Talent and Overblots: An Interesting Relationship

So I read an analysis about Leona and his overblot and it has gotten me to thinking and, only just realizing that talent is a bit of a theme for Twisted Wonderland. Or rather, talent in a more negative lighting than it is often portrayed in. 

Simply put, everyone who has overblotted is also talented and said talents (+ the side effects of being talented) really seem to be a large part of their trauma, stress, and varying issues that culminate in their overblot. I’m going to put the rest of the analysis under the cut for fear of any spoilers and due to length (and it is long), but this is something that is incredibly fascinating to me since this portrayal of talent is so wildly different from what is typically seen.

Starting with Overblot #1, Riddle is obviously talented. He became a housewarden in his first year, has an incredibly powerful signature spell, knows all the rules of Heartslabyul, and is a top student in a school filled to the brim with geniuses. We know from his overblot backstory that his mom held him to strict rules and pushed him too far, always demanding he be better than the best. Talented wasn’t enough. He had to be perfect. And that is, quite simply, what led to his overblot. He was holding others to that same horrifying strict regime. Talent isn’t enough, you must be perfect. But Riddle’s talent(s) is what made this drive for perfection truly frightening. That talent of his is what helped to lead to the pedestal that he (and others) placed himself on. And then his view was an incredibly simplistic, and even relatable one. If I can do it, so can they. But that viewpoint is what led  to  him pushing too far and breaking down when he realized exactly what he’d done. Ace quite possibly put it best when he informed Riddle that he was, “An extension of her”. Her, being Riddle’s mother. Realizing that he’d become that same tyrant, constantly pushing that talent wasn’t enough and you had to be perfect, was a big part of Riddle’s overblot. Because what is worse than becoming the very thing you’ve feared and toiled under since you were a child?

Leona is obviously talented. He is one of NRC’s geniuses, implied to be a very physically strong beastman, possesses an incredibly powerful signature spell, and has the cleverness to think his way out of any situation on top of the fact that he can power his way out of most problems due to his incredible persistence. But those talents were little more than weights around his neck when nothing he did mattered. He would never be king no matter what he did. But how much of Leona’s overblot was ever really being about king, when the crown that just the image that stuck with him? After all, the crown was the first thing that he was probably told he could never have no matter how talented he was. So kingship became a symbol of all he can never succeed in, despite his many talents. In the Savannaclaw chapter, story vignettes, and even in events people are constantly telling Leona that if he just tried he could do it. He is talented after all. And how much must that sting? You’re talented, and you have tried, but no matter what anyone tells you, it doesn’t seem to matter. The words of encouragement others give him are just like a slap in the face because failure keeps rearing its head. Thoughts like that can easily lead to or worsen depression and self-loathing. Especially when he gets his hope up once more that maybe he can do something, he keeps getting dragged back down, either by life’s machinations or his own occasionally self-destructive behavior. As a culmination of this, we find Leona exactly where he was in the Savannaclaw chapter. Failing once more and finally breaking apart as it occurs in front of those who have placed him as their head, the leader of their Pride. Not only has he failed himself, he has failed those who place their faith in him. To Leona, it no doubt looked like his greatest fears were true. Even with all of those talents, Leona feels worthless because he can’t succeed even once.

Azul is talented even if he himself doesn’t see it. Not many can say they have a successful restaurant business, and have hoodooed both the headmage and a good number of one’s fellow students at his age. Azul’s talent isn’t the one he wants though. He wants something more flashy and easily seen. Something that will make others not bother him. He never wants to be a silly little octotwerp who gets made fun of again. And, at this point, Azul can’t seem to see his knack for business for what it is. A talent. Being surrounded by so many obvious talents at NRC is bound to crush him, because everywhere he looks there is someone better than him in some way. So Azul gets greedy. He won’t let them make fun of him and look down on him like his previous classmates did. He can’t take that again. But then all of his carefully calculated actions come crashing down around him. Leona destroys his contracts and asserts, no less, that Azul has been beaten by a magicless prefect. And that is when Azul truly starts to crumble to pieces. He can’t even beat someone that he no doubt viewed, at that point, as a nobody. His actions turn desperate as he fears that Jade and Floyd, the two who’d actually taken a look at young Azul and saw talent there, are abandoning him because he’s been beaten at his own game. In Azul’s eyes, he has no talents, so why would they stay? All those feelings come racing back and Azul really does feel like a nobody. Just a silly little octotwerp even despite all his efforts. And so he overblots. Because obviously if you aren’t talented, then no one wants you and it doesn’t matter.

Jamil is talented in numerous ways and, unlike Azul, he knows it. But Jamil’s talents consistently get ignored or downplayed by everyone, even his own family. And it’s all because of the fact he works under another family so in the eyes of those around him, Jamil can’t and shouldn’t be better than Kalim. So he blames Kalim, even though he knows it isn’t Kalim’s fault that they were born in the positions they are in. Even though Kalim is someone who has always lavished praise on Jamil’s talents and never downplayed them. Even though Kalim is his friend. It’s too much. Because each time Kalim, the source of Jamil’s woe (at least in his eyes), praises him, it’s like a slap in the face. A reminder that even though you’re talented, you aren’t allowed to reach the full height of your abilities. All because of this fellow, who is your friend and greatest supporter. When Jamil’s grand scheme is foiled, it breaks him. It’s a hard hit to his ego and probably feels like yet another reminder that he can’t outdo Kalim. And, to top it all off, there’s the guilt. Because like it or not, Jamil knows it’s not Kalim’s fault because Kalim, for all that he doesn’t understand or realize about their situation, would never put Jamil in the situation that he has found himself in. And so Jamil overblots. His talents don’t matter because he isn’t allowed to show them. He’s restrained, and all of that frustration is suddenly coming out.

Next is Vil, whose troubles are so curiously (and perhaps amusingly) similar to Leona’s. Because for all of Vil’s talent as an actor, he can’t get the role he so desperately longs for. To be the hero, standing on stage till the very end where people will notice him. But it is Vil’s talent (and beauty) that weighs him down and makes people speak of how special he is. And isn’t special so similar to being unrelatable? So talented is he, so special is he, so unrelatable is he, that he must be the villain. Because no one wants a hero that seems so otherworldly, perfectly beautiful and talented. No, they want a hero they understand. A more relatable type of attractiveness, a more mundane level of skill. A villain is, as Vil’s dad asserts in the overblot flashback, a hard role to play. But Vil knows that it’s also the role everyone hates. No one wants to be the bad guy. And how often do people actually pay attention to the villain? Everyone’s eyes are on the star of the show, the good guy. Getting typecast because of his talents is a big part of what leads to Vil’s overblot. He is so weighed down by how inescapable the role of villain seems that he quite literally becomes a villain. And, mirroring Riddle, the realization that he has become that thing he so loathes and maybe even fears is what causes his overblot. The golden child that he was has finally fallen and become mired in the hideous filth that remains when one’s talent becomes a set of shackles that makes you ‘special.’

Idia is, like the others, talented. But interestingly he seems to loathe his talent just as much as he loathes a crowd. Despite his amazing technological achievements, Idia doesn’t want the recognition of fame that comes from his talents. In many ways, he almost behaves like he wants to be free of his talents. As if that talent is a chain. And perhaps it is, that talent makes him well-suited to the position he was born into is yet another chain that binds him to the Island of Woe. His wishes don’t matter. Idia is doomed to his position by both his family name and his talents. The stress of such a truth paired his past with Ortho’s death, and the constant reminder that he is at fault for it (or so he constantly tells himself) is what causes his overblot. Because at least this way, maybe Idia can use his talents once more to do something he wants. To save his brother, and atone for what he has done.

Finally, there is Malleus. Another individual with undeniable talent. Someone who is already listed amongst the most powerful of magicians and who comes from a long line of talented people. But Malleus’s talent, skill, and power for magic is what causes others to fear him, worship him, and avoid him. No one wishes to approach someone so fearsome and talented, because how could they? He is a royal who seems so far beyond them, they cannot comprehend such talent and power. Surely he is beyond them. And when they can’t understand him, perhaps it is better to fear him. It’s only natural to fear that which we can’t understand, so that is what happens to Malleus and his incomprehensible power. The isolation that stems from other’s fear and misunderstandings leads Malleus to do what is only natural. To cling to those few people that remain near him. Those who don’t fear him and instead accept him. And that isolation, paired with the need to cling onto those precious few while all others continue to stare at him in awed horror, is what contributes so greatly to his overblot. Because if those few leave him, what does he have left in his ivory tower of talent?

Anyway, I just find it fascinating that Twisted Wonderland has portrayed the darker side of talent and how it can lead to so many issues for those that hold it. Talent is a blessing in many ways, but there are two sides to every coin and it appears that talent can just as easily be a curse in the wrong situation.

i love how diverse in aging Vil's story is. It would've been easy to surround "Vil Schoeheit" with youthful things considering his character archetype, but I'm glad they're not holding back in adding blemishes whenever they showcase actual aging.

This reminds of Malleus' line that there is a beauty in the withering process of statues/gargoyles. In a way, Vil is like an statue (like a celebrity) but he is as well not immune to aging and I'm glad TWST wrote him as appreciated of aging instead of avoiding it

I know its been said a lot that Vil is not vain. He's not fixated on conventional beauty, but its really comforting to see the beauty icon is the one who believes aging is beautiful as well and is graceful about it, not just on others but also himself yk.

I love the realistic flair of "aging" in a story about really young people and growing up lol

something i noticed

A while back, I wrote this analysis reviewing how unfair the magic education system is in Twisted Wonderland. I would recommend reading that before this post, as it provides tons of context for what I’m about to talk about and add onto the discussion.

In 2-6 of the Tapis Rouge event, Vil has stylists from Luxe, a high end fashion brand, dress up Azul, Jamil, and Ace to be a part of his red carpet entourage. Once the boys come out in their new threads and makeup, Jamil and Azul, two individuals who are meticulous about details, provide some telling commentary.

According to those two, the team of stylists that helped them were mages. Azul further remarks that they were quite skilled mages and that having this kind of talent indicates a “first class brand store”. Their hair and makeup is also suggested to be done via magic, though this service is not normally performed for customers. Previously, we knew that skincare can be infused with magic (Vil does so with his own) and that magic can be used to style one’s hair (Jamil tells us in his Birthday Boy vignettes that he does his intricate hair with magic and used to take far longer with it when he lacked the precision). Idia states in book 6 that Jamil had no formal magic training before NRC, so that means Jamil was self-taught in his hair-handling magic.

… Okay but 😭 WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY ABOUT MAGIC AND CLASS??? Is it just a coincidence that the teams of stylists who staff a high class store are ALL mages? Surely not, given how uncommon mages are in the general population. The store (or maybe the brand itself?) must be going out of its way to hire them because I guess being dressed with magic is a more “luxurious” experience than the normal way. We can also guess from Azul and Jamil’s accounts that the degree of magic these staffers use requires significant skill and precision, which either means they need formal instruction or lots of practice on their own. Neither option is afforded to people with naturally low or no magic reserves at all 💀 meaning jobs like this are gated to mages only.

Now, this doesn’t inherently mean the rich and famous people who frequent these stores are also all mages (Kalim’s dad and Vil’s dad are two non-mages who are extremely wealthy and influential); the majority of them must still be regular people since humans seem to be the majority, and 90% of humans are non-mages. It also doesn’t guarantee that the Luxe stylists are paid more than a non-Luxe stylist (although I do think this is possible for a prestige brand, especially if we factor in commissions on sales).

