You ever think about the Savanaclaw dreams in Book 7? You know, how Jack and Ruggie didn’t just dream about happy endings for themselves but happy endings for Leona too?
Jack dreams Leona has the confidence in himself to work towards winning the Interdorm magift tournament which helps bring the dorm together and doesn’t result in a bunch of casualties. Ruggie dreams Leona has the political sway back home to help revitalize the slums of Sunset City and start a school there that benefits the poorest and hungriest of the community.
Meanwhile, Leona dreams he fucked up his country so badly that there’s a group of revolutionaries that Ruggie is also part of who are trying to overthrow him and probably kill him.
Other characters imagine happy endings for their friends, but Leona’s the only one who couldn’t dream of one for himself and also dreamed that people who care about him in real life were against him. :’)
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while we are on the topic of controversial opinions, let me also say that i don't believe twst cast would refer to their lover through yuu nicknames/generic yet interesting in-world words. malleus will not be calling the one true lover "child of man", because it's a slightly more polite version of sebek's "human". the people malleus truly respects and knows are referred to through their names (although a nickname could work as well, a sort of mirror to "tsunotaru"). leona will not be calling the one and only special queen "herbivore", at least not in earnest. "herbivore" is meant to be read as derogatory (just like "omnivore" for fellow is an insult). somebody worthy of standing by leona's side is not an herbivore, not in the typical sense. floyd also refers to jade and azul through names only. why? duh. because they are jade and azul! floyd's nicknames are meant to be condescending, a bold way of defining a person through floyd's worldview. "shrimpy" is cute (and likely to be used at first), but a lover would not be a "shrimpy" only. i get why writers use those words—they make speech patterns so much more recognizable—yet it does break my immersion.
octavinelle trio is such a refreshing take on friendships. for a while it was speculated that the twins and azul have a purely contractual relationship, fueled by a straightforward interpretation of how characters themselves address it (book four being the main culprit). if you look at their actions though, that's obviously not the case. they don't quit azul when he overblots; they prod and poke at him yet at the end they remain a unit, at their best when put together. their interest is conditional, but the conditions aren't external. the condition is them staying true to themselves.
they don't remain friends because they have entered a state of friendship and now need to uphold it. they do it because azul is azul. through his actions he repeatedly proves that within him, integral to him, are the qualities they appreciate (think the tsumsitter vignette: only azul can make things fun by figuring out a way to outsmart the two of them). which is why they stay. not out of pity or obligation, but because this really is the best choice.
Lily: I think it's cute if Idia starts uncontrollably dragonposting in the Ignihyde dorm chat at 2am every time he has to interact with Malleus for more than a few seconds
Yes!! Idia would absolutely start dragonposting in the Ignihyde dorm chat at 2 AM and insist it was not about Malleus.
He is not “having a crush.” He is “analyzing high-rarity fantasy archetype design.”
He is not “thinking about Malleus’s horns.” He is “discussing silhouette readability.”
He is not “down catastrophically.” He is “concerned about final boss visual balance.”
And the thing is, the analysis would be smart. That’s the worst part. It would be precise. It would have terminology. It would contain several correct observations about horn silhouette language, motion economy, threat presence, and why dragon-adjacent design reads as narratively load-bearing.
So Ignihyde would not even respond as one united intervention.
Half the dorm would be like:
Housewarden.
Housewarden please.
Housewarden why are there three paragraphs about horn silhouette language.
Housewarden are you okay.
And the other half would be like:
No, let him cook.
The point about horn silhouette hierarchy is valid.
Dragon design without proper weight distribution is cowardice.
Motion economy does matter if the character is meant to read as ancient and dangerous.
Actually, the tail physics during Halloween were under-discussed.
Which is worse, because now Idia has peer review.
So he is typing at 140 wpm like “this is BASIC VISUAL ANALYSIS” while his hair does emergency lighting, and somehow the dorm chat has become a legitimate design thread, a romance intervention, and a monsterfucker incident report at the same time.
The conclusion would accidentally be: Malleus Draconia is an S-tier character design and also maybe the universe hates Idia Shroud personally.
Lily: Ignihyde loves their Housewarden so much, don't they?
Unfortunately for Idia, this love is expressed through peer review, incident documentation, and refusing to let him be wrong about dragon design.
trey clover and responsibilities; a meta after his book 7 dream
[spoilers for jpn server book 7 content ahead!]
