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#OM Analysis
avatarofcuriousity · 1 year
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How and why Lilith didn't do anything wrong and still deserves justice.
(Or aka, me ranting about the corruption of the Celestial Realm once again)
(This is essentially just me rambling into the void, but it continues to fester in my mind, so please indulge me if you can lol)
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Lilith, the 7 sin's sweet little sister who met an unfortunate fate; did NOTHING wrong. What she did was nothing worthy of the severe punishment that was given. It's one of the many instances of the Celestial Realm being corrupted, but it's THIS specific instance that makes my head spin.
For starters, no, Lilith did NOT get punished for falling for and being with a human. This is a common misconception, so I'd like to make that clear.
What Lilith got punished for; was stealing Celestial Realm food and altering a human's life-span. I am here today to discuss why there was entirely nothing wrong with Lilith's decisions and how the Celestial Realm's decisions were nothing but harmful and hypocritical.
Let's get this show rolling. Let's go over my First focus point: The Celestial Realm Food.
My first question; is why. WHY keep something that could be so valuable AWAY from humans? For angels, their very purpose is to help humans, to quite literally perform miracles. So why?
Why not cure this human of an incurable illness when it's so easy? Why do they INSIST on causing more pain to the human in suffering, as well as the people, and in this case, angels around them?
It's not like Lilith's lover was on his deathbed because of old age. It's not like it was his time. So what was stopping the Celestial Realm from just healing him in the first place?
There was nothing to lose. Lilith could've been happy, and with it, an entire WAR could've been avoided.
The fact that even later in the story, WITH MC, Celestial Realm food is just. Treated normally? It's literally one of the VERY first things that come up! That in Lesson 7, they have food served from different realms when staying at Diavolo's castle.
Devildom food on the first day, Celestial Realm food on the second day and Human World food on the third day.
You can make the argument that it could've been a very specific and special Celestial Realm food, after all, it DOES provide healing abilities. The problem with that is; it's a hypothetical. It could've been a very rare and special fruit, or it could've been the Celestial Realm equivalent to a fucking donut.
In the end; it's never stated to be anything special. All that is said is that it's simply made out to be ordinary Celestial Realm food. That's the plain and simple information given, and unless there's something specific we don't know about; we have to take this as fact.
If it's not stated in canon; then it's not canon. This is rule of thumb.
If we go with this, then we can make the argument that all Celestial Realm food is inherently healing to humans. At the end of the day, no one is batting a single EYE with MC eating Celestial Realm food.
Which brings me to my second focus point: No one is batting a single eye with Solomon being immortal.
Let's bring in another hypothetical! Let's just say that whatever Lilith's human lover ate, turned him immortal. I'll first mention how this is very unlikely if not impossible.
Lilith lived a happy life with her lover as a human. Lilith also died as a human. Why would Lilith's human lover be any different? Why would he continue living? If that were to be the case, you'd think that it would make itself a plot point or at least be mentioned; but it's not.
BUT. For the sake of this hypothetical; let's just pretend he turned immortal. Whether he is still living or got killed years ago; let's just assume he was/ is immortal. (Note: Immortal simply means living forever. This does NOT equal immunity and removing the chances of being killed or something happening to you. Tons of people don't know this, and it astonishes me, so please live your life with this knowledge)
So.
He's immortal.
deep inhale...
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM. LIKE??? DO I EVEN. HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF. AGGRESSIVELY POINTING TO SOLOMON HOW NO ONE HAS A SINGLE PROBLEM WITH HIM BEING IMMORTAL SO WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER I SWEAR THE CELESTIAL REALM IS SO FUCKING HYPOCRITICAL AND MAKES ZERO SENSE AND--
Conclusion!
So, uh, yeah, Lilith did nothing wrong and I am 100% a Lilith apologist.
Yeah, no, I'm not ending there. I still have one more thing to add. A question I've asked more times than I can count.
Why?
Why couldn't Lilith's lover live? Why did Lilith have to be punished? Why did a war have to break out?
And since no one will be giving me an answer, I'm providing myself one:
Because they wanted this to happen.
Is it really that surprising? The Realm that has done nothing but scheme, manipulate and brainwash, (gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss) that they were the ones to set up the war? Because they wanted it to happen? And still, WHY? Why would they want this to happen?
Well, for one, if you read this other lil theory/ analysis that you should definitely check out by the way--
God is fucking SALTY.
I'm sorry, I genuinely can't describe it any better. Like. I. Yeah. That's. That's genuinely it. That's the summary, that's the conclusion.
Okai, fine I'll explain a bit more.
God wanted to get rid of anyone who opposed him.
The brothers were already on the brink of falling; even before the war and what happened with Lilith. The brothers, along with Lilith I'm sure; were already defying God and questioning the very system they have pledged their lives to. (Not that they had a choice) God saw this; and so he planned. Planned a war, or rather; an excuse to get rid of the brothers. The very ones that have started questioning and defying him; but never stating it outright.
And the other angels and the like; accepted this and followed like sheep, as an unfortunate truth as that is.
Lilith's crimes weren't because she fell in love with a human, and it wasn't because she altered a human's life-span. Lilith's crimes were because she was defying a corrupted system, a corrupted ruler.
And she paid the price for acting as the catalyst just so her brothers could follow down with her.
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Wow! So! You made it! Allll the way down to the end of the post! You read it all, I'm so proud of you! Can't believe you'd listen to my silly lil ramblings, so thank you.
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Michael and his role in Lucifer’s corruption
Alright, resident Michael fan checking in. As someone who hyperfixates on him, I read into every little mention of him, and I’ve found some passing moments that have some pretty interesting implications if you look into them. 
What if I told you Michael was the reason Lucifer fell?
No, I don’t mean in the sense of literally casting him down. That’s not a new revelation. I mean in the sense that it was Michael’s decisions that would inadvertently cause Lucifer to stray from their Father in the first place.
We get a few glimpses of what Lucifer was like as an angel in the game, and in the Devilgram “The Glory Days”, he’s depicted being just as faithful and stuck-up as any other angel. Father good, demons bad, so on and so forth. He pulled no punches insulting demons and the Devildom at any opportunity.
The way I see it, there were two distinct things that chipped away at that mentality.
Number one: Meeting Diavolo.
In Season 3, while MC was in the past, angel Lucifer reveals that the little meeting between himself and Diavolo in “The Glory Days” was actually never supposed to happen- it was supposed to be Michael, not Lucifer. Michael had shirked the responsibility and stuck it to Lucifer instead. Because of that, Lucifer ended up meeting one of the most influential people in his entire life, and also a major factor in his decision to start questioning Father. We see this clearly in a line from “The Glory Days”-
“To recognize and accept one another, and work for the betterment of all...if that were possible, why hasn’t Father made it his goal as well?”
In Season 3, Simeon goes on to mention this meeting again, asking past Lucifer (paraphrased):
“You’ve already met with Diavolo, haven’t you? The doubt is already growing in your heart...”
Meeting with Diavolo had a huge impact on Lucifer’s worldview, in a way that doesn’t exactly favor the Celestial Realm. And it happened because Michael didn’t want to do his job that day.
Number two: His little siblings.
Lucifer’s fiercely protective of his little siblings... and he has to be, because he has a penchant for taking the most unruly of angels under his wing. Beelzebub, who apparently couldn’t control his own strength as an angel and would thus often destroy things. Asmodeus, who ran off to party in the human world. Belphegor, who slept through meetings. Lilith, who obsessed over humans.
But where did this habit of collecting misfits begin, I wonder?
I think it began with Mammon. He’s the closest to Lucifer, after all. I think Mammon taught Lucifer that one didn’t need to be perfect or fit the Celestial Realm’s standards to be worthwhile, and Lucifer would go on to use what he learned to bring others under his wing the same way he did Mammon.
And, how did Lucifer meet Mammon?
Again: Michael.
Michael practically thrust Mammon onto Lucifer. In Season 3, it’s explained that Michael was at his wit’s end trying to get Mammon’s behavior under control, and eventually gave up and transferred him to Lucifer in hopes Lucifer could get him under control. As he’d hoped, Lucifer did. But Lucifer also gained something else from that experience. A fierce love and protectiveness that would lead him to fight for Lilith all those years later.
I wonder how often Michael thinks about that day he made Lucifer go to that meeting, or the day he gave him Mammon. With the blessing of hindsight to tell him what it would snowball into years down the line. I wonder if it haunted him when he faced the decision of sending Lucifer down.