What’s sticking out to me here is that there exists an association between magic and luxury. The reverse also appears to have some truth based on what little other lore we have; Ruggie states that there are not a lot of mages from his hometown, which could imply a history of non-mages being driven into poorer communities. It all fits together a little too well to seem coincidental… but obviously, Ruggie’s hometown is just one place and could be an outlier rather than the exemplar. We know that most non-mages must live an average lifestyle, not the extremes that Ruggie has experienced. Still, the claim that magic is typically associated with the upper class holds and it continues to be perpetuated in the lore.

Anyway, Fellow and Rollo were right—

Y'all can we just have a honest conversation on the fact that in majority of his cards, Vil doesn't really look happy.

Like for example his birthday groovy,

He looks amused or pleased, not really happy. Same thing goes for his lab coat groovy, he looks more like amused by the situation than he is happy. His ceremonial robe groovy has him yelling at Jack, his dorm uniform groovy has him once again more amused than anything else, and his Halloween groovy is more sly and devious. I think you get the point none these cards really show him being happy.

I think there are only two that truly show when he is happy one of them being his second birhday card and his new years card.

I just think it's interesting cause I know in book 6, Vil briefly says something about "just being himself". Specifically during the kiss scene. I know that a lot of other people who played the games could probably tell, but I think the vast majority of times we see or interact with Vil in game he's masking. It makes sense as to why he would, when you're someone as famous and as rich as him I think it would be foolish to just go around trusting people all willy-nilly.

What especially gets me though is the thought that he's probably been doing it since childhood. He probably learned from his dad too. His father probably taught him to mask all the kind and sensitive parts of his personality out of a fear of that his son would get damaged by selfish and unkind people.

…What is Vil wearing on his hands in his new card?? (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*) The pose and outfit is a beautiful homage to the Evil Queen, but the red gem necklace and the golden claws(??) is so reminiscent of his Overblot form.

Which Housewarden Has the Most Practical Signature Spell?

This question was triggered by my thinking about the signature spells the housewardens have are… not always super useful under most circumstances. As this post will be covering all housewarden signature spells, there will be spoilers for Book 7 parts only available in JP.

Riddle Rosehearts. Signature spell: Off with your head. Creates a collar around the neck of the target(s) which prevents them from using magic.

It was Riddle’s signature spell that got me thinking about this in the first place, honestly. Mostly because his spell seems very practical on its face. He’s actually the housewarden who seems to use his signature spell the most, after Azul, which would make it very practical. Right?

Except his spell is only practical at all because of two specific circumstances. One, he is in a position of authority and able to deal out punishment to rule breakers, and two, he is in a location with a lot of magic users. In Twisted Wonderland, humans who use magic are much less common than humans who do not use magic. Outside of NRC, Riddle’s spell isn’t going to have much more use than a fancy collar about 90% of the time.

In summary, Riddle’s spell appears practical, but only because he’s in the perfect circumstances for it. If he was in different circumstances, it would be much less useful. 5/10

Leona Kingscholar. Signature spell: King’s Roar. Causes anything of Leona’s choosing within a certain radius to crumble into sand.

This is, again, a spell that is only practical under certain circumstances. It’s definitely a powerful spell, but you’re not exactly going to be whipping it out every single day, unless you’re a glassmaker (and even then, you need specific sand to make glass and we don’t know what kind of sand Leona makes).

That being said, it’s not like the spell has no practical uses. It’s an extremely powerful offensive spell and it means people would certainly be cautious about approaching Leona in a combat situation. He’s a prince as well, so we need to consider that he’s more likely to get targeted for political reasons. A powerful spell like his would be a deterrent and a means of protecting himself and defending others.

All in all, it’s another powerful spell, but it’s hardly one you’re going to get much use out of under normal circumstances. 4/10.

Azul Ashengrotto. Signature spell: It’s A Deal. By signing a scroll, Azul can take any power he chooses as part of a contract. If the terms are broken, the contracted party will have to obey Azul.

Okay, so this one’s a weird one. It’s been stated before in canon (I believe Jade and Floyd touch on this right around Azul’s overblot) that Azul does not HAVE to make a contract in order to take a power. He can just do it (he was using his signature spell when he overblotted, for example, without needing the contract). However, this is difficult to control (since he just sucks out ALL a target’s abilities instead of one) and it skirts along the lines of forbidden magic, so he uses the contracts.

Obviously, this limits practicality. To gain the power, he needs to get the target to agree to the contract and he needs to fulfill whatever his end of the bargain is. However, Azul is cunning and good at hiding his motivations to get what he truly wants. He can’t get people who don’t agree, but he can leverage people to get them to do so.

In general? This is the most practical spell we’ve seen so far. It’s got wide applicability (it seems to be implied in his backstory that he’s not limited to taking magic) and it’s something that can be used every day, even making it part of your job (which he does)! 9/10, subtracting a point for the inconvenience of the contracts.

Kalim Al-Asim. (What, were you expecting Jamil? Read the top again- it’s housewardens, not overblotters!) Signature Spell: Oasis Maker. Using only a small amount of magic, Kalim can create a downpour.

This is one of the spells that got me thinking about how practical some spells are, because this spell is discussed as impractical in story. Kalim states that the spell is mostly useless in a time of irrigation and running water. It’s good for some water fun, but not a super useful spell. In some ways, this could be seen as a reflection of Kalim himself, or maybe even how he sees himself: fun and flashy, but not really useful.

This makes it more interesting when, later in the chapter, Azul notes that the spell is incredibly useful in a different context! Go to a land without water and suddenly Kalim is a king. That’s why he’s wealthy in the first place- being able to create water made his family important. And it could be another commentary on Kalim- he’s really only fun and flashy in this setting, but he’s also more capable of being beneficial to those around him than he realizes.

So. Is Kalim’s spell practical? Well, yes and no. Azul’s right in that it’s more practical than Kalim was thinking, but that practicality is context specific. But being able to make clean water no matter what is useful in a lot of survival situations, and could help a lot of people, so… 4/10. Practical under the right circumstances.

Vil Schoenheit. Signature spell: Fairest One of All. Vil is able to curse any item with any condition he chooses.

So, uh. Does anyone else think this is like. Ridiculously overpowered? Might as well just give him the ‘do whatever you want all the time’ spell because that’s basically what this is. He has, in canon, paralyzed people with food, almost put someone into a cursed sleep with food, created acid, and paralyzed someone by getting them to touch lakewater. What. The. Hell. Are there limits on this spell? Is Vil perpetually one mental breakdown away from creating ‘you obey everything I say now’ water and dumping it over a crowd????

Okay. Rambling aside. This is a ridiculously practical spell. Clearly there are limits (I would imagine he can only affect so many people/things or hold it for so long before he can’t keep it up anymore) but it’s pretty damn strong. 10/10.

Idia Shroud. Signature Spell: Gate to the Underworld. Idia can open the gate to the Underworld in the S.T.Y.X. headquarters.

I feel bad but... It's not the world's most practical spell, is it? It's cool, and clearly necessary, don't get me wrong, but like. How often does this come up in day-to-day living? It might be practical for his job, I guess, but it doesn't seem to be useful in most circumstances.

I obviously can't rate this one very highly. Sorry, Idia. One point for its usefulness to his job. 1/10.

BOOK 7 SPOILERS

Malleus Draconia. Signature Spell: Fae Maleficence. Allows him to put people into ageless sleep while surrounding the area with a wall of briars and thorns.

This one's a harder spell to categorize, because we know what the spell has done so far, but we don't know it that's all it can do. I may be wrong on this, because I've only read the portions of the chapter that have come out in English, but it's not confirmed that this is the only thing his spell can do- like it's never been stated 'Malleus' spell puts people to sleep always.' It could be that this is the extent of his spell, but it could also be more like Vil's spell. If we'd only read Book 5 and he hadn't explained it, we could have assumed that Vil's spell could only be used on food. But it's actually much broader. I'm saying this because I don't want to rule out that Malleus' spell might be even more powerful or flexible than shown.

That being said, I can only judge on what I have. And what I have now is the ageless sleep bit. It's certainly not the most practical spell ever, though it could have its uses. As a defensive spell, it seems pretty good. You could trap an army with it, or create a protective barrier for your people until danger has passed. Still, I don't think this is a spell Malleus could use every day.

It's primarily for defensive purposes, so same as Leona's. 4/10.

Just a general analysis of like yi how he would act and stuff

A lot of people seem to think vil is a narcissistic self obsessed asshole who would give ppl eds and insecurities and shit and like as someone who is hyperfixated in him and has read about every content of him available in eng server that i manage to get my hands onto it's just one of the biggest mischaracterizations of vil. his words are always meant to be of encouragement when he criticizes something, his words are rough because as a child that was the way everyone talked to him, he was a young boy thrown in the modeling world and the acting world, and although it was (half) by his choice, having a famous dad he was born in front of the cameras. it's very clear that vil masks and barely shows his emotional side and you can see that this has been going on for YEARS because as a child when he is beat up by a group for being a villain in a movie he didn't cry and just stood up and insulted the kids , a contrast to how he vulnerably asked his father for reassurance on wether or not he was a villain also in his overblot flashback. vil has said it himself multiple times but whenever he assigns a self care routine and a diet to anyone it's always with the best intentions in mind, he doesn't give them a diet so they can lose weight, and he would never, we know that because in his overblot he confessed how much he hated the diets he put himself through but couldn't help it because he was desperate to be seem as beautiful, to finally be enough. vil is a very insecure man, a type of insecurity that is hidden from anyone that doesn't know his heart, and trust me, very little people know his heart. he's not one to trust others easily and once again that probably has to do with the industry around him and people probably trying to ruin his career. vil is an extremely caring and protective person, he takes care of everyone in his dorm and the people outside of it, and he recognizes the value potential and strength in everyone, and he will comment on it when he sees someone with so much of it and wastes it all by never trying, we can see that in multiple times but ill highlight his moments with leona and how he comments on it because he, unlike many in the school, recognizes leona is amazing and extremely talented (id also like to point out leona and vil are extremely similar and have extremely similar trauma just ended up coping w two opposite extremes (leona not trying and vil trying too much)) he is shown to even stay awake late at night to make sure everything is going right with each of his students. a lot of people seem to have the misconception that vil's overblot was caused out of envy for a casting of a simple movie but the truth is the roles were never the problem, it's not like vil has a problem with villains, what he hated is that he only got villain papers because no one ever saw the worth in him to be a hero, no one considered him good enough or fit for the role and would constantly cast all his hard work and passion aside in favor of someone else's (neige's) see how it is? it's never about the actual roles in a movie, what vil craves is validation, is admiral, is being truly loved for who he is, is to have his hard work be seen and recognized and cherished, is to for once in his life not be a second best, that's why he says n his overblot, that for once all he wanted was to stay in the stage until the curtains fall, all he wanted in life, is to be able to stay, and not be thrown away once something better is found to replace him

since you write for x reader im assuming you'd like to know how he'd act with a lover so; vil would even more caring over his lover, constantly checking in on them and fussing about little things in order to make sure they're taking care of themselves and treating themselves right the way they deserve to be treated, for vil to fall in love it takes A LOT of trust in that person so rest assured you'll see sides of vil that nobody but his father have ever seen before, you'll need to be patient because vil has a lot of issues to work through but if you stay by his side, hold his hand and encourage him to better himself like he always did for others vil swears on his own name you'll be the happiest person to ever exist

Vil's agency and my worries for the upcoming event

Alright, time for another analysis, once again centered on Vil. Disclaimer to start with because people love to take what I said out of context: This post will have my worries about the upcoming Halloween event (Playfulland) which comes out in two days. It is entirely possible that I am wrong about what I'm going to say here but as I will hopefully explain in this post, there is a disturbing pattern regarding Vil and his agency as a character going on in the game which makes me worried this event will fall into the same routine. I am not claiming this event will absolutely 100% do what I outline here and I am not saying the event is bad before it even came out.

