angelthefandomobsessed

[angelthefandomobsessed]

[angelthefandomobsessed]

it's been an absolute shitball of a week, so here's something massively self-indulgent to make myself feel better.

[angelthefandomobsessed]

diafamily post

something about little Silver and Malleus doesn't sit right with me. idk what's going on in the story between them but I wanted to draw a bit of a brotherly bond with huge age gap.

and an older sleepyhead moment too. Because I know Sebek cares for him in his own way.

[angelthefandomobsessed]

always watching

[angelthefandomobsessed]

In my personal experience, I've found that there's a clear divide between books 1-4 and books 5-7. That clear divide is their length - once you hit Pomefiore things begin to feel very, very slow in terms of momentum. When I think of Book 5, I think of the Pomefiore ballroom, because it feels like you once enter you never see the light of day again. In reality, it's not that bad, but TWST really learns to sweat the details the longer it goes on. Sometimes parts will be dedicated to half of a conversation where nothing really happens, which can feel very tedious.

Book 1 is practically a short story compared to the later books, but that doesn't make it feel any weaker. This is because it manages to cover a lot of ground quickly, which keeps the player engaged. New things, new ideas, new people, new obstacles, new resolutions.

Personally, I would argue that the big turning point in the vibe of TWST was book 6, and that book 7 is continuing from its lead in a sort of outlandish way. Book 6 takes place mostly outside of NRC, which is really, really strange in the larger context of TWST. Instead of just involving the dorm of the last book, it involves the overblot gang as well as Pomefiore. On top of that, it plays with new mechanics; we see subparts where different groups are doing things simultaneously. The section where everyone goes down the stairs and fights the titans feels like the spiritual successor to the dream sequence.

It's suuuuch a slog to sit through. You get snippets of really interesting interactions, but then it's like "Oh noooo we're in a room full of cubes, just like everyone else is, and we need to do a thing and then fight a thing and then go back to the stairs!" and on top of that everything is grey and uninviting, visually.

The stakes are high, and it's nice to see everyone working together, but it doesn't make for a fun experience, in my opinion.

Which is very similar to the dreams in book 7

The dreams have a leg up on Styx (for me at least) because they're pretty varied, and offer interesting new ideas. The downside is that they take forever. Lilia's dream is the biggest offender. While it's super interesting to see exactly what happened in the war, if you aren't personally super invested in that plot thread, sitting through chapter after chapter of every single detail will probably feel very frustrating.

Especially when you have to wait real-life months for the chapters to be released.

And once you've escaped Lilia's dream, you still have like... around eighteen more to sit through. The others aren't as lengthy, and it's still very interesting to see their dreams and gain insights into the characters, but it's been a year and we're still there. Malleus buddy, you might wanna get some snacks and watch some Real Housewives, trust me, you have the time.

So... should the dreams have never happened?

No, I think they bring a lot to the table. I think in an ideal world, they would have utilised a mechanic similar to book 6 (where the stories split and you can follow different sets of characters).

Option 1 - Yuu and Grim go with Lilia and save the overblot gang. Silver takes half of the other characters (let's say it's the vice house wardens and Kalim), Sebek takes the other half (first years and whoever's left). This would cut down on small talk (we wouldn't need all five+ members of the party to be involved at once), it allows the Diasomnia characters to have some alone time and introspection (especially Lillia, who needs it).

Option 2 - Reuse the map function. You can choose which dreams you prioritise, and in doing so, unlock the ability to use those cards (like in Smash Bros World of Light). That way if it's getting stale, they can go to their favourites for a pick-me-up, and approach it in their own way. Most importantly (even if it would mean less unique assets or a longer wait time), release all of the dreams at once. Or at least, in bigger chunks than they did.

The problem of 'there's not enough Malleus' screentime can be easily fixed by just... having more Malleus. Each time you save someone from their dream, show a brief scene from when they've interacted with Malleus - show us what he thinks of them. Show us what happened in his first year at NRC, the friendships he never made, the times he tried to reach out but was perceived as being malicious or weird, the ways his title pushes others away.

Or show us him being alone. Talking to the people trapped in sleep. Telling them the things he never could while they were awake.

