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danteinthedevildom · 2 years

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@dreamseeker1032 You asked about Obey Me! on a previous post, but I have a tendency to ramble so I thought I'd make a new one just so that one didn't get too long.

Obey Me!, a game created by NTT Solmare, is an otome game with a gender neutral MC (meaning that the player character is never described, never refered to with specified pronouns outside of necessary they/thems, and very little gendered language attributed to them). The basic point is to romance an angels, several demon, and a human, all of whom you'll get horrifically attached to and want to fist fight literal Death for (who is also a character in the game!)

If you know the basic story of the biblical Fall - have ever read Paradise Lost, watched Supernatural or Fox's Lucifer, etc... - then you'll know a fair bit of the game's basic lore, as it follows the same sort of basis for the main characters' backstories. That said, it's also got a fairly unique plot;

MC, a human without magic, has been invited to the Devildom (hell) to take part in an Exchange Programme that's meant to improve relations between the Devildom (demons), the Human World (humans) and the Celestial Realm (angels). They're to stay there for a year, living with the powerful Avatars of Sin in order to keep them safe from harm, after which (should they survive) they'll be sent home. However, things aren't quite as they seem, as MC quickly realises that there's a brother missing, a staircase they're banned from going towards, and a voice crying out for help in the night. Not to mention a seemingly incredible amount of unresolved trauma from the Fall that plagues the brothers in very different ways...

It admittedly follows a little more into the path of demonology in terms of characters and the like; the Avatars of Sin (the original romanceable characters) are listed in the same order seen in demonology (Lucifer = Pride, Mammon = Greed, Leviathan = Envy, Satan = Wrath, Asmodeus = Lust, Beelzebub = Gluttony, Belphegor = Sloth), and relationships between certain characters are lifted from things like the Keys of Solomon (King Solomon himself being an actual character, and Barbatos, one of his pacted demons, also appearing in the game).

It focuses much more on the plot than the romance, especially at first. The game's separated (fanonically) into arcs, with the first ending around Chapter 20, I think? That one focuses on MC settling into the Devildom, developing relationships with the Avatars of Sin, and uncovering a family secret that's frankly emotionally devestating.

Even if you don't like the romance aspect of things (which, if you don't, Obey Me! often has platonic options you can choose from to avoid romantic scenes if you don't want them), the plot itself is well worth playing the game. It's a refreshing take on the Fall that portrays the brothers sympathetically, and honestly makes you question if they even deserved to Fall in the first place.

The game recently made some prior secondary characters romanceable, too, so now you can romance Diavolo (the Prince of the Devildom), Barbatos (his butler and a demon of many talents), Simeon (an angel exchange student who seems to have a lot of love to give, regardless of whether he's allowed to give it or not), and Solomon (a human sorcerer, and another exchange student). Naturally this means the story has pulled away from the Fall and its consequences (emotional and mental, as well as physical), but it's even more interesting now because we're starting to see signs that maybe things aren't as good in the Celestial Realm as we're led to believe.

The actual gameplay is split into Story Elements called Lessons and Battle Elements called Tasks. To progress, you reas through the Lessons until you come across a Task, and then do a very simplistic Dance Battle. If you win, you unlock the next Lesson; if you lose, you'll have to boost your cards.

This is because the game also has gacha elements. You can pull cards from an in-game app called Nightmare, which will feature all of the romanceable characters, and use them to form your Battle Teams. Winning Battles gives you items to upgrade the Cards, and upgrading Cards lets you win Battles, so it's a pretty standard system

Some Cards also come with a Story, which you can read in another in-game app called Devilgram. This often gives you more information on the brothers and their relationships, but also affords you extra scenes with the characters that you might not get in the main storyline. A lot of the romance can be found there.

Of course, now new characters are soon to be added, so we'll likely be entering another arc in the story - which means anything could happen from here on out. But that's admittedly half the joy of Obey Me!. Yes, it's taken a basis in the form of a well-known source material and characters that have been used in media countless times before - but Solmare's interpretation, character development, and lore progression is so different to what I've seen before, I can happily say it's my favourite imagining to date.

The game can have its flaws, yes - later battles can be extremely difficult, and some of the events Solmare have run feel more like cash grabs than actual content - but if you're willing to overlook things like that for the interest of the story, I'd highly recommend the game.

#danteintherambles #obey me #Jic anyone wants to recc the game. Here's my kinda wordy synopsis that shouldn't be too spoilery

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danteinthedevildom · 2 years

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Like, ok, hear me out. My last post was quick and rough bc it was late at night, but now it's 4pm and I've had a thought, and I can def. explain it better now.

Ppl from minority groups esp. the queer community almost always end up connecting best with characters that are similarly othered and mistreated and demonised. There is a genuine, historic media trend of coding villains and monsters with our identities, and for a very long time, that was the best representation we could get. We grew used to identifying with evil because then we could take those characters with little fragments of our experiences in them, and we could re-write them in fandom to be sympathetic, to be loved, to be understood.

A game that takes the original story of the biblical Fall and translates it into a romance game is practically guaranteed to be a hit with queer people. Especially considering the context of the Fall - the fact that it's love that condemns them, a father who ousts them, a family that betrays them, and a situation in which what they stood up against wasn't legal but the punishment and injustice wasn't morally right.

It's quite literally a game about helping and loving beings who have been demonized, and helping them realise they're worth loving. It's a game that is going to strike home harder for people who have been othered as callously as the brothers were, and for people who grew up seeing characters like these as fictional representatives.

Solmare's decision to ultimately make the MC gender neutral futhered this drastically. The genre of otome is so naturally assigned towards straight, cis women that it can be difficult for anyone else to enjoy the games as much. We know, once again, that we're being othered; that the concept of creating a game like this for us is so unthought of, even the ones with M/M or F/F content are targeted more towards fujoshis and rated 18+. They're so very rarely meant for us.

But this game, centred around concepts of identity and family and loss and love, exists to give us the chance to fully immerse ourselves in a way most games of this genre often don't. Yes, sometimes it's evident, especially early on, that Solmare struggled to decipher how to slip out of inherently fem!MC tropes - but it's even more evident that genuine effort was placed into the game to welcome everyone. To let as many people as possible slot into MC's place, regardless of race, of sexuality, of gender.

This game, with its overall gameplay and storyline formula, is the perfect fit for people like us. The reason this game exploded so much more than Solmare's other games - the reason this fandom is so much bigger than the others before it - is in part because it drew us in like moths to a flame.

I literally cannot express how excited people were when we realised this game let you be you. I'm a gay trans guy; my best friend is a bisexual demigirl; the people I knew at the time Obey Me! was released were nonbinary, trans, gay, pansexual - a plethora of different identities and experiences, and very different game tastes. But all of us were enthralled by the concept of this game that didn't force pronouns or designs on you. That let us love beings we'd all felt sympathetic for in other iterations in other media. Even people I knew who hated the otome genre showed interest when they were told that the only identifying feature for the MC was a name.

This is one of the first times I have ever seen - let alone experienced - a game in this genre that not only allowed but actively encouraged people like us to play.

Obey Me! was not made for the queer community, but it was made in a way that welcomes us as much as the original target audience. That gives us as much importance and presence as the straight, cis female audience these games are usually pandered towards.

And now, Solmare are giving us something even more wonderful. Solmare have seen their fandom growing and diversifying, and they have accepted this. Accepted us. These new Exchange Students are being added to reflect the diversity of the people who play the game, and to include us in a way we often never get to experience in these genres.

We don't know who these characters are yet. We don't know anything about them beyond current speculation; that one of them is femme-presenting, and that at least two of them may be nonbinary. What we do know, at least, is that these characters are likely love interests, and that's genuinely incredible.

Because that means these characters are being added for us to love; those of us who aren't the original target audience, but who found the game and its themes and fell in love, anyway.

Because that means Solmare are acknowledging that a gender neutral MC is more than just "straight cis woman Lite"; that some of us do love women; that there's more to the spectrum than just male and female, and that they're just as viable to be loved.

So for the love of fuck, please let queer fans be excited. Please let us thrive in this one fucking game that thematically chimes with us, that lets us love, that lets us be ourselves. I don't care if you don't like the new femme character because you're not attracted to girls; you don't have to date them. I don't want to hear your comments about these characters "stealing your boys away". They aren't made for you. They're made for us.

Maybe it's weird to have content that's not aimed towards you. Maybe you were tonedeaf to the way the fandom grew, or to what it really meant when Solmare said they wanted Obey Me! to be an inclusive game. But please, please, read the room now. Let us love them without making it feel weird.

Because these characters in no way take from you, but they give so, so much to us.

#obey me #danteintherambles #Yeah y'all get some literary analysis and queer history in this #What would I use my MA for if not to ramble on passionately abt a game

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danteinthedevildom · 2 years

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Listen. I rlly ain't attracted to women. I'm too fuckin achillean, MLM, this boy be hella gay. But I stg if I see another straight woman go "oh no I'm gonna be so uncomfy if she flirts with me :(" abt the new femme-presenting exchange student I'm gonna lose it.

Y'all don't gotta date them!! Aro ppl be playin this game and ignorin the romantic shit bc there's usually platonic options to choose without complaint! Y'all still gonna have your boys, and the two masc-presenting new students, too. ONE whole femme-presenting character ain't the end of the world, ain't gonna kill you, and really ain't anythin to complain over.

They're addin these characters in bc the fandom's grown beyond the usual otome target audience of "straight cis women" - so let other folk enjoy them bein added to the game! Bc these characters are kinda goddamn groundbreaking in the otome world, and I promise you, a whole lotta fans are hype as shit over finally gettin to be gay, finally havin a (potential) canonical enby, finally gettin a femme-presenting character with an actual design.

There are a fucktonne of games out there with female MC and an all male LI cast. Don't complain that this one game is diversifying itself when y'all've got a whole backlog made just for you.

If I can get through an otome game where I'm bein called a girl and havin she/her pronouns thrown at me and still enjoy the fuckin game bc I know that content wasn't made for my demographic, I swear to fuck, y'all can enjoy one fuckin character bein added that ain't meant for your demographic, too.

#danteintherambles #Howdy y'all I fell outta love with OM for a little bc I been dealin with IRL shit #But I saw the news and got fuckin hype #And then I saw the Fandom Wank and y'all know I can't keep my trap shut on that shit

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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i’m not objectifying my demon boyfriend by staring at his tits when we talk he’s just too tall to look in the eyes okay

#Diavolo. That is all.

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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Okay that is VERY 😬

What is it about Twitter that make people go “yes I’m gonna be best friends with this person that barely knows I exist”

There's apparently a legit psychological thing where like. Bc we see so much of an influencer's life and personality on social media (esp. places like Twitter) fans can accidentally make a one-sided connection to the influencer.

So for instance, if an influencer talks abt all the stuff they did that day on their Twitter, you as a fan are getting a peek into their life, right? And sometimes it feels like when the influencer talks to the camera, they're talking directly to YOU. Not just the general audience.

And you're getting innundated with this stuff each day bc you follow them. So you see more and more of this person, their life, and who they are. And esp. with influencers, engagement is a BIG part of keeping fans following them - so sometimes posts are directed TO fans (e.g. the "Tell Me You Love Me" Tweet), and sometimes influencers talk abt how much their fans mean to them personally.