Side note before we delve into this, I already do not like this event visually, I find the style tacky and cheap and all over the place. However, I recognize some people enjoy it. This post is not about that, I will not be trying to make you dislike the event, and I expect the same respect back. Now, onto the analysis.

When seeing the previews and plot synopsis for the new event, something felt off to me, uncomfortably so. As some of you may already know, I am fairly sensitive to loss of agency in canon, especially for characters I relate to, because it reminds me of my own history of abuse. "Turning the characters into puppets" seems like a premise ripe with loss of agency and the wording of the synopsis as well as the promo video did little to elevate these concerns. Specifically when it came to Vil.

Now, I probably don't have to explain why the idea of Vil getting indulgent and forgetting about the real world and ending up a puppet of his desires goes against his entire character. Then again, the event isn't out yet so I can't tell for sure if that is what's going to happen. The synopsis seems to hint at it and given twst's past events, the ones to snap out of it will most likely be the SSRs or, at most, the story sr, which is Floyd. Then I began to think back on other events and cards Vil has and I came to a very disturbing realization: Vil gets punished for showing agency and rewarded for not having any. Allow me to elaborate.

In many of the stories Vil shows up in, we see a strange push to punish Vil for being active and taking charge of events or we see Vil being passive and reactive and getting rewarded for that. In the Sunset Savannah event, Vil doesn't want to go originally but is convinced and dragged along by Leona. He doesn't join the event because he wants to but because he's bribed to. During the event, he shows more agency and begins to be more active – which then results in him getting his ankle twisted. This isn't a one-off situation either. In Beans Day, Vil is very active and shows off his leadership skills as well as his amazing planning and prediction abilities. How does this pay off? Rook shows up out of nowhere and captures him, putting him out of the game. Once again, Vil had agency and then got punished for it. During Vargas Camp, Vil is once again on top of things. He is a leader, he is a wonderful outdoorsman, and he shows lots of agency. How does the game treat this? He is forced to forfeit his agency for weeks to Azul because we are meant to believe Vil and Trey – two of the most competent mages at NRC – would not be able to get by without Azul's help. Azul is the R in this event.

But it's not event SRs either. I have already talked about Vil's labcoat story previously but looking at it from the perspective of Vil's agency reveals something I didn't realize at first. By the time the game came out, Vil's foundation of the Film Research club was one of his biggest acts of agency we were directly confronted with. In Vil's labcoat story, he exercises further agency by going out of his way to prepare for an important shooting. How does the game treat this? He is gaslit and made to feel insecure by Rook to the point where he begins to skip meals. And how does he get out of this state? Does he do an introspection and realize Rook was just trying to manipulate and control him? Does he ask someone for a second opinion? No. He is approached by Trey who then convinces him to eat cake with him. Vil is not only punished for showing agency but also rewarded for giving his agency up and just doing what people tell him to.

Well, maybe that's just his SRs though. Surely in his SSRs where he is meant to be the main star, this isn't the case, right? Well... His dorm uniform story is about a magazine wanting an interview with him. Right off the bat, Vil is the reactive element here. Vil then puts together new schedules and begins to get his dorm in an even better shape – which gets him complaints and grumbles from everyone. He is punished for showing agency even though it is to the other students' benefit. Vil doesn't let up and exercises further agency by adjusting the meal and exercise plans to be personalized – and he gets Rook telling him that nobody cares anyway and he is just wasting his time. Yes, the dorm members quietly change their opinion of Vil but they never tell him. The only feedback Vil has is from Rook who is, once again, punishing him for having agency.

Vil's Scalding Sands SSR card doesn't have a story but that doesn't stop it from taking away any agency Vil might've had. Not only did he not actually visit Scalding Sands, he wasn't even the one to obtain the outfit. Rather, Trey brought it to him as a gift because Kalim's parents just gave it away. Mind you, this note was completely unnecessary. The only purpose it serves for Vil is making sure he doesn't have any agency at all after already taking away what could've been an interesting story.

And then we get to Halloween. The first Halloween event was a huge breath of fresh air for Vil. He is very active and shows tons of agency. Vil is part of the Halloween committee, he oversees costume themes and makeup, he is one of the key pieces of the plan to scare away the Magicamonsters, he shows more agency than he did in the rest of the stories altogether. What is the outcome of all this? Well, he is promptly kidnapped the following night, possessed by a ghost, and made to act shamefully in front of his friends. Wow. Complete mind-control and erasure of any hint of agency specifically for the reason of him having agency in the first event.

But I hear you, all of these are just events or cards, someone else might be writing them. There's no way this is how he's meant to be seen in the main story, right? Well... Not exactly. And to make one thing clear, I am not caught up on every single tweet Yana Toboso makes. I know people have been saying for months now that Vil is Yana's favorite character but I have yet to see any proof of the claim. It started around the time Vil's Scalding Sands SSR dropped and most of it back then read as jealousy. Whether or not that was the case, I cannot tell. If this is the treatment Vil gets as a favorite character, I just hope Yana never takes a liking to me (this is a joke).

The first time we really meet and interact with Vil in the main story in any sort of meaningful way and without him just being lumped up with the rest of the dorm leaders is in Book 2, and he is quickly ridiculed and mocked for showing agency in caring how he will look during the Magift tournament. And yes, I know the novel made tweaks to this set of scenes, the novel isn't canon to the game and it showed so on multiple occasions. So right off the bat, not a great start for Vil's agency as a character.

We barely see him after that up until Book 5. Now, I have a whole post about the meaning of Vil's overblot that you can read here but this time, I want to focus on something else about this chapter. This chapter is a masterclass on how to punish a character for showing agency. Vil is painted as unreasonable and over the top from the start, be it in providing legitimate criticism to the VDC tryouts or in getting upset at his agent for violating his boundaries and signing him up for roles he explicitly doesn't want to play. Both of these are treated by the story as flaws and issues when neither of them really is. Vil being strict with the other VDC group members is for their good as well as his own. And Vil setting up boundaries over which roles he is and isn't willing to take stems from his history of being typecasted and dehumanized for his casting (I go deeper into this in the other Vil analysis post). Both of these are healthy displays of agency, yet the main story frames them in a way that makes Vil seem unreasonable for doing these things.

Vil's agency brings him a temporary reward but that is immediately taken away when during the preliminary tryout performances, he is overtaken by an objectively mediocre performance. All his hard work, all his agency, is immediately thrown out the window for the sole purpose of making him feel miserable. Once again, he is punished for exercising his agency. What he does next and his overblot are exceptions to this as Vil used his agency to do something objectively bad and the resulting overblot is more of a natural consequence than a punishment (albeit I have my gripes with how the overblot was handled as well). The final nail in the coffin in book 5 came after the overblot when Vil, once more, exercised his agency to push through his pain and still perform. Not only was he punished for his efforts by losing the competition but he was then further berated for the overblot yet again (as well as being gaslit once again by Rook, this is nothing new).

I've heard some people say that Book 6 is good in this regard, that it gives characters agency and character development. I disagree with this claim. Vil, together with the other overblotees, is kidnapped and locked up, then used as test subjects. This is about as far removed from them having agency as can be, except perhaps the ghost possession plot earlier. There is some vague talk about having to sign a consent slip but 1) this is already ridiculous after having abducted them with the use of excessive force, and 2) we are never given any reason to believe signing was their choice and not something forced out of them. They are then experimented on and that's a whole mess that removes any and all agency from everyone present. The issue with Vil specifically is that in Vil's case, this has been a pattern for a while at this point. And then we get to the Shroud brothers overblotting... Saving the world because you would be one of the people dying if it ended is not agency and it is not character development. I know the chapter tried to give Vil and everyone else a "reason" to stop the overblot but that doesn't erase the fact that if they didn't, they would die. This isn't agency, this is having a sense of self-preservation. Even if some other version of them would get to live happily and get everything they ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter, it would not be them, and they would still be either dead or erased from existence altogether (this is a side note but how exactly would resetting the universe even work? Nothing else anywhere in the franchise suggests this is even an actual possibility. Even Malleus, one of the top five mages in the world could only lock away one island by using so much magic he overblotted. Book 6's plot breaks the worldbuilding in so many ways- but that's a tangent for another time).

The one and only moment of Vil having agency in book 6 comes when he jumps in to save Idia's life. And while Idia, who has been under the influence of Tartaros for way longer and spent so much more time in it, is perfectly fine, Vil gets "aged up" a hundred years. This is not only bad writing which makes no sense but also a tremendous punishment for Vil as someone who relies on his looks for several of his jobs as well as being someone who puts so much effort into his appearance. Of course, that is not even mentioning that the supposedly older version of him looks nothing at all like Vil, has a completely different body type and face structure, and is a nod to magical transformation and not aging. Vil showcased his agency and immediately got punished for it in the most horrendous way for the character. How does Vil get out of this situation? Does he utilize his vast knowledge of potions and magic to revert himself back? Does he figure out a way to curse himself to turn back to normal? Does he seek council with a powerful or knowledgable mage, perhaps a teacher? No. He cries at the beach and doesn't do anything and then Malleus comes around, snaps his fingers, and returns everything back. Vil is not only punished for showing agency, but he is once again actively rewarded for not having any.

So, why do I believe this event will involve loss of agency for at least some of the characters? Because Vil is involved and twst has made it a pattern to rid Vil of agency. Why am I worried about this event? Because every time Vil becomes active, he gets a slap in the face for his efforts and sometimes is even rewarded for just sitting there and looking pretty. This is not what I want from a character like Vil, or from any character really. At this point, Cinderella and Snow White from the original Disney movies had better agency than Vil because when they showed agency and took active hold of their parts in the story, they were adequately rewarded, not slapped in the face for it.

Now, I am sure this leaves you with some questions, so I will try to answer those I could come up with myself here. Why do I only mention Vil when other overblotees lost their agency in book 6 and had their agency treated as wrong in their books? Because none of them were quite like Vil. None of them got punished in a twist of bad writing for saving someone's life. And their negative agency was things that were actively harmful to others such as Riddle being an unreasonable tyrant kicking people out to sleep outside, Leona trying to murder people, Azul enslaving others, etc. Vil's negative agency throughout the chapter was setting boundaries for himself and expecting people to work for the money they hoped to win.

Why am I not talking about the other characters who got possessed? Because, for the most part, it was a once-and-done deal. Yes, some of them are now showing up in Playfulland (Cater, Jade, etc.) but these characters don't have a pattern of having their agency taken away or punished at nearly every opportunity.

Why do I harp on Rook so much? Because he's the textbook definition of a gaslighter, he constantly puts Vil down, he's often used as a tool to punish Vil's agency, he actively tries to isolate Vil from other people and make him doubt his own perception, and because he thinks it is his place and his place only to judge and punish Vil for whatever he deems incorrect. And just in case I need to stress this, which I shouldn't, I am an abuse victim. I went through literal decades of gaslighting paired with other types of mental and physical abuse. Rook's wording, actions, and general patterns of behavior, are all things that hit so close to what I experienced that he used to be a legitimate trigger for me, and still makes me incredibly uncomfortable. This is, of course, not to say you cannot like the character. But denying what he does and mocking abuse victims for speaking out about their experiences isn't the same as enjoying a problematic character. The way Rook is brings active harm both to Vil as a person and to his agency, which is to be expected of a character like this.