Overall, I don't hate book 7 at all, I really like that they went with a less 'safe' route for it. They could have just been like "Malleus doesn't get invited to a party and gets real sad and overblots and then it's done", which would have been kind of boring and predictable. What we're seeing is an examination of the relationships between characters and their identities. We're getting development from characters that we haven't gotten to see in the main story for a while. We're revisiting old friends and seeing how far we've come. I think, once it's completed, people will look back on it more favourably than they do now, because they'll be able to skip through the parts they deem as 'filler', and they'll have the whole puzzle instead of just the outside bits.

I’ve been seeing a lot of talk and critique on how Book 7 is structured- and I’m curious: How would you adjust the way Book 7 is approached? 😊 This post can be a space for you to leave your thoughts and ideas here 💕💕💕🐦‍⬛

I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and for me personally, I feel like the problem isn’t necessarily the dream hopping. After a year in irl time, it did feel a little tedious at times, but the stories themselves within the dreams, many of which only possible through these dream worlds, are intriguing and fun. Some dreams are a hit or miss, but it’s definitely a new format in the main story that Malleus’ Unique Magic has allowed.

However, I find that in my personal gripe with Book 7 is the pacing and balance.

Currently in JP, we are at Chapter 226. Lilia’s dream officially ended at chapter 100, so a 126 chapter difference from the last Diasomnia dream. 126 chapters fits the Prologue, Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, and a small chunk of Book 4

I do recognize it’s an odd complaint, considering the structure of Book 6, with all the towers containing mass amounts of chapters each. However-

I feel like there was phenomenal balance kept in this book. Book 6 introduced an entirely new and solidified environment outside of NRC while still keeping balance with very intriguing and “alien” lore, building up revelations for the late game regarding Grim and OBs, character interactions between the kidnapped Overblotters, having all of Pomefiore play an important role, and giving Ortho and Idia lots of time to shine. Idia’s Overblot form was kept secret for such a long time, BUT we got to check back with him frequently! We heard his voice and interactions with Ortho, and he had lots of time to shine in the Overblot battle, and a really heart wrenching moments of backstory. Plus, yes this book was long, but it kept focus on the story of Shroud family and blot. All of this, was for building up the future of Overblot and letting the Shrouds shine in the environment they know best. Something that the entire Diasomnia crew isn’t exactly getting in Book 7. Additionally, even though the towers had a lot of parts, each tower level was released at the same time, you know? •v• It wasn’t “Pomefiore group chapter, another few months for Leona and Jamil, etc etc.” We got generous amounts of story at one time.

But in Book 7, it’s been several updates since even hearing Malleus’ voice. His battle against Ortho was the last we’ve heard of him, and it was definitely more focused on Ortho rather than Malleus’ current state. It was a great scene, of course! But there are some additions I would’ve loved to have.

To me, I feel like there are two major things I would’ve liked for Book 7

1. Polish the dreams. @/raven-at-the-writing-desk has put my thoughts about the sort of…meandering and tons of stuff done blatantly for convenience. Such as, making every single person use their Unique Magics, and having to leave people behind for arbitrary-ish reasons just because a huge cast rn is impossible. Idia’s explanation that taking too many people would draw Malleus’ attention makes sense, but I also would’ve liked if Silver’s UM had its limits on the amount of people he could take with him? 🧐 im not sure. A lot of these just aren’t working without heavy amount of explanations that drag down any tension that dream may have been building up. I feel like everyone using their UM is more suitable for a Book 8, a battle against the Chimera-Grim from the prologue? It doesn’t feel particularly outstanding in the dreamworld, and it feels forced at times.

2. Check in on Malleus periodically. I would like to see how Malleus is faring in the irl world. What is he thinking right now when monitoring the dreams? How is he currently feeling now that Sage’s Island has essentially become a ghost town? Has he moved the sleeping bodies to make them more comfortable, or is he afraid to touch? What is he feeling just seeing everyone like this, compared to the brightness of earlier days in NRC? Or, you know, how is his fight with Lilia faring?? Even just brief check ups on him, perhaps after each OB victim confronts themselves, would ease a lot of the understandable tension in the fan base right now- there are so many of his thoughts we don’t know right now, and him currently being in complete solitary is the perfect time to peek in on him, to emphasize his loneliness, and contradict at how everyone is currently seeing him as purely a villain. This is the biggest thing I want from Book 7- the dreams are super fun and cool, I love all the new sprites and backstories and the tying up loose ends, but checking in on Malleus every update or so would’ve been incredible.

