#he's also the dorm representative... interesting...

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

【黄昏通信】

櫻眞學園生徒名簿②

||◤ 高等部 2年B組

国木田独歩 ◢||

『武装生徒会』の副会長。自らの理想を重んじ、完璧な予定を完璧にこなすことを信条としている。そのため、傍若無人な生徒会の面々に常に振り回されている。櫻眞學園学生寮の寮生代表も務める。

Translation:

(Twilight Notice)

Ouma Academy Student Profile 2

||◤Senior High Student Year 2 Class B

Kunikida Doppo◢||

The vice president of the "Armed Student Council." He values his ideals above all and believes in flawlessly executing a perfect schedule. As a result, he is constantly thrown off balance by the unruly members of the student council. He also serves as the dormitory representative for Ouma Academy's student dorms.

[auren-zagarra]

I for one am Leona’s self appointed wife and I would love to see you do a breakdown!

Leona Kingscholar: A Deeper Look into Depression

Disclaimer: Although this post is written by a professional psychologist, it is not intended to serve as a formal diagnosis. Rather, it is a character analysis of Leona Kingscholar, created out of personal interest and passion for world-building. In psychological practice, accurate assessment should never be based solely on external observation.

Leona Kingscholar is the housewarden of Savanaclaw Dorm. As second prince of the Sunset Savanna (a prosperous kingdom). Leona himself often appears lazy and apathetic. According to lore, Leona was raised in the royal family alongside an older brother, Falena. From childhood he was “constantly compared to and upstaged” and treated as inferior simply for being born second - and these dynamics fostered deep resentment. At home, Leona perceives that “no matter what he does, he would never become the best nor have the opportunity to become king”. At first, he refused to enroll at Night Raven College (NRC) since he already learnt everything from royal tutors during his childhood, however, after Cheka’s birth he accepted the invitation because he was feeling suffocated. Within the narrative, Leona initially serves as a proud antagonist, being portrayed as talented and perceptive, but he frequently shirks effort. Symbolically, Leona represents the lion’s prideful and dominant traits twisted by frustration and sloth: outwardly grandiose and competitive, yet inwardly demoralized by his past.

Personality and Trauma

Leona’s outward demeanor is arrogant, domineering, and prideful. Character summaries note that he tends not to waste his energy on those he deems inferior and puts little to no effort into activities that don’t interest him, especially his studies. He is smart and magically powerful, but also notoriously lazy - even repeating a school year due to low attendance. Psychologically, this combination suggests a grandiose façade masking deeper issues. When challenged or when his pride is at stake, Leona becomes fiercely competitive and ruthless; he strives to achieve victory through any means necessary, even resorting to underhanded tactics to prove himself a worthy leader. This behavior reveals a fragile ego: he boasts and belittles others to compensate for inner insecurity.

Behind his arrogance lies a history of personal trauma. Growing up as the second prince in a powerful family, Leona was continually compared unfavorably to his elder brother. He describes Falena as “carefree” and remembers being treated as inferior simply for birth order. This chronic dethronement instilled in him a sense of learned helplessness: he eventually felt that no matter what he did, he would never become the best nor have the opportunity to become king. In his own words, Leona admits that once this belief took hold, “he now sees no reason to work hard” since his status “will stay the same no matter what”. Such statements indicate enduring feelings of futility and defeat. His royal lineage should have granted him confidence, but instead seems to have created a persistent sense of inadequacy. Even as a dorm student, he remains emotionally tied to his identity as a “prince” denied a throne, seeking in NRC the respect and power he lacked at home.

Leona’s family and social experiences have thus shaped a complex personality. His boasting about his power and disdain masks envy and unprocessed hurt. For example, in a birthday vignette he vented about his brother’s patronizing gifts - “It’s the same with my brother… he’s gotta be the caring big brother… he’s gonna run our kingdom into the ground” - exposing bitterness and frustration. In the dorm, Leona often withdraws when stressed (hiding in the gardens to nap undisturbed) but can explode in anger if pushed. Overall, Leona oscillates between grandiosity and resentment, a dynamic that foreshadows deeper psychological distress.

What Is Depression?

Clinical depression is a mood disorder defined by pervasive low mood and loss of interest or pleasure, accompanied by other cognitive and physical symptoms. According to the DSM-5, a major depressive episode requires at least two weeks during which the person experiences a depressed mood or markedly diminished interest nearly every day, plus at least four additional symptoms. These symptoms include significant changes in appetite or weight, sleep disturbance (insomnia or hypersomnia), psychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue or loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, diminished ability to think or concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Clinicians must also verify that symptoms cause significant distress or impairment and are not better explained by another condition. DSM-5 recognizes subtypes (e.g. melancholic depression).

Modern theories highlight cognitive and learning factors in depression. Aaron Beck’s cognitive model describes a negative cognitive triad: depressed individuals hold persistent negative beliefs about themselves, their world, and their future. They may think “I’m worthless,” “the world is hostile,” and “the future is hopeless,” often accompanied by cognitive distortions such as all-or-nothing thinking and catastrophizing. Learned helplessness theory (Martin Seligman) similarly proposes that depression can arise when people perceive a lack of control over outcomes. If a person repeatedly experiences uncontrollable stressors, they may begin to believe that efforts are futile, leading to helplessness and hopelessness. In clinical terms, depression is thus both a syndrome of affective symptoms and a style of thinking that includes feelings of helplessness and pessimism.

For example, cognitive theory predicts that someone who feels “unlovable, helpless, and doomed” will become withdrawn and demoralized. Learned helplessness theory specifically notes that clinical depression may result from a real or perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. Both perspectives emphasize how persistent negative interpretations (about self and environment) and perceived failure to influence one’s destiny contribute to depressive states. Additional frameworks (such as hopelessness theory) build on these ideas, but fundamentally depression involves enduring maladaptive beliefs and emotions about the self and life circumstances.

Leona’s Depression

Leona’s behavior and spoken words strongly suggest the presence of clinical depression, as understood by DSM criteria and cognitive theories. In Book 2 of Twisted-Wonderland, Leona explicitly expresses hopelessness and worthlessness. When taunted that he could never rule like Malleus, Leona responds with manic laughter and despair: “You’re EXACTLY right… I will never become king. No matter how hard I try!”. Moments later, he screams that he’s been “loathed since the day I was born,” has “never had a place, never had a future,” and that “none of his hard work is ever rewarded!” (quotes directly taken from Book 2). These proclamations reveal classic cognitive symptoms of depression: a negative view of the self (“loathed since birth”); a belief in a bleak, unalterable future (“will never become king”); and a sense that the world is unfairly punishing him (“hard work never rewarded”). In Beckian terms, Leona’s statements exemplify the negative triad - he sees himself as unworthy, the world as hostile or dismissive, and the future as hopeless. Furthermore, his assertion that “no matter how hard I try, I will never… king” is characteristic of learned helplessness: he perceives total lack of control over his destiny.

Behaviorally, Leona also exhibits symptoms aligning with depression. He is persistently fatigued and unmotivated: he skips classes and naps in secluded spots (e.g. botanical gardens) rather than engage with others. He puts minimal effort into schoolwork unless his pride is challenged, implying anhedonia (loss of interest) in most activities. His irritability and outbursts (as in the overblot scene) can be seen as expressions of underlying agitation or emotional dysregulation common in depression. While the game does not detail his sleep or appetite patterns (with exception of his naps, which could be a symptom of hypersomnia), he clearly meets several affective criteria: pervasive dysphoria, low energy, and feelings of worthlessness, persisting over time. It is plausible that Leona’s mood disturbance would qualify as at least a Major Depressive Episode under DSM-5, given the severity and thematic centrality of these symptoms. If not full-criteria MDD, he may fit a chronic depressive condition (such as persistent depressive disorder), since his hopeless outlook appears long-standing.

In terms of psychological theory, Leona’s profile fits both Beck’s and Seligman’s models of depression. He exhibits Beck’s negative cognitive triad: for example, he believes he is unworthy and unchangeable and he regards the world as incapable of understanding or helping him. Such rigid, pessimistic beliefs about himself and the future likely reinforce his despair. He also epitomizes learned helplessness. Repeated early experiences of uncontrollable failure (being beaten by his brother despite trying) have led him to a stable attributional style: he expects defeat as inevitable, so he sees no reason to work hard - and exactly because of this he cheats in Book 2, hurting his opponents and even raiding the stadium.Leona’s coping strategies are largely avoidant or compensatory. He copes by distraction and avoidance: he physically removes himself from stress (hiding from chores or skipping class) and by sarcastically deflecting emotional questions. He also asserts control through dominance: insisting on becoming housewarden so he need not “answer to small fry”. However, these strategies are ultimately maladaptive: avoidance lets his core issues fester, and domineering behavior alienates potential support. Notably, when his isolation is broken (for example by Riddle’s intervention), he unleashes his signature spell (The King’s Roar) that nearly puts his classmates in danger. This disastrous outburst reflects an inability to regulate overwhelming negative emotion - a hallmark of depression-exacerbated behavior.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

What Stories Are About the Academy Era? A Guide

@zombies-sold-cheap

Context:

Stories set in the Academy Era/Otherwise Early Days are sparse to say the least (even Divided Loyalties only shows you the Academy through a dream), but you can actually piece together a pretty decent chunk of the Doctor’s early life (while it still remaining very mysterious) using the Expanded Universe. I've done a lot of infodumping in my time, so I'll do my best here by typing up my personal reference guide to this era. Anyway:

Theta Sigma and his friends would attempt to climb Mount Cadon. At the peak, you could apparently see all of time, but they never got to the top because of hallucinogenic snow. While attempting such a climb, Vansell broke his leg, and Theta Sigma fixed it with a time bubble he made from a sonic wrench and some twine. (Audio: Devil in the Mist)

Theta Sigma and Koschei traveled into the past of Gallifrey in search of Valdemar. Theta was horrified by the power that Valdemar represented, but Koschei was intrigued. (Novel: Tomb of Valdemar)

Theta Sigma time-locked his dorm room so thoroughly that even centuries after he graduated they hadn't managed to undo it. (Audio: Time in Office)

Theta Sigma also once used the food machine to get mercury for his own science projects and in doing so almost caused his professor to regenerate. (Audio: Time in Office)

At some point, Theta Sigma and Koschei traveled to the planet Machasma and used sonic agitation to get them out of trouble. (Audio: Darkness and Light)

Theta Sigma, Koschei, and three others were part of a band called the Gallifrey Academy Hot Five (see: my username). Theta Sigma played the perigosto sticks, and Koschei played the drums. (Novel: Deadly Reunion)

Millennia came from a wealthy family and was gifted in temporal engineering. She and Rallon had a "thing" for each other (wink wink) (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Theta Sigma once made High Tutor Albrecht regenerate in an incident involving a perigosto stick and a temporal feedback loop. He was reprimanded by Borusa for this. (Novel: The Time Lord Letters)

Koschei was obsessed with the Necronomicon. (Short story: The Nameless City)

Runcible was the hall monitor at the Academy and regularly got into conflicts with the Deca because it was his job to make sure students were in bed after dark. They have mutual hatred of each other. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Indeed, the Master would one day stab him in the back and kill him. (Television: The Deadly Assassin)

Drax built a skimmer and would sometimes use it to take Jelpax home because they lived close to each other. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Theta Sigma attended Ushas's 94th birthday party. (Novel: The Death of Art)

Theta Sigma engineered a dangerous bacteria that rendered all multicellular life that came in contact with it comatose. This was a huge scandal on Gallifrey, and the Academy thoroughly hushed it up and had all samples destroyed. However, Ushas kept a sample and would one day use it in a scheme as the Rani. (Audio: Planet of the Rani)

Koschei taught Theta Sigma hypnosis. He'd also hypnotize others a lot because he thought it was amusing. (Novel: The Dark Path)