I would like to close this up by saying that I am aware these may be conscious choices to showcase how resilient Vil can be, how he never gives up in the face of adversity, and how he perseveres in spite of all these horrific things happening to him. But at some point, it gets tiring to see your comfort character get beaten down on every turn. It gets depressing to see him never succeeding and always getting hurt or abused for just being active and taking charge of his own life. There are ways to show resilience that don't involve punishing every time a character shows agency. There is also no reason to punish that but then reward loss of agency. When Vil gives up and stops trying, that should not be the moment things start going well. Malleus shouldn't have to swoop in and magically restore Vil's youth when Vil just passively accepted that he is just going to look like this now and, if the accident truly aged him and didn't just transform his body (which would make a lot more sense), possibly die within the next few weeks or months.

Ultimately, I do not like how twst treats Vil. I hope to see this improve but I wouldn't count on it. It's not so bad that I want to leave the game over it but it is a part of what worries me about the stories to come, especially with the new event and book 7 and what they probably have in store. For now, I will remain cautiously optimistic and hope it at the very least won't be as bad as book 6.

If you've read this far, thank you so much, I appreciate you, feel free to let me know your thoughts, preferably in a polite and civilized manner. I'm down to discuss many parts of this but there are also a few that I don't see myself budging on (such as gaslighter Rook). For the most part tho, I am always happy to talk to people about my analyses and takes on things pertaining to my fandoms. Thank you again for your attention and I'll see you next time something gives me this much of a brainrot.

Now that I really think about it... When Lilia told Vil and Rook at his farewell party how old he was, why did they react so shocked? I mean, I get it that 700 years compared to a human's lifespan is A LOT. But why did they think he was 18 years old like them? It makes me wonder how much students at NRC learn (or don't learn) about fae. For fuck's sake, there are even fairies working for the school, and during Vargas Camp, the boys also encountered some. And I highly doubt Malleus and Lilia are the only fae attending NRC. Shouldn't it be common knowledge that they live much longer than humans? Shouldn't there be textbooks that contain detailed information about them?

All this just suddenly dawned on me after remembering that scene, and questions kept popping up inside my head.

TWST – Villains are the heroes who have failed and fallen (spoilers)

Riddle is the Queen of Hearts, but also Alice. Both as children have faced a matriarch who imposes harsh and difficult rules to follow. The difference is that the latter fought back and the former did not and thus, had internalized all the unfair expectations of his mother and become like her.

Leona is like Simba during his self-imposed exile: putting a distance between their family and home to avoid confrontation due to some past “bad deed” supposedly done by their own hands (Leona’s unique magic -> Mufasa’s death) and contenting with lazing around. While Simba accepts to face the past and to carry the responsibilities entailed by kingly duties, Scar refuses to acknowledge his flaws and to become better.

Azul, while a twisted version of Ursula, shows similarities with Ariel. Both feel like they don’t fit in with other merfolks and possess a thirst for knowledge, notably concerning the surface world. Leona has destroyed all of the contracts he has spent years working on like King Triton has done with Ariel’s treasures which push both of them over the edge (overblot -> signing a contract with Ursula).

Jamil is Jafar, Genie, Aladdin AND Jasmine all in one. On the surface, Jamil appears to be similar to Jafar, but as the Scarabia arc progresses, the more we know that the core of his issue is his desire to be free (like Genie) and to rise from his low-class social status (like Aladdin). Kalim has a kind disposition, but some of his well-intentioned actions leave much to be desired when it concerns Jamil like the sultan (whom he is based after) who tries to set Jasmine up with a prince so that she can still be taken care of after his death even though it makes his daughter feel trapped in her own house. Jafar wants to be the strongest (freedom -> power) and, tricked by Aladdin, wishes to become a genie which ironically binds him to a space more restrictive than before (genie -> overblot; Jamil’s phantom might symbolize his true abilities which are limited by his country’s laws).

Vil’s problem is that he wants to be perceived as more than a villain (beautiful outside AND inside). The sad thing is that by trying so hard, he ironically appeared to be more and more villainous-looking (sabotage -> old woman disguise and attempted murder; it might explain his phantom). While taking charge during his stay in Ramshackle Dorm (a parallel to Snow White living with the dwarves), he lorded over the first years like how the Evil Queen did with Snow White at the beginning of the movie. (deeper analysis)

Idia is stuck in a position he doesn’t want. Hades, Hercules AND Meg also have the same problem. However, while the former tries to solve it by taking things from others, the latter two learn to see what really matters. In addition, Idia’s position is more like Hercules’s and Meg’s than Hades’. Like Hercules, he wanted to belong and believed being a hero would fulfill that wish; and just like Meg, he had developed a defeatist attitude due to a past loss that had deeply affected him (Ortho -> Meg’s ex-lover).

Malleus is isolated, sheltered and destined from birth to rule a kingdom like Aurora. His entourage at school consisted of only three people (Lilia, Silver and Sebek -> the three fairy godmothers) and his whole world changed after meeting a “stranger” (Yuu -> Phillip). If we follow the narrative of the movie, Malleus might become distraught at the idea of not seeing Yuu ever again which will leave him vulnerable to a fate others tried to protect him from (overblot -> spindle). I don’t know if they’ll put some references to Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, but I can see the bitter resentment for taking away from them what they considered important to them (Yuu -> wing). 

EDIT: one on Rollo Flamm

Vil Schoenheit Character Analysis

People boil down Vil's overblot to petty jealousy a lot of the time. And it's not actually that simple. Because it was never stated that Vil wanted Neige's parts, he just wanted to stay on stage to the very end. And Vil couldn't do that because people character-casted him into one role, because people were so obsessed with comparing him and Neige. That's what made Vil upset.

He had to constantly be compared to someone, and the comparison is the entire reason he could never get a role that wasn't a villain's role, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get out of the set stereotype people put him in. And the worst part about it, is that they boxed him in with this stereotype because he tried his very best.

It also didn't help that, at the time, Vil assumed that Neige was slaking off. That Neige wasn't actually taking any of it seriously, which was an even bigger blow to Vil's self-esteem. Because, if Vil was right, then that would mean that someone that doesn't even care about it as much as Vil kept getting parts to stay on screen to the very end, and Vil could never get that.

If Vil had just gotten one role that wasn't that of the villain, one role where his character got to stay on stage, he wouldn't have been nearly as frustrated. It wouldn't even have to be the main character. He just wanted to be there at the very end, and because of how people boxed him in, he couldn't do that.

And it wasn't as if Vil could slack off to prove their perception of him wrong. This was for two reasons. One, he was apart of a social industry. Even if they gave him crap for being so perfect, the moment he didn't give his all, he would receive back-lash for that. He couldn't get away from it.

Not to mention, slaking off goes against everything Vil stands for. And that's to keep pushing, keep practicing, to keep going until you are the best of the best. Because that's what Vil wanted to be. How he wanted to be perceived. And no matter how hard he tried, he's efforts were never acknowledged by anyone. It was just, "Of course he would do that, he's Vil after all!", which just completely diminishes everything that he's done.

He can't even act freely or ever just relax. Because everything about him is judged by the entire world. He can't act like a person his age, interact or be affectionate in the way that he might want to, because if anyone ever got a picture of it and it got out, it would be blowen up out of proportion. He could never relax in that regard.

And then his efforts were never once acknowledged properly because he was constantly being compared to Neige. That's why he hated Neige. He wasn't inherently jealous of him, he wanted people to stop comparing himself to Neige. And Vil thought the only way to do that was that if he could get that one part that allowed him to stay on stage, that if he could be on top of the internet just once. But he couldn't do that because of that comparison, which made Vil grow to hate Neige by association.

It's why he got so furious with what happened in the VDC. He was finally on top, and then Neige steals it from him with a performance that was all over the place and was considered more of a disaster than anything else. All because he's Neige Blanche, and he's doing a child song with a bunch of dwarves, it makes people think its adorable. Which makes Vil think that Neige is doing this all on purpose, and so Vil finally snaps.

And then Vil realizes what he's done by the end of it all. And he's completely disgusted with himself and his actions. Because he's done something he swore to never do. He just tried to win something by taking out the competition, which is against Vil's entire ideology since all he wanted to do was win by his own merits and efforts and poisoning someone that's innocent doesn't do that.

In chapter six - spoilers ahead - Vil was able to find some solace afterwards with how everything went down. Because he didn't need to win the VDC, that never would have actually helped him. (Rook made the right choice, even if people want to call him a traitor) and he was finally able to learn what Neige was doing in his spare time. That Neige wasn't slaking off, he just also had equally important things to do, so it seemed that way. So Vil was able to find solace in the fact that, at least, the person that people kept comparing him to wasn't someone that didn't put in the effort.

Not that this would make Vil like Neige, at all. He still hates the fact that people compare him and Neige, and hates Neige by association, but this information at least makes him feel better with how things currently are. Not to say Vil plans to keep them that way, because he wants to be on top. And he wants to get a part that isn't a villain, something he will keep trying for.

This determination to not be a villain, paired with Vil's own morals and ideologies, is why he jumped to grab Idia, Grimm, and Ortho. (Even if he wasn't able to get Ortho in the end, he still tried.) He didn't want to be the villain, he wanted to come off on top, and be content with the outcome. And as someone that had overblotted himself, he knew that Idia wasn't entirely at fault for what happened. So, he jumped after them.

And even though it caused him to age rapidly, and he was upset that that was the exchange, I don't believe that he ever regretted saving who he saved. I don't think he regretted jumping. Luckily, Malleus aided Vil in the end, even though Malleus said Vil would owe him for it. Vil was able to leave, fully content with how things turned out and were in the moment.

Vil will still continue to be the best of the best. To be all he can be. Because that's just who he is, but he won't be as bitter about it as he was.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 👑VIL BIRTHDAY SSR FLOWER ANALYSIS* 👑*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

*Mandatory reminder that I’m no flower specialist, which means these are all very subjective opinions. Take everything with a grain of salt!

Vil has an assortment of roses, namely red, pink, and purple ones. Red roses are a universal symbol of love, romance, and passion. Deeper colors are used to show strong commitment and a deep bond, while lighter shades represent passion and desire. While generally given on Valentine’s day and reserved for romantic relationships, red roses can also be gifted to show mutual respect and appreciation. However, Vil’s roses border on burgundy in shade, which typically symbolize a desire for commitment and great passion. Pink roses on the other hand symbolize gratitude and admiration and make a perfect present to friends and siblings. They’re symbols of elegance, refinement, and sweetness. Other readings of pink roses include that of recognition and appreciation, as well as grace, joy, gratitude, elegance, and sweetness. Finally, purple roses are the rarest roses to find. They stand for enchantment and carry an air of regality, which gives them a very majestic flair. They’re typically gifted to show the recipient that you think very highly of them, that they’ve caught your attention, or that you find them inspiring.

Dahlias represent (finding) inner strength, remaining graceful, and standing out from the crowd. They’re the kind of flower you’d gift someone you admire or find particularly strong. They also are commonly gifted to those who are going through significant changes in life, though generally, they’re associated with positive energy, kindness, and love for others, as well as elegance, creativity, and dignity. (Dahlias also carry a few negative symbolism, such as betrayal, dishonesty, and instability.)

