#twst fanwork

[lilicohirukoma]

TWILIGHT FOREST INSTITUTE

(fanmade sister school to Night Raven College from Twisted Wonderland)

The Twilight Forest Institute is a prestigious, all-girls school for students with the potential for becoming powerful witches. The application process is simple, every application has pixie dust sprinkled over it. If the paper stays the same the student has been rejected, if the paper changes color corresponding with one of the dorms the student has been both selected and sorted.

THE DORMS

Neninglam. Dorm colors Light Blue and Lilac. Based on The Pseudo King (Prince John), this dorm stands for choosing for what you want and keeping your best interests in mind even it if were to hurt others. Students in the dorm tend to value their independence and their intuition above all else. Members have a tendency to favoring gold jewelry over any other metals.

Caouldain. Dorm colors Green and Red. Based on The Ruler of the Ressurected (The Horned King), this dorm is all about creativity and craftmanship and students in this dorm tend to excel and things like art and sciene. Members commonly don’t have a sense of humor and take everything seriously.

Hayubashan. Dorm colors Brown and Grey. Based on The Snowfall Conqueror (Shan Yu), this dorm works together as a team and places importance on strength and loyalty. Also known for being fierce protectors of gender equality. Most members prefer being around their pets (and animals in general) over humans.

Troldronning. Dorm colors Dark Blue and Purple. Based on The Thirteenth Prince (Prince Hans), the students in the dorm tend to be isolated amongst their own considering they will do anything to get ahead of others, loyalty is not something known to them and they will gladly change sides to ensure their own prosperity. Members of this dorm commonly enjoy lemons and lemon flavored things

Seonittor. Dorm colors Orange and Black. Based on The Maharaja of the Jungle (Shere Khan), the students tend to have a scary reputation but carry themselves with grace and confidence. They are very cautious and prefer to keep things the way they are. Members typically are scared of fire.

Jolieroger. Dorm colors Pink and Red. Based on The Captain (Captain Hook), these students can only be described as lawful evil. They will listen to the rules but exploit every word in it to fit in with what they actually want to do. This dorm has a higher than usual amount of members who are left-handed.

Chronospire. Dorm colors Black and Purple. Based on The Boss (Ratigan), if you get sorted into this dorm you have an organized mind and are extremely intelligent. You are charming, egostistical and scheming. Members are noted for their dark sense of humor.

New Lands introduced along with the new school...

The Anglians, a military kingdom that’s constantly on the move. Their official queen Rhiannon Goldendefense is currently occupied on war with The Anglian Republic. The current acting head of the country is her younger sister Princess Josephine, who’s currently attending The Twilight Forest Institute.

Kadeir Teyrnon, an ancient country that is isolated from most civilization. The country houses a rare species of people who are descended from the Ruler of the Ressurected’s army, they are skeletal and often ill but as long as the Black Cauldron is active they will live forever.

Saker Tundra, a cold country with a small population. The people are strong and know how to fight, they live in small collected tribes and act as a community. All people have a pet and are closely connected with them.

Port Peninsula, a country with a polar climate. Mythology states that after the 13th prince betrayed the Snow Queen she froze over his kingdom and disappeared. A rare disease known as ‘Frozen Heart Syndrome’ has only had cases reported here.

The Wildfire Jungle, a wild tropical kingdom under rule of the strongest of all. A ruler has had to defeat the former ruler and they will reign as long as they can defeat and challengers. The current Maharani is Shakti Agni, she’s enrolled in The Twilight Forest Institute and her mother is ruling in her absence.

Nowayland, a country thought by most to be fictional when they are children (excluding the inhabitants.) They have one of the biggest mermaid communes and pirate fleets in the world. The country has a rainbow that is always present and visible, no official explanation for this has been given.

Barremount, a small country that mainly consists of a huge 30ft mountain which has multiple inhabitants on the inside, there is also a small village closeby for those with a fear of heights. It’s mainly surrounded in darkness, only around 5 hours of sunlight a day. They have magical bells that toll when the sunlight arrives.

Joyride Haven, an island that’s mainly seen as a tourist attraction. With the relaxed laws and little government interference it’s a hotspot for criminal activity. It’s a popular vacation spot for many but visitors are told to keep a very sharp eye out on basically everything.

That’s all folks! I will get to the dorms and their respective members asap but please feel free to let me know what you think so far :)

Update: Neninglam is posted and linked above

[midostree-art]

SAVANACLAW ROOK HUNT!!!!

