Twst Kalim - Blog Posts

Theories on the outfits.

Well mostly the ribbons and masks.

First Jack: His ribbons are tied to his wrists and have bows. This shows being controlled or puppeteered (is that a word?) but obvious because we can see the bow. (Also seeing the bow means easier to untie aka loosen the control.) But!... His ribbons are the only ones that aren’t flailing around. They are tied to his back. This gives me the vibe that he is still somewhat in control of himself. Not to mention harness and suspenders like he is constraining himself. It fits his tsundere personality. Also he is holding the one ribbon in his hand and the other looped on his arm, making it hard to grab and gives him more control over it. If the boys are being turned into puppets, Jack is most likely the last one they are turning or he is able to fight back against it… probably both. His mask is barely visible. Yes, because of the angle, but like most of the others the branches are thin and mostly around his eye. Slightly poking over his nose. If you squint or really zoom in.

Jade: Interesting! His ribbons, while flailing about, are not tied around his wrists but forearms. And the big ribbon and bow on his shoulder and almost like it’s going across his body. Given Jade’s personality and unique magic, it is not unlikely he is somewhat aware of being controlled or pretending to be (ribbons not on wrists) and still has somewhat control over himself (ribbon on shoulder). And his mask… looks to me has the least amount of branches trying to grow and is just around his eye. (Note: it’s around his yellow eye that he uses for his unique magic.)

Lilia: Ribbons loose thus easily grab-able and around wrists to control. Now his bows; fit into his cutesy vibe but the black spots tell me he has lapses or moments where he sees through the illusion – moments of consciousness (being in control of himself). His mask though small, is creeping over his nose – a sign of being more under control.

Trey: He is a difficult one. His ribbons aren’t on his wrists but like Ace and Ortho, his bows aren’t visible. So I am a bit stumped on what exactly this means. But his mask does have more obvious creeping branches.

(Fun little note: Trey and Jade’s outfits match, especially the sleeves and wrist cuffs. Also Cater and Vil’s outfits and Leona and Floyd’s.)

The SR cards give me tin soldier vibes. While R cards more booth workers. Trey looks like he sells popcorn, peanuts and cotton candy. Jade looks like the people that take your ticket or advertise shows outside the tents. I can kinda hear the “Step right up! Step right up and try…!” Y’know?

Now Leona:                            He is the only SR that doesn’t have tassels. It is in your face like the other SRs though. And I will explain what I think the tassels mean with Cater. Ribbons around the wrist and bows visible. Also the ribbons hanging from his clothes. Kinda in the sense of Lilia’s – there is control over himself but it’s hard to grasp and can still be grabbed by the “Puppeteer”. Also worthy to note his mask is almost not noticeable. Yes the angle and his hair but it’s still small.

I think there are degrees as to which they are being controlled or turned into puppets. Leona a little less than the SR but a bit more than the R.

Cater: The tassels! I think these are meant to be a distraction. They are more eye-catching than the ribbons and like I said very in your face. Trying to grab your attention. Trying to distract you from what is actually going on. It also matches that Cater, Floyd and Vil have the tassels because it matches their more attention grabbing presence and personalities. While Leona (no tassels) is more reserved and he is usually more in the background or shadows. Again, on the wrists and bows visible. They also are reaching for us. Either to grab us or be distractions which fit the tin soldier vibe. His mask does have some creeping branches.

Also Cater and Vil are the most neat and presentable while Leona and Floyd’s jackets’ being open fits their more lax personalities. But that is just their personal style.

Vil: Matches Cater. Tassels are around the wrists and bows visible. Also very in your face. And his mask has very noticeable branches. And may be just because he is Vil but he is very attention grabbing. (Also those stilettos! Damn! Kinda envious. I look like a baby giraffe learning how to walk when I wear heels.)

Floyd: Now Floyd is also very interesting. He has four tassels on each arm (the others have two tassels or ribbons) and two on each leg! His mask is also smaller with less branches. And around his yellow eye. This tells me the Puppeteer is controlling him but it’s difficult. They had to use even more restraints on him. Also it’s over his wrist cuffs not under like the other three SRs. This does match Floyd’s personality, that he’d be harder to control.

