact he still did, but he could not call this "opportunism", but a small incentive to help himself in his life. And by the way, it wasn’t like he’d never worked hard for the duration of his stressful life until- like everyone else except him had- so he was sure that instead of hurting you, he was just helping himself.

Clearly the effects of the presumed fatigue were making themselves felt and seen: the skin once so bright and seemingly shiny would instead become sicker and battered, your face harbored light dark circles and your body began to feel much weaker and exposed to any kind of bump; you felt sick, as if you had ingested something that made you feel extremely bad, as if someone was sucking your energy away. And these symptoms would go on for so long that not even your friends would let you walk alone for fear that you might stumble and hurt yourself. And the effects would, at some point, even cause the first of a series of fainting in front of the blond himself.

He almost felt sorry for seeing you so weak and hurt, but he couldn’t help but feel a sadistic pleasure in your pitiful sight. A student so perfect in all respects, so good, kind and charitable, so good to his classmates and so understanding, reduced to nothing but a weak body kept alive for an unknown reason. He chose you to be the guinea pig for his famous poisons.

After all, there was a reason his trusty hunter always called him by that nickname.

"My beloved Roi du Poison, you truly are the most beautiful and poisonous man that the entire Twisted Wonderland has ever seen!"

He liked that nickname in a way, as he also loved his talent and knowledge in potionology. He had tried to recreate to the letter the infamous "poison kiss", created and perfected no less than the so esteemed Evil Queen. But alas, some ingredients could not be collected and obtained at the time of need, so he had to improvise by mixing several ingredients, making it all turn out to be a deadly potion.

Or at least he thought.

It was rather peculiar that a poison created to kill had not yet borne fruit, causing him to rage silently as it rechecked every single process of the potion that had kindly handed you nothing less than your beloved best friend. Of course, at the beginning even the first year was strange and annoyed by the strange request to give you a basket full of red apples,

"Why do I even need to do this- that's so useless. Why me and not Hunt, he would've loved to do this for him. By the way, the ones of my family would be definitely better, the colour is too much bright, surely they're all too much soft and ew..", he thought many times during the day, but he had not asked questions to the handsome man.

Vil couldn’t help but start ordering Hunt to write down every kind of reaction you were going through, every kind of change, even if it was insignificant. But more importantly, to tell him everything that was slightly out of the ordinary that you did or said. It wasn't possible to resist that much to a deadly potion.

He couldn’t understand the way that even though you didn’t know that he was the cause of your ever-worsening ailments, you would continue to understand when to leave him alone and help him with his problems, try to understand his thoughts and continuing insistently to approach him, both emotionally and physically. He did not understand you.

How could you ever approach and help your executioner? He did not understand.

And, as always, Rook never failed to satisfy him, bringing him what he had asked for and more.

And then he finally had an answer that appealed to all of his questions that had been running through his mind until that moment. No one, not even that idiot in the other school, could have such sweet and supportive behavior as yours, despite the fact that you were literally falling apart because of the envy of another.

No one would have survived for so long a poison that would have assured death. You can't simply die. What kind of angel would ever get killed by a simple human? Lose your body for what?

"Apparently I do, Vil."

An even tougher challenge than training Epel? After all, he couldn’t call himself a dorm-leader if he couldn’t even get you turned into clay in his soft, soft hands, he wouldn’t have been him if he hadn’t finally helped you see that he was the key to your salvation.

Only he had the solution, only he could really help you in all that discomfort that you had. All alone, betrayed from what you thought your best friend. Left behind by all those who you thought were friends. Betrayed by your own god. You were only deceiving yourself.

After all, you should have known that man was made in their image.

He would continue to be convinced that he was only attracted to your potential beauty, even though he knew it was just a pathetic excuse to avoid hurting his ego by forcing you into his luxurious, comfortable bed, observing that day by day the potion had not had the desired effects, but that it was still powerful enough not to allow your body to regenerate normally, and consequently letting him do whatever he wants with your fragile and now mortal body. He could finally keep you in a crystal coffin where only he could see you, in a place that only he had permission to access, a place dedicated entirely to your wonderful being, a being that divided his reason from his instincts.

Thus leading him to force you to live a different kind of hell, one where Vil was constantly torn between loving you obsessively until his death, spoiling you with every kind of luxury and every kind of wealth you could ever desire, treat you as a true queen, not as a mere ordinary angel as you had been treated up to that moment, while the other side of you was divided by hatred of the one who had made him wither like a dead rose, making him constantly and incessantly think about your beautiful face once so soft and so shiny, and letting him finally realize what he really wanted from you.

You got too taken in by the juicy red color of the apple in the hand of the beautiful evil, and this time, laying down, you would finally have a bite of the queen’s venomous grip.

-𝐈𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝-

It is not a novelty that the blue-haired boy was an extremely shy and elusive person with self-isolative tendencies, who spent all his average days in a messy and gloomy room, and he never would have come out willingly if his little brother didn’t pull so much weight on this subject.

Idia Shroud, the descendant of the great God of the Underworld, a figure to follow and an inspiration to some, and terror and disgrace to others, had never aspired to a career as brilliant as his fellow dormitory chief, he simply did not feel the morbid need to be noticed and to receive so much attention from people, and even less, he did not feel the need to get even just in touch with a person outside his virtual bubble.

He absolutely did not see the advantages of having physical or "normal" relationships, and if there were, he was quite sure that the advantages were much less than the disadvantages he would suffer. By now he had resigned himself to being what he was and what each time he saw faintly on the screens: a useless rejection of society.

Someone who did not even have the courage to speak, even just to see, a real person in flesh and bones- someone who was just one face among a thousand in many forums he assiduously attended- almost maniacally- someone who could never carry on the surname of the noble Shroud family, hoping that the responsibility instead would go on to his younger brother that was definitely better suited to the task than someone who could not even leave his room without feeling weak and without energy.

"I already told you for the millionth time Ortho, I don’t want to go out at all, not even Hades himself could change my mind."

And when the news of the student without magic who had become prefect on the same day of their admission first arrived at Ignihyde’s dormitory, the handsome blue-haired male could not have cared less. He didn’t have a shred of curiosity about you, leading him to ignore his younger brother’s futile attempts to socialize with someone other than him. He was starting to worry about his older brother’s tendencies, and those concerns would come close to the limit of tolerable when he mistakenly read for once what he shared on those forums he was obsessed with.

And he knew that Idia meant every word he wrote, every word imbued with hatred of the world that was not good enough to accept him and to allow someone like him not to be targeted for his own interests.

Even if he had never been bullied, even if no one would have dared to touch a hair of him for fear that he might in return burn his finger with his flames. Ortho had been with Idia centuries and centuries before, and even there, his big brother had always had a tendency to hate being together with others, always isolating himself in his room in the family castle. But he thought he couldn’t abdicate beyond that. He knew that his brother had always suffered from extreme social anxiety, probably the cause of his problems, along with other disorders that interfered in establishing normal healthy relationships with real people.

Idia, on the other hand, saw no problem in his current life. He lived alone, in a room he didn’t need to leave, eating whatever food he wanted and being able to stay online for as long as he wanted. Maybe this was the only thing in his mind that he had control over, or maybe he had become so addicted to it that just walking out of the room would blind him for a moment.

But the fact is that he would never deign to see you, he did not need to see the annoying faces of his classmates, let alone the popular ones.

He would never meet them again, so it was useless for him to even try to make friends with someone who will inevitably forget you.

He thought it was pathetic.

He had no time for normal people, but instead he had too much time to spend on forums and games, always changing his interests and topics. And it would be right in those places that he would almost certainly meet you, named under a nice nickname that would spur him to talk to you. The male’s room was messy, smelly and completely in the dark except for the dim light of the blue screens, where Idia spent his time playing different games, talking occasionally and bitterly commenting on the stupid and senseless moves of his teammates. But he could not even finish the round before finding himself quickly reading the public chat, and then stopping to read the whole message.

The_Pref.ectme: "Hi, sorry if I’m sudden, but I don’t know this game well, and I need help. Sorry to disturb."

Obviously, a newbie like you wasn’t educated at all and didn’t even have a thousandth of his experience in that game, so he would have decided to mentor you for an evening, by writing quickly in the chat that he would call you on another platform and that there he would explain everything to you.

And when he first heard your voice, he could feel himself floating in the Olympus.

Your voice sounded so harmonious and so calm to his ears, so beautiful and so pure, as if a nymph was whispering softly in his ears, lulling him into a state of apparent trance, it almost melted his brain as calming as it could be.

He had never felt this way throughout his long life of isolation and loneliness, leading him to pant heavily at the first sign of another person even minimally attractive.

A sticky layer of sweat was all over his face, and the prominent redness on his face as you spoke and expressed your thoughts to him about how you found the game difficult, would have made him immediately change the microphone and abruptly interrupt the call and exhale a trembling sigh, almost trembling for the experience he had just had and making him take long and deep breaths to avoid melting the plastic of his chair with the warm flames of his hair.

In the meantime, and while the blue-haired man was biting his hand trying to suppress all kinds of noise and not alarm his younger brother, you would've continued to speak and speak, never imagining that he would've ended the call so abruptly.

A continuous and sudden knock on the dorm door would wake you from your worries about the the game, and welcoming kindly and as always a significantly tired Ace who had been kicked out by Riddle again for breaking another rule. And since Grim was soundly asleep in the main room, you would tell your bizarre adventure with this guy online.

"I don’t know, maybe he was a 50-year-old creep who just wanted to see you naked."

"I don’t think so, at first I could also hear a glimpse of his voice, and he looked like a boy!"

"Wait wait wait- a glimpse? Of his voice? Man, that's creepy as hell! And you.. spoke non stop?"

"Uh yes. But I don't think he's-"

"Nah, hell nah, If you ask me, I'd be creeped out. And didn't you think that he was... Being a pervert? Or something weirder? Maybe recording you! Oh seven, don't tell me it was a video call-"

"Ace, come on, be faithful."

"You have to be more careful on the Internet! I could never allow anything to happen to you, let alone Deuce."

"Don’t worry about me, Ace."

"And don’t so that again, okay?"

And for you it would have ended there, eventually deciding to sleep on it under the advice of one of your best friends.

But the same was not for Idia. At all. He’d spent the whole night imagining your mouth opening and closing only to produce those little words about useless things, the movements of your tongue so sensually moving to the palate, the vocal cords moving in the throat- and oh, that throat...

He kept thinking back to that exact moment when your words had entered his head for the first time, unable to do anything but begin to fantasize about how you might actually appear in real life and not covered and disguised by a beautiful avatar.

He wondered if you were tall or short, if you had short or long hair, what color it could be, and how you could be. He knew you’d never want someone so stupid like other idiotic people around you, but then again, he was just a dirty virgin who hadn’t showered in over two weeks doing nothing but sit in his room full of paper towels and energy drinks. He was a disgusting incel ³ that couldn’t even hope to have a beautiful person, like he knew you were, by his side.

This new fixation would have led him to look for every single clue to understand what your identity was, initially looking for any useful information about your game profile that you both were playing before, and then starting the actual process to see who you really were.

After all, what kind of student at Ignihyde would not know how to hack an account, especially one of such a naive person about the dangers of the internet? All those years spent studying programming would come in handy, which he had no doubt about.

He knew that in the end everything he had studied on his own would always come in handy: whether to ask someone for private information, or ruin another’s life, with a simple click and the right words, he could simply make another’s life a hell.

And after a short time, he had complete access to your computer, which had oddly not installed an antivirus or something to protect your device- it would've been a somewhat longer process, but in the end, he knew he would always succeed: the only thing he felt he could boast of was his almost infinite knowledge of technology, giving him the ego boost he needed to continue everything he was working on.

He had access to your search history, your daily logs, your downloads, your works, passwords, socials- and most importantly, your webcam and microphone.

Finally, finally finally finally finally finally finally- Finally!

He could finally know the face of the voice that accompanied him through his nights and days.

And when he saw you.. it was as if all the emotions he’d spent days stabilizing had suddenly returned.

His dead heart was pounding, as if he had a sudden attack of tachycardia, he felt himself suffocating with his own saliva, forgetting even for a few seconds how to swallow, and consequently dropping some saliva on his sweatshirt, the blush had returned, making him feel hot and scorching under the heat of his sweatshirt- and although normally his dorm was extremely cold, he continued to sweat profusely, his thin fingers were rigidly welded on the mouse, By clicking and zooming on every part of his body that was visible to him, his hair now threatening to melt his headphones.

"Oh- my- my- sev- en… oh- h-hah.."

