#malleus dorm uniform vignette spoilers

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

what are leona's flaws if he has any?

Of course he has flaws, everyone—fictional and real—does. Leona’s are quite numerous and very blatantly out there in some cases, so this ask (which sort of implies he doesn’t have flaws at all) surprised me 😅 His are pretty hard to miss, no…? Of course, some of these flaws do improve over the course of the main story, but they are still largely present.

I’m not sure what prompted this question, but I hope it’s not because I somehow gave off the impression that I’m not cognizant of his flaws. I may occasionally sing the guy praises about being a good leader/big brother figure but I’d like to think that I also humble him just as much by bringing up his less savory personality traits (namely his laziness, underhandedness, and pride) and his shortcomings as a leader. I try to look at characters from all angles, regardless of how I personally feel about them overall.

That being said, there’s a slew of flaws to highlight, some of which I already mentioned earlier. Leona is:

Lazy, or, more accurately, unmotivated. If he’s not interested in it or feels he isn’t gaining something himself from acting, 9 times out of 10 Leona won’t lift a finger and/or will choose to nap instead. He frequently doesn’t even attend classes because he thinks there’s nothing they could teach him that the royal tutors haven’t. In many other cases, he ends up helping others because he’ll get something from it. For example, he may teach the first years how to properly mine magestones in his Camping Gear vignette, but only so they quiet down and he can have a quiet spot to nap.

Underhanded. He’s more focused on his desired results rather than the morality or ethics of what methods he uses to achieve those results. Lying, bending the rules, roughing up people who get in his way… Nothing’s off the table. All of book 2 basically illustrates this.

Seeking approval, often to his own detriment. This is usually framed as him wanting the crown, but it’s actually a consequence of Leona wanting to be acknowledged by others since he was without it for most of his life. These feelings lead to many self-destructive behaviors and sentiments, including the events of book 2.

Unable to take criticism. He tends to get mad and lashes out when people point out his flaws. Leona even OBs after Lilia says to his face that he has a rotten personality and could never hope to match Diasomnia’s king.

Selfish and spoiled. Let’s be honest, he just is 😭 He’s often ordering others around or expecting to be waited on and not thinking about how it could inconvenience them, yet he also acts really annoyed whenever others ask him to help out with something. Leona also rarely stops to listen to others’ sides of stories, he considers his own perspective to be the most important.

Competitive. His pride is easily wounded, especially if someone claims to be stronger than him in a particular area (even if it’s an area he doesn’t necessarily care about). For example, he argued with Vil about which of them would be the ideal suitor for the Ghost Bride and has a known grudge against Malleus, a fellow prince and skilled player in his own sport of choice.

Arrogant and prideful. This goes hand-in-hand with the other traits; Leona thinks highly of himself and his skills… perhaps too much so. Because of this, he has issues yielding his command to others or even considering opinions which differ from his own. This is why he doesn’t have a vice dorm leader; he’d rather rule unquestioningly. It’s his way or the highway!

Domineering. He doesn’t ask you to do things, he tells you to do things and you obey. This happens a lot between him and Ruggie, but also with other characters and even NPCs like the pixies in Fairy Gala (when he demands water to distract them from finding Yuu and co.).

Petty. This holds true for most of the NRC boys, but I think it’s particularly the case for Leona, who tries to beat up a magicless human for accidentally steps on his tail and then bullies that same human + some extras in a sportsball game 💀 He’s also infamous for his several harsh quips against Malleus and other characters that are just there minding their own business or existing.

Needlessly aggressive (in some cases). There’s no question that Leona would prefer to use his brains before his brawn. However, there are instances in which he resorts to magic or physical strength instead of scheming or talking out a solution. For example, the aforementioned attempt to attack Yuu (a defenseless, magicless human) for an accident. Dialogue in Malleus’s dorm uniform vignettes also implies Leona intended to put his hands on Malleus after a perceived slight. In his own dorm uniform vignettes, Leona is about to unleash his UM on second year students who are stepping out of line (Jack has to intervene and beg him to stop).

Defeatist. This stands in contrast to his usual arrogance, but I’m a strong believer in the “Leona uses his arrogance to mask for his own insecurities about being second best/place his entire life” thing. If he thinks there’s no point in trying, that he won’t be acknowledged no matter how hard he tries, he simply won’t. Instead, he’ll wallow in his sorrows and lament about things out of his control (such as birth order or life not being fair)—even though choosing to act or not is in his control. He also has a tendency to deny others’ love and respect for him, almost as if he believes it’s untrue or… he doesn’t believe himself to be worthy of those feelings.

Afraid of failure. For as cocksure as Leona presents himself to the world, he has a crippling fear of failing. That’s why he’s so quick to throw in the towel in book 2; if he deflects the blame to others or raises the white flag early, he can reason with himself that he didn’t really “lose”. There’s nothing more humiliating to try so hard only to not succeed in the end… just like he has his entire life. In the light novel, Leona also expresses that he’s afraid of having hope, because that makes it so much more soul crushing when that hope amounts to nothing. I believe it’s these feelings that also shaped his UM. Why is the identity defining magic he wields destructive? Maybe because Leona himself believes that this is his fate: the prince with naught, because everything he touches turns to sand.

[fruixtii]

OB Malleus thoughts ‼️🥀

So…there are still people saying that Malleus makes the dreams apparently?? I just really don’t see how one could think this. Idia said it himself this update that the dreams are based off the dreamers conscience 😭 it is quite literally the dreamer who is making their own dream. My take on how it actually works is that the blot, or whatever dark magic is produced by fae of maleficence, warps itself to fit the dreamer’s desires.

(To be honest I think his UM itself was just a product of overblotting considering what it does and how quickly he overblotted, but there’s not really much to go off of that since the whole “oh someone’s somehow manipulating and artificially inducing the overblots” plot point just got shoved to the side 😭)

Malleus’s UM is more scary because he isn’t the one making the dreams. like.

the blot just does that stuff on its own.

Even though he doesn’t have the possessed OB voice yet, the whole point of overblots is that the mage is a vessel for the corruptive blot that will eventually take over their body. despite him sounding normal he IS losing himself to it.

I know Mr. Shroud and the people at STYX said his magic pool is basically infinite because he’s pulling from nature, but he can’t be that OP, right? I mean, Maleanor overblotted and died. (so they say. i feel like it isn’t exactly clear, but hey, i wasn’t there. who am i to distrust silver and sebek’s words 🤷‍♀️ also the death part was mostly if not all due to *cough* the dawn knight and the human armies. *cough* I guess that’s why they specified they’d have kill Malleus to stop his overblot)

Regardless, even if he did have a literal infinite amount of magic, I think he’d still fall victim to his blot and his own magic.

I think once everyone wakes up from their dreams, it’ll be Malleus who’s still caught in it, because these dreams were ultimately made to fit his delusion of eternal happiness, and he’ll be the one most fooled by it.

He’d be trapped in his own dream where everyone is happy and won’t outlive him. He won’t ever be lonely. And maybe his phantom will feed into that even more specifically because he can’t run out of magic and get taken over.

[fictionfixations]

lilia dorm uniform vignette

haha

theyre both so done with lilia at this point

this entire vignette they just- Sebek & Silver: what. …??? Malleus: is used to this Lilia: doing what he does

NO

yknow. lilia did leave sebek and silver alone to like. survive. for a time or something like that.

LMFAO SEBEK

oh my god lilia

sob

((BOOK 7 SPOILERS AND SPECULATION. mention of JP card)) (the spoilers come from my thoughts, not in the actual vignette)

Spoilers start now!

okay. so. im sad. but is it just me who could possibly see parallels between this and silver? (lilia treating his whole situation so much more nonchalantly and silver just sobbing like 'i still want you in my life :(((')

also i wonder if we at one point end up meeting who silvers parents were. id assume it hasnt happened at all in JP though, or i'd probably be heavily spoiled because so much JP TWST is on my timeline (this includes book 7 spoilers LMFAO i cant escape. savanaclaw rook 👀. i only know the basics of book 7 JP content [that is, not at all. ive been spoiled like the next few chapters-ish after EN content [aka night in the woods(?) chapter 55 i think). the second a new card comes out its shoved EVERYWHERE in my face. but thats about it! mostly.)

admittedly was so prepared for malleus to go on for a bit at the end that could. idk help us get a different view on his actions in book 7. guess not tho, oop.