The singular hibiscus in Vil’s bouquet symbolizes refined and delicate beauty, as well as (short-lived) fame or glory (short-lived due to its very short vase life). However, it's often regarded as a royal flower, representing wealth, wisdom, knowledge, and mystery, and is the type of flower you’d give to someone you find particularly inspiring. (It’s also a flower that inspires mystery and drama in people and thus has often been seen as a terrifying gift in the past.)

Lilium orientalis is commonly used to symbolize purity and fertility – the sweetness and innocence of beauty, fresh life, and rebirth. Pink/fuchsia ones stand for love and admiration, and are typically gifted as a confidence boost.

Veronica spicata symbolizes healing, recovery, and joyfulness, as well as fidelity and love.

The lupin flower stands for imagination, admiration, and overall happiness, and is gifted to those recovering from trauma to bring them inner strength. It inspires generosity and selflessness.

The small pink flowers I believe to be rose thrifts, which symbolize sympathy, gentleness, happiness, gentle affection, and admiration.

Osteospermum represent purity, innocence, and loyal love, though they’re also synonymous with grandeur, fidelity, and good esteem, in the language of flowers.

Naturally, these are only my un-educated guesses, but feel free to let me know if I got anything wrong/what flowers I might’ve missed.

Twisted Wonderland Analysis: Are the Housewardens (and Jamil) Truly Based on the Villains?

I’ve been doing a lot of (again, over)thinking since I wrote my post on Neige Blanche.  In it, I mentioned that I didn’t think Neige was a good parallel of Snow White as a character due to the--albeit, likely unintentional--inconsideration he shows others. Ever since, the more I thought of that, the more it had me wondering if our leading bad boys are truly based on the Disney villains.  I know this seems like an absolutely ridiculous claim: They look like the villains, their storylines follow the patterns of the villains’ arcs, and much of their behavior is also reminiscent of the villains. 

However, what if I were to explain to you how much of that was surface-level only?

In some ways, I’ve noticed that there’s also quite a few similarities between the housewardens and the protagonists from the Disney films. This may in-part be due to the fact that they are TWST protagonists, as well as to how the villains could sometimes act as foils to the heroes; Still, there are some similarities in their backgrounds and personalities that make me think there’s more to it--especially after Book 6.

Since this will be a long post that contains some spoilers for the game’s English version, I’ll post my explanation on each of the housewardens (and Jamil sorry I feel compelled to add him like this, but I don’t want someone calling him out on a technicality) and how I think they’re similar to the Disney protags below the cut:

I’ll add a disclaimer to start: Some of these comparisons will definitely be stronger than others. Still, rather than begin with my strongest argument, I want to keep these explanations in-order of appearance. If there’s a character you’d rather read about first, I’ll have their names listed in bold.   

Riddle Rosehearts

So, for Riddle, we have the obvious comparison to the Queen of Hearts, someone who was strict and unforgiving against anyone who went against her rule.  Admittedly, it’s a perfect match for Riddle and his approach to leading his dorm...at first.  The more information we learn about both Riddle and the world of Twisted Wonderland itself, the more the pieces don’t exactly fit.  In the world’s “twisted history,” the Queen of Hearts is noted to be someone who brought order to the chaos that was Wonderland.  However, as viewers of the Disney films and with our knowledge of Yuu’s (the player’s) visions, we know this wasn’t the case. Quote: “Most everyone’s mad here.”  The Queen of Hearts wasn’t a figure of order: She was just as mad as everyone else in Wonderland if not more-so through her tyrannical ways. (A sane person doesn’t decapitate people for getting the color of a rose wrong.)  So, who did represent order in Wonderland? Alice.

Alice was a person from a world much like ours and, as a child of a higher status growing up in the Victorian Era, had a background fairly similar to Riddle’s. At the very opening of her film, we see her conflict with her older sister as she tries to get Alice to pay attention to her history lesson when all Alice wants to do is relax and play.  This is a less severe parallel of Riddle’s strict upbringing from his mother.  While this first scene also illustrates Alice’s carefree and curious nature, let’s furthermore consider her opening song that led to the events of the film: “A World of My Own.” Alice wanted a world in which she didn’t have to follow the rules society placed on her and instead have a world where “everything would be nonsense.”  This follows Riddle’s desire to live beyond the constrictions his family placed on him, as well as the wish for the state of things around him to fit his desires.

Then, what happens when Alice gets the world of nonsense that she asked for? She faces trouble at every turn and wants to go home.  Everyone she meets in Wonderland treats her as foolish or odd for not playing along with their madness.  The singing flowers treat her as a weed.  The Caterpillar yells in her face.  The Mad Hatter and March Hare won’t let her sit still long enough to take a sip of tea.  The Cheshire Cat gets her in trouble with the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Hearts tries to kill her.  And the entire time, Alice never did anything wrong.  She stood up for herself, but was never rude or hurtful to anyone.  Most importantly, for us as the audience, she was the straight-man that brought some reason to a world we couldn’t understand.  This is how Alice fits properly as someone representing “order.”  She gave us what Riddle gives his dormmates: Structure in a world full of “rules” that are impossible to wrap one’s head around, but that we nevertheless had to play along with.  

In further comparison, Riddle often acts as the “straight man” outside of the dorm as well thanks to his intellect and resolve to keep on top of his studies. He doesn’t tolerate Floyd’s “nonsense” when the latter picks on him, and is good at rationalizing/acting quick in response to whatever situation he’s thrown into at the school--such as at the school’s opening ceremony.  Last but not least, Riddle’s fear of chaos could also nod to the trials Alice went through.  Alice suffered thanks to Wonderland’s nonsense, and Riddle expects to suffer if he doesn’t follow the rules his mother gave him.    

Leona Kingscholar

Leona might not have much comparison to Simba when the latter was a cub, but I can see some similarities to Simba as an adult that I can summarize in two words: “Hakuna Matata.”

Think about how Leona acts on a daily basis: He lazes around different hiding spots he has across the school grounds to escape from his schoolwork, yet can show a sense of responsibility when push comes to shove such as leading/instructing his underclassmen during Spelldrive club activities or emergencies at the school, something both Epel and Jack note about him.  What did Simba do?  He went into hiding after the death of his father and accepted the Hakuna Matata lifestyle of lazing around with no worries, but nevertheless rose to take responsibility as a prince when his pride needed him. Albeit for different reasons, both of them also turned to their lazy behaviors under the idea that they couldn’t change something about their lives and that it was better to just give up.

We can compare Simba's fake nonchalance to Nala when she begs him to return home and take his rightful place to Leona's nonchalance when his schoolmates encourage him to stay on top of his studies/training and continue to better himself. Both already have people who genuinely look up to and admire them, but don't see their own worth. For Simba, it was due to his guilt: For Leona, it's his constant feeling of being second in everything and to everyone else.

Spinning a little off that, there's something I noticed people bringing up in Leona's second birthday vignette. When asked who he'd bring with him to a deserted island, Leona said it would be Kalim because people would be looking for him as a member of a rich, important family, disregarding Leona's own importance as a prince and the love and respect he has from others. This can fit along Mufasa's line to Simba to "remember who you are," as a prince loved by others and worthy of his role.

We also have the name of Leona's signature spell to consider, "The King's Roar." While this can reference the Roar in The Lion Guard canon, which Scar had, I get the feeling it more closely references Simba's roar which he finds at the end of the film, the roar of a king.

Azul Ashengrotto

For Azul, the comparisons to Ariel are more minor as opposed to how the others compare to their protagonists. The main thing I see them sharing is a lack of belonging in their homelands. Ariel was the black sheep in her family for wanting to explore the human world while Azul, who lives in a point in time that thrives thanks to Ariel improving the relations between humans and mermaids in the past, was outcast for his appearance and followed her example by going to the human world. You don't really hear about him missing the sea either, his ambitions largely being focused on the land. Ergo, both get their new sense of home/belonging on the surface. Granted, his sense of exploration on land is more business-minded than Ariel's, but he's someone similar to her who's always ready to widen the scope of his knowledge--even sending the Leech twins to other places for research, like Jade's trip to Harveston.

By extension, the Leech twins also share this quality through their collections. Floyd collects shoes and various things with eels on them. In one of Jade's vignettes, he compares his collection of mini terrariums to Ursula, but really, that's an Ariel trait. Ariel was a collector who gathered things she simply loved and was curious of from the human world: Ursula's "collections" were only related to her spell/potion casting and the imprisonment of her failed contractors, which would be like calling the stack of school papers you haven't thrown out yet a collection--they're things she needed and used for her "work."

Jamil Viper

While Jamil might've grown up in a better placement on the social ladder than Aladdin, what's important to note in the comparison between them is how Jamil's role is still one of subservience that he feels trapped in. Take the line told to Aladdin by one of Jasmine's suitors: "You were born a street rat, you'll die a street rat." Well, Jamil was "born" to be Kalim's servant due to the relationship shared between their families, and he's been raised to believe he can't ever shake that position.

If we take the cut song from the film, "Proud of Your Boy," into account, the family aspect in between them plays a bigger role. It reflects Aladdin's desire to make something of himself so he doesn't fail someone who believes in him, even though he feels he can never really reach those expectations because of who he is. Jamil's situation there is only a little different. He has a family legacy to uphold and doesn't want to disappoint his parents, but doesn't think he can truly apply himself as he wishes due to who he is and their expectations for him to serve Kalim’s family wholeheartedly.

Even without his signature spell, Jamil is also still very clever and a smooth talker, another trait he shares with Aladdin as much as Jafar. An example of this with Aladdin is when he saved Jasmine when they first met from an enraged street vendor. Similarly, Jamil has had to use his smooth talk to get Kalim and others out of trouble several times.

Vil Schoenheit

I'll keep this one short because of my Neige post, but in summary, again, Neige's oblivious inconsideration of others is why I didn't think he paralleled Snow White well. However... this actually fits Vil pretty decently. Vil is harsh, but he is extremely thoughtful of those around him. He doesn't expect people to fit his idea of beauty, but rather knows how to draw out the beauty of others. We can take both his leadership roles in the SDC and Fairy Gala event as examples of this, knowing which qualities were best to draw out of all team members. He also expresses this in his relationship with Epel, enforcing a bunch of high-class mannerisms onto the latter, but also teaching him how he can use his beauty to his advantage. My main point when I call Vil considerate though is in his response when making a mistake. I referenced Snow White apologizing to the animals for simply scaring them when she herself was terrified for Neige, and I'll do that again here. At the start of Book 6, Vil does something similar to apologize for overblotting by paying the SDC team the entire prize money they would've gotten had they won from his own funds, which was then used to repair Ramshackle Dorm, and then takes in Yuu and Grim during construction.

Vil's and Snow White's backgrounds are also a little similar. Out of jealousy and in attempt to suppress Snow White's beauty, the queen forced Snow White to wear rags and treated her like a servant. Vil's was more situational, but his beauty/ability as an actor has been suppressed due to years of typecasting as a villain, which in turn caused him to be abused by his peers when he was a child.

Idia Shroud

Idia's similarities to Hercules are what really made me believe that the TWST boys shared more with the Disney protagonists than we would expect, because honestly, Idia is a better match to him than Hades. For starters, the fact that both Idia and Ortho as children wanted to go on adventures and become heroes couldn't have been drilled into your head enough throughout Book 6, which was Hercules' goal: To become a true hero. Heck, even their idolization of the Star Rogue game is one, big nod to Hercules himself. When deciding to recreate Ortho, Idia also references the story of Herc saving Meg from the Underworld as part of his moral reasoning on the matter of it being taboo.