The news of Idia’s interest in the prefect had been a shock to his younger brother, but also a huge relief. He finally met someone who wasn’t him! And he also fell in love! Years before, this huge change in the life of his niisan would have been nothing more than a mere image in his brain: a fantasy, an illusion, peraphs.

At a certain point he had even given up trying to reason with the man, and therefore he had lowered a bit the tentative to convince him to leave the dormitory. At least he could go out during night time, just something to make him go away from that smelly and disgusting room.

"NO-! I mean- what if someone wasn’t asleep and instead began filming me?! I- I don’t know! You understand!? What if someone even noticed my hair? NO."

So when you would hit not only the near-impossible interest of Idia, he believed it was fate. And that’s what Idia thought. It was repeated that your meeting had been planned in advance by the Fate, an omnipotent existence that ruled at will both human and gods.

No one could escape the Fate.

Not even the beautiful little angel you were.

He thanked the fact of having known you online and not in real life- also because there would be only one chance in a million that would have met you just when it was released for the first time in the last five or six months. But now all he could do was keep watching your every move from the camera that conveniently could spot you every time you walked in, making him find out as many things about you.

"Ah~ my little and tempting angel! I bet you would have liked to have such a devoted follower like me."

As the months went by, the adorable little Ortho would become a huge friend of yours, which his personality allowed him to do, starting with a casual conversation over lunch in the cafeteria, with the excuse of having to look for a volunteer to test a new machine, which, despite much concern expressed by none other than by your friends who were currently sitting at your same table, you had naturally and immediately agreed to do.Helping was your main mission, your only mission, and so helping a little boy like Ortho was enough on its own to fill your pure heart with joy, coming shortly afterwards into the gloomy dormitorium.

His brother lacked that ability to be with others, so Ortho would be the voice and body of Idia outside his room, and not wanting his nii-san to lose all happiness, that one glimmer and glimmer of a possible better future that you were carrying- He didn’t want to be the cause of his suffering.

Idia could not help but compare himself to the lonely and gloomy Hades, who for centuries remained because of an extremely favoritist society that had forced him to be what he had become. In the past he could only compare you to the wonderful Persephone. Now he understood his ancestor. Or maybe it was a family thing.

But in the end, his brother, a boy so kind that you would never be able to resist his constant prayers that you should visit him at least once in his dorm, always spent a lot of time alone, and all he wanted was to spend a little more time with his new best friend! Did you really want to leave him all alone in a place so isolated and full of people just as isolated? No? Perfect! Just follow him to Big Brother’s room and you can all have a big pijama party! Actually, do you want some pomegranate? They are produced by his family, so you can also binge on them!

And that tiny little grain.

A grain had been your sentence.

A mere grain of pomegranate would have been the invisible chains that would have kept you in the room of Idia, you should have remembered the immense jealousy and possessiveness of the god of the dead, you should have known of his obsession with his beloved little angel.

The light morbidly attracts the darkness.

And now you were bound to him forever like his Persephone. Until the end of time, governing together, one beside the other, in a world of death and silence, where a land of sinful and decrepit souls will be forced to obey you two without asking questions, and not letting you fly away in the world of humans.

Even for the god of the underworld this method had worked, so why shouldn’t it have been the same for him?

There was a very small chance that everything he did might end badly, but Idia didn’t care. He could have been discovered by the inhabitants of the island or by other students, but in the end he knew that you could never leave him in any way, and he enjoyed this. Even if he had disappeared, the bond between you would have remained unbreakable.

Don't you know how many times Persephone has tried to escape from that gloomy, old-fashioned prison? She even tried to kill herself.

But how can you die when you’re already in a dead world, and what’s more dead then a dead spirit like yours?

And you too, as she did, would have surrendered to the inevitable fate that had been forged only for the two of you. You would have been chained to a world where the dead speak, and where the living die, and where the red juice of the pomegranate would have continually stained the floors with crimson, dripping from your wounds and your mouth, sealing you forever with the fire of the underworld to him.

You were deceived by a soul, and soon you would have to pay a heavy toll. A soul for your freedom, throwing you into a whirlpool of familiar whispers and shadows, drowning in death with Idia.

-𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚-

Malleus Draconia, an extremely powerful wizard with powers still unknown to most students, an honorable student with excellent scholastic returns, a powerful young man who was destined for the throne , a boy who conveyed immediate anxiety to anyone who was in the same room with him, thus leading many people to associate his presence with something to avoid, a gloomy fae that for all those who saw it was a complete enigma, seemingly no solution, an extremely well-known individual, but who, fortunately or not, did not show around so often. And the students were grateful for that, they were constantly chatting and talking so much that they even forgot his presence in the school, some always avoiding to speak of him as if even his name was a taboo and others trying to neglect the whole by pretending it did not even exist. After all, those who mind their own business live for 100 years.

And for Malleus this was and will always be just ridiculous.

Why the hell would he even want to touch someone, let alone attack a student clairvoyant much weaker than him? He did not understand how those humans had come to conceptualize such a ridiculous and useless idea as those "beliefs" that had spread in the school since his arrival, he would never stoop to hurt anyone, and this made him more and more nervous, the rumors about him, as ninety percent of the students who met him ran away immediately with the queues between their legs.

"What a cowardly behavior. Truly miserable."

He resented the way his appearances did not reflect, as he thought, his real behavior, but he loved that respect that only he, only Malleus Draconia could have from all those who knew him directly or who had heard only false stories and stories about him, After all, he loved to see how the majority of the student body didn’t even look at him in his emerald eyes, for fear of what he could do to them.

But they wouldn’t have to worry, he repeated, he wouldn’t have done anything, even if he recognized that those fictionalized and false rumors had reality funds; he knew what he was capable of, and he was extremely proud of it, he knew a lot, too much, well the dragon that lay dormant within him, a beast that no one until that moment had managed to wonder except himself, and one that no one had ever awakened. Being close to a volcano is always safe, until it erupts, at least.

But again, these nocturnal behaviors around him only annoyed him more and more, he knew exactly what his classmates were doing.

Had he really been alone so long that now no one remembered? But it would not have been possible, he always heard the occasional whispers from the students of other dormitories, and moreover, he was the head of one of them, therefore, he had happily excluded this option, instead leaving him to bitterly process the other hypothesis.

Are they doing this on purpose? Whatever it is, it makes his blood boil with rage, but being stubborn as it was, it would have denied him immediately and fiercely, leading him to think that they were not necessarily avoiding him, but that they were just extremely forgetful. He was defending all of them by every means possible, and the least they could do to prevent half the castle from being suddenly struck by random lightning was at least to recognize his presence in the rooms.

"Shut up Zigvolt. I’m perfectly fine. Now, don't bother me. Ah, no, wait, take note of the fact that I’m gonna love it for a while, so you don’t have to wake up half the dorm screaming like you always do."

Obviously he had heard about you, the infamous and so much on everyone’s lips, even the silent and mysterious dorm mates, a spirit so free and so well-liked by everyone, so much so that he always had someone who would like to be with you. And Malleus at first couldn’t help but be slightly amused by all your "adventures" that every day you carried out with those other freshmen, including the controlling Sebek, who, in your presence did not scream in the slightest, and who was extremely delicate, giving the impression that if he had used even a pinch of his fae magic on you, you would have broken instantly like porcelain.

But would you break if you were in his presence?

He noticed that every single student always had an aura of calm and well-being after being with you, walking or just talking quickly with you. He wondered if he could finally feel himself, like the others, at peace with everyone and in particular with himself, if he could confess to you all kinds of dark thoughts he had always had, and if you would eventually forgive him.

To him you were like an unknown but fascinating presence at the same time, how you could induce so many men to follow you without them making moves on you, and without even needing some spells for it, How each time you seemed to bring a new air into the rooms every time you walked into one, how you could possess a talent for attracting all to yourself, things that, unfortunately, he could not do.

You were the opposite of him, so simple but at the same time so complicated to have close despite your charitable nature, and until then he would have considered you only a "funny" human completely exposed to all kinds of danger and so seemingly and certainly unaware of every evil that the world could reserve for everyone.

And everything would have been in a stalemate for him if I hadn’t had so much mercy on him.

"Hi, I wanted to ask you, since my friends and I were having a little party in my dorm, would you like to join us, I would really like to have you with us."

Everything seemed to be temporarily immobilized the moment you asked that question. Almost every person who had the luck or misfortune to have passed in that instant whispered how you had just signed your death sentence, while some even prepared to fight in the event Malleus could hurt you at any moment, and others still staring without moving a muscle.

As for him, he had regained no control over his body, as if his soul had temporarily left the material and bodily counterpart while he had no strength to move even a single muscle, while his face would not show even the slightest hint of emotion on his clear and defined features, making him look like an imposing and impressive statue for others.

But to you, it was not terrifying at all, which is why you continued to keep a sweet smile on your soft features and patiently waiting for a response from the fae, you had vaguely guessed from the very sight that he, like many others who had helped you throughout your life, had unfortunately always been misunderstood and put aside, you knew he was not the type to hurt someone casually, something for which your friends kept comparing you to a nurse always ready to help any soul that needed, but that he also continued to convince them not to do anything rash with him, and what you reproached them gently. You had managed to see the real Malleus Draconia, that child deprived of the necessary love and always estranged from everyone.

Suddenly, with a sharp nod of his head, he took leave just as quickly, leading you to snigger and admire the lukewarm sparks that remained of him.

"What a brave human."

This show of affection towards him, in his eyes, would have left him breathless and extremely confused, he simply cannot understand what was the spark that would have provoked his curiosity, He didn’t understand why a human like you had the guts to talk to him, let alone invite him to a party. But don’t misunderstand it, amidst that blanket of sudden emotions, an immense euphoria and joy would predominate such inner chaos. Finally someone invited him! Someone didn’t consider him a monster! He had finally met someone he had seen through his scales, he would finally have a friend for the first time, and he was elated by it.

From this point of no return, Malleus would wander much more often into the places you were accustomed to attend more often, and with every mention of your name or your sight, a light, hard-to-see smile would appear on his mouth, a smile that made him more charming but at the same time something he was not used to, always seeing himself and being seen with a perennial neutral and sometimes sad expression.

By the way, he would eventually become more concerned for your safety, still believing that you were a being created from porcelain, and that it could be broken even by a breath. He would begin to watch over your figure incessantly, not even letting his supposed trusted knights have the task of watching over you: Sebek was an extremely racist half-fae towards any kind of creature other than his own- and what for which Malleus mocked him silently, finding funny how he hated and did not want to see the half of himself- and even if he was duìiventato your friend and said to be changed for the better thanks to you, he didn’t believe that once at your window at night he could control himself. Most of all he knew that controlling his fae instincts was extremely complicated, so he excluded the handsome young man with the mint hair from the assignment.

While Silver, he probably would have fallen asleep during the times he was supposed to be watching you and keeping you safe, and not feeling safe about his presence at all along with yours, contrivedly imagining the fact that you could have been more comfortable with someone like you than with a powerful fae like him.

And leaving the job to none other than the one he trusted most, Lilia Vanrouge, who would immediately accept the job, subtly hinting that the future monarch might have a little crush on the adorable human.

It would be useless to say that every guy who before wandered around you, would have disappeared for a long time, noticing the look quite strange and disturbing both of Lilia and the heavy and suffocating presence of Malleus at your side. He absolutely had to avoid that he could be replaced by someone else unworthy and ungrateful of your presence, so making him more self-conscious and stunned by your calm and long chats, from which he would learn a lot of information about your life and yourself. At first he did not know what to do with that feeling of constant burning in his chest, he being quite if not completely inexperienced and innocent about abstract concepts and never tried for him as love.

Lilia would be his humble mentor in this new world where the powerful black-haired wizard would stumble upon. It would teach him everything he knew about this new burning feeling, a feeling as wonderful as it was painful.

And Malleus was doing exactly what the wise ancient fae had told him. Even though he still didn’t fully realize what he was doing, he trusted Lilia blindly, and he knew for a fact that he would never do anything to hinder him in any way. He was sacrificing for you every single piece of his mind, every drop of his being for you, putting his heart on a silver platter so you could do the same with yours. His behavior would start to change in a twisted way, constantly giving you questions, some of which were extremely personal and you weren’t allowed to answer, which annoyed him to say the least.

He was doing everything he needed to do, bare his heart, revealing all the darkest secrets of his soul, and you dared to lie to him and not answer?

Didn’t you have to make sacrifices?

In a relationship no one would keep secrets for themselves, and Malleus knew first of all what it was like to keep everything inside, catalyzing those emotions inside, but that didn’t justify your unwelcome behavior towards that kind of thing. He knew how hard it was, but if he could, he knew you could, too, and just as you comforted him on all his worries and forgave him for everything he did, he knew he would, too, He didn’t think you might have done such terrible or uncircumcised things that you would have categorically refused to express. He would never have judged the only person who had approached him, it would have been the equivalent of a suicide for the young man. He would never do that.