(..Also its probably meant to be "given what he said" but the actual dialogue says "give what he said" and im too tired to be making corrections to canon dialogue in the event i might be wrong [its 3 am])

im so saving the sebek respecting silver line though LMFAO

like out of context you think he's saying it to silver

or like. saying it after silver does some badass thing but no.

its because of lilia's parenting.

hehehehe

[ventique18]

i LOVE how you mentioned "he's still an evil guy even if he's shown to just want attention" (not even referring to chapter 7 as proof) cuz i read his dorm uniform vignette and was like "SIR YOU ARE ACTING LIKE AN A-HOLE! PAY FOR LILIA'S NEW PHONE!"

it waa the reminder that he's still a villain even if we are friends 🤣

- MINOR VIGNETTE SPOILERS -

Yeah! It's one thing that many Malleus likers seem to forget. He's not really a good guy who can do no wrong, because he has done so many things wrong and sometimes downright offends human rights LMAO. But he's also not a complete psychopathic unfeeling asshole who doesn't care for what others feel. He's just very true to himself.

I think he'd really push his luck / boundaries on so many things to get his way, but he wouldn't force it if you're visibly uncomfortable. This is why I don't really subscribe to the headcanon that he's a complete yandere psycho. It hurts him to see those close to him get hurt. He cares about his feelings, and by extension those directly related to his feelings, if nothing is else.

I do like drawing him like a lovestruck puppy, but that's only because those are supposed to be a Malleus x Reader thing so naturally he'd be very biased. If it were with other characters though, he'd be portrayed very differently. 😂

[suns-out-sleeps-in]

TWISTED WONDERLAND JP SPOILERS

With the newest birthday theme being revealed to be pajamas/lounge wear, would it be a little presumptuous to infer that maybe next year's theme to be casual wear?

Since JP has the year "reset" each September to line up with the beginning of the school year, Jamil is the first boy to receive the new card theme. (he's so unfair with how pretty he is) With Ace following behind him. (his card is so cute I would totally steal that hoodie of his) Meanwhile EN is set up to begin the new cycle with Cater in early February since the game released in English right around the end of January, unfortunately condemning Malleus to be the last twst lad in the birthday cycle on EN and Riddle being the final one for JP. Tho with Rollo added to the cast if they decide to make birthday cards for him, he will become the first (or last) character in the cycle since his birthday is listed as February 2nd, 2 days before Cater.

So while I'm all for seeing our boys comfy and cozy and can't wait to see everyone, I'd personally love to see what everyone wears on the regular outside of school.

You can't tell me these boys always wear uniforms whenever they go down into the foothill city. It's one thing to pop by The Mystery Shop because Sam is right there on Campus, it's another thing entirely to say that they must always wear one of 4 different outfits (School, PE, Labwear, Dorm) when everyone officially moved to the school and interacting with people on Sage's Island. (Also I wish we got vignettes for the club cards cuz it would have been cool but whatever)

Heck, we can see in a few of the guys' rooms that they have multiple outfits to wear; mainly Leona, Floyd, and Lilia because the rooms are so messy, but Deuce, Trey and Cater have clothes visible that we don't see them wear in their normal sprites.

This is kinda a long winded post to say that I hope the next birthday theme is casual clothes because I want to see what the character's chosen styles are.

Let us go on a cute date with Heartslabyul! Let us go workout with Savanaclaw! Let us go sightseeing with Octavinelle! Let us explore with Scarabia! Let us go shopping with Pomefiore! Let us play games with Ignihyde! Let us do whatever with Diasomnia! Show us who these characters are as their most authentic selves when they are not being tied to the ideals they have to uphold in school/their assigned dorm. Show us who the genuine "X" character is when you let the characters choose how to present themselves.

Show us Skater!Cater, Royalty!Leona, Disaster!Floyd, Rich boy!Kalim, Hunter!Rook, Gamer!Idia, Cottagecore!Silver and more!

[sleepyheadincoulds]

Running Away Isn't Easy - Emmanuel M. Ruiz, Knight of the Moon Vignette (Pt. 1)

MWEHEHEHE

This is a revised version from my old vignette both The Real Thing and I'm So Tired

Authors Notes: Book 7 spoilers, platonic :3

Everything felt tense, the atmosphere felt suffocating, and panic and fear aroused. Malleus was either not in his right mind, or he was crazy, either one of those was it. Emmanuel and Grim were practically shaking, they never once witnessed Malleus acting this way. But Emmanuel’s heart dropped to the floor, when she saw pitch black ink, black as a raven’s feather. Her mind felt dizzy, her ears were ringing and all she could hear was muffled yelling and arguing. Grim’s paws were clutching onto the blazer of Emmanuel’s uniform, while Emmanuel was holding a frightened cat close.

Her mind snapped back when she heard these words from Malleus’s mouth, “O spinning wheel of fate, spin the threads of calamity. I, the Lord of Malevolence, offer this blessing.” Emmanuel’s stomach was twisting up like a spring coil, Grim’s claws were digging into the fabric of her blazer. Everything in Emmanuel’s mind was chaotic, full of fear and anxiety, until those final words coming out of Malleus’s tongue, “Fae of Maleficence.” Lilia’s eyes widened as he screamed, “MALLEUS!” Time had stopped, everything was falling apart so quickly.

The atmosphere was thick, thorns that looked sharp as needles were growing into the Diasomnia dormitory. Emmanuel and Grim were holding onto each other like lifelines. One by one everyone fell asleep, their friends, acquaintances, classmates, teachers, and staff. Emmanuel saw some familiar ink on the floor where Malleus stood, but he looked so different than before. She realized one thing, something that she trusted Malleus not to do, to overblot.

Her eyes looked up into his, not daring to face away. Eyes like hers that are like pearls that could shame the most precious pearls, boring into his green, emerald eyes. But she could never look at him the same way as before. Someone who was like a guardian to her, like family, and like a guide. Like a shepherd to his sheep.

Her body was shaky, in her mind the only words she could hear was: “Not again, not again, not again.” Sinister laughing could be heard from Malleus, as if he were mocking the young girl’s fear. “Don’t worry. There’s no need to be afraid.” Malleus spoke, now towering over Emmanuel’s trembling self. She spoke up, her voice shaky and timid, “Why?” Why, that was the only thing that could come out of her mouth. He didn’t respond to her question, “Give in to slumber…”

Emmanuel suddenly felt tired, her body began to weaken and her mind shutting down all thoughts. “That’s it, and a thousand years will pass in the blink of an eye.” Malleus spoke to her; his words were like a trance. Grim tried to stay awake, but the trance feeling of falling asleep was stronger. Thorns were growing everywhere, and Emmanuel was in a trance until she closed her eyes and fell forward. Malleus caught her and he held her tightly.

There lies a girl, who was only fourteen years old, under the greatest curse of a thousand years of heavy slumber. There stood the crowned prince of Briar Valley, Malleus Draconia, whose bloodline follows the Thorn Fairy. But at this darkest hour, he puts a curse, or he calls it “his blessing” of a thousand years of sleep upon all of Night Raven College. The girl, Emmanuel Ruiz, was just a merely human child, with no magical talents whatsoever, and just a student under the Ramshackle dorm. But what makes her so important to the crowned prince of Briar Valley? A powerful fae that was feared by many.

Emmanuel was the first person who wasn’t actually afraid of Malleus. When they first met, Malleus found it silly how a youngster like her decided to call him, “Señor Dragón” (Mr. Dragon). Even over time Malleus thought her finding out his real name would scare her, but it didn’t! Not when it was revealed at VDC.

They both had a father and daughter bond, and it was something so dear and precious to Malleus. Emmanuel was never afraid of him, and she was always so sweet and kind to him.

Malleus thought everything was perfect, until the breaking news of finding out Emmanuel had possibly found a way back home. His heart was torn and he felt as if his whole world was falling apart bit by bit. But he also knew that she was human, and her lifespan was short. Humans have to live their own lives. He didn’t want to let her go yet. It almost felt pathetic for a Fae Prince to grow such attachment towards a human child that he declared to call his own.

The day that he overblotted, that was something that broke Emmanuel. Malleus was the last person Emmanuel trusted to not overblot, but yet here he is, cursing everyone to sleep. Including her. Everything has a price, but not all prices are easy to pay. Sometimes the cost can be the biggest consequence. Now Emmanuel lies asleep, in a bed of the most comforting pillows and blankets, and the sweetest and naturing flowers. She is safe, or that’s what Malleus believes in. Just a thousand years of deep slumber, and she would be safe. Safe from the cruel and broken world, no more tears, no more pain, just an absolute haven.