Mortimus once asked Ushas out but was so thoroughly rejected that he thought she wasn't interested in dating at all. Unbeknownst to him, Ushas later had a relationship with Magnus. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Theta Sigma and Koschei were bullied by Torvic. Theta was eventually forced to kill Torvic to save Koschei's life, but when Death came to offer Theta to be their disciple, he had Koschei take his place. He forgot about this deal and lived for centuries under the impression that their places had been swapped and that it had been Koschei to kill Torvic. (Audio: Master)

Despite this, he apparently drew pictures of Torvic in his diary. (Short story: The Three Paths)

Theta Sigma was also bullied by Anzor at the Academy. Anzor would use a galvanizer to make Theta do his navigational homework. He also turned another student named Cheevah into a crystal and threw him off a bell tower. (Audio/Novel: Mission to Magnus)

Koschei was in charge of organizing the end of term parties, but the Eighth Doctor recalled that they weren’t good. (Comic: The Glorious Dead)

Theta Sigma and Koschei would sneak out of the Capitol and go drinking with the Shobogans. (Novel: The Eight Doctors)

Theta Sigma was given an avatroid named Badger as a young child to act as his friend, protector, and tutor. He apparently gives bone crushing hugs. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

Theta Sigma did not have a good relationship with most of the House of Lungbarrow. Indeed, his first memory is of Satthralope smacking him so hard he could not walk afterwards. (Audio/Novel: Cold Fusion)

Satthralope would also let the drudges attack Theta if he refused to come to dinner. Drudges are basically servants of the Houses, about two and a half meters tall, and strong enough to hold a fully grown Time Lord in one arm. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

One time, those at the House of Lungbarrow wanted Theta Sigma to return home for Otherstide and even sent Badger to collect him. Theta refused, so they contacted his professor Delox, who proceeded to expel him from her classroom after chastising him on his family in front of the entire class. After this, Theta appeared to exhibit many of the signs I associate with a nervous breakdown. Distressed, Theta came up with an idea that would prove he wasn't what they all said he was - he would go after the Toymaker. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Millennia and Rallon were the only two to join him on this trip, the rest of the Deca thinking them mad. They stole a Type 18 TARDIS, and after making it to the Toyroom, Rallon's body was basically immediately taken over by the Toymaker. The Toymaker had Theta play a game of Capture the Flag. He turned Millennia into one of his dolls, and Theta returned to Gallifrey, the only survivor. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

Because of these events, Theta was put on trial. The only two to attend this trial to support Theta were Jelpax and Magnus. Vansell showed up but only to reveal that he had been working with the CIA, having been tasked with watching Theta. Koschei and Ushas had been off working on a research project at the time. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

While Theta, Rallon, and Millennia were gone, Mortimus ran away from Gallifrey, which made many think he had gone with them, and eventually also ended up in the Toyroom. (Novel: Divided Loyalties) Other accounts suggest Mortimus left Gallifrey later, so perhaps he returned after this trip.

Theta Sigma was on the same zero-grav hyperball team as Padrac, who he called "Paddy." (Audio: The Eleven)

Theta and Koschei's "kindergarten spat" apparently almost destroyed the planet. During this time, Theta used to call Koschei "Scabby Knees." (Audio: Blood of the Time Lords)

Theta Sigma had no friends in his very early life. Instead of creating imaginary friends, he had an imaginary enemy called Mandrake. Mandrake was actually a dead lizard he pinned to an engine part that Theta would defeat using a stick. (Audio: The Widow's Assassin)

There was a Hermit who lived behind the House of Lungbarrow on the mountain. Theta Sigma once went to him, depressed and full of despair, and the Hermit showed him hope in yellow flowers. (Television: The Time Monster)

Shimmerlings live in the time vortex, but after a storm, they were stranded on Gallifrey and dying. A very young Theta Sigma saw the Hermit throwing them into the Untempered Schism to save them. Theta asked him what was the point because he wouldn't be able to save them all before they died, and the Hermit taught him the value in saving who he could, despite not being able to save everyone. (Audio: Crossed Lines)

Theta Sigma was the Time Tot Hide And Seek Champion for 42 years in a row, which apparently drove Ushas nuts. (Comic: Weapons of Past Destruction)

When Maris - a retired CIA agent - was hired to find out where Theta Sigma, now probably the Doctor, had run off to in the TARDIS, Ushas and Koschei kidnapped her, interrogated her in an attempt to find where the Doctor had gone, and eventually almost killed her when she knew nothing (she was extracted from the situation before she could be murdered). (Short story: Celestial Intervention - A Gallifreyan Noir)

After graduating, Magnus rose quickly in Time Lord society, which Borusa felt threatened by. Borusa had the CIA manufacture evidence implicating Magnus in treason, leading to him fleeing Gallifrey and becoming a renegade. (Novel: Timewyrm: Exodus)

Koschei befriended a professor at the Academy named Salyavin because he wanted access to the restricted libraries. He wanted to find The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey, an act which was illegal. Salyavin took the blame for this, was sent to Shada, and stole the book (since he was condemned anyway, he might as well). (Short story: The Legacy of Gallifrey)

Theta Sigma and Ruath, another student at the Academy who was obsessed with vampires, once electrified Borusa's perigosto stick. (Novel: Goth Opera)

After the Academy, Koschei attended a ritual with Theta Sigma and Susan, then likely called Arkytior, in Arcadia. Here, he gave her a toy, which was actually a communication node that he planned to use to find Theta and her if they ever left Gallifrey. (Audio: The Toy)

According to one account, Koschei led students at the Academy in a coup against Lord President Pundat the Third and tried to convince Theta Sigma to join. Pundat died of stress soon after the revolt and was replaced with Chancellor Slann. There was a second coup, but they were overheard by the authorities trying to yet again convince Theta to help. After each coup, there were bloody reprisals against the students, but Theta, who was not involved, had his memory wiped. Koschei assassinated Slann, but the students weren't ready for another go. He ended up fleeing Gallifrey. (Short story: Birth of a Renegade) There are, however, many other accounts of him fleeing Gallifrey.

Koschei and a "friend" were locked in a bathroom of a bar in the Tower by the Time Lords after a prank gone wrong. The two fought, and the friend left Koschei behind in the Tower, where he remained locked in for centuries. (Short story: Rebel Rebel)

Theta called Vansell "Nosebung" and continued to do so for centuries. (Audio: Neverland)

Theta Sigma came in fourth place in the Time Lord Academy Sprint Championship. (Comic: Space in Dimension Relative in Time)

Theta Sigma fed a snapping wart fowl to Valyes's summer project, and Valyes still holds a grudge over this. (Audio: The Next Life)

Flubbles are koala-like animals with six legs. Theta Sigma used to keep one under his bed at the Academy as an illegal pet. He almost got caught when she went into heat and started performing her mating call. (Novel: Island of Death)

Theta Sigma used to chase tafelshrews - a species almost like rodents - through the snow of Mount Cadon. (Short story: The Three Paths)

By some accounts, Theta Sigma was loomed, and by some, he had parents. In a version where he had parents, his father and Mr. Saldaamir were once working in the House and were therefore ignoring Theta. Because of this, Theta, at this point a small child, caught a cobblemouse and set it loose in the House, interrupting their plans. (Novel: Unnatural History)

A cousin of Theta's - Glospin - used to bully him quite a lot. He once claimed to find evidence in the Loom pointing to the fact that Theta did not belong in the House of Lungbarrow. If this was believed, Theta Sigma would have been executed. This caused the two to have a physical altercation. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

During this fight, Glospin got a genetic sample from Theta, allowing him to force a regeneration into a Theta lookalike. Then, Glospin murdered Quences, the Kithriarch of the House of Lungbarrow (basically the head of the family), before regenerating again, thus framing Theta for the murder. This was because Glospin wanted to become the next Kithriarch instead of Theta, but because of this, the House of Lungbarrow buried themself (the Houses are sentient, did I mention that?) for centuries. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

Despite doting on Theta (and Theta generally being his favorite), Quences had been convinced by Satthralope to disown him when he announced he didn't want to be a Lord Cardinal. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

Some of Theta's cousins include Quences, Satthralope, Glospin, Innocet, Arkhew, Owis, Salpash, Luton, Rynde, Jobiska, Maljamin, Farg, Celesia, Chovor, DeRoosifa, and Almund. (Novel: Lungbarrow)

Grandfather Paradox was also of the House of Lungbarrow from the same generation as Theta, but of course, he never actually existed. (Novel: Christmas on a Rational Planet)

Pandad VII issued a Burn Edict on Braxiatel, but Braxiatel killed his would be assassin. As punishment, Braxiatel was forced to take up the mantle of Lord Burner for some time, the personal assassin for Lord President Pandad VII. He was ordered to erase an old man and his granddaughter (wink wink) who were fleeing Gallifrey from history but refused to do so and let them go free. That very same day, Pandad died when a power relay that was in his office overloaded, but an inquiry led by Braxiatel found that this was an accident. Just an accident. Nothing shady going on here. (Audio: Disassembled)

Magnus tried to drain the Artron energy from a giant sphere from the time vortex. Theta Sigma opposed him and used the gun of a member of the Chancellery Guard to stop him from draining the energy because he had learned that the energy was alive. This set the energy free. Magnus never forgave him for this, and their friendship ended. (Comic: Flashback)

Theta Sigma had a great aunt lived in a house high in the mountains. She would sing him lullabies. The Eighth Doctor said she was "terrible." (Audio: Together in Eclectic Dreams)

Anyhow, I'm spent, so I'll post this now. Might add on some more later lmaoooo

Don't forget to check out the next part in the reblogs!

[creativecupcake]

Oh Goddess Beyond

Welcome to my new series. This is a yandere/self aware AU for Twisted Wonderland. Just wanted to give a heads up on the Yandere stuff since it is more of a slow reveal. All characters (minus Ortho) are 18+, and all students will be love interests. Debating if my Yuu will be a love interest or platonic, let me know what y’all think.

Chapter 1 - The Champion of Wonderland

Part 2

Yuuto didn’t know how to explain it, but Twisted Wonderland had felt oddly safe and comforting since he had arrived. He didn’t belong, his memory of home was oddly fuzzy, and he had faced monsters and overblots left and right since he arrived, but he’d always felt some kind of…presence that told him he would be ok. But there was also a deep longing, a sense that something, someone important from him was missing. He’d often play with the charm on his braid and feel a sense of comfort, just like he had when he asked his friends to call him Yuu instead of his full name. 

He’d actually really enjoyed learning from all of his friends about their world and the different lands that they lived in. But there was one thing that seemed to tickle his brain, everyone had brushed over it as such a common thing. The Goddess. Not a goddess, not one of the goddesses, THE Goddess. Someone above even the Great Seven. He’d gotten hints about her as he’d explored the world. Riddle and Trey mentioning that one rule had been key because the Queen of Hearts got it word for word from the Goddess herself. Ruggie mumbling about how the Goddess wouldn’t stand for this when seeing a starving beastman in the market. Floyd had actually gotten rather violent when another student in the lounge said that the Goddess preferred their land to the cold damp oceans. He didn’t want to remember how pissed the Octotrio had been about that comment. After Jamil’s overblot, Kalim had mentioned how the Goddess had opened his eyes to the truth and he would do his best to understand Jamil. He heard Ortho wonder about how the Goddess would feel about him right before the overblot on the Isle of Woe. And after they had all been freed from Malleus’ magic, the defeated dragon had sobbed about how he had failed to see the Goddess’ love in his own family.

That led us to this moment. In the aftermath Yuu had finally asked someone to explain who this goddess was to him. Well, that sure opened a can of worms! All of his friends seemed to have forgotten, again, that Yuu wasn’t from Twisted Wonderland. They told him how the Goddess was taught to children before they even started school. She was such a part of their lives, that it felt like they didn’t even have to explain who she was. They agreed to meet in the library tomorrow to give Yuu the FULL story of her.

Yuu wouldn’t say it out loud, but he was surprised to see everyone gathered in one place. Some, like Leona and Ruggie, explained that they wanted to make sure that they were able to represent their country’s views on the Goddess. Turns out each region and kingdom had different views of the Goddess. And these portrayals were reinforced by her different interactions with each of the Great Seven, and a few other historical figures. He was able to get some consistent ideas though. She was kind, cared for the treatment and equality of her people, always strove for improvement, and did not discriminate in any form against her followers. The worship of her also varied pretty widely and it led to some rather heated arguments between the dorms.

