Cough Not Me Reading This When I’m Supposed To Be Sleeping Too- cough

Every adventure requires a first step.

Vil Schoenheit x Rook Hunt: Shrinking Potion

My first time writing a proper one shot! Writing this gave me second-hand embarrassment lol

Hope you enjoy!

Contains spoilers for Episode/Book 5. Might be OOC.

SUMMARY: Vil stumbled upon a shrinking potion in the snow. Rook comes to the rescue.

---

Vil was merely taking in the winter sights when his boots hit an object beneath the snow. He winced slightly but didn't make a noise. Hopefully, it hadn't ruined his boots. 

He was about to leave when Vil caught a glimpse of pink beneath the fresh white snow. Hm? He crouched down and pushed aside the snow gently with his gloves. 

There appeared to be a bottle of pink liquid. Probably a failed potion. Vil concluded upon not recognizing it. He scrunched up his nose, disposing of a failed potion like this was just distasteful.

With a sigh, Vil carefully handled it and walked toward the nearest trash can. What he didn't account for was the lid not being on properly. A single drop of it on his sleeve was all it took. 

The world suddenly began to spin as the world grew. 

"Oh, please!" He groaned. Thankfully, his voice did not become cartoonishly high. That wasn't one of his main concerns though. 

Vil took his magic pen from his coat pocket and cast a controlled fire shot. The snow melted only for the snow above it to replace the small hole he had made. He knew he wouldn't have enough magic to make his way back to the Hall of Mirrors.

With no other choice, he took his phone next. "Mira Mira, call Rook." Vil sighed. The phone sparked to life as it dialled his vice dorm head. He didn't have to wait long for him to pick up. 

"Vil! I was wondering where you'd gone." Rook gasped. "I was trying to dispose of someone's shrinking potion when it fell on my sleeve." He explained, the irritation slipping through his voice despite his attempts to keep calm. "I will find you immediately, don't worry! I See You!" Vil could hear him cast his unique magic.

Rook had given him a marked matching apple keychain a while back and Vil had taken to carrying it on him at all times. Sure, it was an incredible amount of trust to put in a person but Vil trusted Rook. Maybe sometimes too much. 

To his credit, Vil felt the ground trembling and heard Rook calling out for him quickly. "Roi de Poison! My beautiful Vil!" His frantic shouting rang out through the cold winter air. 

"Down here, by the trash can. Don't step on me." Vil said through the phone. He saw his brown boots before his golden locks and foxy emerald eyes came into view. Anyone seeing that would be terrified but it was Rook. Vil wasn't scared of Rook. 

Rook would only hurt him if it were for his own good, such as during VDC. He couldn't help but recall the way his heart sank as tears welled in his eyes upon the revelation that Rook had voted for Neige. Vil Schoenheit doesn't cry. 

"Let us return now, Roi de Poison!" Rook offered a gloved hand. Vil climbed on gracefully. "Rook, do I seem different?" Despite his obvious state, Rook only smiled in understanding. 

"My beautiful Vil, you retain your beauty no matter what form you take. I will always follow you." Rook lifted his palm up to his face, their eyes met. Suddenly, it all became so very clear to him.

"Kiss me."

A brief look of shock crossed those sharp green eyes of his. Vil closed his eyes, their lips gently touched. His world spun again and Vil found himself in Rook's arms. "True love's kiss, of course." Vil scoffed. Rook merely chuckled in response and Vil couldn't stop himself from joining him.

Ao3: HERE If you see it posted anywhere or by anyone else, it's not me.

An Easter Chocolate Disaster!

Fufufu, posting this a little late in the day (at least where I am) but happy Easter! I hope you had a fun day, packed full of fun activities like egg hunting! Or, if you’re anything like me and didn’t do anything, then, I hope you had a nice day!

Additionally, happy birthday to Vil! Always and forevermore the prettiest one of them all! Hope you enjoy! No spoilers or warnings for now but this might change in future installments :)

"Grim, can you even eat chocolate?" You ask skeptically. 

"Yes, henchman. I'm not a cat dazo." Grim rolls his eyes, reaching for another egg. You swat his paw away. "Okay, I'm just making sure." You frown. It's a total lie. You just wanted the chocolate eggs to yourself. 

"Ding dong!" 

"Henchman, the doorbell's ringing dazo! Go shut it up, go!" Grim shouts, eagerly inching closer to the chocolate eggs. "Fine! Just don't- I see that!" You glare at him as you put down the bowl.