Additionally, I’m also a little worried about the Briar Valley lore. Again, Lilia’s dream ended at Chapter 100, and we still have many more chapters left to tie up Book 7. I think to a more casual fan base, aka the ones that aren’t constantly obsessively theorizing (cough me 🤣), items with likely high importance like the Princess Glow, identical locations like the Silver Owl eastern fortress to the NRC coliseum, or characters like Raverne are kind of…in the air. We are very far away from these past moments of lore in the current main story. Im sure the dreamers (Silver, Sebek, Yuu, and Grim) can bring them back up through flashbacks in the future, but considering many of these received very little lore, and stuff like the Princess Glow was only mentioned once or twice…

I have a slight concern at how interest in these things will be organically brought into Book 8 (if they are indeed of importance). I have faith though!!! Im just worried that most of these things have long since been forgotten by fans due to the lack of focus. Book 6 lore regarding curses and OBs put heavy significance and time on these things, making it memorable since it’s all connected back to Grim, and Overblot is a huge point of intrigue in the game overall. The Princess Glow and Raverne admittedly don’t have that same appeal YET to the wider fan base, so I’m eager to see how they may be brought back in a Book 8, or at least tie up loose ends.

These are my thoughts! I have faith that Book 8 will cover A LOT of lore perhaps regarding Night Raven College, Ramshackle Dorm, and Briar Valley lore. But I think Book 7 could have much more balance regarding Malleus- I love all the concepts presented here, but balance feels needed. I’m curious to hear what you all think- whether you like the story the way it is, or would completely change it up, etc! ^_^

[angelthefandomobsessed]

I’ve seen a few people talking about how unclear Idia’s overblot was, and wondering how it could have happened when the Shrouds have a blot burning curse. Off the top of my head, here’s a simple (possible) answer:

The blot could not be burned fast enough. If I recall correctly, Idia mentions that being gloomy is a good thing because if his curse wasn’t burning blot, it might go for his magic instead (please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sure that was a thing).

So, when he did overblot, it might have been the opposite. Picture a cup - that’s Idia’s magestone. Idia pours water (blot) into the cup constantly. While he does this, a device is constantly removing that water, making sure the cup doesn’t overflow.

If Idia dumps a litre of water into the cup all at once, it cannot be extracted fast enough - it’s going to overflow.

Unlike the other overblotters, we don’t see a steady build up in blot with him (again, correct me if I’m wrong but I THINK that’s how it went). It just happens all at once.

This seems like the simplest answer. I’ve seen people sort of acting like it not being explained is a plot hole or bad writing, but I think it’s either going to be explained later (maybe when they get to the bottom of why everyone’s overblotted in the span of a few months), or it was expected that people would understand what happened (I assume the first one, TWST is usually pretty clear with this sort of stuff).

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Leona is 100% the trope of the person who does no skincare but looks perfect. Meanwhile Vil is both endeared and infuriated.

Lesbian Leona and Vil is everything I live for now because of you 😌

Well, that’s a blame I gladly take 💛 You’re welcome then 💛

Look! They can be peaceful too!

[angelthefandomobsessed]

What's the deal with Heartslabyul (A TWST theory)

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it just occurred to me to write it all out because I think this is pretty interesting. This theory involves who some of the Heartslabyul members are twisted from, who Yuu represents, the potential inspiration for Grim (yes, Grim), and how this might affect Royal Sword Academy. Some of this is likely fairly obvious, and almost definitely has been pointed out before, but there are some aspects that I have never seen discussed.

I'll split this post into different points to keep everything somewhat together, hopefully, maybe?

Point 1: Who is Alice?