And finally the SSRs!

Kalim: I’d like to point unlike the other two, Kalim has his bows showing. Since he is used to Jamil’s unique magic and fought of Jade’s, while the other two are ‘almost completely puppets’ Kalim is a little less than them. Will maybe be the first of the three to gain back control over himself. His mask is thick! The other’s branches were thin. Maybe it is the close up but his definitely looks bigger but again less than Ace and Ortho’s branch-wise.

Ace: He has no bows showing! Thus making it more difficult for the control to be untied. The SSR ribbons are also in your face but more performative than distracting. They’re puppets on stage putting on a show. And his mask is very thick and creeping over his nose and under his other eye. And I think (kinda hard to see) by his left ear.

Ortho: Very similar to Ace. No bows on the ribbons. And his mask is almost completely under his other eye. He also got the tin soldier look. Not quite sure what it means but worthy of note that it matches Vil and Cater.

If I had to rank them on almost completely controlled (turned into puppet) to not as much:

Ace and Ortho

Kalim

Vil

Cater

Floyd

Leona

Trey

Lilia

Jade

Jack

So that’s my theory. I could absolutely be reading way too much into it but it felt like the ribbons and masks have to mean something.

Added little things I noticed:

All of them have red feather on their hat like Pinocchio.

The SSRs background look like Geppetto’s workshop but trashed.

The clocks with Ace. Like the whole clock music score while Jiminy Cricket tried to sleep.

The piano in Kalim’s. Maybe ‘dancing to the tune’ but its kinda broken, so broken control maybe.

Cleo the goldfish’s broken bowl in Ortho’s and the birdcage which Pinocchio was in when trapped by Stromboli.

The hidden characters in their clothes:

Figaro the cat on Ace’s belt.

Jiminy Cricket with Ortho (he is very noticeable)

And maybe I’m wrong but on Kalim’s ascot there a vague fish shapes that look like Cleo the goldfish. Which could be the reason for the gold jacket (we don’t see Kalim in a lot of yellow. It does look good.) And his train on his jacket looks like her fin tail.

And the wishing star images on everybody.

Especially Ortho who kinda gives me Blue Fairy vibes.

Other people have discussed it but very fitting that it’s Ace, Kalim and Ortho that are the SSRs. If I had to compare to the other half of the cast in GloMas. If Fellow and/or Giddle (?) “are” = Rollo; Ace = Azul, Kalim = Idia and Ortho = Malleus. (Ortho and Kalim could be switched.) They are to Fellow and Giddle as Azul, Idia and Malleus were the foils to Rollo.

Twisted Wonderland server JP new Halloween event!

R, SR, and SSR previews below

(spoiler warning)

R Cards

SR Cards

SSR Cards

Hugging them for the first time pt3

Octavinelle & Scarabia ( Azul, Jade, Floyd, Kalim, and Jamil)

Y/n has been at NRC for a while and she's never hugged anyone (besides grim) until today. Y/n took in a deep breath before walking out the door of the ramshackle dorm with grim on her shoulder. {some are shorter than others}

Azul Ashengrotto: Hug him and he’ll melt into your arms and might start crying so pls do it behind closed doors. Y/n was waiting in Azul’s office for the deal maker, soon enough the door of the office opened “Y/n its good to see you! What brings you to my office today?” Azul asked, walking in before closing the door. Azul trusted y/n enough that he didn’t need to have the tweels in the room with them. Once Azul was close enough y/n hugged him and Azul basically collapsed into her arms y/n felt something wet landed on her shoulder. Azul felt bad he was crying on y/n's shoulder but the hug was nice and well needed. “What do you want in return?” Azul asked as he pulled away from her expecting she wanted something in return “Nothing i just wanted to give you a hug” y/n said with a huff crossing her arms before she walked out of the office waving bye to azul making him shake his head and smile. He did really like the hug though now he’s thinking about what to give y/n in return.

Jade Leech: Hug and run! y/n saw Jade washing dishes in the kitchen, so y/n thought it would be fun so just surprise hug him and that’s what she did. She quietly walked up behind the eel and wrapped her arms around him making him stop moving and with that y/n quickly let go and ran out of the kitchen. Jade watched y/n run out of the kitchen she surprised him, the jade leech he was impressed. He will get Y/n back, that's a promise.

