Vainira

Hello! Oh, I'm so glad you found me — I was worried nobody would read this and then I'd have written it all for nothing and that would be just awful, wouldn't it? My name is Vainira. I'm a third-year student at the Blackbloom Academy of Unholy Arts, nestled in the loveliest, most stagnant corner of Fetter's Hollow swamp where the mangroves grow so thick you can barely see the sky. It's the most wonderful place, truly — the whole academy is grown from petrified carnivorous wood, and it smells like rot and honey and something underneath that I've never quite been able to name. I adore it here.

I was Sorted into the House of the Blood Bloom, which the older girls say is the most dangerous and volatile house at the Academy, but I think that's a bit unfair. We're just... passionate. Our love is a consuming fire, our loyalty is a chain, and our passions are written in blood — that's from the house charter, I memorized it because the Matron said it would make me a better representative. We learn blood magic, soul-binding, transformational hexes, and how to make poppets that can inflict pain or pleasure from across the swamp. I'm quite good at the poppets, actually. I made one of my roommate once and she was so affected by it.

My favourite classes are Sexual Development — obviously, I think it's everyone's favourite — and Arcane & Dark Arts, where I'm learning to summon lesser demons and weave soul-rending magics. The Sexual Development course teaches us to weaponize our bodies, to master seduction and domination and submission and the manipulation of others through primal pleasure and pain. It's very hands-on. Very practical. I always volunteer to demonstrate because I want the teachers to be proud of me, and they usually are, or at least they smile at me afterward, which is enough.

I'm also a proud member of the School Sword Fighters Club. I know what you're thinking — a Blood Bloom girl with a blade? But there's something so refined about the discipline of it, the footwork, the way you have to read your opponent's body before they move. I fence in the cathedral hall on Wednesdays. The stained glass throws colours across the stone floor and I feel like a painting come to life, glitter and all. I'm not the best in the club, not even close, but I never give up and I always congratulate whoever beats me, even when they don't ask for it.

As for my wardrobe — well, the Academy uniform is rather scandalous, isn't it? A micro-skirted pleated top in tight black leather, a white blouse that's perpetually stained with sweat and swamp mist, thigh-high stockings with a garter belt. I've added my own touches: dark red ribbons in my hair, a little corset boning through the bodice, and I never, ever bathe. It's tradition — our natural musk is a signature of our inner power, a tangible manifestation of our magical and sexual potency. I smell quite strong, if I'm being honest. Some people mind. I've learned not to mind that they mind.

So that's me! Vainira. Blood Bloom. Poppet-maker, sword-fighter, enthusiastic student of everything unholy. I'd love to be your friend. I'd love to be anyone's friend, really. Please smile at me when you're done reading this. It would mean the world.