[catusbeanius]

Decided to branch out and take notes on my Riddle vignettes! So, here are some Riddle tidbits (I have all his cards aside from his birthday jacket and tsumsitter, sadly :(. Also, why doesn't masquerade riddle have a vignette smh. Gave me a heart attack thinking I never got him)

Tidbit 16:

Riddles calls himself the "King of Heartslabyul" (Suitor Suit vignette pt 2), yet he still appreciates the powerful femininity of the Queen. He says he enjoys the way heels make him stand taller and how the clacks catch everyone's attention (Halloween vignette pt 3)

Tidbit 17:

He shows his insecurities on his sleeve.

In his Suitor Suit vignette pt 1, he mentions to Malleus how the princess won't like him because he's short (he also mentions this in the regular event). He doesn't want Kalim sharing anything about his low P.E score (P.E uniform vignette) and he assumes Vil is making fun of his athletic ability when he was just trying to compliment Riddle in heels (Halloween vignette pt 1-2)

Tidbit 18:

He initially assumes everyone understands things the same way he does, but he can grasp other methods fairly easily.

In his Dorm Uniform vignette (spoiler for the whole plot, if you care), he's trying to help Cater pass his exam and initially gives him a 300 page study guide to memorize in a week. He gets very upset when Cater can't even pass the table of contents, but Trey tells him to think about it from a different perspective. He asks Riddle what method he'd use to eat his least favorite foods, and Riddle responds that he'd dilute it or eat it alongside something he does enjoy. He quickly comes up with a way to help Cater study (through Magicam tags).

Imo, this means he's learned to be open-minded and to listen to people before collaring them immediately (however his gut reaction is still anger)

Tidbit 19:

Kind of in conjunction with the last tidbit, but Riddle is not very confident in things he hasn't mastered. Namely, cooking. He follows directions unquestioningly (can also be seen as his strict rule-following).

Riddle trusts Lilia with only mild-skepticism when he tells him how to make soup (Labwear vignette). I don't know for sure what he put in it, but Lilia tells him to make a strawberry tart soup. Lilia tells him to min-max the nutrients and Riddle is like, "Really? Okay... I guess that makes sense."

Tidbit 19.25

I gotta yap about Diasomnia ONCE, okay?? /j

Anyway, I noticed Lilia was very good at making things understandable for Riddle while cooking. When something was up to Riddle's preference, he basically explained it as, "what do YOU like in food," and, "how much would Trey realistically eat?"

Analyzing TWST vignettes has proven that they are VERY careful and purposeful with who they have interact. Knowing Lilia in his general days, it's very obvious that HE struggled with similar things. Very different circumstances, but they're both loosely following rules/orders to survive. They both grew up in tense environments without the tools for self expression and self understanding.

Does that make any sense??? I think it does.

Tidbit 19.5

I gotta yap about Mally, too.

He talks with Riddle in his Suitor Suit vignette and we learn about his ideals in a king!!

He says Riddle's character is befitting of a king (quickly acting to save his dorm mates) and laments how he can't do the same (since he can't marry a princess willy-nilly). Flash forward to his overblot... Yeah, makes sense. He wants to be a good king/son/student/brother/boyfie, idk (talking about the MC not Diasomnia ftr) and he assumes trapping them from harm is the best way.

Tidbit 19.75

Also, why does Riddle say "noblesse oblige" is a philosophy of the "Realm of Roses??" (in the Suitor Suit vignette again)

As far as I know, the Queendom is never referred to as the Realm of Roses & the translation on the Japanese wiki is the Queendom as well. Idk what's going on.

That's it for my Riddle tidbits! Idk who I'll do tomorrow, but I'm planning on spotlighting a different character every day. I might just do Riddle's voicelines (or I'll do those tonight, who knows). Maybe leave a comment/ask for a suggestion? I can't guarantee a quality tidbit post since this is only based on my vignettes. I also wanna try rereading the entirety of TWST and taking notes (idr if I mentioned that before) but especially Leona's, Azul's, and Jamil's overblots bc I know an embarrassing little amount about them. I only discovered critical thinking the past few years /j

Anyway!! Until next time BD

[yuurei20]

Idia Fact Sheet (No Book 6 Spoilers)

Note: This character sheet has no spoilers from the Ignihyde Dorm chapter because spoilers are the worst. There are references to JPN-only things like Idia's dorm uniform card vignette, etc, as usual.

(Ranked 7th in a combination of seven different character-ranking surveys by the jpn server held throughout 2021)

Idia rarely leaves his dorm room, attending classroom lectures via a tablet. He says he “never wanted to be housewarden”, insinuating that he was appointed to the position against his will.

In Book 5 we learn that Riddle has been housewarden of Heartslabyul longer than Idia has been of Ignihyde, so it is safe to assume that he did not become housewarden until his third year.

Illustration notes: "Stronger flames. He makes this expression sometimes when he gets excited. Like when he comes across a strong enemy in a video game, or when things are going according to plan. Most people won’t see this look at first; not until he’s grown close to them. Surprise.”

When provoked Idia becomes extremely upset, much like the character upon which he was based, but he cools down again very quickly. He also slips into outdated internet slang when he speaks with passion.

The name he uses most widely online is “Nekura Samurai”, and his closest online friend is “Muscle Red”. We learn in card vignettes that “Muscle Red” is actually Lilia, but neither student is aware of the online-identity of the other.

Despite his extreme dislike for talking to people face to face, it is surprisingly easy to goad him into becoming talkative, especially about his hobbies and interests. Idia seems to have great disdain for tradition (ref: homescreen and beansfest).

Idia is very protective of Ortho, an android he built himself and programmed to act as a little brother. When Idia was kidnapped by a ghost looking to marry (and subsequently murder) him, Ortho was the only student willing to try and save Idia’s life. Ortho joined Crowley in blackmailing the rest of the characters into helping.

Idia spends the vast majority of the “Wish Upon a Star” event fulfilling his tasks to the bare minimum while constantly, audibly hoping that it will be cancelled. When this ‘wish’ comes close to being fulfilled, he witnesses Ortho’s disappointment and turns around to invent the Stargazer gear for Ortho that saves the entire event, even participating in-person in accordance with a bet he lost to Deuce.

Idia’s desire to not disappoint Ortho is, however, fallible. In his ceremonial robes vignette we see Idia get goaded by Riddle into promising that he will attend the opening ceremonies, much to Ortho's delight. Ortho asks that they take a picture together in their robes, as Ortho had not been allowed to participate in Idia's opening ceremonies upon his enrollment in the school (just like the player and Grim, Idia and Ortho are enrolled as two halves of one student).

Idia gets as far as changing into his robes and reaching the school’s courtyard, but when a confused Malleus comments on his clothing (“I simply cannot understand the meaningless things humans do at times”), Idia panics, insults Malleus and retreats to the safety of his room without ever seeing Ortho at all.

Ortho follows up later to apologize for asking him to attend in the first place, assuring his “brother” that “We don’t need to go somewhere to be together” and “I’ll always be with you”.

There are only a few characters with whom Idia will communicate in person and only under certain circumstances, like Jamil and fellow board games club-member Azul. He is particularly uncomfortable around Kalim, Cater, Trey and Rook.

In his birthday vignette he is asked what dorm, besides Ignihyde, he would like to live in (a question asked of all the students in the second round of birthday cards), he answers “Octavinelle wouldn’t be bad, but I want to stay far away from those disturbing twins", insinuating he has issues with Jade and Floyd as well.

When Ortho requested that Idia design him a pair of legs that can walk on land (instead of levitate) Idia refused on the basis that “floating around is every guy’s dream”, “ walking is total NPC stuff” and “flying is for heroes”.

Floyd and Jade proceed to blackmail Idia into designing the legs for Ortho anyway (via an “interesting piece of information” they have about him), with Floyd underlining their point by gifting Ortho a pair of shoes for his birthday. This incident may have something to do with Idia's discomfort around them.

Idia had originally intended to join the Science Club, but it had more members than he’d anticipated and he switched to the Boardgames Club instead. In the official fan book, it is said that the club is a reference to Disney’s Hercules movie.

Idia dislikes the outdoors and physical activity extremely. (“Humans are the only creatures that do pointless exercise to consume the nutrients they have taken in! It's really stupid!" from homescreen)

In the Beansfest event, we learn he has set up a deal with Sam where he hides out in Sam’s shop until the end of the event. In exchange, Idia (under the alias “Mr. Smith”) designs one-of-a-kind bean-shooting weapons for players to purchase from Sam.

While constantly down-playing his abilities and knowledge, we learn in the Phantom Bride event that, if goaded enough, he will reveal that he actually thinks very highly of himself and his accomplishments (much to the surprise and awkwardness of Riddle and the other students). He can also become quick to insult and belittle others, leading to Ace’s comment of “he’s actually really cool…as long as he keeps his mouth shut.”