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inhuman-obey-me · 3 months
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The Design of Solomon's Room
OM tends to have pretty strongly consistent visual theming for its characters: Asmo gets florals and pastels, Lucifer has a lot of deep red and black, Levi is frequently depicted with water, etc.
For Solomon, they've changed it up from time to time, but generally, they've stuck to blues, stars, or rainbow. So why does his room look like this?
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Well, for anyone else who has also thought that Solomon's room design seems a little out of place to the rest of his visual theming, here's a fun thought on why it looks that way!
This painting is The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward Poynter, from 1890:
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You'll notice some strong similarities to this painting - the reds and golds, the composition of the pillars vs the bookshelves, the greenish peacock feathers and the dark green lampshades. The chandeliers, too, could be to represent the opulence in the painting, and the chairs may also be a reference to the fact that this was a depiction of his throne room -- he was a king, after all.
So, while it doesn't really match his visual themes in the rest of the game, it seems likely that Solomon's room was designed as a reference to this painting!
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astaroth1357 · 1 year
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My Incredibly Spoiler Heavy Thoughts on Nightbringer
TURN BACK IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN PLAYING THE GAME AT ALL. I MEAN IT.
Hello. I have completed all 10 lessons on the Normal difficulty. These are my thoughts:
First, a disclaimer. All of this is my opinion. If you feel differently about a character or plot point, that's fine. This is all just as I see it.
Holy hell, I love the setup here so damn much. The Nightbringer story so far is truly more than just a rehash of the OG plot, largely because of all the small stuff that keeps happening in background. Yes, we're befriending the brothers again, but we don't know WHY. Why are we in the past? Who sent us there? What do they want from us, or... what do they want out of somebody else?? 👀 I have to hand it to the writers for coming up with this premise, it's soild. Will they stick the landing...? We'll see.
The New! (Old) Cast
Lucifer:
Whelp, Luci is being colder to us than ever... But far more openly involved with his brothers than we saw previously. You can really tell that this is fresh off of the War and he's just trying his best to keep everybody corralled and (somewhat) comfortable.
He still holds onto his Celestial Realm prejudice against demons, so he doesn't trust MC at all which is an interesting turn on the dynamic from before. As a human, Lucifer saw us as weak and insignificant so he didn't give us much time of day. But as a "demon," and someone more knowledgeable about the Devildom than himself, he has to suck it up and rely on MC even if he wants them to stay away.
By the end of Lesson 10, it's safe to say whatever trust he had in MC is going to be shattered. MC has talked their way out of a lot, but even Dia looks shaken by their abilities this time... I'm curious to see if they can reestablish a relationship with him when he was already keeping them at arms length to start with.
Mammon:
Ah, Mammon... Once simp, forever a simp across time and space. Bless him. I guess he's just doomed to always fall first when it comes to MC. It DOES NOT take long for him to be down bad even if you don't romance him specifically (I would know because I'm trying to stay mono-Levi this go around).
Aside from his tsundere-ness, though, we do get a look into more of his insecurities. I find an interesting pattern developing in him where he just tends to latch onto a person and follow them unfailing. He did that with Lucifer before the Fall, he didn't even think about the consequences before going through with it. You could see him doing much the same with MC. I think it stems from a lack of confidence in himself and his own abilities, constantly relying on others to guide him through big decisions and provide him with validation. Add another poor thing to the list...
Leviathan:
I swear to God, the devs realized that Levi's charm lies in his pathos, so they went out of the way to make him EVEN MORE pathetic than normal. I still love him for it, of course. But seriously, Levi starts out practically afraid of his own shadow when the story starts. It makes sense, Levi would have probably one of the more negative impressions of demons of the seven, having fought them head on. He was a shut in before the War and now he's even more terrified to leave the house, let alone his room... (I can't be the only one who's wondering how the hell Dia's going to look at him and go, "Ah yes! I see Admiral material right there!" right?)
I do like that the writers took the time to show that he's one of the more empathetic brothers, right alongside Asmo and Beel, even if he's bad with people. Levi is quick to sympathize with beings and creatures who don't fit in and it's always very sweet to see. I also guess that Simeon wrote TSL in secret or after the War? You think he would know of it at least having lived so long with the author... Anyway. I digress.
There's a lot of... small things around Levi that I think hint at the inner feelings of the brothers, though (of all seven of them, he has the WORST poker face I swear). I may touch on those in another post because I need time to gather my thoughts on how it all connects there... Anyway, he's still my favorite and I'm going to try to see if there's any truth to this "you get a deeper connection if you stick to one brother" thing. Wish me luck.
Satan:
Okay, load your guns now because I think Satan is the real star of the show here. They're actually pulling way more than the "He's mad because he's seen like Lucifer" card. We're at a point where Satan doesn't even consider himself associated with the brothers AT ALL. That means something and has consequences on the story. He didn't even go with them to check on Beel, despite having enough fire power that he could have probably helped a lot.
Now before someone goes screaming at me that they've devolved him into comic relief, I'd first like to ask what did you think he was going to be? OG Satan told us himself that he used to feel nothing but anger. He's going to be pissed, irrational, and violent. He's Wrath.
What truly they're giving us under all of that is a look into a vulnerable guy who doesn't know anything about the world around him and is trying to pick it up on his own because his brothers can't (and maybe won't) teach him. They keep chaining him up (which I hate btw) and talk about him like he's a beast. But it's partially because they're such terrible communicators that he flies off the handle so often to begin with.
Satan is more alone than really anybody else is the Devildom. His brothers already have all this history together and memories shared during their time as angels, stuff he has no context for and could never experience himself. He's still an outcast among demons for his association with them, despite being a fully fledged demon in his own right, and he doesn't know why he has to be linked to them because he barely knows them anyway. He's taking baby steps to understand the world, but when he goes to his brothers to ask questions they lampshade him for even having clear thoughts. All they see him as is a roaring beast. This version of Satan is fascinating to me. How does he start here and end up the eloquent, emotionally-controlled bookworm with a planet's worth of connections? I gotta know!!
Asmodeus:
They FINALLY started giving Asmo his proper flowers! I still think it could have been more, but he's gotten way more depth than he had before. I know that Asmo part technically involved MC's input the least out of all of the brothers, but I think that was by design.
Asmo is a surprisingly introspective individual under his urge to perform. MC didn't have to give much input because he just didn't need as much. He knows himself very well (unlike some of the others). He's an emotionally intelligent guy who can sort out his own inner problems and remain empathetic enough to want to help his brothers in his own way. I wanted to hear more from this side of Asmo, honestly, but the game seems to make it clear that he's content with his spot of being the family's brightest smile. I hope it makes more appearances as we go on.
Beelzebub:
This one is tricky, because lesson 10 leaves off on a cliffhanger related to Beel... So I think Beel's feelings will have more consequences than the other brothers' on the story. Most of all that we see of Beel is, unfortunately, him being hungry or off being wholesome with Belphie but lesson 10 did give us some eye-openers regardless.
First, apparently if he flies off the handle, Beel is quite the challenge to handle. It takes Dia himself to restrain him, which is pretty insane for the sixthborn in the line-up. It's possible some outside magic is cranking up his power somehow, but we won't know until the next lessons are out.
Secondly, I find it very interesting that Beel's "heart-to-heart" moment with us is being saved for last... It was definitely the most surprising one of the secrets in the teasers (in my opinion). Beel and Belphie are glued to the hip and share everything together so for him to have a secret "not even Belphie" knows is pretty shocking. I hope it's not just that he saved Belphie instead of Lilith since we all already know that. It'd be a pretty cheap pay off to all this buildup... Not that I haven't been disappointed before or anything.
Belphegor:
Similar to Beel, Belphie doesn't get much attention until the end and it isn't much that we haven't heard before, unfortunately. You kind can't blame them, since plumbing out Belphie's inner trauma about the War was the entire climax of the first game. It's nothing we don't already know. That being said, I think there's some more interesting things that are being said about Belphie or left unsaid by the others that I find more fascinating to keep track of.
TLDR, I think there's some weird distancing going on between Belphie and the others. It doesn't seem super apparent, but Levi dropped some weird bombshells early on and I can't help but notice how he just never seems to be without Beel. Those two are close, yeah, but in this game they're practically a unit. I'm pretty sure Belphie is using Beel as a security blanket of sorts. He's also the ONLY one to mention Lilith in any great detail. Unsurprising, but it's worth noting that the others haven't really brought her up despite it (supposedly) starting the War.