There's also the matter of Idia wanting to be like others, wondering what it would've been like had he and Ortho been born into a normal family rather than the Shrouds. This perfectly matches the start of Hercules' journey and his estrangement from others, just with the two having very different talents that set them apart. Both wanted "to find their hero's welcome right where they belong."

Now, I've only seen a fan translation of Chapter 6, so take with it what you will, but for whatever reason, that last aspect was attributed to Hades in Yuu's vision than Hercules, so let me explain why the sense of belonging doesn't fit him. Hades didn't want to be "just like everybody else." As a matter of fact, he threw those exact words in Hercules' face in the movie. What Hades wanted was to dominate others, to rule overall. That element for Idia didn't occur until he overblotted with Ortho's encouragement--and even then, it was explained that he wanted to recreate the world to ultimately meet that ideal of just having fun with his friends as a normal person. Therefore, he still shared Hercules' goal, he just had a warped way of going about it from overblotting.

And the thing is, Idia does share the heart of a hero despite the weight of his guilt over Ortho's death when they were kids. When he puts his mind to doing something for the people he cares about, he'll move the stars for them. Literally, in one case. In the Stargazer event, he sent Ortho into space with everyone's wishes to make the event a success even though he personally didn’t care about it and didn’t want to attend. He only did it because Ortho was looking forward to it. In his Dorm Uniform SSR vignette, he stops some of his fellow dormmates from harassing a band he loves online by hacking them... in seconds. In a New Year event, when a group of students looked like they might harm Ortho in Sam's shop over a mystery bag, Idia leapt in his brother's defense despite his usual behavior.

Lastly, while Hades often uses cowardly tactics to get things done by using others, Idia prefers to take matters into his own hands. This is seen both in his acts of heroism that I mentioned as well as how he came to be the Ignihyde housewarden. Granted, he didn't want someone over him who he didn't feel was good enough for the position, but there's something worthwhile about a person who chooses to use their own strength to solve their problems as opposed to using others, which is another thing Hercules does. Hades sent minions to fight Hercules while Hercules leapt headfirst into danger himself.

Malleus Draconia

And, at last, we have Malleus and Aurora. Since Aurora didn't do all that much in her film and Book 7 hasn't released yet, you wouldn't think there would be too much to say, but from different info we've gathered across the currently released books as well as events, particularly for the Fairy Gala and Ghost Wedding, I think there's one massive similarity shared between the two: A strong sense of duty.

For a deeper dive into that concept for Aurora herself, I'd recommend first checking out the princess appreciation post I made about her a long time ago. In summary though, both share a duty as royals. For Aurora, it was accepting a role she didn't know she had and marrying a man she didn't know at all for the sake of her kingdom and parents she also didn't know at all because she was raised by the three fairies. For Malleus, he can't often participate in a lot of what occurs around the school not just because people fail to invite him, but also because he has to worry of how it might affect his status as the future ruler of Briar Valley. For instance, while Malleus was someone everyone considered to be the perfect prince to woo the Ghost Bride, both Lilia and Sebek agreed that Malleus wouldn't be able to help them since even a fake engagement could have negative consequences for Malleus as a prince.  That status takes priority for him in almost every situation whether Malleus likes it or not.    

A part of this comparison could also play into Malleus’ use of another name chosen by Grim and Yuu.  Aurora also had a second name, Briar Rose, when her identity as a princess was being kept secret.  However, while it was a matter of safety for Aurora, it seems to be more of a matter of acceptance for Malleus.  It feels good to be treated normally rather than feared as “one of the strongest mages in the world” and Briar Valley’s heir, just as how Aurora was depicted as being much happier as Briar Rose than when she was told about her true identity.         

More on Malleus in this post. 

thinking about book 6 battle simulations

I was thinking a lot about book 6 lately! (Not for any particular reason, I was just ruminating, haha...)

During the examination segment, Riddle, Azul, and Vil were put into one group and Jamil and Leona were put in the other group. Idia then put them into VR simulations in which (simulated) Trey, Jade, Rook, Kalim, and Ruggie approached the subjects to upset them. This is for the purposes of STYX to gauge their combative capabilities and blot accumulation. What I noticed on another read of these parts was that Idia makes sure to inform all the subjects they are about to enter a VR simulation BEFORE they dive in... and yet despite this, group 1 (Riddle, Azul, Vil) was still caught off-guard when Trey, Jade, and Rook attacked them. Meanwhile, Jamil in group 2 automatically defers to Kalim but Leona is the one who notices something is fishy about the situation. Now, now... this is interesting 👁️ Why might this be, I wonder~ (You bet I'm going to analyze the heck out of these small details!)

***Main story spoilers up to book 6!!***

First thing to consider: it's possible that perhaps the characters don't fully understand what "VR simulation" is, as most of them did take a while to come to their senses. Of the 5 subjects, Riddle is the most likely to fall into this category. He seems to be slightly confused by the concept of a "virtual space" when Idia explains the examination to them (which likely conflicts with Riddle's very traditional understanding of "tests"). Furthermore, Riddle has expressed in Endless Halloween Night that his mother did not allow him to play video games or to watch TV so he'd usually do crosswords or solve other puzzles for fun. He's not completely technologically inept (like Malleus), but Riddle does have a somewhat limited scope of how items and procedures are to be used, especially if it lies beyond its normal means. It's likely that he has not thought of VR simulation being used in the scenario in which he finds himself in now.

The other 4 subjects, however, most likely understand what VR is and shouldn't be confused by the simulation. Azul is very savvy and keeps up with trends, which can factor into his business(es). He even brings up streaming as a potential source of revenue in book 6; man has his fingers on the pulse of pop culture to know what will sell. Vil, being a celebrity and the leader of the Film Research Club, must have an understanding of various technologies used to achieve certain effects (especially as director of his own projects). Jamil constantly deals with Kalim's requests and, being in Kalim's social bubble, must get exposure to all kinds of crazy technologies. Leona, being a knowledgeable prince, surely must understand the concept of VR simulation.

Okay, so... why did they (mostly) still get "tricked" by the simulation anyway? The key words today would be "trust" and "dependence".

Thinking about it, there's one thing that separates group 1 from 2: the boys in group 1 have a tendency to rely on others for support and validation whereas the boys in group 2 are consistently shown to be more independent than their peers (even if they, too, seek validation). Let's go through them one by one!

GROUP 1

Riddle

Riddle is presented as a tyrant that rules with an iron fist, particularly in book 1 where he stars as the main antagonist. However, it's also pretty blatant that Riddle has become increasingly aggressive due in part to others enabling him. Ace specifically calls out Trey for this, saying that his failure to intervene or to quell Riddle's temper has resulted in Heartslabyul students suffering for it. Cater is also complacent, as he and/or Trey often follow Riddle's orders and remove Adeuce from the dorm multiple times in book 1. Riddle relies on these upperclassmen to listen to him and carry out his bidding, and he feels validated when they do. It's a lesson he has learned from his mother. He is the most powerful, and therefore he should be the most correct. Notice how Riddle is quick to anger when others refuse to obey him and how often he demands for them to conform. He becomes enraged when the Heartslabyul mobs rebel and chuck an egg at him. But what hurts him most of all is, perhaps, Trey turning too. Riddle was mad about the mobs acting up, yes, but he still did not overblot. Not yet, at least. No, Riddle overblots only AFTER he tries to attack Ace with the rose trees... and Trey steps in with his UM to overwrite Riddle's collar, turning it into cards. Trey's relationship with Riddle cannot be understated here. In this very moment, Trey, Riddle's childhood friend (one of his first friends), vice dorm leader, silent yes man, his most trusted confidant, has betrayed him. He is proving Riddle wrong, that the most powerful mage is not the most correct. "Are YOU going to tell me that I'm wrong too? After all I've done to protect the rule of law?! [...] I... I refuse to believe this!"

From these examples, we can clearly see that Riddle is someone who is reliant on others--not that he isn't a capable mage, but rather he is reliant on others for his own sense of self-worth. Indeed, even in his post-OB flashback, he indicates feeling proud and excited when his mother praises him for good grades or successfully performing a spell. This is reiterated many times over in book 1, in which Riddle feels satisfied and even smug when his students fall in line, and spirals into uncontrollable rage when they don't. There are a select few whom Riddle has chosen to place his faith in, and Trey is one of them. Trey, who gave him his first slice of strawberry tart and has been supporting him as his vice for over a year now (since Riddle became dorm leader in his first week as a first-year student; now is the start of Riddle's second year). That's why he feels so hurt when Trey is suddenly chastising him, telling him that he's behaving irrationally.

If we reexamine Riddle's post-OB flashback, you'll notice that Riddle says he is lonely without every outright stating the word "lonely". The phrasing makes it sound as though Riddle does not understand his own loneliness, like he doens't even know the word or want to acknowledge it as reality. He is awkward and unsure around Trey and Chenya, who invite him out to play. He follows his mother's rules because he believes that is what will bring him happiness. He wonders why, in spite of following all those rules, he still feels hollow inside. Then, once Riddle has awoken, he confesses that he always wanted to play more with Trey, and that he wants to talk with everyone after a meal. Riddle. at his core, craves companionship rather than dominating his peers. Trey was one of the few friends he ever had, and so Riddle puts a lot of stock into his support. This may be why he was quick to believe the fake Trey in the simulation, and why he looked so shocked when Trey started attacking him. Here is a boy who has already been betrayed once, experiencing that same betrayal again at the hands of his childhood friend. How scared must he be of losing his oldest friend, of Trey turning his back on him or seeing him as a monster? 😭

Azul

Due to the bullying he experienced in his childhood, Azul works very hard to maintain a new image of someone who is cool, confident, and composed. Part of that is passing himself off as someone who is large and in charge, while posing Jade and Floyd as his lackies who do whatever he tells them to. The reality of the matter is that the twins are very much... there to do their own thing, and they just kind of go along with Azul's schemes because they seem to be a lot of fun. When you stop to consider it though, Azul definitely puts a lot of trust into the Leech brothers even though they're both shady and can be flippant at times. It's the twins going around and advertising Azul's services to the student population. It's the twins who help him expand his business and acquire new items (as all three's Dorm Uniform vignettes are about the Octatrio conspiring to acquire the rights to and/or advertise their new drinks). It's the twins who are asked to run the Mostro Lounge whenever Azul is absent. Time and time again, Azul falls back on Jade and Floyd. They've been with him since middle school.

In book 4, both Azul and Floyd insist that they aren't really "childhood friends", but they do consider each other "equals". As Azul describes it, "I strongly doubt Jade or Floyd have any binding allegiance to me. This is all and elaborate game of pretend to them. [...] If I made a poor choice as leader--or even simply a boring one... They would turn on me instantly and seize the dorm leader seat for themselves." Floyd follows with, "We ain't got any plans to challenge him, either... for now, anyway. Aha ha! [...] We stick with [Azul] now 'cause it's fun. If it stops bein' fun, we drop him like a bad habit. Easy." The twins and Azul are both very aware that their relationship is a temporary and transactional one. Azul himself has even fully considered the possibility that Jade and Floyd may one day turn on him. This is all true--however, I also believe it's possible that the Octatrio are not being entirely truthful to themselves and do actually care for one another beyond the confines of their business ties or "having fun". In book 3, Jade and Floyd sense that something is wrong, and their immediate thought is to go check on Azul because of this gut feeling. Jade warns Azul of the consequences of misusing his UM. They are also the first to check on Azul after his OB and insist that he rest and find it within them to gently tease him over the situation. Even the way they address each other is "special". Jade and Azul have a tendency to be polite and use the honorific "-san" after everyone's name... except for each other and Floyd. Floyd, meanwhile, tends to give everyone a nickname... except for Jade and Azul. They drop these naming conventions within their group because that's how much they know and trust each other. Further proof of this is that when Floyd first meets Azul in the post-OB flashback of book 3, he calls Azul "Octopus-chan". Azul used to have a nickname, but no longer has one. This implies that a lack of a nickname actually indicates that Floyd is more intimate with someone than if he had nicknamed them. The same goes with Jade and Azul, who are usually so formal and polite.