So it can become easy to forget, sometimes, that this is a hella one-way road. You might see a lot of them, but they see NOTHING of you. They have no idea who you are beyond the general concept of you being "a fan". And even if you're responding to their Tweets, which feels very personal to you, your message is just one in a few hundred to them.

In general, too, friendships are made bc you see someone frequently enough that you form a bond with them. You don't really see someone more frequently than you do on social media, where they're constantly posting.

So when you combine all of that together, some fans legit think they're MUCH closer to the influencer than they actually are bc psychologically all the foundations are there to suggest some form of close friendship.

I think also there's like this feeling that bc it's social media you're completely anonymous. It doesn't matter what you say bc you're safe behind the screen and an account that in no way shows who you are. Esp. with the rlly creepy account that posted the sexual stuff abt Miura; they had NOTHING to link back to who they are IRL, so it was "safe" for them to say that stuff even if they maybe wouldn't say it to his face.

(Ppl prolly also just... forget that influencers are real people. It's so easy to put them on pedestals and to think of them as Better or Higher, and then just totally dismiss that they have the same feelings and sensibilities as literally anyone else. Just bc you can't see that they're uncomfortable doesn't mean they aren't.)

Why it happens most on Twitter, tho, is I think bc that's where the influencers are. Tumblr can be bad, yeah, like don't get me wrong - it rlly CAN be. We still have fan accounts for kpop groups and ppl still melt over Dan and Phil. But there's very few actual famous USERS on Tumblr; we can't engage with them in the same way, and 9 times out of 10 they barely even know they have that following here. It's more of a fandom forum, less an influencer playground - and def. not a form of social media most influencers took seriously until semi-recently (and even that's iffy).

Twitter, meanwhile, is a social media site geared TOWARDS influencers. It's meant to be a space for them to engage with fans, post updates, and talk. This is where you find the creators; this is where they tell you abt their lives and show you what they're working on. If you want to be seen, you go there. So ofc that's where fans flock towards if they want to be seen by their favourite influencers.

The greater influencer presence means it's a lot easier to connect on places like Twitter than anywhere else. And when the site itself is meant to breed that connected mentality - meant to facilitate connections between influencer and fans... it can end up creating a problem.

(Ironically, Tumblr does still have a similar issue, just kinda parallel; ppl here treat actors the same way they treat the characters they play. So we got a HUGE Real Person Fiction community here bc we're so distant from the influencers themselves that they seem unreal.)

As a sorta tangential point: it's a lot harder to post fandom content on Twitter - in part bc it's fuckin hard to find and in part bc you'd need to split some of my posts up into like 20 billion Tweets - so it's v. different in its fandom culture than Tumblr is. Hence, predominant Tumblr users, being more geared towards creating fandom content, act a little differently towards influencers than Twitter users, being more geared towards influencer interaction.

It's something we gotta be vigillant on as fans on Twitter, tbh. Like. We are talking directly TO the person. We are treating them that way in a space that is THEIRS and that they will PHYSICALLY SEE. We have got to be inherently more respectful and careful with how we're acting.

Esp. with a fandom as small as Obey Me!. Yes, it's much bigger than other Shall We Date? games, but the VAs are still relatively small-time, personal people who are shocked by the exponential growth they've experienced during Obey Me!'s two year run. A lot of them didn't even have Twitter accounts before this point (at least, not ones they regularly used), and I believe most of them haven't engaged with overseas fans before.

They will see a lot of what is being posted. So trying to keep it as kind, warm, and respectful as possible - and making sure anyone overstepping that line knows they've done so - is imperative. Esp. with the mentality Twitter naturally breeds in relation to fans and their influencers.

#danteintherambles #Kinda long oop. I went off on one srry folks

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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Okay I know that post was 14 days ago, but what happened on Twitter? I don’t have one.

Ok so Idk if I can find the tweet? It was from Miura Ayme, just sayin that it's his birthday month bc he doesn't like ppl knowin the exact day. And some of the responses were kinda weird? Like.

So it looks like the Twitter acct was deacitvated but there was one account claiming to be married to Ayme-san, makin a LOT of sexual comments abt him (like, specifically him, not Asmodeus), and just spammin him with these rlly intense, possessive messages that were super creepy considerin this person clearly doesn't know him. It was uncomfortable readin them, and they weren't even aimed at me!

That was. Def. the worst so I'm glad it seems to be gone.

Other stuff, tho, is just like.

Which the first two ain't so bad?

On the first one just, Ayme-san says he don't wanna share his b-day maybe respect that? Even if ppl know, if he wants to keep it secret for whatever reason then you shouldn't go poppin off on it.

And smthn abt the familiarity is a lil... like I get it's a joke but Ayme-san's not English native, and those kinda jokes don't always go down well even when someone's got the cultural/linguistic context.

I know he's got the kinda flirty persona but the proposin thing esp. after seein that one hyper obsessed account maybe isn't smthn ppl should be sendin. At least not on his birthday post. It's just a lil weird to do on someone's post abt their day of celebration, y'know? Kinda, time and place.

(Plus that's somethin you send your friends, not someone you don't personally know. I think that's just the whole thing of like - fans feel like the influencers they enjoy are their friends, but that connection don't always go both ways.)

The third image ain't one from the birthday post but it's. Sure somethin. That's not somethin you should be replying to someone's picture with? Esp. if it's got the @ in it like. That's still gonna pop up in his notif feed and Ayme-san doesn't get enough replies on each post to make readin all of them a chore. He could kinda still see that?

And even if it's a joke tone don't always carry well through text, let alone text in translation. So stuff like this ain't always the best to send just on that basis alone. Ayme-san won't KNOW if you're jokin or not.

So yeah. It was just kinda weird and a lil 😬 seein what some accts were postin directly to Ayme-san and in what contexts. I don't think the first two accts meant harm with what they posted. We just gotta remember who the VAs are and that we rlly ain't that close to them.

#danteintherambles #Tbh it rlly was just that hyper obsessed acct makin some of the lesser ones look rlly awkward too #Like you see someone talkin abt how theyre married to ayme san and how they wanna fuck him #And then seein those after it was like 😬 even tho they're comparatively innocent

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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Ok can peeps on Twitter not be freaks abt real ppl for 1 second bc I am v. worried abt the amount of users on Miura Ayme's birthday tweet actin like they're either super close to him or married.

Like. Y'all. All he said is it's his birthday month. Why they gotta be weird.

#danteintherambles #I'm still not doin great so not back to regular postin but #I saw that tweet and the replies and 😬 yea had to end my break for a sec bc #Pls. The VAs are real ppl. Don't be weird at them #Like legit if it'd make you uncomfy for some rando to say it on your post maybe don't say it on theirs

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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Ok so the Obey Me Meet and Greet is over now and y’all it was so good

The translation was a lil bit off/behind but it was super close, so we got most of what they were saying, which was honestly just really basic stuff like who they’d want to cosplay (Mammon was the most popular choice, except Sumi-san who chose Asmo and Ayme-san who chose Satan) and why they became voice actors (mostly it just seemed to be “I just kinda did” ft. Sumi-san’s “I don’t know”).

They did their intros in English, which was so fuckin cool to hear (they’re all really heckin good at it, and except for a couple embarrassed stumbles sounded basically fluent), and at the end ONE of them said “I love you” (I think Kyohei-san?) which made the chat fuckin explode.

OH. Also.

Onishi-san’d take ice cream with him to the Devildom (and also said it’s what he’d eat to relax after work), Kyohei-san said he’d take his mom’s first apple pie to the Devildom (which Kada-san pointed out was a throwback to the last season of Otaku FM) and Yama-san said his favourite thing to drink after work is BEER.

Ayme-san also couldn’t sit still so made a game out of sitting in funny positions and changing position ONLY when the camera was focused on someone else. He ended up on the floor at one point because he sunk so low in his chair he just kind of slid off.

Onishi-san was also kinda squatting on his chair with his shoes off.

At one point Sumi-san said he loved Asmo and that’s why he’d want to cosplay as him, I think. He might’ve just said he loved Ayme-san, tho, bc Kada-san kept refering to them by their character names.

OH. And when they were asked what they’d do if they hung out with their characters:

Onishi-san said he’d have a sleepover with Belphie bc he sleeps all day anyway

Koba-san said he’d steal Lucifer’s credit card and go to a casino with Mammon

Yama-san said he didn’t see Lucifer as the “hang out” kind of demon so he’d help him with his work instead

It was hella cute. I kinda hope they add full subtitles and add it to YouTube, but I’m not sure if they will (captions were a lil fucky when they were talkin abt that, so I’m not too sure what they’re doing there).

Beyond the Meet and Greet, we did get some anime info!

Anime’s out on the 16th, but apparently VIP members get it on the 9th - so in five days. Each episode should work like that if you’ve got VIP apparently? We also got told the episode title but I kinda forgot to write it down.

All of them seem excited to do smthn like the Meet and Greet again, and said they all hoped next time it’d be in person! Maybe next year, even. So if they get their way sounds like we’ll be gettin a proper Meet and Greet at cons in the future.

#obey me #I couldn't type jack bc ofc it wouldn't let me log in #Which sucked a lil I won't lie #That said tho I still got to see everything and it was so fun #They seemed super surprised by how many people were in the chat but so excited too

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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I was today years old when I realised this shit's meant to be them fuckin leapin out of a phone.

That's why it's their human world outfits. And all the glitch effects. And the broken glass. And the outline.

They're going from 2D to 3D.

I might'a been a bit slow on the draw for that one I'm ngl.

#obey me #danteintherambles #Yeah I'm legally a dumbass keep walkin

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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Y’all I’m gonna go die for like. A whole nother week that shit took

SO GODDAMN LONG

It actually woulda been faster but unforch I got some health issues going on rn so I’m tryina save energy for the homeschoolin I gotta do each week. Hopefully Imma get that sorted out soon tho and I’ll be able to, y’know. Finish more cute headcanon shit.

(Which hey I actually got further in one of my drafted posts! So that’ll be smthn to look forward to)

Soon we’re gonna be in July and we’re gonna get back into shit like Boys in the House, Otaku FM, and finally, the anime. So if nothin else I’ll prolly be gettin hype as shit over that!

#danteintherambles

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 7 (of 7)

We’re here! We’re finally at the end of this “analysis”! I did not expect this to be so goddamn long. Apparently I had more thoughts on this Devilgram than even I originally intended.

That said, this concluding part really just takes a peek at another “alternate timeline”. The Devilgram has several different routes you can go down that drastically changes how your evening goes, so there’s honestly a lot of ground to cover with just how much you get to do. (Which is absolutely why this series is 7 parts long, beyond just “I had too many screenshots to fit in a single post, thanks Tumblr image limit”).

In this route, you tell Diavolo a story. It’s nothing fascinating; either you tell him an actual story, or - if you act uncertain - he asks you to talk about your day for the sake of talking.

So, for this final part, once again we’re covering content locked beyond Story Keys. Here’s your last cursory spoiler warning!

