#book 8 spoilers

[rosymaraschino]

For anyone who’s still interested, I am going into Part 2 of Embla and why she’s ultimately a terrible person. And as always, please skip if you don’t want to read. If you do, press more :) also spoilers for book 8. Why? You’ll find out.

Point #2: Present Day Embla

Obviously, as we currently experience the story, we witness Embla fully immersed in the role of a villain. We are first exposed to her in Book VI as she sends out her retainer, Elm, to carry out her plan of destroying Askr’s bloodline.

Now. As you recall if you have seen my first post, there isn’t a fair reason for Embla to have to destroy what her former friend holds dear. The same friend who only ever cared about her. The same friend who was far more merciful than he should have been.

Anyway, her current plan consists of closing off various villages in spheres of darkness. The way the heroes describe the phenomena is quite unnerving.

While Ash’s powers show this is reversible, the experience must undoubtedly be traumatic for those involved, particularly because they have not been shown to earn Embla’s ire.

Continuing on in the story, we get to see how Embla has influenced the Royal family of her kingdom.

We already know based on past stories (such as the famous bunny TT with the heartfelt convo between Bruno and Alfonse) that Embla’s blood has cursed them, forcing them to attack the kingdom of Askr without their consent. From the very first Book in Feh, Chapter 13-5, we see just how it affects Bruno, how he cannot stop killing no matter what, and none in his bloodline can stop it. He can’t even commit suicide to free himself, adding to the sheer cruelty of his curse.

What makes Embla so reprehensible to me is how a lack of consent is key to her very being. Now obviously, we know many FEH villains are implied to cross this line. But Embla violates it directly, possessing bodies as she sees fit, without any regard for their lives. And it is especially heinous as she carries her victim complex almost like a badge of honor.

The lives of Bruno and Veronica specifically have been utterly ruined by Embla’s petty nature. Bruno was already dealt a hard hand in life. He was imprisoned as a child over his mother being seen as a political threat and having rumors spread about her being a spy. He is even stated to have been abused during this period, and was ultimately exiled from the land upon her death. I’ll be frank in that I could only find this information in wikis of the story, like the Fire Emblem Wiki and the Feh page in Tv Tropes, so if anyone can find it in story I would appreciate it! But anyway, he did find some solace in Askr, journeying alongside the Order of Heroes and becoming close friends with them. But, as he notes in Chapter 13-5 this time was cut short once when “as we traveled together…I tried to kill you.” From that moment on, he felt forced to flee for the safety of his friends, spending his life alone and miserable. His search for a cure was “like seeking one grain of sand in a vast desert. My hope is gone.”

As for Veronica, she suffers like he does, but does not even know it. It has driven her to invade Askr, ally herself with villains to take them down, and much of it is because “there's a voice telling me to.”, a quote taken from the Paralogue “Lecture Fit for Royalty.” It intertwines with her deep loneliness, which has been caused for a myriad of reasons. We learn of her cousin Letizia being stripped of her lands and title in her younger years in Book VI, meaning they did not meet as frequently. We learn that in Book I, Veronica’s real mother was the previous Empress, who alongside her father have died, leaving her with her father’s current wife. While they are not shown to have a tumultuous relationship, it can be inferred that there is hardly anyone Veronica truly feels she can trust. At least, in the beginning. And to make matters worse, her madness influenced ambitions of conquest are egged on by her people, who have been shown to be quick to turn on her with Letizia’s manipulation in Book VI.

And unlike Embla, Bruno nor Veronica have the privilege of godhood to make their lives better. Sure, an assassination attempt can be traumatic, but as explained, Embla exists in a system of privilege. She is a goddess. She can protect herself from the woes of humanity, and is further aided by the devotion of her existing subjects and Askr. Embla also should be performing the role of protecting her realm, yet does the exact opposite. She is quick to reject her people to protect herself. Bruno and Veronica do not have this privilege. Their suffering is ten times what Embla experienced, but they do not have the privilege of power to bring them peace. Neither of them can refuse their duties, regardless of what they are. Embla, whose role is supposed to be even more important, not only ignores the needs of her realm but actively aids in her realm’s destruction.

In the present day, we have seen how Embla has instigated a sort of generational trauma within the Emblian royalty, which has evidently helped make things worse for the kingdom as a whole. Veronica in Chapter 9-5 of Book I even laments the sorry state of affairs in the kingdom. “So many Heroes…a summoner…a pretty realm that’s happy, healthy, and wealthy!” We learn in Book VI that the kingdom of Askr’s wealth is directly due to the aid of Askr and Ash.

They give their all to help their people. Embla, evidently, has done the complete opposite. What’s more is how she directly hurts primary characters of the cast.

Veronica- forcibly possesses her, alters her body in order to retain more power, kills her brother, instilling her curse within her which has affected her ever since her birth.

Bruno- forcibly possesses him, callously gets him killed. This is especially cruel in light of how badly he wanted to live a life without the curse. Like Veronica, he had the curse with him as well, which had a profoundly negative effect on his well-being and played a role in important relationships (such as with the Order of Heroes) being destroyed because he couldn’t trust himself to not murder them.

Askr- consistently devalues him, insults him, disowns him and his friendship because he made the mistake of *checks notes* not supporting her ambitions of cutting off the mortals. With absolutely no reasoning behind it. And look, while we can see he can occasionally interrupt others, if this really meant that much to Embla, couldn’t she have stated her intentions more plainly? Urged him of her seriousness. There is no evidence that Askr would ever genuinely disregard her. If anything, she did the absolute bare minimum, quickly resorting to the mentality of a toddler throwing a tantrum after not getting exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. Besides that…trying to murder his entire bloodline. Smearing his reputation, getting him killed through her darkness, which was complete bullshit writing I might add. Ash survived way longer. And no, I really don’t see him having a greater alignment to light as an excuse. It was an excuse to stop focusing on him and drive the ridiculous plot. Actually, her treatment of him is unbelievably disgusting, so much so that it will be its own part.