Wait, we don't have a doorbell. The thought only crosses your mind as you walk toward the door. You cautiously open it. There's a box in front of you. For some reason, you're relieved it's not a letter. Though, attached to the box is a little card. 

Hey, little demon! We got a new shipment of lovely chocolate eggs just in time for Easter. My friends on the other side suggested sending over a package to you, for your continued patronage at Mr. S's Mystery Shop! Remember, we've got almost everything IN STOCK! 

Happy Easter!

You blink. You reach down for the box and bring it inside. Unsurprisingly, Grim is caught in the middle of shoving another chocolate egg down his throat. He gulps. 

"Don't blame me if you start vomiting and peeing all over the place." You huff, tucking the box under your arms. "Fygaa! I told you, I'm no cat dazo!" Grim insists. "Sure, sure. Since you had all of those, then this box is all mine!" You smirk and watch as his jaw drops, drool almost forming at his mouth.

"Wha-! I want them too dazo!" He gets up immediately, rushing over to your legs and standing. "Nope, they're all for me. Too bad, too sad." You grin wickedly, you open the box and pop a chocolate egg into your mouth. 

It happens too fast. 

Poof!

A cloud of smoke later, everything overwhelms you. "F-Fygaaa!? Henchman!?" Grim's voice is extremely loud and it's…great sevens. You look up, a gigantic Grim towers over you, looking just as shocked. 

What you're even more surprised at is the face that looks back at you in the reflection of Grim's wide blue eyes. A terrified, fluffy bunny. A loud scream erupts from your throat.

I might post this on Ao3? Not sure. I’ll be releasing individual dorm parts (and then maybe individual short headcanons for the boys) as we go!  If you see it posted anywhere or by anyone else, it's not me.

Hello Riddle!just a simple question if I may ask what is your Favourite Tea?Personally mine is earl grey or black Tea

Yes, I actually cited rules stated in the game 😌

Also!! I don’t know if anyone caught this, but the tea that Riddle says he likes in the final panel is the same kind he mentioned post-Overblot—when he finally relaxed his stance on maintaining the order via strict rules. He’s no longer that naive and lonely little boy.

floyd, no-

you have entered FLOYD FRIDAY

Ao3 series! ^^

Realized I should probably link this somewhere so, here’s my Ao3 series! I post anonymously on there because I already have a pre-existing account that I don’t want to associate with my Tumblr. 

https://archiveofourown.org/series/3254130

I tend to post there earlier than my Tumblr so if you’d like to see my fics a few hours earlier, then it’s better to check the series! 

🫠

Asmo in S1, after he finds out MC's being lying to him about why they wanted to form a pact in the first place:

MC, realising they're gonna have to make a pact with Asmo under false pretences again if they want to go back home:

Answer Unclear

Oh, you. No-one can figure you out. Some people love you, some people hate you, some people just don't care. You're hot, but also ugly, but also bland. You're funny, but also serious, but also a kind of weird grey zone. Honestly, keep doing what you're doing. It's pretty cool, in my option. Though a lot of my friends would disagree.

I am but a blob floating in the vast ocean of dreams! 

for my bestie westie @hayamu​ ! also, anybody else who’s up for it!

NEW CHALLENGE

1. FIRST, create a picrew using this maker, and then 2. SECOND take this quiz on how fandom would see you if you were a fictional character.  3 (THIRD) POST YOUR PIC AND YOUR DESCRIPTION IN THE REBLOG!

Bastard (Good)

You’re a bastard. A wet cat, if you will. And we love you for it. You’re a little shit, but in the good way. You are the baddest babygirl. You killed a man, but you looked good doing it. You flirted with the hero and the enemy. All of Tumblr is madly in love with you. Congrats, I guess?

Tagging EVERYONE but especially @magicaltear, @the-beeses-kneeses, @wafflesrisa, @mykingdomforapen, @marbat, @scientistsinistral, @halberdierminister​!

I don't Eliza has ever heard of consensual marriage before. I honestly never liked her. First, she and her ghosts invaded NRC- a place that didn't belong to them and terrorized the students. She KIDNAPPED poor Idia and forced him to be her groom without asking what he wanted. Third, she slapped all the boys who were attempting to rescue Idia (who ungratefully trash talked them in the process). And then there's Eliza's old-fashioned ideals. I could go on, but it'd get too long eheh

!! 👀 No, no! This is actually a really interesting topic of discussion, lemme word vomit my thoughts out, Anon!

