#more sebek when

[estcaligo]

Crocodile eyes

[waterthatsmoe]

Let me show you the charisma of the first years!!

[r-aindr0p]

That's probably how he exactly pictured it

[fearmeeeee]

[suntails]

GAME START

[tartppola]

very specific au thought, silver if he was the shield instead ( read the tags to see explanations )

[ryllen]

i want yuu to show her spoiled behaviour sometimes (he just went home from long period of duty accompanying malleus)

[egophiliac]

his magic is so PINK and FLUFFY and PRETTY! I love it!

I'm ready to process the Diasomnias now, buckle up

[bklily]

Harveston was a very fun event (that I really wanted to post about before lmao life got in the way)

I never expected this wacky group of individuals to have such a fun dynamic but then again, such is the nature of TWST innit

[sleepyorchidmonster]

Soo, remember in Glorious Masquerade, when Malleus came up with the story that the cause of the Crimson Lotus was unknown, and Rollo was actually trying to save everyone alongside the NRC students?

What if that's another bit of foreshadowing for the end of Book 7?

Briar Valley is in a really precarious position now, still recovering from the Silver Owls, with the Senate mostly taking over while Maleficia grieves, so Malleus overblotting is just another blow to the fae, even if students like Leona, Kalim, Vil and Idia manage to advocate on his behalf.

So why not spin the tale of how there was an unnamed threat on the island that was so Dire (pun intended for Crowley) and all-encompassing that Malleus had to go all out?

To avoid collateral damage and prevent the issue from reaching the rest of the globe, he had no choice but to use his UM to cover the whole island, keeping everyone safe in a peaceful slumber while the threat was dealt with. Luckily, STYX coordinated efforts with the rest of Briar Valley and they managed to subdue the threat both inside and outside the barrier, and everyone is safe now!

That way, the world can see Malleus not as an uncontrollable monster, but as a fierce protector who might go a bit overboard, but means well (also he's a dragon and his remaining family was on the island, so his protectiveness is understandable). Therefore, it's best to befriend the fae and Briar Valley than make enemies out of them!

The only problem is the rest of the student body and staff that saw the overblot at Lillia's farewell party, but I'm pretty sure STYX's Lethe program is back on to deal with the mobs, while the rest of the cast can be sworn to secrecy in exchange for having Malleus owe them a favour (they can use Azul's UM for the NDA).

As for the problem, NRC has been dealing with overblots at least once a month, not to mention the STYX invasion, and the Phantom Dwarves back in the mines, and how Book 7 might introduce the true mastermind and that's what we have to deal with in Book 8... They just have to pick ONE of the options above.

As a sidenote, having Sunset Savanna become Briar Valley's fiercest allies because Leona told his brother that Malleus is his friend would be so funny. Falena sees his depressed brother going to the trouble of making a whole Power Point presentation to convince the council on the benefits of allying to Briar Valley, all to save a school friend, and just decides that Malleus Draconia will have his unending support. Kifaji too.

(Leona has been ignored and belittled so many times that he prepared for the worst and made a whole slide presentation in hopes of defending his point well enough. Shoud've just led with "Malleus Draconia is a friend of mine who just went through a very traumatic experience and I want to help him" Kifaji and Falena would accept in a heartbeat).

BONUS:

Leona: *Practicing his Power Point presentation at 2AM*

Cheka: Unca, what are you doing in the middle of the night?

Leona: I'm just practicing, no one (my dormmates aside) ever likes my ideas and I have to make sure this works...

Cheka: Why?

Leona: Well you see... [starts explaining the inportance of supporting Briar Valley at theur moment of need and the benefits an alliance may bring to the table] ... also the Lizard would love if-

Cheka: Why do you keep calling Malleus Draconia "Lizard"? Is he your friend? Do you want to help him?

Leona, sighing: Yeah kiddo, he is my friend. He's been going though some tough times, almost lost his father and brother, and as much as we butt heads, well, no one deserves that...

Cheka: So why don't you just say that he's your friend and you wanna help him instead of talking about those "tweatwies"?

Leona: First of all, it's "treaties", and second, well, Briar Valley is in trouble, and helping them might get us in trouble too. Also I'm just the accursed second prince, people never listen to me, I need to back up my proposal with facts.

*random noise that sounds like a mix between a growl and a sob (Falena and Kifaji are eavesdropping lol)*

Leona: What's that?!

Cheka, panicking: Probably the wind....

*THE NEXT DAY*

Leona, finishing the presentation: And that's my proposal, any questions?

Random councilman: Well I-

Kijaji, smiling menacingly: I think it's a splendid idea, Leona. Briar Valley has been a longtime friend of ours, so it's only right that we help them in their time of need.

Falena, also smiling menacingly: Agreed! I'm so proud of you, my brother!

Leona: Wait, seriously!?

Falena's wife, smiling and sharpening a knife while subtly observing the other councilmen, marking targets: Of course, Leona! You have a sharp mind and this is a good plan. Briar Valley will have Sunset Savanna's full support for the coming criais, isn't that right, councillors?

