#demon lord's castle

[noirs-pages]

Diavolo and Lucifer 1

Summary: You have a particular way of greeting Diavolo every time you see him, to the chagrin of Lucifer.

Lucifer was… odd to you, to say the least, in terms of the lens you view him under. When not inflated with his pride, he’s someone you can generally tolerate and be able to have civil conversations with, but there’s a distance you want to keep with him.

It’s not out of fear, you can’t fear someone who’s pride gets so easily bruised that he flares up like a bird. No, you keep your distance because the longer you stay around him, the more Lucifer gets the idea that you’ll be happy to be subservient to him. To be his little assistant to bully as he pleases, like a dog hoping for a reward.

You can’t say you’re surprised. A demon of pride like him would value his own pride more than your own, and as such, would want for the taming of your pride with his presence.

You can’t even ask him for help. You just refuse to feed into his pride in any way.

You’re polite when you need to be, but that’s about the extent of it. It irritates you, how your status as a human being leads to Lucifer treating you like less than a capable adult and more an entertaining thing to press and prod.

It’s why you couldn’t help but smile when you saw Diavolo walk into the council room.

In an instant, Lucifer stopped with his teasing smile and lowered his head just a bit in a subtle but clear show of respect to a demon he deemed superior. It can easily be seen as him giving a friendly greeting, but you knew better.

“Ah, Lucifer!” And, of course, Diavolo presence and voice was as loud as ever.

You slipped out of your chair and past Lucifer. You felt a small flare of heat from him, probably for breaking one of his social taboos that he’s so stuck on, but he can’t full out show his anger.

Not when Diavolo was in the room, and certainly not when he’s focusing on you.

Alright, time to internally kill Lucifer.

“Hey there, Big Pup,” you reached your hands out, up into the air, and let your smile get softer when Diavolo instinctively lowered his head towards you, “how you doing?”

You sunk your fingers into his hair and ruffled it around, like you would with any good dog. You almost snorted when you heard Lucifer behind you choke on his own spit.

You didn’t start off with these kinds of friendly greetings with Diavolo, you’re not exactly a person that easily shows open affection. However, you are a pretty blunt person all things considered. You were zoning out and ended up focusing on Diavolo’s hair just because the color was so rich and told Diavolo as such when he asked you why you were staring.

And when Diavolo asked if you wanted to touch, the rest was history. Poor man, the first hair ruffling really left a number on him. His eyes went wide and you can just see the dopamine being shot into his veins. And for the rest of that meeting, his eyes kept drifting back to your hands.

It was silly as well as cute. And now you have the added bonus of it being endlessly entertaining because Diavolo has no qualms with getting your hands on his head with his friends watching.

“I’m doing quite fine, thank you,” Diavolo rumbled out after a delay, almost losing himself to your hands, “Barbatos has been working me to the bone. There’s so much to do.”

“How horrible, but there’s nothing to be done,” you sighed before backing away, pleased by the little sigh of disappointment that left Diavolo’s lips.

“Diavolo,” Lucifer finally recovered enough to speak up, “while it is only us here, it’s best for you to conduct yourself as someone befitting your position. What are you going to do if someone else witnessed you being pet like and called a ‘pup?’”

You just shrugged your shoulders, knowing full well Lucifer was not talking to you, “Hey, he’s the one that gave his stamp of approval. If he wants the pats, he gets the pats.”

His opinion doesn’t really matter and it’s nice to remind Lucifer of it.

“There’s no harm being done, Lucifer,” Diavolo laughed with some shame but you’re glad to see he didn’t give into it, “it’s just a cute human greeting. Perhaps you want to give it a try?”

You pulled your hands out of your pockets, shaping them into claws as though you’re ready to pounce on Lucifer’s head.

“Well?” You asked with a light tilt of your head, knowing he won’t say yes.

“I’ll have to pass,” the vein on Lucifer’s head thickened a bit, jaw tense, but ultimately let it go with a sigh. He’s fighting a losing battle.

Ah, no wonder you and Lucifer don’t quite get along. You both like having your prides fed.

[today-in-the-devildom]

All three locations failed yesterday's inspection spectacularly!

HoL is always a 50/50, nothing new there

turns out three angels aren't enough to keep the stubborn sorcerer from accidentally committing new culinary war crimes

instead of playing dumb, Lord Diavolo tried to sway Barbatos with an "I can explain" when confronted about the handful of pickles near Henry 1.0

So it's cleaning time right now! Barbatos even put the Little D.s in charge of supervising Lord Diavolo, and made it very clear to the rest that if their houses are not spotless by the end of the day, they would all get to call his torture chamber their new home until he's grown tired of their screams :)

Barbatos meanwhile enjoys his day off by playing dress-up with his favorite human, taking them to all across the Devildom in a matter of seconds, and tending to their every need

-April 22nd-

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[nocreativityfornames]

Man, single parenting is hard

A single night

These two can't be away from home for a SINGLE NIGHT

[shootingstarrfish]

day 18!!