Okay, so this all started with Ace. This is all his fault. I was thinking to myself, "Who is he actually supposed to represent?", as he's one of the more dubious characters in terms of a direct inspiration (him and the rest of Heartslabyul tbh).

In Book 1, at a glance, he seems to be acting as Alice as he is the tart thief. It's not unusual to see characters doubling up on 'roles' (Azul stands in for the genie in Book 4, and Malleus stands in for Mufasa in Book 2, for example). But then I realised no, Ace can't be Alice, because Yuu is obviously Alice.

Yuu ends up in a different world (a world literally named 'Wonderland'), Yuu meets all of the strange characters this Wonderland has to offer, and Yuu points out that Riddle (the Queen of Hearts) is in the wrong (though it's worth mentioning that Ace and Deuce also do this). These parallels are obvious indicators that the player, the only outsider, is supposed to be Alice.

But for what I think is more definitive proof...

Point 2: GRIM IS DINAH, HAS ANYBODY ELSE NOTICED OR AM I LOSING IT???

Grim shares striking similarities with Dinah, Alice's cat.

Entirely blue eyes. A big bow. A patch of chest fur. I refuse to believe that in making an Alice in Wonderland inspired dorm, in a game named after Alice in Wonderland, that this is a coincidence. At one point in Alice in Wonderland, Alice wonders to herself if she'll be taking orders from Dinah next (I think when the White Rabbit mistakes her for the maid?). Taking orders... like a henchman might?

I rest my case. Grim is Dinah, which makes Yuu Alice.

(If this is somehow common knowledge I apologise, I just felt very clever when I spotted this)

Point 3: Okay... so who is Ace?

Ace is the Knave of Hearts. In the novel, it is the Knave of Hearts who is initially accused of stealing the tart, not Alice. The Knave isn't included in the Disney's animated Alice in Wonderland, but he plays a role in Tim Burton's live-action version... as a man with a heart eyepatch who serves the queen (but seems to hate her and want her dead for... reasons).

But like. Heart eyepatch. Tart thief. Do the math.

Point 4: Che'nya further evidences the influence of the live-action Alice in Wonderland/the original novel

In the animated Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat sucks. He is the worst. In the book, however, he is the chillest creature in Wonderland. At one point in a croquet match with the queen Alice is like "Bro, are you seeing this lady?" and he's like "Tell me all about it", and they have a gossip off to the side.

Similarly, in the live-action, the cat is portrayed in a positive light. He's a part of the revolution (down with the bloody big heid, and such). Che'nya is in RSA - the good guy school. If we were exclusively following the animated film, he would 100% be in NRC.

Che'nya is a good guy, which suggests that media surrounding Disney's original animated films was taken into consideration. I've seen it observed that Leona's overblot design seems to take inspiration from the musical adaptation of the Lion King, and that Diasomnia's Glorius Masquerade outfits resemble the live-action Maleficent when put together (wings on either side of Malleus).

If that's not enough to convince you that the live-action has been referenced in TWST, then I present you with this:

Riddle's hair is red, not black. The Queen of Heart's has black hair in the animated film... and bright red hair in the live action.

Point 5: What does this mean for Royal Sword Academy?

This is very up in the air as we don't know all that much about RSA. If they operate similarly to NRC (seven dorms, each with a leader, each dedicated to a Disney hero), more references to the live-action Alice in Wonderland might be on the horizon. We might see a representation of the White Queen, or the Mad Hatter (a character who was also a little bit terrible in the animated film, but played an instrumental hero role in the live-action).

Point 6: Deuce, Trey and Cater... Whomst are you?

Well... where does that leave the other card soldiers? That's certainly one of the great mysteries of TWST. Most of the characters have such clear inspiration - Jamil is obviously Jafar, Malleus is obviously Maleficient, Azul is obviously Ursula... And then you have a character like Trey, who makes cake and has a dental fixation. There aren't really any other characters like the Knave where you can point at them and say, "They share an obvious visual similarity."

The Mad Hatter is green, and the tea parties couldn't happen without Trey and he... wears a fedora, I guess?

Cater has orange hair and so does the King of Hearts.

Deuce gives dog boy energy, so...

Yeah, it's still anyone's guess.