Floyd Leech: This can go two ways depending on his mood if he's in a bad mood he’ll probably grunt as y/n hugs him before patting her head before wanting to be let go but will come running for a hug later or if he’s in a good mood y/n isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, his shrimpy hugged him for the first time this eel is excited now he’s going to hold you until he’s bored. As y/n ran out of the kitchen she saw Floyd looking down, she knew the two ways this would end but she still wanted to hug him. Y/n walked up to him “hi floyd you alright?” y/n asked Floyd quickly looked down at her “hi shrimpy just a bad day” he huffed “do you want a shrimpy hug?” y/n asked expecting him to say no but he lit up like a firework before picking her up and spinning her around “oh shrimpy!!!” Floyd happily yelled y/n just laughed as she hugged him. Everyone in the mostro lounge was thankful for y/n because now floyd was in a better mood. Y/n got ALOT of free food to take home that day.

Kalim Al-Asim: Just hold your arms out when you see him he’ll come running. Y/n was walking through the halls when she saw Kalim and Jamil “Y/n!” Kalim yelled waving at her with a big smile making y/n smile back at him and she opened her arms Jamil looked shocked and Kalim looked excited before he started running towards her very excitedly. He ran full force into her arm laughing the entire time. Once they pulled away from each other y/n saw Jamil had walked over to them.

Jamil Viper: Before Jamil could say anything y/n hugged him as well making him freeze before he hugged her back. Y/n did hug him a second longer than she hugged Kalim so Jamil was really happy and petty about the hug.

Happy Halloween

Yes yes I know am back from the dead can you blame me tho there’s so much going on and am absolutely unmotivated to do every fan art I can like I used to now huhu 😭😭

Kalim motivation for you 🦦 ❤ !!

Twst incorrect quotes #08

Epel: I think I should be allowed on ghost hunter tv shows.

Deuce: I think that would be dangerous for the ghosts.

-

Kalim: I can't believe you've done this.....

Yuu: I'm sorry I didn't know-!

Kalim, on the verge of tears: YOU CAN'T JUST BUY ME A GIFT OUT OF NOWHERE NOW I FEEL LIKE A HORRIBLE PERSON!

-

*First years talking about past crushes*

Deuce: What the fuck? People actually tell their crushes they like them??

Ace: What the hell do you do?

Deuce: I die? What kinda question…

-

Yuu: Quitting! It's like trying, but easier.

-

Cater: °sapnu puaS

Azul: What??

Lilia: What language is that.

Cater: Turn your phone 180 degrees.

*Cater was removed from the group chat*

Twst incorrect quotes#07

Ace: Alright Deuce, Epel. Let's go over this one more time.

Ace: If something breaks?

Deuce: We try to fix it before Yuu gets home.

Ace: If it doesn't work?

Epel: We blame Grim.

Grim: Seriously guys, what the hell?!

-

Vargus: Why are you like this??

Yuu: I used too much "No More Tears" shampoo as a kid and I haven't felt a single emotion since.

-

Kalim: I'm cold.

Jamil: Here, take my hoodie.

*meanwhile*

Ace: I'm cold.

Yuu: I can't control the fuckin' weather, Ace.

-

Riddle: How was your day, Ace?

Ace: Yeah, fine, it's anti-bullying week at school.

Riddle: Oh? And what does that mean?

Ace: It means I can't bully anyone for a whole week.

-

*The Squad is on the bus, and a child is crying*

Vil: *rolls eyes to the sky*

Lilia: *makes funny faces to get them to stop*

Jamil: *puts their earphones on at 100% volume*

Epel: *doesn't mind, doesn't bother*

Floyd: *is the reason they're crying*

Yuu: *enjoys in silence*

Twst quotes #03

Kalim: Hello, McDonald's, I would like to purchase 130 chicken nuggets. Prepare yourselves. 

-

Deuce: Good morning.

Epel: Good morning. 

Jack: Good morning. 

Crewel: You all sound like robots, try spicing it up a bit. 

Ace: MORNING MOTHERFUCKERS! 