Diavolo:
Somebody give this guy a vacation and a raise... So apparently, the brothers were cast down, the old King took one look at them and counted to seven, then conked out. Now our boy has to rule the kingdom. He's... the same really. As far as I can tell. You can really see how much he's taken to the brothers' antics though, which checks out in the other game too.
WAAAY more fascinating to me is apparently there's some kind of body called the House of Lords who think that Dia is too young for the job. What's the House of Lords?? Who are they? Are they like a council or advisory board...? Or is this a UK setup? Is there a Parliamentary board?? I dunno, could just be my Poli Sci talking but I'm now so lost on how the Devildom operates now...
Barbatos:
Oh my God, if there is any character I could live vicariously through, it was Barbs here. For whatever unnamed reason he is NOT having any of Solomon's shit right now and I'm living for it. Setting my delight aside, we don't get to see very much of him and what we do see doesn't really differ from the norm, which only makes his detest all the more shocking.
Through Barbs, we also see just how potent the power of the pacts can be when Solomon summons him and more or less forces him to do as he says. Nothing seems to stop him from retaliating after the fact, as he sent Solomon off who knows where, but seeing that kind of power wielded over a being who's almost unattainable to us is... Well. I feel bad for Asmo.
Simeon:
There's a lot to unpack with Simeon... and a lot of it is in the stuff that goes unsaid. First, I already found it strange that he didn't seem surprised to see Satan in the House. Or if he was, he didn't say it or bother introducing himself which is... telling for a guy like Simeon. He's back to being Luke's minder in front of demons, but I can't help but notice that he doesn't do much to counter Luke's tirades. He only indicates that it's impolite to say them, so he may still harbor the very same feelings.
Simeon and Lucifer have something of a heart to heart together that they never would in the OG title where Simeon admits his biggest regret. It isn't that he didn't follow Lucifer, as we might think, but that he doesn't feel like did enough to reach out to him before he made his decision. Lucifer dispells this, but I think it goes to show that Simeon stands behind his decision to stay and that it was the better option. Lucifer also confront Simeon on why he didn't take a high position (seraph) and instead settled for archangel. It's left open ended what his real motives for that would be, but I suspect that it has something to do with Simeon's troubling streak of going against the grain, even in subtle ways. Or he has too much anger about what happened to accept taking Lucifer's old position.
I found it interesting how easily these two seemed to talk about intimate topics together here where Lucifer barely even acknowledges Simeon's attempts to reach out in the OG story. I wonder what may have happened to sour their relationship so severely...?
Luke:
Luke the Racist Chihuahua returns!! Okay, I'm being a little mean but he's pretty much just self-righteous little kid the whole way through. I will admit, it is a little funny that the person who came up with the nickname was actually Lucifer. I think it's now retconned and confirmed that Luke and the brothers never knew each other before the Fall... though Luke seems to know OF their former selves in some capacity. I could be misinterpreting things though.
The Rat Bastard Solomon:
I swear to God this was me playing through the whole game tied to this guy.
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He's lying. A lot. Constantly. And it pisses me off to no end. I was wondering why things he was saying and the stuff he was doing weren't lining up and OF COURSE it's because he's either working his own agenda or being outright deceitful. I hate him so much, y'all, you don't even know...
That aside, as an impartial observer Solomon is pulling a lot of work to support MC and you can TELL how down bad he is for them, which actually has significance for the plot I think. He's keeping them in the dark about something, but considering his feelings I say we can at least be charitable and assume it isn't to hurt them or cause them any suffering... intentionally. He's also as unscrupulous as ever, considering how he ordered a very angry Barbs around and more or less took advantage of a life or death situation to make a pact with Asmo.
So. At the end of the lessons, we're reintroduced to the mysterious Nightbringer. The character who actually sent us back in time at the start of the game. Yeah, it wasn't Barbatos... probably. At least not our reliable neighborhood butler anyway. They seem to be different entities but I THINK they might share some connection....
I have to wonder who disguised MC when they first arrived. The marketing made it seem like it would be Solomon but the marketing has been hit or miss on actual accuracy about the game we're seeing. If it was Solomon, then he had to have known where the MC was before he called. If it was Nightbringer then... well actually. We need to touch on that first.
Nightbringer:
Now, much of this is just me speculating so take things with a grain of salt. Nightbringer's name is blocked out, but it seems like it identified itself to us in the beginning before sending us to the past. It appears like it wants something from Solomon.... to fully corrupt him maybe? And it's using MC as leverage against him.
I suspect that all of the weird stuff that has been happening is tied to its meddling in some way, but to what end is unclear... Sending Levi and MC into TSL, tricking Asmo then trying to feed everyone to a spider, and, likely, whatever is going on with Beel. I can't tell if it's trying to push MC and the brother's closer together, or just making vaguely comical attempts at homicide by fictional characters, spider, and Gluttony incarnate.
The situation with Adam does give us a hint into its nature. It appears to be some kind of dark, trickster being that gives a person what they desire, but never the way they intended. A walking monkey's paw, if you will. Solomon says that Nightbringer made him what he is today, so perhaps he worked under it or is simply under the influence of one its "deals." Their relationship is adversarial, though. When they're speaking, they talk about the two supernatural sides, Angel and Demon, and Nightbringer seems to want to force Solomon to make a choice between them. Lose his humanity, maybe?
I'm not quite willing to say that Nightbringer is a demon just yet, at least not one of the ones we normally encounter. Something about it seems... older. More powerful than that. But we'll have to wait for more info.
My crackpot theory?
Solomon has made a deal with Nightbringer in order to go back in time and do... something. He's after something. Nightbringer agreed, but dragged MC along as collateral for Solomon to get it done within a certain amount of time or makes sure he honors his part of the bargin. Barbatos knows this, either because he is linked to in some way to Nightbringer or saw it happen in the doorway, and is disgusted by his actions but unable to speak about it due to the pact. Or, you know. That's our present Barbie also dragged along for the ride and he's pissed that he's been essentially hijacked and taken away from present Diavolo, but forbidden to speak about it.
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louisfruit · 4 months
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About my last post: I think Lucifer makes comments that seem yandere about how MC couldn't leave him if they tried as a defense mechanism. He hates how vulnerable MC makes him and how they could easily hurt him by leaving so he tries to take control of the situation by acting controlling. The man is afraid of getting hurt
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dazaispinkietoe · 1 month
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Belphegor needs to get OUT of my head😡
Touching back on that whole "Belphegor avoids MC because he's still struggling to cope and accept" thing I had going on a while ago...It could also be a part of how Belphegor tries to escape his emotions or isn't sure what to do with them? I was looking at the Dreamscape lyrics during my free time in school, and the lyrics "...I used to say this so easily, But now the words get caught when you're around," "Welcome home Goodnight, I want to say these things but I can't. It's so frustrating, my mind is a mess. What finally comes out is 'Goodbye'," and "I can't stop this feeling of missing you. I wonder why, I still don't know. Indulge my selfish wish..."
At first I was just kind of like "Meh, sounds like a normal Belphegor think to say, right?" But then I realized that I only thought this because of how frustrated he pretty much always seems with himself. The song generally talks about how he's confused with his emotions and can't seem to talk to MC normally, but also says that he wants to actually talk about what they are. (Which is why I don't understand the people who say Belphegor doesn't care about the MC because he so obviously does?? He would do so much for them and tries to behave differently to accommodate their needs or spend time with them :() I feel like this is one of the reasons we don't see Belphegor interacting with MC very much, because he's always conflicted between his feelings and obviously can't communicate very well
So even if he did want to try and express his emotions, he doesn't really know how to until he can't express them calmly anymore
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good-beanswrites · 8 months
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Reworking my neurodivergent Fuuta post because I had more to add and wanted it in one place 👍It started out just silly thoughts and projection but I have a lot of evidence now??? It feels pretty solid!
🔴 He holds to an overwhelming sense of right, wrong, rules, justice, etc. It’s a system that makes sense to him (you learn to apologize before anything else, right?) and he’s obsessed with it. He's an extreme rule follower. He's obviously careful so he's not called out online, but even inside Milgram. He follows Es' orders naturally. Even though they’re silly, in the minigrams he’s repeatedly reminding people of the rules about requesting items. Even though he'd been shown to voice thoughts about escaping, he refuses, and is too much of a stickler that he won’t even let other people request things considered dangerous.
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🔴 He takes things very literally, most notably some of the interrogation questions. In both his vds he’s pretty particular about describing his involvement, taking a long time to admit he could be a killer because his situation falls pretty far out of its normal definition.