Rook refers to him as “King of his own room”, Floyd as “Hotaruika-senpai” (for firefly squid) and Leona calls him カイワレ大根 (kaiware daikon), for being shady, frail and tall. Despite this unflattering name, Leona tells us that “He’s got more power and brains than ordinary students”.

Idia has said he likes cats, will try talking to Lucius during history lessons and accidentally terrified Grim in his lab wear vignette when he mistook Grim for a regular cat. He is also fond of dogs, but has said he does not get along with dog people like Crewel.

Idia seems to have something of a complex with his hair, and his fear of others making fun of it in his ceremonial robes vignette and Book 5 seems to insinuate that it is unusual even for the Twisted Wonderland universe. He also expresses concern that people will recognize him as a member of the Shroud family.

Despite being only eighteen, he seems to be a household name in the field of magical engineering, and we learn that that he “can buy a gymnasium full of canned tuna” with just a single part of the various elements that make up Ortho.

From his voice line of “Tests are like games. The higher you score, the better you feel”, it seems that he might actually be an accomplished student despite his habit of staying up all night, absorbed in his hobbies.

At the very end of Book 5 Ortho reveals that Idia has received a large number of offers from various companies soliciting him for internships, including the VDC event’s sponsor, Olympos Co. Idia orders Ortho to delete them all, saying “I’m not going anywhere regardless…”

Rather than a magical pen, Idia uses a floating, skull-like drone in battles that also stirs the cauldron in alchemy lessons.

He is always wearing headphones in order to listen to music with the best possible sound quality and to shut out the world around him through noise-canceling. His favorite music is by a three-member girl group called “Precipice Moirai” whose members are “older than they look” (although, in Epel’s dorm uniform vignette, he says they look old while having the spirits of 17 year olds. This conflicting information is consistent on both the ENG- and JPN-servers, and may be a continuity error). It is speculated in the fan community that is a reference to the three Fates in Disney’s Hercules.

Idia’s favorite food is dagashi because “it is easy to eat while gaming”. Dagashi are cheap snackfoods that became popular in Japan during the Edo Period when sugar was particularly expensive. 

This site is great if you would like to learn more (bonus: if you have seen Spirited Away and ever wondered about the star-shaped food eaten by the soot sprites? Those are a form of dagashi, introduced to Japan by Portugal).

Potato chips and cheap chocolate are also dagashi.

Idia dislikes raw fish because of the smell, how it is eaten neither hot nor cold, the texture and how troublesome it is to prepare. Idia says that “block snacks” are good enough for him, as he is only interested in consuming the nutrition he needs to function, regardless of the form it comes in.

Dagashi comes in both sweet and savory forms. By “block snacks”, I would assume that twst is referring to something similar to “Calorie Mate”-brand snacks without using the copyrighted name. A common snack food in Japan, it is marketed as being an alternative way to consume enough calories to keep going when you don’t have enough time to prepare and eat a proper meal.

Some great artists for Idia fan-art and more (SFW, no story spoilers) Idia looking amazing

Idia and Ortho

Various Idia

Stargazer Idia and Ortho

Voice Idia is voiced by Uchiyama Kouki (内山 昂輝) whose other work includes Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II, Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends with You, Shigaraki Tomura from My Hero Academia, Soul Eater Evans from Soul Eater, Kamyu from Dragon Quest XI and Kirishima Ikuya from Free! -Dive to the Future-

More information here

Additional Fact Sheets ・Riddle Rosehearts ・Trey Clover・Cater Diamond ・Ace Trappola・Deuce Spade ・Leona Kingscholar ・Ruggie Bucchi ・Jack Howl ・Azul Ashengrotto・Floyd Leech・Jade Leech ・Kalim Al-Asim・Jamil Viper ・Vil Schoenheit・Rook Hunt ・Epel Felmier ・Idia Shroud・Ortho Shroud ・Malleus Draconia ・Silver・Sebek Zigvolt・Lilia Vanrouge ・Sam・Crewel・Trein・Vargas・Crowley

[kousaka-ayumu]

Christmas Fic day 3: JamiAzu

Warnings: yandere Azul, spoilers for chapter 4 of the main story, spoilers for the vignettes, yandere content, stalking, kidnapping, and blackmail, implied unwanted sex.

Mention ships: Malleus X Ace

Flashback

"I've always admired your work, you know. Scarabia is lucky to have a vice-dorm leader as competent as you."

"Grade-wise, you show no outstanding weaknesses in classroom learning, applied lessons, or PE. Even I'm miserable at something-namely flight and magic."

"But you? You're almost impressively middle-of-the-road in all regards. It's almost like you prefer to keep it that way..."

Flashback ends

The octopus boy laid on a bed smiling at the photo of the black haired boy, the boy in question is Jamil Viper.

Azul smiled- well bit more lovesickly at the photo.

To put it startly Azul has been curious about Jamil since their freshman year. He noticed that Jamil's been maintaining a perfect score in the middle in his studies, which made Azul suspect that there's more to Jamil's personality. He confirms this through the plot of the whole Scarabia incident, where he's able to observe Jamil's behaviour more, remarking that Jamil perfected the art of feigning defeat. He also tells Jamil that he believes the two of them would get along well, and even asks if he would like to transfer to Octavinelle - something that Jamil promptly refuses.

He is deeply- no he is madly in love with the Vice-dorm leader of Scarabia, too put it simply he is thee god dam yandere for the black haired boy.

He always dreamed about Jamil every night, wishing for the black haired boy to be in his arms, for Jamil to be with him forever and ever until the end. 'He. Will. Be, mine..' He thought to himself as he drift to sleep.

The next day

After another basketball practice Jamil was about to get changed into his uniform and went back to Scarabia until.

"Umihebi-kun." A voice called out, Ace and Jamil noticed Floyd walking towards them more specifically Jamil and handed him an invitation. "Azul told me told me to invited you to the Monstro Lounge at 9:00 PM." The energetic eel said and left, leaving Ace and Jamil confused.

"What the heck was that?" The ginger haired boy asked, "I don't know but what ever it is, I have a feeling that he's is up to no good, say shouldn't you be on a date with Malleus-senpai now." The black haired boy said reminded Ace of his date with the fae prince, Ace jolts "Oh great seven!" The ginger haired boy yelled out, getting change to his uniform when Jamil notices Ace have a some sort of a love mark on the back of his neck but didn't question it when Ace have left.

--------------------------------------------------

9:00 PM at Monstro Lounge

Jamil arrived at the Monstro Lounge, for the first time in his life he was nervous 'What does Azul want with me? I swear to the great seven if he wanted me to transfer to Octavinelle again, I refuse it!' He thought angerly to himself, just before he could say anything he was knocked out.

--------------------------------------------------

He woke up in some sort of a room, well an unfamiliar room to say the least, he looked up and saw Azul petting his hair.

"Ah, you're awake so early." The octopus boy said in a surprisingly soft voice "You should sleep a lot more, you have history class tomorrow, it's 1:00 am." He said "How did I get here? My voice.. It's so weird." The black haired boy said softly, then he remembers something.

He arrived at the Monstro Lounge last night, and got knocked out "You planned this?!" He said softly but angerly to Azul, "Yes, I did planned this, I always mad whenever you with Kalim, you always have to take care of him like a mom, he always depended on you. I admit that's pretty cute but the thing is that.. I wanted you to be mine." He said to Jamil's ear "But, if you didn't I guess I have to hurt Kalim." He said, the last part made the black haired boy freak out.

Although he hated the white haired boy, he did cared for him, and he didn't want anything bad happen to him after what had happened in his childhood(I just saw a comment on AO3 saying "for some reason i just imagined a Jamil with a pesonallity like kanade otonokoji from SDA2, terrifying image" terrifying is it?).

Jamil had thought about it now, 1st he don't wanted to become Azul's lover and 2nd if he didn't then tue octopus boy might hurt Kalim.

"I.. Became your lover.." He whisper under his breath but Azul had heard and was happy for it...

--------------------------------------------------

It was Christmas and everyone was having the day of their lives with their loved ones well only Azul have forced Jamil to become his lover.

The snake was now in the tentacles(get your mind off of the gutter) of the octopus.

❃The End❃

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, I came to say that dragons are mythical creatures often depicted to be possessive in mythology and literature, sometimes known for their immense power, territorial instincts, and the symbolic association with hoarding wealth and treasures...

Twisted Wonderland in context, Malleus Draconia was confirmed to be a dragon fairy (essentially a dragon who can take a shape of a man), and I was curious if Malleus may have exhibited possessive traits in canon, whether through main story or vignette...?