Ash- sending out Elm to exact her revenge, which would get Ash killed in the process if the retainer failed to withstand him. Getting her master/father figure killed. The fact they had no lines between each other was quite disappointing because IS decided once again to make this the Alfonse show.

For most of Book VI, we see Embla as nothing but a generic doomsday villain. Viciously attacking mortals through her proxy Elm, possessing others to exact her whims, planning to annihilate Askr’s bloodline. In fact, she doesn’t have a single good bone in her body, putting all her energy into hurting others indiscriminately. At best, we can see that she sees Elm supports her, but even that is just an extension of her own selfishness. Seeing how quickly she dropped Askr when he didn’t agree, she would do the same with Elm.

We also get a “hint” of her concern when she learns of Askr’s death. Yet considering how she treats Askr prior, it comes off worse than intended. Again, this will be talked about more in depth for my next part, because it all ties into how toxic her relationship with Askr is.

But where we really see the sympathy come into play is the very last chapter. With the whole attempted assassination excuse, woe is me, you get the picture.

Oh, and her death where she bemoans her loneliness is just the cherry on top to her arc of being an egotistical brat that never considers that maybe she’s the problem. Actually, I stand corrected. There’s more. The first is where VERONICA says she and Embla are not so different. Embla was motivated by loneliness, after all.

The second is this monstrosity:

And this is what pisses me off to no end.

“Hi, Sharena. I too have brought a doll to symbolize our peace. This doll looks just like Embla, who is the same woman who forcibly possessed me, changed my body without my consent for her own means, terrorized my people for centuries, inflicted a horrific curse on my family for generations, and got my brother murdered without an ounce of guilt! She even has a little smile as well. To the peace of our kingdoms. 🥂”

What an absolutely undeserved show of respect. The dolls were a very poorly implemented part of this short to drum up the cute vibes. But you know, if we had to have our marketable plushies, may I raise a different option?

Make the plushies themed off the founders of Askr and Embla. The real Líf and Thrasir (sorry, no jelly skellies). What difference would there be? Do we really need more product placement of the gods? We know they exist, congrats. But having the founders of the realms would be much more meaningful without being completely disrespectful to the memories of those who suffered. Líf and Thrasir are still important to the realms’ histories, and so the symbolism wouldn’t be lost.

Thus, here is why the present day Embla fails to be sympathetic.

But wait a minute! This is the same blog that adores Læraðr as well!

Læraðr! You know, the guy who’s been assassinating people at random behind the scenes? Gets his kids killed, killing them over and over? Pretty awful right? Yeah, it is. But there’s a few very big differences that makes Læraðr’s story 100% more sympathetic than Embla’s. As for anyone who wonders why I am contrasting them specifically, it’s because they have close parallels. Gods betrayed by mortals, becoming evil, and killing others left and right. But anyway, onto the reasons…

No, me shipping Askr and Læraðr like a delusional dork isn’t one of the reasons

Where Did It Go Wrong?

Let’s get this out of the way. Embla is the personification of selfishness. Every single conflict in the story is motivated by her self-preservation and nothing more. Yeah almost getting killed is sad. But it is something that happens to people in positions of power. Or not in positions of power. Let’s be honest. It could happen to anybody. But yeah, no, poor Embla. She’s suffered so much more than anyone else who’s ever lived.

Læraðr, however, has a far more poignant past that drives home how pitiful he is. And I say somewhat, because like every other book, Book 8 ended being a terribly written mess.

Brief book 8 rant. Please ignore. And despite the decent coverage he got (surprisingly for a male oc not named Alfonse) Læraðr was nevertheless mishandled with poorly explained actions. Why was he creating soldiers with the same exact personalities as his dead children? And treating them like shit? Considering how much he loves his children, it would have made much more sense to create soldiers that were nothing like his children in order to keep him from sympathizing with them. Wouldn’t have the thought of putting people who remind him of his children through significant trauma traumatize him in turn? And what the fuck was the whole secret contact thing that ended up being nothing? As well as him being a cloned twig who ended up turning evil because…the real Læraðr decided to give him all of his trauma but not tell him he was a clone? Excuse me? What? Why? What? Ok, rant over.

Anyway, Læraðr’s motives are more sympathetic simply because of this: they are not wholly selfish.

It is the lives of his children he is fighting for. He’s not fighting to make himself happy. In Læraðr’s level 40 quote, he even makes it clear that he has the power to rewrite his heart to make him happy, but he remains as he is, “harboring the sadness of losing my family, suffering from my mistakes.” There is nothing for him to gain from his methods. All he wants is to give his children the lives the deserved after he’d indirectly ruined them.

Everything he does is for his children. While his methods have become drenched in cruelty, no one can say that he takes any joy in it. After all, he assures the Order that he “has no intention of fighting”. He is truly dedicated to his goal of giving his children back their lives. All of those he has killed/hurt has never been for his satisfaction.

Timing

What makes Læraðr work and Embla not also has to do with timing. Here’s the tldr before I get into it.

Læraðr- “This character has suffered and is sympathetic, but they are nevertheless a villain who must be stopped.”

Embla- “This character is a villain who must be stopped, but they have suffered and are sympathetic.”

What makes this difference so crucial? The first establishes the parts of the character meant to pull at the heartstrings. However, it is not meant to muddy the waters of their overall constitution.

