#but it’s so malleyuu to me (even just platonically)

[yaksha-lover]

ok i know phantom of the opera malleus is already a popular concept but can we please acknowledge how that moment in the novel where erik starts crying while thinking of how christine didn’t run away after he pulled off his mask is so malleus coded. like the barest acknowledgement of humanity and empathy (even without romantic reciprocity) after being feared and rejected by the world for so long is enough to bring him to tears and be endlessly thankful for that one moment of acceptance.

it’s so malleus with yuu being his first friend and the only one not to shy away in fear, i can imagine him just feeling so overwhelmed with surprise and joy when yuu does something very simple for him, like when they invited him to the vdc.

[ventique18]

~ Random twst things about me that I've never posted here ~

I have a separate OC that I ship with Silver... A year younger than him and they're the really really sweet and wholesome type that I like to imagine when I'm stressed. 🥹 I made them as a direct contrast to my chaotic personal MalleYuu lol.

Malleus and Silver are the only characters I've made OCs for. They're very dear to me.

I like Leona with another one of the guys. They're my 3rd liked pair below MalleYuu and Sil/OC.

Idia is my top 2 fave but I've never simped for him. He's a precious lil guy in my heart.

My main Yuu is both male and female-- like how the magical Tensen are in Hell's Paradise.

A bit smut-ish but I think Malmal enjoys being sub and dom in equal measure lol. Though I think his favorite is when he can bite Yuuyuu's nape while going at it. 🤭

I'm actually so grateful for the existence of Meleanor/Levan or even Meleanor/Lilia because I just want to see old people content lol, platonic or not. I don't necessarily ship them but I find them refreshing. < might sound odd from the post I made some weeks ago but language facts and my personal feelings are completely separate topics.

It's rare for me to stan the first character that catches my attention, but that's what happened with Malleus and I'm so glad for it.

I used to dislike characters with animal/monster traits but twst completely baptized me omfg. 😭🤣

Malleus is the one who pulled me out of a year of depression. 🥲 He will always have a place in my heart.

[twstjam]

Break in the Clouds (One-shot)

Characters: Malleus Draconia & Yuu. Mentioned Heartslabyul boys.

Ship(s): Platonic Malleyuu (but can be seen as romantic. I plan to sprinkle in some romance too if I ever continue this) Word count: 1.9k

Summary: You're the most basic human around: A magicless one. This should make you the last choice to be the one to save the life of a queen and peace as you know it, but somehow your fae friend believes you to be just the person for the job. Just what have you gotten yourself into...?

Or: I watched Barbie Mariposa and thought Antonio's and Mariposa's relationship would make for a fun Malleyuu fic so I wrote a one-shot on it Masterlist AO3 Link

The strong winds beat and rattled the windows. As you fight to close the last of the open windows, you're further drenched by the heavy sheet of rain coming through.

"I have not seen a storm as furious as this since my maiden days," says one of the maids as she brings a mop and bucket for the rainwater that had gotten inside.

"Yeah, it's really coming down." Looking out the window, you can't even see the manor's grounds with how heavy the rain is. "Riddle and the others haven't come back yet... do you think they're alright?"

"Oh, there's no need to worry about the young master," the maid laughs as she works the mop over the floor. "You know how he is. He won't let some bad weather get the best of him. Mr. Clover and Mr. Diamond are with him as well, they'll look after him. As for those young lads you're always with, they're more of a hazard than the storm is!"

That gets a laugh out of you. The image of Ace and Deuce chasing each other around in the rain without a problem really seems more possible than them being discouraged by it.

"Now go on and change." The maid holds the mop with one hand and makes a shooing motion with the other as she turns up her nose at your dripping clothes. "You're absolutely drenched! If you do not catch a cold, you will catch the handle of this mop for tracking all that rainwater around!"

"Of course, ma'am." You give her a little wave before leaving her to her work. You cringe at the feeling of your clothes drip, drip, drip ping as you walk back to your room. You'll have to grab a mop too after you're done. You'll be damned if you left everyone else to do all the work. Besides, you'll need it to keep your hands and mind occupied.