"All right, child of man, I see, now what do you say we take a walk? The weather is great right now."

He was doing everything he had to do, bare his heart, revealing all the darkest secrets of his soul, and you dared lie to him and not answer?

Didn’t you have to make sacrifices?

In a relationship no one would keep secrets for themselves, it wouldn’t be right; and Malleus knew firsthand what it meant to keep it all inside, catalyzing those emotions and hiding them, But that couldn’t possibly justify your unwelcome behavior towards that kind of thing. He knew how difficult it was to talk about uncomfortable topics and say everything to a person who couldn’t understand exactly how they felt; but if he, Malleus, could open up to you completely, he knew you could do the same with him.

And just as you comforted him on all his cares and forgave him for all that he had done, he knew he would also do it: he would hold your hands gently, wrap them with his much larger hands, and bring one to your wonderful face, stroking his cheek with his thumb and at the same time wiping a stray tear, he would have moved your head so that your looks could cross, the beautiful color of your eyes in contact with his jade eyes, inducing you to tell him all that you hid in the depths of your pure heart, smiling at your best and trying to comfort you to the fullest of his abilities, and holding you gently and tightly in an embrace as streams of words and words flowed from your mouth, as Malleus would have listened to every drop of it, drinking from your lips as if he were thirsty.

He didn’t think that you could do things so terrible or so evil that you would categorically refuse to express, he knew that you could never do it, he knew that you were so pure that not even the most corrupt creature would be able to corrupt you. And even if he was wrong about him, he would never have judged the only person who had ever approached him, never dreamed of it. A stab in the heart would have been better than witnessing your pain and disgust. He would never do that.

But, regardless of his thoughts and wills, he knew full well that everything that was going on around him was just daydreams, an illusion created by his cruel imagination to fill those moments when you weren’t together.

He did not understand.

What was going on?

What was happening to him?

All those images in his mind, all those thoughts about you, horrible scenarios where you forget about him, where you would finally listen to your pathetic friends and start avoiding him, like so many people have done before. The daydreams were progressively and slowly turning into nightmares for the fae, who did not yet understand what was happening, for him a morbid fear of your rejection, and the anger towards your friends who at the moment when they spotted even a small spark of his presence, would begin to invent unnecessary problems just to get away from him, which he would have responded with an even thicker stickiness than before, indirectly forcing you to stay with him for hours and hours, he could not describe the anxiety and the prominent prong he felt every time he saw you among those people who would separate you. He didn’t want to lose you, he would have died if you had just tried to leave, he felt a twinge in his heart just at the thought of canvases.

All he wanted was to hold on to his treasure so tight that he could never escape from his arms, so damn and selfishly close that no pathetic human or any other creature would ever be able to see you again.

During those moments of silence he would begin to think about which of the towering towers of his castle in his land would be most suitable for your stay. Surely he would have chosen the room in the highest tower of the castle, and the most lavish and shining room you would ever see, and inevitably he would have basked under the pride that your compliments on the luxuries of the place would have brought him, swelling his chest with a smile of happiness, one of his typical smiles he would do only in your presence. He would have taken care of you personally, leaving you with no choice but to blindly trust him, which he did with you, he would have dressed you in the best fabrics and dresses ever made, all custom-made by your future husband, would order his cooks to cook every dish or delicacy that would come to your mind, would make you bathe in the best cosmetics and beauty products recommended no less cehe by Vil himself. He would have lovingly provided for your every wish, even and especially at times when you wanted to become closer to each other. He would cuddle you lovingly everywhere in his castle, whether it was in front of Lilia and her knights or in front of his entire kingdom. He wanted everyone to know that you were his and his alone.

His beautiful treasure, the purest and brightest of all that other rubbish that ran around you and him.

This behavior and abrupt change in his habits, would have been noticed by you and everyone you considered friends and acquaintances, which would have only fulfilled his greatest fears, Now, despite your cryptic look where he could vaguely distinguish those two emotions that he absolutely did not want to see on your beautiful features, pain and distrust towards him.

He could not bear to live a life without you, by now you had become the only person who had finally given him the wonderful feeling of being well-liked, what did you expect from a powerful dragon fae who had always been deprived of love throughout his long life?

It was obvious that he would attach himself to the very first person who would show him some affection.

Especially if that person was you.

It would have changed your mind. He knew you’d never give him up, it wasn’t like you, it would make you realize that everything you were doing was just because you were being manipulated by your rotten friends that you were with every time. He only had to show you that those you considered friends were not such, and that he alone was worthy of your holy trust, taking your splendid body in his arms and returning to his land.

The school years were over for him, and by a lucky coincidence all this would fortunately happen a few months before the end of his senior year at Night Raven College. And as long as you could have fought him and tried to spread your white wings, tried to go desperately to Crowley, what could that stingy little crow do to a guy like him? He could literally shatter his precious school and everyone in it with a simple earthquake, and he knew he would never want that.

"Me’è corom veh, m’j cora⁴"

Finally he could fulfill his deepest dreams, finally he had another half to spend eternity with. He could finally have his happy ending, an end that had always been denied him until that moment, now it would become reality, and all because of your kindness and kindness.

You both would have your happy endings, forever trapped in the dragon’s jaws.

¹= Habibi is an Arabic word that literally means “my love” (sometimes also translated as “my dear,” “my darling,” or “beloved.”) It is used primarily as a pet name for friends, significant others, or family members. "Habibi" is used for boys, and "habibiti" for girls. I choose to use habibi because it's easier to me, but you can always change that based on your preferences!

²= Translated: "The beauty of this school, someone who has a beauty from another world."

³= A member of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to attract women or men sexually, typically associated with views that are hostile towards those who are sexually active.

⁴=Translated: "I love you, my love", from the Ancient Language of Feridia, the Feridian Alphabet consists of about 21 symbols with a refined spelling, which in most cases represent one of the elements of Nature that ruled the Island and the Fairies of Feridia. Almost every graphic symbol can be traced back to a letter of our current alphabet, allowing us in some cases to reproduce approximately some proper name.

· ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Part one

Part two

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em-dash-press · 3 years

Text

What Is Showing vs. Telling Anyway?

When I decided to get serious about writing, I wrote short stories that meant something to me. Then I let people read them, but not just anyone. I picked people who knew a thing or two about craft. English teachers, the adults in my life who recommended books to me, and a lady who became a beloved writing tutor.

Those people challenged things like my sentence structure and word choices, but my writing tutor told me to show my stories, not to tell them.

I bristled. I was already showing them! That’s creative writing! If I wanted to tell my stories, I’d just say them out loud.

She clarified—in words that flew right over my head. My brain fuzzed out and I couldn’t grasp what she was saying, but I was embarrassed, so I nodded like I understood. It took me a while longer to get the hang of things by writing more (some terrible, some good) stories where I played around with my descriptions, narration, word choices, and themes.

Finally, years later, I understood.

Showing is describing the sensory details of your story. It’s diving into the emotional depth of your characters. It’s making the reader feel like they’re watching a movie while they’re reading your work.

Telling is more like narration. There’s no flowery language or sensory descriptions. It’s straightforward, clean, and nearly professional in nature.

Why Is “Telling” Normally a Bad Thing?

Clean-cut narration isn’t always terrible. Sometimes it works well for stories told by a narrator with dry humor or books about an intensely serious subject.

Most of the time though, “telling” keeps readers at arms-length. Picture yourself reading a history book. Each page gives you the facts. It might also describe a historical figure or the gory details of a war, but making those people or moments come to life in your mind isn’t the point of the text. It’s to convey information.

That’s what makes stories that rely on “telling” so different from stories that “show” everything.

Examples of Telling

If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking that it would be easier to picture the difference between these two concepts if there were examples. Lucky for you, I’ve already thought of that.

Example 1: I’m happy to see my best friend at school.

The narrator conveys their emotion, but not what that emotion makes them feel. There’s nothing to paint a picture of the school or even the friend.

Example 2: Henry didn’t like his dinner.

Cool, the character didn’t enjoy their food. Why? What was the taste or texture like? What did he experience that made him recognize the feeling of not enjoying the meal?

Example 3: Sofia made her bed in a hurry.

Why she was in a hurry might come in the next sentence or paragraph, but what did she feel while making that bed? What was her thought process? What’s her room like?

Examples of Showing

Let’s turn those same examples into sentences that “show.”

Example 1: I walk through the clustered school hallways with the rest of the student body, smelling their pre-exam nervous sweat and too much men’s body spray. This school would be miserable, except for my best friend. When I spot her by my dented locker, the smile on her face makes the cold bus ride to school worth it.

This is obviously more than a sentence, but notice how you get a better experience from it. The school hallways are crowded and smell bad. The protagonist doesn’t enjoy where they attend class. However, their best friend is a source of happiness. She waits by a dented metal locker, possibly with some good news, encouragement or an exciting update to something happening in the protagonist’s life. It makes you want to know what she’s going to say, especially because you can relate to what the main character is feeling.

Example 2: Henry’s nose scrunched up at the taste of his dinner. The chicken was in a desperate need for salt. This never would have happened if he had been allowed to make it.

We’ve all had a similar reaction to eating bad food. Your nose scrunches up, your mouth tightens, your tongue freezes. This example shows that in a way that you can feel yourself going through the same physical motions. It also explains why the food is bad using one of the five senses—it’s not salted enough.

Example 3: Sofia pulled her purple comforter tight against her headboard and threw her pillow at it as she ran out the door, late for the bus again.

More scenery details—the bed has a headboard and the comforter is purple. The protagonist is in a rush so her pillow is likely lopsided on the bed, which means the rest of her room is probably a bit messy too. The visual details make this a vivid scene and introduce the reader to a few of Sofia’s relatable character attributes.

How to Spot the Difference

I began to tell the difference by imagining myself reading a single sentence out loud. If I read any of the examples above before the “showing” edits, you’d have questions for me. See if a sentence, paragraph, or page makes you ask yourself:

What emotions does the protagonist feel right now?

How does the main character look through their body language?

What can the protagonist smell, taste, or feel?

What does the environment look like and is it necessary to describe it at this moment?

Does this scene need dialogue?

Do the characters feel flat?

Where’s the story’s hook?

The last question is tricky. The hook will be at the start of a short story or shortly within it, much like how a hook is within or at the end of the first chapter in a novel. If your writing doesn’t compel you to keep reading, it’s likely lacking the emotional depth that showing provides.

When Showing Goes Overboard

It’s always possible to have too much showing. It leads to the discussion English teachers always have about how Victor Hugo wrote for numerous pages about a single room in a chapter.

You could also fall into the trap of inserting flowery language into your work that you wouldn’t normally use, all for the sake of “painting a picture.” Your writing is your voice! It’s unique to you—how you speak, how you think, how you express yourself through stories. Write what comes naturally to you while keeping scenery, emotional depth, and sensory details in mind. If your words seem boring, that’s what editing is for (after you finish and step back from your work for a bit!).

Lose Yourself in Your Stories

“Showing” gets easier when you can lose yourself in whatever story you’re currently writing. If you’re struggling to do that, you might want to write in a quieter environment or put more details into your story or character outlines.

Have fun practicing this art form and you’ll watch your writing skills grow.

#writing #writing tips #writing help #writing advice #writing craft #writeblr #writers of tumblr #creative writing #writing inspiration #writing community #writers #show don't tell #wip

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honeyabyss · 3 years

Text

Phone calls after Mc returned to the human realm

Lucifer:

this man is stubborn, calling you would be like admitting he's gone soft and his pride does not allow that!

so he refuses to call for the first few weeks, keeping himself busy with work of which he has enough anyway

due to all his student council work, a few other tasks of Diavolo and on top of that the usual shenanigans of his brothers, he quickly becomes very stressed

he's at his breaking point and needs someone to talk to so he can release some of his stress before he takes it out on someone else

so he goes to your old room and starts talking as soon as he enters it, only to stop confused when he doesn't see you in the room, remembering only now you left for the human realm

disappointed he sits down onto the bed and curls the blanket around himself

"Their scent is almost gone...Soon it'll be as if they were never here"

he closes his eyes, sighs softly and makes his decision

"Mc? I hope I didn't wake you. I simply thought a conversation would be nice, it's been a while..."

