#twst analysis

Lilia is definitely more emblematic of all three fairies as he raised Silver, a human, since he was a baby in his cottage that is the same as the fairies.

His bad cooking and eagerness towards having a baby definitely comes from Fauna. However, Diasomnia is comprised of three fae and a human, and there’s little elements of the fairies in Malleus and Sebek also!

Malleus as Flora

Malleus prefers Silver in pink as Flora does Aurora (in such a fun callback to the pink and blue debate of Aurora's dress but with Silver's cape!)

Though in some retellings of Sleeping Beauty, the kingdom's sleep is attached to the Princess's curse, in Sleeping Beauty 1959, Flora is the fairy who decided to put all the humans to sleep, just as Malleus did during his overblot.

Funnily enough, she did so because she was worried about how upset the kingdom would be once they found out Aurora's curse came into fruition. In a way, she is also using a sleep spell to preserve people's happiness just as Malleus intended.

Flora also tries to hide her emotions as Malleus has had to. Lilia also does this to some extent, but Malleus does so more for the safety of others and, especially with Silver, not wanting others to feel sad.

Sebek as Fauna

Sebek and Fauna both respect following the rules set up by their superiors. Fauna doesn't want to disobey Aurora's arrangement to a prince as it isn't their place to do so, just as Sebek repeatedly struggled with disobeying the will of Malleus in book 7.

Fauna and Sebek are also both very emotional, Sebek even quotes her ‘I love happy endings’ while crying watching Silver and his family dance happily

Lilia as Merryweather

Lilia prefers Silver in blue as Merryweather does Aurora!

Merryweather is protective, often trying to fight to defend Aurora and needing to be held back by the other fairies. She even kills diablo! The same can be said about Lilia, who is adept at fighting with a military background and sacrificed himself for Silver twice in book 7

Merryweather wants Aurora to do what she wants with her life, even declaring that she doesn't think Aurora should marry a prince if she doesn't want to, just as Lilia wants Silver to be free to live whatever life he wants and not be burdened by the past

In conclusion, although a lot of these traits are definitely shared amongst the three/primarily held by Lilia, I do like seeing a bit of the three fairies in Silver's current fae found family as opposed to just the three fairies that spelled him to sleep 400 years ago. Twst please give me more of this dynamic please please pleaseeeee 🥺

I keep thinking why 7,980 yen? It’s such a specific number? At least to me, and we know that twst loves to hide cute facts and trivia in everything they do.

And then I noticed the “7” and wondered…what if that meant book 7 episode 98…

Oh… 😭😭💞💞

It’s when Malleus hatched, Lilia’s happiest moment. 🥹💚

What if?? I cry?

Edit: I forgot to mention, but every time Hikaru Midorikawa (Lilia’s Va) held Baby Malleus; he said he wanted to cry from the feelings he got 🥹🥹💞💞

Leona wanting to be king and having big dreams about his magic and how wonderful and strong he might become especially if his older brother has some remarkable magic.

and young Leona finds that not only will he never have a chance and many cant stand him, but his magic will naturally destroy what it touches...

Imagine having dreams of becoming something proud and wonderous but nature itself says you are nothing more worth than dust.

The idea that leona doesnt put in the work in part because his magic has shown him that all he can do is hurt. All he can do is make things waste away to nothing, so why learn new magic? why try?

Its an extra kick in the teeth that being second born didnt already provide. Not only is it not worth effort because he'll never be king and get what he wants, but the sevens themselves, the nature of magic, said "your magic is one that only takes, and leaves nothing in its wake."

Introduction

After the EN release of Book 7.5, I noticed that some fans found it odd that Malleus called Lilia his friend. I found it odd too, and even Lilia was initially surprised.

What is interesting is that the JP version originally used the word “友人 (yūjin, which means friend)” (Book 7.5, Chapter 4).

Although many players view Lilia as a parental figure, Malleus calling him a friend reveals how Malleus understands companionship and sense of closeness. Malleus’s isolation and his lack of parents also come into play.

In this blog, I’ll analyze why Malleus refers to Lilia as his friend by looking at why the word “friend” feels strange, Malleus’s view on relationships, the two of them raising Silver together, and the comparison between how Silver and Malleus see Lilia.

⚠️Spoilers for Books 7 and 8 below⚠️

Why the word "friend" feels strange

Lilia raised Malleus from infancy, protected and guided him emotionally, remains one of Malleus’s closest emotional supports, and in human terms, this strongly resembles parenting.