(Although we have two potential routes to go down, I’m only going to focus on this one; the one wherein you actually tell him a full story. It’s essentially the same as the other, minus some dialogue before you get started. I don’t have enough images-per-post to show everything, however, and the dialogue missing only emphasises what I’m going to go over - so it’s not too horrific a loss.

I am going to fight Tumblr for more images, however.)

If you confidently go into a story, Diavolo ends up falling asleep listening to it. When he wakes up, this is his response.

There’s something impossibly sweet about this moment. He doesn’t fall asleep because he’s bored, nor even because he’s tired; if you tell the story another way, he openly admits that he just wants to hear your voice, and that he’d happily listen to you talk forever if he could. He wants to listen to you, then; to cherish your words, how you say them, the story you weave together.

Your voice is simply so soothing to him, he couldn’t help but nod off.

There’s a lot this scene says, if I’m being honest. Especially from a literary/media standpoint; it’s a bit of a trope!

See, sleep scenes are usually used to show trust. It’s something that I believe likely stems from the vulnerability of sleep; you don’t let your guard down around someone you feel threatened by, which means you often won’t sleep near or around those people. Instinctively, you’ll try to stay awake, stay alert, stay on edge.

Therefore, sleep is the best visual way to show absolute, complete trust between two characters.

It’s highly unlikely that Diavolo has any reason not to feel safe sleeping around you. After all, you’re just a human; anything you could do to him would irritating at worst. But it’s still something that pings in the human brain, a trope we know well enough for it to hit even though it might not ring wholly true.

Besides, there’s still the chance that demons have that instinct ingrained in them. Their society used to be brutal, and in a lot of ways, it still is; that’s likely not a vulnerability they afford other demons to see unless they’re wholly confident and relaxed.

For that instinct to not trigger, even with you being a harmless human; for him to so suddenly fall asleep he’s not even aware of it; for him to have been so deeply asleep that waking up is an outright shock... His guard must be completely down around you.

You must make him feel warm, comfortable, and happy; relaxed enough to fall asleep without a second thought.

The man himself even confirms it.

It’s not surprising, after all: he’s the Prince of the Devildom. There’s an image he has to maintain, whether he likes it or not. He has to seem competent, strong, and assertive, at all times, without a single sign of weakness. Especially considering the discontent against the Exchange Programme and his own (relative) instability being a stand-in ruler; he has to ensure, at all times, that he’s seen as a legitimate ruler.

If he slips up, there are vocal dissenters only likely too willing to drag him down. If he makes a mistake, peace between the Three Realms could fall through. There’s too much at stake for him to fail just because he wanted to be himself.

It’s a sacrifice he has to make, but one he’s willing to do if it means everything plays out as it should. If it means the Devildom stays strong. If it means his people are safe. If it means his dreams might come true.

There’s so much of himself that just isn’t safe to show other demons - and even more of himself he simply can’t show, no matter how hard he tries, because nobody is willing to see.

Diavolo, the demon and Diavolo, Prince of the Devildom are two very different entities. He has to compartmentalise aspects of himself at all times; keep the looser, more casual parts of him locked up tight.

And then you come along, and the lock crumbles to dust.

He’s not wholly trying to show you these aspects of himself. Some of them, yes; there’s doubtless a thousand sides you’ve seen to Diavolo that most demons aren’t even aware exist, solely because he wanted to show you - trusted you enough to show you. But there’s equally as doubtless a thousand more sides you’ve seen that were completely unintentional. A thousand hidden parts that have slipped through the cracks, poured out into the light before your eyes, simply because you make him feel comfortable. Make him feel things no other being across the Three Realms has ever made him feel before.

And he’s not even mad about it. He’s happy. He’s glad he has someone he trusts so much, he’s accidentally revealed all these little aspects of himself. He’s smiling because it means he finally has someone close enough to him to experience all the things he usually tries to hide.

Because there’s someone, at least, that can see his true self.

He’s not used to this. He’s really not. It’s genuinely strange to him, how easily he opens up to you. Something he enjoys, yes; something he sees as good, something he’s pleased about, something that brings him genuine happiness - but something that’s still odd.

He’s however-many thousands of years old, after all. In all that time, he’s not slipped up the way he does with you. Not around demons, not around angels, not around witches or sorcerers and everything in between. He couldn’t afford to. Still can’t, even.

Then, along comes you, knocking down all his walls in the span of a few years. Walls not even his closest right-hand demons have peeked past.

And he’s so at east with it - with you - that he doesn’t even mind. Except -

Why would it be unfair?

Because he wants you to feel that open around him, too.

He wants to see as much of you as you’ve seen of him.

He doesn’t want another one-sided friendship. He’s already got two of those; he already knows his two closest friends don’t see him the way he sees them.

He wants something equal. He wants to say he knows someone as well as they know him. He wants to mean it.

But, more importantly - he wants it to be on your terms. He wants you to want to open up to him. It won’t mean anything if he makes you tell him everything. It’ll just be another forced friendship, and another pained realisation later down the line; another connection he has to worry over day after day, fretting the moment it (potentially) snaps.

No matter how much he wants to see, he doesn’t want to unless it means he’s special to you. He wants that moment to occur because you view him as someone important; someone you adore, someone you cherish, someone you trust.

If he can be that special someone to you, he’ll be happy. If you can trust him with those parts of yourself that you hide from the rest of the world - the parts he’s already exposed to you, intentionally and accidentally - he’ll know he’s made it.

It’s something he’s not had with someone before. Another segment of friendship he’s never experienced. The good, the bad, the ugly - he wants to see it all. Because it’s you. Because he wants to give back to you the things you’ve given him.

It must be generally exciting, to think about seeing so much of a person when no-one ever lets him get that close. Maybe he’s romanticising it a bit. No, he almost definitely is. But it’s a sweet message, at its core:

You make him feel safe enough to be himself. He wants you to feel the same with him. He doesn’t want you to feel like you have to hide.

Subtly, of course, he’s restated something we already know.

If he thinks that you opening up to him makes him special to you...

... Clearly, you’re already special to him.

You likely have been for some time.

+++

And... we’re done. That’s the end of the Devilgram, my thoughts on it, and my hatred of Tumblr’s shitty image-per-post limit. I can put this series to rest and let my poor, over-strained brain zonk out for the next week.

Thanks for reading! Both this post and the series as a whole, if you did; I’ve no idea how future readers might find this, but I’m going to assume someone will have read the lot. Which, you brave fool, I’m so sorry my writing deteriorated as I went on, you have my respect and awe.

#obey me #obey me diavolo #obey me analysis

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

Text

A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 6 (of 7)

We’re almost at the end (hooray - these posts have absolutely killed me to finish), so time to go onto the “platonic” route.

Unfortunately the Devilgram’s ending isn’t 100% perfect if you want a fully platonic route. I may be wrong here - it’s been a while since I actually read the Devilgram at this point, so my memories are a little hazy - but I believe the only way to really end it prior to the screenshots I’m about to show you involve responses that are a little more dismissive (from what I can remember, it essentially requires turning down everything, even the content that could be read as purely platonic). Which means, unfortunately, your options are generally “somewhere between romantic and platonic” and “no interest at all”.

That said, this route is much easier to read as platonic, and I think is meant to cover ground for players who fall into one of two categories:

- Have no interest in Diavolo romantically

- Don’t want to end on a more suggestive note (since the kiss route leads to implied NSFW)

So you can read romance into it as much as you can ignore it. I like being able to focus on both sides, however, since sometimes you want the Devilgrams to explore more of the friendship between yourself and the brothers rather than an inherent romance - ergo, “platonic” route.

That’s a much longer intro than usual, so I’ll cut it off there. As usual, this post covers content locked behind Story Keys, so here’s your cursory spoiler warning!

As I mentioned last post, you’re given an option to end the Devilgram in one of two ways: with a kiss (leading you down the more romantic route), or with a hug (by claiming you don’t want any funny business, to which he admits he just wants to hold you). We’re following the hug route.

I can likely guaratee you, after everything we’ve seen so far, Diavolo’s never had the chance to hold someone at night. No-one’s stayed long enough for him to spend time doing “nothing at all” with them, so it’s immediately clear that physical affection likely isn’t something he’s afforded often, let alone for the duration of a night - particularly considering the concept of a sleepover is new to him (as we saw in the first two posts) and just how generally awed he is by your continued presence and happiness being there.

In other words, the changes of anyone having let him close enough to hold them before this point for this long are extremely slim.

Which means, in turn, he’s almost definitely never been held.

(There is, after all, a difference between holding someone who’s just putting up with it and actually being hugged back).

The only person who might have done would be his father, when he was younger; I’m not wholly sure how close Diavolo is with the Demon King, but considering how overprotective he was, I’d assume he’d have given a little baby Diavolo at least a reasonable amount of hugs. Whether he did or not, however, that’s really it. That’s Diavolo’s list of “people who have held him for an extended period of time”.

Even more likely, that’s his complete list of “people who have felt comfortable, happy, and content enough around him to let him fall asleep with them”.

We already know that for a majority of his lifetime, it was just him, his father, and Barbatos - and before that, just him and his father. There really aren’t a lot of people he can put on that list, especially considering his status (and age) when the Demon King went to sleep. When the last of his restrictions were finally released.

No wonder he’s so desperate for affection. No wonder he’s so horrifically touch- and love-starved. His entire life, he’s had practically no-one. Moreover, his only dedicated friends are:

- His butler (who tends to his duties with utmost professionalism, and with whom it wouldn’t be appropriate to form the sort of friendship and attachment he wants)

- Lucifer (who for centuries has been bitter over the oath, and takes his duties seriously out of pride and gratitude/servitude rather than affection - and has, in several situations, been genuinely put out/underwhelmed by Diavolo’s attempts to deepen their friendship)

- Queen Rose (who we’ve seen relegated to all of one visit per year, with an unknown connection and attachment to Diavolo, and who clearly isn’t important enough to have been given much of a story beyond the one event)

Demons he has no deep connection with, and is granted little to no physical affection from.

Even the brothers have each other. Even at their very worst - with the issues between Satan and Lucifer, and the treatment they give Mammon - we’ve seen several images of them being physically affectionate. And that really does range from slumping over each other in sleep, to being used as weights for Beel’s training, to diving in close for group selfies.

It doesn’t seem like much - and honestly, I do enjoy the headcanon that maybe as a species they just don’t tend to be as touchy-feely as humans - but it’s significantly more than we see (and hear) Diavolo get. It’s still physical contact that’s comfortable and affectionate; a physical show of care.

Diavolo has even said in Chats before (specifically in the one shared between you, him, and Barbatos) that he wants to stay at the House of Lamentation because they’re noisy and active. Because he’s used to silence and isolation and he wants to experience a place full of sound and activity and interconnecting relationships. Because he wants to be involved in something he doesn’t have.

What you’ve afforded Diavolo in this moment is something so rare for him, it’s either happened very little in his life or never at all.

This normal show of affection - something we can all get simply by turning to a friend, or a partner, or a family member; something we use as greetings and as comfort and often without a thought - is completely outside his typical experience.

So, it’s bliss; by literal definition, “a state of perfect happiness, oblivious to everything else”. It’s not just warm, or happy, or perfect - it’s a feeling so outside of what he knows, it transcends all positive emotion.