You've been working under Riddle for almost a year now since he took you in after you arrived at the Kingdom of Heroes. He'd just freshly inherited his parents' estate and title and so was especially strict, but his soft side was undeniable when he gave in to Ace and Deuce's begging to let you stick around. Since then, you'd made sure to make the decision worth his while and in exchange he was an exceptional boss.

Aside from him, Ace, and Deuce, you'd also gotten close to his aides, Trey and Cater, for their attentiveness and peppiness respectively. You'd really gotten lucky with the Rosehearts estate.

So your worry for them surfaced in no small amount when the sky started to pour right after Riddle had left with the rest of them. Due to the rising tensions between the humans and the nocturnal fae, the king had issued a curfew and patrols after dark. You saw your friends even less now which was a bummer, but the important thing was that they came home safe.

You really hope they never run into any fae... but the reason for this specifically is due to more than concerns for their safety.

Said reason manifests out of the shadows of your room and pulls your back to his chest as soon as you enter. The door slams closed, the sound—along with a gloved hand over your mouth—muffling your startled cries and struggles.

"Hush now. It is only me," a familiar deep voice whispers in your ear. Your nameless friend doesn't seem the slightest bit winded by your relentless struggling in his arms.

Once you realise who it is that has surprised you, you relax and your friend releases you from his hold.

"Tsunotarou, you gave me a heart attack!" you hiss with a smack to his arm that he's completely unfazed by. "What in the world are you—"

Tsunotarou hastily leans down to shush you.

"Lower your voice. My presence must not be alerted to."

You snap your mouth shut, knowing full well why that would be.

"Yeah, no shit." You heave a breath in an effort to rid the tension stiffening your limbs. "Riddle isn't gonna be happy you're here. The king's trying to catch any fae that's wandering around, you know."

"Precisely." Tsunotarou heaves his own sigh, looking weary. It's now that you notice the bags underneath his eyes and you urge him to sit down on the edge of your bed. "Thank you. I... apologize for visiting you uninvited, but there is a matter most urgent I must discuss with you."

"I have a feeling it has something to do with the king doubling down on laws against fae." You move to sit down next to him, but you stop yourself when you remember the current state of your clothes.

"Ah. I apologize for the storm as well. Allow me." Tsunotarou waves his hand. A warm breeze sweeps over you, ruffling your hair and tugging lightly on your clothes. When it disappears you're completely dry from head to toe.

"What I wouldn't give to have a handy trick like that," you joke, but a wistful feeling twists in your chest. You don't let it fester and instead sit down, at attention. Tsunotarou's gaze hardens as he speaks.

"The Briar Queen has been poisoned."

You gasp, sitting up. " What? "

Tsunotarou nods slowly, his expression a mix of anger and despair.

"She fell ill not long ago, but we surmised it was something beyond a simple sickness when it refused to abate despite treatment from our healers." His green eyes seem to burn, his normally calm features twisted into rage. "We have discovered it to be an illness induced by a potent poison. Her condition is worsening by the second. If she does not recover soon..."

Tsunotarou closes his eyes and his lip trembles slightly. You've never seen him cry before and you wouldn't judge him for it, but you hate how wrong it looks on his typically-stoic face. Hate how much this situation is affecting him. You reach out, clasp his shaking hand in yours and give it a gentle squeeze. He looks up at you and you give him a reassuring smile.

"There's gotta be a cure, right?" you say in an attempt to lift his spirits. "You said yourself that Briar Valley's archives are incomparable to anywhere else's. There has to be something in there."

"There is." Despite his words, Tsunotarou still sounds disheartened. "We searched for it and we found it, but..."

He sighs shakily, breathes in deep to recollect his composure.

"But the required ingredients are inaccessible to us."

Tsunotarou straightens up and meets your eyes with a renewed vigor, his own hand squeezing yours almost painfully.

"Which is why I have come to you."

You blink, more gobsmacked than when you'd seen Deuce cry over broken unfertilized chicken eggs.

"Me? Why—"

"The ingredients are all found on human lands," Tsunotarou explains resolutely, "and your king has barred us fae from treading on his kingdom. I would be more than willing to gather them myself despite this, but—"

Tsunotarou suddenly pauses, for once hesitating in the middle of his speech.