Lilia hatched Malleus, as seen in Lilia’s dream of his past in Book 7 Chapter 97. Furthermore, he has supported Malleus since his childhood, and has even given him advice that seems like parental guidance.

One memorable scene where Lilia gives Malleus parental advice is after the overblotters were abducted to Styx, in which Lilia tells Malleus: “never, ever forget the pain you felt here today,” because Malleus will live for a very long time (Book 6, Chapter 52).

Another memorable scene is from Malleus’s post-overblot party. Lilia tells Malleus that the people in the party are those he’ll eventually lose. Even so, Malleus tells Lilia that he wants to remember the joy and pain he felt that day (Book 7, Chapter 349).

These scenes show that Lilia has taught Malleus how to process pain and prepared him for future loss. Overall, Lilia has helped Malleus process difficult feelings.

A memory from Malleus’s childhood also shows how Lilia was a significant parental figure in his life, which is where Malleus’s love for shaved ice stems from. Malleus tells Yuu that he froze his entire castle because he threw a tantrum over his Grandmother being unable to attend dinner with him. To calm his tantrum, Lilia prepared shaved ice from the frozen castle and started eating it together with the staff, eventually giving Malleus some too. When Malleus calmed down, Lilia told him the dialogue below (Book 7, Chapter 18).

From this, it seems that shaved ice became Malleus’s favorite food because the memory attached to it is connected to warmth and togetherness. This moment highlights how Lilia has emotionally guided Malleus since his youth. 

All of these parental moments make it seem natural that Malleus would view Lilia as a parental figure.

However, Malleus himself doesn’t seem to define the relationship this way.

Malleus's view on relationships

Malleus grew up without any direct parental presence and because of this, he may not fully recognize what “parental love” is supposed to feel like.

With the absence of his parents, Maleficia being loving but distant, and his overall isolation, Malleus may not emotionally associate “family” with closeness and companionship. Instead, family in his life was often tied to duty, absence, and distance.

Meanwhile, friendship is voluntary, implies equality, and involves shared time and understanding. Malleus treasures companionship because it was emotionally rarer in his life than familial obligation.

This is further emphasized by Malleus’s overblot in Book 7. Malleus couldn’t handle the idea of losing Lilia and the limited time he had left with him. His overblot was driven by his desire to preserve those precious bonds forever. 

After the overblot, Lilia was even resurrected through Malleus’s love for him (Book 7, Chapter 338). The intensity of Malleus’s reaction shows how central Lilia’s presence is in his life. Although Malleus calls Lilia his “friend,” the depth of his attachment goes far beyond what is normally associated with friendship.

Lilia seems to treat Malleus as an equal. Lilia rarely treats Malleus as only a child or prince. Instead he speaks to him casually, jokes with him, and allows mutual understanding. This makes their relationship feel closer to companionship than strict hierarchy.

Raising Silver together

An experience that represents Lilia and Malleus’s equality is the two of them raising Silver together.

Malleus initially didn’t like Silver. However, he helped take care of him because he knew Lilia would be sad if Silver grew weaker (Book 7, Chapter 81). Over time, Malleus became involved in Silver’s upbringing alongside Lilia, by giving him food supplies and singing him lullabies.

This changes the structure of their relationship. Instead of Lilia only raising Malleus, it also becomes Malleus and Lilia caring for someone together. This creates shared responsibility, emotional collaboration, and companionship. Raising Silver together may have contributed to Malleus seeing Lilia less as a distant parental authority and more as someone beside him.

Comparing Silver and Malleus’s views of Lilia

Silver openly calls Lilia his “father” and has experienced direct caregiving in a more traditionally familial way. He has had Lilia feed him, guide him, and compliment him through his growth. Since Silver was happy when Lilia called them father and son in Book 8 Chapter 29, it’s evident that their bond as family is very important to him. Silver seeks parental warmth and reassurance from Lilia. 

(Dialogue:

No, we’re father and son. It’s a long story, so I’ll explain next time. Next is…)

Meanwhile, Malleus sees Lilia more as a companion and equal. Unlike Silver, he lacks a strong familial framework, and instead seems to value relationships built on mutual understanding and reliance. His royal status and isolation may make friendship feel rarer and more precious than family. Malleus seeks understanding and companionship from Lilia.