Yuu finally asked why he hadn’t seen any pictures or statues of said goddess, only to be told that her image was so sacred that most did not try to depict her directly. Most art of her true depiction were in churches and other sacred places, but plenty of art was meant to depict how the people saw her. However, there was one picture of her true form that was mass produced, it showed her and her champion.

That word sent jolt down Yuu’s spine. Champion? They had never mentioned a Champion. Lilia was the one to say that the Champion came from an ancient prophecy. The Champion was the Goddess’ companion, who eased her great loneliness when she created the beginnings of Twisted Wonderland. She told the Great Seven that her Champion protected her from all, and that they would lead the Goddess back to their realm when it was deemed safe. 

Malleus used magic to bring a book to the group as he took over the explanation. Centuries ago a great painter felt the presence  of the Goddess and heard her whispers in his dreams. She called for him to paint a portrait of her and her champion, one that she would bless so that only they could see her true face. A painting to be spread around the world to help her champion be known to all. And with that he laid the open book on the table in front of Yuu.

Choked breathes seemed silent as the group began to argue again about who the Champion could be. Yuu felt himself disconnecting from the world around him. It all made sense, the safe presence that made him felt comforted and calm, the familiarity of this world, even when he knew he had never been here. He knew this face. He knew HER face. 

“A-Amira,” he nearly sobbed, silencing the room. All eyes turned to the magicless prefect, many seething, no one spoke the Goddess’ given name! She was sacred! 

“Child of man-” Malleus started, trying to keep his tone from bristling, only to be cut off by a happily sobbing Yuu.

“That’s my friend Amira!” Yuu hiccuped, holding up the book to show the group. To all their surprise the painting seemed to change, like a fog lifting before them it shifted to reveal the face of two smiling children, one was the Goddess they had all known from birth, and the other… none other than the prefect who had befriended them over the year. 

Many of the boys collapsed into chairs as they came to the realization that Yuu was the Champion. As they looked back at the time in Night Raven College certain things seemed to finally make sense. 

“I’ve felt it before, the Goddess’ presence” Leona was the first to speak up, calculated eyes glancing around the room. “Since prefe-the Champion arrived I’ve felt the Goddess’ eyes on me. Encouraging words telling me to attend certain classes, cheering me on as I fly.”

“D-do you have dreams about fighting and practicing magic too?” Deuce cut in. “I… I’ve had dreams about us having duels against monsters, shadows, sometimes I even fought against you guys or with a clone of myself.” Murmurs of agreement went around the room, slowly coming to a realization. 

“The twins and I have felt the same. The strong pull of the Goddess to lessons, encouraging us to…fly-” Azul and Jade made faces. “But Floyd mentioned feeling her and even hearing her during the Cooking Crucible.” Floyd’s face seemed to smug, looking at his brother and friend like they had to finally believe him. 

“A-after the whole deal with the Isle of Woe,” Idia started off, refusing to look at anyone. “I dreamt of fighting with Ortho and Prefect, uh, Champion to defeat my Overblot. I heard her voice telling me how things. Like that I could beat the darkness. That I didn’t need to hold back, and let all the hurt weigh me done…talk about charisma 100, put all my power into that boss fight.” 

Each of them added small stories, fighting the overblots, struggling in classes; dream battles. As they seemed to come to terms with the situation, they turned back to Yuu, who was staring at the book in his hands with longing. The missing piece, he had found it, but where was she?

“The Sorcerer of the Sand said that the Goddess gifted the Champion her icon,” Jamil mentioned, scanning Yuu for anything that could stand out. “That it linked them together even between worlds.” 

Yuu was starting to feel his heart ache, anxiety slowly clawing at his chest and up his throat. He didn’t remember! He knew her face! He knew her name! He KNEW her! But he couldn’t remember. Why couldn’t he remember anything? Desperately, he began to fidget with the charm on his braid, feeling it the questioning eyes burn into his skin. As he opened his mouth, thinking of what he could say, he felt warmth slowly blanket his body. A gentle glow encompassed the charm between his fingers, dim pink light taking over the room. All the boys felt their anxious and negative thoughts wash away. They felt a calmness they only felt in the Goddess’ sacred places. It was safe, it was soothing, it felt like they were held in a friendly embrace.

As the glow faded, they had no doubts. Yuu was the Champion, and he led the Goddess’ presence around the world. The prophecy was real, so how would their goddess return? Why was she not here?

”We should bring this to Queen Maleficia,” Silver began, thinking of the next steps.

“And why should we do that?” Vil took over, standing up as Rook followed him. “It’s obvious Our Lady of Beauty sent her Champion to Night Raven for a reason.”

“As much as I dislike agreeing with the beauty queen, he’s right.” Leona stood, Ruggie smirking as he followed, and Jack standing between the two dorms. “The Goddess sent her Champion here, with no memory for a reason. He’s able to interact with students of all lands and backgrounds. We all know the prophecy states that HE will lead her back to us.”

“Child of- no, Champion, where do you stand?” Malleus asked, bringing Yuu out of a dazed state.

“I…I want to bring her to Twisted Wonderland.” He started, thinking about all the times he had sensed her warmth. “She would love this place,” he smiled, staring back at her painted smile.

“Then let us bring our Goddess home.”

They had discussed a plan for hours, long into the night and missing curfew. This drew the attention of the staff, as most of the Housewardens and Vice Housewardens were quite responsible. Breaking the news to their teachers and headmage felt surreal. Many had faked being the Champion over time, they brought up doubts and questions, only to be shown the revealed painting and the now enchanted charm in Yuu’s braid. 

“To think I would live to see this day,” Trein shakily breathed, as he and Lucius collapsed into a chair. 

“The Goddess’ eyes have been upon us this entire time,” Crewel nearly retched, thinking of all the things she could have seen. 

“Does that mean we’ve been housing the Goddess’ Champion and her eyes in Ramshackle?” Vargas brought up, all eyes snapping to the flustered headmage.

“The Goddess… in Ramshackle, oh what have I done,” the bird began the rant like a madman.

“So, what do we do now? How do we prepare for her perfection?” Crewel asked, turning to his students. 

“Yuu is her Champion, so we think he is the key to it,” Ace began, slinging his arm around Yuu’s neck.

“We have estimated that the magic mirror he has mentioned in his dorm is a 99.9998% match for the way to get back to the Goddess’ rest realm.” Ortho cut in, bringing up a hologram of all of their plans and observations. “But we need to do some research on the areas that we are lacking knowledge. Even with OP characters like Malleus Draconia and Leona Kingscholar we can not risk breaking the gateway back to the Goddess without proper preparations.”

“Not to mention that gives us time to prepare not only NRC and Ramshackle for her everlasting beauty,” Rook interjected, looking at Vil and Crewel. “But we can perfect a room dedicated to her rest and gift her a full wardrobe.” Oh how the fashionistas began to dream of designing the literal goddess of beauty and perfection their own creations.

“And since Yuu seems to be regaining his memories we think it best to give him some time,” Jade smiled, wider than anyone had ever seen. “That allows us to get the best for our Goddess and learn what we can from Yuu’s memories.”

Trein stood up, his hands on the table as he drew the room’s attention to himself. “If you are all right and the Champion has been sent to Night Raven for a specific reason then we must prepare. If her light has gifted us the chance to be the ones to greet her then we must take all our precautions to make sure that we meet her desires.” He met eyes with all in the room, an aura of determination swelling within them. “For tonight we keep this between us, she has given us this gift so we must keep it close to the chest. I will work with Mr Ashengrotto to work on a contract to get the assistance of the other students as this will be an arduous task and we will need all hands. The ghosts on the other hand-”

“Well now me and my friends from the other side have taken care of the end.” Sam’s voice cut through, entering the library with Grim at his side.

“Hench-human! I thought you were gonna be talking boring history and things. If I’d known you were going to get a cool title and talk about Momma Goddess I woulda schooled y’all.” Grim cheered, hopping on Yuu’s head.

With that, the group agreed to spilt up for the night and meet up tomorrow to delve into the plan and see what would need to come next. 

Well there’s my intro chapter for this story. I would like to thank @kiame-sama and @writingforatwistedworld for inspiration on this story. I’m currently working on a sketch for my Yuu (Yuuto) and you’ll be seeing Amira (the Goddess) and the boys’ plan in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions about the AU or the characters feel free to ask.

[silverryuan]

TWST with Sorano Agria reader

Warning: Reader is suicidal, slight swearing.

Sorano Agria, formerly known by the codename Angel, is a practitioner of Angel Magic, as well as a former Celestial Spirit Mage. She is also a former member of a powerful dark guild, Oración Seis.

Angel Magic revolves around summoning angels, each of which are capable of inflicting different kinds of damage. An Angelic Mage can summon them through the use of Angel Coins. Each coin representing a portion of the user's lifespan. If the summoned angel is defeated, the user will suffer great pain. Only powerful Angelic Mages are capable of summoning basic angels without a cost and suffer no drawbacks when they are defeated.

...Listen, I'm gonna be honest with you guys...

I don't really give a shit about the lore of the characters, I'm mostly interested in the magic/skills they use (examples: Blood Mage, Angelic Mage).... Why do I like risky magic concept? I don't know. I just think they're creative. Like, when there's a protagonist that just punches things with fire magic, ooh so classic. When there's an antagonist with a destructive magic but there's one flaw or loophole about it that the protagonist has to figure out in order to defeat them, wow ok cool... BUT THEN THERE'S THAT ONE SIDE CHARACTER EITHER THAT DOESN'T GET ENOUGH SCREENTIME OR WE'LL NEVER GET TO SEE AGAIN THAT HAS A CREATIVE CONCEPT OF THEIR MAGIC: SUMMONS ANGELS, CONTROL BLOOD VESSELS, STABS THEMSELVES TO UNLEASH THEIR BUILT-UP MANA TO DEMOLISH SHIT. LITERALLY DESTROYS EVERYTHING INCLUDING THEMSELVES BECAUSE HELL NAH THEY AIN'T GOING TO JAIL.

...Sorry, I'm just rambling at this point, please excuse me. Now, onto the story!

• .............................................................................

• .........................This is boring.

• You thought that it's your time to arrive at death's door but no. Instead, you have to wait inside this stupid coffin for what it feels like eternity. Thank god that this fiery gremlin gave you an excuse to come out. This way, the Grim Reaper won't punish you for coming out of your coffin~

• Oh! It looks like this creature's name is Grim. How cute! Until he demanded that you strip. Not cute! What's that? He'll roast you if you won't strip off your robe? What a coincidence! Your little angels are hungry for some weasel, silly Grim 😊

• ........... Run🙂.

.

.

.

{Meanwhile, at the ceremony}

• While the Dark Mirror sorts all of the students to their respective dorms, Crowley went to the Hall of Mirrors to fetch the last coffin. He was quite puzzled when the coffin did not respond to his call to levitate to the ceremony room.

Dark Mirror: "Hmmm... Heartslabyul!"

Azul: "My, that's quite a number of students for this year."

Leona: "Yawn... When will this be over?"

Riddle: "How impatient, Kingscholar. There's only 1 hour and 23 minutes left until the ceremony ends and that's your 12th yawn."

Idia, via tablet: "Dude, you've been counting his yawns?"

Kalim: "Huh... Is that enough time for Jamil to prepare the Welcoming Party?"

{Meanwhile at Scarabia}

Jamil, setting up the plates: "WHERE IS THE CHICKEN SALAD?!"

Scarabia Student A, cutting the vegetables: "I'M MAKING IT--"

Jamil: "DO IT FASTER! WHY IS THIS KEBAB STILL RAW?!"

Scarabia Student B, holding a flaming pan: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"

{Back at the ceremony}

Kalim: "...Nah, It's Jamil! I'm sure he can handle it."