Your affection narrows down his focus away from the Devildom - from his worries, from his fears, from his unhappiness and his insecurities and his loneliness - and centres it entirely on you.

There’s a reason he wants to spend more time with you. A reason you’re his greatest person; a reason this night is so special to him.

You give him everything he’s never had, but always wanted - and you do it as easily and thoughtlessly as drawing breath.

For someone who’s struggled just to keep his desired friends by his side, that likely means the world to him.

As his monologue continues on, we reach a sort of... wavering point.

This is the part that makes it a little blurry between the lines of romance and platonic feeling. You can clearly see how this dialogue is meant to be vague enough to appeal to both sides; by only lightly mentioning that he’s “feeling” something, you can read it as either romantic feeling or platonic feeling, albeit the second line tips it, initially, in favour of a romantic reading.

However, I think this scene can still be fairly platonic when you consider that you are the only person to have ever made him feel this happy.

Diavolo is a demon. He’s a royal demon. He’s the stand-in leader of an entire Realm, with hundreds of thousands of subjects under his command. He’s been alive for a relatively unknown but doubtlessly extensive amount of time. His concerns and worries far exceed that of anything a single human on Earth could fret over - because he’s not just fretting over a kingdom, or a nationality, but an entire race of beings that he holds direct responsibility for.

A single human life, in contrast to that, is likely nothing more than a split-second blip on a radar. There and gone before he could even have seen it.

Whatever he expected from the Exchange Programme, the importance of a single human likely wasn’t something he had in mind. Your importance as a whole for the future he wanted, yes; for what you represented, and what you could achieve, almost definitely. But for you, as a person? You, for all the good and the bad, the experiences and memories, the thoughts and feelings, that make you who you are?

In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t matter. That you are human and alive and perform well in the Programme to ensure peace between the Realms does.

Because you will fade away in less than a second. Because you will be gone before long, and your existence to him is like fruit fly to us. Short. Uneventful. Insignificant.

His infatuation with humanity doesn’t necessarily mean an infatuation with individual humans. You can be enamoured with rabbits and set up a sanctuary for them, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see the inherent nature and personal significance of any single one.

He likely never would have thought that one of the Exchange Students would become this important to him.

He likely never would have thought that a human, plain and simple as you are, would open up this many feelings, experiences, possibilities.

(He likely never would have thought that you could change his life as drastically as you have.)

Why would he? After all, you’re just human. Your life is so fragile, it could end with the barest twitch of his finger. How could something so frail possibly have such an impact on him - do things that no demon has ever been able to do?

And yet, you’ve done so much. In a few years at most, you’ve changed his life in ways he’s always struggled with. You’ve given him all the things he wanted; all the things he’s missed.

You. A human. A tiny, fragile, impossible little human. You’ve done things greater beings have been incapable of. Things even he - with all his power and wisdom and life experience - couldn’t do.

How could he have possibly expected that?

(He might have hoped for it. Hoped that something good would come from the Exchange Programme; hoped that he’d be able to experience those things he’d never been able to with someone new and fresh in his life. But he still can’t have imagined that it would happen so soon, so easily, so naturally. That it would have been entirely because of you.)

As a slight aside, though a very related one, I’m deeply interested by Diavolo’s second line: “Oh, but your humanity only makes you even more captivating”

Here’s an English Lit tip for all of you: if a character says “oh” like this, the utterance is almost always used to emphasise an already-intense emotion. It’s the little oh you see in fanfic; that single sound to release everything a person feels in one breath. It’s used a lot in epics, and especially in 19th centuary texts, when the narrator is lamenting or expressing woe.

Here, it sounds wistful. Longing. Amazed. Dreamy. Awed. Reverent. This isn’t something he’s saying intentionally.

These utterances are almost always kept to narration; to the depths of a character’s thoughts, where they can express themself the most in its truest form. They’re used to incite a reader’s emotion, their empathy, and to highlight the sheer emotive weight of a scene. It’s very rarely verbal, unless they’re utterly overcome with feeling.

The fact that Diavolo’s saying it out loud, therefore, means it’s not intentional. These are his deepest thoughts said aloud, so intense and true it’s impossible for him to keep it locked inside his mind.

That’s simple fact. He’s purely, utterly enraptured by you.

The analysis on that sentence could end there. The admittance, unwittingly, that you are captivating as an example of how significant you are to him. However...

While it does highlight that he already finds you awing, it also notes that it’s your humanity that makes you even more enchanting. Not just the fact that you’re you, or that you’re human and he finds the depth of his feeling surprising - but that the very notion of your humanity enthralls him.

We’ve already seen his interest in humanity span decades before your arrival, if not centuries. We therefore know that the fragility of your life and the existence of your humanity means something to him in a way it doesn’t - or wouldn’t - to other demons.

He’s fascinated by the concept of humans, and you are human. Naturally, he’s going to be awed that a human is important to him by default; simultaneously, he’s thrilled by the fact that you’re representative of the World he adores.

Moving on from that focus, the next scene. It’s the conclusion of this route, and thus the final shot in the Devilgram if you decide to end it this way.

This, is mostly just sweet. I couldn’t avoid adding this in.

It’s a callback to the start of this post - the fact that Diavolo has likely never been able to hold someone for the night, and that he’s thoroughly excited for the chance to do so with you.

Diavolo wants to cherish holding you. He wants to savour having you in his arms as you go to rest.

He knows it’s something that won’t happen often, if it ever happens again. So he wants to make the most of it. He wants to ingrain it in his mind, lock it up tight with the memories he holds closest to his heart.

There’s a little more I have to say about the concept of sleep and especially willingness and comfort sleeping around another person, but there’s a better way to present that in another screenshot - one we’ll see in the next post. It deserves more space than I have left here, so I’ll relegate that to a few screenshots I wasn’t able to fit in elsewhere.

It’s a bit of a topic change, but a good one. Do you recall the post wherein Diavolo reads his favourite poem to you? In that post, I went over the fact that he reveals you to be - in no uncertain terms - his greatest person.

I also noted in the post that he doesn’t say this by default. You have to choose for him to say that by picking the option along the lines of, “Who’s your greatest person?”. The devs kindly allow you to decide just how close to Diavolo you want to be, and whether or not he’s comfortable admitting in such open terms how important you are to him.

In the screenshots below, then, I’ve shown the other route; the one wherein you asked if Barbatos was his greatest person.

Diavolo’s response?

It’s much more vague. He doesn’t even vaguely state that his greatest person is you. In fact, it sounds very much like he still doesn’t know who his greatest person is.

At least until you consider that final line.

“Should that day come, you’ll be the first to know”.

This comment speaks volumes. In a very subtle way, it’s Diavolo showing you that he trusts you most; that, out of everyone he knows, he’d go to you first to tell you who his most important person is.

This could be because he believes you’d be excited to know. Maybe he thinks you’d be happy for him, and you’d celebrate the fact that he’s found his greatest person. Maybe it’s simply him acknowledging that he’s told you about the concept of a greatest person, and thus, you’d be the only one with the knowledge to care whether or not he’s found someone who fits that bill.

It might even be him saying you’re just the first person on his mind beyond his greatest person. That when he has important news, the first thing he wants to do is tell you.

But it’s also, I think, a hint.

You could read it as dismissive; “I’ve not yet found someone better than Barbatos, but when I do, I’ll tell you.” It’s certainly one interpretation of the line, and what the above covers. Another, however, would be, “I’m not ready yet to confirm my feelings/I’ve lost my confidence since you mistakenly assumed it to be someone it’s not. When I’m ready, I’ll tell you - and you’ll know I meant you.”

It’s a perfectly valid reading to believe he already suspects his greatest person is you. That he’s implying you’ll know who his greatest person is before anyone else because he’ll be saying to you, directly, it’s you.

It’s a sweet moment, either way. Whether he’s being coy about who his greatest person is or he genuinely doesn’t know yet, the fact remins that you’re important enough to him - that he believes you care enough about him and his happiness to want to know - that he’ll tell you before anyone else.

You’re his priority, regardless.

Another fact, one you might have thought I’d cover first, is the surprise of his prior comment: “the greatest person in my life would overshadow even him”.

Barbatos isn’t Diavolo’s greatest person. From the previous scene - that alternate timeline where he’s more obvious about who his greatest person is - it’s clear that Barbatos doesn’t fill a lot of the requirements. He supports Diavolo, yes; he’s by his side, always, and he can’t leave - but he’s not there for him. Not the same way you are.

Emotionally, mentally, physically, Barbatos doesn’t click with Diavolo the way he needs his greatest person to. Barbatos doesn’t spend time with him happily and freely; doesn’t let him get close and affectionate. Diavolo can’t be his true self around Barbatos and feel wholly, perfectly accepted. The butler-master divide makes that an impossibility, as does the origin of their friendship.

Barbatos is still important to him, of course; there’s no denying that. After all, the greatest person in his life at the moment is Barbatos. That’s who Diavolo is using to gauge his greatest person against; whether or not they mean more to him than Barbatos, and he connects with them better than with his closest companion.

Diavolo’s just not fooling himself into thinking Barbatos is that person.

There is, however, something... a little more amazing to think about, knowing Diavolo’s requirements for his greatest person.

They have to be better than Barbatos.

Barbatos, the demon who helped raise him in the absence of his mother.

Barbatos, the demon who’s been by his side since youth, patiently feeding him stories of the Realms he never got to see.

Barbatos, the only demon who ever stayed, who wasn’t directly related to him.

Barbatos, the demon Diavolo knows best, the demon he’s known the longest.

And in the timeline he confirms, openly, overtly, that you’re his greatest person,

You exceed that.

+++

And thus concludes part 6. I hope this has been enjoyable to read, because in parts, it was not enjoyable to write- I got a bit too picky and ended up editing this twice to add in more because I didn’t like how I’d worded it before, so guess how much time that’s eaten up OTL

Still, with this post done, we’ve only got one more! Finally. It’s the concluding part, so it’s mostly going to be bitty details that didn’t perfectly fit elsewhere, as well as a better focus on another facet of the reading route - because, yes, not only do you get to decide whether or not you eat fruit or read, you also get to decide whether Diavolo reads to you or you read to him.

I really wasn’t joking when I said this Devilgram was spoilt for choice, before. I’m absolutely not used to these stories containing anything more than a “good reaction”/”bad reaction” response, or maybe a “platonic route”/”romantic route” divide. This Devilgram, though - damn. You end up replaying it like ten times just to see everything. And it’s all voice acted, too - it’s kind of amazing.

So, if you’d like, please continue on to part 7! And thank you so much for making it through all this wordy babbling.

#obey me analysis #obey me diavolo #obey me

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

Text

A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 5 (of 7)

This one is slightly shorter one this time. It’s time to conclude one aspect of the Devilgram - the romantic route. And yes, that absolutely includes the “all night long” screenshot. So it’s a bit more dorky this time.

Of course, this once again goes into content locked by Story Keys, so here’s your cursory spoiler warning!

Before we go into the truly romantic stuff, I want to hop on these two screenshots for a moment.

The way Diavolo says this is... wistful. It’s awed. It’s satisfied. He’s so genuinely, perfectly content with this night you’ve shared together simply because you were there to make it special.