Lucifer's call is pretty casual, he talks about his day, work and his troublemaker brothers, it almost feels like any other day before just this time it is over phone

he does not want to admit he misses you, a) because he'd seem weak and b) he fears what admitting it will do to him, he might just miss you even more

BUT while saying goodbye he accidentally lets a "I miss you" slip, his breathing stops shortly realizing his mistake, he is about to apologize when you say it back

he smiles softly, genuinely relieved about your shared sentiment and whispers "I'll call you again soon then" before hanging up

from then on he calls you every evening and you better jump right away and pick up at the first ringing, because this man is lonely without you

Mammon:

"Congratulations! You're one of our lucky winners of our monthly Devil-Lottery. We'll have to confirm your bank account number with the one given to us when you agreed to participating in the lottery. Would you be so kind to slowly repeat the number-"

this greedy demon will quite literally try to scam you, only to absolutely panic when you hang up on him

he will instantly call you back, constantly adjusting his glasses, a nervous habit he acquired over the years

"H-hey...Mc...uhm, it's me your favourite demon!"

he is relieved you picked up, as it means you didn't block him right away, he stumbles over his words trying to find an excuse why he just tried to scam you

"Ah you know I only did that to test you, you've passed nobody scams my human! You're my amazing human after all! That's why I love you...u-uh I-i mean...nothing...that was a static you must have misheard..."

when you tell him you knew it was him as you recognized his voice, he'll be outraged, screaming into his D.D.D (and probably later getting punched by Lucifer for being so loud)

"What do you mean you already knew?! You dared to hang up on The Great Mammon?

He gets a bit sulky by your reaction, so how about playing into his obvious lie of testing you to make him feel better again

besides trying to scam you Mammon also called to (not so sneakily) check on your wellbeing

now that you're gone he constantly worries about you and he can't do much to help, but if you were actually in need of help due to whatever, trust me he'd fight Lucifer himself for permission to go to you

he'll call you as often as he can, sometimes with a few days of a break in between, asking you about your life and also letting you in on his upcoming money making schemes...please don't tell Lucifer about them

Mammon has learned his lesson though, he'll never try to scam you again, he couldn't bare it if you were to block or ignore his calls

Leviathan:

phone calls? Why? You two can just talk about the in-game talk function of this new online game you play, but no real world talk while playing that ruins the immersion!

Levi will rarely call you as he just doesn't feel comfortable enough to talk with you about normie stuff for too long

he normally just spam writes you, ding, ding, ding, one message after another coming in without you being able to respond quick enough

so if gets too much and you decide to just call him so you can have an actual chance of responding, Levi just panics and almost drops his D.D.D

"Mc? D-did you accidentally hit the c-call button? N-no? I-i see no I love you too!!....AAAAAAAh I-i meant I l-l-love t-talking to you too...hehehe w-why would a yucky o-otaku like me say something like that"

poor boy is so nervous he'll say something stupid and will stutter a lot the first few times you call him, he is just not used to talking on the phone

he will laugh nervously over everything and sometimes there'll be a phase of awkward silence, but please don't point it out, Levi is already stressed enough as it is

once he gets used to calls, he'll surprisingly suggests to have a phone call while both of you are watching the new episode of an anime, so he'll be able to talk to you as if you're right next to him, which works out mediocre at first, you have to tell him to be a bit quieter a few times but besides that it's quiet nice

"Ooooooowhooooooah!!! Did you see that? That was amazing, I wish I had these superpowers, I'd save you of every danger like a real hero! W-what do you mean I'm already your hero?"

Yes, you saw and heard it, and your neighbours probably heard Levi...

on the rare occasions Levi calls you he'll often asks you for favours like to buy him this exclusively in the human realm sold limited edition game, of course he isn't like his scummy brother Mammon who'll constantly asks for things and he'll also make it up by sending you stuff you can only get on Akuzon

so calls don't happen very often, but neither if you really mind, you'll still be in contact through messages and games

Satan:

Satan will be very proper about calling you, he'll check through messages if you're fine with him calling you, so he can be sure you have time and he doesn't bother you

Satan never jumps into a conversation right away (unless he is angry), he makes sure to show interest in you and hold a bit small talk, asking about your day, how you're doing and so on

you talk about many different things with him mostly about your shared interests, but Satan is willing to listen to you ramble about hobbies he doesn't have as well

one thing you two quickly come to do was have book club sessions over phone

"I wish you were still here Mc. I miss my book discussion partner, nobody here has as interesting opinions and views as you..."

back in Devildom you two would both read a book and afterwards discuss your thoughts, and you found a way too keep doing just that

you both write about books, decide on one to read for the week and would than have a phone call where you just talk for hours about the piece of literature you've read

now that you're back in the human realm, the book choices are even bigger as you can read human books as well, you just have to send a copy to Satan, sometimes Barbatos will be nice and pick a book up and deliver it to Satan, or to you if it's the other way around with a demon book

"Oh? No, you're right. I haven't thought about it like that yet...your thoughts are so fascinating!"

Satan will shower you in praise for every little detail that you noticed yet he missed. he genuinely enjoys your phone calls, and though he wouldn't admit it, sometimes he anticipates your call more than the actual book

even though there now is a bigger distance between you two he still feels as close to you as before, not much has changed for him and he knows he'll be able to see you again soon, he'll just have to be patient

"Next week, same time? I'm looking forward to talking to you again. Take care until then!"

Asmodeus:

"Oh my Lord! You won't believe what just happened!!!"

no greeting or alike, just straight into the discussion

whenever something gossip worthy happens, Asmo is already dialling your number to spill the tea and keep you updated on any Devildom related gossip, even if it won't help you much, it's a nice thought of him keep you in the loop

those are only the spontaneous call though, obviously you can't take these all the time...you still have a life of your own...

you two actually call each other every day at the same time, plus/minus a couple minutes, the water in the tub has to be filled first...yeah Asmo likes to talk you while he is taking his afternoon bath

"Hahh it's so relaxing, warm water caressing my beautiful skin, and the bath bomb today smells so good! I wish you could smell it, or even better I wish we could bathe together!"

*water sloshing noises intensified*

Asmo...no....yes...maybe...just stop, you'll fluster Mc!

"No really! I miss having you here, I'll pamper you all day the next time I'll get to see you. You must already be starved of my beauty, but don't worry my dear, I'm just as starved of seeing your lovely face!"

what to talk about while he is bathing? Anything really if it's about your day, any complains or whatever, just expect a few innuendos of him...that's nothing new though

seriously though Asmo is the guy to talk to about any of your problems, he will listen and try to come up with a solution for you, even if he seems a bit narcissistic sometimes he really cares about you, so use your phone calls as therapy from time to time

"Oh darling, don't worry it'll be okay! I'm here to help...now tell me every detail so I can come up with a plan! I'll always be there for you, no matter what!"

Beelzebub:

"*munch munch* This one is really good! Mc you should try some...oh"

now that you're back in the human realm, Beels snack times are very lonely, he has just gotten so used to your presence, even sharing his food is normal by now

and let's be honest Beels snack time is 24/7 so he misses you a lot

he feels the urge to call you every five minutes and sometimes even forgets to eat while phone is ringing and he is waiting for you to pick up

but you can't constantly talk with him over phone so the calls often end up on your voicemail where Beel tells you about all the different kind of foods he ate that day

when Belphie catches wind of his twin constantly pestering you, he hides Beels D.D.D so he can't call you all the time

when you're actually able to pick up on his call, Beel will be so happy you can quite literally hear his huge grin while he's excitedly talking about his current snack

"Have you ever tried spicy bat-wings? There opened a new restaurant in town and it's really good!! Next time you're here I'll invite you there. Oh but what if it closes before you're back...ah you'll just have to visit soon!"

though Beel is often disappointed when you don't pick up, he would never hold it against you, he knows he calls quite a lot, but he just misses you and tipping a message while he eats is harder than putting his D.D.D on speaker and talking to you

of course he doesn't only talk about food, he also tells you about how his brothers are doing and how his workout was, or what things he has planned to do at the weekend, all in all Beel is just super happy to share everything of his life with you

on rare occasions he'll call you and be untypically quiet, that happens when he had a fight with his twin, it's not often but sometimes it happens and his first instinct is to call you, because he feels like he can tell you everything so he is very comfortable and trusting with you

"I miss you a lot, you know...but I also know that you think about me daily, every time your stomach rumbles you'll be reminded of me and that makes me happy, I also think about you every time I'm hungry! Hm? But I'm always hungry? That's right! You're always on my mind!"

Belphegor:

Listen, his sleeping schedule is very tight, you can't just expect him to call you!

he will call you so rarely and if you call him it might just happen that he is sleeping and has phone on silent...or he's just to lazy to walk to his phone, or he is just not in the mood to talk... he takes any excuse to not be on the phone

Belphie does like talking to you, but he is not the greatest at long conversations so he like messages more

sometimes when he can't seem to fall asleep, he will be the one to call you...in the middle of the night...and you better pick up or he gets annoyed

"What took you so long? I thought you wanted to talk more often and then you leave me hanging for a whole minute? Doesn't matter I would have waited longer with you...."

he is mostly silent through a phone call, his main reason to call you is because he like to listen to you talk, it's calming to him and if he calmer then he might be able to fall asleep again

so don't expect an amazingly deep conversation...

"Mhmmm...hm? Yeah I'm still there. I'm listening keep talking, I love your voice..."

he'll bring up a topic from time to time so you have an inspiration about what to talk about, but most of the times he just lazily hum or making acknowledging noises so you know he is still listening

"Zzz..."

he will to 100% fall asleep while being on the phone with you, that doesn't mean you're boring, but that he trusts you so much that he is comfortable enough to let his guard down

Diavolo:

"Good afternoon! How was the week of my favourite human?...ah don't tell Solomon I said that hahaha"

as the future king of hell, he is a busy man, but he still manages to give you a call once a week, to the same time you two would have normally had your weekly afternoon tea meeting in the castle

with the exchange year over there is not much about your classes to talk about left, but Dia is just as excited about any other topic you decide to talk about, be it the most mundane thing he loves it!

"Oh so you went grocery shopping? That must be fun! Barbatos does it all the time, though I suppose you buy less things...I'd like to see a human market at some point, I wonder if they're very different from ours...oh but I wouldn't really able to tell I suppose, Barbatos and you would need to point out the differences!"

this man can talk without taking a break for hours...you think Asmo is bad? Prepare for Diavolo...

but seriously it never gets boring with him, because he somehow finds good and fun stuff in every activity, I swear give him a vacuum and watch him clean you're whole flat with the enthusiasm of a child getting presents on Christmas

the work of a future king consists of so much paperwork, Dia will have only few events of his week to tell you about, if there is something to talk about there is a high chance it has to do with the brothers

so he'd much rather just sip his tea and listen to you, he'll ask you loads of questions though about anything he doesn't know

sometimes you two forget the time and Barb sadly has to remind you to come to a stop for now

"Mc? Did I wake you? If so I'm terribly sorry...would you be up to talk for a little bit more? I'm not feeling too tired yet"

surprise night time calls from Dia where you'll have to speak silently or Barbatos might reprimand Diavolo for staying up all night and being tired the next day, Dia doesn't regret it ever though, he likes to talk you a lot!

Barbatos:

Barbatos is always busy and his schedule can often suddenly change with a new whim of his master, so he can't exactly have a scheduled call with you

so you might not get to hear of him very often

BUT he made it a habit to call you when he is on duty to do the dishes, the chore is somewhat boring to him with no one to distract him

so he calls you and if you pick up, he'll put you on speaker and talk to you about whatever comes to mind while his hands wash one after another of the expensive porcelain of the royal household

"I've bought this new tea which is said to be really nice, it can even be enjoyed cold apparently. It seems to have to just the right amount of sweetness to not get bitter when drank cold...you can still add sugar for extra sweetness, though I believe you're already sweet enough as it is"

no matter what you decide to talk about Barbatos always has at least some knowledge about it, so it's beneficial for both of you, he can tell you the things he knows and you tell him your stuff

"I hope I'm not bothering you too much? There is quite a lot to do today... so it might take some more time..."

you will never get to know that Barb has actually already finished the dished a few minutes ago, but just isn't ready to say goodbye yet

the rest of the employees will be able handle the castle for a bit longer without him, meanwhile he can take a well deserved tea break and listen to you

he very much enjoys the fact he found a way to have some time with you while theoretically having to be at work, as long as he is able to finish all the tasks of his daily schedule, he doesn't feel too bad about his not so legal break

"I fear I'll have to get back to work now, but I loved talking to you today! I hope you enjoyed it as well. I'll talk to you again soon!"