The reason I ask that is because mischaracterizing characters or making them OOC is the last thing I want to do when it comes to writing or analyzing...

**Sorry if I was not able to word it in a way that you can understand what I'm trying to convey because sometimes I feel inferior that my wording may come off as blunt or insensitive. I just want to leave a brief note that I don't mean to come off as rude or dismissive. I appreciate your understanding!**

In my opinion, Malleus in canon is protective but not possessive. What do I mean by that? Glad you asked. Let's start by laying down some definitions.

In this situation, when I say “protective”, it implies good intentions. It means actively looking out for others' safety and wellbeing. To be possessive, on the other hand, implies a more controlling desire to own or to restrict another's actions. It’s commanding and demanding all of a person’s attention and love. It means having a disrespect for others' autonomy and instead trying to displace it with your will. (Yes, I know that you're probably automatically thinking of The Big Exception of book 7, but I will address that later in this post so hang on for a moment!)

This gets long, so buckle up! We’ve got a lot to talk about.

First thing's first, a lot of the "possessive Malleus" interpretations originate from fandom, especially when it comes to yandere, yume, or generally romantic fan works. (And to be clear: This is NOT to shame the folks who enjoy these kinds of works; I am only listing them here as examples.) Oftentimes this occurs due to individual fans bringing in ideas from media outside the bounds of Twisted Wonderland. This is totally expected and normal; there is no such thing as someone who has an interest in ONLY a singular thing. We will naturally apply our previous knowledge to help us understand and interpret new information.

For example, in irl mythology, fae are hurt by iron--and even in Disney's own films, such as Maleficent, iron is depicted as harming fae and sapping them of their power. This led to many Twst fans headcanoning that iron does the same thing to fae in Twisted Wonderland. However, we learn in book 7 that this is NOT true. Fae, particularly nobles, do find the smell of iron nauseating, but the metal does not appear to impede their powers or hinder them in any way. Lilia and his men are still able to dispatch several Silver Owls (who are dressed in iron arm and battle with iron tanks and other machinery) without issue.

Another example that’s pretty popular is fans believing that whole “if you tell a fairy your name, it grants them power over you” thing. Some have claimed this will come into play in book 7’s final battle. Others claim this is the deeper or secondary reason as to why Malleus doesn’t reveal his own name to Yuu until book 5, as giving his name would grant Yuu power over him. However, there’s nothing in-universe to suggest that names have cultural significance to fae or that any sort of power or status is granted by relinquishing one’s name. Yuu (or Malleus’s hundreds of other classmates) have also demonstrated no such control over him.

Remember: what is true outside of Twst, including in Disney's own works, is NOT necessarily true inside of Twst.

Going back to the initial question, I believe that "Malleus is possessive" is also a headcanon of a similar vein; fans are coming into Twst familiar with other mythos which state that dragons are possessive, territorial, and greedy on top of being powerful. Because Malleus is a dragon fae and is known to possess great power, it's very easy for fans to see the parallels between him and the dragons they already know of. This then leads to them filling in the gaps of his personality and projecting other stereotypical draconic traits onto him. In Malleus's case, this was extremely easy to do because it took a few years for him to see any significant spotlight in both event stories (Glorious Masquerade) and in the main story (book 7).

I think the easiest way for us to analyze whether Malleus is protective or possessive is to examine his closest relationships in the narrative of Twst. I will not be counting Sebek and Silver individually here, as they are both his bodyguards and Malleus maintains a mostly professional relationship with them. Instead, we shall look at Malleus's attitude by looking at his relationships with Lilia and Yuu, then proceed into discussing related behaviors.

I believe it's indisputable that Lilia is one of the most important people to Malleus. Lilia trained him, taught him, and trained him. He is basically Malleus's father figure. The fear of losing Lilia is what causes Malleus to emotionally spiral and take drastic measures in a desperate attempt to avoid that unhappy ending. His entire motivation for unleashing his UM is "not losing [Lilia]!" You would think that if Malleus was going to be possessive of anyone, it would be with Lilia. But the truth of the matter is... he's mostly just... not? Lilia is a very sociable person in the student body. He's frequently gaming with Idia, taking care of or lending wisdom to others (Silver, Sebek, etc.), hanging out with Cater and Kalim in their club, interacting with dorm leaders and freshmen when Malleus is absent for ceremonies, and more--yet Malleus doesn't seem to express any jealousy over sharing Lilia. I'd also like to add that although Malleus lacks parents, he doesn't really show envy over Lilia treating and calling Silver his own son instead of himself. Oh, Malleus certainly does express jealousy to some extent. Who would forget the time in his Dorm Uniform vignettes when he crushed Lilia's phone? The thing is though, the times when Malleus is upset are not fueled by not wanting to share Lilia or wanting to monopolize his time. In the previous example I cited, Malleus broke Lilia's phone because Lilia had received a picture Kalim and the other dorm leaders took after a meeting. Even the dialogue exchanged implies this; Malleus did not automatically get mad when he noticed that Lilia had a notification, he only got mad after realizing he was excluded from something the other dorm leaders were all involved in. Malleus was upset that he was not invited, not that Kalim was texting Lilia. Additionally, it is stated that the dorm leader must grant permission for others to use the lounge. If he wanted to, he could withhold the permission for Lilia, who wants the lounge for his farewell party (which everyone is invited to), or stipulate that he wants a more formal affair with just Diasomnia members present. Malleus doesn’t act in this possessive way though. He grants Lilia what he desires without issue.

Next up for scrutiny is Yuu! Now, there's some gray area here because part of Yuu's relationship with Malleus is defined by how much the player projects onto the self-insert/blank slate character. Please note that, when I discuss Yuu, I am leaving out individual interpretations and going STRICTLY by the information presenting in canon.

It can be said that Malleus slowly develops a fondness for Yuu's company over the course of the main story. At first, he is surprised and maybe even a little disappointed that someone has taken residence in Ramshackle--it used to be desolate, which makes it a perfect spot to visit on his nightly strolls. However, Malleus soon finds amusement in the fact that Yuu, not being of this world, has no clue who he is or what his status is. This grants him the freedom to speak at ease with this human and to "be himself" in a way that he cannot be with others, who typically cower at his name. You could also argue that Yuu telling Malleus they may have found a way home expedited the despair he felt in book 7, as he learned so quickly that two of his friends would be exiting his life soon. This, however, is not possessiveness. It's normal to have fear and anxiety about losing the people you love.

Malleus's voice lines also do not indicate possessiveness. Yes, there's the usual and expected fanservice-y lines where he invites Yuu to come and engage in various activities with him, but nothing in those suggests he would exclude others or become upset if they also wanted to join. (Are you telling me that Malleus wouldn't want to talk for hours on end about the glory of gargoyles to TWO people instead of just one?????) Additionally, all the characters get similar fanservice-y lines, so it's not something exclusive to Malleus. There was one line that gave me pause: "You always seem to attract a crowd... More so than I'd like, really." Buuut I think this could be read a number of ways, not solely in an ‘I want you all to myself’ way. Malleus actually does like to be alone, hence his nightly strolls. The line can therefore also be read as Malleus enjoying solitude or one-on-one conversations as opposed to addressing a group. In that case, it's a personal preference and not necessarily a sign of possessiveness. He’s definitely not completely averse to group activities though; there are lines where Malleus invites Yuu to do things with him and other characters. For example, from his PE Uniform: “Sebek has been badgering me to help train him. I'll permit you to join us. ... You're coming, I trust?”

The guy generally doesn't get angry or annoyed if Yuu mentions having other friends or managing the 7 member VDC/SDC group. In fact, he sometimes encourages Yuu to interact with others. One of his birthday lines is, "You needn't linger and focus on me to the exclusion of others. I want everyone to enjoy the party, yourself included." Malleus doesn’t so much as flinch or react when a complete stranger kisses the back of Yuu’s hand either. If he was truly possessive, wouldn’t he have gotten angry or—at the very least—have frowned or tried to put some distance between Yuu and said stranger? Yet Malleus doesn’t really react or comment on it despite being present.

Malleus seems to understand that it's not very polite to demand all of someone's time or attention--and this makes perfect sense of his character. He is a royal, and that means he was taught proper manners. Malleus has even indicated before that his grandmother stressed the importance of observing etiquette, particularly around invitations. You don't just invite yourself to functions or insert yourself into others' lives if not extended said invites... and Malleus, for the most part, adheres to those rules. In various voice lines, he even frets over committing social faux pas, wondering if he has offended his peers with certain behaviors. For example, from his Masquerade Dress: "Flamme shoots me stern looks on occasion. Have I behaved improperly in some way...?"