Other councillors: Yes Ma'am!! Don't kill us pls

[hanafubukki]

Thinking about what time means to a fae and how conscious Lilia and Malleus became to it, and in a way, always have been.

Time has always ran at a different speed to faes than humans. To them, 20 years is nothing and runs by quickly.

Yet, unconsciously, time has become a concept Lilia and Malleus is conscious of.

For Lilia, you can say it started while he traveled and looked for a way to hatch Malleus. He keeps coming back to Mal egg, and tells him how long it’s been and how he’s still looking. Lilia who would encourage him to stay strong and tell him stories about traveling.

For a fae, this passage of time would mean nothing, but Lilia felt all those years. He constantly looked and worried about Malleus. He cared about him. It wasn’t a just a needless measurement of passage anymore.

But a concept he was conscious of as he looked to the stars and wished during his travels. Of course, seeing how the world evolved helped too. But, it was always in his mind, how to care and hatch Malleus.

And then he broke down crying, saying how after 200 years, he finally met him. He was relived. He was happy. All those years? It was worth it for this very moment.

Time moves on, treaties are made and Malleus grows, and then Silver is found and he’s conscious again of time. This time, it’s how fast it is for a human. Silver grows and changes faster than a fae and Lilia is also aware of that/made aware as is Baul and Malleus. Baul because of Sebek and Malleus because of Silver.

And then they come to NRC, where Lilia becomes aware of time but with a shock. His magic is gone, faster than he accounted for and so is his time, which makes him scramble to leave so he doesn’t hurt his loved ones.

With Malleus, he is aware of time, but initially it’s based on his loved ones as well. When Lilia visits him and he gets to spend time with him, Malleus’s time with his grandmother no matter how rare it would be, and unfortunately, the incidences of his loneliness (the cakes, the scares, people running away, etc) which he is aware of.

To a degree, he also understands the passage of time with humans because of Sebek and Silver.

He helped raise Silver. He has seen some of the milestones first hand. He taught them both. Malleus states multiple times how Silver and Sebek have grown quickly. He might not be as conscious as Lilia is but he is aware of it nonetheless and probably more aware than some of the fae in his country.

It really shows how much he cares about them to be so aware of how much time passed and how they grew to be the fine guards they are.

Malleus is shocked once again with time, ironically, because of Lilia and his leaving. Because Lilia is running out of it. Like how Malleus as an egg was dying and running out of time so is Lilia now. It has come a full circle and Malleus is more conscious than ever after he first found out about Lilia’s departure.

I find it rather precious and sweet that to such a timeless race like the fae, it is because of the love they have for their family that makes Lilia and Malleus so conscious of it. Because every moment to them is valuable no matter how long you have because they love each other so much 🥹💞💚

[estcaligo]

I went to touch grass (hiking), had a little picnic, but as my hand brushed against the grass, it felt like running my fingers through Sebek's hair.

Unintentionally

look for you in everything.

Find you there.

[waterthatsmoe]

"Do you regret it?"

"It's for the best."

"Do you miss them?"

"I'll never forget this ache for the rest of my life."

Part 4 [end] | Part 3 [prev]

[wonderlandhour]

Ok, call me crazy, but I have a theory. And it might not necessarily be a theory, maybe just an observance, but I noticed something with Malleus Overblot.

Warning - Spoilers for Book 7

So as we all know, the main plot point that leads up to Malleus overblotting is Lilia leaving NRC due to a loss of his magic. But over the books, I've noticed something. In Book 6 we learn that overblots are less a sudden intense outpouring of blot and negative emotion, and more like the tipping point of an amalgamation of years of buildup. I find that made a lot of sense with what I'd noticed, because with the blot gathering cut scenes, even in parts where it seems like things are going pretty well (like with Azul, Jamil, and Leona all having the upper hand until almost the very last moment), it gives a sense of dread and things taking a darker turn.

And while some of them make a lot of sense (Vil's ever growing obsession and losses to Neige or Riddle's constant fights with the main gang and his own dorm), in the instances where the blot buildup doesn't makes sense, Book 6 fave it clarity.

But I noticed that there's always a tipping point. A snap where you can see the character in question starts acting differently or odd. Riddle was violent and sudden, all of them were. But Azul was the first and most obvious example of this snap that I noticed. Leona destroys everything he worked so hard for, it cuts back to us and the tweels, and when we get back to Octanivelle, Azul's gone batshit. Literally. He snapped in every sense of the word. Riddle's snap wasn't obvious to me aside from the absurdity of Ace punching him, until I looked back. Riddle's snap was Trey going against him. Leona's was finding out he not only got found out, but got foiled. Jamil's was thinking the whole world saw his plans (which I believe was actually less just his own plans getting fucked but also a reaction to the fact that if he got found out by thr Asim's, his family might not survive their wrath but that's for another time.) Vil's snap wasn't even what lead up to him attempting to poison Neige, because he acts normal right after when Rook takes the juice. His snap is Kalim stopping him from hurting Rook with said poison. Idia's snap, I don't think was in the underworld talking to the original Ortho. I think Idia's snap was hearing Ortho call him Idy.