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🔴 He’s shown to be intensely lonely: sitting alone, walking alone, watching others from the outskirts, but thriving online where the social rules are different. He has trouble identifying/defining friendships, choosing to focus on the sharing of interests and excitement.
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🔴 However, he does find a group that accepts him and listens to him -- and that feeling of belonging becomes intoxicating. The typical “gets a taste of doing something correctly but then gets carried away and crosses a line in excitement”
🔴 He doesn’t think hard work can get him anywhere in society, he doesn’t have any goals, he struggles at school, he wants to just go with the flow -- aka, burnout from trying so hard in a society that isn’t made to accommodate you. Instead of focusing on that, he loses himself in fictional worlds of heroes and villains. He sees connections in everyday life, occasionally getting so lost in them that thoughts of them bleed into reality.
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🔴 He's bad at lying. Or, he has to deal with people pointing out nonsensical body language cues to make assumptions about his emotions (which is just as much a neurodivergent experience, unfortunately).
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🔴 I know all the prisoners have some kind of act they put up to cover up their true emotions, but it’s still so obvious how he lashes out in anger instead of properly processing/expressing his legitimate fear of the entire situation.
🔴 Extreme restlessness when waiting in an empty room all alone
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🔴 This may be more personal interpretation than evidence (because I don’t know how it holds up in the original Japanese), but his line in Muu’s bday timeline just struck me as someone who isn't usually accepted or accommodated for when they're feeling down.
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🔴 Also. Transed Gender. 🏳️‍⚧️
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misc-obeyme · 2 months
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what are your thoughts on the cheeky lil cow boy (belphie)
Ah yes, Belphegor, a bit of a polarizing character in general, I think. People seem to either really love him or really hate him.
Generally speaking, I think he's deceptively cunning, but not in a malicious way. He's pretty chill most of the time, but he'll do stuff like manipulate his brothers to get them to do his chores for him. Except for Beel, of course. And really they are a unit. Belphie is always ready to fight for Beel and vice versa. But I also really like how they just quietly support each other. Someone will say oh Belphie fell asleep in this weird place and Beel will immediately be like I'll go get him. Or Belphie will be like we need to make sure we bring food to this thing because Beel will get hungry. Like they're just always thinking about each other and I think that's really sweet.
Belphie will also call people out if he wants to. If he has no reason to keep it to himself, he'll straight up tell you if he thinks you're doing something questionable. And his issues with Diavolo indicate to me that he has a problem with authority, like he would be more defiant if he wasn't also lazy lol.
Inevitably, though, we can't really talk about Belphie without discussing the Lesson 16 Incident. At this point, I think most people are aware of those events, but just in case, I'll put the rest of this under a read more. And also it's kinda lengthy, so be forewarned lol.
First of all, I have to say that I was honestly so confused about what was happening in Lesson 16 that I didn't fully understand that Belphie had killed MC. I had to read it multiple times and then read what other people were saying about it. So I never had an intense reaction to it.
But to be fair, it wasn't like we didn't know there was something weird going on the whole time. I knew it was the youngest brother locked up there and it seemed like it was wrong, so that made Lucifer out to be the bad guy of the situation. Then it turns out that wasn't the case at all.
Belphie is manipulative. That's just part of his character. And when he has something that he's trying to do, he's going to use that skill to get it.
Some people are still mad at Lucifer for locking Belphie up at all. Some people are obviously quite upset that Belphie killed MC.
But here's what I think.
It isn't that black and white. Aside from the confusing time travel shenanigans, this event is one of the most realistic things that has ever happened in the story.
Belphie shared Lilith's love of humans. Together they wanted to learn more about the human world. It would be easy for him to blame himself for her interest and what ultimately led to her death. But even if he didn't, he saw the way that it tore his entire family apart.
It wasn't just that his dad got mad at his sister and they had an argument or something.
It was that his dad was going to end his sister's existence and in defiance, his older brother rebelled. And there was a war. This was not some squabble. This was siblings fighting siblings.
Belphie watched his brothers and sisters fight and hurt and kill each other and it all came back to Lilith falling in love with a human.
And then he fell with his brothers, cast out of his home, losing everything he's ever known. His brothers are changing and suffering just like he is.
They don't talk about it. They clearly all keep secrets regarding it still, things that don't come out until MC comes along. Which is supposedly thousands of years after the fact (at least in OG). That means Belphie has had all that time to let that trauma fester. To let it twist inside him. To let it morph into the one thought that became most dominant: that humans are bad.
Is that a fair assessment of what happened? No, of course not. But we're dealing with a war traumatized fallen angel that clearly hasn't worked through any of these feelings in thousands of years.
And then he defies Diavolo and Lucifer panics.
Yes, Lucifer should have found a better way of handling it. But remember what happened to him when he defied authority? He is trying his best to protect Belphie. He is trying not to lose another sibling. He is also still traumatized and therefore overreacting out of fear.
And so was Belphie.
Imagine being locked up like that and a human comes along. A human is free among your brothers to do whatever terrible things humans do while you're powerless to stop them. Of course he's going to try to manipulate that human into setting him free. Of course he's then going to eliminate them because humans have been historically bad for his family.
I read this situation as Belphie being both afraid and angry that a human - the thing he's convinced himself was the main cause of his sister's death - has become so close to his brothers and has the access to his family that could cause another rift among them.
You could say that it was Belphie's idea to get MC to have all the pacts, but that isn't really true, either. By the time MC meets Belphie, they already have a pact with two of his brothers. He sees them already starting to worm their way into his family. And he knows that the only way to get out of the attic is to encourage it. He doesn't really have a choice.
Maybe everyone can now call me a Belphie apologist. But I'm always coming at this from an outside fictional standpoint. I'm like listen he's a flawed character and it's actually pretty realistic of him to react this way considering the circumstances.
However, he did kill MC. And that's why my own MC, Ciaran, has issues with Belphie for a while. It's also traumatic to have someone kill you, so it isn't like I'm saying MC should just forget about it or forgive Belphie immediately. I think it probably should have taken a lot more time for MC to trust Belphie again. Certainly that part of the story was a bit rushed.
But they're dealing with lesson format constraints and also it's a silly otome game so I guess fully formed character arcs can't be expected. Especially since we aren't dealing with routes and they have to cram everybody into the same set of lessons.
In the end, I think Belphie is an interesting and complex character. I think there's a lot of space to explore more about this particular aspect of him, but due to the format of the media and the lack of routes, his more in depth character arc just doesn't exist.
I personally have no problem with Belphie as a character, but I also understand why people don't like him. I am always of the opinion that everyone is free to love or hate or have any emotions at all about fictional characters lol. This is just my personal opinion.
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winter-sol · 1 year
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Spoilers for Lesson 11!
About Solomon, MC and their relationship with demons.
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There's this pretty interesting thing I noticed about Solomon's perspective compared to MC's when it comes to their vision towards demons.
Solomon made clear he sees demons and angels as creatures that underestimate humans and won't ever treat us as equals. I don't actually blame him for this, as he is not even wrong. We've seen them call us "mere humans" or belittle us for being humans in both games. So his approach to demons is mostly from a utilitarian and confrontational point of view.
He needs to prove humans can be equal or surprass them, and for that, he's willing to do anything. He's willing to use demons, become more powerful and defend humanity above anything else. He was even teaching MC his way of dealing with demons, as in "leveling the playing field" to face them because "When it comes down to it, that's what negotiating with demons is all about, really".
He then proceeds to talk about how he plans on changing that, and to almost manipulating us into making a promise about siding with humanity no matter what. That, in a place that probably binds us to said promise or something like that. It was... shady, but if anything I got even more intrigued about his intentions. (as a Solomon enjoyer, I'm living for how his character keeps getting more complex).
Then we have MC.
See, I'm really curious about how this game will deliver its promise about making choices matter because if there's an intereting branch in this game, it's probably about MC either siding with humanity/Solomon, or the demons they love so much.
No matter what we choose in L11, MC will end up handing out the grimoire out of their own will, and making a promise on either protecting them or letting them find joy. And I think that speaks loud about MC's vision on demons and how it's opposing to Solomon.
MC refuses to see demons as potential enemies, and their approach is not confrontational like Solomon's. It's from love and understanding.
MC was able to do something Solomon could never, and that is making a pact with the Seven Rulers of Hell, and actually gaining their trust for these powerful demons to be willing to obey them on their own will (even if, magically speaking, they are being forced). And the main difference is, MC didn't achieve it through becoming the most powerful sorcerer or taking advantage of them, like Solomon did with Asmo.