The latter, meanwhile, attempts to be a campaign that fixes the character’s reputation by saying “Wait! They are sympathetic! Here’s why!” And almost all the time, this is not good storytelling.

Læraðr’s sympathy does not override his villainous actions. By way of it coming earlier, it is easier to see how his actions are influenced by his past trauma. This does come somewhat later, but it is still not at the end. And it leaves more room for us to see him as he is in the present and be continuously reminded of why he’s the villain. We are given time to digest this information about him.

Embla’s visible excuse comes right at the end. We get a small build up from Askr about how she’s gone through so much in Chapter 10, but we do not have anything to go by but his word until the flashbacks.

In the last five chapters, we are meant to see her as a victim. According to Askr, anyway, because she has so much pain. After everything she has done for centuries, ranging from murder to brainwashing, it is all supposed to be backed up by a very reasonable excuse. Someone tried to kill her once.

Experiences

Far be it from me to compare traumas. But when it comes to fictional characters who are presumably meant to be written well, such experiences can be crucial to analyzing them.

Let’s start with Embla. From the beginning, she has wanted for nothing. We see her content to be alone without a reason why. She could care less for the starving mortals of Midgard. Embla only engages with them more at Askr’s insistence. And, let us make it known, that Embla is supposed to help her realm. She isn’t a random noble who can do whatever the hell she wants. No. She is a goddess with a job to do. If anything, she should be engaging with the mortals with or without Askr making her do so. She continues to see mortals as less than, although she has tiny hints of growing to see them as people who maybe can be allowed to live.

Well, all of that is thrown out the window when a single individual tries to murder her. From there, she’s anti-mortal, ready to do Embla-knows-what to all of them in spite of this irrationality.

Now, we don’t know much about Embla’s mental state. Could she have some sort of illness? Perhaps. But we truly do not know. And mental illness doesn’t automatically make people evil. This is something media often misinterprets so they can “spice up” a character. Mental illness becomes a sort of trend that lazy writers can use to explain away batshit behavior (no pun intended). And yes, this is problematic and sensationalizes mental illness. In more disgusting examples, mental illness can even be fetishized. It doesn’t happen here, thankfully, but the media is often ignorant to the reality of various aspects of life. Often due to it being run by ignorant people in places of privilege.

Arguably, Læraðr may teeter that line, but it is hard to say.

Speaking of Læraðr, his experiences have been without a doubt more terrifying than Embla’s.

As the leader of the Healing Hands, he is meant to be only a healer to those in need, never to exact wrath on others. His faith to that creed is finally challenged and ultimately deconstructed with the last recipient of his services: an unnamed king. Once he has healed the king, Læraðr is asked to bring the king eternal life. Læraðr states he cannot do this, only for the king to state his intentions of making Læraðr his prisoner using two things against him: his vow of peace and his love for his children, who have been kidnapped. The king says he will kill every child one by one to motivate Læraðr.

We do not know how long this goes on. Læraðr exhausts every option possible, as now and again he receives the report of another child dying. Just as he has one child left, Læraðr snaps at the king, and finally shakes off his vow when the king tells him to apologize to his dead children, right after mocking him for being the reason they are dead. At the very end of it, the king admits something awful: that Læraðr’s children were already killed. Læraðr spent all this time in the king’s prison for nothing. This is what finally drives Læraðr over the edge after killing the king.

After he kills the king, we learn that in the real Læraðr’s history, he killed himself to join his children. This is truly the end. But he ended up giving life to a fake Læraðr, leaving him with a memory of everything but his identity as a clone. And so, believing he was real and that his children were still dead, this clone strives to give his children the gift of life. After all, because he is ���alive” this Læraðr assumes he cannot be killed as a god. Thus, he does not try to kill himself because he does not think it is possible.

And as for his sanity, it is safe to say he is not in the same headspace he was prior to the events taking place. And how could he be? Being imprisoned, believing your children are getting killed one by one, burdened by the fact that you are reasonable in a way, and ultimately discovering your children had already been killed, thus making everything you have done so far pointless? Who wouldn’t be driven mad? And his methods are both calculated yet irrational, but he presents them as being utterly normal. He speaks of his actions as making sense for what he needs to do. As for specific quotes pointing to this from characters, I haven’t found anything claiming him to not be sane. However, a few wikis state that he is not sane, so I will go by this.

The Sidelines

This phrase is as controversial as it is widespread. But it does make a good point. Particularly to put the final nail into the coffin of Embla’s supposed sympathy.

Who’s the one who introduces the possibility of Embla not being a completely reprehensible piece of garbage? Askr. His influence in the whitewashing of Embla’s character and actions is crucial. Without it, she would not be sympathetic in the slightest. And I say whitewashing because he says a lot about Embla being a great person, how she’s really just a victim, etc. Now the issue we run into is that Embla’s actions and personality, even in the backstory, do not support anything Askr says.

Embla has always despised mortals and I stayed away from them. Only Askr drove her to try and engage, and even then, she still sees them as beneath her. It takes one error of a mortal to make her hate them all and to hate Askr because he has the maturity of a fully grown adult. And this extends to alts as well. In the NY alt, Askr is convinced Embla just loves humans so darn much that that’s the reason why she’s so grumpy! 😄

Besides Askr, even Veronica engages in a bit of making Embla into a victim by citing the goddess’ loneliness and comparing herself. And there is no comparison to be had at all. None whatsoever.

Convincing theory, but sorry Askr. Embla hasn’t done anything to support it.