[twisted-deal]

Spreading my agenda that Ace Trappola might be the worst and best option for Heartslabyul's next housewarden

[mellowwillowy]

“RABU”

Original story by @merakiui

So my dumbass didn't reread the fic and forgot Reader was 44 already. So here we are, young and fresh.

Funny story 2, I forgot what Rabu was until I finished all the drafts and realized, “It’s love isn't it??” (right?)

Rabu might not be categorized as my fave (coughs SK series coughs) but the ending makes me think late at night, how many options did Reader have?

So here I am, spawned to speed-run the vision in my head. Azul’s hair is too annoying so I'd rather have Floyb first (even though I really want to see Zuzu smoking). Jade’s route(?) is still vague in my mind so he’s no good as well.

I just love the idea of Papa Leech caring more about his sons, doesn't matter what Jade does, Papa Leech will forever cover his track. In this case, Papa Leech didn't care about Reader’s well-being at all, it was probably something done by Jade anyway. That’s Papa Leech’s love~.

Anyway, as I said in my previous RB, long live the seafood (by Chef Meraki!)

[reirei404]

STOP IT WITH CATER BEING "the other woman" THEY CAN ALL BE FRIENDS AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER (im coping)

Audio: Love Like You - Rebecca Sugar (cover by lyn lapid)

[crystallizsch]

these valentines day cards for scarabia got me blushing, giggling, and kicking my feet fr (also featuring me unnecessarily analyzing them) (i really hope the cards are in the right order i think they are or else everything that i say here will look incredibly silly)

━━━━━━━━━━━━✦ kalim al-asim:

To my dear friend— Thanks for the present! What colorful and sparkly sweets. They look delicious! I just had an idea! How about we eat them together after school? Gifts like this taste better when shared, after all. I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't wait to see you later! ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

To my dear friend— Thanks for the gift! It's flattering to know you picked this out for me! I'll treat you to anything you like in return—food, live entertainment, an item you've been pining after... You just say the word. ...On second thought, no. I'll come up with something myself! Just like you came up with this gift to give me. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Hey love, Thank you for that wonderful gift! Getting something like this from you just put a smile on my face! Let me throw you a feast to show my gratitude! After that, I'll take you on a magic carpet ride, it'll be really fun! ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

SO LET ME TALK ABOUT THE PROGRESSION BETWEEN THE CARDS???

on kalim's first card, it's really cute but it also feels just like his usual demeanor where he treats everyone as a friend.

but on to the second card, it looks like he's definitely feeling more strongly enough about you to think "hey let me get you something too!! let me be your genie of the lamp!" at least right before realizing it would be more meaningful to give you a surprise gift as well like you did.

his "dear friend" on the second card is more real this time.

BUT OMG THE WHIPLASH TO THE THIRD CARD

"HEY LOVE" ???? KALIM WHAT WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEART JUST WENT HFDSNSFHDJFDK PLSS HE CANT DO THIS TO ME 💀💀💀 THE "MY DEAR FRIEND" -> "HEY LOVE" PROGRESSION YOUR HONOR HE IS IN LOVE(???) NO IT’S PROBABLY JUST A REALLY AFFECTIONATE TERM OF ENDEARMENT CONSIDERING THAT IT’S KALIM (*denial* *denial* *denial*)

the closest ones (that are available) to doing something similar is jade who goes from "my good friend" -> "my dearest" and vil who goes from "dearest friend" to "my dear"

anyways, the third card is kalim finally wanting to go ALL OUT as a way to show you how he feels about you and how thankful he is. he's literally all about having fun with the person he cares about. making every moment memorable.

kalim's love language is also very much extravagant gifts since he's raised in a wealthy family where everything has been handed to him. that's probably how he got the mindset that gifts are the way to show love and affection because that's how his family did it for him. so the bigger the gift the better he can show you how he feels.