Vil: "Bring the next coffin. I still have an interview tonight."

• The headmage returned to the room with no coffin.

Crowley: "... I think we'll be behind schedule for a bit."

Leona: "And what do you mean by that ?"

Crowley: "The last coffin is empty."

Vil: "... Pardon?"

Riddle: "How in Twisted Wonderland...?"

Azul: "Impossible. That can't be."

Crowley: "Do not worry! For I will graciously search for them myself--"

• Just as he was about to turn back with his lash, a small screaming monster burst through the doors and ran inside the room. The monster hid behind Crowley, using him like a shield. The students overheard the loud monster and pulled out their magical pens.

Grim: "FNYAAAAH! THEY'RE GONNA EAT ME!"

Crowley: "What the- Halt, monster! You should not be on campus-"

Grim: "THEY'RE SCARY! DON'T LET THEM GET NEAR ME! SHUT THE DOORS BEFORE THEY GET IN!!"

Crowley: "Who?"

??????! ???: "...Hehehe...😊"

• The two looked at the hallway of the door and see a silhouette of a person approaching the room. The headmage then recognized the robe and immediately thought that the person is the missing student. The alerted students put away your magical pen, thinking that the monster is your familiar.

Grim: "I-IT'S THEM! CLOSE IT! CLOSE IIIT!!"

??????!???: "Be not afraid 😇."

Grim: "Fnyaagh!!"

Crowley: "Ah! You must be the last student. Quite the impatient one, are you?"

??????!???: "I apologize. But I simply couldn't bear to wait any longer."

Crowley: "You must also tame your familiar properly! Look at how afraid he is of you!"

Grim: "Fnyagh?! Heck no! I'm not this weirdo's pet! A-and the Great Grim's scared of no one!"

??????!???: "You're not? Oh well, I guess I just misunderstood your appearance then."

Crowley: "He's not yours?"

Grim & ??????!???: "Nope!"

Crowley: "Then I will order students to throw this beast off of campus."

Grim: "FNYAGH! WAIT, YA CAN'T DO THAT! I'M A MAGE HERE! NOOOOO!! JUST YOU WAIT! I'LL BE THE GREATEST MAGE IN THIS SCHOOL!!!"

• The headmage then called a couple of students to restrain the monster and drag him out of the room. It's a shame~ You really thought that this feline will guide you to heaven but you couldn't help but feel a little bad. Just a little bit. Wait, did he just say school?

.

.

Crowley: "Ahem! Without further ado, let the ceremony continue! Please stand in front of the Dark Mirror and say your name."

??????!???: "...Why?"

Crowley: "To sort you, of course. Now go."

Leona: "Finally. This stupid ceremony better be over.... Yawn"

Riddle: "That's your 13th yawn."

Idia: "Bruh, just stop counting."

• You noted that some students still kept their guard up, thinking that if the monster was so scared of you to the point of running and hiding, then you might be the bigger monster. The students near you stepped away after sensing your heavy aura.

• The mask-wearing man shoved you in front of an old, intricately designed mirror. A face appeared on the surface, scowling at you.

Dark Mirror: "State thy name."

Sorano! Yuu: "Sorano! Yuu."

• The mirror stared intensely at you before expressing shock and disdain. Almost like it sees through you...

Dark Mirror: "...This soul does not belong in any dorm."

• The crowd of students gasped in shock and the headmage is in disbelief. Whispers among the students soon filled the room, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Crowley: "I do not understand! The Ebony Carriage would never... How?!"

Dark Mirror: "Thy soul... Is dark... Their soul is divine but impure... Their light is bright but tainted..."

Crowley: "Tainted?.... Could it be? Blot?"

Dark Mirror: "...This one possesses an art form of magic that is celestial, yet uses it for horrible intentions, throwing no caution of the power they hold..."

Azul, pushing his glasses up: "Celestial, you say?"

Idia: "Damn, this sounds like an anime scene."

Dark Mirror: "... The darkness in their soul has swallowed and layered their heart. Thus, they do not belong in any dorm."

[etheries1015]

Wishing you a happy birthday!

Featuring: Diasomnia!

General warnings: Gender neutral reader

TW: None!

Your birthday has arrived, and all of Diasomnia brought it upon themselves to organize a party for you to celebrate their beloved prefect! what role did they play? <3

Malleus

Prepared the date, time and organized the event. Not without leaving an impression before hand, of course.

Malleus was not unaccustomed to birthdays, for he had three humans in his life that he found to be incredibly important to celebrate the day of their birth. Silver, Sebek (although half), and now, you. You had become an essential part of his life, a staple of companionship, and the thought of a short human lifespan had caused him to treat birthdays almost as lavishly as his own would be back home. When you stepped up onto ramshackle, you first noticed the...increasingly large amount of gargoyles and rocks. These rocks were not any rocks- they were sparkling jewels. You hadn't even known the name of most of these, but they sparkled like no other and you were ecstatic. The next thing you noticed was the colorful decorations. The entire building was covered head to toe in streamers, balloons, and décor of all sorts. Even the gargoyles were wearing party hats. Upon entering your dorm, you heard a loud cheer of "happy birthdays!" Around you.

Malleus was the first to approach you! The tall fae had a smile that lit up brighter than the stones that were placed outside, gently grabbing both of your hands into his own.

"welcome to the celebration, Child of man. I have prepared a party for you, I hope you do not mind I invited myself into your dorm without permission, however you I had taken in account you had stated I am allowed over whenever I please. I hope you do not mind this intrusion." Ah...his heart melted at your smile, he was certain it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. You reached up to give the prince a kiss upon his cheek, much to his surprise. His cheeks took on a rosy hue, and a chuckle of satisfaction left his lips.

"I thought this was your birthday, yet you bestow a gift to me instead? How interesting. I shall return this gift to you," He bent over to plant a kiss on your cheek as well, you couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of affection as you engulfed him in a hug.

"I hate to interrupt you two," Lilia chuckled amusingly, "but I do believe we have presents our prefect need to open!" You looked over to the pile of presents that seemed to reach the top of the ceiling...glancing over at Malleus with your jaw slacked open, he simply took your hand to lead you to the presents he had collected.

"You have a very limited amount of birthdays to celebrate the short life you live, thus you deserve only the best of gifts. I also wish to speak to you alone after the festivities...if you will have me. But for now enjoy the company of those around you and be cheerful as we rejoice another successful year you have made it to be. Happy birthday, my beloved (y/n)."

Lilia

The decorator and game organizer!

It was obvious to you that the bright and playful decorations were none other than Lilias doing. The streamers, the hats, the balloons with silly sayings was just the thing he would do. When you stepped into Ramshackle, the first thing you got was a burst of confetti. EVERYWHERE. Loud cheers of 'happy birthday!' surrounded you, along with sparkles, confetti, and all sorts of fun little things to boot. Lilia was the first to approach you, excitedly telling you all of the little things he did to decorate.

"The décor should represent how we feel about you! You're bright my little bat, always lighting up the room and making a statement among the students." You hugged Lilia tightly and gave an earnest thanks, Lilia responding with a light chuckle and petting your head.

"Although, I insisted on making a cake for you. It's a shame Silver had the grand Idea of having me plan out the decorations for this celebration! Although, I did do a fantastic job, wouldn't you say?"

"You did, Lilia. Thank you." He flashed you a toothy grin and continued to sing your praises, expressing his fondness for the outfit you had chosen, and how you presented yourself. Lilia had been sure Malleus knew to invite all of your close friends in the school, making it a point that everyone you were close with was there to celebrate your special day. You were handed one present after another, and the red eyed fae refused to leave your side. He insisted that he wanted to spend every second with you, for he was being thorough in making sure you had a smile on your face and never bored.

The fae gasped and grabbed your hand, twirling you around and insisting you join in on the dance floor. You had tried to reject him, but Lilia would not take no for an answer.

"The night is young! Let us dance to our hearts content and enjoy good food with this great company! It's not every day you turn (age.) Human life is short, and you should enjoy it as much as possible. Do not fret over looking silly, just be yourself! Do that, and your life will surely prosper. Happy birthday, little bat."

Silver

Responsible for creating a cake that was certain to be the star of the show!

When his father insisted on making a birthday cake for you, Silver was quick to interject and insist he decide on the decorations while he makes the cake for you. Silver knows your tastes inside and out, and he was determined to make a cake worthy of your birthday!

But unfortunately, he did get his fathers sense of cooking. Albeit his food always turned out significantly better, there were...quite a few bumps in the road. Following the recipe to a T, he did lack some form of common sense. Forgetting to crack open the eggs...trying to get the flour out of the bag only to accidentally cover himself head to toe in it...falling asleep while it was in the mixing bowl...let's just say by the end of it, although the cake decorated beautifully and taste heavenly, the kitchen was a disaster and his person a matching set.

He actually didn't get the cake to you until after the party started. He ran into Ramshackle with the cake in hand, panting slightly as he made his way to the table of food. Lilia greeted his son and complimented his handiwork, stating he had made it just in time for the cake to be handed out.

"I'm sorry I'm so late (y/n)," Silver said, "The cake took a little longer than I thought. My apologies." You gave him a genuine smile and told the silver haired boy it was alright, to which he returned the smile in full and gave you his birthday wishes. Upon cutting the cake, Silver insisted you were the one who must try it first! Cutting a generous piece, he lifted the fork to your lips.

"Here, tell me what you think," Your lips covered the fork and you swear you saw stars. He knew exactly what you liked and baked it practically to perfection, to which he replied by holding the fork to your mouth with another bite waiting for you.

"I know you can feed yourself, but you don't have to. It's your birthday, let me spoil you a bit. Oh, and I have a present for you, too. Today is celebrating you, and father says birthdays are a time to make sure someone feels completely spoiled and special, so it's okay to indulge in presents and be selfish a bit, so make the most out of it. Happy birthday, (y/n)"

Sebek

Finding the right present!

He didn't have much to do with the planning and decorating of the party, but instead he made it his mission to find the perfect present for you. Something that you would surely remember and keep for the rest of your short life! Something you look at and is reminded of him, something that will always make you smile.

He would rather die than admit any of that out loud, though.

Sebek was notorious for hiding any mushy emotions, masking it with loud declarations of knightly duties, determining that mingling with someone in any capacity, much less a human, would hinder his duty to protect his king. Anybody could see a mile away that he was going to extreme lengths simply to see to it you would be satisfied with a gift he could come up with for you. Even a week prior they could see his poor skills of hiding as he watched you from the "shadows," Taking note of what you ate, the things you did in your free time, and the jewels or clothing you wore.

Being questioned why he was up at 3 in the morning sitting in front of Sams shop, he would simply deflect his intentions under a rouse of collecting something his king needed that was upmost importance, and was going to be 100% certain that he would be the first to collect the stock they had before anyone else could take it.

Did Malleus really have the need for such items...?

When the party had commenced, Sebek loudly insisted that you open his present first, standing tall and proud with a blush upon his cheeks he handed you a... rather large box.