I have a lot thoughts on Eliza and on the Ghost Marriage event itself, so I'd like to take this chance to share them. Please take what I say with a grain of salt, as much of it is personal interpretation based on the information presented to us in game.

***Ghost Marriage event and Groom-for-a-Day card(s) spoilers ahead!!***

You're perfectly valid in saying that you dislike Eliza. Everyone's allowed to like and to not like whatever characters they want.

I agree that many of the things she did and said were over-the-top and unwarranted, but I think that was the entire point of Ghost Marriage: to be a parody of the "traditional Disney fairy tale romance", much like how the film Enchanted was. There were just too many not-so-subtle jabs at common romance tropes for it not to be.

For example, Eliza has unrealistic expectations of her future husband, and she thinks everything will magically work out, even though Idia is clearly distressed and against the marriage. Later, when the other boys are deployed to rescue Idia, there are even more jokes made using Eliza's extreme ideals as a springboard to jump off of. Yes, it was wrong of her to slap people around, but it was played off as something to laugh at because she would always be set off by the smallest things.

The highlight here definitely has to be Leona and Trey's attempt to woo her with song. Disney is especially known for its songs in movies, and Eliza just takes that idea and runs with it. She expects her ideal prince to perfectly finish any song she starts/serenade to her, as if they're actually in a Disney musical number. Obviously, if anyone attempted that in real life, you'd react the same way the TWST boys did: with confusion.

I think Idia trash talking the rescue attempts is meant to add to the humor. There's a huge contrast in how the boys of NRC see this courtship and "romance" and how Eliza sees it--that's where both the event's conflict and where the bulk of the humor comes from.

What I personally appreciate about Ghost Marriage is that it offers a realistic portrayal of love and marriage when you look past all the silliness of the event. Well, not on Eliza’s part, but on the part of the TWST boys we all know and love.

A mistake that people outside of this fandom often make is that TWST is an otome game, based simply on the fact that the cast is all male and full of pretty boys. However, despite TWST not being an otome, the fandom is very yume-centric and romance focused, because the characters are so appealing. The fact that TWST is based on Disney properties--Disney, who is known for their interpretations of classic fairy tales and their stereotypical happily ever afters--has set up this expectation of romance.

But Twisted Wonderland, the game itself, has a very nuanced and realistic approach in how it addresses romance. It’s played mainly for laughs in Ghost Marriage (and the main story does a good job of highlighting the boys’ unsavory points), but delve into the lines spoken by the characters and the Groom-for-a-Day personal stories, and you’ll see even more of this.

The most obvious example here is our groom, Idia. From the very beginning, he expresses not wanting to marry Eliza, but it seems that this sentiment extends to beyond just Eliza. He has a very negative outlook on romance in general, which is corroborated by many of his Groom-for-a-Day lines. Idia mocks the concept of living “happily ever after” and “eternal love”. He remarks that love is an illusion created by the brain, and even points out that everyone is still a student, so they should prioritize their studies over romance.

While Idia does seem to enjoy romantic materials (games, anime, etc), Idia himself has a very cynical view of “real world” love, and he makes that abundantly clear. To me, Idia represents the person that enjoys romance in media, but is not interested in the pursuit of romance himself. He can enjoy it when he’s an observer, but to actually be involved in romance is a big turn-off.

Okay, but about Idia’s rescuers?

Let’s start with Rook. Of the TWST cast, I would say Rook is the most positive in regards to love. He’s always willing to help others out, and he’s always appreciative of things, even when they’re grim or the circumstances aren’t in his favor. Ace points out to Rook that when he goes around praising everything, it makes Rook seem less trustworthy. To this, the huntsman only says they are his true feelings--he wants to love everything equally.

Rook is a free spirit. He loves whatever and whomever he wishes when it suits him. He can be fickle, but he can also find goodness, something to admire, in everyone and everything. Rook’s love is an all-encompassing and unconditional kind.

Riddle’s personal stories don’t revolve around love in an super overt sense. It’s about him running into Malleus and discussing what makes a worthwhile leader. See, Riddle is a traditionalist (which suits his personality). He expresses that if he gets married, he wants to have a marriage like that of the Queen of Hearts and her husband, which to him was a “loyal” marriage. He wants to have a textbook definition of marriage, and that’s perfectly valid.