Conclusion

Malleus calling Lilia his friend doesn’t weaken their bond. Instead, it reveals the particular way Malleus understands love and closeness. While players may instinctively view Lilia as a father figure, Malleus values him as someone who chose to stay beside him—not because of duty, but because of genuine companionship. This is especially evident in Book 7, where Malleus overblots because he cannot accept losing Lilia and ultimately resurrects him through his love. Although Lilia fulfills many parental roles in Malleus’s life, Malleus treasures him as a companion, confidant, and emotional equal.

for all the preaching rook does about others' beauty, there's a specific detail - he NEVER talks about himself in the same way. confidence in his abilities sure, but even then, whenever he's directly praised for his strengths, he's shown to regularly shift it onto complimenting his peers too instead of just himself; This seems to go more beyond rook just having a strong sense of humility as well.

rook has a very apparent lack of self worth. we see this through many aspects of his character, primarily his disregard for his own livelihood and ignorance towards his safety, but this is also shown through his opinions of himself as well. furthering this point, in rook's savanaclaw portrait voiceline, he says that he had even forgotten what he looked like before he transferred, because he had always ignored his reflection in mirrors.

we also see this through the several moments where rook actively blames himself for things that are out of his control, for example in book 7, where, even after waking up crying and confused, he blames himself for forgetting those memories despite having no clue what what was going on. Or in book 6, where rook talks about dealing with persistent nightmares due to his guilt about vil's overblot, even though he knows it's extremely unlikely he could've prevented it even if he stepped in more.

i think this is also a part of what makes his and vil's relationship so special too; vil taught him how to care for himself, and in the process taught him how to love those aspects of himself as well. the story from their first year (where vil helps rook get dressed up for a neige event) shows this especially well - rook says that it was the first time he had ever felt that happy about how he looked, and from that point on began taking pride and appreciation in his appearance and care for himself.

but there'll always be a part of rook that views himself as lesser. he seems to be much more critical towards his own self, and this extends to his appearance as well. he doesn't view himself in nearly the same adoration he does the people around him, and i think him hiding his freckles may come from that.

If you're like me, you've probably wondered just how exactly does the timeline for Twisted Wonderland work? How does it all fit together? Main episode arcs and storyline beats feel like they go by in the blink of an eye and last forever all at once, so how does it all actually work when you look at the bigger picture?

Well, I decided to bash my head against the wall so you all don't have to! I painstakingly went through the ENTIRE TWST Episode catalogue and wrote down roughly how long each major story arc lasted and put them together into a somewhat cohesive timeline. If you're like me and you like having a proper frame of reference for when things take place for your fanfiction timeline plotting, hopefully this will be of use to you!

DISCLAIMER: It's entirely possible that I got a couple dates wrong or I was otherwise off here and there. The TWST story loves to hand-wave time away with "Several Days Later" and "Several Weeks Later" moments, so I had to fill in the blanks as best as I could to try and come up with something reasonable in the end. Also, for simplicity's sake I'm basing the calendar on the years 2020-2021, when the game was first released on the Japanese servers. Also also, as far as we know none of the holiday events are actually canon to the TWST timeline, so I'm not going to be putting any of them on here. This timeline is only for mapping out the main storyline beats as they come along.

Without further ado, let's get started!

meanwhile: /jkjk

MY OPINION ON WHY FLORID ISN'T A BAD SHIP, AND PEOPLE SHOULDN'T HARRASS OTHERS FOR SHIPPING IT.

TW: opinions because people just hate to be a hater.

Most of Alice in Wonderland is a dream, and there are clear parallels in Riddle's first dream that he's Alice. Some of the more obvious ones are at the end of his first dream and "re-first dream."

Both Riddle and Alice cry a sea of tears because they're both distressed. They also can't stop. The reason why they're upset is similar, too. They feel trapped. Alice, in the first room she's in after falling down the rabbit hole, and Riddle, who's stuck in his childhood home (don't quote me on the specifics regarding the Riddle thing. Haven't looked at it in a while. spitballing). They're scared, don't know how to get out or what's going on, and become overwhelmed.

Then, when Riddle goes back to his first dream, he confronts his mother and tells her the truth about how he actually lived. His mom is the Queen of Hearts. Right before Alice wakes up, she confronts the Queen of Hearts and points out her bullshit. After that, the dream collapses