as the eldest brother trey has always been the 'responsible' one. but his wish is to live in peace, to never have expectations thrust onto him (hence his constant downplaying) but instead to use his passion and skill (baking), which is the one thing he doesn't downplay, to make the people around him happy. to see them smile while eating his food, to 'grow', for him to be able to see them enjoy themselves and for himself to do what he enjoys without restrictions. yet as cater reveals, not only did riddle freeze him out after his excitement (which as you can imagine, was painful for trey, as if the childhood scolding wasn't enough trauma. ESPECIALLY as he sees riddle as like a, to quote him, 'younger brother' thus 'his responsibility'), but he was voted for vice housewarden as a result. all these responsibilities and expectations were thrust upon him when all he ever wanted was for riddle to be 'free', for everyone to get along, for him to be useful to others. and so trey gets a first row seat to riddle and all his changes and his struggles and his anger, and he's forced to take a role and he ends up taking one of an enabler, someone passive. he ends up 'painting over it' and scrambling for a sense of normalcy amidst all this, and as vice housewarden the blanket of duty he feels heavily falls on him -- trey has always put importance on responsibility and his image, like when he talks about upperclassmen needing to set a good example for their juniors. and so he suppressed his own emotional turmoil and focused only on those around him, on sorting out trouble and pacifying riddle, while ignoring his own feelings on the matter and refusing to take a stand.
all this culminates into the overblot, and trey's book 7 dream with chenya as the dorm leader says it all -- trey wanted somebody to understand him. he wanted someone who knew he would have a tough time, who not just knew but understood his past with riddle and could help him through it, to not just alleviate him from responsibility but enable him to take a role where he thrives best. he needed somebody to rely on. for once, to not be the one being relied on. cater came the closest but cater also mentioned that he kept his distance (their friendship is a whole other can of worms) and trey isn't the type to confide, either. the 3 heartslabyul senpais are a concoction of things unsaid, and so comes ace and deuce and heartshackle to give it to them straight -- leading to the overblot, but also recovery. and so in the dream trey is once again, as leona aptly implied, putting himself in a position where 'he can help grant riddle's wish' or rather he can help riddle in finding freedom from his mother (in this case through sweets), in a bid to wrestle control where in reality he constantly felt helpless to say no or to stand up to riddle. and by thinking of it as something he can control, he indirect puts more responsibility onto himself in reality, despite never having wanted it. so he's stuck in this place where it's emphasised how in 'real life' trey has expectations and responsibilities he never wanted. he never got to have his peaceful life.
and in his dream, it's the exact opposite; the responsibilities he has are ones he chose/wants, and at the same time, he has his peaceful life. he makes those around him happy, and in turn, he is happy too.
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A beloved friend said to me, "idia understands the perverse urge to take the figure out of the box and pose it....."
No, Idia understands the urge to buy three of the figure so you can take one out for display, keep one mint in the box, and keep one in storage in case anything happens to the one you took out for display.
I have zero belief that he is firmly in either "take it out of the box" camp or "leave it in the box" camp, he is absolutely in the "buy multiple so you can have one in the box and one out of the box and one just in case" camp
do you think grim parallels the over blot victims in a wayÂ
You might think that Grim is similar to Melleus in his Overblot, but if you look at it closely, he has traits that carry all of the Overblot victims, not just limited to Malleus. That can be why his overblot form has the traits of the dorm leaders; it's because he, in a way, mirrors them.Â
If there was anything that I learned in writing is that, it is that things are there for a reason. Take the dwarf, for example,
The dwarf wanders the mines looking for the mage stone and attacks anyone. Grim references this in the way he was looking for the blot crystal in book 4
even attacked mc this is the same attitude the dwarf had is mirroring what grim might become in the future.Â
I have a theory that what would replace the blot crystal is the MC. This might actually but one of the reasons for Grimm overbloting it is his feelings for me, that they mine, and they won’t give it to anyone. This is a warning of what could happen
The gang had to rely on cooperation to beat the dwarf, which solidified their bonds in the series, but for Grim's talking, MC was soon taken away from Styx, leaving MC alone and forced to rely on themselves.
This is an example of writing at work, which means if the blot victims are written that way, then they are meant to mirror grim and the perfect.
Riddle and Grimm:
Grim can be largely childish and prone to pick fights, much like how short-tempered Riddle is and how Riddle cannot control his emotions.Â
trey and Riddle's relationship mirrors Grim and MC’s relationship with the biggest indicator in the novel when Yuya empathizes with Trey’s dislike of conflict, trey takes care of Riddle and worries about his well-being and tolerates his tyrannical tendencies in the book much like how Mc cares about Grimm and takes care of him even tolerates his troublemaker tendencies from time to time.Â
Leona and Grimm:
Leona and Grimm are both cocky and arrogant, Leona wants acknowledgment which can be seen in how he is obsessed with the throne whereas Grim intends to be a world-class mage and loves attention but both don’t put any work to earn it, They are similar in the way they wanted acknowledgment and love from others.Â
Azul and Grimm:
Though it might not be obvious that Grim harbors insecurity about himself and his missing memories, Grim hides his insecurities by acting overconfident, with his past being one of the insecurities. This is exactly like how Azul is insecure about his shortcomings and is consumed by looking reliable.Â
Grim has a bad habit of overestimating himself and calls MC their minion. Azul denies his friendship with the twins, which can be seen in his reluctance to admit to the other that they are friends because they would face that vulnerability. This is apparent in how Grimm is afraid of Mc leaving Twisted Wonderland, which is like how Azul doesn’t want to admit that he and the twins are friends, knowing they might leave him
Jamil and Grimm:
I find Jamil and Kalim's relationship very similar to Grimm’s and MC’s. Mostly, one of them is how MC and Jamil are caretakers, though Jamil does this unwillingly due to his background of his family being vassals of the Kalims.Â
One thing I noticed is how dependent Grimm is on Mc, Grimm is overly dependent on Mc since he has no memories quickly, so he latched on to Mc, who is the closest thin,g just like how Kalim codependent on Jamil due to the constant assassination attempts on his lif,e viewing him as the only person he trusts
How they view their relationship differs. Grim views MC as a servant but values them as a friend, and Kalim sees Jamil as a friend, unaware of Jamil’s resentment towards him.