Solomon:

Though Solomon returned to the human realm with you, you haven't heard much of him, being a wise old man sorcerer must be very time consuming

so calls of Solomon might be rare but that doesn't mean you don't write messages every now and then, when he calls you though it's always about something interesting or important to share, he talks about those things rather verbally, the best option for him would be in person, but that doesn't always work so a phone call is the second best option

"My lovely apprentice, how is your studying going? I've found the tome we were talking about last time you were interested in...it took some research to find which sorcerer had it but I brought it back for you. How about I'll drop by you next week? I can help you with your studying then, the tome is written in an older version of the language it might be easier if we do it together!"

Solomon can simply not sit still, so while you're on the phone, he is always tinkering at something and the background noises are sometimes quite peculiar...

Was that a pig squeaking? Are you sure you should be brewing a potion while being on the phone? Isn't it distracting?

Oh Lord was that an explosion?!

"Hmm? Oh yeah...I`m cooking dinner right now! It was just a small explosion though, you know the ones that are regularly happen in the kitchen. Why? Was my cute student worried about me?~ heheh alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you...for now!"

no matter how chaotic, teasing or busy Solomon is though, if you call him and are in need of help, he'll drop everything and run to you

he knows how hard it can be when studying magic, not to mention that the studies are difficult, the constant hiding of any magic in front of other humans is also very nerve wrecking, sometimes you feel like giving up and going back to your normal life, back to your non-magical very human friends that are blissfully unaware of everything happening around them, but you know you could never forget and act as if nothing happened, you'd also miss your new not so normal friends, so when times get hard Solomon will rush to you and comfort you in person or at least calm you down on phone until he is able to go to you

if that happens he is more likely to call you every two to three days just to check in on you

"Hey how is my strong and beautiful fellow human doing? Feeling better yet? Need a shoulder to lean on? I'm at your flat in 10 minutes..."

Simeon:

Simeon is a daily caller as well, he's gotten so used to seeing you every day that he feels quite restless if he doesn't get to hear your voice at least once a day

he asked you to recommend at what time he should call, he doesn't want to restrict you in your daily life, so you both came to the conclusion after dinner would be perfect, as both of you are free for the rest of the day then

He will often write a bit on his TSL scripts, just some notes and inspirations he comes up while talking to you

"How was your day my little lamb? You haven't overworked yourself right? Tell me if you ever need help!"

though Simeon would definitely have things to complain about with how Michael is working him to the bone, he'd rather not worry you so instead he tells you about how Luke is doing and evasively answers you questions about himself

"Oh me? Ah yes, I'm doing fine, just doing the usual archangel stuff you know...Ah please do not worry Mc, my dear! Nothing dangerous!"

over the time his TSL notes turn into random scribbles, rhymes and poems and every now and then something that looks suspiciously like your name

Sometimes Luke crashes the call and wants to speak with you as well so Simeon tries to put the phone on speaker only to end up ending the call and Luke getting frustrated with Simeon and doing it himself

then again Simeon also just accidentally hangs up on you mid conversation, because his fingers hit the button without him noticing, he'll get so confused when you cut off in the middle of your sentence and thinks something has happened to you, only to be relieved when you call back a few seconds later

Simeon is very interested in your day and how you doing, asking you many questions and encouraging you to keep talking

"Oh no please keep talking! You're not overwhelming me at all, in fact I like listening to your voice, it puts even the most melodic voice of an angel into the shadows...hahaha did I make you embarrassed? I apologize, I didn't mean to, I was only telling you my honest opinion!"

Simeon is quite the flatterer, but he often does not notice it, he simply tries to be nice, so a call with him leaves you flustered and stuttering ever now and then, but he is just as quick to blush at a honest and heartfelt compliment

Luke:

Luke might be an angel, but he is still low ranking and therefore has less assignments, besides studying to become a great angel and doing some minor tasks for Michael, he is relatively free

he often spends his free time in the kitchen constantly trying to improve his baking, now after the exchange year not only to impress Michael and Simeon but also Barbatos, maybe a bit Beel and definitely you!

but as Simeon is still working at these times, he gets somewhat lonely so he'll try calling you to keep him some company

Luke has this habit of speaking the recipes out loud to remember the steps better and be able to able to make them from memory, he got that tip from Barbatos, but he still has his moments where he gets stuck and forgets what to do next, you can notice that when he gets silent and concentrates on trying to remember

"Ah right that was it! I almost forgot about the eggs! Good thing you were here...or well on the phone hehe! You always remember this stuff, you're so amazing!"

when you tell him you simply looked it up in the internet for him, he'll get a bit sulky that he now basically cheated, but with your reassurance that he is already great and can remember so many other steps, he is quickly back to his happy little angel self

"Michael let me help with his conference today I was assistant record keeper today, one day I'll be able to do it alone, bit they're talking so much and so fast...I think I still need a couple centuries until I'm fully ready, but I'm working on improving! You should also try to improve your skills daily! Even a small bit of practice is good! Though I think you're perfect already!"

Luke most definitely learned his flattering from Simeon... he talks about many different things on the phone but repeating topic is Michael...just talking to you makes his day and later he'll tell everything Simeon and he smiles so brightly while he reports to him, please keep talking to him a lot!

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me swd #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me luke

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cheonsarchive · 3 years

Text

Beomgyu | Let Me (VII - FINAL)

Pairing: Beomgyu x Fem!Reader

Genre: Hogwarts!AU, strangers to lovers, angst, fluff

Featuring: the rest of TXT, ENHYPEN, aespa

Word count: 10.1k

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of death, blood, injuries

Summary: Struggling with Potions class right away, you try your best to settle into the new year at Hogwarts. But out of nowhere, popular student and fellow Gryffindor Beomgyu offers to help you. Not having spoken much to him before, you are wary. Will you accept his offer? What will happen if you do?

Author’s Note: AAAHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINALLY FINISHED THIS SERIES!!! This was such a journey, I never thought I would write and finish such a long story. This grew out of such a random idea of mine, I'm so proud how it turned out! That being said, thank you so so much for all the love you gave this story. I never expected so many people to like this and wait for updates, that really gave me more confidence with my writing! I hope you like this last chapter and you will like future works from me as well. Please let me know your thoughts on it or give some suggestions on how I can improve with the next story/series. Once again, thank you guys. ❤️❤️❤️

Taglist: @odifarts @paragonofroyalty @jayla-lover @hugsforgyu @yoonsupremacy @emuwon @aegifreckles @itlittlefangirl @beomgyugyuu @ainasadge (bold couldn't be tagged)

Series Masterlist | previous

Giselle wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or if there was a shadow following her around ever since she left the Herbology class. She felt watched the entire time she was walking back to the castle and grew even more suspicious when her friends waved her goodbye to go to another class and she was left alone. As if on cue, the bell rang, announcing her free period. She walked down the almost empty corridor when she noticed that a certain someone kept following her. Jay wasn't the guy to secretly stalk her, or at least he wouldn't be so obvious about it, so it had to be someone else. When she turned the corner and still felt a presence behind her, she suddenly turned around.

"What do you want?" she half-yelled at a startled Soobin who almost dropped his books at her sudden outburst. Giselle rolled her eyes, of course it was Soobin again. "Woah, calm down." he said, putting his hand on his chest as if to check if his heart was still beating. "Soobin, I don't have time for your bullshit, what do you need?" Giselle said, annoyance obvious in her tone. "Have y/n and Beomgyu talked yet?" he replied quickly, scared that she will explode again or just walk away if he didn't put his cards on the table right away.

"Why are you asking me that? Talk to Beomgyu if you want to know." Giselle said while flipping her hair, about to turn around when Soobin stopped her. "I think we both know that that's not a good idea." And he was right. Even though Giselle didn't know that Beomgyu spilled all of his thoughts and feelings to Soobin and Yeonjun right after his confession at the dance, Soobin still wasn't keen to push him further. But nothing was happening, yet again. It's been a few days and there was no sign of you and Beomgyu making up.

Giselle sighed. "I don't think they did. Y/n is still sulking quietly." Soobin bit his lip, as if he is contemplating something. Giselle raised a brow at him, urging him to spit it out. "Let's make a bet." he finally suggested. It sounded so idiotic that Giselle had to decipher what he was hinting at. "What do you mean?" she said. "It's simple. Whoever gets their friend to talk to the other one first to clear things up wins. If y/n talks to Beomgyu first, I'll give you... hmmm let's see... 30 bucks. And if I get Beomgyu to talk to her first you'll give me 30 bucks."

Giselle didn't really know how to reply. She was weirded out by the fact that Soobin must have thought this through before even approaching her, so what the hell? "And why would I agree to that?" she asked in slight disbelief, eyes widened. Soobin just shrugged as if he expected that exact reaction from her. So, he offered the explanation he had prepared already. "Because 30 bucks are enough for us to try seriously, and I know you like a good challenge."

She narrowed her eyes at him upon hearing that. Yes, she did like a good challenge. She couldn't count the number of bets she had already made with Kai over the course of their friendship. Bets about who pulls the better prank, bets about who would write a better grade in a specific subject, even bets about who would drive Taehyun or you insane first. It was exhausting sometimes, because their motivation was over the top.

How Soobin knew that? She had no idea, but he still hit a nerve. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, studying his challenging expression. She bit her lip. "Alright, deal. And no cheating." she made clear. Soobin nodded, a proud smirk decorating his features. This was going to be interesting. He clapped his hands together, "Nice. Can't wait for my 30 bucks." he teased.

Giselle rolled her eyes once more, turning around to go to the common room. Before she was too far gone, Soobin yelled from behind her "Oh, and by the way, I need some help in Arithmancy. I'm joining Ningning and you for your study session." She could feel the cheeky smile he probably wore on his face while saying it. Giselle could just scoff in response. Awesome, even more interactions with Soobin. She was really thrilled, sarcasm off.

"Can you change the last bed sheets for me, honey?" A voice shook you out of your trance while you were wiping the nightstand. "Yes, Madame Pomfrey" you replied, taking the sheets from her hand with a polite smile. You had decided to help her in the hospital wing to get some extra credits this semester. Voluntary work was always met with approval, which is why you figured it might be helpful to even out the grades you weren't satisfied with.

Even though the hospital wing was (luckily) mostly vacant of injured students, there was a lot to do in the wing. Washing sheets, wiping the floor and desks, and Madame Pomfrey also decided to re-organize the medicine shelfs and cupboards. You spent many of your free hours to rid the shelfs and drawers of the different ointments, herbs and utensils. With all of these coating the floor, you were suddenly just as glad as Madame Pomfrey about not having to treat students that often.

//While organizing the shelfs, she had told you stories about the most common injuries, but you never heard a specific student's name roll off her tongue. She was taking the individual condition of the students very seriously and urged you to do the same. But what you did catch is that it was mostly first years who have accidents in Flying classes that visit the hospital wing frequently. Right after that come explosions in Potions, and lastly Quidditch injuries. You were surprised to hear Quidditch is the least frequent one out of the three, since you've heard of many injuries before. But you reckoned that she knew what she was talking about.//

After you finished changing the sheets and wiped the remaining nightstands, you met Giselle and Taehyun on the hallway. "Oh look, our soon-to-be nurse is here." Taehyun announced sarcastically, and you just gave him an unamused look to shut him up. Giselle chuckled at that. "No, but seriously, how much longer are you going to do this?" she questioned. You shrugged in response. "Already told you. Every Wednesday afternoon from now on." Giselle's face dropped immediately at that. "But you can't! The Quidditch game is next Wednesday." she whined, and you sighed.

You knew she wouldn't be happy about these news. To be quite honest, you weren't too happy about it either. You loved Quidditch, and now that the school year was slowly nearing its end, the competition between the houses got bigger. And so got your excitement for the games. But you also didn't want to go, because then you would have to face both Beomgyu and Sunghoon. Even though Sunghoon and you decided to stay friends, you felt a bit awkward around him lately. You still liked him, but the fact that you and Beomgyu haven't talked things out in a calmer manner after the ball occupied you so much that you didn't want to spur controversy further. Jake and Sunghoon were still joining you for study breaks, but you were a bit more reserved around them. And things with Beomgyu were weird as well. You just kept ignoring each other, as if the ball never happened. It irked you.

"I know, but maybe it's better if I don't go. It's already hard enough to confront Sunghoon every day, I don't need both of them in front of me at the same time." you argued. You had reached the Great Hall by now, ready to go over some charms again. "So, you still haven't talked to Beomgyu yet, huh?" Giselle questioned as you took a seat on the benches in the Great Hall. You simply shook your head no. "Y/n you guys need to finally talk. You're literally going in circles." Giselle urged, now with her hidden intention. You sighed. Yes, you were going in circles, Giselle was right once again. "Man, I didn't know we were in the middle of some K-Drama." Taehyun said while taking out his notebook, looking at you in an amused way. You put your head in your hands at his words, mumbling "This is even worse than a K-Drama."