"...It is not a risk I have the privilege to take." He looks at you mournfully. "I... not even the crown prince himself, despite being a gifted mage, is allowed to leave the safety of the palace walls, let alone the valley's."

"This... situation is really dire, huh," you say dumbly, unsure what else to say in response that wouldn't sound even more stupid. Just the thought of anything happening to the queen of the nocturnal fae was hard to wrap your mind around. Tsunotarou spoke so highly of her, what could you do against something that's brought the most powerful mage in the world to her knees?

"Please." Tsunotarou lifts up your hand and clasps it between his larger ones pleadingly. You're a little caught off-guard, unfamiliar with your usually reserved friend being so vulnerable in front of you. "You are the only human I trust. I beg of you... will you help me?"

The raw desperation and sorrow in his eyes tugs at your heart. A lump forms in your throat at the thought of denying him. You're nobody after all; just a magicless human who bit off a bit too much more than you could chew getting involved in all the complexities of magical society. You don't see how you of all people could accomplish such an important task, but... Tsunotarou is your friend. You'd rather die trying to help him than not having tried at all.

You lift up your other hand so that you're also holding his and you meet his gaze resolutely.

"Of course. What do you need?"

Tsunotarou's expression seems to stall on one of shock before being completely overtaken by relief at your words.

"Thank you." He squeezes your hand gratefully before lifting it up to his lips and pressing a long kiss to your knuckles. "You will be rewarded for your efforts, I promise you."

You smile softly as you pat his hand.

"I'd say you don't have to, but who am I to turn down free stuff?" you joke... mostly.

Tsunotarou chuckles. With one of his hands still holding yours, he reaches into his clothes and manifests an envelope out of the dark robes. He places it carefully in your palm as if it was the most precious item in the world, which, considering the subject matter, you have no doubt it is.

"This is a list of all the ingredients required for the antidote." His expression turns serious when he meets your eyes again. "You must not tell a soul about what I have requested of you. If the king discovers this... I do not doubt that he will try to stop you."

You nod firmly as you curl your fingers protectively around the envelope.

"You can count on me."

Tsunotarou smiles and bows his head.

"Thank you again, my friend. No words can convey how grateful I am for your assistance."

He stands up as gracefully as ever, dark, draping robes falling and pooling like liquid on the floor. He bows once more, at the waist this time. 

"Farewell and good luck. I will do my best to contact you as soon as I am able to check on your progress and see if I am able to help you."

You nod and wave to your friend as wisps of green magic begin to focus and swirl in the air around him.

"Be careful, Tsunotarou. I'll see you."

As he is engulfed in licks of fiery green magic, Tsunotarou gives you one last smile and a nod. The magic gathers and then dissipates in a burst of flying green sparks, and where Tsunotarou was is nothing but empty space. You feel the atmosphere lighten as the pressure in the air fades along with his magic, almost as if your entire room is finally releasing a long-held breath.

You can't help but notice that the sound of the rain isn't as deafening. You push your drapes aside and see that though the rain is still heavy, the view out your window isn't completely taken over by the rainfall anymore. When you look closely, you even manage to make out the slightest bit of light escaping through the clouds.

The weather chills the air, but the envelope is warm in your hand. Clasping it tightly in your hands while also being mindful of wrinkling it, you hold it close to your chest. The skies are still shadowed with dark clouds, but there's light peeking through the slightest falter in the shroud—Much like a concerned and disheartened horned fae trusting a giftless human with the life of his queen.

You just hope it wasn't misplaced.

[irafuwas]

for the twst ask game, how about 5, 8, and 10?