━━━━━━━━━━━━✦ jamil viper:

Hello— I was surprised to see you gifted me sweets. At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to make you something similar... But when I pulled the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was a heartfelt gesture. I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Hello— I'll admit it. I'm beyond surprised. I suppose a heartfelt "thank you" is in order. In fact, why don't we meet at the school store after class tomorrow? Hopefully I'll be able to find you something to return the favor. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

Dear friend, Thank you for the gift. To think I would receive something from you... Well, it caught me off guard. I'd like to give you something in return. Hmm... What should it be? What might you like? Why don't you come down to Scarabia sometime and we'll discuss over a cup of tea. ━━━━━━━━━━━━✦

jamillll;;;

on the first card, he was suspicious of receiving a gift. at first he's like "are you just giving me something so i could give you something as well?" until he realized "oh this is legit" and that you’re not expecting anything back. and then he just enjoys it which is hella cute.

on the second card (unlike the last one) he's now like "let me get you something in return because i really appreciate the gesture". here i think he's still genuinely confused that you still decided to give him a gift. but at this point it feels like he's only offering to get you something in return because he feels like he has to just to show his gratitude. kinda like a fair transaction.

it seems that jamil is still like "why me". like, you cared enough to see and acknowledge him to even consider getting him a gift. which i believe is something he's not used to. so he just wants to "return the favor" by offering you to go find something you like :)

and the third card;;;

"DEAR FRIEND" GOT. MEEE. YOUR HONOR I LOVE HIMMMMM

i know for other people "friend" is not on the same level as the romantic "love" but i personally feel as strong with platonic relationships as with romantic ones (if not more) and this hit me HARD.

for the third one he's finally comfortable enough to consider you a friend. but he still sounds flabbergasted that you still even thought of him (and **you** specifically) (like he didn't imagine that you'd even give him a gift).

and now this is less of a transaction but more of like he *wants* to make sure that he gets you something that you'd really like. it's not simply just "hey let's go to the school store and see what's available as a thanks", this time it's "hey i really appreciate that you got me something so let's discuss what i can get you as well. i'll be your genie of the lamp, anything is possible (within reason)"

(original twitter thread with these cards)

[daduic-lacuentista]

ICON ROLLO FLAMM - GLORIUS MASCARADE

[axvwriter]

Twisted Wonderland Fanworks with Others' Original/Fan Characters

Tag links to the owners' of original/fan characters will be in their relevant/related posts. (It feels like I'd be annoyingly pinging them if I were to also tag them in this post.) In each post will also explain which ones are my original/fan characters, if they are in the post.

Bobo's Interactions

First Meeting with Pluto Observer (formerly names-are-dumb, now daedalusslabyrinth).

I Spy comic with Jaxon Crowley (ryker-writes), Anan Atthakornmetha, and Charin Kamolnath (siphoklansan).

Budding Friendship? with Pluto Observer (daedalusslabyrinth).

CatMask's interactions

Gifted earrings by Irene Lovejoy (officialdaydreamer00).

Brings gifts to Jaxon Crowley (ryker-writes).

[the-trinket-witch]

Your malleus in your monster lover AU is so good,,, would it be possible for you to draw a reference of him? I love the concept so much

I can draw my own interpretation of it, though I have to note:

This is technically not my 'concept'. I've heavily taken inspiration from Takebayashi's 'The Conception' (A fanwork from the TWST Beckon of the Mirror 2021 event) The main adjustments I made were the removal of spinning wheels along the body as well as the mask.

(Photo reference pulled from lau_bud on tiktok)

As for what I'd draw:

Again, I've trimmed some concepts, and added some muscle detail around the wings, and given him a dragon's ear fins.

[quartztwst]

Another commission done for the @twst-charity !!!! This is @stephiethewephie ‘s Yuu, Piper, with her Winnie the Pooh Plush and Grim!!

Please donate to the charity to recieve twst fanworks from writers and artists!!

[spadesncrows]

First commission as a contributor for @twst-charity !!

If anyone is interested, here’s the donor form to submit requests to receive twst fanworks in exchange for donations to Palestine as well as the link to the daily clicks ^^

[lilicohirukoma]

TWILIGHT FOREST INSTITUTE

(fanmade sister school to Night Raven College from Twisted Wonderland)

The Twilight Forest Institute is a prestigious, all-girls school for students with the potential for becoming powerful witches. The application process is simple, every application has pixie dust sprinkled over it. If the paper stays the same the student has been rejected, if the paper changes color corresponding with one of the dorms the student has been both selected and sorted.

THE DORMS

Neninglam. Dorm colors Light Blue and Lilac. Based on The Pseudo King (Prince John), this dorm stands for choosing for what you want and keeping your best interests in mind even it if were to hurt others. Students in the dorm tend to value their independence and their intuition above all else. Members have a tendency to favoring gold jewelry over any other metals.

Caouldain. Dorm colors Green and Red. Based on The Ruler of the Ressurected (The Horned King), this dorm is all about creativity and craftmanship and students in this dorm tend to excel and things like art and sciene. Members commonly don’t have a sense of humor and take everything seriously.