Truth be told, you wanted to talk to Beomgyu, but you didn't know how. At this point, you also weren't sure who should approach whom, and you figured he was similarly on the fence about it as he also didn't approach you for the following days. You were glad at first because you really needed to sort out your thoughts, but it raised more questions for you than it answered. And even if you were the one to approach him, you didn't know how you would even do that. To your defense, he was always surrounded by his friends, and you weren't pulling the same move again that you pulled when you asked him to help you with Potions. But you were also hanging out with your friends most of the time, so you couldn't blame him for being similarly hesitant. Overall, this wasn't going anywhere, once again.

It was the day of the Quidditch match, and your thoughts were more with Beomgyu today than any other time. One more week had passed without anything happening and you were close to giving up. You started doubting that Beomgyu would talk to you on his own, so you needed to make a decision whether you wanted to take matters into your own hands or get over him once and for all.

The Quidditch match was being played around the same time you helped Madame Pomfrey in the hospital wing. The fact that you were just cleaning the floor again gave you even more the opportunity to get lost in your thoughts. You were pulled back to reality only when the door forcefully swung open. You already sensed the panic of the situation by the loud bang of the door, but when you were confronted with Sunghoon and Jake carrying Beomgyu with blood all over his face you were about to faint on the spot.

Madame Pomfrey was quick to react, which shook you out of your frozen state as well. "What happened?" you asked in panic as you helped them lie Beomgyu down on one of the beds. Madame Pomfrey grabbed some tissues from the nighstand to press on the wound on Beomgyu's head, and that was when you fully realized how bad it was. "He got hit by a bludger. Really didn't look nice." Jake said and you imagined that it must have hit Beomgyu's head at full speed. Considering the impact, it's a miracle that his wound wasn't bigger and that he was still conscious, if just barely.

"It looks bad, but I can fix it. I just need some special herb from Professor Sprout. I'll be right back. Y/n, press on the wound to stop the bleeding." Madame Pomfrey ordered and handed you the tissue. You immediately got into position. You tried not to focus too much on the amount of blood and flesh gushing out of the left side of Beomgyu's head, but instead focused on his face.

He looked almost peaceful. You could tell he wasn't unconscious, but he barely moved. His eyes were drooping as if he was about to fall into a slumber. You could make out silent winces, especially when you applied pressure to the wound. Jake and Sunghoon stood at the side of the bed, next to you, concern written over their faces. Even though this was exactly the situation you didn’t want to be in, you couldn’t care less about Sunghoon and Beomgyu being there at the same time. You were relieved that they managed to bring him up there at all.

"I don't get it, isn't Beomgyu super careful around the bludgers usually?" you questioned, knowing that he always keeps an eye on them, especially after what happened to Sunoo. The fact that the same now happened to him too baffled you. You leaned down slightly into a more comfortable position, and Sunghoon got the cue to grab a nearby chair so you can sit down while treating Beomgyu's wound. You thanked him and sat down while waiting for Jake to form his reply.

"Yeah, he is. It was really unfortunate, the Quaffle was passed to him, and the Snitch got in the way, so his attention was somewhere else when the bludger surprised him from the side. But it was also really onto him if you ask me." Jake murmured the last bit as if he wasn't meant to say it out loud at all. You could only sigh in response.

"You guys can go, I'll take care of him." is all you said, earning unsure glances from both Sunghoon and Jake. "Are you sure?" Yes, you were. You told them that Madame Pomfrey would be back soon anyway. They hesitated a bit but decided to leave you alone after you told them again "I can manage this." When they retreated and the door closed, your attention was on Beomgyu once more.

His hair was disheveled, you had never seen him in such a state before. You noticed that he opened his eyes weakly. When his gaze found yours, you couldn't decipher the look on his face. Was it relief, was it horror? He showed some reaction for sure, and it weirded you out. "Y/n." is all he could mutter when another wave of pain washed over him, and he winced again. You shushed him but he tried to shake his head despite the pain.

"No. We need to talk." he choked out, pain lacing his voice. Your lips formed a thin line. He really has a thing for bad timing. "We can still talk later." is what you replied. He looked as if he was disappointed, but you gave him an ensuring smile. The situation was terrible enough as is, so it was not the time to discuss the depths of your relationship. You figured that he just couldn't think straight in his condition.

Madame Pomfrey was quick to return with the herbs. She inspected the wound once more after you removed the tissue from it. Beomgyu got lucky that it was something she could fix with magic. You were so thankful that magical medicine existed in that moment. Madame Pomfrey mixed Professor Sprout’s herbs with an ointment for open wounds, explaining to Beomgyu and you how it will make the wound heal in no time. You couldn't tell if Beomgyu was aware of what was happening, he seemed to be confused but you couldn't blame him. You watched in concentration how she applied the ointment, and the way Beomgyu's body flinched upon contact with the medicine startled you.

After a few minutes, Beomgyu's heavy breathing calmed down and he relaxed on the sheets, which told you that the medicine helped in reducing the pain. Madame Pomfrey wrapped the top of his head in a bandage to keep everything in place and the reality of the situation began to sink in. Never would you have expected this to happen. You really started to take Taehyun's words by heart now. This felt like a cheap K-Drama.

Beomgyu fell asleep and you were grateful that he could find it in himself to rest, because that's what he needed the most at that moment. Madame Pomfrey told you that he was going to say in the hospital wing for two more days at least, depending on how fast the medicine makes the wound heal.

You wouldn't experience him being discharged since you only helped her on Wednesdays, but you asked her for updates on his conditions. She was hesitant at first but seeing how desperate you were made her decide to break the patient's privacy rule for once. She kept her word when she let you know that he was doing well and could be discharged on Saturday, after staying one night longer than planned, just in case.

You only caught a glimpse of Beomgyu on Sunday evening, though, when he walked into the common room suddenly. You were going over some spells with Giselle when he entered the room, his eyes immediately on you. He almost looked as if nothing had happened to him, but you knew better. You were glad that he was okay and sent him a shy smile. He returned it before walking past you, and you swore you replayed that scene in your mind at least ten times. The smallest interaction with him sent your mind flying at this point, especially since he tried to talk to you in the hospital. You weren't sure if he remembered this, and you decided not to mention it. It gave you hope that he wanted to talk things out with you though, and you looked forward to it. If only he found a way to approach you.

"Hey Myrtle." you greeted upon entering the girl's bathroom. As expected, you were met with a lecture from her about how you rarely visit her anymore. To be honest, it has been quite a while since you have visited her, so her rage was kind of justified. You were busy with losing your mind over the whole Beomgyu and Sunghoon thing before the ball, and ever since then you didn't feel like going to see her as well. Knowing that you deserved her outrage, you just stood there and listened half-heartedly.

That is until you hear something odd coming from her mouth, making your ears perk up. "Even that Beomgyu boy visited me!" she yelled. Did she really just say that? Beomgyu, out of all people? You remembered the time you introduced them to each other, and he was honest enough to tell you that she was way too annoying for him to ever come back. It wasn't the fact that it's a girl's bathroom originally, he made that clear. It was about her. So, you needed to make sure you haven't misheard.

"Wait, what?" you interrupted her, catching her off guard. She knew you were good at just shutting your ears off to let her rant whenever she had a particularly bad day. All the more did she enjoy when you visited her on a good day, where you chatted along. But she never caught you interrupting her. Myrtle processed what you needed more information on first before forming a response.

"Beomgyu visited me." she simply said while shrugging, calming down slightly which you were thankful for. But what she repeated didn't make sense to you at all. You were dumbfounded. "Beomgyu... visited you?" you repeated in a volume almost too quiet for Myrtle to pick up. "Yeah, he came to rant to me. Surprised me too, since that is usually my job." she grumbled, "But he seemed desperate." she added. That sparked your curiosity even more. You usually aren't the person to be concerned about other people's business, but you needed to know more.

"What did he rant about?" you questioned carefully, afraid that Myrtle will explode again, saying that it's private. But she was the one who shared that information about him visiting in the first place, so she's not really in the position to complain. She only knew him because of you as well. And to your surprise, she was willing to spill the tea. "About you." she began, leaving you stunned. "He rambled on about how he wanted to ask you to this ball thing, but he couldn't bring himself to do it and then you agreed to someone else. A coward really." she tapped her chin, thinking if she forgot something. Her eyes widened slightly when she remembered. "Oh, and something about how you were glued to another boy's side, I forgot his name. Sunghoon, was it? And how he thinks you guys are a thing so he can't confess to you either."

Thought you were stunned before? Well, you definitely were now. Beomgyu wanted to ask you. He wanted to ask you but was too cowardly to do so. He admitted that to Myrtle. It was like you had hit a brick wall. And it broke your heart when you heard that he was jealous of your hangouts with Sunghoon. You knew Myrtle was honest about it as well, you didn't doubt her in that regard. She had no reason to even invent a story like this, she is fond of you. She also mentioned Sunghoon, who you have never talked about before. She wouldn't know his name and how you spent time with him if she wasn't telling the truth.

"What the hell." is all you could say in response, trying to take in the information you just received. The fact that Beomgyu told Myrtle all of this made your heart ache. You weren't sure about his intentions and whether he really meant what he said at the ball, but now you were sure. And you were willing to talk to him, now more than ever.

“Beomgyu!” Yeonjun yelled as Beomgyu entered the Great Hall. He waved frantically, and Beomgyu’s face contorted into one of disgust with how desperate Yeonjun seemed about getting his attention. He approached the table Soobin and him were seated at, glad that Karina was not joining their study break today. He plopped down in his seat, and before he could greet them properly, he was bombarded with questions.

“How are you doing? I didn’t see you at all on the weekend! Weren’t you discharged on Saturday already? You weren’t in Hogsmeade yesterday either!” Yeonjun rambled and Beomgyu needed to shush him since he was getting a headache. He sighed “I didn’t feel like going to Hogsmeade yesterday.” Yeonjun’s mouth opened, forming an ‘O’ as if he finally understood. Beomgyu started scribbling in his notebook absentmindedly, until Soobin’s voice rang in his ears. “Y/n is coming.” At first, he thought you were approaching their table, and he immediately whipped his head around. But you just walked down the aisle with Kai.

Soobin followed you with his eyes, scared that you will approach them. The fact that you stopped when you saw them and bit your lip as if contemplating whether to talk to Beomgyu or not made Soobin panic internally. Beomgyu was similarly surprised by your reaction, but not in the same way as Soobin. Whereas the older boy hoped you would keep walking, the younger one was hoping for the opposite to happen. Soobin won this time, making him visibly relax. You decided to get back into your conversation with Hueningkai when you continued walking. Beomgyu lowered his gaze in disappointment before turning around. He was thinking about telling them what happened in the hospital wing, how he got turned down by you. It crushed his expectations when you waved him off like that, he finally found the courage to talk to you and you denied. Sure, this wasn’t the best situation, but it was better than not talking at all.

Soobin could tell Beomgyu was trapped in his thoughts, so he clapped on his notebook to shake him out of them. Even though Soobin didn’t say anything, his words about how Beomgyu has to open up to them more rang in the Gryffindor’s ears. He decided to give in this time, as he promised them to change his seclusion. “I tried to talk to her.” Was what he finally said, almost inaudible for Yeonjun and Soobin. But Soobin caught exactly what his friend was trying to tell him. He almost choked on his drink, panic returning to his features. “What?” he questioned, and Beomgyu knit his brows together in question. That was an odd reaction, especially considering how Soobin sounded like that wasn’t supposed to happen, when he was the one trying to talk Beomgyu into approaching you in the first place.

But Soobin already sensed that something was off. If you talked, why weren’t you interacting? He noticed Beomgyu’s distrust and cleared his throat before saying “What happened?” The concern in his eyes was real, not only because he wanted you guys to get together, knowing how much Beomgyu liked you, but also because of his bet with Giselle. When he noticed Beomgyu’s eyes getting dark with regret, he knew things weren’t going as planned. “She waved me off, basically.” Yeonjun’s jaw dropped. How dare you do that after Beomgyu has cried his heart out to them. “Honestly, forget that bi–“ He couldn’t finish his sentence since Soobin interrupted him quickly.

“Don’t listen to Yeonjun. Look, maybe she was overwhelmed. You were injured badly, and she wasn’t prepared for that. Or she wanted to see if you would really mean it, so she backed off to see if you’re going to try again. Either way, you should talk to her again now that you’ve recovered.” Soobin sounded almost too desperate for Beomgyu’s liking. Yes, he wanted the best for his friend, but Soobin was usually cautious with his advice. Beomgyu knew something was going on that he didn’t know about, but he couldn’t put a finger on it just yet.