But Malleus? While the lead up is all about Lilia's impending leave, his loss of one of his only people. The only person who's been there his whole life. His dad. He's no where near Lilia when he snaps. He's already snapped when he shows up in the party with Silver and talks Maleficent monologuing. You can so easily spot his snap, because similar to Azul, he goes batshit. Silver notices it right away with Malleus laughing suddenly.

The begs the question, why did he snap with Silver. They were talking about Lilia, and Silver was crying, but to me. It didn't feel like that snap was about Lilia. It felt like it was about Silver. I'm one of those people who believes that Malleus and Silver are like brothers. They have a bond like that, even if they don't act on it in cannon. They're supposed to be a prince and bodyguard, those are their roles, and they're good at playing them for a reason. But that's the thing. If that's all they were, why would Silver, who doesn't show that much emotion is general, who's calm and collected, who runs out in what seems like a near panicked state to find Mallsus before Lilia leaves, start bawling his eyes out in front of Malleus. With barely a nudge?

They were both essentially raised by the same man. They are brothers through Lilia. Malleus has almost no one, he clings to Yuu because they treat him as if he were just another person. Just as Lilia does. Just as Silver often does. Sebek is the only one of the group who treats Malleus the way we could expect someone from Briar Valley might. Sebek is a whole other thing, but wouldn't Silver, who was raised by Lilia, who was taken in by his grandmother the queen, who guarded his and acted as her general, treat him similarly?

He does! We see it in events like the Glorious Masquerade, he is still Malleus's bodyguard for a reason! But if Lilia's relationship with Melanor was like Silver's with Malleus, it makes sense that their relationship would reflect that of their parents. And it has the added effect of Malleus being an orphan as well, and as far as I can tell (and an eng player trying to not get too many spoilers), Lilia takes a major role in Malleus's youth. He might not have been there constantly when he was younger, but he was there. And he was the only one who (besides probably his very busy grandmother) didnt treat Malleus as something to be feared or revered.

But what does this all have to do with Malleus snapping and overblotting? Malleus and Silver have a very specific relationship in cannon. Its professional decently often, but it's also soft. Silver will absolutely protect Malleus, but he knows that he doesn't always want or need it. He doesn't need to be observed like a hawk 24/7 if something goes sideways. (Seen in how quickly he and Sebek check on Malleus after the attack in book 6, and how calm Silver is while Sebek is panicking over a missing Malleus he wouldn't leave alone later on).

Malleus barely has to say anything to Silver before he breaks down in tears about everything with Lilia. I know as someone who be very private with what's bothering me, the only person who could get me to break down that hard and that fast would be someone I consider family. Silver so inherently trusts Malleus that he'll sob and cry in front of him with so little. He's desperate and shattering. The only person he let see that was Malleus.

Then Malleus laughs, and Silver's caught of guard. That basically proved that this is his snap, because it pretty much fully implies that this is out of character for the prince. Silver would take the laughter and the teleporation is sride. Instead he's shocked and bewildered through both of those things, confused when they show up at Diasomnia.

Malleus only goes back and quickly overblots because he'd already hit the point of overblotting. But it required blot, and he hadn't used any magic for that blot like everyone else until he got back and everyone started fighting him. He overblotted because losing Lilia killed him. But he didn't Overblot until the only other person beside the newcomer Yuu (who was also trying to figure out how to leave him) who treated him like a normal person expressed his exact feelings.

Neither brother wanted their dad to leave, but Lilia was leaving, and it broke Silver. And thus, Malleus snapped and overblotted because of Silver.

Anyways I'm not very good at articulating myself sometimes but this is just a long-winded way of saying I think malleus actually only fully overblotted because his little brother sobbed for their dad leaving them and his need for the few people he has was combined with his need to protect them (aka the sweet dreams and forcefullness of them) and Silver's breakdown was just the final straw. He kept Lilia and everyone else via their dreams safe because it meant they were all together and happy.

[cozymochi]

what if what if, Tia rizzes both Jamil and Sebek. I mean- They all have two hands. They can hold each other’s hands win win

Normally, I’d go “correct they have two hands”

But the solution must be that the tied freaks must hold hands with each other because there is NO WINNER!!

and Tia is now stuck rizzing the runner up Leona because I keep getting reblogs, replies (deleted cuz i dont want back and forth convos aight) and tags complaining about him being in second WHEN I DIDNT CONTROL THAAAAAT 😩 THAT WAS THE VOTERS i didnt do a thing jhsjsbj 😫😫 (Disclaimer: cozy will not act upon this hypothetical punishment)

And more awkwardly lol because i deliberately didnt link the poll since its embarrassing to explain in a normal way (and to remain more gen), i also keep gettin’ asked where that even is when it takes about 3 posts of scrolling on my page to locate it below my initial art post lol

(something nobody wants to do— i can understand why. Too much effort. Everything must be explained immediately in the moment right in ones face otherwise its a huge unsolvable mystery /s)

On the upside?? No winner?? Means I can just sit here :3

[suntails]

surprise visitor to a gargoyle walk