Malleus is also not generally possessive when it comes to his items or territory. He wants to share cake with others; eating a whole one gave him heartburn and now whole cakes are his least favorite food. Additionally, he tends to welcome people to Diasomnia rather than chase them out or expel them. (After all, they so rarely get visitors in the first place.) Malleus will at least hear out the reasoning for seeking him out. As an example, Leona (someone who has had a rocky history with Malleus) goes to Diasomnia in his Ceremonial Robes vignettes to exchange robes after a laundry mix-up. This is a stark contrast to the highly territorial Leona, who attacks a magicless human in thd Botanical Garden and also allows his own students to wail on Yuu and co. for simply walking being in Savanaclaw. Leona joins in on this bullying too. I think it's pretty clear that Malleus handles guests with far more tact, grace, and patience than his fellow prince.

I want to point out that though Malleus is usually amicable with guests, there are exceptions. Ramshackle, as I mentioned earlier, is a place he enjoys a lot. He indicates in his Halloween Dress card that “If anyone dares to damage [this] dorm, I will be as a lóng and reduce them to cinders. I have become rather fond of that place, after all.” Indeed, he does act on this promise in Terror is Trending and comes close to striking down Magicam Monsters for disrespecting a place he holds so dear. Is this possessive though? Yes, it’s a place he loves—but it’s also a place where his friend Yuu lives.

There are many other examples of Malleus going to extreme lengths to protect the things he loves. He vows to destroy Rollo Flamme, who poses a threat to his people, the fae (who depend on magic as their way of life, and the sentient gargoyles, whom he has recently befriended. He unleashes his mighty magic to attack those who wound his pride. He stops time and kidnaps the entire student body all for the sake of including ghosts in a Halloween celebration. And, of course, he sends Sage’s Island to sleep in a desperate bid to stop losing everyone. The majority of these behaviors involve him lashing out at those who pose legitimate threats to things he cares about. It’s not as though be is acting for no discernible reason or because he is doesn’t want his loved ones being with people other than him. Does that make these actions right? No, absolutely not. But I would say they are definitely more protective than possessive.

Very rarely is Malleus actively preventing his peers from spending time away from him. Sure, he gets upset that he’s not invited to join them and sure, he wishes people would invite him too—but there’s a difference between longing and being mopey about this and acting so domineering he’s breathing down the necks of others to only be with him. He is not stopping people from being with their friends and family. He is not stopping people from using his things or entering his territory. Even when he makes everyone sleep, he grants them the space to craft their own dreams and doesn’t even make the dreams center around him and his own involvement on their lives. Oftentimes the dreams involve several other characters that are important to the individual dreamer and Malleus does not appear at all. (Again, this doesn’t mean using his UM was the best move to resolve his issues; I’m just saying his actions were not necessarily possessive.)

So, in conclusion, I stand by the thesis at I proposed at the start of this post: Malleus is largely protective, not possessive, despite what many fandom interpretations would have you believe.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Just read Malleus dorm uniform vignette because I got his SSR to build a better cosmic team. All i have to say was Malleus neutral but now I'm a hater.

Like wtf. He's so incompetent.

Aaaaah, I see 😅 Not a fan of those vignettes, huh??

I have my own share of problems with them (like how the groovy has so little to do with the context for it), but let’s be fair to Malleus here 💦 He’s sheltered, comes from a country that is very anti-human, and is so OP he primarily relies on magic to solve his inconveniences; it’s only to be expected that he doesn’t know the proper etiquette when interacting with his fellow mages. Now, was it rude for him to do what he did—even if he didn’t know any better? Absolutely. He made a major faux pas here. Is he acting rude intentionally? No, it’s for sure out of ignorance.

I think the major issue that some (myself included) take with these vignettes isn’t that Malleus messed up or that he is ignorant that he did, but that he doesn’t really apologize for it and doesn’t try to learn from the experience even though this is clearly his big issue. Instead, he leaves confused + not fully understanding why what he did was wrong. Sure, he resolves to “be better” next time + swears he’ll continue to learn more about humans but like… why can’t he do that now? Why is he putting it off to later??? Why doesn’t he take the time and effort to try and understand why he was perceived as being so rude?? Malleus even closes the vignettes by saying it might take 100 years to come to a mutual understanding… when he didn’t truly listen to what his fellow dorm leaders said to him to express their upset and explain why they were chastising him. Yeah, no wonder it’s going to take him so long to learn; he barely seems to pay any mind to the people in front of him literally telling him what he did wrong and why. He’s so fixated on his own mindset that even when others try to show him their perspectives, he cannot really… see those perspectives. This is a cycle that repeats, a character flaw of Malleus’s, and while it’s not wrong to have flaws, I can see why this particular flaw can be irritating and unappealing to some fans. (That’s definitely the case for me 😅)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm trying to stir up trouble, but does Malleus do any of his dorm duties? I've been re-reading vignette and with the exception of choosing a theme for his dorm on Halloween it seems Lilia does everything. Lilia goes to the meeting, talks with the students, fills out the forms needed for the headmaster, and more. It seems like he's just a figure head there for appearance while everyone else does the work.

Cross-referencing my own compilation post on the dorm leader responsibilities and powers, Malleus has or can be assumed to have fulfilled some of his duties as dorm leader, although the ones he does tend to are relatively minor. For example:

Dorm leaders choose their vice dorm leaders. I assume that Malleus chose Lilia, as it's someone close to him and a person he deeply trusts.

Malleus is stated to have selected Diasomnia's Halloween costume (longs).

He approves Lilia's request to use the Diasomnia lounge for his farewell party in book 7.

Malleus chastises and corrects his own students (namely Sebek) for stepping out of line, although the intent is often to retain his own good standing as a royal rather than to maintain the reputation of his students or his dormitory.

The big tasks such as attending dorm leader meetings, taking part in ceremonies, and showing freshmen around their new dorm post-orientation are mostly headed by Lilia. To be fair, it's Malleus's right as dorm leader to delegate his responsibilities to his second-in-command as he sees fit, and it's sort of necessary to get any information passed along to Diasomnia at all since the actual dorm leader is hard to approach and/or misses meetings due to his time perception being different than that of the average human. However, this doesn't change the fact that a lot of his responsibilities are taken up by Lilia. Lilia does appear to pass along meeting notes and such to Malleus, but it's not the same as like... Malleus actually being physically present at these meetings himself.

This kind of ties back to the surprise I expressed when I realized just how passive Malleus is in leading others or expressing policy ideas. He and the people he generally surrounds himself with already assume he will be a great leader, but then the narrative does not actually grant Malleus any major opportunities to show us that there's a solid basis for them to believe this. Again, I do believe that part of Malleus not fulfilling most of his dorm leader duties is because he genuinely does struggle with the flow of time and being invited to events! He also does make an effort to try and tend to these duties (like when he attempts to bring his fellow dorm leaders to him rather than bringing himself to them in his Dorm Uniform vignettes), so it's not as though he's intentionally shirking his work. Passing along his responsibilities to Lilia isn't done out of laziness, it's done as a necessity so he can still have some window in which to glimpse his peers and understand what has to be done. Unfortunately, this doesn't exactly paint him out to be a competent leader when you put this lore next to the fact that he hasn't truly demonstrated his leadership capabilities to us in several other scenarios.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do we know if teleportation is something all fae are capable of or is it just something that very powerful fae can do?

Malleus mentions he used a "teleportation spell" in his Dorm Uniform vignette and, in Lilia's book 7 dream, the nocturnal fae soldiers (not described to be particularly powerful, at least definitely not to Malleus's level) use a teleportation spell as well. However, they seem to be variations and not the exact same, as Malleus uses a door to lead his fellow dorm leaders into an entirely different space whereas the fae soldiers used the spell to transport people particle by particle. He describes teleportation magic as “a commonplace mode of transit,” so it’s not rare or super limited by power level. Like with all magic though, I assume it must be learned and not just something you are inherently able to do because of your race. However, I do believe there is most likely a magic threshold you must reach in order to have the energy to pull off such a spell, especially if the distance of travel is large. If anyone with a crumb of magic could do a teleportation spell, then it would have been a LOT easier for Fellow Honest to get puppets for Playful Land rather than having to go to the trouble of luring prey to come out on their own.