(for this ask game)

ty so much for the question, star!! ♫꒰･◡･๑꒱

5. What is your favorite Unique Magic?

Lilia's makes me cry knowing the background behind it and I love it so much, but Deuce's is still my favorite!! I love the incantation for it, I love how it represents that even though he struggles a lot with school and his home life, he still doesn't give up!! You push him down six times and he'll get back up seven!! And his UM is a perfect manifestation of that! Also I just think it's really cool dhkdfg

8. What is your favorite ship(s)?

Ooooh boy, I'm not a super huge romantic shipper but these are my favorite romantic TWST ships (in no specific order):

Silkali

Leovil

Jackepel

Malleyuu

Lilibaul

I don't actively ship these two but think they're cute:

Azujei

Treyrid

And if you'll take platonic ships, then my all time favorite relationship in the game is Silver and Lilia! When I first started getting into TWST, Lilia quickly became my favorite character, and once I finished reading all the vingettes and events and stuff and learned more about his relationship with Silver, I slowly shifted from being a Lilia Oshi to a Silver and Lilia Oshi (their platonic pairing name in Japanese is 紅銀親子, which means literally "crimson silver parent and child" and that's how I call my Oshi name).

I love them so much partly because I'm just a real sucker for found families/adopted families (I was previously obsessed with Yorozuya from Gintama, Hikaru and Sai from Hikaru no Go, and Po and Mr. Ping and Shifu and Tai Lung from KFP to name some past examples), but they also just really remind me a lot of my relationship I had with my dad when I was a kid, so they're very special characters to me. My dad was like the silliest person on planet earth and although he wasn't perfect, he always did try his best for me and my sister and worked so hard to give us good lives, so Lilia reminds me a lot of him (but NOT in the cooking department!! my dad was a wonderful cook dfkjgdfg).

10. What is your favorite special event?

It's gotta be Glomas! I remember waking up early each morning when an update dropped and watching my favorite streamers play it live and it was just such an exciting time in the TWST community as a whole. I thought Rollo's backstory was heartbreaking and he's such an interesting character, and I loved the costumes, the music, the everything! I remember I was watching a livestream for the final chapter and I literally burst into tears when Malleus started singing I was just so happy!! 🥹

[linalilia]

Okay, ships... Malleyuu

Riddle x Floyd, Keqing x Ganyu, and I remember you mentioning there was a couple in milgram? I don't remember their names, all ik is the guy has blue-ish hair I think 😭

no actually i will do one for malleyuu bc this is my personal blog and i'm feeling brave enough to talk about my opinions here

listen. i LOVED malleyuu back in 2020-2021 and i still think their dynamic is adorable in theory but i really don't like what is happening to their dynamic at the moment. first of all, i'm not a fan of what's happening to malleus's character and second of all, there's just. too much malleyuu. like i'm genuinely starting to like any other yuu ships more simply bc they don't have malleus and they already sound more original to me. also i really hate how some fans are saying "but this game IS about malleyuu, malleus is your canon love interest!!!", NO THIS GAME IS ABOUT MAGIC AND SOLVING OTHER STUDENTS' PROBLEMS EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT A THERAPIST. so yeah anyway rolloyuu though- *i get slapped*

my relationship with riddle x floyd is like. it sounds fun in theory but it's also kinda ehhhhhh.. like basically i want riddle to have a partner who can teach him to have fun and relax a little but also i want him to stay sane while dating that person. i guess they're like a cute fun little ship to me but i can't really see them in a serious relationship? seth x riddle supremacy 😌✨

i either absolutely love genshin ships, hate them or just don't get them at all and keqing x ganyu is the third one for me 😭 like they look very aesthetically pleasing together and i think their personalities would go together well, but i just don't really understand it? i like the fan content i see with them, but i don't think i find them interesting enough to make any content with them myself 😔

OKAY OKAY SO milgram doesn't really have any canon couples except like. those characters who had lovers before arriving there and tbh i actually thought that 0104 have some romantic elements at first because it did sound like that to me and as we know my tiny brain likes to make everything about romance. sorry mahiru kinnie things but now i think they're more like. in a platonic but very toxic and codependent relationship? they're a mother and son actually /j (or maybe not /j. idk what's going on in haruka's head anymore but i don't think he's joking) either way i would love to write a whole essay about them because something about relationships like that makes me go insane like i'm sorry 😭😭 i want to put them in a lab and study them. i want to learn more about them. i want to see what will happen to them in season 3. i think i'm okay with both platonic and romantic versions of this ship honestly like i'm a little freak okay!! i'm a little crazy!!