The conversation turned into an argument as Beomgyu tried to explain how he mustered all his courage and now he doesn’t believe he could do it again, whereas Soobin pushed him into trying once more to make sure. Growing frustrated with his persistence, Beomgyu groaned in an annoyed tone, muttering a “Fine.”

You were beyond frustrated at this point. Not only did you have difficulties with some new spells, but you also began to struggle with the ones you thought you had already mastered. You were ready to cry when you embarrassed yourself in front of the whole Defense Against the Dark Arts class, trying to show your Patronus. But it didn't work. Deep down, you knew it wouldn't, but you still hoped for a miracle. After all, it's been a while since you casted that one.

But this wasn't coming out of nowhere. You had linked your Patronus to your grandpa, your favorite person in this world. He was your best friend, he basically raised you since your parents had little to no time to care for you due to their jobs, and you hoped he would stay in your life forever. But after he had died, your mind was clouded with grief for him. No matter how hard you tried to remember the happy moments with him, the pain from his passing overtook each time. And ultimately, your Patronus couldn't be cast anymore because of it.

You stood in front of the class in slight disbelief, and you tried to hide your face as much as possible in embarrassment. Thankfully, your teacher wasn't too strict about it. "Y/n, I think you need to work on that again until our next class." he simply said, thankfully without any ill intentions or the passive-aggressive tone you're used to from Professor Snape. That made you calm down slightly. You took a deep breath, your head sinking even more if that was even possible, and you retreated.

Taehyun looked at you in concern when you stood next to him. "It's because of your gran, isn't it?" he whispered. You tried to blink your tears away, both from frustration and grief, and you simply nodded. You were glad Taehyun was quick to catch up and he got the message that you didn't want to talk about it. Your mind was circling around all the memories of your grandpa at that moment, the good as well as the bad ones. Trying your best to focus on the class again, you swallowed the lump that had formed in your throat.

To your relief, class was dismissed shortly after and you hoped to leave the embarrassment from failing a Patronus, a spell three-years learn, behind in the classroom as you basically stormed out of it. Taehyun had to put in some effort to catch up to you in the crowd and once he reached you, he put a supportive hand on your shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. As I always say, practice makes perfect." he sounded like an instructor, and you could only scoff.

But he was right. You knew you had to practice. You also knew that you had to talk to Beomgyu. And with your free period being too short to do both, you needed to make a decision. Should you use the time to look for Beomgyu, or should you find a quiet room to practice your Patronus again? Your next DAtDA period would be two days from now, so you didn't have too much time to master it again to the point where you were 100% sure you wouldn't embarrass yourself again.

You also didn't even have an idea where and how to find Beomgyu in such a big castle. Since he also had a free period, he could be anywhere. Maybe finding him would take too much time, and then you would have to cut your conversation short. Not the best option, considering how much ground you had to cover. So, you ultimately decided to use this free period to practice your Patronus. You figured that both of you had waited so long already, one more day wouldn't hurt at this point.

What you didn't know was that Beomgyu had other plans. He knew you shared this free period, as this was your go-to time for tutoring sessions, and he didn't want to waste the opportunity. It would be harder for him to catch you alone in the late afternoon or evening, since you mostly hung out with Giselle and Kai. He had waited way too long again as well. So, before he could start overthinking, he searched the hallways for you.

You were roaming the castle, trying to find an empty classroom or even a broom cupboard to practice in. Your last option would be a bathroom, but the possibility of someone barging in scared you, and you definitely did not want to practice in front of Myrtle. You already tried that once, and it didn't end well. She bothered you so much that you ended up not visiting her for two months straight.

Being lost in your thoughts, you almost didn't catch the weird noise coming from behind you. Upon noticing, you stopped in your tracks. You turned around slowly, only to see that a door had formed on the wall. You suddenly questioned your sanity, there definitely was nothing but a plain wall there before. Approaching the door to see if it was merely an illusion, you noticed with delight how you haven't lost your mind just yet.

The door handle looked too inviting, and you decided that carefully checking the room won't hurt. You slowly peeked inside, and you were greeted by a spacious, empty room. It was lit by a fireplace at the other end of the room and some chandeliers. The walls were made entirely out of mirrors. And that's when it hit you. You found the Room of Requirement.

You had tried to make it appear for years, but apparently your needs never were desperate enough to have the room show itself to you. At least until now. You couldn't believe this was the reason for it to appear. You figured that there really was nowhere else for you to go and practice in peace, so you took the chance the room offered you and got in.

Looking around, you couldn't make out any interior, so the room must have really appeared simply for practicing purposes. You didn't mind, though, since that meant it was really fitting your current needs. You decided to start in the middle of the room, feet firm on the ground. You lifted your wand slowly, taking a deep breath before saying "Expecto Patronum."

Beomgyu was about to go mad. He has spent the past 20 minutes searching for you in the Great Hall, the Common Room, the courtyard, yet there was no sign of you. He scratched all your favorite places from his mental list, so he was at a loss when he hasn't spot you yet. At this point, he was roaming mindlessly through the castle in hopes of catching you on a random corridor. Maybe you were taking a walk, he wondered.

The longer it took him to find you, the more anxious he became as well. He still hasn't put his mind at rest about what he is going to say to you, let alone going over all the possible reactions that could come from your side. Are you tired of waiting? Did he completely scare you away with that emotional outburst at the ball? Did his failed attempt to talk to you in the hospital wing make you indifferent about him completely? Beomgyu needed answers, and he needed them quickly.

He strolled through the seventh-floor corridor that was usually empty around this time. There could have been the possibility of you needing some time to calm down, thus opting for an emptier part of the castle. He was about to turn the corner when suddenly, the wall in front of him changed. He thought he was hallucinating at first, but it turned out that the wall was indeed changing. A weird pattern morphed itself out of the bricks, something Beomgyu soon recognized to be the shape of a door.

He stood there motionless, blankly staring at the magical door forming in front of him. What was happening? It ultimately sparked his curiosity, and he took a step towards it once the door had finished forming. He tried to decipher why a door would suddenly appear out of nowhere, especially since he had never experienced random doors morphing out of the walls. In fact, he realized that he had.

It was in Beomgyu's third year, when he pulled a prank on his fellow students that wasn't welcomed at all. After finding out that Beomgyu was the one smuggling puking pastils in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team's food, leading to a cancelled game, they were more than ready to have him learn his lesson. Beomgyu panicked and ran around the castle in hopes of finding somewhere to hide. In his panic, he didn't question the weird door that he had never noticed in that corridor before and stormed through it in hopes of finding a broom closet that he can lock from the inside. He was lucky, because that is exactly the room he was met with after hastily opening the door. And that's the story of the room showing itself to him for the first and only time. Well, until now.

He was confused about the room appearing now, of all times. He doesn't need the Room of Requirement, he needs to find you, so what was this about? He knew that the room wasn't showing itself to him without a reason, so ignoring it was no option. Beomgyu's hand was gliding over the door handle while he was pondering whether he really had more time to lose. But he couldn't ignore the itch in his fingers to push the door handle down and reveal the secrets of the room behind it.

You were alarmed when you heard a noise behind you. You didn't know how much time had passed, and at first you thought you were reminded by the room that it's time to go back to class. You slowly turned on your heels, the blue sparks coming out of your wand slowly disappearing. Once you laid eyes on the door behind you, your jaw dropped.

The door was opened, and Beomgyu was standing in it. You don't know how shocked you looked, but you most likely mirrored his surprise, as his eyes were as wide as saucers at this point. Your heartbeat sped up uncontrollably and you could already feel sweat forming on your forehead. Before you could even finish your thought in your head, your mouth was quick to deliver it to the outside world. "How did you get in here???"

You figured it came off more accusive than you intended, because Beomgyu flinched slightly at your tone. He searched his mind for words for a moment and only managed to choke out a small "I-I… don't know, the door just appeared in front of me…" Upon hearing that, you slouched your shoulders in defeat. Here goes practicing your Patronus in peace.

"Why are you here?" you asked in an exhausted tone. Sensing that you decided not to kick him out, Beomgyu slowly entered the room and closed the door carefully. He took a deep breath trying to come up with a satisfying answer, but his mind went blank. How was he supposed to start? He really didn't think it through. Silence filled the room, and you grew impatient, opening your mouth to speak again, but Beomgyu was quick to beat you to it with blurting out "To apologize."

Your mouth closed again at that, raising an eyebrow in question. Yes, he did screw up big time, but you still didn't really expect him to be so straightforward. I mean, you were met with his straightforward self at the Spring Ball already, but that was a different situation. Beomgyu looked a lot calmer now than he looked back then.

Beomgyu figured that overthinking every word he wanted to say wouldn't get you two anywhere, so he just started to bury you with his thoughts. "Look, I know the way things turned out wasn't the best and how I treated you wasn't fair. I know I should have asked you to the ball and I hate myself for not doing it in time. I couldn't stand the fact that you were going there with someone else, and with someone like Sunghoon at that. Could have at least been someone less handsome."

You stopped him at that, not believing his words. "Excuse me?" you taunted, wondering if he meant to say that you don't deserve anyone like Sunghoon. Beomgyu chuckled slightly at your response but was quick to return to his serious self again. "You know what I mean. I was jealous, I admit that. I was afraid that you found someone better than me and that I was the only one carrying deeper feelings. You didn't deserve that outburst from me, and I am deeply sorry for yelling at you. I was just beyond frustrated and didn't know what to do and I felt like a coward and–"

His ramble got interrupted when you suddenly moved towards him. He was caught off guard when you approached him, scared about what is going to be your next move. He didn't know what was going to happen, is he going to get pushed out of the room, is he going to get slapped, is he going to get yelled at in return?

Quite the opposite was the case, actually. You stopped when you were in front of him, as if you were re-thinking your intention once again. But you made your decision. Before Beomgyu could register it, your arms snaked around his figure as you embraced him in a hug. You were extra careful, worried that he might not want to hug you in return. Your worries flew out the window once you felt his arms around you in a matter of seconds.

Beomgyu gulped because he didn't know how to react. Yes, he definitely wanted to hug you back, but he wasn't sure which drawer to sort your reaction into. It came out of nowhere, he wasn't even finished with his monologue yet. So, he ultimately asked, "What is that for?"

"You really talk too much." you said, a small smile creeping up on your face. It made Beomgyu relax in your hold, his arms tightening around you slightly. He hoped you wouldn't hear his heart beating at record speed. He was sure that it was about to pop through his chest. "I mean it though. I'm really sorry, y/n." He sighed again.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too. I should have been more vocal about my feelings, especially when you hurt them. And I could have asked you to the ball as well. We both did stupid things." you mumbled into his chest, and you could tell by Beomgyu's ragged breathing that he was suppressing another chuckle. "That's true. We're both stupid." he teased, and you couldn't keep a small scoff from escaping your lips.

You stayed like this for a few more moments, increasingly melting into each other the more time passed. After a while, you decided to part yourself from him a bit, creating distance so that you could look him in the eyes. You could swear that he was holding the whole galaxy there and you had to be careful not to get lost. He looked at you similarly in awe, hands still firmly around your waist. What probably were mere seconds felt like hours, and you were only called out of your trance by his hand moving a strand of your hair out of your face. Your senses went into overdrive when he carefully placed his hand on your neck, his thumb slightly caressing your cheek. You caught a glimpse of his gaze falling to your lips before meeting yours again. And that's when he finally asked the question you waited to hear for so long.

"Can I kiss you?"

A smile slowly graced your lips, the way he looked at you as if you were the most precious thing in the world was something you never wanted to forget. You nodded ever so slightly, and he already got the message. But just for confirmation, you added a soft "What are you waiting for?"

He wasted almost no more time upon hearing your answer, his gaze once again dropping to your lips as he leaned in. You didn't know what you expected your first kiss with Beomgyu to be like, but this exceeded your expectations. It started with small, rather hesitant pecks, as if he wanted to make sure you are really okay with it. After testing the waters, he kissed you more deeply, his hand on your neck guiding you. His soft lips on yours made the butterflies in your stomach go crazy. You quickly found your rhythm, as if your lips were meant to be connected.

You didn't know how long you were kissing but you couldn't get enough. It was only the lack of air that was pulling you back to reality, and you parted from him with a desperate wish to breathe again. He similarly needed to catch his breath and the way his lips were already swollen made him even more attractive than before. You couldn't help but lean in once you felt like you had enough air in your lungs again. This time, your tongues joined the dance of your lips, and it felt intoxicating.

It was once more the lack of oxygen driving your lips apart and this time, you decided to take in the whole situation. Beomgyu and you were in the Room of Requirement, finally making up and kissing each other. You couldn't believe it, this sounded like a cheap K-Drama again. You looked at him, trying to take in the situation, making sure you weren't dreaming.