Now where are Læraðr’s endlessly loyal supporters? Oh, that’s right. He has none. And guess what? That makes him all the more sympathetic. He has no one fighting to make him a martyr. One of the characters who talks about him most, Eikþyrnir, plays a perfect role. He makes it clear that Læraðr has suffered from tragedy, but it doesn’t make him a poor lil cinnamon roll. In fact, he openly dislikes Læraðr, ranging from not calling him Father to plainly stating his crimes with nothing but disgust. And Eikþyrnir is completely right to do so. What Læraðr went through is horrible, but as of right now, he is nearly as bad as the king, troubled or not.

Without anyone trying to paint Læraðr in an absurdly good light, we don’t have any unrealistic expectations. All we know is what we’ve seen in the flashbacks. And what he went through was heinous. It absolutely plays a big part in how he is. But none of that is used to make him a victim in the present day. He was a victim then, but a bully today.

That’s something Askr himself fails to comprehend. Though even he states she crossed lines not meant to be crossed, he still treats her as a victim. At some point, she cannot continue being both. Her evil ways have eaten up anything good about her, whatever it was, because I surely don’t know what Askr ever saw in her. And I’m sure you, the viewer, don’t know either. She never did anything good truly for the benefit of someone other than herself.

Redemption

A small point, but just one more distinction.

Læraðr undoes his mistakes when he dies. And all of them, may I add. Resurrecting the Hands to help them be a family again, giving the heroes antidotes to help Queen Henriette and Veronica, as well as healing the heroes themselves. He acknowledges his wrongdoing as well.

As for Embla? Well, let’s leave it at this:

She dies like the victim she pretends to be. Without making up for anything she has done in the story. 🎬

Anyway, Part 3 will focus on her relationship to Askr, which is meant to redeem her. Aside from the notion being wholly problematic (insert “I can fix him/her” meme here), it only shows how it’s Askr who is the victim, and a very sadly mistaken one.

[junkydoodle]

Follow me for HTTYD tiktoks on my alt account!!!! [@fishy_fingers690]

[egophiliac]

queen of diamonds, upright + reversed 💎

I've redone this like eighty times, I have to just be done with it now and stop staring at all my mistakes oh no 🫠

[murasaki-cha]

⚠️Chalice of the Gods spoilers⚠️

Oh Grover how you suffer

[counting-stars-gayly]

This might be a hot take, but I actually like that Percy figured out Luke was the traitor at the last minute. There were A LOT of clues that would’ve been hard to ignore, and he ignored them for as long as he could. And it’s clear that even after accusing Luke, he’s still surprised and heartbroken at Luke’s confirmation of his suspicions. He was holding out hope, guys!!

Also, the Betrayal Scene flows better as an exchange of dialogue and a swordfight than it did, in the books, as a monologue and a scorpion sting. This also leaves a bigger impact on the viewers and characters because it’s more emotional.

[achromaticegoist]

Where did it all go wrong?

chat i’ve had this idea for *literal years* but i’ve never really got to making it a reality

scene is inspired by that one underverse 0.3 part 2 flashback

guys i’m like crying over them right now they’re SO CUTE (until well…)

[verdantmeadows]

So, in case you haven't heard...

Penny, from Scarlet and Violet is officially related to both Peony and Peonia (and, well, Rose too, since he'd be her uncle)! Peony is her father, and Peonia is her sister.

For those unaware, this is Peony.

And this is Peonia!

The woman in this image is (presumably) their mother (unless Penny is a half-sibling or adopted, which I don't think is the case).

And let me just say, this makes me so, so happy, seeing this visual/genetic diversity in a family.

So many people are completely ignorant to how genetics and biracial people can exist and have their genes expressed. Two siblings from a biracial couple, such as a black and white person, can look totally different. One could have curly hair and one could have straight! One could be super light-skinned and the other dark-skinned! Two kids from two parents doesn't mean that they necessarily just get a "mix" of how they both look.

Seeing this represented makes me so happy. I really hope more people realize just how different siblings from interracial couples can look. I really hope people don't erase this aspect of Penny's character, or think that she doesn't look Black enough or enough like a POC.

For a real life example, here are a pair of biracial twins!

(Lucy and Maria Aylmer)

So, basically, the point of this post is this:

Penny is Peonia's sister and Peony's daughter! This was my headcanon for a while, considering her name is Penny and based on Peony, but seeing it confirmed makes me so happy. I want this post to end on the note to inform people that biracial people can look like this. Biracial people can pass completely as white. White-passing biracial people can have dark-skinned parents and family members. Biracial people don't owe you passing as their ethnicity and the ethnicity/race of their family.

Please embrace this aspect of Penny and learn what being biracial can look like! Understand, acknowledge, and accept how biracial people can look! I've already seen people frustrated that Penny doesn't look "Black enough" or saying that her design makes no sense, or that she couldn't possibly be Peony's daughter, which is already a huge issue for REAL LIFE BLACK PEOPLE, who are told this!!! Even if you don't realize it, these thoughts and ideas ARE racist to have. How you view people when they're not real can often be indicative of how you treat them when they ARE real!

I hope that if you didn't already know these things, that you don't feel bad about it, and instead come away with new knowledge and understanding!

Edit: Also she could just be adopted? I meant to say that in this post and forgot. Like, adoption is a thing. Like, we know that Bede was an orphan and all... (I however don't think she was adopted based on her visual similarities)

Additional edit: I'm not trying to imply that their family is Black, either—I mentioned Black biracial families as an example, and also mentioned it at the end because I specifically made this post in response to people saying Penny "isn't black enough" and directing their racism towards Black biracial families. In all likelihood, their family is probably implied to be the Pokémon equivalent of Indian.