[betterbooksandthings]

Best Fantasy Anime (with mostly female leads)

Listen, I love fantasy anime. They are fun and I love a fight scene as much as the next girl. I am relatively uninterested in male leads mostly because of the *cough, cough* excessive fan service. So, without further adu, if you are interested in some fantasy with women at the helm here's what I got.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Yona of the Dawn

Inuyasha

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I'm Not the Demon Lord

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

Fluffy Paradise

Ascendance of a Bookworm

I Shall Survive Using Potions!

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent

Tearmoon Empire

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Reincarnated as a Sword

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools

Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess

Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!

Management of Novice Alchemist

I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History

Nina the Starry Bride

Snow White with the Red Hair

These ones I am keeping an eye on but signs point to a favorable outcome.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor

Promise of Wizard

[night-orcid]

[moeblob]

Gaining so many followers for fanart overnight .... here take OCs.

Solei: I don't like how cheery the demon castle is.... where's your husband, Sascha? Solei: A...are you going to cry because you can't carry two big lizards at once, Reynold? Solei: (i hate it here and i hate them)

[luckykittysshowerthoughts]

Headcanon that Michael is a really dumb drunk. Like, a really, REALLY dumb drunk.

"calls an uber home because he refuses to drive drunk but the party was at his house" kind of dumb. Zero brain cells.

Luckily, he has a high alcohol tolerance and doesn't get drunk drunk too often.

[jilted-love]

At the end of YYH manga where it was revealed that reikai was brainwashing demons to attack humans, Yusuke wondered if he caught any that were victims of reikai's corruption under Enma. I'm pretty sure this was the case with the Saint Beasts.

The Saint Beasts are based on 4 guardian spirits of the 4 cardinal directions. They were actually worshipped as gods or benefactors in mythology. (hello Fushigi Yuugi fans, remember Suzaku, the phoenix of the south?) Everyone from Demon City was labeled as "criminal" but we never knew of their crimes. And the only demand of the Saint Beasts from reikai was their freedom as prisoners (which is not wrong because the endgame of YYH is human-youkai coexistence after the incarceration of Enma that Koenma did himself). But because reikai refused and oppressed demons, the Saint Beasts rebelled.

Now, based on mythology, the Saint Beasts should be strong and at least A class if not S class because these are youkai that were worshipped as guardian spirits. For reference, Kurama as a youko or a fox spirit that could be prayed to as well, was A class before getting hunted. And Raizen as a toushin or a war god was upper S class. Saint Beasts could be in between them based on the mythology.

So why were the Saint Beasts demoted to C class? The youkai that reikai were able to hunt and brainwash were probably once high leveled youkai. They caught A class youkai, brainwashed and weakened them to manageable levels and then let out to cause troubles that will justify the barrier for reikai. This could have been Kurama's fate when he was hunted by reikai if he wasn't able to escape as a spirit.

The Saint Beasts could have gotten the peace and coexistence that humans and youkai have at the end of the manga if only Yusuke and his team didn't kill them. It's ironic that Kurama and Hiei's first assignment to help Yusuke and Kuwabara to get pardoned as criminals was one of the times they were probably condemning the wrong people because of reikai's corrupted manipulation under Enma's rule.

Edit: To make this meta more on point, think about where the Worm Whistle could have come from. It's the weapon that Suzaku used to turn humans into brainwashed zombies. Hiei mentioned that he's only interested in the tools and treasures the Saint Beasts stole but never mentioned what those were. So did the Worm Whistle come from reikai? This was never clear in the story but the Worm Whistle functions like the Demon Sword that Hiei used. They both transformed humans. If the Worm Whistle is an artifact from reikai, why the hell does reikai have not one but two artifacts that were harmful to humans? And how did Suzaku manage to get something like that if the youkai of the Demon City could not escape from there? Reikai could have given the Saint Beasts a weapon to manipulate them into being a threat to ningenkai. If the arc about reikai's corruption was fleshed out in the manga, Koenma's investigation could involve how many artifacts reikai possesses that are threats to humanity which somehow end up in youkai hands.

[qrowsofafeather]

F, Lamb-bae

I had the pleasure of writing for @julia-loves-cupcakes in the @obeymeholidayexchange this year. Best of wishes for 2025~ Also on my AO3!

Luke doesn’t believe weird anime foods actually exist in MC’s world so Barbatos decides their next baking collaboration will be one such dish.

After the fifth “Last photo, no seriously!” they managed to extricate themself with the promise to take and upload photos to their Devilgram the entire time. Not caring if anyone was watching, they carefully tucked the knot of their bundled apron between their teeth and bounded down the hallway on all four hooves.

At first, they had been worried the brothers would judge them for the strange habit, but then they’d seen Belphie charge into furniture like a bull, Satan running up the stairs like a cat, and even Beel clinging to the ceiling to nonchalantly eat in peace.

The doors of the House Of Lamentation swung open without so much as a whisper, seemingly aware - and fond - of the little sheep. They were running so fast, they nearly bowled over the guest waiting at the base of the front steps.

“MC!” the short angel cried, bouncing happily in place, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Luke grabbed the sheep’s forehoof and took off running. MC stumbled after him, laughing.