[tinyfantasminha]

Hi!! I’m sorry that I rando coming by. But I whole heartily agree with u about Malleyuu shippers. I myself like Malleyuu but some fans take it way too far. 😓 some would say “Malleus is in love” and know it won’t be canon. But I’ve seen some theories where that they would have true loves first kiss. It’s cute but it just seems so like…. Idk. If it becomes canon to me it would ruined it for me. Because I see it as Malleus having a friend for the first time. I really relate to that because I never had friends until I made one friend with someone in Sophmore High school. I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore. I was so happy about it. So I could see why Malleus would have certain lines where it would seem like he was in love but really this is his very first friend who isn’t scared of him and wants to cherish with. I hope this doesn’t come across as hate. Sorry if I wasted ur time with my vent out of nowhere lol

Oh my god you expressed it PERFECTLY

I feel like some people end up mixing up their own headcanons with canon and start getting delusional....... Like of course it's ok to imagine your OC with Malleus in a romantic way but I have seen a lot of people trying to force romance on the canon Malleyuu interactions and it's eehh......... If we are going to consider the canon story, Malleus and Yuu barely interacted through the story; They met at chapter 2, then twice(?) on chapter 3, they never met directly on chapter 4 and they met again on chapter 5; It feels like it's only during chapter 4 that Malleus unconsciously starts to realize that he cherishes Yuu as an actual friend, and as you said he never had any friends besides Lilia and his bodyguards. It seems too far-fetched for me that he would actually develop romantic feelings for Yuu with only these few interactions.

And I admit it bothers me a little that they talk as if Malleus is the only possible romantic interest for Yuu and that they will end up together like Malleus is some kind of true route in an otome game, like bestie you know it ain't 😖

Honestly I would like to say that I'm pretty fond of platonic Malleyuu and I think it's far more interesting than romantic Malleyuu; Before needing a lover, Malleus needs a friend, and he finally found someone who he can call one. People who's had little social experiences will take time to fully open up and they might be awkward at first to express their affection or gratitude because they're still figuring out their feelings.

That being said I'm really looking forward on how Malleus and Yuu's relationship will bloom even further in ch 7, and I'm honestly hoping for some angst 💦

[pianostarinwonderland]

Okay, I am really getting tired of seeing twst fans saying that Malleus has a crush on Yuu. FRIENDS. THEY ARE FRIENDS. PLATONIC FRIENDSHIP. I don’t know how many times I have to pull a Sebek at the computer screen when I see something about MalleYuu being canon or whatever. Second thing, I hate it when people purposely mischaracterize Vil even though he learnt his lesson. It’s really irritating to see when fans do that on purpose. Sry! I needed to get that out of my system Piano-senpai ~🌸anon

I’m glad you got to vent. It’s hard to bottle up anything negative, so it’s good you could trust me. If I may say one thing...

I can’t give comforting words, mostly because this is advice to myself as well: frustrated as we can be, if I learned one thing in this fandom, at the end of the day, we can’t do anything about it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We can vent and salt all we can, but it won’t do much. I am tired too, but what can I do? People enjoy the game for various reasons, and if people love Malleus, then that’s valid, and if people love Malyuu, that’s also valid. What I do nowadays is just look away from Malleus content or scroll past and move on to find some Azul post to screech about lmao.

As for Vil... 😔 lots of folks are stubborn, and we can’t do anything about that either. Just block and move on, simple as that. The arguments have been done, now all that’s left is to accept that some people just won’t budge. Don’t waste so much energy on them.

[twstjam]

The steady hands on a twisting road (One-shot)

Characters: Malleus Draconia & Yuu

Ship(s): Platonic Malleyuu with a hint of a crush on Malleus's end

Word count: 1.7k

Summary: In which Yuu, the stranger from another world is the consort of Malleus Draconia, the lonely king of Briar Valley. From getting thrown into a world of magic with seemingly never-ending problems to getting married to a fae, Yuu's life has been very eventful to say the least. It's a lot to get used to, but at least they're not alone.

Or: AU where everybody are adults, there are still problems, and Yuu is still from another world. Oh, also, they're (platonically) married to Malleus. Did I mention that?