"I have gathered all the necessary herbs for your survival! I noticed your favorite tea/drink and made sure you had ample supply in stock ready to go, too! This weapon? It's important that you can protect yourself when I- u-uh anyways! Look, there are plenty of other great remedies in there taught to us by master Lilia! You must take proper care of your body and mind for your fragile human body, If you have questions on how they are to be used, I'll help you. Happy birthday, human!"

~~~

Happy birthday @hanafubukki !!! <3 From Etheries and the Diafam!

[yuurei20]

hello is there any more canon facts about Idia said outside the game (ex: in an interview with Yana Toboso or Disney, some translated or unused facts etc….)

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

Yes yes, here is a translation of illustration comments from Yana, found in the Magical Archives Game Guide (2020)

・"The flames of his hair become weaker when he loses interest in something."

・"Compared to the other villains Hades is quite a comical character, so I think that it would be good for Idia to be very expressive."

・"The bags under his eyes and the blue of his lips are not make up, but entirely natural. His eyebrows always make him look troubled. His hair is flames, so it is always moving, and the ends are translucent. His eyes are always shaded. He has a well-defined face, but he is not aware of it."

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

About Ignihyde's dorm uniform (also from the game guide)

"The dorm uniform’s theme is artificial and high-tech. I kept out as much warmth from the design as I could. The jacket is made of pieces of enamel, and was inspired by the triangular pattern of Hades' clothing.

There is a pouch worn around the waist that can hold plenty of tools and batteries. The housewarden has a belt that hangs loosely from the pouch down to his feet, to represent the smoke that rises up from Hades’ feet when he walks. The one-shoulder vest was inspired by the ancient Greek toga."

There are no particular Idia references of note in any of the visual books or the Design Note ^^

And we know from Yana's Twitter that Idia was originally meant to have been the youngest character on the main cast! Yana says that he is the reason why NRC allows grade-skipping.

(Despite how there are no underage characters on the main cast Trey has a line of "we do get some child prodigies here," in Book 1. This was possibly meant to explain how Idia was able to enroll, going unchanged after Idia was aged up for the final version of the game.)

[a-a-a-anon]

absolutely fascinated by young dee who is criminally under-discussed so here is my dissertation on what happened in her college years (ft. dr. gainer, setting her roommate on fire, being institutionalized)/my idea for a fic that I will almost certainly never write/my way too serious take on a few throwaway dee lore lines

timeline background: we know that dee majored in psychology ('charlie got molested') and got "three fourths" of the way in (meanwhile dennis finished his psych minor.) assuming this was a four year program, I'm gonna guess that in her third year she got institutionalized and most likely had to drop out ('gun fever too: still hot'.) we also know that she had her back brace until she was twenty ('underage drinking'), so I'm guessing that means she got her back brace off in her third year.

we know that dennis fancied himself a psychologist since he was young, but I think dee did too. in particular I think she was wary and interested in her brother's psychology; she seems very aware of his psychopathy and bpd in 'making dennis reynolds a murderer' and 'psycho pete returns.' in my head she's been interested in dennis' psychology since they were kids and she saw him snapping crows necks. so instead of forcing her way into acting school, she studied psychology to better understand her brother (and also deep down, herself, who is very much the other side of the same fucked up coin.) it also meant she could tell herself she could study her characters even better when she became an actress.

i think she put in (her version of) genuine academic effort to get in, fuelled kind of by spite (remember the way she studied that thick medical book in 'hero or hate crime' or her very quick math in 'boggs: ladies reboot'). she studies books and gets cricket to quiz her and she still fails to get into penn. but frank always pitied her (i think she was his favorite of the twins-remember "let your sister into the gang", "that's my girl!", "i'm sorry the grift didn't work out, sweetie") so he shells out cash to get her in, but also to get her away from home so he has to deal with her even less.

dennis wants to do anything dee does but better and he wants to keep her close by (to watch her crash and burn, and also because he's weirdly possessive-see 'the gang broke dee' "i'm your select!"). and obviously he's barbara's favorite. so barbara gives him money to get in too. she also gets him into a frat and pays for his classes and his rent and everything he needs. dee has to live in a dumpy dorm with a female roommate.

but college presents dee a chance to moult her previous place in life where she was known as a monster (remember how insistent she was that "people can change!" in 'franks pretty woman'. I think dees always wanted to believe she can shed that feeling she's inferior, but she never has). in my head her female roommate is basically normal-has real friends of her own, mentally stable, attractive-which is exactly what dee craves. dee wants to be popular and well liked and she wants to infiltrate her roommates life, imitate her, be in the Cool group. and she places all her hopes on a friendship with the roommate but dee has never navigated real female friendships before, not with someone like her. deep down she also wishes she found what dennis found in mac, whatever it was, because ever since dennis met mac he's never been as close to her. and i do think dee is some flavor of queer. and the roommate is well liked in the way that dee admires and envies. so there is that blurriness between wanting to be her and wanting to be with her. in my head her roommate looks like the woman from dee's fantasy in 'the gang saves the day' (and they both represent that promise of escape from dee's shitty life).

dee is so desperate for the roommates approval and her love and her life that she goes insane, copying and flattering and competing with her. ever the shitty actress, she tries to emulate her, but comes off as manic and creepy. and maybe her roommate is nice enough to not completely shun her, recognizing that she's struggling. maybe in dees mind they actually are becoming friends when her roommate asks things like "are you okay?"

and dee has to talk about her plan with dennis because he's the only person who would Get It. and she makes it sound like it's almost working. dennis feels jealous and worried and threatened that maybe dee might actually be seen as normal, especially when she gets her back brace off in the third year. so dennis fucks her roommate, more of a show that he owns and controls each and every pathetic part of dee’s life than anything else. and so that dee knows she'll never be as good as him, she'll never as easily charm people as dennis does. (or at least he tells her he does).

to prove that To Someone dee is Good Enough, and so desperate for attention, dee (who's been groomed all this time) enters a sexual relationship with her professor dr. gainer. she tells herself she has the power in it, that she seduced him ("he didn't molest me. i had sex with him 'cause i wanted to.") and she has a mental break, because the thing she told herself held her back from being loved (her back brace) is finally gone by now and yet she still feels like a monster, and the only scrap of "love" she can get is from her professor.

and then she can't take the fact that she can steal her roommates clothes, can emulate her sexual prowess (in dee's own fucked up, delusional way), and still neither be well liked like her nor be loved by her. so maybe dee will always be a monster. so dee tried to burn her roommate in her bed, because she represented the promise of change and popularity, and that promise was a lie and dee's effort was for nothing. and she's institutionalized.

and i think there was kind of a falling out between the twins and their parents, because barbara wants to abandon dee but dennis can't help but visit her. and frank doesn't even step foot in a place that reminds him of his traumatic childhood, and avoids dee even more than he used to because she is his childhood mirror image. so the family becomes even more fractured and estranged.

and maybe dee becomes medicated and slowly crawls her way halfway to normal by the first season (her acting classes are so well-adjusted, taking part in healthy hobbies of her!). until her father comes back into her life and everything falls apart <3

side note, even though dee is crushingly lonely-"I just got a cat 'cause I wanted something to hang out with. I don't have, you know, a roommate or anything, and I don't really have anyone to talk to..."-AND she struggles to pay rent whenever frank cuts her off, i hc that she refused to ever get a roommate in particular female roommate again after this because both her internalized misogyny got worse and she was afraid of what would happen (what she would do) again.

[gabessquishytum]

Hi there! I don't know if anyone else in this fandom is as Unhinged about the 1912 novel Daddy-Long-Legs as I am but it has the PERFECT setup for a Dreamling AU and I need to share. (This got SO long, apologies in advance.)

So Hob's an orphan. Has lived his whole life in a fairly dismal orphanage- normally the kids there get either adopted or kicked out in their mid-teens, but he's been allowed to stay to age 18 because he's been such a help with chores around the building/with the other kids (in other words, he's been used as free labor).

And he's staring down a pretty dismal future- no matter how "generous" the people in charge of this orphanage were letting him stay on, they really can't justify letting a full-grown adult stick around, and he's about to be kicked out into the wide world with no money and no connections.

And then the orphanage hosts a dinner for its trustees, and two of the younger trustees (a pair of siblings) somehow get their hands on a little speech Hob wrote. The speech is mostly making fun the trustees as a group and the "orphanage hosts a dinner so a bunch of children can Properly Express Gratitude and thus earn money for clothes and food and shelter" of it all. It's not terribly polished, mostly just Hob expressing his resentment, but there's a stubborn little current of hope running through the thing.

Death is charmed. Dream is not. Death decides she's going to use the family money to pay for Hob to attend college, and ropes Dream into the plan. Dream ends up agreeing to meet with Hob occasionally (Death pitches it as 'I think you should get to know him before passing judgment', Dream agrees because 'I will meet with him and prove to you that this is a bad idea', and then ends up continuing to meet with Hob because he finds him fascinating.)

Hob knows nothing of this. He just gets told by the director of the orphanage that one of the trustees will pay his tuition, on the grounds that he meet once a month with the trustee's representative. Hob is ecstatic.

(In the books it's letters, not meetings, and the main character writes letters to her benefactor while also getting to know him in person, not realizing they're both the same man. Which could be an interesting angle but I am sticking with closer-to-Sandman-canon for the moment)

So Hob spends his first few months at college having the time of his life, having all these experiences he's never gotten to have like "his own room" and "clothes that aren't hand-me-downs" and "playing A Sport". He meets with Dream the first time and spends it telling Dream how exciting and wonderful it is having heater in his bedroom and playing cards with his dorm-mates. Dream is a little stupefied that he can find so much pleasure in something so mundane. And then Hob starts talking about his work with the school newspaper, just as enthusiastically if with a certain degree of "this will never go anywhere" sheepishness. Dream, reluctantly, is charmed.

They keep meeting over the course of Hob's time at college. Hob is keeping quiet to his new friends about how he grew up, so Dream is the only one who knows, and the only one Hob talks to about how lonely it is not having family to write him letters and see him for holidays. Dream actually finds himself opening up to Hob in turn (although he leaves out the bit where he is related to Hob's benefactor, not just a coworker.)

The meetings become less "Hob gives a progress report about his degree" and more "they're meeting for the sake of seeing each other" as the years go on. It's a very gradual change- the meetings go from mostly just Hob talking, to Dream offering him advice, to more and more of a conversation. Hob opens up about how grim his childhood was and Dream finds himself opening up in turn. They initially meet up in some on-campus meeting room, then move to various cafes and restaurants in the area, and then to Dream just taking Hob to see various museums and plays he never had the chance to experience before. Eventually he like. Invites Hob to stay with him over the summer, since Hob has nowhere else to go.

And Hob thought Dream was gorgeous from the moment he saw him, obviously, and only falls harder and harder as they get closer. But for all that their meetings have started to become more and more like dates, Dream's never once made a move. They have, however, been in situations where it very much seemed like Dream was about to make a move, and then all of a sudden got ridiculously, chaperone-formal. So that's confusing.

Meanwhile, Dream is falling more and more in love with every conversation, but he's convinced himself that His Love Is Poison and Hob deserves better than him. He's not. Good at staying away from Hob, though- at this point he is entirely just meeting up with Hob because he likes him, it has nothing to do with the Mysterious Benefactor thing, and yes, Hob has managed to coax this piece of information out of him.