I've already established that Azul acts in ways which indicate that he is close to the twins, as much as he tries to deny it and come off as tough. He drops the honorifics for them and he trusts them to do his bidding. What I find most telling, however, is when Jade and Floyd check up on him right as he's about to OB. "Jade! Floyd! Ahhh, you've finally come back to me," Azul says (if you listen to his voice, he sounds SO relieved). "Would you believe that thanks to these FOOLS, I've lost all of my contracts? Which is why I'm going to need your powers now. Come on, give them to me!" This is notable because, prior to this, he was forcibly ripping powers out of mob students. But now with the twins--Azul makes a CONSCIOUS decision to ask Jade and Floyd for them to willingly give up their powers to him. Azul is emotional and acting without tact here, but he STILL stops to ask the twins for them to surrender their magic. He cares about getting their consent specifically. When the brothers deny him and Floyd says Azul has become lame, that's when Azul snaps. His loyal henchmen are refusing his request and he's lost all his accumulated wealth. He's going to become the weak, friendless crybaby he once way all over again.

Knowing all of this, it makes sense why Azul was as startled as Riddle was when the simulated Jade attacked him. Azul claims that he anticipates this day--but he still seems to disturbed when it actually happens. It's true that perhaps this surprise comes in part from Azul having no indication that the twins were getting bored of him, so this is coming out of left field in his perspective. But... it could also be that he's hurt by the sudden shift, even if he and the twins have been telling themselves all along that they'd toss each other out without a second thought once they lose interest. This calls back to Azul's concerns right before he overblots: that his "business partners" (whom he refuses to call his friends) have lost interest in him and will now leave him alone and with nothing. He relies on the brothers not only for labor, but as his company and his confidants. When that's taken away from him... what does Azul have left that's worth anything?

Vil

Vil is another person who typically passes as very independent. He looks after himself quite well and is often the one nagging others to do the same. The thing with him is... he's still a celebrity at the end of the day, and a celebrity like him is always aware of his public image and the eyes on him. That's Vil's Achille's heel: as a celebrity, he is constantly concerned with how others perceive him. This is a lesson he learns in book 5--that he shouldn't let other people's judgment of him or a silly popularity contest determine his self-worth. Ah, but let's remember... book 6 begins like a mere DAY after book 5. Sure, Vil's character arc may be over, but that does not mean that he has suddenly completely changed. Up until yesterday, he was aggressively training to overcome his rival and to show the whole world his true beauty. Vil still, to some degree, finds value in how he looks and how others see him, as it strongly ties into his career. To this end, he sees Rook as a valuable individual.

Now, there's a lot of contention about whether or not Rook is a good influence on Vil or not, as some interpret his commentary as derogatory or unnecessarily critical. I'm not going to get into that; here, I am going to speak plainly about how Vil himself views Rook's feedback. In Vil's Labwear vignettes, he confides in Trey that he relies on Rook's keen observational skills to reflect the truth back to him. A celebrity must look at his best, and he can count on Rook to not mince his words and point out even the most minute of changes at a quick glance. (Vil himself is also extremely strict with himself, but lacks the superhuman abilities that his vice dorm leader does.) Rook has been doing this since long before he even transferred to Pomefiore, critiquing Vil's performances and such, not just his looks alone. This led into long discussions and debates between the two, which demonstrates how much Vil values Rook's perspective. Even back then, Rook was one of Vil's greatest supporters, but not exactly a totally blind "yes man". He is offering the kind of feedback that Vil seeks, not empty, sugar-coated niceties. This is why, in spite of his betrayal at the end of book 5, Vil eventually accepts it, as he trusts Rook's keen eye and judgment. What's interesting about book 6's examinations is that Vil seemingly takes charge of his group. When approached by the simulated classmates, Vil steps up and, after a moment of silence, says, "No... It's nothing. Let's go." (Vil is known as a skilled actor and can easily sniff out an act himself. Was the silence hesitation as he, Azul, and Riddle reevaluate the scene? Hard to say, but I'm assuming that STYX's state-of-the-art tech was able to perfectly simulate Rook, and thus confused Vil and co. for a while.) Rook strikes him with a spell, and that invokes a great emotional reaction from Vil, who seems to be the most aghast of the group. The fake Rook then declares that he's going to claim the dorm leader seat from Vil, which shocks him. "As you know, I appreciate beautiful things. Hence... I can hardly allow someone who's acted as ugly as you to occupy the Fairest Queen's throne!" The scene then cuts away to a battle. Now, while we don't get any extra dialogue from Vil to show his reaction, one interpretation could be that he was stunned into silence. Why is this a believable occurrence? Because the fake Rook called Vil out for "ugly" behavior. This is significant because back when Vil was overblotting, he was desperately shouting for people to "not look at him" because he's "so ugly". Here, ugliness does not mean literal ugliness or something that is visually unappealing. The "ugliness" being spoken of refers to being morally rotten, as Vil was speaking on his guilt after resorting to dirty tactics to try and take out his rival (when he had previously sworn to win on his own merits alone). The simulated Rook might be referring to this, which induces great shame in Vil, who is aware of the weight of his sins. Heck, book 6 even starts with Vil taking accountability and sincerely apologizing to the whole NRC Tribe for causing them trouble. Vil blames himself for their team losing, as it was his OB that forced them to fight and physically wore them out before their big performance. "What does it matter who forgives me?! I can't... I can't forgive myself!" He may still have lingering guilt regarding this incident, hence why he's the one predominantly reacting when the vice dorm leaders betray group 1. His mirror and huntsman, who speaks only the truth to him, now tells him of his ugliness. What else can that be, if not the truth reflected back at him?

GROUP 2

Jamil

To be clear, Jamil did not automatically go after the simulated Kalim. He automatically defers and tries to go along with his dorm leader (and only starts fighting once Leona declares the simulation for the sham it really is). Why? Surely Jamil is sharper witted than that. To this, I say... of course, it's just that Jamil's so used to being a servant that he reverts back to submissiveness as soon as he's put in a circumstance where there's a power dynamic. He’s not the one relying on Kalim—Kalim is often the one relying on him. You need proof of Jamil's servile mindset? He was intentionally talking down his own skills ever since book 4 and, according to Azul, has been purposefully maintaining painfully average grades (which, in of itself, takes a lot of effort). Admittedly though, those are conscious choices, not unconscious ones. But how about back in book 5, when Vil announces him as one of the lead vocalists and Jamil's immediate reaction is not to accept it, but to humble himself and insist that Kalim would be better suited for it (when Kalim actually isn't)? Jamil has to stop himself, back up, and accept the nomination, which he has earned for himself, rather than relinquish it to someone less deserving. Years and years of serving someone else, forced to play the part of the inferior servant, will beat that attitude into his mind, regardless of how much he resents the position.

Even now, Jamil feels like he usually has to follow someone else's lead. Leona, the upperclassman and dorm leader, provides that lead for him in the VR simulation. This leadership + independence is something they would butt heads over later in book 6, as Jamil begins to act overprotective of his current charge (Leona) as he does with Kalim. While Jamil has played the part of Kalim's attendant and childhood friend, the reality is that Jamil cannot stand those roles. He desires to stand out and to be recognized--something which is evident in book 4. Before he brainwashes the Scarabia students, he's always framing himself in a positive and helpful light to them and speaks humbly about his abilities. After he brainwashes the Scarabia students, he has them heap him with praise that he had never gotten in his childhood. In the post-OB flashback, we see Jamil's parents scolding him for outperforming Kalim, even in something as simple as a game. The headmaster of a great arcane academy overlooks him in favor of someone far less capable.

Jamil knows he can be great, but he's intentionally being told to not reach those heights. He feels stifled and trapped, and no one understands his plight that he cannot escape from. This results in Jamil distancing himself from others and coming to rely on himself and himself alone to make his wishes come true. He can't rely on his family, who are beholden to their legacy of being servants to the Asims. He can't confide in friends because none of them are quite like him, and Kalim would ignorantly brush it off. He can't tell third parties because, as Crowley as demonstrated, they dismiss him outright. Jamil, as he acts throughout book 6, is doing so in an effort to find his own strength and to be able to act on it with the freedom he seeks. To play support not because he has to, but because he, the individual, wants to. As Jamil states before overblotting, he wants to "be free" from these precarious circumstances where a wrong move could doom him and his family... but he only has so many liberties to work with. This leaves him in a strange limbo situation where he still isn't fully independent but desperately wishes to be. We see him fighting against the restraints, and to varying degrees of effectiveness depending on the context and his state of mind within that context.

Leona

From a young age, Leona seems to have worked tirelessly to obtain recognition. Like Jamil, Leona was in such a position (second-born prince) that, despite his efforts, he kept being rejected and beaten down again and again. As we see in his post-OB flashback, this is what eventually broke Leona’s spirit and made him develop a pessimistic outlook on his prospects for the future. The thing is, even though Leona does not really have hope for himself, he still manages to inspire hope in other people, from underclassmen to the students of his dorm. Book 2 is entirely about Savanaclaw looking to Leona to save their own futures, and him trying to do so for their sakes. His club mates extol how he can so quickly hone in on their best skills and advise them on how to sharpen those skills. Jack admires Leona’s plays, so much so that he wished to one day play alongside Leona. He’s even able to get beastmen of different species to get along and live peacefully under his rule when this has historically been difficult for his older brother to manage. All in all, Leona has all the makings of a leader. He stands out from the crowd, knows when to leverage his power and intelligence (playing smarter, not harder), and commands with ease.

… That being said, Leona’s presence can be so powerful at times that it’s also isolating. This was the case for his childhood, which is depicted to us as many palace servants being fearful of Leona’s devastatingly strong magic. He also uses this strong magic against his dorm mates when their intentions clash in book 2–and he comes close to killing someone in the process. He’s also just notorious in general for being grumpy or unfriendly toward others, including one instance in book 5 when he seems upset that you’ve showed up in his classroom. Leona drives people away from him, whether because of his strength or because of his prickly attitude.

At the same time, i would also describe Leona as a tactician that keeps some degree of distance from those he commands. He makes it clear he's willing to use others to achieve his own goals and does so many times over. Book 2, when he tries to take out Malleus to help his dorm leaders while also trying to prove to himself that he's capable. Book 3, when he helps Yuu and co. dissolve the contracts including one of his own he made with Azul, etc. Leona knows how to best use his own abilities, as well as those of others. That's what makes him so formidable--he can read others and judge the situation extremely well, and he knows when it is smart to fight and when to tactically retreat (such as in book 6, when he immediately surrenders to STYX agents rather than make a scene). Leona is a self-sufficient man.