-

Grim: Thanks for not telling Yuu what happened. 

Trey, Dumbfounded: I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to explain this. 

-

Jamil: I've never been in a snowball fight before. I don't know the rules. 

Epel: What? 

Jamil: Is there a point system, or is it to the death? 

-

Yuu: You three explain right now! 

Ace: It was Grim.

Deuce: It was Grim.

Epel: It was Grim.

Grim:

Grim: … Fuck. 

Twst quotes #02

Yuu: How do you know how to kiss? Like who teaches you?

Azul: Well it’s actually a class, but unfortunately it’s full right now.

Azul: Would you like me to tutor you?

Idia: That was smooth.

-

Yuu: Is there a cactus where your heart should be?

Vil: What’s up your ass this morning!

Malleus: *walks in* ...Hey.

Vil: Hmm… nevermind.

Yuu: WAIT NO!

-

Yuu: So... what would you do if you were in bed with me?

Jamil: Depends. Is your bed comfortable?

Yuu: Yes.

Jamil: I'd sleep.

-

Yuu: ....Thou shalt not marry each other, for thy art both sinful...

Eliza: I just wanna fucking marry Idia!!

-

*playing twister*

Azul: Right hand red.

Kalim: *ends up on top of Jamil*

Jamil: You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

Yuu: We stopped spinning like 15 minutes ago. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't notice.

now she’s actually miku

Kalim Al-Asim

HI! I’m a young artist and wanted to show off my recent art :3

so here’s my recent art

I TRIED TO COPY THE TWST STYLE

nurse the 2nd year housewardens are us using telecommunication again

req

Kalim Sleepwear Card Leak (TW: EXTREMELY CUTE!!!!!) /jjj

I’ll wish you some luck

*hitting head on the wall* Please come home. HOW HARD IS TO DO-!

Finally! Now I don't have to-

*Ruggie's birthday is in two days.*

....

*Continues banging head on wall.*

TWST Ramble: Kalim

This isn't much of an analysis bit it is more me rambling about a few things I've noticed from Kalim(our sunshine boy) overtime I don't see much fan content on.

He's surprisingly inventive: What I mean is judging from a few personal stories, especially his laboratory one it shows how despite being unable to cook usually, Kalim was almost masterfully able to prepare and cook every bit of food with magic alone. Yes Ruggie directed him when he needed to, but the point still shows that Kalim is more capable than we think. Another is during his dorm uniform's personal story. When his two dorm mates accidentally let out a flock of seven coloured birds, instead of defaulting to Jamil he knew silver always had birds and animals around him so he took the white birds and used them for the parade, using his own Unique magic to coat them in the colors with the light reflecting through the water

He seems like he's been stunted: What I mean by this is that Kalim looks like he's been stunted in his growth his whole life. With being given everything by his parents, and even with jamil holding back from actually trying his best in a way stunted kalim's growth both as a magician and a person. Which brings me to-

He's a very fast learner: Despite his naivety, and his upbringing, when he is forced to try and learn on his own to solve a problem without jamil, Kalim absorbs the information ridiculously well and adapts to it quickly. There's two showings of this, the first was with poison, seeing jamil being poisoned Kalim drilled himself to be able to spot and recognize most poisons. And on to the second example, during the Halloween event last year, after only one lesson from rook, Kalim was able to act like a wild wolf so convincingly he managed to scar jack to the point where even after realizing it was Kalim his tail was still between his legs out of fear. And then he acted so well he drew a genuine complement from Jamil, even shocking him at how well he managed to do.

He's not that airheaded: While we all know Kalim is airheaded, and doesn't observe things that well. I think we as a fandom often forget how observant Kalim actually is. The biggest example to date is how Kalim always knew Jamil wasn't a good person and expected jamil to betray him much sooner. And tell me if I'm wrong about this, but i think Kalim might have even noticed when Jamil acted worse than he actually was when he was with him.

So yeah, all in all I think we as a fandom sometimes forget Kalim is actually more than being a ball of airheaded sunshine, he has layers to him than we usually think of.

i’m on an insane grind rn

I'm not going to hold your hands when I say this. No, you don't deserve it, I'm going to pull your ears and SHOUT OUT LOUD: I'm TIRED of this fandom being UNABLE to interpret a text.