At the end of the day, the seven brothers chose to have a pact with MC, and keep choosing MC no matter what.
Solomon and MC have opposing views. They've been working as a team, but they will inevitably collide.
So, what will happen next? I'm waiting for next lesson! But for now I'd like to wonder.
I'm not sure if MC will have to deliberately choose to side with either party, since I believe MC wouldn't purposefully betray the demons because they're too important for them and already proved they're on their side. Also, I don't think MC would like to turn against Solomon, as they still trust him and need his guiding. But how long will it last?
I want to believe our choices regarding our relationship and trust in Solomon will affect the plot.
If MC is too passive and diplomatic, Solomon could end up having his way, whatever that is, since his intentions are one of the biggest mysteries of Nightbringer. I'm not necessarily trying to frame Solomon as a villain or antagonist, that still remains uncertain. But I think we can all agree he has a very important role, and that role is highly related to his ambiguous morals and actions.
If MC is too reckless, they might end up messing up with the timeline, their relationships and the demons themselves or even Solomon and humanity. (does anyone else want bad endings??)
I wonder if MC's trust in Solomon, and vice versa, will eventually break, or they'll find a way to work it out. He already seemed dissapointed at us handing out the grimoire instead of using it, as if we're already proving we don't have the same intentions he has regarding humanity and demons.
What kind of decisions should MC make in order to keep a balance between humans and demons without betraying either side?
Does MC actually care about balance, harmony and humanity's well being? Or will they only act based on their feelings, wherever that takes them?
I love Obey Me's MC, I think they hold great potential, but they've been relying on others' help a lot. It makes sense, since they've been just learning about this world and building their own way to grow and become more powerful. But I'd like to see them deciding and facing bigger consequences for their actions. And I'm dying to see how this plays out ;)
As always, I'm open to talk more about this :) Bai-bai.
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Leviathan and Social Anxiety
Could there be a name for his reclusiveness?
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) involves fears of judgement, fears of criticism, avoiding social situations, and worrying when you do something you think is embarrassing. But how does this tie back to Leviathan, the otaku in Obey Me!, notorious for gaming in his room all day?
In Lesson 1-10, Leviathan retorts that it would be crazy if people saw him, an otaku, inviting a normie into his room. He spends a lot of time playing watching anime, gaming, and reading manga. Could this be caused by underlying anxiety, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms?
It's revealed by Lucifer that Leviathan takes classes online. A key symptom of SAD. He also very much dislikes social gatherings, choosing to avoid them. In the devilgram story "The Life of the Party!", he reveals that he likes his own room way more than a bustling party. He remarks if he goes to Asmo's party, he'll be crouched in a corner, all alone.
Sadly, although he's skilled at his interests, he doesn't think highly of himself, indicating low self esteem. In the same devilgram story, when you act surprised about him baking a cake, he assumes that the main character is thinking that he's a gloomy introverted nerd who left his cave. He also says that he wanted to show the main character how cool he is by becoming the life of the party.
The main character gives support to Leviathan by engaging with his interests, making him feel special. There are potential remedies for social anxiety, such as focusing on people's words, breathing exercises, and building your self esteem. If you have someone with social anxiety in your life, be open minded and listen, maybe even suggest therapy.
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Obey Me Nightbringer Theory Time: MC is an Unreliable Narrator
What if the MC knows more than they are letting on? What if the MC's motives is different from ours, as the player?
(Disclaimer: Long post. Different from my meme content. Contains spoilers for all of NB and OG content. Also I may wake up tomorrow and cringe at this, but hopefully you can enjoy my delirium?)
OG = Obey Me Original
NB = Obey Me Nightbringer
It all starts from the beginning
We can see traces of this from when we first launch the game, with MC's first text messages with Nightbringer. And I'm not talking about the messages that we saw when the game first launched, but the new re-write of those same messages. You can compare the differences between the old texts and the new texts on @impish-ivy 's post here (thank you for allowing me to discuss it here). I'll include some of their screenshots as reference.
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Let's take a look at the new version of the text exchange. Now, I don't know about you, but I have no idea what Nightbringer is talking about. But Sheep-chan apparently does! If MC answers that they think they understand what he's talking about, they get to keep their memories when they get sent to the past. But if MC says they don't have a clue? The game assumes that they have lost their memories. This seems like a strong indicator that MC knows something that we, as the player, do not know about Nightbringer and their powers. This exchange is very different from how things played out in the original version of these text messages where:
Yes I know them. Really well, actually = MC has their memories.
I don't know who they are = MC has no memories.
[The official reason for this change was "to make the game more enjoyable for new players", but I don't buy that. In the original version, it was quite clear which option you had to pick to signal to the game that you have not played OG. While in this version, it's way more convoluted, since the player will have no idea what Nightbringer is actually talking about. It just causes people who have played OG to accidentally signal to the game that they haven't. Why change the text to be even more confusing, when the original version would have sufficed for newer players?]
Now let's follow this line of thought for a moment. Nightbringer states that the MC has received "a second chance at a fated meeting", and MC has to answer that they think they know what this means if they want to keep their memories during the time jump. If they don't, then Nightbringer assumes that they have lost their memories.
Which leads me to believe that Sheep-chan is not entirely an innocent victim who was unwittingly sent to the past. Instead, they were a willing participant of the time jump. Maybe they have some understanding on how Nightbringer's powers worked and wanted to meet the brothers again. Maybe they too were curious to see what their ideal world looked like. With this idea in mind, let's re-evaluate everything MC has said and done in NB.
MC's interactions with Nightbringer (and Michael, I guess)
After the intro, the next time MC directly interacts with Nightbringer is in Lesson 12 of NB, where they get sent into a coma after breaking the rules at the Fountain of Knowledge. Let's look at what he says here for a moment.
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The first thing Nightbringer asks MC is what they think of this world, a rather unusual thing to ask someone who is kinda sorta dying. If MC says they want to go home, Nightbringer expresses some confusion as to whether the brothers of this world are not to MC's liking. It makes sense for him to be confused here, since he sent MC to this timeline under the impression that they would like this world (or at least, view this world as a stepping stone to reach their "place of joy").
(Then again, if MC responds that they are enjoying this world, Nightbringer is even more perplexed that they can remain upbeat in such a precarious situation. But knowing what canon Sheep-chan is like, why is this surprising?)
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After this, he explains that his motive is to lead MC to a place that will "bring [them] joy like no other". This fits what he had said in the beginning of the game:
"Shall I take you someplace you will be happy? Somewhere that will bring you more joy than any other."
"A world you desire, and where you will be desired."
- Nightbringer, intro text message
He then goes on to emphasise that both he and MC want the same thing. He comments on how MC has done a splendid job getting closer to Lucifer and his brothers. This is where I feel that Nightbringer was never MC's enemy, as both parties have similar goals, and they need each other to some extent. MC needed Nightbringer and other mysterious forces to set the gears in motion so that MC can become closer to the brothers, forge pacts with them, and reach their "ideal" world. Nightbringer wants to bring MC to this place of happiness, and he sees MC forming pacts with the brothers as the way to get there. In this case, Nightbringer is a co-conspirator here.
This idea then gets brought up again when MC sees Michael in Lesson 13, when he saves MC from their coma. He warns MC that the Celestial Realm would be less willing to tolerate their behaviour if they ally themselves with Nightbringer (which, is exactly what MC has been doing so far). Is Michael afraid of the MC trying to forge their ideal world together with Nightbringer? Or is he afraid that MC is getting tricked by Nightbringer?
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This also explains why Nightbringer never interacted with MC again after this incident. Everything MC had done in NB was what Nightbringer had wanted as well. Nightbringer didn't need to intervene because everything was going according to his plan.
Comparison of MC's actions in OG vs NB
When we consider the fact that MC may have actually wanted to go back to the past and meet the brothers again, a lot of their actions (and even their inaction) makes more sense. When Solomon tells them they need to make the pacts to get back to their own time, MC is in no rush to obtain these pacts. In fact, they don't even think about making those pacts until Season 2 when they are faced with an ultimatum to make those pacts, which is, they have to forge the pacts before MC and Solomon lose their connection to their original time. This is different from the usual behaviour in OG, where they were extremely motivated to make a pact with every brother from Beelzebub -> Asmo -> Satan and employed help from multiple people to acheive this goal. They even took the initiative to ask Lucifer for a pact on the day before they left the Devildom, when they had no reason to do so.