Masterlist

AO3 Link

a/n: I have zero attachment to this fic and au and zero plans to continue it, but I thought I'd transfer it here anyways because it's a twst fic. Also, it's a sort of Early Concept for my other fics (mainly Break in the Clouds and Death of Me) while I was still trying to brainstorm good ideas so just ignoring it would kind of be a disservice, at least in my opinion.

Yuu stirs from their nap groggily, lifting away the open book that they'd dropped on their face when they nodded off.

Turning towards the window, they notice that it's still very bright outside. They must not have been napping very long at all if that was the case. They close their eyes and try to fall asleep again, but the discomfort of the book on their face that had woken them up still lingers and they groan in frustration.

After days of non-stop problem-solving and near death experiences, Yuu had naturally thought that they would enjoy a day off. But of course, as their luck would have it, the constant excitement had skewed their sense of entertainment somewhat and they found themself awfully, terribly, bored .

They turn their head towards the grey pile of fur on the bed. Grim remains sleeping soundly, curled up with his pronged tail around him and the flames of his ears waving lazily.

"Lucky," Yuu mumbles. Even monster cats have it easy. All they need to be satisfied are food, pets, toys, and sleep, which comes easily, especially to a lazy glutton like Grim. Any toy would suffice too as long as it moved. He could bat around a ball of rolled up paper for hours.

One would think that being a king's consort would be all sunshine and rainbows—and it was and that was the problem. When you have downtime, you have nothing interesting to do because everything is already being taken care of, especially if the castle staff were too frightful or respectful of the king to go against his orders of letting his consort participate in any work.

Yuu really appreciates Hornton, but man was he too cautious sometimes. Hopefully one day he'll realise humans aren't as fragile as he thinks and they hope that day comes soon.

They're. So. Bored.

Saying it again and again doesn't make them any less bored, but a part of them had hoped it would miraculously summon another crisis they'd have to fix, like maybe Leona was being framed for regicide again, or Ace and Deuce were about to commit regicide again, or maybe Epel finally snapped and swapped out Vil's hair products. Yuu didn't care what it was, they just needed something to do .

With grace that was the least fitting for the royal title that they legally own, Yuu rolls off the bed and plants their feet on the floor. They lace up their boots and quietly leave the room as to not wake Grim. Lying around being miserable obviously isn't going to help, so maybe a walk would.

The Gothic style of the Castle of Thorns was one that they were still getting used to. They'd only married Malleus recently after all, and then one problem after another kept popping up in the other kingdoms to the point that they barely spent time in the valley, let alone the castle that was supposed to be their home. Both that and the unfamiliarity of the fae architecture didn't help in making Yuu feel at home here. They still feel like they're walking around at some sort of historical site or someone else's house.

It's to be expected, they suppose. They are from another world. Getting thrown into another dimension and then marrying their friend who happened to be the fae king on a whim would reasonably take some adjusting to, though the latter circumstance was more voluntary than the former.

The green flames flickering in the hallways of dark stone emanates a sort of calm yet haunting atmosphere. Not for the first time Yuu wonders if they can redecorate the place since this is technically their house. They'd asked Lilia and he'd seemed to like the idea, but they'd have to ask Malleus too since he was the king.

Yuu had wanted to ask him first, and they would've done that long ago if they could've. They really think their friend wouldn't mind a few changes to the castle but they always forget to bring up the topic when they see him, which was rare since he was always so busy with his royal duties as king and Yuu themself frequently got caught up in solving other people's problems.

Yuu heaves a sigh, shaking their head. If you'd told them a year ago they'd be isekai'd to a fairytale land, become a beast tamer in-training, have hundreds of run-ins with death and also married to a fae king with a hyperfixation on abandoned houses and vanishing acts, Yuu would've wondered how they'd remain sane. They're still wondering about that.

While lost in their thoughts, Yuu's aimless wandering had led them outside and the sunlight shone pleasantly on their skin. They sigh, content, and follow the stone path into the garden.