Because spending time with you makes him happy. Because he’s had one wonderful night laughing and having fun with someone he loves.

This is what’s most important to him. Whether you’re romantically inclined towards him or purely platonic, the part he cherishes is how you’ve made him feel. How light and warm; how special and loved.

He adores this night because it’s an experience he’s always desperately longed for. Because it’s a memory he’ll never forget; this gleeful time spent together, being Diavolo, the demon, with his most important person.

It didn’t need to be the most amazing night in the world - didn’t need to be the most exciting time spent doing the most thrilling things - because that’s not what mattered. It just had to be genuine. It just had to be you.

Of course... you’re now given the opportunity to choose whether you see Diavolo romantically or not. For this post, I’ve chosen the romantic route - but fret not. The platonic route is in the next post!

(Well. It’s a sort of dual-toned route, admittedly. It’s more platonic than what you’re about to read, but can still be read as romantic. But I’ll go over that better when we get to it next time.)

If you’re wondering: this is the cut-off point in the Devilgram. You either kiss him, or you tell him “no funny business” and he says he’d just like to hug you.

In other words: you’re the one who initiates this moment of romantic intimacy with him. He won’t take that step first; he lets you decide where your comfort lies, and whether or not that includes something more.

It’s your choice. This is a very, very important part of this entire Devilgram. Throughout the evening, Diavolo gives you choices; whether or not you want to watch the movie, whether you win or lose your game of Jenga; whether you read or eat fruit; whether it’s platonic or romantic. He has you exactly where he wants you, and yet he’s learnt from his past mistakes.

He knows that he can’t tie you down to him and expect you to be happy. He’s tried it with Barbatos, with Lucifer, and he’s only all too aware how forcing that bond has made it impossible to get truly close to them. They’re by his side, but he’s still disconnected from them. They stayed, but physical proximity doesn’t equate to actual love or friendship.

So, Diavolo lets you choose. At no point are you trapped in this Devilgram. You’re not tricked into spending time with him; he openly invites you over for the night, and you willingly go. You’re not told what to do; he gives you a list of things he’d enjoy, and lets you decide whether or not you go through with them. You’re not forced to be close to him; he asks if he can hold your hand, or sit closer, or feed you fruit, and at every turn you’re able to reject him without issue.

The most pushy he gets is with the Jenga game, deciding that the loser has to pay a penalty - but even then, the worst he does is ask you to pull a silly face, and encourage you if you’re embarrassed. He keeps his word if he loses, too. So even in this moment of requirement, he keeps it equal.

Diavolo’s grown from the lonely boy desperate to keep people beside him no matter the cost. He’s grown from the boy who thought that tethering someone to his side meant they’d eventually come to like him. He’s grown, and changed, and while he’s making it clear that he wants to know you better - be closer to you, be more to you - he’s willing to accept your rejection.

(Because he knows what it’s like to be beloved, now. He knows that there’s a difference in having someone close and being close to someone. He knows that he’s only gotten this far by letting you decide, and he knows that he won’t get any further if he tries to take that choice from you now.

He knows that your time together will be empty if you feel like you have to be there. He knows that it means more when, upon granting you the choice, you happily choose him.)

That said, when it comes to what Diavolo wants... This scene - this moment of decision - makes it fairly clear that, more than anything, he just wants you closer to him. He wants to end this wonderful, happy, amazing night holding you in his arms.

That’s what he wants his final memory of the night to be.

However he feels towards you - whether you believe him to host romantic feelings for you regardless of your feelings towards him, or whether you believe he only hosts those feelings if you return them - he just wants to bask in this contact and intimacy (romantic, sexual, or platonic) you’ve afforded him.

For Diavolo, touch-starved, lonely, isolated prince that he is, that’s enough.

If you kiss him, it’s an added bonus; a joy he's longed for, but couldn’t ask for. But, in both routes, this is what matters most.

Being able to savour having you close. Knowing you’re content to be that close to him. That you want to be that close to him.

That, no matter which way it goes, you chose him.

Of course, if we truly focus on the romantic aspect of it, now that we’ve covered the dividing factor...

(I fucked up. I took the screenshot too early because I was trying to capture the sparkles. It’s meant to say “makes me feel a love unlike any other”, I think.)

If you choose to kiss him, he says this. So please excuse me for a moment as I go back through an adorable ramble, alongside your regularly scheduled analysis.

Though I will note first, very quickly:

Solmare often leads towards the idea that all characters are at least a little in love with you no matter how you are towards them. It’s the best way to ensure all the characters get attention, and all players are able to have moments with their favoured love interest, without feeling as if the attraction has come out of nowhere. That said, I also think it’s nice to have a more compartmentalised experience for the people who just want to be friends with them without having to deal with unrequited feelings.

Therefore, as this only happens in the route where you choose to kiss him, it’s entirely up to you to decide what this means. Whether Diavolo, across all timelines, is in love with you, requited feelings or not (and is, in this moment, fervently happy that you love him too), or whether his romantic feelings are exclusive to timelines wherein you are romantic with him.

It’s not entirely important considering this is the romantic route, so he’s obviously going to be in love with you either way, but I thought it’d be a good thing to note for next time as well - and so people can generally just look through the screenshots seeing whichever option appeals to them most.

All of that said and out of the way,

This is cute. This is truly, impossibly cute.

He’s dreamt of this. He’s thought about kissing you, perhaps the entire night, perhaps even before this night, hoping, longing for it to happen - hoping he means as much to you as you do to him. Hoping you’d want to kiss him, too.

When Diavolo’s close to you, he feels love. He loves you, and in turn, he feels loved. With how isolated he was, with how isolated he still is - he’s very likely never had a sweetheart before. Not one he could hold the way he can hold you. Not one he can cherish the way he cherishes you.

Whether or not he’s been loved by someone he loves as well - or, the reverse; whether he’s loved someone who loves him in return - we can’t say for certain. But I’d lean towards him having not had that experience, either, considering everything he’s said across Devilgrams and in the main game. (He barely has any friends, after all; it’s highly unlikely for him to have found requited love, if he can’t even claim to have more than two friends, neither of whom he feels wholly confident are his friends by choice).

This is new to him. This feeling - the feeling you make him feel - is new, and wonderful, and he adores it. Why wouldn’t he? It means he’s finally found someone who’s gotten close enough for him to develop feelings for; someone who’s seen all of him and decided he’s good enough to love.

This is more than he’s ever had. This is maybe more than he ever thought he’d have, his friendless childhood considering. And it’s all because of you.

His first friend. His first love.

And the infamous “Diavolo rails you” sequence.

It’s admittedly more romantic than just the final screenshot lets on. You’ve given him something beyond his wildest dreams. Not only have you stayed the entire night - given him a night he’ll always remember, a night filled with laughter and love - but you’re giving him even more. You’re in his bed, pressed against him, kissing him (without him having to ask!). The extent of feeling he has to be going through... immense likely doesn’t cover it. A night of wonders he’s only ever dreamt of, and he has you all to himself till dawn.

I won’t go further than that, since that is very much treading into NSFW territory, and it feels a little redundant to cover it when it’d mostly be headcanon and speculation anyway - but I will say, at least, that I wouldn’t be surprised if the night were spent with whispered confessions and desperate, clinging holds.

+++

And so we’re done with part 5! We’re almost at the end, but honestly, there’s still a fair amount left to cover. Hopefully this post was enjoyable! I’m admittedly unsure if it’s too short... but it feels right to end it there.

The next set of screenshots go over the platonic route. It’s admittedly not as platonic as it could be - there’s still some very easy-to-read romantic overtones - but it’s significantly less romantic/saucy than this one. It feels right to consider it the platonic option, therefore, which will make more sense when we get to it.

With that said, if you’d like, lets continue this journey into part 6.

#obey me #obey me analysis #obey me diavolo

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 4 (of 7)

We’ll skip over the Jenga scene for now; there’s nothing I really want to add on from it, and typing up another post is going to kill me. Instead, we’re going straight to the next activity - and a fairly major split between choices.

This Devilgram is absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes (ironically) to choices - and each one brings about something new to learn. You can consider some of these latter parts joined up, then; I’ve just grouped together different route options for sake of reading.

Of course, we’re deep into the Devilgram now, so all territory covered is locked behind Story Keys! This is your cursory spoiler warning.

Here we begin, back to our regular schedule of Diavolo angst.

There’s a potential you thought “watching a movie together” was bad enough to write on a list of things Diavolo’s never experienced before, and wants to share in this rare moment of time he’s managed to attain alone with you. Perhaps you even thought “playing Jenga” was worse.

Neither of those activities, however, have anything on the concept that Diavolo actually, genuinely wrote down, on his list of things he’s always wanted to do with you, “lazing around, doing nothing at all”.

This is, I think, the biggest indicator that he’s just... never had an actual, genuine, casual friendship before. He’s never had someone willing to spend time with him doing nothing.

Which - well. We already knew that. He’s told us before (as I mentioned in part 1) that he genuinely struggles to remember he can just invite you over without having to trick you with “event planning”. He forgets you’re willing to be around him.

But there’s a difference between “oh, I forgot - you actually don’t mind spending time with me” and “I’ve decided that I want to schedule actual time to just do something so simple and basic, it usually happens when most people hang out, but I’ve never been able to experience it before and I think I’d enjoy that time with you more than anything.”

It hurts to realise most demons won’t spend time in his presence without reason, but it’s actively worse to realise this reaction means he cherishes the ability to do nothing with you. To just savour the fact that you’re there, you’ve stayed, and you really would be happy doing nothing at all. That someone can enjoy just being in his presence, nothing important going on, because they have nothing else to do but focus on him and they don’t mind.

It’s proof that he’s really enough. Proof that, despite how reluctant others may be to put up with him, you see something in him worth enjoying. He doesn’t need to take you out anywhere, or do anything special. He doesn’t need to make it perfect. He doesn’t need to awe and wow you to stay by his side.

He can just sit around, nothing planned, and you’ll stay.

The only times he’s been able to keep demons at his side, he’s had to tie them down with oaths and pleas. These demons have expressed annoyance, at times, when he’s tried to spend time with them - admittedly because they are busy demons, and they don’t quite enjoy the same things as Diavolo, but that doesn’t exactly make the rejection feel much better. So it’s very possible that Diavolo struggles to recognise his own self worth.

It’s very possible that he doesn’t think himself a good enough reason to enjoy a night in. Most friends can say - and often do - that they happily spend time together just hanging out. Talking, lounging around, relaxing, but not really doing much more than basking in the other’s company. Yet Diavolo can’t. Experience tells him “Diavolo’s company” isn’t enough to make someone stay.

That’s why it’s important to him to schedule this time in, despite how natural it should be. It’s not natural to him. It’s exceedingly rare, actually, and thus an activity he wants to enjoy when he has the opportunity for it.

But it’s also a reminder - proof - that at least to you, “Diavolo’s company” means something. That, to you, he means enough on his own to be worth spending time with.

Moreover, this time with you is likely dear to him due to how busy his usual schedule is. After all...

How much free time does a prince get?

How much time can he spend doing nothing, especially with you - someone so desired, people actively fight over your time and attention?

