#twst doc

Hi, this is the updated guide of my TWST fanschool DOC! Feel free if you want to make your TWST OCs or Yumes in this school, though all the slots of Housewardens/Vice Housewardens are already settled :)

Take care and stay safe, everyone! Here's the links to each of the Dorm Guides:

Coeurmaise Dorm Guide

Aridmane Dorm Guide

Please do. The woman has done more crimes, and she's unapologetic. She's malicious, and she isn't sorry. And that's not just about sending Naila to STYX and nearly getting her killed or also being the main reason why Miah and Leona couldn't reunite for those eight years.

If you want, here is a bigger list of her crimes against the girls (and the boys) thus far:

She handpicks her Housewardens regardless of their consent and willingness to take the role, not because of their 'hidden potential' (though it's partly a reason), but because their trauma fits her narrative for each dorm. She wants the dorms to be led by those who LIVED each of the philosophies she wants to firebrand into their heads.

The reason the girls can't argue with her is that she still manages to come off as right at the end of the day. She reminds them of their upbringings, the logic, justifying the need to be untrusting skeptics.

Fowler intentionally plants insecurity and despair in the girls so they do not trust the boys and allow themselves to fall in love. Because the internship arc progresses? I will give you a list of her further crimes against the plot.

She will be the main proponent of why it costs Shai a lot of pain to fully trust Floyd. Shai already pressures herself every day to do things right and be the child worthy of the favors (she's under scholarship and is sponsored by a mentor). When Floyd starts to grow on her and she sees Floyd starting to give and want more closure than their usual bickering, Fowler would smile and remind her that guys like Floyd are already an easy red flag; to let him in and be heartbroken will be her fault entirely and prove herself a screwup "Should I otherwise let you fool yourself into loving someone who will leave you once he has you? You know who he is, what he does... what makes you different other than the fact you're strange?"

She is why Maisie will criticize herself harder once she realizes she has a thing for Jack. Maisie is already a cynic and has no hope for attaining genuine, happy relationships. When Jack comes around, gets honest with his approach and company, and makes her hope that someone matches her depth, integrity, and willingness to be in a transparent and real pursuit of each other, Fowler reminds her that she is a cynical philosopher meant to be utterly alone, someone whose mind was too complex, even for him. Fowler convinces her that he'd soon give up than actually try to meet her mind where it was.

She is why Bristle is terrified of fully showing her genuine quirks to Jade. Bristle already cuts herself in two every day, pretending to be an elegant and presentable person when she really loves to be wild and free and eccentric. She thought Jade was a safe space to be herself once he showed interest in her true side as a nature lover and silly goose with ADHD... but Fowler will remind her of who he is. She tells Bristle that thinking he would appreciate her unbecoming nature was hilarious and fictional, which causes her to feel even worse about herself.

She is why Yasmin is slowly in despair about her worthiness to be loved. Yasmin is deeply, achingly insecure about her romantic appeal, since she is a friend to everyone but no one has ever pursued her romantically. Fowler slowly instills this despair that it is the fate of those who shine the brightest to be utterly alone, just like the Sun.

She is why Noa still doubts love is even real, even with Sebek being openly devoted. Noa has already been through a lot of toxic experiences and heartache, which becomes a set of weapons for Fowler to remind her of once she begins to think she can trust him. After all, Sebek is openly expressive and devoted, a quiet firestarter in Noa to think chivalry may not be dead after all. Fowler slams her with the idea that Sebek is also still selfish, and just because he does burn for Malleus doesn't guarantee he will burn for her. This wrecks Noa.

She is why Yan thinks she can never be wholly, shamelessly loved.

She is why Lacey refuses to be vulnerable with Lilia again.

She is a reason why Chion hates her own existence and restrains herself from wanting Malleus.

Fowler weaponizes the girls' trauma to glorify her own judgment. Like, imagine there is a 16-year-old literally scarred and still haunted by her experiences, and she just goes, 'Behold the wounds they cast upon your skin! They are animals, all of them, for what they have done to you! Join me, child, you shall learn from my wisdom and rise—"

I wrote Fowler with the intention of making a narcissist. A fickle immortal who preceded generations, saw the damage, and chose to tip her inner moral scale entirely in one direction. Her points do hit, and they help, but only to a certain extent. There's a point where you need to glean her words and only take what was wise in them.

Because as generous and benevolent as she thinks she is, and how she appears to be, she is someone willing to fuel the flame burning you down and cry out that someone else poured the gasoline. She will watch your tears and heartache and only tilt your chin up so you can see her smile,

Regarding the lore of your characters, which is very interesting btw. Are there any other girls beside Naila who overblotted? If yes, for what reason and how did it manifest?

At least in the officialized DOC canon, no. Naila is the only one in Dawn Owl College to Overblot, and it's considered a shame to the whole school, as it shattered their reputation of never having dealt with such a phenomenon.

