#it's just when someone brings up his voice I brainrot dhuisgfhkje

[curekibouka-writing]

This analysis of Lilia before and after HELP 😭

Interesting that you brought up his voice (because as everyone already knows I will happily dissect any information I can find in Midorikawa’s god-tier voice acting), because we currently have three different categories we can sort his voice into:

1) General Vanrouge voice in 7-55

2) General Vanrouge voice when talking to young Malleus in 7-19

3) Papa Lilia voice in the majority of Twst canon

Some may think that (2) is a transitional phase from (1) to (3) but it might not be. Instead, it’s like what @llondonfog said, Lilia was still using his General Vanrouge voice except he has a decent understanding of how to talk to a child and a prince.

Breaking down each of the three categories I brought up, his voice in (1) is cold but not flat or emotionless. This is most evident when he asked Silver/Sebek/MC "Who are you" in 7-55, because after he knows that they are not the "folk of iron", there is a genuine concern (albeit slight concern) and confusion in his voice when he asked who they were. Basically, he's a soldier but not a killing machine, which fits nicely with Lettie pointing out that he was probably never as prejudiced as Sebek's grandfather.

In (2), the general colour of his voice is still closer to (1) than the usual Papa Lilia we know. Our usual Lilia tends to sound a little bouncy when he talks (because he's so insistent on his cute image), while his tone in (2) is deep and serious. This supports the idea that Lilia is quite fully aware of his identity as a General to a prince. However, as Lettie pointed out, Lilia also spoke with understanding. There is a lot of empathy in his voice even if the energy of his voice doesn't reach the usual level we know of. As much as he is aware of his position, he's also aware that he is speaking to a child who had lost both parents.

So here's where my interpretation kind of differs from Lettie. I don't think Silver taught Lilia of unconditional love and devotion, I think Lilia had always been capable of that deep down because his voice was never emotionless. But there was never a time for him to truly love someone before he met Silver, never a chance for him to figure out how to do it because, again, as Lettie wrote in the HC, it was war, it was life or death. When I listen to Lilia's voice in canon usually (3), I never thought it's a new side of him, I always think this is who he is deep down, who he had the potential to become except war clouded over that potential for 700 long years. Once he adopted Silver, however, and the time of peace blesses the world, he finally has a child to call his own and he is allowed to take his time to find out how to really unconditionally love a human child and how to communicate that love. Not as a mentor to a Prince, but as a father to a son. I honestly think meeting Silver helped Lilia rediscover a part of himself that he had lost for centuries due to wars.

But then again, fighting for centuries does change someone. You can't say General Vanrouge isn't a part of who Lilia is now. Therefore I'm completely sold on the idea that he still remembers in perfect clarity how to vivisect a living body if anyone hurts his precious family 🤭

Hey! For the headcanon game, can I get an 🤬 headcanon for Lilia? But maybe if youre up to it can you give a headcanon for before and after lilia adopted Silver? Because I think while both versions of him have the same triggers (fucking around with someone he's protecting,) I think that General Vanrouge and Lilia have very different ways of going batshit crazy angry. If not that's cool, I always love reading your writing and hope you have a good day!

hc game !

YOU ARE SO CORRECT!! I've actually incorporated this in a few aus before because it makes so much sense? That Lilia would have to learn how to talk to and engage with a child in a softer, kinder way than he would any of his soldiers— and a human one at that! We don't know much of anything regarding Lilia's past (here's hoping Ch7 sheds some light on it), but we do see from the last part how cold and clipped his voice was when addressing those he saw to be humans. I don't think he was ever as prejudiced as Sebek's grandfather, but one could easily understand his brusque reservations when we consider he's been fighting wars for centuries now against them.

(plus we kind of see him confess that in his birthday vignette where he talks about the realization with a hint of regret of how he was training Silver like a soldier when he was just a child.)

(and now that I think about it, it's interesting too how Lilia addresses Silver/Sebek/Yuu in the last part because we know from Malleus' memory that he was fairly congenial and kind to Malleus after his tantrum in the palace. So this is definitely a 'battlefield' voice and mindset that he's in right now.)

I also think it's so fascinating because (my personal hc) of how late we are in Lilia's life that he learns this kind of skill. Yes, he mentored Malleus, yes, he spoke to him with understanding, but also respect for the position that Malleus had— he's the crown prince, Lilia is simply a General in the scheme of their hierarchy. I will die on this hill that Silver was the first to teach Lilia of unconditional love and genuine, sweet devotion, and that irrevocably changed Lilia on a fundamental level.

SO AFTER THAT DISCUSSION—

General Vanrouge HC: His anger is a great and terrible thing of laser sharp focus, honed to the nth degree of brutality. The night sings for him, in him, through him, and the devastation he wields is awe-inspiring for the soldiers that follow like devotees in his footsteps. He's not a cruel leader, never one to humiliate a lower-ranking member for a mistake made in training, but he is an exacting one— he has no patience for the inept and no tolerance for failure. This is war, (one that already claimed the lives of their king and queen), and his only purpose is to serve his ruling family and protect their lands against those that would wish to seize them. There is no room for error, and second chances on the battlefield only end in death.

Papa!Lilia HC: After adopting Silver, Lilia learns to laugh at a lot of things. His son's well-meaning messes, his earnest attempts at soup that end up burning in the pot— these aren't life or death situations, even if the tears welling up in Silver's eyes deem them as such. Lilia weathers the clouds that dampen his child's wondrous eyes with a kiss on his head and a reassuring squeeze, finding what he assumes could only be the sun's warmth soothing his bones where fire once scorched. Silver never sees his father's wrath, not this child of peace. He will never know the madness that his very presence has tamed and stilled behind Lilia's heart, the wildfire now banked into a cozy hearth.

He's slower to anger now, mild in his calculations. There is so much to be gained by conversation instead of confrontation, and he ensures this lesson is taught to Silver not by bloodshed and loss on the battlefield, but from the comfort of his father's lap, held safely between the shielding force of Lilia's arms.

(But if a single hair were to be harmed on the head of his son, if anyone approached his child with ill intent, well. He'd only be too happy to demonstrate that he still remembers in perfect clarity how to vivisect a living body.)