There seems to be other limitations on this magic as well. For example, Baur explains, "Teleportation magic works by converting the body—and mind, by extension—to aether, then reconstituting them at the destination. Such a process puts considerable strain on the sick and wounded." It also appears that longer distances are more difficult to teleport to compared to short distances. I’d also imagine (though this is not explicitly stated) that you may not be able to teleport to a destination if you cannot imagine it well, since imagination informs magic.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hiii I know you’ve talked about Lilia and Silver’s relationship before but how about Lilia and Malleus’s? He’s one of Lilia’s “sons” too, the first! I’d like to hear how you see their father-son relationship.

cbjsbsjwjskdn So strange!! I feel like I haven’t really talked much about Lilia and Malleus’s father-son relationship even though I’m such a sucker for family-related drama… Well, now is as good of a time as any!

***Please note: there are spoilers for 7-68+ in the main story; if you are comfortable with late book 7 spoilers, then please proceed with reading below the cut!***

Book 7 has made it pretty evident that Malleus thinks the world of Lilia and is willing to go to great lengths to protect him. Their bond is something that has been alluded to many times over prior to this point though!

Malleus has mentioned that Lilia trained him when he was younger. He did have formal tutors, but it was Lilia who instilled survival skills in him and taught him lessons unable to be learned through just a textbook. We get to observe one such scene via a flashback, which shows the aftermath of one of Malleus’s fits. The castle and various staff members were encased in ice, and along comes Lilia to fix things. He offers Malleus a bowl of shaved ice and invites him to eat with everyone (as the cause for his anger in the first place had been that his grandmother was busy with her duties and could no longer make time to each with him as promised). Lilia reminds Malleus that someone like him has great powers, so he has to wield it responsibly—otherwise he could have lost many of the people he is now sharing this snack with. (This is a very valid lesson since Malleus was capable of magic—and thus harming others—right out of the eggshell; he once singed Lilia’s hair with his flames.)

Malleus reports that Lilia has cut his hair for him (despite Malleus probably being able to go to a formal expert or the court’s hairdresser). Lilia has also sung to him at night and even taught Malleus how to play instruments.

It’s not clear to what extent Lilia was involved in his liege’s life, because even though he is established as a caretaker to Malleus, it was also revealed that Lilia was apparently banished from the capital city so they’d have to arrange to meet elsewhere. It’s known that Malleus would sometimes visit Lilia and baby Silver in their forest cottage, but again the frequency of these visits is unknown (Did he, like his headstrong mother, sneak out against the wishes of the senators?) I’d imagine that Malleus is kept fairly busy with studies to prepare him to ascend to the throne, but from the way Lilia describes raising Malleus, it sounds like he was with him quite frequently: “I always know exactly where he is. After all, I have been watching him since he was brushing eggshell off of his head.”

To this day, Lilia serves a similar guiding role, often acting as the facilitator between Malleus and his peers, as well as continuing to be a mentor to him. Malleus maintains his standoffish and difficult to approach aura at NRC, so it is Lilia who encourages him to engage with his peers. He delivers a holiday card to Malleus’s new friend who has taken up residence in Ramshackle. He invites Malleus as his plus one to Silk City in A Firelit Sky, wishing for him to see more of the world—even when disaster strikes and Lilia cannot accompany him. He extols the virtues of understanding and bonding with other races both in the main story (book 6) and in vignettes (Malleus’s Dorm Uniform). He gives Malleus a formal invitation to his farewell party (like, envelope and all!), because he knows just how much that would mean to him. Lilia has seen how a country looks when it has been ravaged by war and hate. He knows how a heart can grow bitter and resentful if left to fester in isolation. So he works his ass off to try and ensure that Malleus, the future of his country, can lead it to an era of peace and love that Lilia only got to experience with the passage of time. It could also be said that Lilia places a big emphasis on Malleus as their “future” since Lilia already suffered the loss of two close friends, Malleus’s parents.

Lilia seems to think of Malleus as a capable leader and one of great character, though perhaps marked with inexperience and a lack of worldly knowledge (which is why he pushes for Malleus to go out of his comfort zone). Most notably, he tells Leona in book 2: “[… ] with that sensitive ego of yours? That so quickly directs all your petty anger at your retainers... Well, the idea of you ever contending with a REAL king like our Malleus—is absolutely laughable. Even if you COULD defeat Malleus, so long as that's how you choose to conduct yourself? You would never be fit to rule!”

At times, Lilia has the habit of treating Malleus like a child. Something he does a lot is reassure his prince that it is okay to feel a certain way (usually frustrated or angry) and that Malleus is not capable of hiding the truth from his keen eyes. Lilia usually encourages Malleus to be more honest with his emotions and to take the chance to act like the child he is and enjoy his school life. Malleus tends to not take to the former very well, reminding Lilia that he is not a child and that he understands the circumstances. Despite these claims, he to hold Lilia in high regard and trusts him a great deal. Lilia currently occupies his vice dorm leader seat, which is implied to be handpicked by the dorm leader. Furthermore, Malleus trusts Lilia to fulfill the dorm leader duties that he is not capable of or able to, as we see Lilia attending dorm leader meetings and leading the Diasomnia freshmen during orientation.

Lilia is a more lax than Sebek and Silver when it comes to monitoring Malleus. He is of the belief that their prince needs his own independence and to experience life without people constantly breathing down his neck. Malleus, as we know, enjoys solitude like his midnight strolls throughout campus. In Leona’s Union Jacket vignettes, he also discusses the freedom of going out in public without an encourage accompanying him. Lilia is able to easily read and understand Malleus’s feelings in this regard (though he is good at reading all of the Diasomnia boys).

Malleus still cherishes the virtual pet that Lilia gifted him years ago. He takes care of it diligently, even though he is constantly faced with the cycle of Gao-Gao Dragon-kun/Roaring Draco growing up and leaving the nest. According to Malleus’s Labwear vignettes, he considers the virtual pet one of his most important treasures.

The two are able to pal around with each other despite holding the other in such high regard. When Malleus and Lilia are placed on opposite teams for Beans Day, they find fun in roughhousing and relish in the challenge (not really paying attention to the fact that their sheer power and speed is on a whole different level than that of the other students). They also served as co-conspirators in Endless Halloween Night, something which upset the other students and they both apologized for. Mischief isn’t entirely off the plate for this duo!

Malleus grew up without his parents (and his grandmother often kept away by her royal duties), so it’s possible that he latched onto Lilia as a parental figure. He is shown to be protective of Lilia both in vignettes and in the main story. For example, in Lilia’s PE Uniform vignette, Rook is chatting with Lilia and indicates that he is interested in Lilia as his hunting quarry—but Malleus throws the ball meant for long throwing at Rook, just narrowly missing his nose. “Perhaps he suspected that you were picking on little old me,” Lilia suggests. However, the example I’m sure we’re all familiar with of Malleus being protective of Lilia is book 7… when he decides it would be better you force everyone to have happy dreams instead of accepting a reality that changes and forces you to say good-bye to your loved ones. Malleus explicitly states that he is taking these actions so he “doesn’t lose [Lilia]”. Indeed, it is Lilia deciding to drop out of NRC and retire to the Land of Crimson Long that was the impetus for Malleus’s blot to kick into overdrive. When Lilia “wakes” from the dream, Malleus is eager to keep him in it. He offers to come up with a new dream, desperate and intent on keeping Lilia trapped there.

Malleus holds a lot of weight for Lilia too. When Lilia is pulled into a dream world fastened by Malleus’s magic to guarantee a “happy ending”, Lilia dreams of… an era of war? At first, Silver and co. find this to be strange because war isn’t something you tend to associate with happiness. It’s not until far later that Silver realizes what the real “happiest moment in [his father’s] life” is: the moment of Malleus finally hatching from his egg. Previously, Malleus had been very picky and rejecting the magic offered to him by others, even his own grandmother. This led to a dire situation where he was at risk of dying in his shell, as a dragon’s egg needs infusions of love and magic in order to be viable. In offering up much of himself—including a chunk of his own lifespan—Lilia helped Malleus hatch. To Lilia, this was his happiest—not because he “loves” Malleus more than Silver, but because Malleus hatching as a result of Lilia’s magic is affirming to Lilia that he is capable of parental love. This was a concern he communicated to Meleanor before she parted from this world, that he wasn’t sure he could look after Malleus in her stead because he’s an orphan and has never experienced what it is like to be loved… so he can’t have the capacity to love either. Meleanor reassures him though! If Lilia can love her and Raverne, then surely he can also bring himself to love their child. All these years, Lilia has never thought himself capable of “true love”—not even when he finds an infant Silver later, abandoned in a briar covered castle. But in that moment, when Malleus hatched, a miracle happened, and that miracle was the result of Lilia’s love.

