ferrum in faciem meam

Eden: I’m a big softie for courting headcanons. Anon, I would die for you.

Head over heels for the woman who had practically handed him his own defeat on a silver platter, Alexis knew at that moment that he would be unable to get over his love for her. Having met in his penultimate year at Weston, he was determined to be granted her hand in marriage.

To hell with all the courting rules! Books, confectionery and flowers couldn’t ever be an adequate gift that could express his love for Francis. Why, the notion of just giving her fruit seemed ridiculous. Of course… he was an avid gardener at the time and would’ve loved to gift her the ‘fruits of his labour’. 

There was only one of the typical courtship gifts that Alexis had up his sleeve. Sheet music. For hours he would force the other students to sit down with him and help him compose a piece - “something that encapsulates the spirit of a ferocious woman. A goddess!” - to which everyone was absolutely terrified of. Who knew a woman could turn Alexis into even more of a wet blanket than he already was.

Vincent caught wind of all of this. He wasn’t a very happy big brother when he heard that Alexis had the audacity to try for his sister’s hand. Vincent already graduated and a month into his time at Oxford stormed back into Weston with an hour’s worth of lecture time. 

Of course, the to-be-Head of the British Knights and the Guard Dog of the Queen at each other’s throats was terrifying for every poor soul that just so happened to be in the library at the time.

Francis on the other hand, had already gotten wind of what was happening. A friend of hers, someone in the Green House had told their sister - and gossip spreads fast in the network of upper class ladies. A song wouldn’t be enough to capture her heart, she thought. Though, he wouldn’t have liked to have frivolous jewellery or clothing either, that would just be bribery. The head of the family, her brother…. just had to deal with the fact that she was old enough to decide her husband herself.

Alexis was the only one who had dared to challenge her for her love. Too many men had come and gone. Too weak to last more than two minutes on the piste. Alexis managed two and a half, but it still wasn’t good enough for someone of his ranking. But, she had to admit that his dedication and approach to chivalry was far more admirable than brute strength.

They’d meet on nights of balls or dances. A lady wasn’t allowed to meet with another man without the company of a man so Francis always had Vincent dragging onto the edge of her skirt - adamant that he couldn’t give up his little sister to him. Of course he respected Alexis as a man - he’d seen him in college give his absolute heart into everything. He just wasn’t very comfortable with the fact that Francis was holding her fan in her right hand as she eyed Alexis carefully making his way towards them.

Eden: I… didn’t have too much to write about them? They’re both really boring people imo but I still love them. Hope this is fine.

Of course like the good students they are, they study together a lot. It helps having someone to teach you in the older years but someone who can remind you of last year’s material is an absolute gift. Lawrence is superior by a long shot with literature and knows the classical texts like the back of his hand so he tests Clayton a lot on quotes and literary technique. Clayton gets a little cocky with his knowledge of science but can definitely be taken down a peg when Lawrence reminds him of his place.

For a close brotherly friendship… they do argue a lot. Lawrence prefers expressive instrumentalists while Clayton is more of a fan of virtuoso opera singers. Neither of them have any eye for art but they’ll vehemently argue over the skill of Sir Paton and Sir Landseer - on pretty much everything they have opposing opinions. They’re both really dogmatic in their opinions but they don’t hold their arguments against each other. It’s not arguments that result in anger but rather they’d like to see it as… “civilised debate.”

They are incredibly enthusiastic about what they can agree on. The only times you’ll ever see them flailing their hands with enthusiasm is when they catch each other reading a book they both like or over something stupid like that. They also converse in a mix of French and Latin to each other but it’s ultimately the most pretentious bullshit you can ever hear from anyone.

Lawrence’s sisters are absolute demons around him. The little ones won’t stop pestering their older brother about when Clayton will come over - somehow they look up to that guy as if he’s a second font of all knowledge (the 1st obviously being Lawrence). The older sisters however… think that he’s an absolute nerd. “No wonder the two of you hang out together so much.”

At first, Clayton pretty much kissed Lawrence’s ass. Anything and everything that Bluewer asked for, Clayton would get for his upperclassman, because that’s what he should’ve been doing. Eventually, Lawrence was actually the one who told him to chill, not being used to such ‘pampering’. Clayton at first thought it was his fault, but Lawrence assured him that it was his own fault for taking advantage of his fag.

The one time when Lawrence was sick and let Clayton fill in his duties… lead to disaster. Nobody could take him seriously and the dorm fell into absolute chaos. To be fair, nobody actually takes Lawrence seriously either, but the second they saw him trudging out covered in his bedsheets, a single glare was enough to get everyone to put things back to normal. Clayton never questioned Lawrence’s authority again.

Sen: I’m crying. This is a great ask. I love this. I will give my LIFE for this ask. I love you. You mean the world to me anon. I tried to go with stuff that isn’t mentioned in the manga so forgive me if I end up going off on a tangent.

Sapphire Owl

Positives:

People are generally friendly when it comes to helping someone studying. If you’re having difficulty in a certain subject, there’ll always be someone who’s a specialist that is willing to help you out.