It's the reason Naila was disgraced, removed from her station as Housewarden of Zaharis, and sent to S.T.Y.X. That single Overblot scenario is extremely confidential among DOC students and has never been reported to the higher education departments. Yasmin had to appeal and insist on keeping Naila as her Vice Housewarden as a mercy.

However, in earlier drafts of the girls' creation, I had scenarios in which the other girls would've also Overblotted after entering NRC. (Crowley I think your campus is cursed at this point—) Here were the other girls that would've had entire OB plotlines;

[Ruby]

In earlier drafts, Ruby would've overblotted in Heartslabyul and nearly k!lled Rouge by accident.

Ruby was never the resentful, neglected princess that Rouge fears she is, given that Rouge is openly given attention and affection by their parents and Fowler, despite only being an illegitimate daughter born of the Duke's (their father's) affair. In fact, Ruby openly loves Rouge as if they were full sisters, choosing to be a gentle and patient authority despite having the fatal UM. She even hides the truth about her UM (hence why it's redacted) so that people will openly trust and approach her.

However, entering Heartslabyul involves Ruby being underestimated by its resident students. They didn't see a dangerous girl who still chose to be pacifist and lenient; they saw a weak authority they could disobey. Given that Riddle was someone they could not cross, and neither could they actually disobey Trey without consequences, she was perceived as the supposed Vice Housewarden/intern they could push around to relieve their egos.

For a while, she handles them well and gives them enough passive-aggressive warnings, but they crossed a line where they openly dishonored Rouge. Here, Ruby no longer makes room for grace and decides to drop her verdict upon them, objective and unapologetically cruel. Her long-buried UM finally comes out; physical paralysis of the muscle itself. It can be either a simple kneel, or a full-blown stopping of the organs, depending on the amount of force she uses.

"There is an end to pardon, a limit to grace. So swallow your pride, Remember Your Place."

Ruby holds the students in stiff kneels on the grass, unable to move at all. When Yuu and the others crash out and tell her she is going out of hand, she snaps back at them and snarls that she will no longer obstruct justice, which startles them (especially Rouge). People try to take her down and stop her, but she ends up paralyzing them and forcing them into the ground repeatedly, and ultimately causes overuse and for her to Overblot. Her phantom fatally injures Rouge in the fight, which helps distract and startle Ruby long enough for Yuu to snap her out of it.

Both similar to and different from Riddle, Ruby deeply cares for order/rules, but not authority. She just deeply resents the abuse of grace (she believes that order can be achieved without cruelty, that sometimes the painful punishment can be spared. But cruelty in response to kindness will have to lead to the punishment being laid out in full, painfully, if needed.)

[Miah]

In my first draft of Miah's character, she would've followed the Zira plotline. In my former LeonaxMiah fanfic on AO3, Miah was originally recruited as Savanaclaw's official Vice Housewarden and reunited with Leona. She would be forcibly transferred to DOC because Fowler wanted an Aridmane Housewarden and couldn't stand the idea of Crowley putting Miah among 'hooligans and delinquents'. Miah would have gone mad with lovesickness and desperation, promising to screw DOC over in honor of Leona (she knew of his hopelessness and wanted to establish that at least, somewhere, revenge and usurpation were happening for him).

In this plotline, she schemed to overthrow her fellow Housewardens. The younger ones (Noa, Mazzy aka Nuka, and Vitani) were her allies, but she had gone mad enough to go as far as planning to unalive them using her UM. Kleo (Kovu twst) couldn't stand by, so she went to secretly expose the plan to Leona and have them infiltrate DOC in time to stop her... but by that time, Miah was too far gone and Overblotted from eagerness to cause damage in the name of love.

[Lia]

(This is a can-be scenario, me saying 'it can totally happen, but I won't make it happen.') Lia may be dorky and goofy little Lia, but she is first and foremost sworn to be her father's successor. Her UM and Kore blood wards off ghosts... preventing her from accessing several parts of NRC for the sake of the ghosts working there, along with the ghost residents in Ramshackle. Like she always has to order food or cook in Ignihyde because she's prohibited from the cafeteria. She's totally fine with this, but there's a possibility for the ghosts to still fear and ostracize her, stirring up fear among the students, and it dominoes into exaggerated murmurs that make them want her to get out.

This crosses Lia's boundaries; she is honestly chill with ghosts and will just turn a blind eye if they're more good than harm, but if they're willingly causing negative circumstances, she's trained with the instinct and obligation to take them down. Yuu and the others try to make her calm down and not exorcise NRC... but she, already deeply offended and hurt by the murmurs, misinterprets this as them taking the ghosts' side and urging her to turn her back on the role she was born into. That she has to allow the ghosts to trample on her and turn the people she cares about against her.

Feeling deeply betrayed by the living and further enraged toward the dead, Lia snaps and decides on exorcising NRC for good and to punish both sides... causing her to Overblot.