Idia and Grimm:Â
Idia harbors guilt and blames himself for causing the original Orthos' death. This is like how Grimm reacted when he remembered what he did to you.Â
Mc acts as Grimm’s caretaker, and Mc is forced to clean up after him. When Grimm causes trouble, this is like how Ortho acts as Idia’s primary caretaker, who monitors his health.Â
Idia lets Ortho grow independent from him and allows him to attend NRC as a student. This foils how Grimm is dependent on Mc to attend the NRC.Â
Malleus and Grimm:
There are a lot of similarities between Malleus and Grim in how they form an attachment to MC. As I stated before, Grimm quickly latches on to MC due to having no memories, whereas Asmellus quickly latches on to MC due to not being afraid of them, and if Grimm overblot was any indication, he doesn’t want MC to leave Twisted Wonderlan,d afraid of being left all alone.Â
I didn’t add Vil in this post because I didn’t know how Grimm and Vil are mirroring each other. This post is what I think about how Grim might foil the overblot victims. If you think otherwise, feel free to add your input in this post.Â
Because the AO3 author’s notes character limit hates me, I am posting this to Tumblr. Please enjoy me rambling on about fictional fathers, ft. HSR Jing Yuan & TWST Lilia Vanrouge (I refer to TWST chapter 7 dynamics below but without detailed spoilers).
I love it when a narrative is like, “Woe. Unconditional love of a child be upon thee,” to a depressed fictional man. Gotta be one of my favorite dynamics for real.
Jing Yuan reminds me a lot of Lilia Vanrouge from Twisted Wonderland. Like yeah the long-life species army general single parent things are the obvious connections but also I think they both share the same parenting flaws (physical and/or emotional distance out of not wanting to burden their child(ren) with their own pain; discounting their child(ren)’s love for them because they see themselves as fundamentally unloveable—which is more of a headcanon on JY’s part, but it’s real to me; letting their underage child be in the military and/or giving them intensive military training). Also Yanqing’s dynamic re Jing Yuan is like a mashup of both Malleus (weird political/formal distance in an obviously parental relationship) & Silver’s (wanting to repay an adoptive parent for their love, through military service even, when the parent doesn’t see a need for it; secret past his dad told him nothing about) dynamics re Lilia. Oh god, this is why I think Jing Yuan sucks at cooking; it’s the Lilia associations (plus Jing Yuan giving Yanqing money for food/eating takeout in “Taking It Easy”: there’s no way this man can cook). Also no wonder why I like Diasomnia so much. Sometimes a family dorm can be a single father, his two children, and their screaming pet crocodile. If you know you know.
Disclaimer I’m not saying I think Lilia or Jing Yuan are necessarily “bad dads,” in fact I have said and will say again Lilia Vanrouge is literally the father of the millennium (if you know you know) & I don’t really like categorizing people as “bad” or “good” (vs. action/intent/consequence). Every parent has their flaws, some are better and some are worse (in action/intent/consequence), re Jing Yuan and Lilia their kids love/respect them and want to be around them so they’re on the better side of things in my book.
Plus, I do think Yanqing picking up the sword was something he wanted to do himself at the very beginning, c.f. Jingliu’s Myriad Celestia Trailer where he talks about his reasons for doing so—and attributes his original desire to Jing Yuan telling him stories about Jingliu, before saying anything about expectations (and where he talks about repaying Jing Yuan’s teachings at the same time, so presumably after he’s started learning). So I do see a difference in parenting quality between Jing Yuan and say, Crepus from Genshin Impact, whose expectations for Diluc seem more heavy-handed/originating from Crepus himself. Yanqing’s pressures I think actually stem a lot from political/societal circumstances external to the Jing household, although Jing Yuan’s reticence does contribute to them.
There is that line in the kitty text message conversation about how in Yanqing’s earliest memories, he’s already being taught something by Jing Yuan. I think you can interpret that something as anything from reading to (if the previous paragraph is unconvincing) swordplay, but in my heart of hearts it is playing the flute.
Jing Yuan and Crepus both get failing grades in the “don’t let your kids be child soldiers” action/consequence column though. Lilia is on thin ice because it seems like Silver is only Malleus’s retainer/bodyguard and not like, on active combat duty or whatever, but there was still the childhood intensive training era until Lilia chilled out. I still have to catch up on TWST chapter 7 though.