And as this is going on, Hob's started getting gifts from his Mysterious Benefactor. At first it was just a "his tuition and living expenses are paid" deal, but then after he gets sick and has to miss a meeting with Dream, his benefactor sends him flowers. And after that the gifts start to pick up, a piece of jewelry here, an interesting book there, until Hob is being showered with gifts at all times- clothes, food, supplies for whatever weird hobby he's picked up this month, you name it. It's always something relevant to his interests, but in a vague enough way that he assumes Dream's been mentioning "oh yes, Hob's decided he's into soap carving now" to his benefactor every so often. And Dream is fairly scrupulous about asking, on the benefactor's behalf, if he likes whatever gift, so clearly that's how this mysterious person is getting an idea of his tastes.

(Dream is sending the gifts himself, with his own money. He thought that would be an outlet for his feelings while still keeping some distance between him and Hob. It did not work!)

And then, just after Hob's graduation, he suggests to Dream that they start officially dating/courting/just get married, and Dream turns him down (because Hob deserves better than him, although he doesn't give Hob that explanation, just a refusal).

They each go off to nurse a broken heart.

Hob had only officially met Death, and been introduced to her as his benefactor, at his graduation, but they keep talking afterwards, which means that Death eventually works out that Dream had been spending a lot more time with Hob than she'd ever expected, and apparently? Had been buying Hob gifts? As her?????

So she confronts Dream about that whole deal, Dream admits to her that yes, he's in love with Hob, but Hob deserves better than him, will be happier without him, and she's like "yeah you're very wrong there I talked to him a few days ago he is miserable without you." And maybe, to keep with the book, she mentions that Hob got injured in some sort of stupid accident recently.

Dream drops everything he's been doing to go to Hob and apologize. Hob's got like. A broken arm or something, but Dream was expecting the worst and there is a tear-streaked reunion.

And then Dream admits to who he is, that he's the one who's been buying Hob all the gifts, that he does love Hob, he does want a relationship with him, if Hob can find it in himself to take him back...

He doesn't finish explaining before Hob tells him of course he does, he'd have waited for Dream for centuries.

And they live happily ever after and found an orphanage that actually treats the orphans well the end.

Anon this is adorable 🥹🥹 and you gave me a new story to add to my reading list! I love stories that are made up wholly or partly of letters, I think it's such a wonderful way to construct a narrative and I WISH contemporary authors used the style more often! I think that the letters from Hob’s pov would be so funny, as he experiences all kinds of new things and shows Dream a new perspective on the world.

Keeping with the story, it would be very funny if Hob cheekily addresses his benefactor as "daddy". This makes Dream very flustered, and of course Hob keeps on calling him that after they're together. It still makes Dream blush!

Thank you for telling us this story, anon, I think you've created a delightful little drabble here. I'm so glad that you shared it with us!

[ahhhhhhhghghhhgg]

TWST x autistic reader

OCTAVINELLE

Other dorms: Pomefiore(coming soon), Octavinelle(your here), Scarabia(coming soon), Heartslabyul(posted), Savanaclaw(coming soon), Diasomnia(coming soon), Ignihyde(coming soon)

In this fic the reader will represented as (name) and will use gender neutral pronouns, the reader in this fic is not Yuu the reader is just a dorm member of octavinelle (you can have whatever backstory you want, the only thing specific is that you have autism) also this is based of my personal experience with autism but that doesn’t mean all autistic people act the way the reader in the fic does.

———————————————————————————————————

Azul 🐙

as Azul is the house-warden he knows from the start that you have autism (having autism would be on you IEP or 504 plan which teaches and houses-wardens are required to read) he’d know that means you’d have a hard time with certain things so he’d have you work in the lounge accordingly, as you have a hard time with crowds hed have you work in the kitchen rather than waiting tables, he would also give you a break whenever you ask or even if he can tell your getting overwhelmed/overstimulated (he’ll even let you sit in his office) Azul is very perceptive so he’s pick up on your tell’s really easily, he also makes an effort to not seem annoyed if you need him to repeat or explain something again. He’s very supportive!

Azul: “(name) why are you lying on the kitchen floor?”

You: *you are lying face flat on the floor* “muffled groan”

Azul: “Can you answer me or would you prefer I leave?”

You: “…The tiles are cold… and my brain is loud”

Azul: “…Want me to get floyd to squeeze you?”(For the pressure)

You: “…Yes please”

_____________________________________________

Floyd 🦐

Floyd definitely wouldn’t know at first, he’d take you avoiding eye contact and fidgeting as you being intimidated by him, most people are. He’d keep around you though, he finds your reactions and stimming interesting. Sometimes you’d seem really nervous then you’d ask him to squeeze you (for the pressure) and he wouldn’t think twice about it lol. He’d wonder why azul gives you “special treatment” and he’d whine about it to azul so much he had to tell Floyd about your autism. Floyd was just like 0-0. Nothing changed about how he interacted with you after that, maybe he was just a little bit less loud than usual around you.

You:“Floyd?”

Floyd:“Yeah shrimpy?”

You:“Can you… squeeze me… like really hard?”

Floyd: “SAY LESS‼️” *doesn’t even think about it and gives you the most bone crunching hug ever*

_____________________________________________

Jade 🍄

jade would know pretty much right away, like azul he’s extremely perceptive and he would notice when things get too overwhelming, he’s silently help from the sidelines, if he could tell a task was overwhelming you he’d ask you to handle something he had to do and insist on finishing up your task in the meantime. He’d bonk Floyd for ya if he’s being too loud and if anyone ever made fun of you about your autism… let’s just say the next day they would be profusely, apologizing to you. I feel like jade would gift you things like long rubber gloves for when you have to wash the dishes at the lounge so that the stuff doesn’t touch you and set off your sensory issues, and he’d be happy to yap about your hyper fixations with you (as long as he gets to yap about mushrooms)

Jade: “I discovered a Death cap mushroom on my hike recently, did you know the death cap is responsible for most fatal mushroom poisonings? It looks similar to edible mushrooms like Caesar's mushroom, and can taste pleasant So people often eat it by mistake”

You: “Did you know A new species of titanosaur (Titanomachya gimenezi) was just discovered? It was named after Dr. Olga Giménez, the first female paleontologist to study the dinosaurs of the Chubut province. The dinosaur is estimated to have weighed about 7 tons!!”

*Jade and you yapping*

_____________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed this fic!!!!

If you have any requests, please send them in‼️

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, how do you feel about the theory that the villain based on Ramshackle Dorm is "Chernabog". So basically, Chernabog is a Demon featured in the segment of 1940s Disney film Fantasia (Night on Bald Mountain). He could summon all of his minions, which included ghosts, vultures, demons, hags, and harpies, who dance furiously as he throws them into the mountain's fiery pit. Who else has ghosts? Ramshackle dorm! and since Fantasia also features Mickey then it makes sense for Yuu to see him in the mirror!

So what if Ramshackle used to be a representative for Chernabog? Maybe Chernabog used to be the 8th member of the great 7 but then cut out for some reason?

Also, considering that the Monster in the prologue of the game might be Overblot Grim. He strangely resembles Chernabog.

What do you think...?

Mmm... It's an interesting idea but I don't find myself really being pulled into it. There's nothing really "stand-out" about Ramshackle that would imply Chernabog to me. Fair warning though, I have zero clue what (or who???) Chernabog is (I haven’t seen Fantasia), so maybe some references are completely lost on me.

There’s the ghosts, but that's like one kind of minion that just so happens to be there. There would be a stronger case if there were the other minions there (vultures, harpies, etc.). The whole deal with Mickey in the mirror is something I associate more with the 1936 short Thru the Mirror and not with Fantasia specifically. Finally, I think what we presume to be OB Grim doesn't closely resemble Chernabog, save for the pair of wings, which... I don't personally attribute to being Chernabog-adjacent, I just attribute it to him having sprouted dragon wings from presumably eating Malleus's crystallized blot (since Grim also has elements from the other OB boys in his design which don't necessarily call back to Chernabog).

[angelthefandomobsessed]

What's the deal with Heartslabyul (A TWST theory)

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it just occurred to me to write it all out because I think this is pretty interesting. This theory involves who some of the Heartslabyul members are twisted from, who Yuu represents, the potential inspiration for Grim (yes, Grim), and how this might affect Royal Sword Academy. Some of this is likely fairly obvious, and almost definitely has been pointed out before, but there are some aspects that I have never seen discussed.

I'll split this post into different points to keep everything somewhat together, hopefully, maybe?

Point 1: Who is Alice?

Okay, so this all started with Ace. This is all his fault. I was thinking to myself, "Who is he actually supposed to represent?", as he's one of the more dubious characters in terms of a direct inspiration (him and the rest of Heartslabyul tbh).

In Book 1, at a glance, he seems to be acting as Alice as he is the tart thief. It's not unusual to see characters doubling up on 'roles' (Azul stands in for the genie in Book 4, and Malleus stands in for Mufasa in Book 2, for example). But then I realised no, Ace can't be Alice, because Yuu is obviously Alice.

Yuu ends up in a different world (a world literally named 'Wonderland'), Yuu meets all of the strange characters this Wonderland has to offer, and Yuu points out that Riddle (the Queen of Hearts) is in the wrong (though it's worth mentioning that Ace and Deuce also do this). These parallels are obvious indicators that the player, the only outsider, is supposed to be Alice.

But for what I think is more definitive proof...

Point 2: GRIM IS DINAH, HAS ANYBODY ELSE NOTICED OR AM I LOSING IT???

Grim shares striking similarities with Dinah, Alice's cat.

Entirely blue eyes. A big bow. A patch of chest fur. I refuse to believe that in making an Alice in Wonderland inspired dorm, in a game named after Alice in Wonderland, that this is a coincidence. At one point in Alice in Wonderland, Alice wonders to herself if she'll be taking orders from Dinah next (I think when the White Rabbit mistakes her for the maid?). Taking orders... like a henchman might?

I rest my case. Grim is Dinah, which makes Yuu Alice.

(If this is somehow common knowledge I apologise, I just felt very clever when I spotted this)

Point 3: Okay... so who is Ace?

Ace is the Knave of Hearts. In the novel, it is the Knave of Hearts who is initially accused of stealing the tart, not Alice. The Knave isn't included in the Disney's animated Alice in Wonderland, but he plays a role in Tim Burton's live-action version... as a man with a heart eyepatch who serves the queen (but seems to hate her and want her dead for... reasons).

But like. Heart eyepatch. Tart thief. Do the math.

Point 4: Che'nya further evidences the influence of the live-action Alice in Wonderland/the original novel

In the animated Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat sucks. He is the worst. In the book, however, he is the chillest creature in Wonderland. At one point in a croquet match with the queen Alice is like "Bro, are you seeing this lady?" and he's like "Tell me all about it", and they have a gossip off to the side.

Similarly, in the live-action, the cat is portrayed in a positive light. He's a part of the revolution (down with the bloody big heid, and such). Che'nya is in RSA - the good guy school. If we were exclusively following the animated film, he would 100% be in NRC.

Che'nya is a good guy, which suggests that media surrounding Disney's original animated films was taken into consideration. I've seen it observed that Leona's overblot design seems to take inspiration from the musical adaptation of the Lion King, and that Diasomnia's Glorius Masquerade outfits resemble the live-action Maleficent when put together (wings on either side of Malleus).

If that's not enough to convince you that the live-action has been referenced in TWST, then I present you with this:

Riddle's hair is red, not black. The Queen of Heart's has black hair in the animated film... and bright red hair in the live action.

Point 5: What does this mean for Royal Sword Academy?

This is very up in the air as we don't know all that much about RSA. If they operate similarly to NRC (seven dorms, each with a leader, each dedicated to a Disney hero), more references to the live-action Alice in Wonderland might be on the horizon. We might see a representation of the White Queen, or the Mad Hatter (a character who was also a little bit terrible in the animated film, but played an instrumental hero role in the live-action).

Point 6: Deuce, Trey and Cater... Whomst are you?

Well... where does that leave the other card soldiers? That's certainly one of the great mysteries of TWST. Most of the characters have such clear inspiration - Jamil is obviously Jafar, Malleus is obviously Maleficient, Azul is obviously Ursula... And then you have a character like Trey, who makes cake and has a dental fixation. There aren't really any other characters like the Knave where you can point at them and say, "They share an obvious visual similarity."

The Mad Hatter is green, and the tea parties couldn't happen without Trey and he... wears a fedora, I guess?

Cater has orange hair and so does the King of Hearts.

Deuce gives dog boy energy, so...

Yeah, it's still anyone's guess.

In conclusion: I think the reason why Heartslabyul is such a source of mystery is because every member hides a part of themselves. Cater has a melancholic side, Deuce is an ex-delinquent, Riddle deeply wants to be normal but holds back because of the rules, Trey wants to be the most average man ever, and Ace can be all kinds of insincere.