There is no better way to savour the fact he - for once - has all your time and attention, no pressing matters to attend to, than to do nothing. He can just sit there and enjoy you. No interruptions. No distractions. Nothing to fret over or worry about. Just the two of you, content in each other’s company. It’s a reassurance. A moment of, “wow, this is really real, isn’t it?”

More importantly, however, is the fact that it’s you. He’d love “nothing more. Together with you, that is...”

He doesn’t want to be on his own. That’s not the point of the activity. It’s not that he wants to do nothing, that he wants to just sit there and read or eat some fruit as if those things are significant on their own. He doesn’t just want free time because he’s busy and overworked and doing nothing is fun.

It’s specifically because you’re there. Because he’s not alone. Because these things he maybe does in his free time feel different when he’s doing them with you.

Of course, if you noticed, there’s two choices he gives you above: read, or eat fruit. I’ve gone for the reading option for this post series, as the fruit open mostly gives a romantic lead and not much development otherwise.

In this scene, Diavolo’s reading a book to you. It’s actually a single poem from an anthology he loves - from the Human World, once again.

(The Human World seems to mean a lot to Diavolo. It recurrs a lot. When he’s given the opportunity to pick something, it’s almost always media from the Human World. Whether this is because he hopes it’ll help you two bond over common ground or he just idealises the Human World, or maybe even a bit of both, is uncertain. Interesting, however, that it’s cropped up twice now; even more interesting that the only things he chooses that are Devildom-themed are games and food - things that don’t reflect human culture as much, unless you know more of the context behind them.)

The poem Diavolo reads is called “The Greatest of All.”

This poem is extremely significant for Diavolo. It’s a huge part of his characterisation in this chapter, and one of the more overt scenes at that - because he’s exceedingly clear that this poem didn’t make sense to him before. He makes it utterly transparent that something has changed - in him, in his life, in his understanding - to suddenly reveal the meaning to him.

And it’s all because of that final point.

“Only those beloved by their peers truly rule the earth.”

Diavolo’s a prince. He quite literally rules the Realm he was born in. As far as he’s aware, that’s all there is to ruling; be the monarch, and you’re there. It couldn’t possibly be more literal than that.

So what does that final line really mean, to a prince? What does it mean to someone who really is the literal definition of “ruling the earth”?

Almost nothing at all. It’s baffling. It’s nonsensical. How more truly could you rule than to physically be the demon in power?

Of course it would never click for him before.

He’s never been beloved before you.

It’s only recently that he’s understood the poem. Only recently has the Exchange Programme been in action, and only recently has he actually gotten closer to you - moreso in the much later Lessons.

Diavolo has spent much of his life in power, but completely alone. He’s had almost no connections, no friends, no love or intimate, personal attention; no-one he could say he understood like the back of his hand, who understood every aspect of him in turn.

He has power and wealth but he’s never truly ruled - not until someone who made him feel alive came into his life.

Because that’s the point of this poem. It’s not about wealth, or power, or bravery, or support - it’s about being loved.

You could have everything in the world, but you’d still be nothing compared to the person with little to their name expect the love of their friends.

Only someone who can say “I have friends who’ll stand beside me through thick and thin; who love me as much as I love them; who see the qualities in me even I didn’t know exist; who bring out the best in me and make me want to be better” is truly great. Only they can say that they have achieved the greatest potential in a fulfilling life.

Diavolo’s realised how empty his life was prior to you appearing in it. He’s realised just how little he had - how much he’s missed out on, how much he wasn’t getting from the other people he considers friends - and how much happier he is now you’re there. How much bigger he feels. How much stronger. How much greater.

You are the change that helped him make sense of the nonsensical. You, in befriending him, have utterly changed the way he exists; how he feels, how he experiences, how he thinks. You’ve brought to the table things he never would have considered before - things he never would have been able to consider, because he needed a friend to help eek them out of him; a friend he could love, and cherish, and whom loves and cherishes him just as much - and quite suddenly, he realises why having no-one limits a person no matter how much they own materially.

This poem is, very likely, the reason he understood how much you mean to him. At some point, he re-read it, reached that final line, and pictured you.

Which is an incredibly poetic way for Diavolo to show just how much you mean to him; how much you’ve improved every aspect of his life. Without having to say your name, or overtly connect you to the poem, it’s clear that it’s about you - that you’re the reason for his understanding.

Becase this poem means a lot to him, and you’re the person he wants to share it with; the one he wants to know he’s changed for.

Which perfectly leads us to this next part...

You’re his greatest person. He’s still dancing around it, but there’s really no-one else it can be - not with this description.

Diavolo has spent - if not his entire life, then a good portion of it, wondering who the most important person to him would be. There’s no way to quantify something like that - to know who’s the greatest person in your life, to find the perfect fit for a list of requirements - because everyone needs something different from the people around them. But what would that person look like for him? What would the most important person look like for a prince?

Someone as royal as he? Someone who supports him, bound to his service? Someone who has no choice but to help him in every way?

Or would it look like a human - a plain, simple, ordinary human - brave enough to tangle with demons and kind enough to befriend them, even when they don’t deserve it?

Someone willing to spend a night with him doing things others might find boring or rudimentary?

Someone who makes him feel like more than a title; like more than the “Prince of the Devildom”?

Someone who’s changed him - however many thousands of years old he is - in such a very short span of time?

When you think about it like that, really, it could only have ever been you.

+++

And thus concludes part 4! A middling one this time, I think; a bit long, but that final part was a little shorter than I had anticipated. Still, I hope you enjoyed it, and that it was easy enough to read!

Next post, we’ll be going over the concluding parts of the Devilgram - for the romantic route, at least. It’ll initially go over the scene that preceeds the choice between romantic and platonic, but then dive straight into the romantic aspect of the chapter.

So, if you’d like, please head over to part 5!

#obey me diavolo #obey me analysis #obey me

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 3 (of 7)

Unlike the previous two posts - which were fairly length - this one is a little less of a formal analysis and more of a “holy shit this man’s so fucking cute” ramble. It’s significantly shorter; I would have actually compiled these together with the previous post if Tumblr wasn’t so awful with its image-per-post limit.

It continues with Diavolo and MC watching a movie together, and once again leads into more Story Key-locked content. So, here is your cursory spoiler warning!

Picking up from the previous post, the movie Diavolo picks to watch with you is a black and white Human World film. A few thoughts come to mind on this.

One: He picked a movie specifically because he wanted to watch it with you. Not just anyone in general, or even just a human in general - specifically you. He spends a lot of time thinking about and noting down things he wants to do with you.

This, to begin with, is just... impossibly sweet. He’s never had a friend before, so he’s never had someone to think about when he’s looking at things he enjoys. Even the closest demons to him don’t generally like humouring him with his more playful whims.

Now, however? He has you. Someone willing to spend time with him. Suddenly, he has someone utterly receptive to the things he loves; someone happy enough to listen, someone who might enjoy them just as much as he does.

We’ve all done it before, after all. As soon as we know someone’s happy to listen to you ramble about something, we take note of things we think they might like so we can share it with them and (potentially) get them into it as well. Make it a bonding experience, because we like the thing and we like them, so why not mix the two? That’s how you deepen a friendship, after all.

It’s such a normal, human thing for Diavolo to do. He’s sincerely just happy to have you there; to finally have someone he can pick out likes to share with. Just a passing thought - “Oh, MC might like that, I’ll have to save it for our sleepover” - that speaks a thousand words to how often (how casually, naturally, easily) he thinks about you.

But it’s also a bit more than that. Because while this is just about the movie, we’ve already seen Diavolo admit he’s quite literally written out a list of activities he wants to do with you.

How long is that list? What sort of things has he got written down? We’ve been given a small glimpse at the list for this Devilgram, but it really is just a small glimpse. How many times has Diavolo seen something that has immediately pinged in his brain as “things I need to do with/show MC”?

(How many things has he never felt comfortable or happy showing anyone else before?

How many times has he tried to share his interests, only for them to be rejected?)

Two: It’s Human World media. Diavolo’s only recently (in the main game) gotten to see the Human World properly, and considering this is black and white, I’d say it’s fairly old. At the latest? Maybe a hundred years old at this point.

That’s (possibly) at least 100 years Diavolo’s been consuming Human World media.

The fact that he’s remembered it this long, too - for you to appear, and him to want to share it with you - either means it’s something he watches frequently, or it’s something that made a big impression on him.

Diavolo’s infatuated with the Human World, that much we already knew; one of his Homescreen interactions is about wanting to see the sunset, and another mentions how he hasn’t been to the Human World (either at all, or often). It’s something he wants to see more - something that excites him in a very boyish, childish way. Like a kid going on holiday to Disney World after seeing it on TV a thousand times.

But this isn’t a recent infatuation. The movie (potentially) proves this. Even before the Exchange Programme - before he met you - he’s held this infatuation with humanity. It’s not just about peace; there’s something about the Human World that draws Diavolo in.

There’s more evidence of this in a later post, so I’ll go over this a bit more then. For now, however...

We can say with certainty that Diavolo wasn’t kidding when he said the Exchange Programme has been a dream of his for some time. It makes me wonder just how far back he wanted to unite the Three Realms, and why; whether he started with interest in the Celestial Realm or the Human World, and whether or not he hoped the Exchange would branch out his social contacts (considering we already know that demons don’t tend to spend time with him, and Diavolo is horrendously lonely).

(As an aside: the fact that he’s seemingly so infatuated with the Human World makes it even more special for him to share this movie with you. This is something he adores, something that’s affected him so much, he’s dedicated his life to improving relations across the Three Realms - and he wants you to experience it, too.)

Three: A bit more of a joking point, admittedly. Boy really said “I’ve been wanting to watch this movie with you that I love that also happens to be related to the Human World” with the same vibe as Ariel seeing the Prince for the first time and realising he could tell her what all the crap she’s been collecting is for.

I just... love the idea that his logic is “well, MC is human. This movie was made in the Human World. Ergo, this is the most appropriate movie to watch with MC for our super special sleepover!”

He’s so determined for everything to be perfect... I wonder if this movie was his immediate choice - something he’s always known from the start he’d do with you first the moment he could - or if he debated over several movies for the longest time, trying to come up with the best possible choice.

Adorable ramble time!

He’s good, in that he won’t make you do anything you don’t want to - you’re always given the choice of how close you want to be to Diavolo, and if you want to nope out of vaguely (or even overtly) romantic situations even at the last minute - but when given the chance? He will get as close to you as possible.

He’ll have you sit right next to him, pressed arm-to-arm, thigh-to-thigh. He’ll thread his fingers through yours, and rest your joined hands on your lap. And he’ll savour every moment, because this isn’t something he gets often, if at all.

That comment - “your hand is so warm...” - has such a sense of awe to it. He’s finally close enough to you to say that you’re warm. He’s finally reached this pinnacle of contact that he’s always wanted - and look at him! He’s so happy! He’s so, genuinely, wonderfully happy to be this close to you.

He’s been wanting to watch the movie with you for at least months, if not a few years (timeline depending), and he finally has the time to show you this thing he’s genuinely excited for you to see - and it is totally blown out of the water by the fact you’re snuggled up to him, holding his hand.