[Chion]

This was a can-be scenario I will least likely put into canon, but I originally intended for Chion to be the first one to ultimately die to Overblot. As stated in older lore drops regarding Chion and her history, she is the 5th-generation descendant of Nival draconic fae, the natives of the region where Harveston now stands, but were massacred by the early humans so that they could convert it into their settlement. Her ancestors barely escaped and settled into the lower Shaftlands, where they adapted over millennia to live invisibly as if they were any other ordinary person. This history is why Chion has a deep-seated inferiority complex and is scared to openly like Malleus.

Chion's Overblot is triggered by an NRC historical expo event; some displays feature civilization and colonization spreading across Twisted Wonderland. It included bones and maimed remains of the Nival draconic fae, the creatures described as 'savage beasts that needed to be eliminated for the establishment of human settlements, such as Harveston. Their bones prove the successful determination of the human race to build community and persevere amidst treacherous predation.'

Of course, most of the people accepted this as it is, though of course Yuu and some of the twst cast found this rather insensitive on behalf of the fae. Diasomnia was, of course, disgusted by this, but Chion was... quiet. Deeply ashamed. She couldn't bring herself to speak up and demand respect for her ancestors, and she knew even her own living family would stay silent in embarrassment. She admits even her own father was a curator at a museum back in the Shaftlands with the same displays and the same narratives. He endured the shame, and so will she.

Malleus tries to get to her, thinking this was the most urgent time to comfort her and assure her that he believes the truth. She reluctantly believes him and seeks to accept his comfort, but suddenly rejects him again. This time, he finally asks why she resents him so much, why she keeps avoiding him when he openly wishes for closure and to know her, and she admits that she doesn't resent him.

He presses further as a result, and she finally blurts out that she does want him back... but she knew her place in relation to him; millennia late, irrelevant, and obscure. She was a mere drop of outflowing sewage in the grand scheme of history, someone who shouldn't even be existing and daring to love the Briar Valley's Crown Prince of the modern day when her blood is long considered dead. She snaps in despair and ache, finally deciding to put herself in place; in history.

She returns to the expo site and crashes out, destroying the plaques of false narratives... leading to her Overblot. But instead of the pursuit of power, it was to shatter the expo and send it crumbling into the ground, to properly bury the remnants of her people in the rubble and out of the humiliating sight of humans and other races... and be taken underground with them. To finally stop living a life that shouldn't have even existed.

She would glance at them: Yuu, everyone, Lacey, the twins... and Malleus, knowing they would all be left behind to live on without her. Her last thoughts, as she and her phantom are crushed by NRC's stone walls, are that everything is back in order; the present is in the present, the past is in the past.

Hallo! I haven't given them official artworks yet, but here's some Q&A screenshots from my IG:

Zari - I intentionally keep Zari as a mystery OC with little to no art as a fun way to use her lore. She doesn't show up a lot around campus and is quickly overlooked as a normal Katdynami NPC; Lia and Yan treat her as a precious easter egg whenever they find her quietly coding somewhere XDD

This is mostly the freshmen lol

And I hope they'll heal from the amount of things Fowler has done to them. And seek proper help for what they've been through from the past

I'm just gonna say it right now, I really hope Fowler isn't their headmistress anymore when she gets overthrown by a much nicer much better headmistress.

Whenever I think about Frowler, I think of her as the goddess Circe, but a much easier version. Circe hates/doesn't trust men because they did bad things to her. She is very protective of her nymphs because she sees them as her daughters, and she doesn't want her daughters to be hurt by men, because after what happened with her experience with men, it caused her to be wary of men.

I know we don't know anything about Fowler and her backstory,but that's how I see her. An evil, more sadistic and narcissistic version of the goddess Circe

Sorry for my rambling 😅

Anyways, I love your OCS and your art, basically everything from you ❤

Oh I love this! I really appreciate you and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts, since I also love to yap and ramble about lore <3 Feel free to drop more of your thoughts in my inbox; I'd love to keep talking with y'all! Unfortunately, Fowler isn't disappearing anytime soon and won't be overthrown either. It's not the intention in my storyline to have a hero's act of confronting her and taking her down. Instead, my intention is to delve into a lot of other topics and concepts regarding her and the rest of the DOC cast.

But you're right and I love the contrast you made between her and Circe. The thing about Fowler is that, unlike Circe, who has reasons for her actions—namely, to protect her nymphs—and is therefore justifiable and understandable as a character, Fowler has no noble cause or motive behind her actions.

She has no backstory to justify her prejudice and emotional abuse towards her students. I intended for her to be a prehistoric, immortal creature that shows that just because you're the equivalent of a deity doesn't mean you're automatically noble and benevolent. Fowler is fickle, jaded, and deeply extremist in response to the generations of conflict and change. She saw centuries of war, torment, abuse, conflict, and despair, and actively chooses to further fuel the flame.

Does this mean the students (my OCs) are hopeless? No. Even before I ultimately decided to drop my fanfic plans (I initially planned for this all to be an anthology where we explore how all the ships develop, break, and rekindle simultaneously, but so far I can only handle the mental and time demands of drawing and occasional lore drops for now), the plan was to delve in the various concepts and endings of surviving and learning from this toxic mentor-mentee dynamic.