Kalim doesn't need to become a macho man who protects Jamil from everything, and he's not a "uwu boy" either. No, Kalim is a child who was emotionally neglected by his family, and INFANTILISED by them AND BY JAMIL. Do you know why Kalim is so incompetent? Because even Jamil doesn't let him TRY to act like a person, in the Lab Card he even says that HE CANNOT USE KNIVES TO COOK.

And God, why are we ignoring how much Jamil abused this ignorance? Jamil's outburst was fair, but it EFFECTIVELY makes Kalim act more childish and useless and also cuts away a lot of his own freedom.

Kalim has shown COUNTLESS TIMES, during the events and in the main story, that he is not helpless, stupid or incapable of learning. But it seems that when you see Jamil's point of view, which is not 100% reliable because duh, you completely ignore that Kalim accepted being used by Jamil because he thought it was okay if it was Jamil. You forget how much Kalim was tortured in his childhood, and even though he went through a lot, he is still treated as stupid and imbecile. Kalim is very capable, he improved his magic in a matter of months, he can easily make contacts and has the sense not to reveal who he really is to strangers. Besides, his kindness got many characters out of trouble.

JAMIL'S FANDOM MAKES ME WANT HIM TO DIED HARD AT THIS POINT.

It took Tapis Rouge to remind me that I actually really like Jamil's personality and his interactions.

I'm not going to hold your hands when I say this. No, you don't deserve it, I'm going to pull your ears and SHOUT OUT LOUD: I'm TIRED of this fandom being UNABLE to interpret a text.

Kalim doesn't need to become a macho man who protects Jamil from everything, and he's not a "uwu boy" either. No, Kalim is a child who was emotionally neglected by his family, and INFANTILISED by them AND BY JAMIL. Do you know why Kalim is so incompetent? Because even Jamil doesn't let him TRY to act like a person, in the Lab Card he even says that HE CANNOT USE KNIVES TO COOK.

And God, why are we ignoring how much Jamil abused this ignorance? Jamil's outburst was fair, but it EFFECTIVELY makes Kalim act more childish and useless and also cuts away a lot of his own freedom.

Kalim has shown COUNTLESS TIMES, during the events and in the main story, that he is not helpless, stupid or incapable of learning. But it seems that when you see Jamil's point of view, which is not 100% reliable because duh, you completely ignore that Kalim accepted being used by Jamil because he thought it was okay if it was Jamil. You forget how much Kalim was tortured in his childhood, and even though he went through a lot, he is still treated as stupid and imbecile. Kalim is very capable, he improved his magic in a matter of months, he can easily make contacts and has the sense not to reveal who he really is to strangers. Besides, his kindness got many characters out of trouble.

JAMIL'S FANDOM MAKES ME WANT HIM TO DIED HARD AT THIS POINT.

It took Tapis Rouge to remind me that I actually really like Jamil's personality and his interactions.

PRAK PEKA PRAK PEKA PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK

i don't know why I made this

stuffs

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

KALIM

ANIMATED

HES SO ☹️🫶🏻

HIS FACE IS SO ☹️🫶🏻🫶🏻

HIS INNOCENT LARGE RED ORBS FILLED WITH WONDER

I FELL TO MY KNEES AND SOBBED

KALIM MY KINGGGGGG MY PRINCE THE TWST CHARACTER EVER

More Riddle x Kalim... 👹🫵

the people cry out for ridkali .......

I was listening to "No One Mourns The Wicked". I thought of something. Malleus would be a good fit for Elphaba character wise in a fandom fusion for obvious reasons. But someone else who fits the "No One Mourns The Wicked" song specifically is Kalim.

I genuinely believe that Kalim is an unreliable narrator and his family is rotten to the core. There are various instances in the main story, the events and vignettes where Kalim is shown to either flat out deny or overlook the more troubling aspects of his family. The references to poison attempts, frequent kidnappings, use of child labour, highly questionable treatment of their employees (like the Vipers), rampant animal abuse (since Kalim said during the Playful Land event that they keep animals like elephants, orcas and dolphins caged up or in small tanks on property, which is well documented to harm them both psychically and psychologically), his father bribing Crowley to allow his son to attend NRC and the strongly implied presence of a harem in the JP version are massive red flags that something far darker is at play behind Kalim’s idealized image of his family.