This is very different from how Season 2 of NB played out, as MC simply waited around until each brother went beserk (in the case of Mammon, Asmo and Satan) before they even thought about proposing the pact. In Lucifer's case, even though MC (after much prompting) spoke up about needing to go back to their home, it was Mephistopheles advocating for MC that ultimately convinced Lucifer to let MC go. And later on, MC remained on the sidelines and let the other characters take the reign in rescuing Lucifer from Cocytus. Compared to the original game, where MC takes on a more active role in forming their pacts, MC is more passive in Nightbringer, simply biding their time until the opportunity to make a pact falls onto their lap. Is this how somebody who desperately misses their home and wants to go back ASAP would act?
Regardless of how you choose to play the MC as, they always express some hesitation in leaving behind the brothers of the past. No matter how many times you try to make the MC say they want to go back home ASAP, Lucifer will gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss MC into admitting that they do not want to leave. Simeon in Lesson 35 of NB even reaffirms this by saying "I'm sure you really feel that way deep down inside. Even if you don't realise it". Bruh.
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But why? MC should know that their home is with the boys of the present timeline. Why has the MC never considered the repercussions of staying in a timeline that they don't belong in? Or even considered how Solomon could lose his powers for good because of MC's hesitance? Why had MC never once stopped to consider how the demon brothers they had left behind would feel about their absence? This shouldn't even be a dilemma.
Unless... this past was the place they wanted to end up in the first place. That, like Nightbringer had said, this place will bring them joy like no other.
As an aside: One of the few insights we get about Sheep-chan's inner thoughts is the nightmare they have about the brothers trapping them in the attic and preventing them from leaving (in Lesson 33 of NB). Which has horrific implications, considering the attic still did not exist at this point of time. Was Belphegor's imprisonment and the Lesson 16 incident so traumatic for MC that the attic is the place that they associate with imprisonment?
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Note how some of the brothers keep suggesting that THIS is the outcome that the MC really wants. But this also provides another possible reason for the MC's hesitation to leave: The fear of how the brothers' of the past would react. The fear of brothers turning against them, despite everything MC had done to protect them. Speaking of what MC had done to protect them...
MC forging their place in the past Devildom
MC hasn't taken active measures to forge their pacts to return home, but you know what they have shown to be more interested in? Asserting their place in the Devildom of the past, and spending time with the past version of the brothers.
The best example of this is Lesson 11 of NB, where the MC hesitates to promise to Solomon to protect humanity, but with no hesitation, promises to take care of the brothers even with full knowledge that they would be punished for doing this. If we remember Lesson 35 of OG where MC, Solomon and the demon brothers went to the reaper's cave to break Beel's curse, Solomon was surprised that the demon brothers' punishments for breaking the reaper's rules (turning into a Little D) were so mild. It was implied that without MC unconsciously protecting them with their magic, the brothers could have died or been wiped out from existence upon breaking the rules.
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A weakened MC of the past who retains their memories of this incident in the reaper's cave would know just how severe the backlash would be if they make promises in the cave. But this did not stop them from doing so anyway. This shows where MC's allegiance truly lies: Not with humanity, not with any mysterious forces at play, but with the demon brothers. It's hard to tell what the MC hopes to get out of making such a dangerous promise.
The most optimistic take is that they felt forced to prove their loyalty to Lucifer and his family by taking such a drastic action. After all, MC is used to sacrificing their life for the people they love. Throwing themselves at death is nothing new to them.
The most cynical take would be that this bold decision was actually a calculated move by the MC to assert their importance and their role in the demon lords' lives. To show just how bad things can get without them. To guilt-trip Lucifer and Belphegor who had doubted the MC's allegiance, so that they never doubt MC again.
Regardless of their motivation, the MC's actions showed that they are inseparable from Lucifer's family, and this incident served to further cement the MC's importance to them. This allowed MC to strengthen their bonds with the brothers once again. So that they can create a world they desire, and they will be desired.
Putting this all together
Obey Me: Nightbringer paints the image of a MC being ripped from their home and being thrust into an unfamiliar world. Yet, the MC's actions in NB tell a different story. It shows us that Nightbringer is turning the gears so that MC can go to a place surrounded by people that they love, and who will love them no matter what. Because it wouldn't be enough if the characters of the present were hopelessly in love with them, but the characters of the past should also feel the same way. Even if that is a world the MC does not belong in.
All I'm saying is, Sheep-chan is sus as heck.
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avatarofcuriousity · 1 year
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Why YOU Should Vote For Solomon In The 2022 RAD Popularity Contest!
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YOU. YES, YOU! YOU are sleeping on Solomon!
He doesn't like that, MC.
So I am making this post as a fellow Solomon enjoyer!
1. Much Character And Development (Very Cool!)
Solomon is an immortal sorcerer. So, he's not a demon or angle. He's different like that, a bit quirky if you will.
He's lived a long time. He's very lonely. The RAD program was finally a place where he could find his found family. Doesn't that make you feel bad? Don't you think he deserves more love to compensate for his very much lonely life? I am guilt tripping you, you are being held at gunpoint, MC...
To elaborate more on his character, please allow me direct you to these AMAZING posts (that are actually serious and put things in way better words than I ever could lol) to explain why he's SUCH much character.
@books-and-catears Quick read of his Birthday Event and all the details of how amazing he is!
@3vocatio 's Analysis Of Why Solomon is a Consistently Written Character AND The Devs FAV (CANON???) (REAL, NOT CLICKBAIT) (😱) (😍)
@yourboyhack 's reblog of Solomon's B-day Character Card and how it mentions the obvious and is so very based
2. He Just Loves You So Very Much
As evident by his constant praise and affection! You're his darling apprentice and is very proud of you! 💙
Example shown here in @books-and-catears post!
He is absolutely your soulmate, MC. No, I'm not gaslighting you, MC, what do you mean?
He is determined to show you how much he loves you! He's open and honest. All he wants is to be sincere with you, as also evident by ANOTHER @books-and-catears post (They're so fucking based, one of the biggest Solomon appreciaters ever) and @he-calls-me-kitten 's reblog!
Conclusion?
Solomon is a very amazing and fantastic character. Especially after his Birthday Event, it's clearer than ever he's one of the best written characters! He deserves much more fans and appreciation. And the Devs ESPECIALLY deserve to know how much we adore his character! And even if you STILL don't like him or prefer another character?
Do it for the bit. That's right. If nothing I said reached you, at least do it for the funny.
And THAT is why you should vote for Solomon in the 2022 RAD Popularity Contest!
VOTE NOW!:
(NOTE: You can vote as many times as you'd like! (If you go into Incognito Mode 😏👀) Vote your true fav, but I encourage you to go vote for Solomon as MANY times as you can in Incognito and go HAM.)
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3vocatio · 2 years
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in-game mc distributes their time so equally with everyone and is so unpredictable with their choices & answers that it's difficult to pinpoint who they are as a person.
and... if you've paid attention to solomon throughout the main story and events, you'd know that he acts extremely wary of mc whenever he offers them his affections.
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because in-game mc isn't clear with their thoughts & feelings, people like solomon cannot truly be themselves around them. how could you show every aspect of who you are if the other party doesn't?
the other option surprised me a lot because it isn't often that mc outright states their affections towards solomon specifically in events when everyone is around.
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when mc reassures & reconfirms their love for solomon, he too, responds similarly.
and whether mc remains distant or expresses a mutual love, platonic or not, solomon continues to abide by his compassion and generosity.
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whether mc mutually responds to his feelings or not, he doesn't hide himself. he doesn't hide the fact that he wishes for YOU to succeed, for your happiness, for your satisfaction, because he's secure with his love. he holds enough compassion for himself that his tiny human body flows with an excess of love pouring out; he has more than enough love for you, even if your focus is on someone else.
can you tell me of any other person in the obey me cast who holds this much benevolence?
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inhuman-obey-me · 10 months
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Diavolo & The Loyalty Thing
Alrighty everyone, we're going to be blunt here -- if there is one character misunderstanding in this fandom that has always pissed us off (jk there are many actually), it is how people interpret Diavolo's deal with Lucifer after the war.
We know a lot of y'all don't like him because of that agreement. We know a lot of you think that Lucifer is magically bound to Diavolo's will because of it, as with a pact, and is unable to defy him. We know that many of you dislike Diavolo because you think he was taking advantage of Lucifer in that scene.
Well, the devs have made it plain time and time again and even more so in Nightbringer: that is not the case.
You are wrong, and here's why. (Or, to put it more nicely, please let us convince you otherwise.)