Other additional edit: Dialogue in game

Penny also frequently refers to her dad's behaviors that align with how Peony behaves

[oddberryshortcake]

Fuck

[marimeeko]

Katsukis PR team smacking their damn heads when suddenly Katsuki starts really giving a shit about the ranking because Izuku has his suit and they are competing(flirting) in the field now. And they have realized that he was sabotaging his own ranking the entire time, on purpose.

Their shock when, after Izuku joins the Heroes again, Katsuki doesn't treat fangirls/boys and paparazzi like leeches(as much) and they have to clean up less messes and do a little less damage control, and he just seems in a better mood overall.

Their abject horror as they now have to worry more about explaining the optics to Katsuki of how intense his competition with Hero Deku is(it looks Hella fruity and people are starting to talk).

Their sighs of defeat when Katsuki makes it clear he doesn't give a shit about the optics, and continues making public proclamations about him and Deku being the top heroic rivals ever seen, and how now nothing will stop him from becoming No. 1 now.

Their redoubled shock when it comes out that their client, Katsuki Bakugou, was a major contributor to the state of the art suit that Hero Deku is now wearing in his unprecedented comeback. And that Katsuki confirms the rumors without so much as a chat with the PR department first.

The way they just give up all together when the pieces come together that this whole time they have been running PR with a man so singlemindedly concerned with giving his childhood friend/partner/Boyfriend?? a leg up JUST so they could compete together, and how obnoxiously obvious they both are now that they are both in the public eye.

The hindsight that every move Katsuki Bakugou, GEMG DynaMight, has ever made in his career was for the sake of a future where he and Izuku are running the show together.

One day, one of them is definitely going to earn the rights to write a behind the scenes biography about Katsuki because it has the makings of an insane romance story on top of a big drama about GEMG DynaMights early career. It'll come out right after Katsuki and Izukus marriage lmao.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

book 7 part 8 thoughts!!

***THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7 PART 8 OF THE MAIN STORY!!*** Please note: this is NOT meant to be a summary or a translation; these are only my initial thoughts on the events that roughly unfold. There may be details overlooked or misunderstood in this post, so PLEASE do not use this as a translation.

Right off the bat, we're starting off strong with a video presentation from Idia!! He uses many MMORPG terms and analogies to better explain his concepts, even referring to allies as "party members".

The video is ~3 minutes long and the artwork used are Takashi Mifune-sensei’s LINE stickers. Yana says she is particular about functionality like Idia is, so she is pleased that they were able to implement this video. “Please watch Idia’s debut as. YouTuber!”

AGKVTIUOD8VQFVE IDIA SHROUD ASKS US TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE IF WE LIKED HIS PRESENTATION....... . . .. ...... .. . . . . .. . . . . I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU, IDIA... You popped off on the editing fr...

Idia tells us that there the population of Sage’s Island is roughly 20,000!

He basically explains his plan to defeat Malleus. Idia's going to fuck around with stuff in his own dream to make cheat codes to debuff Malleus (ie remove his invincibility). The others shall distract Malleus so he doesn’t catch onto what Idia is up to. Yuu, Grim, Sebek, Silver, and Ortho will infiltrate the dream worlds of classmates, "wake" them, and then recruit them to their cause. They will then lure Malleus into Idia's dream, at which point all the recruited students will JUMP HIM 🤡 Truly, the power of friendship but the NRC way…

Idia grants everyone the ability to DREAM FORM CHANGE!! By saying that phrase, it opens up a menu where you can magically change your outfit in an instant. The NRC boys are becoming magical girls… ✨

akjlfabidfbefeqof Grim has fun changing into his various Anniversary outfits! Ceremonial Robes, Labwear, Apprentice Chef...!

Silver and co. hop into Epel's dream! (Idia keeps in touch with everyone via his tablet while he stays behind in his own dream.)

Everyone at NRC seems to speak in the same Harveston dialect as Epel. And, well... here's apple boy...

IS THAT EPEL’S HEAD ON JACk’S BODY????????!!!!!?!?!?!!!?!?

THIS IS LITERALLY THE BUFF NATSUKI DDLC MEME 😭 I MEAN I WAS KINDA EXPECTING THIS BUTNIT FLOOKS SO FURGINGNGGGF GS CURSED

Anyway, the group just casually walks up to Epel and tells him everything is a lie??? And when Epel's world starts to go all wibbly wobbly, a dream!Rook and dream!Vil show up to praise him. Rook says he has heard rumors that Savanaclaw wants to recruit Epel for their own dorm, while Vil praises Epel as being both strong and beautiful, a perfect fit for Pomefiore.

I like that the implication is that while Epel still has a desire to be in a "tough" dorm like Savanaclaw, this dialogue seems to also say that he now also finds value in Pomefiore. This is why dream!Rook and Vil are tugging Epel in opposite directions; his soul must like BOTH options. Further proof is that Epel is still a Pomefiore student in his dream, he is not in Savanaclaw. To keep him under the sleep, the dream is trying hard to appeal to both sides of Epel's wishes.

So we battle the fake Rook and Vil!! Then Epel's memories come flooding back to him; the cracking glass effect is so pretty and calls into mind a mirror shattering as Epel gains his lucidity.

(Rook and Vil get similar "glass breaking" scenes upon waking, so I'm only going to comment on Epel's here and leave it at that!)

Cut to black to explain the situation to Epel!

Ortho invites Epel to join their "party" in Idia's dream! Then I believe he uses Epel's dream data to project a hologram of buff!Epel to remain in the dream while Epel joins the gang to hop into the next dream.