The fact that Kalim’s father is involved in politics makes him even more suspect. It's completely possible that he's manipulating the Sultan to make his family richer like Jafar in the movie. Or, worse yet, like Muskrat is right now.

Due to these factors, I think the average person from the country views the Asims like how people view evil American politicians. They see them as evil and the source of trouble and discord in their lives, being out of touch due to their wealth and power. I imagine that there could be a large subsect of people who would CELEBRATE if one of them died, including Kalim himself.

Deep down, I think that's something Kalim actually fears. That hardly anyone would care if one of those poison attempts did him in and would be glad that he died. It would explain why he's so generous. He's doing that because he's trying to win other's favour in order to prevent that from happening.

I was following up until the last sentence.

Kalim doesn't help people to curry favor. He helps people because he wants to be the kind of person he wishes everyone was. He's even said that he doesn't care if people are taking advantage of his kindness, it's the idea of making people happy that he values. So while the rest of this read is spot on, I do have to set the record straight here.

Corrupt family? Yep. Fear for his life? Debatable. Desire to help people and willingness to give everything to everyone on a whim? Geniune.

He's sheltered and privileged and naive so his goodness can come across in bad faith sometimes, but Kalim has no ulterior motives for being a good person and I will die on that hill.

Thank you for your take.

R Kalim Al-Asim - Night Sky Chiffon Voice Lines

Summon: This is bad, I won't be able to throw a banquet while stuck like this! Gotta do my best to escape so we can all sing and dance together!

Groovification: Getting locked in like that was a shock... But I really had fun trying to complete all those tasks!

Home: Look at me, I'm so fluffy!

Home Transition 1: Guess there's a ton of stories I still don't know out there in the world... I think I'll get Jamil to tell me more about this book's story sometime.

Home Transition 2: I hear the Princess of the Tower had a ton of hobbies. I also really like singing and playing music, so I bet we totally woulda got a long!

Home Transition 3: If there's a book you're looking for, you should ask Riddle. He can tell you right away which shelf on which bookcase it'll be on!

Home Transition - Login: I get so bored when I'm getting my hair worked on. I feel like I might even fall asleep, 'cause it's so long! Ahahah!

Home Tap 1: So, the brooch on my waist is designed to look like a sun. I wanna add some red or orange gemstones to it and make it shine even brighter!

Home Tap 2: Maybe I could paint stuff on the walls of my family home with all my siblings. Deuce showed me some real good spray paint I could use.

Home Tap 3: I told Jack that he looked real wild and cool with his long hair, and he just said "Please, stop it." It was so cute how red he got!

Home Tap 4: The Princess of the Tower is amazing. She was able to hold back from going outside for years and years. I bet I woulda left my room within 3 days!

Home Tap 5: Whatcha think about my braid? Yeah, I like it too. I really don't want to undo it!

Requested by Anonymous.

Sorry it took so long to post again! Hope I didn’t keep you guys waiting-

I actually wanted to draw this for a while but never got to it

KALIMMMM. I’m so. Normal. Kalim al-asim….housewarden of scarabia…..ka lim. Kalim I love you..

A lot of the people who hate Kalim just dislike him because he's rich.

Character critique is fine but you'd think people could find something less blantantly petty.

about the kalim post -> the amount of people that call kalim a stupid idiot is 😭 he misinterprets people’s actions, words, and facial expressions sometimes and really thinks differently when it comes to his logic, but that’s prolly where his obliviousness ends. he knows Jamil was hurting even before Jamil’s overblot and reveal (magic carpet ride with Yuu where he says he wants Jamil to worry less and loosen up a little), Kalim’s ceremony robes where he says he’s surprised he got chosen as dorm leader and suggests Jamil would be better for the job… I remember it got so bad that people thought he was oblivious to getting poisoned or kidnapped that the EN translations turned his vagueness about it (from not wanting to worry anyone) into something he talks a lot more directly about. The obvious things he might not get, but the smaller things - Vil’s change in expression that reminded him of Jamil before he overblotted, Alab Nariya where he successfully figured at the end what Jamil was thinking as he fired the fireworks (but Jamil brushes off his worries) - are things he notices unpredictably. That’s a part of his character charm! A lot of people have this image of Kalim based on the workload Jamil has from him. Valid, but Kalim worried a lot about Jamil while Jamil was dissuading his worries (not very well, but Kalim doesn’t get sarcasm ww) - now he’s being more stubborn on still doing the work with Jamil even when Jamil says he can handle it himself. Jamil is more open on accepting that help too!! Kalim needs more love TT