Hayubashan. Dorm colors Brown and Grey. Based on The Snowfall Conqueror (Shan Yu), this dorm works together as a team and places importance on strength and loyalty. Also known for being fierce protectors of gender equality. Most members prefer being around their pets (and animals in general) over humans.

Troldronning. Dorm colors Dark Blue and Purple. Based on The Thirteenth Prince (Prince Hans), the students in the dorm tend to be isolated amongst their own considering they will do anything to get ahead of others, loyalty is not something known to them and they will gladly change sides to ensure their own prosperity. Members of this dorm commonly enjoy lemons and lemon flavored things

Seonittor. Dorm colors Orange and Black. Based on The Maharaja of the Jungle (Shere Khan), the students tend to have a scary reputation but carry themselves with grace and confidence. They are very cautious and prefer to keep things the way they are. Members typically are scared of fire.

Jolieroger. Dorm colors Pink and Red. Based on The Captain (Captain Hook), these students can only be described as lawful evil. They will listen to the rules but exploit every word in it to fit in with what they actually want to do. This dorm has a higher than usual amount of members who are left-handed.

Chronospire. Dorm colors Black and Purple. Based on The Boss (Ratigan), if you get sorted into this dorm you have an organized mind and are extremely intelligent. You are charming, egostistical and scheming. Members are noted for their dark sense of humor.

New Lands introduced along with the new school...

The Anglians, a military kingdom that’s constantly on the move. Their official queen Rhiannon Goldendefense is currently occupied on war with The Anglian Republic. The current acting head of the country is her younger sister Princess Josephine, who’s currently attending The Twilight Forest Institute.

Kadeir Teyrnon, an ancient country that is isolated from most civilization. The country houses a rare species of people who are descended from the Ruler of the Ressurected’s army, they are skeletal and often ill but as long as the Black Cauldron is active they will live forever.

Saker Tundra, a cold country with a small population. The people are strong and know how to fight, they live in small collected tribes and act as a community. All people have a pet and are closely connected with them.

Port Peninsula, a country with a polar climate. Mythology states that after the 13th prince betrayed the Snow Queen she froze over his kingdom and disappeared. A rare disease known as ‘Frozen Heart Syndrome’ has only had cases reported here.

The Wildfire Jungle, a wild tropical kingdom under rule of the strongest of all. A ruler has had to defeat the former ruler and they will reign as long as they can defeat and challengers. The current Maharani is Shakti Agni, she’s enrolled in The Twilight Forest Institute and her mother is ruling in her absence.

Nowayland, a country thought by most to be fictional when they are children (excluding the inhabitants.) They have one of the biggest mermaid communes and pirate fleets in the world. The country has a rainbow that is always present and visible, no official explanation for this has been given.

Barremount, a small country that mainly consists of a huge 30ft mountain which has multiple inhabitants on the inside, there is also a small village closeby for those with a fear of heights. It’s mainly surrounded in darkness, only around 5 hours of sunlight a day. They have magical bells that toll when the sunlight arrives.

Joyride Haven, an island that’s mainly seen as a tourist attraction. With the relaxed laws and little government interference it’s a hotspot for criminal activity. It’s a popular vacation spot for many but visitors are told to keep a very sharp eye out on basically everything.

That’s all folks! I will get to the dorms and their respective members asap but please feel free to let me know what you think so far :)

And no you are not crazy, I have posted this before but since I changed my url Tumblr is being difficult with letting me edit my own damn post so I’m reposting it.

[midostree-art]

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

[twst-charity]

TWST Charity - Contributor Applications Open (Again!)

Interested in helping support Palestine and her people against genocide through fandom? Then consider joining us!

We are TWST charity, an organization dedicated to raising funds for certain charities in exchange for fanwork featuring Twisted Wonderland. We mainly focus on fan art and fanfiction, but all types of content and creators are welcome!

This charity is currently focused on helping raise funds for those suffering from the ongoing genocide in Palestine. For more information, please check out our Tumblr (@twst-charity) or Twitter (@TWSTcharity). 

