Tbh i feel like as much as twst is similar to yuu’s world, is not the same. At all. No comfort foods, it tastes different, or the brand doesn’t exist. No music they can listen to that they know of, no shows to re-watch, no games you know of, no novels you read before. The stars in the sky are different, they are in a different solar system. The map of twst gives me the vibes (at least the one we get in book 6) that is a map that isn’t finished and maybe they don’t even know they live in a planet- do they live in a planet to begin with?? Maybe this world isn’t a planet!
Also. Smth i’ve thought abt before, twst humans are probably not the same as us earth humans. We evolved from homo sapiens through millions of years. We don’t know much about them, but there were gods. And if Hades exist, then so do the rest of the gods, and maybe even the titan that created humanity from clay. So they don’t work the same. They probably have a extra set of veins for magic. Maybe they have a extra organ to digest any magic around them, which yuu doesn’t have.
Also there’s the fact that disney movies are real here 🧍 why does nobody write abt that man- but whatever. If you think of it, Alice IS canon in twst, which means the girl did fall asleep and wake up back at her world after going to wonderland,, maybe yuu would do that too? Idk.
But like,, what i mean to say is that twst probably seems like its similar, but it actually isn’t. Cause,, well, is not the same type of world. At all. Foods wont taste the same cause the earth water and air in twst is probably a lot cleaner and maybe even better than ours- MAYBE. The media wouldn’t be the same at all.mThere are things here and there that are similar, like the fact hibiscus flowers are real in twst. Tbh i felt a little like crying when i read in the cloudcalling in the savana event that hibiscus flowers exist there. They represent home for me. So knowing they grew there would both comfort me and make me cry. Maybe yuu started investigating of the world differences after they learned the plants that grow here are NOT plants like the ones in their world at ALL. Some exist, sure, but most of them are from twst alone. Learned in chemistry class- so they start studying about the plants, maybe wanna learn about other plants, see pictures of them and stumble upon the hibiscus flower if this yuu also happened to relate the flower with home. Angst 💔
god yeah actually you bring up an EXCELLENT point! There's definitely overlap with Earth things and Wonderland things but clearly not everything is the same and simply can't be the same. There's stuff that someone might be familiar with in Twisted Wonderland but that simply can't exactly match up precisely because of the things you brought up. The difference in climate, soil, air, water and long running cultural history (like veggies! Veggies are carefully cultivated over history with recipes and climates in mind with things like preferences and beliefs influencing how to cultivate their veggies and animals for food)
I think that's partially one of the worst things. Almost everything in Wonderland might have some shallow surface level resemblance to things back home but ultimately never really truly match things back home simply because ingredients, recipes, and music was influenced by completely different cultures, histories and environments. Even things as basic as potatoes and rice would taste different because it was grown in completely different soil with different methods and influenced by different beliefs and habits. I say beliefs because cultural background and ideas directly influence what people think is the proper way to raise grow and process crops and animals for food.
And yeah like you said, the stars are different and likely even the rotation of the planet is subtly different.
And honestly yeah, twst humans likely are genuinely fundamentally different. All wonderland races, regardless of whether they're aquatic or have tails or live for centuries, can interbreed. This means that despite how all of them look different, they are the same species. Earth Humans didn't evolve like that, with such a huge span of various body morphs and abilities.
I think that twst races likely have extra organs to sense and produce magic but idk about extra veins since it seems like their bodies low-key suck at actually handling magic (they produce blot and can self destruct if they have too much magic) and it's only a small percentage of the population (1 in 10 people is the minority, a very powerful minority but they aren't the major population) that has magic so it doesn't seem to be fully advantageous or at least not advantageous enough to be favored in evolution since magic ability isn't actually the majority. I say that mage bodies seem to suck at handling magic because while they can use it, it also seems to cause a bunch of other problems for them like adding physical and mental stress plus putting them in danger both from overblot and from their own abilities. It's sort of like how earth humans can breathe in smoke and drink alcohol, like yes an earth human can do so and some like to do so BUT it does cause a lot of stress on the body and even can cause the body to produce materials that are toxic to themselves (like lung tar and liver poisoning) which is very similar to how mages can use magic and do use magic BUT it creates blot and puts their body under stress. Their bodies produce magic and using it produces a byproduct of blot, with some mages like Draconia being able to add or take on magic from their environments and thus not put their body under as much stress if they were to produce it themselves.
