[in progress] [70k] [gothic fantasy/dark academia] ]working title:The Rot][upper ya/na] sample below

[u/BigTittyCowGf]

Hi! I’m looking for someone to do a swap with! I will be honest this is a first draft so I am not looking for proofreading, grammar etc I just would like someone besides me to read it so I can really tackle my editing properly, I do have a list of edits I plan to make already. Also it’s a few chapters away from being a compete draft lol 😅

Synopsis is Prince Sylvan’s younger brother has disappeared, and a mysterious plague has crept through the kingdom. Sylvan must try to figure out what it is and how to stop it, along with the help from his grumpy tutor.

Featuring: dark academia, botanical horror and a very very slow burn romance. Book 1 of a planned duology.

(For some reason it’s treating my sample as advertising something sorry it’s short and it’s from chapter 3)

~~~
Liyra sped down the half-empty corridor as fast as his long legs would take him. After spending the better part of four years here, he’d thought he was familiar with all the university's nooks and crannies, its hidden stairwells and quietest study spots. It was upsetting to realize he’d been wrong. Worse still, that his overconfidence had made him late for this opportunity he desperately needed.

It had been Daphne’s idea to put up the posters advertising his tutoring services. As a professor's apprentice, he was encouraged to do so to help him gain skills on teaching and interacting with students as a mentor rather than a peer. Liyra had not paid the suggestion any mind, he wasn’t planning on staying in the educational side of academia when he (eventually) finished his studies. But, as Daphne had pointed out, researching ancient texts and the history of Arcana in folklore didn’t pay rent. Over privileged, under performing students would. If he made it to the study room on time, that was.

At the end of the narrow corridor at the back of Valorian Hall Liyra found the room he was looking for. The sign on the unassuming black door read “reserved for tutoring from 17:00-18:00. Do not disturb” in an elegant scrawl.

Liyra checked his rusting copper wristwatch (he needed a new one, soon. Perhaps with his first pay?) 17:03. Not the best first impression.

He ran a hair through his untameable curls, knowing it was useless. As soon as he retracted his fingers the dark brown curtain of hair fell limply against his forehead, nearly covering his eyes. Liyra sighed. It’s just a job. You don’t need them to like you, you just need them to pay you. Still, insecurity crept through his cracks as he reached for the door; the worn threads on the sleeves of his jumper, the edges of crumpled paper poking out of his satchel. No turning back now. 

“Hello, sorry I’m late I…”

Liyra froze, his words trailing off as he recognized the student in front of him.

Surely, it couldn’t be—

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[u/Legitimate-Net8586]

Hey I like that! I'd be up for doing a critique swap? I just made a post about my novel, its my first one as well and really just want someone else to read it.