If you are interested in helping as a creator/contributor, please fill out this form! https://forms.gle/2UVVtvMvL1XGv5eCA

We also have forms for mods: https://forms.gle/F1hDjVnZXVsshgHk9

And to donate! https://forms.gle/YYLFYUw4gZYuk9cZ7

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

One massive difference between the western vs JP TWST fandoms that I haven't seen anyone else talk about is that the Japanese fandom seems to dwell in "grimdark" territory while the western one tries to see the best in these characters. From my glimpses into the Japanese fandom, they seem to see these character's darkness as the main appeal. That's reflected in their fanworks, since yandere works or things that dive into their dark sides are more popular there. While there is plenty of yandere content in the west, it seems more like a niche than the most popular way to portray the characters in fics where as in Japan that seems to be the norm on Pixiv. The JP seem to LOVE their grim dark fan theories WAY more than the western one. The western fandom seems like the opposite. Works seeing their humanity, them being decent partners, etc is the norm. Thought?

“I can fix him” vs “I can make him worse”—

Mmm, I have many thoughts on this but before I get into them I want to clarify some things. This is so everyone reading is running with the same definitions and thus can better understand (and perhaps contribute to) the discussion.

Firstly, “grimdark” can refer to any and all materials which people may find disturbing, amoral, and/or violent. Grimdark is NOT just yandere content. Although yandere content is an example of grimdark, not all grimdark is yandere.

Secondly, I want to dispel the notion that “grimdark” and “seeing the best in the characters” are opposites. They are actually not mutually exclusive; it is entirely possible to have the two overlap. For example, it is common for assassins to be after Kalim’s life (which is dark). However, Kalim himself is very cheery despite being cognizant of this (which is not dark, he is able to see the nest of this situation and is often praised for being a spot of sunshine in the cast). There are also much darker takes while staying true to Kalim’s caring nature, such as fandom works which portray his big heart (a strength) as a detriment, causing him to fall into deep paranoia and/or guilt. For the purposes of this discussion, I will still refer back to those two original viewpoints, just be aware that they are not truly “opposites”.

Lastly, the ask is phrased such that it suggests that dark content is “the norm” in Japanese circles. In actuality, the content you see is dependent on personal biases and what the algorithms feed you based on your likes and communities. While it’s true that perhaps Japanese fandoms have more dark content than the western fandoms, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is “the norm”. It is still considered niche, it is just that the fandom culture of Japan is more open-minded about these depictions, as well as fans’ choices to filter out dark content if they do not wish to encounter it. Western fandoms are very different in this regard. Rather than ignoring content they dislike or find disturbing, western fans tend to adopt an attitude of openly renouncing that which they dislike and, at times, calling out those that do enjoy that kind of thing. It is this social stigma and pressure within western fandoms which creates a less welcoming space for dark content to exist and to be publicly shared. Rather than saying one type of content is “the norm”, I think it’s more accurate to say certain types of content are deemed as being “acceptable” or “unacceptable” depending on the fandom culture.

Now then, as to why the western fandom in particular tends to favor works that show the TWST characters in a favorable light rather than focus on their darker aspects? There are many possible explanations for this:

Cultural differences in fandom spaces. I already mentioned this in the opening paragraphs, but it warrants repeating here. Japanese fans are much more reserved in how they express themselves and tend to keep quiet relating to content they dislike or don’t care for. Western fans are more outspoken and may actively “call out” what they dislike. This is typically observed in collectivist vs individualist countries, as conformity with the group/not causing disruptions to the group harmony and standing out and being one’s own individual are opposing ideologies and values.

Japan’s culture is one that stresses the importance of politeness and being proper. The country has strict social expectations of people and especially women (which makes up the majority of TWST’s fanbase). It is only in the realm of fiction where Japanese women are able to freely express themselves and to explore subject matter deemed socially inappropriate, however dark it may be. Fandom is their creative outlet. Meanwhile in the west, it’s the opposite. Overt uniqueness is more acceptable overall, but there is also a present effort of policing online content, often in the name of social activism and inclusion. This makes sense for western countries, many of which sport much more diverse populations than Japan.

Going in with the certain expectations of the game. Many western fans mistook Twisted Wonderland for a dating sim when its marketing materials first released, maybe due to a language barrier. This set them up for the wrong expectations about romancing and potentially “fixing” a villain, even when the game finally came out (due to residual feelings; I know for a fact there are still a handful of fans who want TWST to have a dating sim spinoff or wish the game had been a dating sim from the start).

Changes made in the localization.

I’m not sure what the ratio of westerners playing EN to JP, but the official localization made several changes which “blunted” some details or changed the context of some characters’ stories. For example, Jamil is no longer a “servant” but an “employee”, Kalim is his “employer”, not “master”, and Jamil complains that his parents will be “so mad at him” when he is asked why he doesn’t rebel against the Asims whole the consequences are made much more explicit in JP (his family will be thrown out onto the streets). Cater, Floyd, and Idia have also notably gotten a lot more memey dialogue that was not there in the original. These softened versions the characters may make western fans more likely to see the a less severe backstory or have goofier interpretation of certain characters.

