I was thinking about how various Twst characters have mentioned reading or gravitating towards certain types of reading materials. Following that train of thought, it must be really chaotic if they tried to have some kind of literature club or something 😭
Normally how it works is that the group chooses the same book to read before the next meeting. Then when they reconvene, they have a conversation about the ideas and themes of the book. But knowing how the NRC students are... they probably can't decide on ANYTHING to read and instead go out of their way to read and share about their own preferred materials.
For example:
Riddle — a thick and drab anatomy and physiology textbook (Mama Rosehearts made him)
Leona — some ancient text about a lost civilization he casually deciphered for fun (Ancient Magic is his best subject + multiple of Leona’s birthday cards have him mentioning or engaging in translating old written languages)
Azul — the fucking stock market reports cut out from the local paper (since he is said to read this in his Relax in Room card + in book 6)
Kalim — a picture book he has read to his siblings (he does all of the funny voices and acts out the characters with his body)
Idia — isekai light novels (he is prepared to compare and contrast them with the manga and anime adaptations and will debate on who best girl is)
Sebek — a tragic romance novel (I see him reading all genres, but I love the idea of Sebek, a really loud and opinionated guy, bellowing about a couple that meets a sad end while tears are streaming down his face; it’s confirmed he reads what is Twst’s equivalent of Romeo and Juliet in his Nightmare Suit vignettes)
Hardly anyone understands what the others are going on about. Absolutely nothing would be accomplished between them 💀
twst first-years who are extremely impressionable, and have started to adopt their upperclassmen's little movement quirks.
deuce starts doing this thing where he'll reach his hand up, abruptly stop, and hastily put his hand back down, a bright blush going over his face. he only ever completes the action a total of one time, which ace is there to witness -- and of course, ace bursts out laughing when he realizes that deuce is trying to adjust his glasses like trey does, except deuce obviously doesn't wear glasses.
not to be outdone, deuce and yuu both catch ace saluting with a peace sign after they leave ramshackle. ace freezes mid-pose, which gives them ample time to realize why the gesture is so familiar. and as soon as it clocks, yuu and deuce proceed to mercilessly make fun of him for it for the next week, pulling up pictures of cater on magicam and and asking if they're secret siblings.
jokes on both ace and deuce, though, because before they know it, they're putting their hands to their chests and cocking their heads to the side like riddle does whenever he's feeling smug. and it's not until deuce and yuu have had their fun with ace's peace sign (which he will never do again (which is a lie, he totally will)) that yuu pulls up a bunch of photos, revealing that they've been doing this for months now, and they were just waiting for the right time to bring it up.
jack starts putting both hands behind his head whenever he's thinking just like ruggie does, and it's not until he catches epel looking at him oddly that he even realizes he's doing it. epel practically holds him at pen-point and asks what he's done to the real jack when jack puts his hand to the side of his forehead in a way that looks eerily reminiscent of what leona does when he's stressed.
soon after that, though, epel starts lifting his finger to the side of his face or lifting a whole hand whenever he's trying to make a point. they're such small gestures, but they strike untold fear into the hearts of his dormmates for reasons they can't understand -- until they see vil and rook striking the exact same poses when vil's lecturing epel about how to hold your teacup in the most elegant manner or rook's greeting someone he's stalked for the past two hours.
ortho's already inherited some of idia's attributes, so nobody thinks anything of it most of the time. then, in rare moment of shyness, ortho puts his hand on his arm, and everybody in his class starts flipping out, throwing chairs, and asking the universe why their only ray of sunshine is turning more and more like his gloomy brother with every passing day.
sebek gets a triple-whammy all in one day. while at lunch with the other freshmen, he puts his hand to the side of his face like silver does, puts his hand to his chin like lilia does, and even pouts like malleus does when yuu steals a bit of his macaroni. nobody mentions any of this to him, but yuu secretly takes pictures of it and sends them all to diasomnia.
yuu, of course, doesn't get out of this unscathed. in fact, they might have ended up the worst, because they slowly start to take cues from every upperclassmen/teacher they know.
they start beating their textbooks, rulers, whatever they have against their hand like it's a whip, in much the same way professor crewel does. they shrug with both hands outstretched now, sometimes looking like azul, sometimes looking like ruggie, and even sometimes looking like rook. one day, they catch themselves slumping their shoulders and shaking their head like idia does whenever he's tired.
the freshmen don't catch on very fast. when they do, they all agree that it's embarrassing, but they're too far gone to stop it now.
(the upperclassmen catch on pretty quick. if they're at all happy about it, they hide it well.)