Riddle’s personal story also reiterates something that is mentioned briefly in the Ghost Marriage event: that Malleus is royalty, so his proposals are not to be taken lightly. 

This is a feature that helps to define Twisted Wonderland as its own separate entity from other Disney titles and properties. In Twisted Wonderland, being royalty means something. In almost all other forms of Disney media I can think of, being royalty equates to dressing fancy, being rich, and having all the power without any responsibility. But in Twisted Wonderland? They remind you every so often that this character is royalty, and there are strict terms of service and rules that come with that position, including being sheltered and burdened with royal duties (actual politics and governing), and not being able to just “love” whoever you want, even if just for a rescue mission.

Moving on to Epel! In his personal stories, he’s questioning if the “ideal prince” even exists. The line that pops out to me the most is that “the bride seems to care more about the image of an ideal prince than blood lines or family names”. This ties back into how the rest of Disney media often portrays romance as opposed to how TWST portrays it. Heck, in recent years, Disney has tried to subvert its own standing on romance (example: in Frozen, Elsa tells Anna “you can’t marry a man you just met”, whereas in Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, the plot revolves around quickly getting the main couple together).

Obviously, characters can be “perfected” with the magic of media. The image of an “ideal prince” DOES exist because of media, but Epel’s pointing out that it’s not realistic. He’s implying that Eliza is in love with the idea of perfection, and she has lost sight of things that should be important, like blood lines (genetic dispositions and diseases that could carry over to children) or family names (meeting your spouse’s family, getting to know them, etc.). It’s a criticism that can be easily overlooked while you’re too dazzled by Epel riding in on a white horse.

Lilia represents another type of person in regards to love. He’s the person that knows exactly what he wants, but not in the traditional sense. At no point does Lilia ever detail his ideal life partner. Instead, his personal stories are littered with subtle hints that Lilia has no plans to settle down. He never outright says it, but he implies it in other ways, like saying how it’s a shame that Sebek and Silver will never get to see him in a groomsuit.

I don’t think Lilia is as bitter or cynical about love as Idia is, but I think he definitely has his own reasons for not pursuing love. I don’t think it’s related to his age, since Lilia has always marched to the beat of his own drum and done whatever he likes, regardless of his age. He acts super youthful for a fae that’s several hundred years old. No, I believe Lilia just... isn’t ready, nor does he want to, commit.

I don’t have concrete proof or any real information to go off of, but Lilia was able to raise Silver just fine on his own. He may very well just be used to doing things alone, seeing as he enjoys traveling the world by himself. Not to mention, he’s a war veteran. He must have seen many of his loved ones perish in combat--so maybe that’s made him hesitant to be tied down, in case he loses more of them. The reason could be more innocent than that, like maybe Lilia just wants to focus on his duties as Malleus’s retainer, or he just likes his solitude.

In any case, Lilia lacks Idia’s cynical views on love, but he, like Idia, doesn’t plan to get married... and that’s okay. We can see that Lilia is totally happy with himself without romantic love. He has his family and duties to keep him feeling fulfilled. Lilia is a demonstration that platonic love--specifically familial love--is just as valid as romantic love.

And finally, we have Ace.

ACE.

Okay.

You can call him an asshole all you like for ghosting his ex-girlfriend, but honestly? Hats off to Ace. I’m not saying what he did was necessarily right (it’s definitely a jerk move), but it’s realistic.

First of all, it’s pretty rare in these types of games to mention canon romantic relationships at all. I think the reasoning for this is because the mere MENTION of another person being with a character that is pulled from gacha takes away from their “worth”, their “availability”. You’re less incentivized to pull for your waifu or husbando because they’re already “taken”, so good on TWST for changing it up a bit.

Alright, back to Ace’s asshole move. Remember that this dude is 16. JUST 16. Ghosting your S/O or losing interest in them is perfectly reasonable for an immature teenager to do. You’re still young and learning--and heck, many adults still do this. No one is a perfect prince. To quote Trey, “I’m just a high school boy. What do you expect from me?”

Ace is an imperfect boyfriend, despite that speech he gives to Eliza about what the “ideal” partner is like. Ace may know what he wants in a partner, but there’s no guarantee he’s prepared for a relationship himself—and that’s a reflection of what happens in real life. People are imperfect, they fuck up in relationships.

After all, real relationships are the antithesis of Eliza’s ideals.