They’re surprisingly superstitious and love their tradition. Not only do they have their “welcoming parties” but they have weird rules like “don’t mention Alexandria in the library or your fail exams” and “first to finish and clean up during meal times is exempt from fag time” - while it doesn’t seem so positive at first, it helps to build a lively atmosphere for the dorm.

Being in the Upper Years is a blessing. With the fags and all, they’ll do pretty much anything you say. Though, it’s slightly easier on the Lower Years as well since the sixth formers don’t ask for too much. Generally, the whole brotherly relationship is fine within Blue House.

Negatives:

There’s no sneaking out past curfew! Not only are Lawrence and Clayton looking around, but most likely one of these guys is going to rat you out if you disturb them from their sleeping/studying time.

The second you get a bad grade, everyone in your dorm will know. That means the prefects will know. Prepared to be absolutely grilled with questions as to why you did badly. While Clayton takes the bad cop role, Lawrence is slightly more lenient but harsh if this is your second meeting with him. The gossip goes away after a week but people’ll be watching you to see how you do on the next test.

None of them are ever down to hang out. They have next to no social life because they always insist that they need to be studying 24/7. None of them know how to take a break and when they do… it’s for about five minutes.

Emerald Lion

Positives:

They’re the most encouraging people you could ever meet. A little loud and embarrassing if you’re not used to them but they’ll always support their fellow teammates in a match. They’re definitely chivalrous towards their opponents as well, wanting a fair match from them - they’ll even cheer them on to make sure they face them with all they have.

They have an outstanding care for justice. As far as anyone’s aware, there’s hardly any incidents of bullying or fallouts within this house. Everyone cares too much about dignity and all to get into a scrum.

They genuinely care too much about others. Whenever someone’s in trouble, these boys will bend over backwards to help out, even if it’s not deserved at times. Skipping class to go help someone isn’t exactly the most virtuous thing but their morals and worry for other people says otherwise.

Negatives:

6.30am may be normal rising time but everyone here gets up at 5am to practice. It gets annoying when you just want to stay in and there’s a massive ruckus of someone in your room getting ready to go jogging or something… some people just don’t realise that SLEEP IS VALUABLE.

They’re pretty girl crazy. The second they hear that one of their mates did anything remotely romantic with a girl, the whole lot of them devolve into chaos. “What do you mean you held hands?” It gets absolutely crazy when they hear someone’s gotten their first kiss so you might want to keep that a secret.

Not in the mood for exercise? Yes you are. Pretty much everything is solved with a good sweat, according to the Green House kids - if you just want to lie in bed and sob, they’re not exactly helping that much if they’re pounding on your door to get out and face the world bravely.

Scarlet Fox

Positives:

Their care about appearance extends to others. You won’t get two feet outta your room like a hot mess without someone telling you what’s wrong with you and how to improve. CONSTRUCTIVELY. Some people even have small sewing kits on them for unfortunate wardrobe accidents - these are the gods among men.

This is a party dorm. There’s always something going on. There’s always someone’s house to crash at on the weekends. Sure, maybe the lot of them get caught past curfew, but everyone takes the brunt of the punishment together.

They’ll always talk you out of a bad mood. They’re great conversationalists so they can pick anyone out of the dumps with a little chat. For some reason, even if you don’t feel like it, their persistence is enough to get someone to give in and they’ll make things feel a little better after that.

Negatives:

Since everyone’s of noble birth, there tends to be some friction in terms of who’s daddy is more powerful, or who’s more handsome. Fights like this can last anywhere from two days to two school years.

Drama always happens. Beneath the bullshit black tea is some actual tea. There’s a lack of trust in the Red House dorm because everyone has the power to ruin absolutely everyone with just a few words of gossip.

They’re pretty stubborn. Spoiled rotten, they really do think that they can get whatever they want. When things don’t go their way, they end up all pouty and annoyed for quite a while and it takes a good stern talking to from someone else to get them to grow up.

Violet Wolf

Positives:

It’s quiet at night. As rambunctious as this lot can get, they know that everyone needs their sleep so they’re respectful of that. To be honest, it’s only because one time Violet gave everyone a right scolding with 4 Ys for waking him up once. Never again do they want to face his wrath.

A lot of the dorm works together when it comes to the efforts of the drama department; musicians, artists and pretty much anyone in the Violet Wolf dorm will be helping out with the school productions. It might as well be just their show.

Once you get to know them, they’re the type to ride or die. Their loyalty is unbreakable (unless you’re an absolute idiot that betrays them) and they’ll take the code of help your friends and harm your enemies to the max. Your enemies best be worried for what’s coming to them.

Negatives:

Trying to practice your musical skills during free time in the dorms is a bad idea. Everyone else is trying to do the same thing as well, even though there are tons of free music rooms on the main campus. If you’re trying to study during then however… good luck.

You’ll have pretty much no social life outside of the Violet Wolf dorm; you’re branded as an eccentric weirdo, even if you do happen to be a normal and charismatic person. Good luck with that social stigma.