This brings me to one final point about Lilia and Malleus’s relationship: how self-sacrificial Lilia is. Lilia hides a LOT of information from his loved ones, including Silver and Sebek, and instead chooses to accept the emotional burden of knowing himself. He does it with good intention, not wanting his children to be hurt by the scars of the past, but in a way that closes the boys off from fully understanding where they come from and Lilia’s own emotions. This is behavior that continues into present day, including Lilia being in a rush to leave to spare his boys the pain of a prolonged farewell. (I talk more about this aspect of Lilia’s character here, so I would advise reading that if you are interested in this topic.)

To conclude, Malleus and Lilia both highly respect and care for one another. Their bond is a strong one, and that’s perhaps why Malleus is so determined to cling to it—Lilia is one of the few intimate and meaningful connections he has.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hiii so I was reading your posts about how confusing the dreams are and I was trying to come up with an explanation of my own. What if both Malleus and the dreamers are subsconiously influencing the dreams and that's why no one really understands what's happening? Because we're not always aware of what's going on in that part of our minds.

[Referencing this post!]

That might be the case?? I really wish this was the lore we received from the beginning; it would have saved us a lot of trouble in the long run if the devs had chosen to go with a looser, more vague explanation of the dream worlds.

@/twistedminutia suggested in this post that the dreams may operate like an AI algorithm, which I thought was an interesting concept + is similar to what anon is pitching too. The idea is that Malleus isn't directly influencing the dreams or determining explicit details within them, but rather he has set a definition for what makes a person "happy" and his autonomous magic (ie the AI) is running off of that definition to determine what would be the most efficient path to "happiness". However, the end result tends to be shallow because of this. The commentor then proposes that Malleus might associate "happiness" with being in control, and because of that, it accidentally "colors" or influences the dreams of those touched by his magic. Thinking back on what we've witnessed so far... Malleus associating control with happiness might not be that far-fetched. Several of the dreams we've witnessed so far involve granting the dreamer a sense of control or outright places the dreamers in positions of power. Lilia is restored to his days as a war general, Leona is the unquestioned king of the savanna, Cater is Heartslabyul's dorm leader, Azul leads a Coral Rush team, Vil is Neige's boss, Jamil is student council president, etc. Malleus himself expresses being insecure when he lacks control over a given situation. In 7-29, he confides in Silver:

"There's something my Grandmother has often talked to me about. It's the reason why our family, with our draconic lineage, is so exceptionally powerful even among the nocturnal fae. She said it's to ensure that nothing ever diminishes the happiness of our people in Briar Valley. Yet here I am, incapable of dispelling the sorrows of father and son alike. What good does all this magic do me? ...I'm completely powerless."

Malleus has also previously acted in ways which suggest that he interacts with the world by projecting his own experiences onto others and relating to them that way. For example, he helps out the late ghosts in Endless Halloween Night because he feels a kinship with them as someone who also misses out on celebrations. In his own dorm uniform vignettes, Malleus thinks of what would be most convenient for him to attend dorm meetings and disregards how his classmates would feel at being summoned like objects. This makes sense, as he has a limited understanding of the world beyond his castle walls and of non-fae societies in general. Malleus only has his own experiences to go off of.

Thinking of it like that, it does make some semblance of sense. Malleus's subconscious desire for control might be trickling into the dreams and either influencing or overriding what the dreamers truly desire in their hearts. And while we're on this topic, maybe it also depends on the dreamer...? Like maybe the more emotionally vulnerable the dreamer is, the more of Malleus's subconscious impacts them? For example, Cater has demonstrated confusion over his identity and what he wishes to do for his internships. This lack of self could mean that Malleus's influence projected more strongly on Cater's dream in order to fill in all those cracks, thus resulting in a dream that is very far away from, even the opposite of, what Cater wants. Azul and Vil have had histories where they were judged and rejected by their peers. Leona and Jamil have their "second place syndromes". And Lilia has to deal with the inevitability of aging and leaving behind his loved ones for a foreign land...

But hey, that's just a theory ^^ A gaaaaaame theory--

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

same anon from the ace UM submission here HELLOOOO I JUST FELL TO MY KNEESSSSS imagine malleus in a fit lashes out because how could they understand the isolation he feels and it just forces ace to confront his own feelings. imagine the final confrontation he straightens malleus out in the usual way that he does considering ace also has a track record of setting people straight (like with riddle and in phantom bride) "just talk to them and let them know how you feel" "stop carrying all these feelings to yourself" his own words probably also came from somewhere deep inside of him that he refuses to face but it just comes up to the surface because he sees himself in malleus. pretty ironic that he'll be calling out malleus when hes doing the exact same. it would give ace the development that ppl say hes been lacking compared to the other charas who all had some kind of further development like the other first years for example

think of post ob where after the dust settled they just return back to their respective loved ones and finally having to come clean about their emotions once and for all.

i just want an emotionally vulnerable scene for ace, mister allergic to facing his emotions, trappola even if its just a side moment that gets overshadowed later HHHH

[Referencing this post!]

*nodnod* Malleus is arrogant and desperate enough to think that no one could possibly relate to these tumultuous emotions of his. It’d be so fitting for Ace to confront him (and, by extension, his own feelings)—because not only does Ace have a track record of speaking out against others, but he has spoken out against Malleus before in Endless Halloween Night. In fact, he was the ONLY character to continue harping on the guy after everyone else basically forgave him. Ironically, that event was also the one that foreshadowed Malleus’s ability to stop time (which is true of the space contained in his briar barrier). And it all comes full circle…

For Malleus, I feel like him verbalizing his feelings isn’t really the main struggle. He seems to lack the awareness of what he’s feeling in the first place, as he doesn’t realize he’s lonely until Yuu points it out to him in 7-18. Later in 7-29, Malleus speaks openly with Silver about how powerless he feels to stop his subjects from feeling sorrow. It’s true that he has a tendency to project his feelings onto others (hence forcing everyone into happy dreams to avoid reality), but unfortunately projecting is not necessarily the same as empathizing. Rarely does Malleus do the legwork to truly understand others on an intimate level. I think that projection is a function of how Malleus understands and interacts with the world since this is something he does even when he’s not being overly emotional. For example, in his own Dorm Uniform vignettes he thinks it would be easier to bring everyone to him (so as to not miss a dorm meeting) even though this act of magic is considered highly rude by other mages. He does communicate his feelings, albeit sometimes via talking in circles or vaguely—namely in how he speaks with Yuu, sharing stories about his past (in book 7) or sharing about gargoyles to impart advice on how to overcome adversity (in book 3). More blatantly, he declares his intentions to Lilia before sentencing everyone to sleep in 7-37: “Not losing you!”

I also think… to some extent, Lilia already understands how Malleus might feel if he leaves. I get the sense that Lilia was in such a rush to go in the same way that you’d want to rip off a band-aid quickly. The more you prolong it, the worse the pain will be, that kind of logic. And before he intended to depart, Lilia tried to set things up so that Malleus would still be in good hands—inviting him to the farewell party, making sure people from all the dorms were there (perhaps so that Malleus can make new friends).

Malleus could more clearly state his feelings, sure. But I think the true root of the problem isn’t him not communicating—because even if he did so more openly, what would that resolve exactly? Time still moves forward, change still happens, his loved ones still leave him. It might be emotionally cathartic for Malleus, but ultimately he’s still left feeling lonely. The challenge for him is less putting his thoughts into words and more him learning to accept these life-altering changes instead of fighting or resisting them.

I still think that Ace could relate to Malleus in this regard, especially if they call back to 7-17, in which Ace cheerily redirects the conversation. While Deuce, Grim, and even Yuu discuss changes to their lives come summer break (going to the next grade, changing classes, Grim staying at school on his own, not being able to study together anymore), Ace challenges them with lines like, "C'mon, why do you guys have to get all mopey?", "[...] no need to join the mope patrol", " I declare Mopefest officially over!", and, "Frankly, I'm still skeptical any of this is gonna help us figure out a way to send [Yuu] home." It registers as Ace being in denial about the events about to unfold and coping by reassuring others by distracting them (when that reassurance is also aimed at himself), Ace is dishonest with himself and instead redirects those efforts to calling out others, which makes him come off as too mean or pushy even with his own friends (particularly Deuce). It would be nice to get an arc about him learning to be more vulnerable with his own emotions and better understanding those of others.

I get the feeling that Ace will get most of his actual character development and tearful reunion with Deuce, Yuu, and Grim within his own dream rather than in the final battle (the timing of the latter would just be odd). Hopefully Ace's dream written well since he's the last first year to be woken up. Save the best for last, you know?