(spoilers including Nightbringer Lesson 17 below the cut)
Let's start by reviewing the situation from Lucifer's side:
Lucifer, a guest to the Devildom many times before in a diplomatic coordination context, has just led, and subsequently lost, a civil war in the Celestial Realm. The catalyst that pushed him to start this war was the impending punishment declared against his sister, Lilith. Seeing that sister get fatally wounded in said war, he flies down after her falling body, where both of them land in the Devildom.
Diavolo then shows up with Barbatos, presumably because they, you know, saw two war-wounded angels falling from the sky into his domain. Lucifer turns to Diavolo and starts shouting that he knows the prince has the power to save his sister -- and pleads with him to do exactly that.
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Diavolo makes a point of telling Lucifer that it may not be in the way he expects or wants, but he agrees to do it on the condition that Lucifer swears loyalty to him. Barbatos attempts to interject against the idea, to which Diavolo responds that he's aware already that this is a big risk for him. Lucifer, upon realizing that he is becoming a demon himself as a consequence of the war, agrees to Diavolo's terms.
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(OG Scene on left, Nightbringer scene on right)
Diavolo then takes Lilith before she dies and reincarnates her as a human. This then remains a secret between the three of them from that moment all the way until the events of OG Lesson 15, when Lucifer finally confesses the whole thing to his brothers in the first timeline, and then OG Lesson 16, when MC reveals it (in the second timeline).
So to recap: Lucifer started a war with Lilith's punishment as the catalyst, lost, showed up in the Devildom, and then demanded the prince of that realm save his sister from essentially the same punishment he was fighting against in the first place.
To be clear about Diavolo and Lucifer's relationship at this point, they had been communicating about diplomatic affairs, as a governmental head and a top representative respectively. They are friendly, but not close friends yet. They are not allies in this war. Diavolo is not involved at all in the Great Celestial War or the situation with Lilith. And with this rebellion, Lucifer no longer holds that diplomatic status -- in fact, as mentioned in Nightbringer Lesson 8, the brothers were essentially war criminals in the eyes of the Celestial Realm, with Lucifer as the leader.
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Moreover, Diavolo's goal as prince is that he wants to establish peace and cooperation between the Devildom and the Celestial Realm. These two realms were enemies for the vast majority of history, and although there is a nonaggression agreement between them currently, it's a tense sort of truce, not true peace.
Helping Lucifer defy the Celestial Realm is in direct opposition to that goal. Taking in the brothers at all is pretty risky in terms of that goal, as Barbatos makes clear above, but there's at least a sort of implication that it is the Demon Prince's business what to do with new demons. Interfering in the Celestial Realm's punishment of one of its angels though? Well, Asmodeus and Leviathan understand right away when they learned the truth from Lucifer back in OG Lesson 15.
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There was a very real risk of pissing off the Celestial Realm that he had to calculate against here, and it's a risk that threatens not only him but everything that matters to him most -- his realm, which is a responsibility he takes very seriously, and his goals, for peace between the realms.
And then there's Diavolo's own precarious political situation.
Though Nightbringer retcons this a bit with Diavolo's father falling into a slumber and leaving the realm to Diavolo more suddenly, the original OM actually established that Diavolo was in charge before the fall, with the Demon King going off to sleep shortly after giving the brothers' their titles. And Nightbringer has shown that his position as the de facto leader of the realm is very much in question.
The nobles of the House of Lords are very blatantly unhappy about Diavolo and his goals, especially in regards to the now-fallen angels. Really, the whole realm doesn't really approve of angels -- they've made a clear point of it in NB, and even well into OG's main story, approval ratings for the exchange program are mentioned as being better but still pretty low, with various references to demons threatening to eat the angels.
But more to the point, the House of Lords has power over Diavolo. Though he is the rightful heir to the throne in terms of birth, they are able to challenge that right, and they even choose when he will be allowed to ascend to the throne -- something which, even in the distant future of OG, they still have apparently never allowed him to do, seeing as he's still not the king even after all this time. And just between his goals for peace and his taking in the fallen angels, they already maneuvered to punish him with suddenly demanding he go through the Kingsblood Crucible to potentially prevent him from ever becoming king. And as Diavolo says, even if he passes, they could still decide against appointing him king.
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Now imagine if they found out that he risked the safety of the entire realm to help save a dying angel. If they knew that, they probably wouldn't stop at just challenging his fitness to rule.
So, to be clear, when Lucifer showed up with Lilith, yelling at Diavolo to save her? Diavolo was NOT free to just do whatever he pleases. When he said he's taking a big risk by helping Lilith, he really was. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't, and no real reason why he should -- but Lucifer was begging him to do it anyway. So, he needed something in return. Some kind of reassurance, some kind of protection in the potential consequences.
And there certainly are consequences for helping Lucifer. Even with the Lilith deal being a secret, there are consequences. We saw that already with the House of Lords' increased animosity -- as said above, he was nearly removed from power over it. And as for the Celestial Realm?
Well, that brings us to the end of Nightbringer Lesson 17, where Raphael comes bearing a message from the Celestial Realm -- or, more aptly, a threat.
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(We could go into a whole thing about why the Celestial Realm is threatening this but that's for another time)
So, here we are, at the very dangerous crossroads that Diavolo finds himself at now in Nightbringer -- the Celestial Realm coming into his domain with blatant threats of war, while the nobles of his own realm just tried to remove him from power. Threats that are being made against him over helping Lucifer and the brothers. And that's without any of them knowing about Lilith, which would only make all sides even angrier.
You know what he could really use, amidst all those threats? An ally. Someone he could depend on to have his back. Someone he could rely on to be unequivocally on his side, in that very precarious balance of powers.
So that's what he asked for -- loyalty. For all that he was putting on the line for Lucifer's request, he asked for Lucifer to stand by him in turn. What he asked was simply this: "Don't stab me in the back. Don't leave me to deal with the consequences alone. If I'm going to help you, promise me you will be there for me too."
P.S. Lucifer himself has said he agrees with Diavolo's goals. Talking with Diavolo about the peace and cooperation plan was a huge part of why he started having doubts about the Celestial Realm! He was not being asked to do anything he disagreed with; Diavolo knew Lucifer feels the same about his goals as he does. Lucifer takes the loyalty thing too far in OG Season 1, but it was never the only reason for him supporting Diavolo!
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emmys-grimoire · 1 year
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Nightbringer - Lesson 1 Summary & Analysis
It turns out I probably won’t get to lesson 10 by the end of the weekend, so I’m getting started on my lesson 1-5 summaries. 
I have school throughout the week, but I’m hoping to crank these out every other day until we finally catch up to the current lesson. I’m not used to doing ten lessons all at once! But we’ll get there, eventually.
Also expect fewer screenshots than usual after this summary. The analysis portion will also be lighter until we get to the meat of the story. Lessons 1-3 are pretty light.
Caution: spoilers ahead.
The Story
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The game begins with a chatroom with an “unregistered” individual with a demon icon. When you ask who they are, they’re cryptic and don’t give you a straight answer (“Perhaps you know me, perhaps you don’t”) but they make it clear they’re *very* acquainted with you. They claim nothing remains hidden to them and they see everything (whether it’s past, present, or future) and they show you a group picture of the brothers. They ask you if you know them, and you can either confirm or deny you do. If you claim you don’t, they say something must have gone wrong but not to worry, you soon will.
They tell us they’re going “to take you someplace where you’re happy. A place that will bring you more joy than any other”.
They also claim that “time” is like a “dark, heavy mud” to them that sits in a container and swirls around like a vortex. They get all cryptic again and begin asking you questions they know you don’t have the answer to (“Will you be entering your own past?” “Or the past, present, or even future of someone you don’t know?”) before yeeting you back in time.
You wake up in the student council hall much like you do in the OG game. Also like in the OG game, Diavolo is the first to greet you, though this time he’s in his full-fledged demon form and shocked/confused at your sudden appearance. He and the brothers found you knocked out cold and they’re glad you’re finally awake. They just assume you’re a lost demon, but it’s never really elaborated on *how* you look like a demon.
Lucifer asks Diavolo what they’re going to do with you, and Diavolo tells us the facility they’re currently in is still under construction – and they found you there. He wants to know just how you got there, and asks if you’re even from the Devildom, you’re none the wiser. Then character introductions are had! Then your cell phone rings. Those are still apparently a thing.
It’s Solomon. You have a short conversation and he deduces what might have happened.