Next up is Rook's dream, and--

YUP, THAT'S A YEEHAWING ROOK HUNT IF I'VE EVER SEEN ONE 💀 I thought for sure his in-game 2D model would have larger arms (like, at LEAST Leona-sized arms, if not Jack-sized)... I guess not though, because we cannot have nice things/j

I love the extra detail of the leaves being stuck in the brim of his hat!! dfhlbafbiapia and bro just walks around with a quiver of arrows and a bow strapped to his back at all times...

ahbfg8yoadf9pbaegpb ROOK JUST DROPEPD A FUCKING BOMBSHELL ON US???????? Apparently Vil is a student at RSA and is besties with Neige???????????? BRO'S HEAD IS FR WRITING OUT FANFIC ABOUT HIS TWO MOST BELOVED IDOLS HOLDING HANDS AND GIGGLING TOGETHER

Uhhhh long story short, Rook runs off to his room and we chase him. What we find is--

YEAH THIS IS ROOK'S ROOM??????? It's probably what is depicted in his Savanaclaw Dorm Uniform SSR too. Note the split bed and the completely different carpets in the SSR artwork.

AEBFYVQEVYOFBQB THE WAY THE ROOM IS PERFECTLY SPLIT DOWN THE CENTER AND IS JUST STACKED WITH MERCH (including Tsum Neiges and Vils????????!????!?!?!?!?!??!!!!)

Rook starts to chuckle menacingly and pops off about his hyperfixations to us???? Then he wrangles us all to sit down and watch DVDs with him for the next *checks notes* 5 HOURS?????? AM I READING THIS CORRECTLY????? Rook... HONEY... THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO THIS...

We keep trying to talk to Rook, but he isn't quite waking up yet. So we have an aside with the gang and Epel suggests... RECREATING OUR VDC PERFORMANCE??????? ? ?? ????? He shows Silver, Sebek, Grim, and Ortho the dance moves and the show goes on!

Rook is lured to the VDC stage and we get a new Absolutely Beautiful rhythmic with our current squad! Unfortunately, the vocals are the same as book 5, so we do not get a new variation with Epel, Sebek, Silver, Ortho, and Grim singing.

I love Love LOOOOVE that Epel is the center here!! He took the initiative to suggest the idea as well as teach everyone, and now he's REALLY walking the talk by serving as the "leader" of the group.

Watching the NRC Tribe makes Rook's head hurt and he starts to remember...!!

Well, wouldja look at that... Here comes dream!Neige and RSA!Vil to distract Rook. They say they are inspired by the NRC performance and start to perform Everyone Yahoo! This entrances Rook, making our task of "waking" him all the more difficult.

aihfboyfpie LMAO THEY'RE SO DRAMATIC?????? Vil steps up to defend Neige, and Neige is all like, "Nooo, Vii-kun! If anything were to happen to you, I'd be crushed by sadness :((" ROOK... IS THIS WHAT YOUR MIND COMES UP WITH...

Rook points an arrow at them and cries about how he betrayed Epel... (AYO LIKE THE HUNTSMAN????) and now he has to destroy Vil and Neige, who are "proof" of his betrayal. It makes him cry even more because he can't think of harming them, even if it's just a dream...

Anyway, time to pummel the sparkly duo! You can see from the battle sprites that RSA students seem to use REAL ASS SWORDS to channel their magic instead of magical pens. Man... Imagine being handed a writing utensil and then glancing over at the next guy and seeing them holding an ACTUAL WEAPON.

If you look closely, you can tell that Neige and Vil's pommels, grips, and rain guards are slightly different. Apparently, every RSA student has a unique one? WOW, I feel like NRC got ripped off then??? Cuz only the dorm leaders get unique items or staves to channel their magic and everyone else has the same standard issue magical pen but with a different magestone color. The only exception to this for the average student seem to be Diasomnia kids, who have baton style magical pens in their dorm uniforms.

Rook fully awakens and we rinse and repeat what we did with Epel (cut to black to explain things to him, make a hologram Rook to leave behind, and invite him to join us).

The last part of the update has us venturing into Vil's dream.

OMG, WE'RE IN FAIREST CITY??? AT QUEEN'S FILM STUDIO???? We just visited this place in a recent event! What perfect timing... I see you, clever TWST devs!

I swear that Vil's outfits are getting worse with each new one I see him in, but that's probably just my fashion sensibilities clashing with his 💦 I thought from the initial silhouette that we would be getting a slightly older Vil to show us how his values have changed since book 6, in which Vil declares he is always beautiful no matter what. Him being older would truly drive that point home; I feel this was a missed opportunity but maybe it wasn’t possible because these dreams don’t seem to be taking place in the “future” but mostly center on the present or past? Something, something, magic limited to what can be imagined and maybe the magic can’t reach that far “ahead”?

aefyeyovfyvqvf HIS NEW HAIRSTYLE KINDA LOOKS LIKE CROWLEY'S, DOESN'T IT...

Here, Vil seems to be highly popular + considered fairest of them all. Additionally, a certain SOMEONE has been relegated to being his mere assistant (and uh, Vil is somewhat demanding of them):

VIL... THIS ISN'T HELPING YOU BEAT THE MEAN GIRL ALLEGATIONS, SWEETIE...

On a more serious note, I think this raises an interesting point about Vil’s character. Try as he might to get over his envy of Neige, it’s clearly still something so deep-rooted in Vil, right up to the end of booo 5. Now this element also permeates in his dream world. Neige “has” to be demoted in so Vil can stand on top—but is that really “fair” to Neige?? Is it truly Vil’s jealousy that informs the dream of this, and thus the dream is spinning this shallow, easy victory for Vil’s satisfaction??? Because the noble Vil I know of in book 5 wouldn’t consider this a real “win”. Very fascinating topic to ponder!