Completely agree, Anon!

Kalim is naive and it's understandable that people can find him annoying (especially if you're a fan of Jamil), but he has a lot more depth than a lot of fans are willing to give him credit for. He has the best intentions in whatever he does and his good will makes him easy to take advantage of. As I see it lot of his incompetence stems from him not being allowed to actually do things of his own accord (a lot of which is perpetuated by Jamil's insistance that Kalim can't do anything correctly, therefore he shouldn't do anything that could be remotely dangerous [which is his job so can't blame him for that]). Without being given a chance to fail, Kalim can't see where his shortcomings are and can't improve on them, but that changes after chapter 4 when Jamil stops being quite as overly protective (when they actually compete for the top spot in the SDC performance for example!). Kalim is a very considerate person, but he also tends to take other peoples' words and intentions at face value. He's easy to take advantage of and I can see people being frustrated with that, but his character depth doesn't stop there and he's one of the few characters in this game that actively reflects on past actions and tries to do better.

No one is obligated to like Kalim, but this blog stans the sunshine boy!

(And honestly, I think there are just some people who can't stand that he's nice enough to offer help to anyone who asks for it AND has the money/resources to do it extravagantly. Which in a roundabout way would bring us back to the post this stems from.)

Something that I don't get? Why do some people in the fandom genuinely believe that Kalim's parents are good hearted balls of sunshine exactly like him? I'm not talking about ENG Only people. That could be explained by simple ignorance thanks to the ENG version censoring so much about Jamil and Kalim's backstory. I'm talking about people who are familiar with the JP version and STILL honestly believe that. In my eyes, the canon clearly points at the exact opposite being true, at least in regards to Kalim's father, and Kalim is simply just an unreliable narrator, who is dissociating and living in denial to stay sane. To be more brief, I think Kalim's father is an off screen villain.

There are vignettes where Jamil and Riddle say that one of Kalim's family members poisoned him for him to immediately go into complete denial. Kalim's voice actor even said that part of the reason why Kalim is so generous is because he believes that every day could be his last. (I also suspect it could also be him subconsciously giving people their heart desires to make others stay in his good graces to ward off any similar attempts on his life.) That's a sign that he comes from a super toxic household, and his parents are just giving him expensive gifts to make him happy.

His father also: uses child labour, forces a fucking child to be a poison tester, possibly beats the Vipers when they displease him according to the JP version (the line could be taken a few different ways) and it's VERY heavily implied that he has a harem in the JP version. No one who is genuinely a good person would do any of those things!

Let's face it. There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire. People who become that wealthy always so by crushing a few heads to get to the top. The Asims are no exception.

The fact that his father is involved in politics makes him even worse. If he rubs elbows with the royals there, he could very well be like Jafar and manipulating the sultan of his country in the worst way possible.

That's pretty much my read of it, I didn't know people thought differently.

I understand the idea that Kalim's sunshiny personality has to come from somewhere, but his home life is fraught with trouble. Kalim seems to be the exception to the generally accepted rule that his family is all out to serve themselves. He might have someone in his life that could influence him to be so positive, but it seems just as likely that his disposition is a coping mechanism. He tries to be the person he wants others to be: helpful to a fault, willing to use his wealth and power to make life easier for others, and able to be trusted at face value. The game hasn't made any indicators that Kalim bears a resemblance to anyone at home in regards to his personality. So when considering what we know about his home life, we can say that he's been sheltered and spoiled by his parents but that definitely doesn't mean that they are automatically good people.

Thank you for your take.