I think in the next book 7 update (the Heartslabyul adventure) we might be getting a deeper insight into these characters, which I'm really looking forward to. Ace in particular.

While we're here, I predict that Riddle's dream will involve him being a normal, imperfect teen who eats sweets all day, Deuce will be an honour student (he probably doesn't have the best imagination so it could be silly o'clock with him), and Trey will wear a sparkly dress and become the tooth fairy (his true dream job).

Okay, but serious prediction for Trey - they'll go into his dream and be all "Omg he has such a strong imagination, how did we never notice?? He's actually so OP" because his unique magic is actually broken, I'm pretty sure if he woke up he could use Doodle Suit on Malleus and turn his sleep spell into pretzels or something, it wouldn't even surprise me.

[transmascutena]

Bird Symbolism in Revolutionary Girl Utena

There is quite a large amount of bird and bird-related imagery, symbolism, allegories and metaphors in Revolutionary Girl Utena, and i think all of them are very interesting. Here is a ~2000 word essay about the topic.

The Birdcage Garden: Anthy and Ohtori Academy

This is perhaps the most obvious of the bird symbols in Utena. It is literally Anthy's cage. It is where she, as the Rose Bride, is supposed to spend her time watering the flowers. Touga talks about never letting her out of it once he wins her, and calls her a "lovely little bird." And doesn't that just sum up what so many people's idealized version of her is like? A pretty thing to be admired, only in captivity.

I think the birdcage can also be seen as a sort of microcosm of Ohtori Academy as a whole. Akio does call the school "a garden where people will never become adults," after all, and Anthy is not the only person trapped there, nor is she the only character associated with birds.

According to this analysis, "Ohtori" as a word can mean "big bird" in japanese, and is also a Japanese term for the Fenghuang bird in Chinese mythology, said to be "beautiful, immortal and rules over all birds." Sounds a lot like a certain someone in charge of this place, doesn't it? Which would make every person in Ohtori a bird, symbolically speaking, trapped in the cage that is the academy and ruled by Akio (who, despite being the biggest, and the one with the most control, is also a caged bird.)

Additionally, the statue on the gate to the dueling arena is in the shape of a bird, before it transforms into a rose when opened. I am not sure exactly what this means, but I assume it is in some way symbolic of Akio, Anthy and Ohtori.

The Bird and the Window: Shiori and Juri

The bird that flies into the window during Shiori and Juri's conversation in episode 17 is a Java Sparrow. Despite its name, it is a part of the Estrildid Finch family, but I think the symbolism for sparrows fits the context more, as they can represent love, devotion and compainionship, all of which are very relevant for Juri and Shiori.

The bird is also the symbolic item for Shiori's black rose duel, which means we should associate the bird mainly with her. What, exactly, is the window, then? I think it is symbolic of Shiori's feelings for Juri, Juri's feelings for Shiori, or most likely both. The bird hits the window directly after Juri says "Is that all you have to say to me?" and turns to leave. The bird hits something it could not see in its flight, just as Shiori hits against something that hurts her, even if she doesn't understand it, in her conversation with Juri. The bird is shown to be lying still, presumably dead, after Juri reveals that she was never in love with the boy Shiori "stole" from her.

The bird is shown again after Juri throws her locket in the lake, and before Shiori finds it in her dorm. I've heard it discussed that this implies the bird retrieved the locket (probably through Anthy-as-Mamiya), and if the bird is symbolic of Shiori and the locket is symbolic of Juri's feelings for her, it would mean Shiori is the one to bring them back after Juri tries to rid herself of them. This makes sense.

The Bird Nest: Kozue and Miki

The bird nest that Kozue rescues from the tree that is going to be cut down is symbolic of her and Miki. Or, at least they are symbolic of how Kozue views the two of them. The comparison is pretty straightforward; Kozue projects her and Miki's feelings of abandonment onto these baby chicks, who have been left behind by their parents, just like the two of them were when their parents divorced. I think she projects her protectiveness over her brother moreso than her own feelings about the whole thing, as Kozue likes to think of herself as very independent ("a wild animal") and very unaffected by it all. As seen by her attempt to save the birds in the first place, she is very willing to put herself at risk, and is less concerned with her own feelings/safety.

Now, I don't want to get too much into speculation, but I have to wonder if there was more going on in the Kaoru family than just the divorce and the too-high expectations for the "twin prodigies." Miki's uncharacteristic cynicism in saying "adults who tell you something is for your own good can never be trusted," as well as Kozue's total disregard for authority and her tendency to use her sexuality as a tool both concern me. Although Miki and Kozue's parents are not explicitly shown to be abusive, I do not think it is a stretch to say that there is a possibility that they were. It explains some of Kozue's behaviour in regards to Miki as well. It's not just posesiveness but protectiveness. She has needed to protect him before, and she feels she needs to protect him still (pushing the predatory teacher down the stairs, saving the birds she sees his innocence in.)

Interestingly enough, Anthy interacts with these chicks as well. She advices Miki on how to feed and take care of them. Utena even comments on how unusually straight forward she's being about the whole thing. This might just be another instance of characterizing Anthy as a person who is fond of animals, and that is certainly part of it, but i think there is more to it as well. If these baby birds are symbolic of (Miki and Kozue's, but also a general) feeling of abandonment by parents/adults, as well as their potential abuse, what does that mean for Anthy not only knowing how to take care of them, but being eager to talk about it? Could it perhaps be that she, like Kozue, sees herself in them? Like Kozue, Anthy herself is symbolically a bird, but a caged one in contrast to Kozue's claims of being a wild animal. Could it be that Anthy has had to become an expert in taking care of those (herself) that have been abandoned or failed or abused by the adults in their lives? Rememeber that this is the same episode where she says that Akio is more like a father to her than a brother. A parallel is indirectly being drawn between him and the Kaoru parents.

If Miki and Kozue's parents were abusive, this might be a rare moment of Anthy empathising with other victims, telling them through metaphor how to take care of themselves. Although, it doesn't keep her from continuing to manipulate them, as she goes on to say her line about returning the chicks to their mother, which is what sets Kozue off. Anthy also says that she's never actually raised chicks before. Maybe she's not very good at taking care of them (herself) after all.

There's also what looks like two caged parakeets in Miki's flashback of their childhood. I assume this has similar meaning to Anthy's birdcage, as a feeling of being trapped, in this case by their parents' expectations for them. Kozue used to be a caged bird, but now claims to be a wild one, despite still being inside the birdcage that is Ohtori.

Brood Parasitism: Nanami and Touga (and Utena)

The Kaoru's are not the only sibling pair in Utena to be compared to birds. In Episode 31, Her Tragedy, a pretty unique shadow play is put on in the Chairman's Tower about a cuckoo leaving its egg in another bird's nest, a phenomenon known as brood parasitism. It also references the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. Perhaps the most interesting part of this play is that it's done in the style of the ones in the black rose arc, with C-Ko playing all the roles, the return of the monkey-catching robot, and Utena's fourth-wall breaking commentary at the end. I won't get into what this means, as it doesn't have anything to do with the bird metaphor, but maybe in another post.

This shadow play is about how Nanami and Touga were adopted, and specifically about Nanami's feelings on the matter. Of course adopted children are not parasites, but it makes sense for Nanami to think along those lines, considering her fear of being compared to animals or aliens, and of being ostracized by the society she lives in. Nanami doesn't actually know that she is adopted, only that Touga is, which muddies that interpretation a little. Perhaps it is about Nanami blaming Touga's birth parents for "leaving him in another nest"? Something about her resentment of Touga at this point in time, thinking of him as a parasite in their family? Or simply her fear of what not being his blood-relative means.

I'm more confident about the Ugly Duckling reference, and it being symbolic of Nanami's worry of not fitting in among her peers. Nanami mainly copes with this by thinking that the reason she doesn't fit in, is because she is actually better than everybody else, because she's related to Touga (being a beautiful swan among the common ducks.) The play ends with the cuckoo insisting that it will become a swan one day, when really it can't. It will never be a duck that fits in, either. It will always just be what it is, a parasite (a space-alien. A girl who lays eggs.) This reflects Nanami's despair at the idea that she's "just another fly in the swarm" after her duel in the next episode.

And like all the shadow plays this one can be interpreted as being about Utena as well. She is an orphan who is now being raised in Akio and Anthy's "nest". Although she wasn't placed there by anyone but Akio himself, so it's more about her insecurities about feeling like an outsider in their family. And like the Ugly Duckling/cuckoo, she is also out of place among the rest of the students, and dreams of growing up to be something she can't actually become, in this case a prince. (credits to this analysis on the shadow plays for helping me piece together my thoughts on that. Always cite your sources!)

Cuckoos can also be symbolic of one-sided love, and is the origin of the word cuckoldry. Make of that what you will.

I should mention that Nanami also lays an egg of her own a few episodes prior. ...Or does she?

Her nightmare sequences show her fears of being compared to a chicken, a turtle, a frog, and of course, a space alien, but it is quite obviously a bird egg. And since we are later shown that Anthy has a chicken named Nanami, much like the cow with the same name, it can be assumed that the egg comes from there, and that Anthy brought it to Nanami's bed, perhaps via Chu-Chu. Could this relate to the brood parasitism of the cuckoo in some way? Is this not one bird (Anthy) laying its egg in another bird's (Nanami's) nest (bed) and getting them to raise it? is this what Anthy means when she tells Miki she has never personally raised chicks? Are all of these metaphors connected??? There's also the fan-theory that Nanami's egg hatched a reincarnated Chu-Chu, and in that case would he be the baby cuckoo while Anthy is the mother and Nanami is the duck? I'll be honest I'm not really sure what to make of it at this point. Draw whatever conclusion you want!

Last and probably least interesting is the third of Nanami associated bird imagery: the crow in episode 10. Crows can be symbolic of death, and it feels safe to say that this one is just here to set the mood of the scene, and as visual confirmation that the kitten did indeed die. Not too much to say there.

The Chicken and the Egg: The Student Council

I'd be remiss if i didn't mention the student council's chicken and egg speech in this post as well, even if it has been analyzed to hell and back by hundreds of people before me. It is a reference to Hermann Hesse's book Demian. It is about breaking out of childhood and into adulthood. It is about escaping Ohtori, which is both the egg and the cage (and interestingly enough, during the speech birds can be seen flying by outside the cage of the elevator.) In Nanami's version of the egg speech she mentions "the cage of freedom" and how it cares for the chick. This something that ideally should be true for schools. A place that limits children, but in a way that prepares them for the adult world. Of course, Ohtori as a system has no interest in this, as it is a cage in its most literal sense: a place to keep people trapped. Trapped in their harmful behaviours, in their lack of growth, in their idealized memories of the past, and most of all, in childhood.

And with that, we have come full circle back to Anthy's birdcage as a symbol for all of Ohtori. Thanks for reading :)

[fitgirlfemdom]

The story you made about the pathetic NEET gooner who let himself go is literally me.

It did start small. I was coming off of a high in regards to everything, super promising schooling and I made it into a fairly prestigious lab in college where I still work. But from freshman to senior year, while my schoolwork has been fine, I’ve pretty much watched myself fall from extremely sociable, charming all the way to monstrous fatty sneaking out of my dorm room (which is more of a league of legends/weed/feedist porn dungeon) to pick up my 3rd ubereats of the night while girls look at me judgingly.

And literally the best part is that I glance back up at them, wearing my oversized sweater that’s getting tighter and tighter, and I can’t help but feel so good. It’s amazing when I get into the elevator with rowdy college girls and all they have to make conversation with me is the fact that I’m holding a bag that obviously contains a shit ton of fast food.

I have, seldomly, gotten into the elevator at my dorm with fat girls who appear to be in my boat with regards to overeating ubereats. When that happens, it’s like two people who desperately want out but understand that each other poses no harm in judgment.

In this way, I’ve gained around 90 pounds in 3 years (most of it was in 1 year, so I could easily push it to 150 pounds overall), making me 5’6, 220 pounds.