Vil has Neige toss us out, which Neige does. The dream is preemptively acting this time, with dream!Neige coming at us. We make a getaway and somehow whack the head of the announcer + have Rook usurp his role.

As Vil is walking down the red carpet, Rook announces the various sins that Vil has committed. Vil panics and demands that someone shut Rook up, but then he starts to realize things aren't quite right.

We try to intervene, but Neige gets in the way and ultimately Vil is pulled deeper into his own darkness. Everyone else plunges into the dark with Vil?? I was worried that we'd have another battle map segment but thankfully there was none!!

We're back in the VDC backstage hallway area and stumble across a horrifying sight. Neige is on the ground (next to an empty bottle of apple juice) and all Seven Dwarves are surrounding him and sobbing. Ortho runs a scan on his vitals and Neige... FLATLINES...

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?????? THAT VIL ACTUALLY INTENDED TO KILL NEIGE IN BOOK 5????? 💀 Dude... No wonder why Vil was feeling so guilty and screaming that his actions were so "ugly"...

Epel uses his UM to encase Neige in a magical glass coffin to keep him safe. Then they run out onto the VDC stage and hear the announcer declaring that NRC has won. Vil is there soaking up all the attention and praise until we confront him.

Just as he is starting to "awaken", the darkness comes back and Vil alone is taken.

What I find really adorable here is that both Epel and Rook rush to his side and try to pull Vil out of the darkness. They're... OFFERING THEIR HANDS... TO HELP HIM OUT OF THE MIRE... OFFERED HANDS... A MOTIF THAT HAS BEEN IN TWST SINCE THE PROLOGUE... 👁️

Vil finally faces off against his Phantom. Like Idia in the last update, Vil willingly assumes his OB form to do battle. These fights seem very symbolic in the grand scheme of things. Idia and now Vil, confronting the worst, most unsavory parts of themselves, their inner demons, and rising victorious, proving that they have become better people… It continues the little bits of character growth that we’ve been seeing in each of the past books!!

He rises from the darkness and joins up with everyone else after conquering the fight!! The update ends here.

Okay, there's a LOT to talk about????????

The highlight for me was definitely Idia's presentation. It was very fun to watch because of the slick editing and it was a silly way to lay out the plans. I appreciate that we get to see Idia's strengths on display here; he can get long-winded and throw in lots of eccentric gamer slang, but you can also see how quickly he's able to tailor a complex plan together while accounting for many variables. adfhlboafoiyebif I UNDERSTAND THE IDIA HYPE NOW, I UNDERSTAND IT ALL...

(Side note: I did not know where to insert this, so I'll do it at the end! BONUS POINTS TO IDIA FOR RIGHTFULLY CALLING MALLEUS SHALLOW 💀 because his understanding of constitutes as happiness truly IS shallow. Once again, Idia slays with his brutally real words...)

I already said my parts about Epel and Rook's dreams when they happened. It was great seeing how their characters have developed, especially Epel! I never much cared for him, but I really appreciate all that he has done this update.

This pretty much confirms that future updates will have us visiting every remaining classmate's dreams and "waking" them. Admittedly, I'm both excited and worried??? Because that's a TON to cram in, and I worry that not everyone will get proper screentime or development. On the other hand, I'm hype to see what their dreams are like and what other limited SSRs the game might throw at us.

I feel like with the reveal of Vil OBing to fight his Phantom/"inner demons", we'll get similar scenes with the other OB boys coming to terms with what they've done and where they can go from here. This... might lead into the highly desired and speculated about Overblot series of SSRs, which I theorize will be the limited SSRs for each of the OB boys. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for those, TWST... I wonder if we'll get a Neige card eventually too??? Since we did see his battle assets exist this time. Will Chenya get one too, assuming he comes in a futureHeartslabyul update??

Aaaaaah, next time... Scarabia... 🤡 I'm so hype for that, Scarabia is like my second favorite dorm next to Octavinelle!! (SPEAKING OF, WILL WE FINALLY GET EEL FORM CARDS FOR THE TWINS...)

I’m sliiiightly concerned for Silver because bro used his UM no less than, what? 4 or 5 times this update alone??? He used his UM to enter Yuu’s dream and then Sebek, Lilia, AND Idia’s. Presumably, he also has to use his UM no less than 13 more times (12 more for the remaining boys + 1 more time to return them all to Idia’s to ambush Malleus). And even worse, he has to transport an increasing number of people each time. HOW TF IS SILVER NOT OVERBLOTTING????! 😭

bxjsgwjwnwkcbjsbs This update was nonstop WTF moments sandwiched between genuinely heartfelt moments. It’s been really rewarding to follow along and see how the Pomefiore boys have changed since we first met them all the way back in late book 4, early book 5. Looking forward to seeing how the other boys play out!! (… Book 7 is fr about to be 200+ parts long 😭)

[bbygirl-aemond]

rhaenyra telling alicent that "history will remember you as a villain; a cold queen grasping for power and then defeated" while we know full well what history did to rhaenyra's memory gave me emotional damage

[xielianlover2]

This part!! It made me laugh and cry. It only took 8 novels for Xie Lian to realize the tattoo on Hua Cheng's arm was his own name xD.

But it's so terribly sweet. And so childish and adorable. Hua Cheng carved this onto his arm as a child. It's just very... heart-rendering? I dunno.

Something about baby Hua Cheng carving Xie Lian's name on his skin is so powerful to me.