That’s how special you are to him. That’s how special this moment is for him.

There’s something so sweet - and yet so heartbreaking - at seeing the damn Prince of the Devildom get so flustered over asking to hold your hand. I know that the OM demons aren’t always depicted as your typical demons, and a few of them are fairly sex-shy, but there’s just... something about this scene that hits different.

He’s so tentative, so hopeful, to be able to hold your hand. He’s so shy about it, too. And, yes, some of that is absolutely him fretting over ruining the evening by asking - fretting over chasing you off if he’s too touchy, when you’re already doing so much just by staying as long as you have - but some of it has to be him not knowing if that’s an okay thing to ask for. Wanting to get closer, but not knowing if it’s appropriate.

I have a lot of feelings about this scene. It’s just... whether you see it as romantic or not, he’s so happy. He’s so happy just to have you there. He’s so happy you’re humouring him. He’s so happy you’re letting him do these very simple things.

He’s so lonely. And you just make all of that go away.

This is actually more of a silly thing, but I just wanted to note that - the Devildom has fucking Jenga and it’s called The Demonic Tower.

I’m also still not over this for a slightly sadder reason. This is another one of the things that Diavolo wanted to do with you - another activity on his list. And it’s playing fucking Jenga.

He knew/knows so few people and has such little free time, something as simple as Jenga is riveting entertainment for him.

He’s played so few board games in his life, he actually thought it was worthwhile to write down as something he absolutely had to do with you for your special, rare night of shared time spent together.

There are so many normal, plain, boring, everyday life experiences he’s never done, and every new thing he presents just hits harder than the last.

+++

And that concludes our (slightly shorter) part 3! Once again, thank you for making it this far. Hopefully the slightly lighter post was alright-

Next post, we’re going to skip ahead a bit. The game of Jenga itself is mostly just fun, so there’s no need to focus on it specifically. What is important, however, is the next activity - and what Diavolo does based on certain choices.

So, if you’d like, head on over to part 4!

#obey me diavolo #obey me analysis #obey me

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

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A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 2 (of 7)

A continuation from the previous post! Here, we pick up with MC actually in Diavolo’s room with him, preparing for the sleepover. This covers content from the Story Key-locked chapters of the Devilgram, so here’s your cursory warning for spoilers!

Another point towards how important MC is to Diavolo, and how unusual it is for someone to actually spend time with just him. The fact that you’re there, on your own, with him, is something he’s still struggling to comprehend. Demons don’t just do that, not with him; maybe if other demons are there, like he suggests - “since everyone came with you last time” hosts the implication that he thought you came because of them, because everyone was together, and not for the sole purpose of seeing him - but never just one-on-one.

This idea that he has someone content to just be alone in his company? It’s still new to him. It’s something he’s still wrapping his head around, as much as it’s something he’s always wanted. He’s so used to being a secondary thought - to being a host for friends spending time together, and never a friend being spent time with - that you actually being there is surreal. Like a dream, or perhaps a mistake.

You’re not just there to hang out. You’re there to stay the night. You’re there, with him, without interruption. For one whole night, he has your attention, and your attention alone. There’s no second guessing here that you’re only visiting the castle to spend time with someone else; no second guessing that your eyes are drifting elsewhere, or that you’re having more fun with others. It’s you and him, in a setting he’s never gotten to experience before.

Of course he wants to savour it. Of course he wants to enjoy this very rare, very special moment he gets with you. You’re always surrounded by others; the brothers, or the Purgatory Hall boys. Barbatos is never far from his side. This moment, just the two of you, for a whole night, where he can finally be himself and have fun as any other demon would? It very, very likely means the world to him.

I’m likely not overstating when I say this is a night he’ll remember for the rest of his very long life, regardless of whether you end it romantically or platonically.

Diavolo is so behind on what it’s like to be a normal demon - and so excited to be spending time with you - that he’s come up with a list of things the two of you can do together. There’s a better screenshot for this a little later on, so I’ll go in more detail on that there, but there’s two points I want to make here:

A) Diavolo’s so desperate to make this night something special, he actually pre-planned the sleepover to make it more enjoyable for you. That’s how much your time together means to him. He doesn’t get to see you much; he wants to make every second count.

(And maybe, if you enjoy the night, you’ll be more likely to come over again.)

B) There’s a literal list of things Diavolo wants to do with you. When he thinks about doing something with someone? You’re his go-to. There are experiences he wants to share with a friend he cares for and who cares for him just as much, and he’s chosen you to be that friend.

(Here, you essentially say that you love the onesies. It’s one of the options you can choose.)

Diavolo made everyone a set of onesies because, to him, that’s what helps make an evening (and subsequent sleepover) more enjoyable. This is really what I meant by him living the childhood he never got to have. You don’t actually need onesies to make a sleepover fun, and to a lot of adults, it’s something of a childish aspect (as is the concept of a sleepover at all); they’re something you enjoy when you’re young and the idea of dressing up as a dragon is exciting, not what you do as a fully-grown adult (who is more likely to be embarrassed by the concept, as Barbatos is).

The fact that Diavolo isn’t aware of this - or perhaps outright doesn’t care - suggests the entire experience is brand new. He’s excited because he’s never had the chance to do this before, and his inner child - the one that never really had a chance to live - is thriving.

It also shows a lot of inexperience regarding the concept of sleepovers. Diavolo... really doesn’t know what to do. Case in point? He didn’t get the idea of the onesies from his own mind or understanding of sleepovers:

He was told by Asmodeus that pajama parties have to come with “adorable leisure wear”.

There are a few implications here.

One, Diavolo went to Asmodeus for advice. He often does this when he wants to set up events, if only because Asmodeus is a big party animal and up-to-date on the party scene - but the fact that he did it for this? For a sleepover? It says a lot.

Diavolo has no idea what a sleepover entails. He’s absolutely clueless on what they are and how they work. He’s never had one before; never seen how they function. He likely doesn’t realise that a sleepover can really be nothing more than spending your time talking before calling it a night and crashing in bed.

So, knowing his own ignorance, he went to the one demon most likely to know what they are - and not just that, but how to throw the best sleepover possible. He wants this to be a night for he and MC to remember, after all; the better the party is, the more fun he thinks the two of you will have.

In other words? He’s so determined that the night be good, he went to someone else to learn the things he never got to live.

Two, Diavolo fully trusts Asmodeus on anything regarding parties. This isn’t a huge point, but I want to note this because it has come up before.

Diavolo, in chats, has expressed upset over not being invited to Asmodeus’ parties, and in Devilgrams, has asked for Asmodeus’ help in setting up events. He knows this is something Asmo’s good at and that will likely make him happy, as well as something that allows Diavolo to spend a little time in his company.

So, it’s not just MC that he tries to get close to - it’s everyone. You’re just... the most reciprocal to his attempts at friendship.

That said, though, he trusts Asmo’s advice enough to go back to him for more. Which says a lot! He’s a prince; he could have someone else do the research for him, and he probably has a party planner of some sort, since most royals actually do considering the amount of ceremonies they host. Instead? He personally goes to Asmo and asks for his thoughts. And not only does he listen to them, but:

Three, this is still a novelty to Diavolo, but it’s also something he’s taking seriously. He’s not just reciting Asmodeus’ words directly - you really can hear Asmo’s voice in the first screenshot, as if he’s saying them verbatim - he’s also praising Asmodeus for the knowledge he was given as if it’s some sort of secret law Diavolo wasn’t aware of.

Which absolutely makes sense. Diavolo’s gone to Asmodeus about various events before - such as the colour party in the Concealed in Colour Devilgram - and much of those come with a set of “rules” that make the events what they are. It’s entirely possible that Diavolo genuinely thinks you have to wear onesies for it to be a proper pajama party. He doesn’t have the experience to tell him otherwise; he’s never had one before!

Plus, we all know how theatrical Asmodeus is. The chances of him emphasising that “a pajama party just isn’t a pajama party without onesies!” is fairly high. Diavolo wouldn’t know better. So, naturally, he’d make everyone a onesie, and include them in this sleepover he’s set up to pack everything he never got to experience into.

This is the final set of screenshots for this post, since the next really does need its own, but! This is the part I mentioned before, noting that Diavolo actually, legitimately wrote up a list.

Firstly? This is a list of things he wants to do with you. It’s not just a sleepover list - although it is, since a lot of what follows are typical sleepover-related events - but a list he’s written up specifically for your time together.

I cannot express how sad this is. This is how little Diavolo gets to see you, particularly one-on-one. This is how little Diavolo gets to do with anyone. This is what Diavolo sees as thrilling for a night of fun.

Watching a movie with you, and eating popcorn.

It is the most mundane thing anyone could come up with. This is the sort of thing you do spontaneously at a sleepover - “hey, anyone wanna watch a movie? I think we’ve got popcorn in the cupboard” - and yet... it’s something so unique to him, he actually wrote it down.

Movies take time. At least an hour and a half. The fact that he’s never had the chance to do this with you before suggests he’s never had so much as an hour and a half of free time spent just with you, without anything else going on - and you're someone perfectly willing to visit him at the drop of a hat.

It's sad to think that part of Diavolo's struggles in making (and keeping) friends may entirely revolve around how difficult it is to spare time for the beings he cares about.

It's likewise sad to think that this time is so rare, he openly tells you he'll cherish the mundanity of watching a movie.

Moreover, these are the experiences he sees as prime importance for the very lengthy time you're sharing together.

He's the Prince of the Devildom, and there are almost definitely events that humans have never been able to experience before going on across his kingdom well into the night. He could take you to events beyond comprehension; to scenes that would enrapture you and fill you with awe; to places you would never be able to reach without him by your side...

Yet all he wants to do is watch a movie with you.

If it's true that he doesn't get to spend much time with you (if any at all) in a casual capacity, Diavolo is explicitly showing here that what matters most to him is time spent in personal, close contact. He doesn't have to make your time with him grand and ever-lasting; he just wants to share these normal, plain, everyday experiences with you.

You make him feel normal. You afford him to exist in a way he simply can't at any other point in time, with anyone else. This is more special to him because of what it represents. Because it's you, and him, doing something everyone does. Because you're his friend, and he's doing friend stuff with you.

It's a little awkward - a little stiff and formal with the list and the setup - but it's only because he knows he doesn't get much time with you, knows he might not get more time with you for several months, and he's so out of touch with how friendships work he wants to do everything in a single night.

In other words? You're his friend. He wants to know what it feels like to have a normal friendship with you. And he wants to stuff every rare moment he gets in your company full of activies he's not been able to do with you before.

Which brings us to the second point: the importance is in his wording.

He's wanted this for "quite some time". There's an implication that he's not just spontaneously come up with a bunch of activities he thinks you'll enjoy or that are typical to the sleepover experience; he's chosen things he's been dying to do with you. Things he's been sitting on for some time, patiently waiting for the chance - for the perfect alignment of stars - to actually bring up to you.

Maybe these are things Diavolo has always wanted to do. Things he's noted down and planned out since he was a child, having heard other demons talk of them, so he could experience them at a point in time where he finally had friends of his own. Maybe they're things he's only thought of doing more recently, clinging onto the hope that he could actually plan for experiences, even in the tentative quiet of his own mind, with your arrival. It's hard to tell.