There’s the question of Ruggie, of course. Leona is often depicted as lazy and relies on Ruggie to do many daily things for him, such as laundry or fetching food. This obviously throws a wrench into the claim that Leona is more "independent" than those in group 1, doesn't it? He doesn't even come close to Jamil, who actually does all of these tasks himself. Well, not exactly. I don't think "independence" here really comes down to that alone. Riddle, Azul, and Vil all relied on Trey, the twins, and/or Rook to some significant degree to inform their own senses of self. Jamil had this belief of deferring to his "betters" (the Asims) instilled in him, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter. And Leona? Leona does not significantly rely on Ruggie for his self-worth (dude was 100% going to sand him in book 2). Yes, Leona was likely looking to help his dorm members in part to prove to himself he is capable of leading a pack, but he gives up when he realizes it was a fruitless effort. He doesn't become reinvigorated to keep it up or to try again, even when his dorm members (Ruggie included) plead to him. Leona is acting selfishly, and he refuses to acknowledge their perspectives--he's set in his own ways and is driven by his own thoughts, not those of the people around him. Perhaps this is what allows him to discern truth from lies with such clarity, as it is Leona who rouses Jamil to his senses and leads the charge against the VR simulation Kalim and Ruggie.

who's your favorite twisted wonderland character, and why?

How do I even choose?

I have different reasons for liking all of my favs

(I will expand on all of these if asked. Please ask. Please. Id analyze any character in twst if asked I love them all)

Ace: I love how blunt he is. He doesn't sugarcoat his feelings as he speaks up for himself, others, and what he thinks is right. He can be an idiot, but I love him nonetheless! Although I feel like canon doesn't do much with his character and he's just used as a way to make other characters have development. (Ex: Riddle in ch.1 deuce in ch.5 the fairy gala remix in his card story) But all in all I think I love him because he's the opposite of me. (I can't speak up for myself...)

Trey: Like Ace, canon doesn't do much with his character and fandom doesn't really do anything with him besides using him as a way for cater angst? (No hate to Cater stans of course) so a lot of his character is my speculation. (He is not a normal guy he is lying to himself.) I love how I can pick apart his character without canon coming in and crushing my dreams. (I project onto him frequently.)

Leona: Oh boy. Here we go. God I love Leona so much. Obviously, he's a depressed bitch and neither canon nor fandom properly recognizes it he also has some serious trauma. (knowing you could be better but, why try? Your goal is impossible anyways.) Also, (as far as I know) he's the only Overblot victim who didn't properly redeem himself. (Ripping up Azul's contracts out of selfish desires is not redemption.) So that's canon mischaracterizing their own character and the fandom, is the fandom. Overall Leona is mischaracterized way too much and I kin him. (That's the reason I love him. I kin him.)

Azul: Azul is literally my baby. I love him because I just wanna give him a hug. The way his ED is implied a few times and then never brought up again is really annoying to me like- if you're gonna give ED rep at least mention in more than his chapter! It's a key part of his character and it's barely there. Oh also he was bullied and I relate to that.

Jamil: The vibes. Gender Envy. The pyromania. The way he hates Kalim even though it's not his fault because he needs someone to be angry at and it's so easy to hate the person directly causing your problems rather than blaming the system behind them. Oh also he's brown and I'm brown so it's like-

Vil: VILLL MY BEAUTIFUL QUEEN. Gender. Envy. The things I could do if I was him- she's so- can you imagine if I was amab? I could be feminine and still not be seen as a girl. Anyways the way he's always second place but doesn't blame the person who's above him but rather blames himself is so sad but so me.

Idia: his gamer talk is so funny sometimes. Oh also I wish I had an older brother like him. Oh also I haven't finished ch.6 but I'm really excited. Oh also technological characters always have a special place in my heart. oh also he's depressed and I find that relatable.

Sebek: I love him. He's so loud and so rude (humans) but I love him he's such a dork. He's trying his best okay? Id really love to see his character when it's not revolving around Malleus though.

Authors Note: tldr: angst, badassery, gender envy, character studys and more not necessarily in that order.

Diasomnia’s and Pomefiore’s Peacock Imagery (& the ties to Meleanor)

When looking at Diasomnia’s Halloween costume- “the ghost of a long,” I was confused for a while about the peacock feather. But the Halloween events in particular have shown generous amounts of foreshadowing, especially with Diasomnia. If Levan, Malleus’ father, does indeed have some relation to the long (his title being Ryūgan Duke Levan, which may translate to Long-Eyed Duke Levan), then this Halloween costume that Malleus chose himself certainly has its significance.

Anyway, about the peacock feather, in Twisted Wonderland this is usually associated with the Fairest Queen and Pomefiore- undoubtedly because of the Peacock Throne. In Snow White, it’s said that the Evil Queen had a Peacock Throne that represented her extreme vanity. Peacocks have long since been symbols of beauty, elegance, power, royalty- but sometimes also correlated to pride to a sinful degree.

But after poking around a bit with some research, I discovered that the long was often paired the fenghuang, a mythical bird in Chinese mythology, and these two paired together would symbolize marital harmony and everlasting love between husband and wife. The fenghuang in modern times became a feminine entity tied with the empress, and the long a masculine entity tied to the emperor. These creatures were opposites yet harmonious, like the yin and yang respectively.

Much like the long, the fenghuang was said to made up of the parts of various animals- and in more recent mythos, the fenghuang is commonly depicted with the tail of a peacock.

So…I wonder if Malleus unintentionally chose a Halloween costume that represented both of his parents, and symbols of their harmonious marriage. Dragon eggs do require genuine, parental love to hatch, which Meleanor and Levan would’ve undoubtedly gave if fate treated them more kindly. We don’t know much about Levan, but he was described as kind, a scholar, a diplomat, someone who desired peace and unity between humans and Fae. Most of these descriptions are from Lilia, and these are a stark contrast to how he describes Meleanor.

Edit: I mentioned this in a reblog, but Levan potentially being a bird Fae yet tied to a dragon-like figure, and Meleanor being a literal dragon yet tied to the fenghuang and peacock…it’s another case of them being harmonious opposites

I also feel like there is something mysterious tying Pomefiore and Diasomnia specifically. Ray has an incredibly big brain thread about Diasomnia’s and Pomefiore’s connections- please check it out 👀 But I wonder if the symbolism of the peacock and the mixture of pride and nobility is trying to say something more. The peacock imagery is usually tied to Vil, as his spell book is beautifully decorated with peacock imagery, and his recent card seems to have golden claws/or embellishments on his gloves that resemble peacock feathers. His Overblot form has SEVERAL ties to it. The ends of his cape resemble black peacock feathers, and so do his boots and crown.

Interestingly enough, his Overblot form heavily resembles the Virgin Mary. If you’re curious about this resemblance to not only the Virgin Mary but also Meleanor, check out this older theory post of mine as well ^_^ Rook also gets a peacock feather in his hat for his New Years outfit, but the peacock imagery definitely seems more tied to Vil 🤔

Additionally, in a split second shot in the opening, Crowley is seen sitting in what seems to be a Peacock Throne. The throne in Pomefiore is a direct reference to the Evil Queen’s throne, but what’s interesting about Crowley’s throne is that the gemstones are purple, not blue. Either this is lighting being unusually strong, or this is a different chair entirely. It may be his office chair, but unfortunately we haven’t gotten a good look at it yet. Even Crowley’s new furniture in the JP version doesn’t show enough details for his office throne.

I mentioned this briefly in the Virgin Mary theory, but I feel as though that Vil is the closest representation of who Meleanor was. I think this line in his dorm uniform vignette is most striking, as he is like “the Queen reborn, with two striking knights at your side.” The thing is, the Evil Queen didn’t HAVE any knights. Her closest companions were the raven and the hunter. But neither of them were exactly knights, and she thought very little of them in the film. Rook’s chat’s say that the hunter carried out all her orders- although he made many blunders, and said that the raven was more of a pet (contrast to Malleus who says Diablo was a fellow companion who fought alongside Maleficent). But Meleanor DID have “two striking knights” at her side, through the form of Levan and Lilia, her left and right generals.

Additionally, in Book 5, Vil mentions beauty being a power that’s more overwhelming that violence, and can bring people to their knees. And his voicelines show his belief that roses have thorns is part of their charm. I just can’t help but think of the scene in Book 7, where Meleanor literally brings Yuu and crew down to their knees with her magic, thinking them unworthy of even looking at her in the eye. (Credits to Otome Ayui for translation🐦‍⬛)

And Vil’s voicelines show his belief that roses having thorns is part of the charm, and that he interestingly correlates birthdays with the aurora. Meleanor’s castle is called Wild Rose Castle, and ended up covering the castle with her thorns. Additionally, both the aurora and the rose is heavily tied to Sleeping Beauty, with Princess Aurora, and her “peasant” name being Briar Rose. The gift of her beauty even said her lips were as red as the rose. And, well, there’s the whole storyline about Aurora’s sixteenth birthday overall -v-

As I mentioned earlier, I think Vil and Pomefiore represent Meleanor more as the Fae she was- her “tenacity,” as you could put it, being the spirit of Pomefiore. Diasomnia seems to connect to the idea of nobility and the guards/knights that protect the Queen. Even Pomefiore’s imagery, of the peacock, the sword impaling the heart…it feels very representative of what happened to Meleanor. Perhaps the connection between these two dorms makes up the full image of Meleanor (I’m not sure how to describe what I’m saying NSJXJD)? The guards to the Queen, the nobility and dragon Fae of Diasomnia, with the pride, tenacity, and beauty of Pomefiore.

Edit: I somehow forgot about the fenghuang and long symbolism here. Pomefiore’s symbol is the peacock, and Diasomnia’s is the dragon. It really feels as though there’s a connection between them 😭🙏

And back to what a peacock symbolizes, in Chinese culture the peacock is tied to auspicious happiness and prosperity, and serves as a symbol of beauty, nobility, power, and divinity. The feathers could even be talisman to ward of evil spirits. The Fenghuang was also believed to disappear during times of chaos and despair, and would only appear when there was world peace.

In English, the Fenghuang is translated as the “Chinese Phoenix,” although I’ve read that the similarities are superficial. The Phoenix being well known for bursting into flames and being reborn from its own ashes could potentially have significance though- but this trait is not seen in Chinese mythos. Additionally, Christianity associates the peacock with purity and the resurrection of Jesus, so peacock imagery can be seen at burials/tombs.

What fascinates me about this idea of purity and nobility is the surrounding conflicting views of who Meleanor was. The Senate practically turned her into some angelic, fairytale figure (Lian elaborates so beautifully in her post here 🫶) who is dignified and noble. The Senate idolized her to the point that Lilia was too filthy to ever stand beside her- who was a noble dragon. The Silver Owls saw her as a monster, a vain witch to be defeated. Lilia saw her as a spoiled and overly prideful princess, but also cared for her deeply as a person and not just someone to be idolized. He grew up with her, after all, and has been subjected to her antics and mischief for many years. (Translation credits to Otome Ayui 🐦‍⬛)

I think the connections here could heavily tie to other popular theories, like Meleanor being in the Dark Mirror or will be “resurrected” in some way. And you all know me- I think Crowley’s fixation on Pomefiore and the Evil Queen may also be representative of something (*´∀｀*) No matter the theories regarding Crowley, I do think it’s significant that he’s sitting in some peacock throne in the opening. With all these connections to nobility, I wonder if it means Crowley taking on the symbolic or literal position of royalty or power (*'▽'*) He is technically the highest authority so far at NRC, but I just can’t help but feel there’s more significance than meets the eye 🐦‍⬛