That's when Beomgyu's demeanor suddenly changed. He was looking at you in adoration when something struck him. He leaned back a bit, and his eyes became doubtful. Your heart dropped to your stomach for a second, anxious that he didn't like it or that something was wrong. "What is it?" you asked in minor panic.

He raised a brow at you. "Why were YOU here?" You looked at him with big eyes, not knowing what to say. Your cheeks got hot with embarrassment when you muttered "I was practicing my Patronus...?" A scoff turning into a laugh was what your ears picked up from Beomgyu as a response.

You looked dumbfounded. "Are you serious? I thought the Room showed itself to us so we can finally talk to each other and make up. And you just crushed my romantic mindset by telling me you made it show up to practice your Patronus?!" A hearty laugh escaped his chest as he shook his head in disbelief.

You shrugged awkwardly with a shy "Yes?" in response. He calmed down a bit before asking why you were practicing it in the first place. Your head dropped in shame when you summarized what had happened and that's when he finally turned serious. "Come on, let me help you." was all you heard before he turned you around, taking your hand that was holding your wand in his to guide you. You tried to object, mentioning how there was still so much to talk about, but he was the one to wave you off this time.

"I think you need to change your memory to make it work. Since you're still grieving, look for something else. The happiest memory you can think of. Maybe having me in your life?" he teased, and you rolled your eyes in response, pinching his side. He yelped in surprise and you replied, "Shut up before I kick you out of the room!" He narrowed his eyes on you.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Kai, am I hallucinating?" Taehyun said, almost dropping his sandwich when he caught side of you. Kai peeked up from his notes because of his friend's question, his gaze following Taehyun's. When he saw you approaching together with Beomgyu while holding hands, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. How on earth did that happen? Did they just skip a chapter in your life?

"My God, FINALLY!" Kai yelled as he jumped up from his seat once you two reached them. You could only smile awkwardly, noticing how they looked at your and Beomgyu's intertwined hands. It felt a bit weird to update them on your relationship status like that, but they didn't seem to mind. Instead, they drove you up the wall with questions. You didn't have time to breathe and could barely sit down when they began their attack.

Giselle, Ningning and Soobin had just finished another study session in the courtyard. The weather was getting warmer and Ningning and Giselle desperately needed the sunlight to raise their mood. They didn't care about Soobin's bickering that “studying on stone benches was uncomfortable.” If Soobin wanted to study with them, he had to tag along. And he did. He was talking to Ningning when they walked into the Great Hall to spend some time with their friends.

They expected to part ways, but reality was far from it. When Giselle laid eyes on Beomgyu sitting next to you, she almost fainted. You were so immersed in the conversation that you didn't notice them approaching, only when a "No way." left Soobin's lip you were acknowledging their presence. You turned around and saw a pale white Giselle and Soobin, a confused Ningning next to them. She was only roughly filled in with what happened between Beomgyu and you and why there was such a fuss about it at the ball.

"You finally talked?!" Giselle shrieked, and you weren't sure if it was out of excitement or horror. It scared you because it looked like her life was flashing before her eyes. Little did you know why that was the case just yet. "I guess we did?" Beomgyu chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "And you won't believe how it happened, so y/n was–" Kai began to retell what he had just learned from you excitedly, but he couldn't finish when Giselle cut him off.

"Wait, no. Who talked to whom first?" she asked, her finger motioning between Beomgyu and you. You were confused why that would even matter, the important thing is that you finally talked, right? It hurt your pride a little when she rendered it so important, since it wasn't you who talked to Beomgyu first, but the other way around. You calmly told her that, and a hearty laugh from Soobin filled your ears a second afterwards.

Giselle looked like her heart dropped into her stomach at that moment, and it made you nervous instantly. Was there something you didn't know but should? Is she about to crush everything again? You swore inwardly that you wouldn't be able to bear getting your heart broken another time. Your gaze went over to Soobin who had the proudest grin on his face, mocking Giselle.

"I guess someone owes me 30 bucks." he teased, and Giselle dropped her head in defeat at that. Did you hear that right? 30 bucks? The realization made you cover your mouth in disbelief. "You guys made a bet on us???" Beomgyu asked, similarly bewildered. Giselle and Soobin both shrugged in unison. Wow, they were a great team already, you thought. A great team to betray you.

"I can't believe you." you said while shaking your head, Taehyun and Kai finding the whole situation a little more amusing as they were laughing their asses off. "Y/n, don't give me a lecture right now. You know I love challenges, I wanted to get you to talk to Beomgyu first. And also, it's not my fault you two took ages to start a relationship! You were dense as fuck half of the time!" She tried to defend herself, and you really had to crack up at how desperate she was.

She was right of course, you two were really oblivious. You already figured that, and she didn't have to rub it in your face like that. But you saw that the wheels inside her head were turning. "Wait... you are in a relationship now, aren't you?" The possibility of you two deciding to just stay friends suddenly crossed her mind, and it made her anxious that she might have ripped open an old wound. You chuckled and nodded, which made a wave of relief wash over her.

She turned around, now facing Soobin. "Alright, I accept my defeat. You'll get your 30 bucks. But only after Beomgyu and y/n have told us exactly what happened, because I'm dying to know." she announced. Soobin still couldn't get his triumphant chuckle under control, but he nodded, following her to sit beside her. Ningning excused herself, since this was none of her business. And so, you had to tell the story all over again, this time with Kai's interruptions whenever you missed any tiny detail. You couldn't wait for all the teasing that was about to happen.

"Ok. I think if I read one more page, I am going insane." Giselle said, dramatically closing her book with a loud thud. It pulled you back to reality, as you were completely zoning out, head in Beomgyu's lap as you absentmindedly played with his fingers. You perked up and saw Giselle sitting on the couch next to you, rubbing her temples. Kai, who was chilling in the armchair in an ungodly position that made you question if his back didn't hurt, looked similarly worn out.

Hueningkai was studying nonstop at the moment, because his OWLs were just around the corner. He wasn't showing it, but you could tell that he was already terrified. Giselle was similarly exhausted from studying so much for Artihmancy over the past few days, but the year was nearing its end which means big exams were coming up. To be fair, you should have been studying as well, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it so late in the evening. You had already given up on that after Beomgyu lectured you about how it's not going to help.

But to your surprise, he didn't lecture your friends. Maybe he just didn't care enough, or he was scared of a snappy response from Giselle. Kai was off the hook because the OWLs were excuse enough. Speaking of Kai, you could see his limbs untangle on the armchair as he finally sat in a normal position. He got up shortly after, announcing that he will go to bed. Giselle was yawning aggressively, agreeing with him that it's time to sleep before she officially goes mad.

"See you guys tomorrow, sleep tight." she said, waving you goodbye before disappearing behind the corner. You were left alone with Beomgyu in the common room, your eyes slowly darting up to study his face. He was watching the flames rising in the fireplace in front of you, the light reflecting in his eyes ever so slightly. When he noticed his eyes on you, he met your gaze.

"What is it?" he asked, voice low since everyone else was already sleeping. You smiled shyly at him, shaking your head slightly to signal that there's nothing you wanted to say. You still looked like there was something on your mind though, so he nudged you lightly. "Spit it out." he said with a small chuckle. You were still playing with his fingers, contemplating whether to suggest what you had in mind or not. In the end, you decided to do so.

"How about a little questions and answers? I feel like there are so many things I still want to know and maybe you do too. And since we're alone now it's the perfect opportunity." you said, mind trailing off as your eyes scanned the room without a real purpose. It's difficult getting some alone time in Hogwarts, especially now that everyone is studying for the exams until the middle of in the night. You were surprised that you were alone for once, to be honest.

The lack of reaction made you worried. Had you overstepped a line? Maybe he thought your questions were going to be too personal. You realized that you might have pushed too far and wanted to apologize and suggest something else, but he beat you to it.

"Where does your mindset come from? You know, the 'I am a halfblood, so I do worse than others by default'?" he asked you suddenly. Of course, this had to come up again. You looked conflicted, unsure of how much to share. "You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable. I'm just curious, because that usually doesn't arise out of nowhere."

You gnawed on your lip, carefully forming your response. Beomgyu waited patiently, studying your expression for any sign of obvious discomfort. You sighed when you had sorted out your feelings. "You're right. I think it's because of my dad. He isn't a fan of this whole wizardry thing. When he found out my mum was a witch, he wasn't too pleased. Same thing happened when I got my letter. He always expressed his doubts whether I'm going to make it at Hogwarts because he's a muggle. Guess that kind of stuck with me." you rambled.

Beomgyu nodded understandingly and squeezed your hand to encourage you. When you looked up at him again, he spoke. "Understandable, but that's exactly why you should change your strategy. Instead of being dragged down by his opinion, you should be even more motivated to prove him wrong, right?" he smiled softly, and you had to return the smile. "Right." you agreed with him.

"Ok, your turn." he added, interested in what you wanted to know. "Why are you so good at Potions?" you almost immediately blurted, embarrassment coating your face when you realized how quickly that left your mouth. Beomgyu could only laugh in response, and you needed to kick his side with your elbow for him to quiet down. He cleared his throat, as if to reveal his biggest secret yet.

"My mother. She is an excellent potion maker. She even had a shop in Diagon Alley a couple of years ago, but it was overshadowed by the other businesses, so she had to shut it down. But yeah, I guess I kind of grew up around potions. I sometimes helped out in the shop, or she told me potion stories instead of usual fairytales. She's a bit of a nerd now that I say it out loud, but at least she helped me with acing Potions."

One thing was for sure, you could listen to Beomgyu telling stories for hours. The way his eyes gleamed with joy looked so endearing, you almost didn't want him to stop talking at all. When you didn't respond he cocked his head to the side slightly, wondering what was wrong. You shook your head in response, but he decided to bombard you with another question quickly, since he might have become a bit embarrassed.

"Why didn't you want to talk to me in the hospital wing?" your eyes widened when you processed his question. "You remember that?" - "Of course I do! Did you think I was that out of it?" To be fair, yes. Beomgyu looked like he was seconds away from passing out for good, and the fact that he got hit in the head by an iron ball had you more certain that he was talking nonsense. "Really? You literally got hit by a bludger. You looked half-dead already when they brought you in. And you thought THAT was the perfect timing to talk things out with me?"

You couldn't believe him when he looked at you with puppy eyes. Because that apparently was exactly what he had thought. "That was literally the only time you weren't glued to Giselle or Taehyun or Kai." he pouted, and you realized that you were indeed hard to talk to alone without the others noticing right away. The fact that the Room of Requirement had to show itself to you so you have a safe space to talk was proof enough. "Ok fair." you admitted, making Beomgyu smile triumphantly.

"When did you realize that you liked me?" Beomgyu wasn't prepared for that question. And to be honest, he hadn't thought about it. He couldn't put a finger on it, it wasn't a thing that happened overnight for him. And he also had a hard time admitting to himself that he liked you more than just a friend or tutor. "Hard to tell. I was fighting it for quite a while, but maybe around Christmas when I got you a present from Hogsmeade?" he talked more to himself than to you at this point, just voicing his thoughts.

He noticed the lack of touch when you pulled your hands away from his to cross your arms in front of your chest. "I'm still mad at you about that." you said half-jokingly. He rolled his eyes dramatically in response, poking your cheek to annoy you more. He was satisfied when you groaned and turned your head the other direction. "You're cute when you're mad." he chuckled.

"Shut up." was all you said. "Oh, and one more question. Why did you talk to Myrtle about me?" You could feel Beomgyu freezing underneath you when he heard that name roll of your tongue. "How do you know?" he asked in disbelief. "Well, she told me obviously. And trust me, I was just as shocked as you are right now about me knowing." Beomgyu didn't answer you, his gaze fixated on the flames in front of him once more as rage filled his features. "I'm going to kill her." he said, hands forming fists. You laughed in response. "You can't silly. She is already dead." you pointed out, and you swear you could hear a small "Deserved." from him.

You sensed that the mood was killed by your question, so you decided to go to bed now as well. You announced to Beomgyu that it was time to sleep and were about to get up when he stopped you. "Wait, one last question." he said, and you turned your head to look at him expectantly. He leaned a little bit closer to you, looking you in the eye with a glare that was so deadly serious that a shiver threatened to run down your spine. What was about to come?

"Can I kiss you one more time?" he couldn't hide the smirk forming on his lips when he saw you letting go of the breath you didn't know you were holding. You scoffed at him, obviously expecting anything but this. His smirk soon turned into a grin, the one you hated the most on him. "Choi Beomgyu, you're such an idiot."

- The End -

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