[egophiliac]

we were fucking ROBBED

[ciarasombre]

Guys I realized something,

"It's surprising how often history is decided by something as trivial as bad shellfish," Halt was not only saying this about the death of the Temujai leader

"I still can't face the sight of a plate of shrimp." he was saying this but also about himself, about his own past

[cowsnotcrows]

Gerry sounded so happy i didn’t recognize his voice at first 🥺 so of course I had to draw him

[ielectrica]

Twisted Wonderland Zombie Overblot AU

So I've been thinking about this for years now. Ever since 2021, a year after I had entered the fandom of Twisted Wonderland (which, by the way, saved me from my suicidal ideation and my deteriorating mental health back in 2020. But that's not the focus of this post, soooo....). And honestly, if Malleus couldn't fight OB!Grim until after he was fully healed or forced to fight him alongside the others when he isn't at full health, it's gonna fuck up the entire school, staff included! So, the plot summary is a bit messy on my end because it's written as a letter, but here it is!: "The catalyst of our desperate and demoralizing situation had only been the beginning when some kind of monster had transformed into a being worthy of a curse being plagued upon us.. Everyone and everything was slowly being destroyed one by one. It’s unnaturally bright blue eyes, it’s marred and patchy gray fur with claws almost like talons…

"It shook us all to the core. This monster just couldn’t be stopped.. How could something have become so powerful that not even the great Malleus Draconia could put an end to this fearsome beast? Not even its master could muster up enough power despite their leadership and gathering the best of magicians in order to face it. Even as I had written in fervent need to communicate this to someone, to anyone, the screaming and the fall of human, beastman, fish person…

"I didn’t know if we, the students of Night Raven College, could hold it together anymore. Nothing seemed to work on this hideous Overblot beast..

"Every magical spell, everything in the books that the teachers have taught us… This hopeless situation was just getting worse and worse… The sky turned gray, almost resembling the bottomless pit of dismay and despair. The clouds a murky, blackened hue of darkness, an abyss of seemingly never ending night…

"At this point, it was meaningless to focus on taking down the beast. Everyone had to run for cover, go back to their homelands to be with their families. But not everyone had the fortune or good luck to be back in loving arms.. Not all of us made it.

"Now seven years later, the resources like food and water have become scarce, people are resorting to inhumane means just to survive another dreadful day in this apocalypse. Nobody’s found a single thing that could lead to the cure yet and people are dying off more and more each and every day. This winter is a bitter, frigid cold that may be the end of Twisted Wonderland..."

The details that I have outlined and the updates:

Involves a battle between OB!Grim whom we see at the beginning and Malleus along with the other housewardens and the rest of the student body.

But what happens is that the accumulation of blot that comes from the usage of magic and the fact that Malleus isn't in tip top shape after he semi-recovers from his overblot (since he didn't get to fully recover), OB!Grim wipes the floor with them and basically creates these OB phantoms and shadows that act as zombies.

Non-magical humans could treat this as a normal zombie apocalypse and magical humans have to treat it as it is, being extra careful of their blot accumulation unless they want to overblot and turn into an OB zombie either by that or by being bitten, scratched, or attacked in some way by the OB zombies.

Because of Malleus's magic, the weather has morphed into black clouds in the sky so that the sun is nearly blocked out on Sage's Island.

So, the Fae (Malleus, Lilia, and the other Fae around the world, plus Briar Valley) are safe and immune from being turned into OB zombies via being attacked in any way. Although they still have to be careful with blot accumulation, they won't likely turn into zombies. Half-Fae are more likely to be infected by blot, but the Fae blood makes it so that it slows down the infection rate, making it so that they can save themselves. Silver, however, is not safe from this since he's a human. A Fae's blessing, however, does provide protection, albeit limited.

Adding more to this: Magic is much more primal and wild and in tune with nature again since most of what is left of technology has been wiped out thanks to Grim overblotting and destroying everything in his path. No, not even Malleus Draconia can stop Grim since that little bastard had to go and eat the last blot stone.

But thanks to magic being more primal and wild again like it was back in the time of the Middle Ages, the Old Gods (such as Altaria, the Goddess of Light, Healing and Resurrection. She is a human Goddess while Zakros is a Fae God and is the God of Destruction, Darkness, and War. Yes, EVEN SWORDS that were forged by the Fae have been named after them and yes, Silver wields Altaria while Sebek wields Zakros since those swords have selected them as being worthy to wield them) are being worshipped again.

The zombie apocalypse is what brings Fae, human, beastmen, merfolk, and all other intelligent species together, all united under one common cause. To rid the world of the zombie overblots and start the world anew.

What started it all was Grim eating Malleus's overblot stone and self-destructing since Malleus's overblot stone combined with the blot already in Grim's system accumulating and overflowing without an outlet to keep it steady, balanced, and stable. In order to get rid of the zombie overblots that are overwhelming the world, the Dorm Leaders and their families will have to join forces in order to beat down Grim and deplete his magical reserves. But I want some character arcs like character redemption arcs, changes that are somewhat in character. Things that'll really shake up their foundational roots and make them rethink the choices that were made up until now. For example: Lilia rethinks all of the choices that he made while in his youth due to him having magic again thanks to this amulet that the spirits of Meleanor and Revan helped him find. This is a second chance to make things right by them, Malleus, Silver, and by association, Sebek. So, he would go about it in a more strategic, calculated, and methodical way in order to make sure that his magical reserves won't get depleted this time. Yes, Yuu is suspicious in the eyes of the main cast since they were the last ones seen with Grim before they disappeared during his overblot.

It'll depend on the composition of their DNA, but Half-Fae have a possibility of getting infected, the same with many other intelligent species.

Please, please, please tell me what you think about this! Hell, you can even DM me about it so that I can organize some ideas for it!