Their feet lead them to a sectioned-off part of the garden that they recognise more vividly than the rest. When they'd first arrived at the Castle of Thorns, the first thing Malleus had done was show them his personal rose garden. He'd told them that he'd grown the roses himself from seeds that his grandmother had sent him every year on his birthday. Based on how many flowers there were, Yuu had made a joking comment about his age. Hornton had only laughed and smiled at them in a playfully challenging way. They still don't know how old he is.

The rose garden was more identifiable to them compared to the rest of the castle's garden because of the memory. It felt like a very significant place. They weren't like the heart-shaped bushes of red roses they'd seen in the Queendom of Roses and were instead much more colourful. Standing among the flowers, they try to imagine a plain area of dirt and a little horned boy digging and planting seeds, caring for the flowers every day and adding more until they grew and grew into this garden.

Yuu grinned to themself. Despite Malleus's intimidating aura and composed image, their friend was so endearing and passionate. It was hard to believe how anyone could be afraid of him.

Their luck must be turning up and their "summoning" thoughts finally working their magic again because they look up and see the tell-tale sign of horns peeking out of the top of the rose bushes.

Yuu navigates their way towards them until Malleus's towering figure finally comes into sight.

"Hey, Hornton," they greet. The King of Thorns looks up with slightly wide eyes before a smile eases over his face.

"Yuu. Good afternoon, my dear friend," Malleus replies. "How are you?"

Yuu hums as they approach him, their eyes drawn to the rose he was gently cradling in one gloved palm.

"I'm doing alright," Yuu says with a slight shrug. "I'm just feeling a little bored."

"Bored?" Malleus's eyebrows raise slightly. "I apologise. I suppose there is not much to do in the castle for a consort when they have no duties."

"It's alright. I wanted to relax, but I guess I got used to being active so sitting still made me feel restless."

"Hmm," Malleus hums thoughtfully. "If you would like, I could arrange for some entertainment for you."

Entertainment? They're guessing that means stuff like jesters and musicians and performances and stuff like that. They're intrigued, but the thought of sitting in a throne and watching fae do tricks or whatever for them made Yuu's skin crawl with embarrassment and discomfort.

"Um, no thank you. Maybe something else?" They then squint up at him suspiciously. "Don't you have duties, your majesty?"

Malleus looks away from their accusing gaze with a guilty smile.

"I do, but I am taking a... short reprieve, so to speak."

Right. He absolutely ditched his guards again. Yuu can imagine that Sebek is currently screaming his head off for the king and making the castle staff go deaf while Silver is probably slumped in some fountain somewhere while birds braided his hair or something.

Yuu laughs. Their eyes close as they do, so they don't see the fond smile on Malleus's face as he looks down at them.

"As your consort, I should probably tell you to go back to work," Yuu says with a cheeky grin. "But as your friend, I think you deserve a bit of a break yourself. I don't have anything to do. Tell me more about the roses."

At their invitation to divulge a topic he was fond of, Malleus beams, his green eyes gleaming. He immediately launches into a lengthy explanation about roses and rose care, some of which he had already told them about, but Yuu is still keen to listen to every word.

His guardsmen eventually appear, evident by the sound of Sebek's ear-splitting yells. Although Malleus looks reluctant, he decides that he'd delayed doing his duties long enough and ends their conversation.

"Thank you for sparing your time for me, child of man. It has been a pleasure," he says with a slight bow.

"Thank you too, Hornton. The pleasure has been all mine." Yuu returns the bow with a smile on their face.

They were still amused by the fact that Malleus had run off from his guards again so they were feeling a bit playful. They take one of his gloved hands, lifts it to their lips and kisses his knuckles.

When they look up, Malleus has a stunned expression on his face. Yuu could be imagining it, but are his cheeks a bit red?

"King Malleus!"

The sharp sound of Sebek's voice seems to snap him out of whatever distracted state he was in and Malleus takes back his hand. He gives Yuu another polite bow as if he'd forgotten he'd already done it before turning around and making his way out of the rose garden.

Yuu chuckles to themself. They really don't see much of Malleus lately, but they always enjoy it whenever they could squeeze in some time with their friend.