After the phone call, Diavolo continues the introductions – but you’re interrupted by none other than a near-feral Satan, who at this point is the living manifestation of wrath. We learn he’s so destructive that they had to wrap him in chains and throw him into a locker, but apparently Asmo didn’t make sure the chains were tight enough because he didn’t want to harm his tender hands, so he’s predictably ultra pissy now. You’re still given introductions, but the brothers aren’t allowed to interact with you before Satan threatens to kill everyone. Diavolo is amused more than alarmed.
Satan begins lashing out physically and everyone takes cover. Leviathan asks why he has to be stuck with Satan as a brother, and Asmodeus reveals it’s because the Demon King insisted they do. Lucifer says that they’re new to the Devildom, as because of that, they’re in no position to refuse him. You’re finally allowed to cut in and ask either when the Great Celestial War happened or if you’re in the past.
The answer you get is the same: Mammon is predictably confused about your questions and asks if you got hit in the head during the war, which just concluded. Diavolo asks your name.
Satan interrupts again. You try to use your pact to make him “stay” but it doesn’t work. The brothers are confused and wonder if you were trying to cast a spell. Satan advances and… Ruri-chan suddenly interrupts. It’s your phone again.
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Leviathan is enthralled. He tells you that it’s your job to play Ruri Tunes all day every day.
Lucifer tells him to snap out of it, they’re in the middle of being attacked. Suddenly, you “feel a warm light building inside” and your “stay!” actually works this time. The others are shocked when all the brothers suddenly get grounded. Diavolo laughs at all of them. The others are less than amused, but Diavolo concludes *fate* must have brought them all together. In the OG game, Diavolo is a big believer in destiny, so it looks like they’re continuing this trend with him.
He expands on what was said before, and explains that the brothers are former angels who were cast out of the Celestial Realm following the Great Celestial War. He admits things are a bit unstable in the Devildom at the moment.
As a result he hires you as their babysitter attendant. The brothers are less than enthused, Lucifer insists they aren’t children, but whatever Diavolo says goes.
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Due to the newness of their friendship, Lucifer isn’t the lapdog he is in the OG game. He complains about and questions Diavolo’s commands more.
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He’s also less considerate to technically newborn Satan, but Satan is perpetually trying to murder everyone, so…
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You exchange DDD info with Diavolo so you remain in contact. It may be centuries earlier than the present timeline, but cell phones and social media are forever, apparently. Asmo insists on signing you up for everything.
Belphie is getting sleepy, and you can suggest they head back to the House of Lamentation. Diavolo is perplexed at you even knowing what it is because it’s only very recently been built in the Devildom. The brothers are excited to finally have a home of their own. Apparently they were staying at the castle in the interim.
We learn the House of Lamentation still has the cursed history it did in the previous game. You learn Mammon isn’t scared of ghosts at this point. Belphie falls asleep and Lucifer decides it’s finally time to go.
Diavolo forbids you from staying at the House of Lamentation, and seems perplexed to learn you don’t have your own place. He shows you the Wanderer’s Whereabouts app, that you can use to spy on the brothers as though they were ants in an ant farm.
Before he can tell you where you’re going to stay, Solomon drops in! He introduces us as his apprentice. Diavolo is stunned and though Solomon didn’t have any close demon relationships other than Barbatos. You can imply you’re his best apprentice or someone more… intimate. 
Diavolo suggests we bunk with Solomon at his place. When you’re finally alone with him, you chat about what happened. You give him the run-down, then he suggests you go home. You’re staying at Cocytus Hall this time.
When you arrive, Solomon explains what happened at length. We just blipped out of existence in the present timeline, apparently. He had to analyze the magical traces our yeeting left behind to deduce where we went, and he asked Barbatos to send him back to that point in time instead of just bringing us back, apparently.
And we can’t send ourselves back yet! Wonderful. Our pacts have weakened in our travel through spacetime and, while not entirely severed, need to be reforged in order to realize their full power again. It is the only way to go back.
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Lucifer texts you and tells you to come to the Demon Lord’s Castle tomorrow. Diavolo has something to talk about.
The following morning, Asmo and Mammon arrive to escore you to the castle. Solomons busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast. The two of them are excited to try food prepared by the most famous sorcerer from the human world. Knowingly, you try to escape before it’s too late. Asmo lingers behind and swipes a muffin.
You take a detour and go shopping instead. The brothers haven’t been allowed to go exploring since they fell because they’ve been stuck in the castle up until now. Mammon brandishes Lucifer’s credit card, and Asmo foolishly believes Lucifer must have lended it to him. You can remind them that you’re wanted at the castle, but Mammon brushes you off and calls you a killjoy.
It isn’t long before we get to encounter some good ol’ fantasy racism!
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Mammon is kicked out of one of the shops. Since the newly-transformed demons are newcomers and having been out and about their new home yet, they weren’t expecting such a cold reception. 
Asmo decides to distract Mammon from his stewing with ice cream. Mammon admits some of the Devildom foods sound gross, but they’re growing on him. He finds something written on his popsicle stick: the word “WINNER”. It activates a gacha and he wins a hostile giant snake.
You flee, but you’re pursued. Asmo doesn’t have his charm powers yet, so you have to settle for lobbing the noxious muffin at it after calling the help hotline printed on the stick fails.
Once you finally get to the castle, you tell Diavolo what happened and he finds it hilarious. Lucifer wants to lecture, but simply confiscates the credit card. You can suggest where he should hide it. Mammon and Asmo leave, and you can finally get back to business.
Diavolo wants to establish RAD, and he wants you and Lucifer to be founding members. This is why they’ll still be in the school uniforms. Lucifer doesn’t trust you and doesn’t believe this is a good decision on Diavolo’s behalf.
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What follows is the most Lucifer-esque “but thou must” dialogue choice reactions yet. If you refuse:
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Okay man. I was just agreeing with you.
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Afterwards, he makes it clear he doesn’t intend on being your friend.
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Then the giant snake returns, and he’s forced to ask you for assistance.
Thoughts & Analysis
This was essentially just a re-introduction lesson, but it does set up the background of the situation up nicely. The brothers are newcomers to the Devildom and they're still having trouble adjusting to their new environment... and more importantly, their new environment is reacting to them.
The goal of the first season of Nightbringer is clear: you must reforge your pacts in order to get back to the present timeline, but thankfully it's not just a retread of the OG Season 1. I don't know why we can't just have Barbatos snap his fingers and fix everything like he's done before -- it's clear he can ferry people back and forth (though he claimed it can be imprecise) -- but I've always had a problem with Barbatos's powers and how he's supposed to fit inside the cosmology of the universe. It felt like him being a demon put too much power in the Devildom’s hands, and they had to nerf him later to make things happen even though it doesn’t really make much sense (he gets rid of the dark crevasse in S4 but it’s effects remain for... some reason?)
But now we have *another* entity that can travel through time. Spoiler alert: the demon in the prologue video is not Barbatos, and Mr. Bowlcut is not Solomon. I'll expand on that in the later lessons, but it looks like we might finally have a Big Bad on our hands.
I'm *not* terribly fond of everyone looking exactly the same as they do in the previous game -- and there's no reason for them to don uniforms for a school that still doesn't exist yet -- but whatever.
My opinion on the story has improved as it’s progressed, nitpicks aside. It’s not perfect, but the writing team is trying again.
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chainsaw-dick · 1 year
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I've seen a lot of people saying that an adult iteration of Transformers wouldn't work, because "oh look at Bayverse and the Netflix series" and like. Yeah they fucking SUCKED but that's not necessarily because they were more mature.
You can make a mature Transformers show without racist jokes and the word "balls" every 5 seconds and tons of death, that's not what makes something a mature story.
Ideally, the show would be able to walkthe line between funny and lighthearted and tragic. That's what the franchise has always been. You have all these fun characters and goofy dialogue and interactions and standalone episodes with weird premises, but underneath all that, there's this story about trauma and revenge and how much suffering war brings on. You get that even in G1 if you think about it for a moment. The Autobots and Decepticons have been stranded on Earth, in stasis, for millions of years and left everyone on Cybertron to fend for themselves, not knowing what happened to their leaders and loved ones. That's fucked up.
This is one of the few areas in which I think TFP succeeded. It managed to be both relatively funny and lighthearted but also show the horrors of War. And it didn't do either perfectly, there are a lot of issues with it, but it still managed to mix the two at least decently.
I feel like if you're gonna make a transformers show that's for adults, it should retain the humor and lighthearted nature and the weird B-plots about the human allies trying to sneak into a museum or the mecha learning about Christmas or whatever, because that's a big part of the franchise, and the mature themes should work with that, not be the first priority.
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