In conclusion: I think the reason why Heartslabyul is such a source of mystery is because every member hides a part of themselves. Cater has a melancholic side, Deuce is an ex-delinquent, Riddle deeply wants to be normal but holds back because of the rules, Trey wants to be the most average man ever, and Ace can be all kinds of insincere.

I think in the next book 7 update (the Heartslabyul adventure) we might be getting a deeper insight into these characters, which I'm really looking forward to. Ace in particular.

While we're here, I predict that Riddle's dream will involve him being a normal, imperfect teen who eats sweets all day, Deuce will be an honour student (he probably doesn't have the best imagination so it could be silly o'clock with him), and Trey will wear a sparkly dress and become the tooth fairy (his true dream job).

Okay, but serious prediction for Trey - they'll go into his dream and be all "Omg he has such a strong imagination, how did we never notice?? He's actually so OP" because his unique magic is actually broken, I'm pretty sure if he woke up he could use Doodle Suit on Malleus and turn his sleep spell into pretzels or something, it wouldn't even surprise me.

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Silly answer: he summons a gun

My actual theory: if Riddle isn’t just written out of his dream (and if Cater isn’t just… way stronger), I wonder if Cater wishes he could have convinced Riddle to wait until third year to become house warden. If he secretly wishes that Riddle was able to be a normal first year who wasn’t instantly known for a harsh insistence on rules, and hopes that he could learn to loosen up and make friends.

There is also a chance that Cater came to NRC truly unhinged and his current personality is a result of some pre-story character development. Oooor maybe he was doing Magicam lives in the courtroom (donate and he’ll hit the gavel fam)

if cater was the former heartslabyul dorm leader and his dream is that he never lost his position then what about riddle? does he never come to NRC? never challenge cater? i can't really imagine either of those two options so does he just challenge cater and lose?? and if so HOW IN THE FUCK DOES CATER DREAM UP A WAY THAT HE CAN BEAT RIDDLE?? i'm going to explode.

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Here‘s my results - this was super well made 👏

Hey guys, I made a twst bracket! You should give it a try and share your results! There are 35 characters included, just click on the one you prefer until the end.

Here's the link

[angelthefandomobsessed]

I wish you all an absolutely Terrible Halloween

As always do not repost or use my stuff yadda yadda spooky month

[angelthefandomobsessed]

his princess sketch version

Since I make it for my portfolio so I want to post my sketch hehe

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Ghost Pokemon - Halloween 2023

Thank you for the support on this project! Now to the next one!

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Malleus Draconia and the Cognitive Dissonance of being a Lonely Prince

A character analysis exploring Malleus’ conflicting views of self

Malleus has two primary characteristics that are significant to his identity: (1) His role as a highly revered, feared, and praised mage & prince and (2) His loneliness and social/emotional isolation.

In Malleus’ concept of identity, these two characteristics are in conflict with each other, despite one somewhat being caused by the other. How can a person reconcile the fact that they are supposedly extraordinarily special, talented, attractive (this is canon in universe btw lol), intelligent, beyond powerful, etc. - essentially a perfect prince - with the fact that they have no friends and barely anyone who cares about them (excluding those he feels are obligated to care)?

Malleus has no strong emotional connection with anyone that is not his family (I include Lilia in this category) or one of his guards (who, in spite of Sebek’s protests, is basically obligated - socially or role wise - to respect and love him). Now, I don’t think any of these relationships is obligatory or disingenuous in any way. Lilia, Silver, and Sebek all genuinely love and care for Malleus. However, I’d argue that isn’t how Malleus sees it (I’ll get into this later).

First, I wanna go into the first characteristic I mentioned, him being revered (+feared) because of his status and capabilities.

Before I even get into him as an individual, let’s look at how Malleus himself perceives the mere status of royalty:

Malleus believes (I suppose because of his personal circumstances) that people who are royalty inherently deserve respect. He even extends this to Leona, who he has a (playfully?) hostile relationship with. I don’t think there’s canon indication that this necessarily means he looks down on people of non-noble birth or anything, but he’s still stuck on this idea that, in certain respects, royalty does deserve better than the average person.