But in either case? He is so genuinely thrilled to be able to spend time with you, he has enough ideas - enough experiences he's never shared with someone before - that he's fully capable of making a list.

This is how isolated Diavolo was, and still is. This is how much of his childhood - of his life - he missed out on. This is why he's so enthusiastic to spend any time with you he can.

He has an entire back catalogue of perfectly generic things he's simply never done.

That has to be one hell of a lonely life if something like "watch a movie together" is something he's been wanting to do "for some time". That has to be one hell of an isolated life if this, to him, is his most desired item on his itinery - and not the thousands of things magic and rulership leave in potential at his fingertips.

Which leads me to conclude this post on one, final question.

How long since your arrival in the Devildom has he wanted to spend simple time with you?

+++

And thus, we conclude part 2! Thank you for reading this far once again. Hopefully it was enjoyable!

The next set of screenshots dip into the movie experience with Diavolo, and are a tiny bit lighter than the previous two posts.

So, if you’d like, hop over to part 3!

#obey me diavolo #obey me analysis #obey me

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danteinthedevildom · 3 years

Text

A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 1 (of 7)

I mentioned (a while ago, oops) that I had a lot of thoughts on Diavolo’s character as revealed in the A Royal Pajama Party Devilgram. I ended up with so many screenshots, I couldn’t contain them all to a single post - so I’ve had to split it up into seven parts (ironically).

For this first part, I’m focusing on the free chapter. Spoilers under the cut, of course!

To start off with, I’m going to focus on this one, single screenshot. Despite how short it is, there’s a lot that’s revealed in just six words.

My main point of focus? Diavolo is so genuinely excited to spend time with you - actual time, not time he’s tried to slot in with some pretend event to trick you into hanging out with him - that he’s been actively waiting for you to turn up.

This is something I’ve noted before, but we know from previous Devilgrams that Diavolo doesn’t often get to spend time with other beings simply because nobody really wants to. He openly admits that he has to trick his friends into it by planning parties - as seen in the Concealed in Colour Devilgram - and that he struggles to get out of that habit now that he’s found someone (you) willing to visit the castle just to see him. No other alterior motives required.

And here he is, finally setting something up without trying to trick you into it! He doesn’t feel as unsure about your friendship with him anymore; he’s aware - and accepted - that you are there for him, to see him, and that he really can just ask for your time and have you willingly show up. So he’s created this little, private sleepover just to hang out with you. That shows a heck of a lot of improvement in his confidence with you and the strength of your friendship (or relationship, depending).

It also just shows the sheer excitement he has towards it. He’s anticipating the moment you arrive with such ferver that he’s been actively waiting for you. I’ll go over this a little more beneath another screenshot, but this really does highlight A) just how much it means to him that you’re coming over for a hangout and nothing more, and B) how rarely this happens for him that it’s an event worth waiting for.

This is, mostly, just exceedingly cute, in my eyes.

Firstly, the onesies are canonically a gift from Diavolo due to his enthusiasm for the concept of sleepovers and his enjoyment at having everyone wear one (which he believes makes it feel like a festivity). He’s so into the idea of everyone doing something together that, even if they aren’t specifically there with him, he’s had these outfits made for the beings he considers friends to unify them in fun and merriment.

These are things he’s never been able to do before. With his isolated and sheltered childhood, the experience of sleepovers with friends - something more than normal for most (if not all) of us - would have been something he completely missed out on due to the impossibility. He couldn’t get anyone close enough to him to even make friends, let alone have them spend the night with him playing games and having fun.

So, this act of making onesies and sending them out? This is probably his own way of replicating that experience. He’s aware that a lot of the demons - and possibly the angels - won’t be too enthused with the events he has planned, and might begrudge even showing up. Doing this instead - letting them have their own sleepovers but with his gift - is like giving them that freedom and distance from him while still being involved.

It also shows the sort of relationship he wants to have with them. Yes, he canonically needs to send everyone an outfit since that’s how outfits in these events work - but the devs could have just as easily come up with some other reason for them all having onesies. Considering the main event, it could’ve literally just been “these are outfits forced on them as part of the curse, and are retained afterwards as a reminder of the experience”.

To state, then, that Diavolo had these made for everyone - and combined with another screenshot I’ll show later, where Diavolo announces that he believes onesies to be part of the sleepover experience - shows that he wants the other main characters to be the kind of friends comfortable and happy enough in his company to willingly spend extended time with him.

(It also shows, I think, that they’re the friends he always hoped for as a child. You often find that people who were isolated as children or forced to grow up too quickly try to recreate moments they never got to experience in their childhood once they’re adults. I fully believe Diavolo is doing this. He’s always doing this; it’s why he can be so immature at times. He wasn’t allowed to be a normal kid, so he’s being a big kid now to make up for lost time. It’s why it’s so important to him that he does this sort of thing with others.)

Secondly, I love the wording of the second screenshot: “I’ve had yours specially tailored”.

This is a way around not showing MC with a onesie, and allowing all of us to create our own, sure. However, it’s also Diavolo openly admitting that he’s put extra work (and no doubt time and money) into having MC’s outfit created. After all, it’s not likely due to us being human; Solomon’s a human too, and he got his onesie without issue (Simeon explains that Purgatory Hall get theirs at the same time in his SSR Devilgram, Purgatory’s Pajama Party).

The implication? Diavolo didn’t just want to give us a onesie; he wanted to give us the perfect onesie.

Do you recall that I said I’d come back to Diavolo’s waiting later? This is why. (Please excuse the shoddy editing to remove my own MC’s name-)

This exchange says so much about Diavolo’s relationship with you. Not only is he anticipating your arrival, he’s anticipating it with such unrestrained glee that he - the Prince of the Devildom; most powerful demon in his entire kingdom - ignored typical royal protocol and sat down in front of the castle entrance, impatiently waiting for your arrival, so he could be the first person you saw as you entered.

The way he words it, you can imagine him bubbling with excitement, eyes constantly flickering over to the clock, shifting in his seat until the need to pace drew him to his feet, counting down the minutes until your scheduled arrival. Then, maybe fifteen minutes early - or thirty, or an hour - he can’t contain himself anymore. The sheer excitement - the knowledge that you’ll be there soon, there of your own free will, there to spend time with him - finally gets the better of him, and he sneaks away to stand before the grand front doors, eagerly awaiting the moment they open to reveal your much-loved form.

I’d definitely say it was a substantial amount of time, too. Fifteen minutes at the least, and maybe an hour at the most; Barbatos seems genuinely shocked, and the fact he says “all this time” implies Diavolo’s been guarding the door for a while. Longer than any reasonable demon - let alone a royal one - should have been.

This childish excitement really does show just how much of that lost youth Diavolo is getting back through MC. You let him experience things he never got to; things that were utterly normal for everyone else. He gets to replace those memories of loneliness and isolation with these moments of exhilaration and unrepentant joy - all because you treat him like someone normal. Someone worthy of care.

Additionally, the extent to his feelings towards you? Fully encompassed in that screenshot: “For [MC], no amount of time is too long.”

He cares about you and enjoys your company to such a degree, he’ll wait however long it takes just to see you. Every moment spent counting the minutes and seconds is worth it if, at the end, he gets to spend time with you. You - the one being he’s fully confident enjoys his presence as much as he enjoys yours - mean so much to him, you’re fully capable of making the Prince of the Devildom wait for hours, and he’ll be perfectly content to just sit there until you arrive.

What other being in all the Three Realms can claim the same thing? That they made the Prince wait for their arrival, and rather than be met with annoyance and disregard, they walked in to a veritable man-puppy so overwhelmingly enthused to see them he had to be scolded by his butler for breaking protocol?

The best part, of course, is Barbatos’ response. He sounds so resigned, so disbelieving; like a mother sighing over their child’s ridiculous behaviour.

This isn’t the first time Diavolo’s done something like this. This isn’t the first time Barbatos has had to reprimand Diavolo for acting in an un-princely manner over you. It’s something we’ve seen before, of course - in the aforementioned Concealed in Colour Devilgram, Barbatos teases Diavolo for constantly inviting MC over just to see you - but in this instance? When it’s not just Diavolo making up some scheme to lure you to the castle? It implies something else.

Firstly, it implies Diavolo’s behaviour regarding you is completely different to his behaviour regarding anyone else. That sort of childish, gleeful, almost puppyish excitement? The enthusiasm that makes him lose his poise and authority, and drives him to do such expressive things as wait to greet you at the front door? That’s very likely reserved only for you. It’s only you that he so wholly loses his shit over, to be absolutely blunt about it. It’s only you he feels so strongly for as to make such a bold declaration over.

Secondly, though? It implies this sort of... length, I think, is the best way to word it; the lengths Diavolo will go for you, even in really small, insignificant ways. “Whenever anything concerns [you] in the slightest”, Diavolo will forego all set boundries and standards. That feeling of resignation is Barbatos chastising Diavolo’s utter willingness to do... pretty much anything for you.

He’s just so excited that you’re there, he overreacts. From the tone, the sprite, and the wording used, I could fully imagine that, when it comes to you, Diavolo isn’t above diving out windows just to keep good on a promise. He isn’t above going the extra mile for your sake, whether asked for or not.

And though it’s done in a humorous way here - really just implying that Barbatos is a bit done with Diavolo’s sillier antics when it comes to you - it does make me wonder just how far that goes. It’s when anything concerns you “in the slightest”. Not just directly, but anything that has you in it even tangentially.

How much has Diavolo done, or planned, or changed, solely because it might have a glancing side-effect that makes you smile? How many times has Barbatos had to mention your name in something to get Diavolo to take an active interest in it? How many times has, “I believe MC would benefit from this...” actually worked to get Diavolo to consider a proposed deal?

More than that, however; if these are the lengths Diavolo goes to when you’re only slightly involved... what lengths would he go to if you’re more directly involved? What lengths would he go to if your involvement was something dangerous? Something that could have a rippling effect across the Three Realms?

You’re the only true friend Diavolo really has. He’s admitted before, more than once - both in the main game and in Devilgrams - that he’s aware both Lucifer and Barbatos don’t consider him as much of a friend as he considers them, and although we know of someone like Queen Rose, we don’t actually know the full extent of their friendship. Certainly not all too close, if the Dame event was anything to go by; it still felt stiff and formal, and Diavolo was still putting on airs.

You’re the only friend he can really let loose with; can laugh and play and spend time with, without having to do so through a veneer of formality.

He can be himself around you. Not the Prince, but Diavolo.

How far would Diavolo go to preserve the only friend he’s ever had?

+++

This post is the longest one of the lot, so if you made it this far - thank you! Hopefully it’s been an enjoyable and easy read.

The next set of screenshots are a bit more clear and don’t require so much in-depth thinking, but still provide plenty food for thought regarding Diavolo and his relationship with MC. They also go into content that you have to use Story Keys to unlock, so if you’re unwilling to see spoilers, you’ll have to end your reading here.

That said, if you’ve already unlocked the Devilgram (or are curious about what happens next/how much we learn about Diavolo in the next chapter), you can hop right over to part 2!

#obey me diavolo #obey me analysis #Character analysis more like but... you know #obey me

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