Popular western media’s interpretations of villains. A lot of western media nowadays tries to redeem the bad guys. For example, in many young adult and adult romance fantasy novels, the love interest is often presented as a misunderstood bad boy that has a change of heart because of the protagonist. Disney themselves is also guilty of “softening” many of their more recent villains and giving new backstories to older villains to make them more sympathetic (Maleficent, Cruella, etc). Compare this to “classic” era Disney villains, who are just evil for the sake of being evil. These will naturally inform the general public’s views on villains. (It is also to be noted that Disney villains and specifically their evilness are extremely popular in Japan. They are adored for being fun characters, not necessarily admired for being bad.)

Disney’s reputation, especially in the west. The company is closely associated with fairy tales —and, more importantly, with magic and happy endings. This, too, may contribute to western fans wanting to look on the “bright side” of things and wish for happy endings for characters that are, in fact, part of the Disney brand. The Disney message is perhaps strongest in the west due to having its origins there:

The age differences between the Japanese and the western fandoms. The western TWST fandom skews young overall whereas the Japanese TWST fandom is older (which is why a lot of TWST merch you’ll see is expensive household goods and fashion; this is to appeal to working Japanese women). As I mentioned in the previous point, this means younger audiences in the west may mostly encounter media which presents villains in a more sympathetic light, or at least much earlier (which leaves a stronger impression). This makes them more inclined to view other media in a way which is more flattering for the villains even when they are dark or morally ambiguous in canon.

Younger fans may also be not as informed and thus lack some perspective, which means they may have more limited views. A 15 year old wouldn’t have as much life experience as a 20 year old—that’s not a bad thing, it’s an objective truth that has an impact on their perspective. They may see things more simplistically or see easier solutions to complex problems. Younger fans may, for example, be able to identify circumstances as being traumatic or unfair (such as the case with Jamil’s past and Leona’s desire to introduce new technologies to his home country) but may not understand the full ramifications (ie why Jamil cannot just leave or have Kalim to speak with his dad about it, how difficult Leona’s plans would be to implement as well as the social pushback due to the harm the advances could pose to the environment). This leads to more of a lean to positive content, as dark content would inherently mean problems are much more difficult to resolve and have more factors to them than what was originally considered.

I want to also point out that younger fans are especially concerned with what their peers may think of them, and so they may feel too embarrassed to dabble in darker content. Some dark content may also not be perceived as appropriate depending on the fan’s age. Alternatively, some fans may just not feel comfortable exploring those ideas (and that’s totally fine!).

Western fans project onto/relate to the characters they love. I’m not saying that Japanese fans don’t do this, but I feel like western fans tend to do this to a VERY strong and sometimes parasocial degree (which has its roots in comfort character and kinning culture, things which largely do not exist in east Asian fandoms). Like… western fans can relate to a character so deeply that any criticism of that character can feel like a personal attack on them, the fan. Likewise, if that character is presented as having flaws or doing questionable things (even if it is canon), the fans that are strongly projecting onto the character may feel that they themselves are flawed or somehow “bad” too. This can lead into trying to defend or justify the character’s flaws or actions. Maybe a fan that has shared trauma with a character sees them as a proxy and want to see the character (and thus, themselves) in a positive way or in good situations. In eastern fandoms, it is more appropriate to consider the character a separate entity rather than relating to or projecting onto them.

The western rise in moral justification for the content one consumes. This is a big one, and it has been alluded to in some of the other points. There is this belief circulating in western fandom spaces that “the content you consume reflects your real world values and morals”. So… if you believe that (or are in a social space where it is believed) and happen to like evil or morally grey characters, what does that imply about your own character? Does that mean you are morally bankrupt or that you condone bad things? Personally, I don’t think so but I understand why this way of thinking could make people feel ashamed. They may avoid looking at “dark” interpretations of a character and instead focus on wholesome feel-good content so that the content they consume reflects “well” on themselves. In other cases, fans may try to twist the bad points of a character to make it “morally okay” to like them.

That’s everything I could come up with off the top of my head!! I hope this was interesting to read and maybe helped you see the international TWST fandom from a new perspective. With that, I’ll leave you with this relevant Wreck-It Ralph quote: “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

[daduic-lacuentista]

NUEVO SEPARADOR - ROLLO FLAMM - GLORIUS MASCARADE