I have also dabbled in the whole cock rating fetish. I once requested a rating from a super muscular Onlyfans acc where I gave a before pic (for physique) and an after pic.. The next few nights, I downed so much heavy cream and melted ice cream that I had to call off work.

I love the Berserk theme btw. Farnese is by far my fav character.

Oh yeah I love Farnese too! Such a great personality :D

I also wouldn't consider you a NEET, judging by how you're literally in college and that cancels out the first two letters. I see a lot of people, especially on tiktok and twitter, conflating "NEET" with "terminally online nerd." For fetish purposes, though, they look the same, and smell the same, so I guess I can let it slide.

a little bit of rambling:

I think the reason I'm so attracted to fat degenerate nerd losers is not just because they're a lot easier to please, but they also know exactly what they want and where they stand. It's the same with girls--I'm much more interested in chubby, awkward, dyed-hair nerd girls than the girls that called me a bulldyke in high school.

"High-value" men and women in my age group (or whatever they like calling themselves) have no interests beyond vague terms like "traveling" or "doggos" or whatever else I've seen on Hinge. The women are also extremely hesitant about actually getting with women (bicurious) while the men just expect you to worship the ground they walk on, for no reason. I dated a 4.0 gpa gymbro and it was exhausting how insecure, manipulative, and immature he was. no self-awareness at all, just pure narcissism. It's incredibly self-deprecating to worship someone that doesn't impress you.

I've also dated a chubby nerd, and while he wasn't a very good boyfriend, he knew what he liked, and he worshipped me in the bedroom. Our sex life was the reason I stayed.

This is all to say, yeah, those girls are going to be judging you and thinking they'd rather swallow glass than kiss you. they won't be happy, though, with their physically active partners. bodies truly do not represent how good someone can fuck, or love, really. i know this is all a fetish, and it IS hot to have a food-waste-filled goon cave, but outside of all this, you will be loved, and you seem really cool. even tho casca is better.

[sleeper-kerennnnnnx]

MASHLE：author‘s Q&A translation！(Last episode and then ends！)

Please point out any mistakes or errors! I will correct them in time, thank you!

The school setting translation will be released later!

Here are Q100-131! See the collection for the rest

To the animation fans: There are slight references to the subsequent plot of the comics, please note‼ ️ (Q100-Q103) Those who are not comical can avoid it

Q100: What else can the magic of the second son of innocent zero do besides making objects transparent?

A100: Nothing!

Q101: Does Epidem（the third son) like all kinds of pudding (baked pudding, milk pudding, etc.), or does he dislike pudding except soft pudding?

A101: Pudding must be bouncy!

Q102: I like Dilizesta (the fourth son)! Did he comb his hair himself or did another brother help him tie it?

A102: He tied it himself! ! ! ! !

Q103: Why does Cell War want to open a milk shop?

A103: Returning to society starts with working!

Q104: Does Easton also have a dorm system （Orca，Adler，Lang）except for the high school?

A104: It has a college dormitory system!

Q105: Does Easton have a cultural festival or school trip?

A105: Yes! It's definitely interesting! I want to go too!

Q106: What kind of courage and conviction did the unicorns of the sorting feel from Adler's  (who bullied Finn at the beginning and said he knew the dean and was beaten up by Matthew)?

A106: I think the unicorns were exhausted from working for a long time and made mistakes, please forgive me. (crying)

Q107: Do the magic world also use brooms for long-distance travel? Are there cars, subways, and planes?

A107: It seems that there are no cars, subways, and planes!

Q108: I want to know the recommended dating places in the magic world.

A108: Magical Sea Life Aquarium!

Q109: In the past, there were magazine cover-style illustrations of Ryoh as colored pages. Do Divine Visionaries usually become the cover of magic magazines?

A109: Yes! Because they are like idols!

Q110: The names of magic are very cool! Please tell me how you decided! Is there any reference?

A110: Refer to "Golden Window Frame"! It's very interesting! Please read it!

Q111: What determines personal magic?

Q111: Personality, birthplace, etc.!

Q112: Please tell me the difference between summon and thirds magic.

A112: Summon is the power of the wand itself, and thirds is the magic of summoning gods!

Q113: When you comprehend new magic, such as secondth or thirds magic, do you make up the spell name yourself? Or do you think of it suddenly?

A113: Just remembered it immediately! It seems like already knew it before!

Q114: When Rayne and the principal used the thirds, there were three lines on their faces, but there were also people who used it without three lines. Aren't the conditions for thirds and summon three lines?

A114: I forgot to draw three lines... (crying)

Q115: The number of lines represents the output of magic power, so do the different shapes represent different magic family origins?

A115: Basically, it represents origin or personality!

Q116: When there is an extra line, it looks like bleeding. Does it hurt?

A116: It hurts! It's like being hit in the face by a rubber band! !

Q117: How much is Goblin Puff in Japanese yen?

A117: About 230 yuan! (Equivalent to 2 dollars)

Q118: What does Mandrake taste like? Does it taste like carrots as it looks? Is there a female crying sound of Mandrake?

A118: It tastes like a root vegetable! Some sound like a female voice!

Q119: Does Mr. Komoto eat cream puffs often? Why is Matthew set to like cream puffs?

A119: Not very much! This setting is mainly because my grandfather often bought me ピアードパパ (a Japanese dessert shop! It still exists now) when I was a child!

Q120: After the serialization ended, I heard your friends praised me and said that they would treat me to a meal as a reward. What else did you do?

A120: I went abroad with my friends to many places! I was very happy! I made my friends angry because I didn't check the guide!

Q121: Is the finger guillotine (prank prop) still a threat to Mr. Komoto?

A121: Threat! I still think it's a bad thing! But it's good! It's fun!

Q122: It says in volume 17 that you will have a cat after serialization. What kind of cat do you want to have?

A122: I want to have a rescue cat, but there is no house that allows pets, so it is unlikely to have a cat. (crying)

Q123: I'm curious about the top 3 handsome ranked in Mr. Komoto's mind!

A123: First is Lance, second is Wirth, and third is Abyss!

Q124: Which character in the work does Mr. Komoto like the most?

A124: I like them all! If I have to say, I like Adler's children the most!

Q125: Who is the easiest character for Mr. Komoto to draw? On the contrary, who is the most difficult character to draw?

A125: The easiest one is Dot! The most difficult one is Rayne!

Q126: I want to know which one do you think is the best fighting round!

A126: Mash vs Exam!

Q127: Please tell me the character who is most similar with you or the one that you resonates with the most!

A127: I think I am a bit like Dot!

Q128: I'm curious about which one Mr. Komoto enjoys the most when drawing!

A128: Everyone is noisy in the scene and I am very happy to draw! I am very satisfied with Lance's sister-con attributes!

Q129: Does Mr. Komoto work out? What brand of protein powder do you drink?

A129: Yes! The brand of protein powder is エクスプロージョン!

Q130: How do you come up with the names of the characters? If there is a memorable name, please tell me.

A130: Think with a familiar sense of language! Lemons are a good match for the characters, very cute, I like it!

Q131: What is the most impressive gift that the characters received from fans?

A131: The one that impressed me the most was the chocolate bunny for Rayne!

Can I pleaz ask a little red heart if you like🥹Thank you! This is the end of the Q&A. Thank you for watching and commenting! The school settings will be released later! If you want to see other characters or other settings or official book translations of other IPs, you can tell me in the comments！

[bubblin-trouble]

Twisted Wonderland theory time: Did Dire Crowley Summon Yuu on purpose? Does Yuu have powers? What is his true intention?

Spoilers for the game below the cut!!! You’ve been warned~

In the very beginning of the game, you, the player, play a short snippet through the eyes of our favorite headmage, Crowley. Here, he speaks in a way more serious tone than his usual manner, and no one else is present but himself.

As you can see, he’s speaking towards the Dark Mirror, but he is not referring to it. He speaks of a benefactor. A flower of evil. Interesting choice of words, wouldn’t you think?

It’s like he knows the person he’s seeking after is just on the other side.

For those of you who don’t know, a benefactor is (literal definition) a person who gives money or other to help a person or cause. Basically someone who helps someone else out. And who could that person in need of help be?

Dire Crowley. Is it because he’s in dire circumstances? In need of someone’s help? Here’s a quote I found:

“For you, for me, for them, time is running out.”

Seems urgent or dire, doesn’t it? Also, the terminology he uses here caught my attention as well. He refers to the unknown party as “my proud flower of evil”. What does a flower need? Nurturing. Crowley’s known to use interesting nomenclature for his students, after all.

But now, who does Crowley need to dump all of his problems on, expose them to immense Overblot incidents in the meanwhile? Yuu.

Another piece of evidence I’d like to bring up.

This confirms that he wasn’t directly referring to the Dark Mirror before, but he was seeking someone out.

The word “visage” can mean the manifestation, image, or aspect of something. From this, my guess is that Crowley is seeking out some unknown party to conform to him, like the flower language used earlier.

I highly doubt the Mirror would bring anyone to NRC who had no magic inside them. Yuu was sent because (I think) Crowley specifically asked.

Grim, a creature (cat-weasel) with immense layers of 1000 year old curse magic, however, was also sent to NRC. But, why?

By this point, we all know about the time loop theory. My personal interpretation is that after each calamity that falls, the cycle repeats again. And again. And again. It’s basically pushed into our faces that Grim will overblot at some point, but his will be even stronger than all of the others’.

Crowley says this to Yuu before he realizes they’re not the typical student.

Alongside with the coffin/raven imagery, it doesn’t give too good of an idea. That’s why the school is called Night Raven College. Each student represents a bird, a raven. Ravens symbolize the path between the living and spirit realm. Not saying that everyone in TWST is dead, per se…but it’s an interesting concept.

Let’s shy away from this for a moment. Consider this next piece of evidence as well.

For a student with no magic, it’s a little ironic that Yuu has prophetic dreams of the past, isn’t it? Every time, roughly 3 days before an overblot occurs, they have a dream based off of the overblotee’s member of the Great 7.

Now, anyone who’s watched the Disney movies featuring the villains in TWST know their true story. Obviously. Those in TWST idolize the Great 7, believing them to be good historical figures. Yet, we see the truth. Through Yuu’s eyes.

Let’s take a look at something else.

Considering the connection between Mickey and Yuu (In Thru the Mirror and Ramshackle Dorm), their interactions are just a bit more than interesting. Yuu sees him in their dreams, and vice versa. I have a small guess that the world of TWST was created by the Mouse himself, tbh.

The name “Mickey” actually means “Who is like God”. My personal best guess is it’s some sort of deviation from Micheal or Mikhail. After all, Mickey IS the mascot of literally everything Disney…

This might sound stupid/outlandish, but that mouse has power. I’m so serious. The Mirrorverse is canon in the Disney universe, after all. My guess is that TWST is one of those worlds, but where the villains were victorious instead of our beloved heroes.

Yuu is the only one to have such prophetic dreams, that we know of thus far. They so happen to embody the ravens perfectly, as they symbolize prophecy and insight. Though Yuu has no magic, it does make me wonder…

Were they blessed by a higher being, to have such powers to reveal the truth?

With all of the context here, it’s clear that the history of Twisted Wonderland is inaccurate. Warped. The villains aren’t actually the heroes, like everyone else thinks. In reality, they’re the complete opposite.

This might be because of propaganda pushed forward by the Seven’s loyal followers, as a way to blot over their muddy images.

Let’s talk about overblots for a moment. With Yuu always being exposed to so many overblots, you’d think they’d eventually go through it themselves. But, they don’t have magic, do they? Or so everyone else thinks.

I have a hunch that Yuu in fact does have some kind of magic, buried deep inside them. It’s dormant, asleep. Needing to be awakened. Needing to be nurtured to show its true colors.

Also, when Yuu first arrived, one of the first individuals we meet is Crowley. He literally says, “There you are!”.

Like he’d been expecting Yuu. Planning for them to come to NRC.

Another thing, Crowley doesn’t seem like the type of person to care all too much if a student misses a ceremony. But, he escorted Yuu there himself. And, when he found out that Yuu had “no magic”, he let them stay instead of sending them home.

You’d think he’d be more eager to send them back to where they came from, right? But, no. He doesn’t seem all too bothered by letting Yuu stay. Like he knows they have some sort of purpose to serve.

But, he has to have a reason for all of this, doesn’t he? Well, it’s not made clear at this moment. Maybe we’ll find out in future books.

Before we wrap it up here, here’s some food for thought, and some of my own personal thoughts.

Dire Crowley knows something everything else doesn’t. And it’s bad. Catastrophic, even. He knew it was bad enough that it could potentially put his world in danger. Desperate times call for desperate measures, don’t they? And he needed to call for something. And what would be the thing to save his world?

His beautiful flower of evil.

But, that’s just a theory. :)

@nrc-asteryn-crew @night-raven-miscellany @nrc-ramshackle-prefect @glitchtricks94 come get your food >:)