Clearly, this would extend to himself as well. Part of his self-image is kind of decided from birth (in an interesting parallel to Leona who believes that his own status as a second son decides his fate from birth) because he is raised in this environment where he is constantly told that he is better than others, simply because he is a prince.

That said, Malleus takes being royalty and a leader very seriously. I’d argue he believes that because he is ‘better’ than others, he has certain responsibilities and duties that he must complete, as shown above.

Part of this also means that Malleus takes himself very seriously - he isn’t allowed to even try to be normal, because he always has to keep himself in check. Anything he does will reflect poorly upon himself and his family, and this is something Lilia reminds him of.

Here’s where I’ll talk about Malleus’ relationships with the rest of Diasomnia.

Now, Lilia is clearly the person who treats him the most casually and normally. He knows Malleus very well, to the point where he can read his emotions - namely his jealously/bitterness/frustration after being left out of something.

Lilia encourages Malleus the most to try and have normal experiences. He understands Malleus’ loneliness, and wants him to make friends - to seek out more than he could have all alone in his castle. But, Lilia also has times where he acts as more than a mere guardian to Malleus. I can’t find the screenshot, but I remember Lilia reminding Malleus about what behaviour is and is not befitting of an heir, so that aspect of their relationship is still something to take note of. Even Lilia, who understands him better than anyone, still must wish for him to be the best heir and prince (sometimes sacrificing his own wants, although Lilia probably does this the least considering he knows Malleus’ feelings).

It’s no exaggeration to say that Sebek worships Malleus to the highest extent (just look at the portrait of him in his room). The way Sebek talks about him isn’t at all like a friend or even family - Malleus is a god to him. I argue that Sebek’s behaviour specifically (he would cry if he knew this) distances him the most from Malleus emotionally.

This will be explored more later on, but what Malleus wants is to be treated somewhat normally, at least by a few people he can be close with. Sebek does the opposite of this. While the students who are scared of Malleus isolate him because of their fear, Sebek actually accidentally isolates him because of his dedication and worship. Thus, both Sebek and others isolate Malleus through their treatment of him because of his position/status/strength.

Malleus certainly cares for Sebek, but I don’t believe he thinks of him as a genuine friend (and that’s not meant as a way to dismiss the relationship they do have, just that he doesn’t view Sebek as caring about him as a person rather than him as a prince/mage). How can he, when Sebek constantly acts like a fanboy around him?

Now let’s look at Malleus and Silver.

Silver addresses Malleus as either ‘housewarden’ or ‘master.’ Again, to my previous point about Sebek, I think this does point to Silver and Malleus’ relationship not exactly being a friendship. However, I think differently to Sebek, Silver does have more of a personal relationship with Malleus.

He treats Malleus with respect and formality, but he isn’t over the top with it. I’d argue they have a sort of ‘mentor-student’ relationship in a way; not exactly that, but you understand my point. Silver looks up to Malleus as a person, and Malleus is willing to teach Silver about things. I almost want to say they’re a bit like a younger and older sibling, but I think a bit of the closeness/familiarity is lacking (at least for now). The relationship still has a bit of a formality to it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t personal. I won’t spoil for those who haven’t read book 7, but I think their relationship becomes more clear there, iykyk.

I know most of Malleus’ vignettes are played for a joke, but holy shit they make me sad. You can tell that ever since he enrolled, if he wasn’t sharing a class with Lilia, Malleus has basically had to work alone for everything. Even here, Cater is only asking Mal if he wants to join his group so he can use Malleus for Magicam clout. Everyone is so scared of him that he’s never had a partner and he’s even gotten used to it. It might not seem that serious, but honestly - sorry to be crude - this kind of thing does fuck you up, especially while growing up.

Think about how Malleus feels - being the outcast and genuinely having no friends feels humiliating and depressing. It makes you think there’s something wrong with you, and that’s the way I choose to interpret the other aspect of his character. His passive acceptance to social isolation and rejection is a constant among his vignettes - anytime someone brings this up, he’ll say it’s fine and he’s used to it.

Another relationship worth noting is Malleus’ grandmother - his only living blood relative. Something that stood out to me (and I could be reading too much into this) but Malleus really feels surprised that his grandmother would take time to write her only family member a happy birthday letter?