Real relationships don’t involve one person aggressively imposing their will on their partner. It should be equal parts give and take, and it shouldn’t be rushed or forced.

Real relationships aren’t perfect. Your personality won’t fix itself because of your partner, and your partner’s personality won’t fix because of you. You’ll disagree, you’ll fight, you’ll make mistakes. That doesn’t make the relationship necessarily a bad one, it just depends on how you work together to resolve your differences and move on from the disputes.

Real relationships don’t involve perfect people, either. You’re individuals with your own strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn’t cling to your partner and act like they’re infallible--and neither should they to you.

Real relationships take time and work.

With all of that being said, we can see that TWST has a very unconventional approach to love and romance compared to its contemporaries. They make fun of many common tropes and actually have a more realistic portrayal of “love” than most other mobage I’ve seen. There are some subtle things they do that also lend to this, like not running a traditional Valentine’s Day or White Day event in February/March (instead giving us Vargas Camp), or the Halloween Groovies being actually scary art rather than being traditional fanservice art.

I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to express my appreciation of minor details like that. Ever since the Ghost Marriage rerun, and the addition of the Idia and Lilia cards, I’ve been thinking long and hard about all of this, because I personally resonate a lot with those two in their views on love. I really like the lore and the representation that their Groom-for-a-Day cards add to TWST, that love isn’t treated like this infallible solution for everything like in so many other Disney properties. 

You can praise TWST for a lot of things, but I feel this is something that isn’t appreciated enough... So I wanted to express my gratitude for it.

hi miss raven I have a question to ask. do you know the timeline of each chapters?? like I know the prologue was held at the start of the new academic year, but what about the other chapters? it's been bugging my mind since a long time ago but I just remembered about it😭

The main story gives ample hints that indicate what time of year each episode takes place in! A quick summary for you:

The prologue takes place at the start of a new school year (very late summer, early autumn). We know this because Yuu is isekai’d into Twisted Wonderland around the time of the school entrance ceremony, and due to the timing of the other episodes of the main story.

Episode 1 takes place in early autumn, as we follow the students starting a new semester and getting acclimated to their school lives.

Episode 2 takes place in autumn as well. If I had to put a more specific estimate to it, I would guess October, since this is when many homecoming games in the real world take place (and assuming that the Magift/Spelldrive tournament mentioned in this episode is the TWST equivalent to that).

Episode 3 takes place in late autumn (November) to early winter (December). This is implied via the mention of “final exams” for the semester, as well as Crewel mentioning that people that don’t do well on them will need to take supplemental lessons during winter break.

Episode 4 takes place mid-winter, as Jamil and multiple other characters make explicit mention of winter break, which I assume is the real-world equivalent of that long stretch of no school between Christmas to New Year’s. It being winter break also serves to explain the absence of several characters like Ace and Deuce.

Episode 5 takes place at the start of the New Year and into mid to late winter (January, February). The end of episode 4 has Adeuce mentioning that it’s a new year and a new semester, which means at the earliest, episode 5 opens January 1st. When we factor in the fact that VDC training camp takes place over the course of a month, this brings us roughly into February.

Episode 6 takes place a few days after VDC, as the boys have now been awarded their second place prize money and Crowley mentions calling STYX following Grim’s rock eating incidents; there also appears to be a significant time skip later in the chapter to account for Ramshackle’s renovations (don’t quote me on that second half of the sentence). Sooo let’s just be generous and say that episode 6 takes place over the rest of winter and maybe early spring.

From all of this, we can probably guess that episode 7 will take place squarely in the spring time.

Every adventure requires a first step.

Ace Trappola x Yuu: New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year’s Eve! Hope your resolutions came true this year and that your future resolutions also come true! 

Hope you enjoy!

SUMMARY: The Heartslabyul boys stay up past 12 to celebrate New Years. They discuss their success with their resolutions this year. Yuu wants Crocs. Ace seems to have something else in mind.

—

“My resolution was to get all over 80 percent!” Deuce proclaimed. Cater casually took the report card he left on the table. 

“Hehe, you only got two subjects over 80 though…” Cater grinned without pity. 

“Still, an improvement.” Riddle nodded. He sounded almost proud. After all, he had been the one to tutor the two first years in his free time. “Thank you, dorm head!” Deuce beamed. “What about you, Ace?” He turned his gaze to the other first year lazing on the lounge. 

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