It just really gets to me that 10 year old Mob walked into Reigen’s office looking for anyone who could give him advice about his powers that are scaring him. And Reigen looked at him and went “This baby child is absolutely delusional, but he looks like he needs someone to say something important to him right now.” And Reigen spun up some bullshit on the spot that became the guiding compass of Mob’s life.
And it’s very important to clarify that Reigen did not -accidentally- give Mob good advice. Because one of Reigen’s most distinct traits is his ability to come up with genuine advice and tell people what they need to be told. But he’ll do this on the spot. He’ll do it wrapped in bullshit. He’ll camp it alongside some conman string. He’ll go along with anything. He’ll pretend anything is true. The grift is, in fact, integral of it.
And I love this dichotomy in him because he’s so precariously set up at all moments to topple. For anyone to call him on his bullshit and use that to dismantle everything he’s said. He was lying. He was scamming you. He was using you.
And yes, he was. But it wasn’t really for service of the con. It was for service of the customer, who needed to hear something important.
A terrified 10 year old walked in because his powers had just hurt his little brother and he was feeling so alone in the world and so dangerous and so scared. And Reigen saved him the way Reigen does best.
absolutely reeling from Malleus casually dropping that time he got recognized in public because his hat fell off. excuse me. what hat. Malleus. what frikkin hat could you have been just nonchalantly wearing about town that would 1) fit over your big pointy melon, and 2) wouldn't be somehow even more distracting.
When choosing the class and race, I primarily thought about what the characters themselves would choose, so some of them look quite different from their real selves.
The outfits were chosen in the same way. Of course, I tried to incorporate references, and I hope I succeeded, but mostly it's how the first years see their characters.
When I was thinking about how Ace would play, I was torn between a bard and a rogue. I mean, the Vicious mockery is something in his DNA. But I think he's the kind of person whose character is built on pathos. A lone wolf. A dark-cloaked figure in the corner of the tavern. So a Roque it is. He would have chosen a tiefling for similar reasons—a dark backstory, hatred of humans. It's just a shame this image doesn't last longer than the moment he opens his mouth.
I didn't have this problem with Deuce - one look is enough to understand that he is the ideal paladin. He himself really likes this class because it allows him to play the hero in any situation, something he is often proud of. It might seem like he'll be a kind of babysitter for the group, but in reality, he's just as capable of getting into a fight as anyone. His shield more often ends up hitting someone in the teeth than serving its intended purpose.
I didn't even have any doubts; I knew right away that Epel would choose. The biggest, the strongest, the most powerful - of course he would be an Orc-Barbarian. I was thinking about changing his hairstyle, but i suppose he likes it in general, he just wants to be more muscular. Moreover, it gives him the opportunity to finally speak comfortably with an accent—he simply gave his character one. The most understandable language is the language of violence and fists.
I knew Grim would choose a mage as a class, but I had to think longer about the race. In my opinion he would have appreciated the Dwarves' love of shiny things and a good meal, it's literally his philosophy of life. When I think of him and mages, it's obvious to me that his character is exactly how he imagines them - bearded, old, in long robes and triangular hats. Besides, he plays the character with all his heart, which is really important. If he didn't also launch fireballs at everything movable and immovable, he would be perfect player.
Jack was difficult, I admit. The monks were a pretty obvious choice; I think he would have liked their philosophy and approach to combat. But his approach to acting was questionable. He's a pretty serious guy, so I think he's terrible at roleplaying. Absolutely terrible. He'd also often ask logical questions, which could ruin some scenes. But overall, I think he would enjoy the game, he just needs time to relax and get used to it.
Initially, I wanted to make Ortho Warforged—I mean, it was the obvious choice. But I think this game would be an opportunity for him to try himself in a new role, so I went the other way. Druid, gnome - maximum connection with nature. Besides, in my opinion, he would be the one who would help with the creation of figurines and miniatures. I mean, he's a huge box cutter in that regard. Oh, and of course his companion is Cerberus.
It's oblivious to me that Sebek wouldn't have even had a second thought once he found out that you can be a dragon in this game. I think he would have made a good paladin, but he refuses to follow anyone but his liege, so he is a knight. I mentioned it, but he takes the game too seriously - but he is a great advisor on many lore and atmosphere issues, so everything is fine. I just wish he'd be more toned down when it came to them.
Pierre (my Yuusona, who didn't appear in the post) would obviously be the GM. I mean, she's the one who gathered them all here. Even in everyday life she acts like some kind of voiceover, but this game turns it up to the max. But that's precisely why the game with her is so well-presented, even though she is completely neutral toward both NPCs and players. Only the consequences of their actions, no divine retribution. And also the rule of coolness.
Overall, I would say that they have a pretty good party in terms of balance, but they clearly lack mutual understanding.
I had a lot of fun doing this! I plan to make the rest of the students later.