Even with all the trouble they got into and all the deadly close calls, Yuu found that they couldn't quite complain since they got to have peaceful moments like this with Malleus, even if they were brief. Meeting him was an accident like everything else that has happened to them in this world, but marrying him had been a voluntary decision and though it wasn't a life they were used to quite yet, they don't regret their choice in the slightest.

Smiling to themself, Yuu gently brushes a hand over some of Malleus's beloved roses as they walk the path out of the rose garden and towards the rest of the castle grounds. There was still a lot of familiarising to do and they can't do it by sitting around in one place.

[tinyfantasminha]

The Shipper in me is like “you know what would be a funny twist is like if a character is revealed to have like romantic towards feelings towards the MC” it’s might be very unlikely, since The game has generally very platonic friendship but God. Character’s dialogue towards the Main characters can get super flirty?. I know the game MC is said to be pretty gender netural and all but

dsjdsfjsdjkfksd twst devs know what they were doing with some of the flirty lines 😭

Of course I'm not delusional to think that any of the charas might get romantic feelings for the MC; they won't. It's not an otome game and even though some dialogues might be suggestive everything is strictly platonic, and honestly I think It's much better this way - some people just want to enjoy imagining their oc/mc in a wholesome and platonic relationship with the characters without feeling that romantic interactions need to be forced upon them. Also this way it's much better to interpret the character's actions as you please and to imagine HCs for them, like how would they treat their s/o to a date... It's heartwarming seeing twst writing blogs and other yume blogs with their own headcanons and interpretations and people eager to share their thoughts with other blogs or to ask them about their own ideas, I just think the fandom wouldn't be as connected if it were an otome game and the charas had already pre-established canon romantic traits you know?? This is why I'm kinda iffy about some Malleyuu shippers like... It feels like some of them really can't accept this isn't an otome and wholeheartly believe Malleus holds romantic affection for Yuu and then get mad when things don't go the way they want in canon 🤡

But also the game devs KNOW that people would fall in love with the characters so they purposefully add some suggestive and flirty dialogue and for... marketing purposes 😅

The MC being gender neutral also adds up to so much more freedom of interpretation and for inclusiveness, like I played a lot of otome games before but hardly any of the female MCs are actually likeable or relatable💀 There's also so much sexism involved between the MC and the male love interests like 🤮🤮 If it's already hard for me to relate to said female MCs then I can't even imagine how frustrating it can be to male/nb/gnc folks, so really I'm SO glad they decided to not make twst an otome game with a female MC because imo I think it wouldn't be as likeable and have a vast diversity of fans as it does now

[tinyfantasminha]

Jamil, Kalim, Idia and Malleus for the character thingy!

Jamil and Idia answered here

Kalim

How I feel about this character:  Baby boy. Baby. Sunshine. Pure. I want to hug and smooch him so hard. When he first appeared it was instantly like, baby boy baby baby

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I KNOW THIS IS WAY TOO CRACK BUT...... tweels (and Jamil but more as a one-sided thing ksksksk) 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Honestly I really like seeing Kalim interacting with everyone. Literally EVERYONE 

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t think I have any

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: idk, I’m pretty satisfied with the Kalim content we have now lol but it would be nice to see more serious Kalim or him having another outburst like he did with Vil in ch 5 (I don’t think it’s gonna happen again tho </3) maybe.............. in Grim’s OB chapter....

~~~~~~

Malleus

How I feel about this character:  I’m not a hardcore Malleus simp but I always squeal when he appears in the story lmao. I just think he’s neat and cool with a cute side, but I need more lore information for me to have more opinions on him

All the people I ship romantically with this character: CATER CATER MALCATE MALLEKEI SUPREMACY HHHGNGNG and lowkey Leona as well

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Malleyuu,,, their interactions are so wholesome and their friendship is so pure

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s not in love with Yuu and their relationship is purely platonic on canon. Yes it’s cute and it might have some romantic aspects and you can ship malleyuu romantically (sometimes even I do!!) but I see some ppl actually defending that Malleus is actually crushing on them in canon... Like come on everyone at this point knows this isn’t an otome game and none of the game ships will ever be canon. I see people putting too much high expectations on this and then getting upset over it  🗿 cough cough chapter 5

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: overblot reasons??? please??