That’s very sad to me, and I think it’s a reflection of both the expectation Malleus feels is placed on them as royals and his feeling that he as an individual (not as a prince) is inherently less important than any royals duties. He seems to think this way about himself too, treating his princely duties as always more important than anything he would want personally. A letter is a small gesture, and Malleus doesn’t even expect that from his grandmother.

I’ll use this to segue to discussing Malleus’ insecurity and social isolation.

Ever since he was a child, Malleus has been isolated from others. Before he was feared and before he was worshiped, Malleus was lonely. That’s clear to anyone. Now, I want to talk about how this loneliness and isolation has affected his self-image.

Examining his personal relationships, how the rest of the school sees him, and his own views on royalty and himself, I think it’s clear Malleus, on one regard, seems at first glance to think highly of himself. He isn’t arrogant or boastful. Rather, he just is very extraordinary in many aspects.

But, that surface level interpretation completely leaves out the other side of him. While he might excel in skills, Malleus fails on all regards in terms of relationships. It’s clear, no matter how much he says he doesn’t care or that he’s accepted it, that it hurts Malleus every time he is excluded from something.

He tries to hide that he’s upset that he missed the orientation ceremony, but Lilia remarks that it’s clear how jealous he is that Sebek got to attend. When Lilia reminds him that there’s always next year, Malleus immediately dismisses the possibility that he will ever be invited. In his birthday vignette, he states that he hates eating entire cakes and becomes upset when Yuu brings up the fact that they aren’t meant to be eaten alone because he knows. He knows just how lonely and isolated he is compared to everyone else and he hates.

Malleus has mostly given up and accepted that he will ever fit in. He is pessimistic, but to say he does not hope isn’t entirely correct. Later in the vignette, although he may be half-joking, Malleus remarks that Leona may have stopped by to invite him to a party - he’s even excited by the prospect. And again, he is let down. Leona even taunts him spot-on for his greatest insecurity (isn’t he just so dreamy?).

Now, while this does offend Malleus to a degree (see their catfight where he basically threatens to declaw Leona), I get the feeling that this kind of interaction with someone who views him as an equal (or at least, isn’t intimidated nor awed by him in the slightest) is probably pretty refreshing for Malleus. In a way, you get the sense that he enjoys that back and forth with him, because this goes back to Mal’s wish to be accepted and have friends to talk with.

Anyway, to return to my main point: Malleus’ deep loneliness and failure to fit in has likely caused some deep rooted feelings of insecurity (Note: I want to make a separate post on this because it’s kind of a lot, but I think this also contributes to his anxious attachment style). Malleus likely feels unwanted, despite all the great things about him that make people like Sebek fanboy over him.

No matter how powerful Malleus becomes, no matter how many people worship him, Malleus will always feel worthless deep down because no one will accept him for who he is.

The kind of insecurity and loneliness that pervades your life for years and follows you around everywhere isn’t something you can just shake off. No matter how much he tries to reassure himself that he is enough, he’ll never quite be able to quiet the voice in his head telling him that he is wanted by nobody and that he deserves nothing, that things are this way because he is not worth loving.

To conclude, how can Malleus reconcile these two sides of himself - the parts that know he is something great (worthy of worship and praise, even) and the parts that tell him he is worth nothing? Both sides are so extreme, people worship him but almost everyone avoids him. I feel that’s something Malleus must struggle with a lot - trying to hold on to the view of himself as a good prince while feeling that slip away when he becomes emotional.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! Let me know if you disagree or think I got anything wrong, this is just my thoughts and my opinions and I’m open to changing them :)

[angelthefandomobsessed]

Bright minds

[angelthefandomobsessed]

🪡🐇 The Nightmare Before Christmas

Yuu's outfit for the new event! I really wanted to design it as if Sally was like a Great Seven-type figure and how an outfit honoring her might actually look? I also took some inspo from Tim Burton's style to make Yuu look a lil more haunted.

[angelthefandomobsessed]

The event is nearly over, and I must say Lilia and Floyd being chaotic besties was everything I ever wanted :'D