Also RIGHT???? most people do know about Disney!!! Unless someone just didn't grow up with disney classics (which is very possible) then they'd likely be familiar in some way. I feel like having that information wouldn't do much though except noticing patterns simply because SO much of Wonderland History is a different narrative of the original Disney movies. It's obviously somewhat similar, like an unreliable narrator that is on the antagonist's side but also many of the stories are like snippets of the og movies. Like if someone played a game of telephone to tell plots of Disney movies and it got completely removed from the original as various people retold it and messed up the details over time and retellings.
Also yeah, as said earlier, every thing probably has some level of familiarity BUT it's different. Different in such a way that you CAN'T get the original. And i think that would be worse in a way. Imagine wanting a specific home style of curry but never being able to get it to taste right. Because there's no ingredients that can ever emulate earth ones, simply because the soil affected the taste of every veggie, the centuries of culture affected what ingredients and prep would go into those ingredients and spices and so much more. You likely can find things that are passingly similar but that simply won't taste like home. And as you said, many plants are wonderland specific and many dishes reflect this.
I feel like familiar dishes actually create the most homesickness in Yuus just cause it's a reminder that even with a plate of food they actually are familiar with, it just isn't the same and just isn't Earth. It's a harsh reminder when even basic comforting staples don't taste right. That its just so close but not similar enough.
Lots of angst in feeling othered by even meals, let alone differences in biology. Much to be thought on.
i imagine this level of isolation, one so prevalent and constant and that happens in all scenarios from sharing meals to learning about music and shows to fiction, would be really hard to avoid. There's no comfort to be found in even what seems familiar precisely because it's founded in a completely different land and thus simply won't be familiar, it will inherently be a little different in key ways. I feel like lots of the guys really truly wouldn't know exactly how to address this and it would cause a deep sense of discomfort and worry. Perhaps even pity though plenty simply don't quite understand the full scope of such a deep level of displacement of someone who has been kidnapped, ripped from their life and put into a hostile environment full of antagonistic often violent people. Yuu is essentially an undocumented homeless person who has been kidnapped and put to work in a place full of people who are often rude and even violent with their room and board and even food budget under threat should they not follow orders. They have no ID, no bank account, no real ability to travel and no home of their own, in a hostile land with a person who constantly threatens their sole place of living and often threatens their means is buying food. And on top of ALL of this, they also likely are unable to fully recreate any familiar comfort dish as all foods and recipes will be slightly off simply because of the difference in environment it grew in and how it was prepared plus cultural agricultural history that would have influenced it's current taste. Plenty of angst for yuu.
My personal headcanon is that Earth Humans might be scruffier(rougher less smooth skin and less vibrant in color and not as shiny), have stronger stomachs and are hardier in health in comparison to Twst Humans simply because the crazy stuff a lot of the yuus go through doesn't seem to affect them physically as much as it should if they were on earth. If wonderland diseases, molds, dusts and bacterial introductions were as tough and crazy as earth diseases, molds, dusts and bacteria then every yuu should've gotten extremely ill when they lived in that dusty moldy abandoned wooden dorm of Ramshackle and should have fallen ill from being introduced into an entirely new community with diseases their body shouldn't have encountered before and also the fact that the sudden change in diet with completely different ingredients didn't mess with them either. The only reason i can think of for why the yuus didn't just get wiped out by that is that either Wonderland diseases, bacteria, and dust aren't as aggressive in terms of nature and irritation as Earth versions or Earth Humans are hardier than Twst Humans. I think a biological difference is more likely because it would also explain the difference in how vibrant and smooth they are.
this also means extra fun for stuff like angst and biological surprise differences tbh. Imagine Earth Humans end up being patient zero due to their hardy constitution protecting them BUT also harboring the more aggressive Earth diseases that can really fuck up others. Or just yuu eating stuff that others might not handle, especially when Jade tries to feed surprise shrooms.