They’d long-since gotten used to the Devildom, to RAD and its students - something they never would have believed in a million years had someone suggested it just a few years ago. They’d also believed the little angel, who wore his passionate heart on his sleeve, when he constantly professed his disdain and outright contempt for demons - but here he was, a big grin on his face as the two rushed to the Demon Lord’s Castle.

They were greeted by Barbatos at the door, giving them the slight bow he insisted they deserved as honored guests of the Devildom and treasured friends of its Lord. “Welcome MC, Luke. Please, follow me to the kitchen.”

.

.

.

They looked at the assembled ingredients - thrice-drowned-rice flour, albinic hell ostrich egg, a wide variety of frozen dairy products, and, oddly enough, a box of almonds from the Human World - trying to guess what dessert they would be making today.

Barbatos smiled faintly, “I happened to overhear Levi complaining that you said his anime was full of nonsense of a scene involving the use of a flamethrower in the kitchen.”

“But that’s silly!” Luke protested, “Burning food means you cooked it for too long.”

“I thought it best to demonstrate with ice cream, a dessert from the Human World. It’s called ‘Baked Alaska’, have you perhaps heard of it, MC?”

They were already drooling. “Ice cream…” The sheep had clearly spent too long in the company of Beel. Blotting the corner of their mouth with their apron, MC undid the bundle’s strings and tied their cute custom-ordered apron around their midsection with deft hoof motions. “Can’t wait to try it out!”

Luke’s face was red with a defiant pout as if expecting to be teased for it, reaching into a side cupboard and pulling out his own apron - apparently such a frequent visitor to the Castle’s kitchen to warrant keeping spares there - which was decorated with three small puppies.

Barbatos’ apron had been a gag gift from MC, just as a joke, one that made Diavolo laugh until the towering demon nearly cried, but it had definitely been used and laundered with special care. “The recipe I settled upon calls for multiple layers, and I felt we should each choose a flavor to represent this unity amongst the Realms.”

MC hopped up on the stool reserved specifically for them and drifted their hoof across the labels; they weren’t picky, but what did they feel best represented the Human Realm? Finally, they settled on a pale rainbow swirl - not bubblegum-flavored, sadly.

“I pick… this one!” They turned to see Luke hefting a large tub of tan cake-themed ice cream above his head.

“Then I shall finish with this.” Barbatos held out his own container. “Green tea, for a mild undercurrent.”

Ooh, that did sound good, actually.

“Would you please store them in the fridge for now, while I return the others? Our choices must be soft enough to spread, but not melted entirely.”

The young angel excitedly carried the three containers as directed, too enthusiastic for his usual ‘we should not associate with demons!’ protestations. Food truly could surpass cultural differences, even across gaps as large as those between the Three Realms.

“MC, I will trust you with crushing the almonds and chocolate. Luke, will you handle the meringue, please? The dry ingredients have yet to be measured and your attention to detail will make it extra soft and fluffy.”

The MC had a big grin on their face as they poured the blanched almonds into the blender and hit the start button. Grinding it by hoof in a mortal and pestle would’ve been more fun, but there was still the hellishly dark cacao to break up. Wielding the large knife with a gleeful flourish, they attacked the chunks in their bowl.

Barbatos hid an amused smile as he observed his proteges at work; Luke was so intent on whipping the egg whites that his tongue was poking out of his mouth in concentration. Once the right amount of chocolate had been chopped, he poured it into a pot of melting butter.

Luke handed over most of his mixture after folding in the sugar for Barbatos to finish the cake batter. There was a brief squabble between the younger pair over what order the ice cream layers should be, but it was quickly and amicably resolved.

.

.

.

“Are you ready?” the butler asked, holding a bottle of cooking Demonus over the assembled dessert, ready to pour into the half-shell nestled atop a colossal mound of eggy goodness.

MC looked at the blowtorch in Luke’s eager hand with some alarm and quickly hopped down from their stool. “I’ll start putting things away, don’t worry!” What if their wool caught on fire and they had to run in panicked circles around the room until someone could put it out!? As they hustled out of flamesreach, a loosened apron string caught under one hoof and they fell over with a startled bleat, sending a mixed cloud of superfine sugar and flours into the air.

At that exact moment fire shot out to ignite the alcoholic spirits dripping down the dish’s sides, suddenly jumping to the ultra-combustible particulates that filled the room.

There was a loud silence, followed by a single “Oh, dear,” from Barbatos, who really should have seen that coming.

Luke scrambled over to a very singed-looking sheep, who made a pathetic sooty cough. “Oh no, are you alright?”

MC nodded, being lifted to their hooves and giving a full-body shake with several sneezes, revealing that their pretty pastel wool was mostly unburnt. “Sorry,” they apologized, wrinkling their snout as Barbatos delicately wiped first Luke’s and then MC’s face clean with a handkerchief he pulled out of seemingly nowhere; a good butler was prepared for everything.

“Is the Baked Alaska okay?”

“MC, is that really the most imp-”

“I’m certain it will be fine,” Barbatos reassured the sheep, knowing how much they detested conflict. They also didn’t like other people worrying over them, so he had to redirect Luke’s concern before his dearest MC grew upset. “Mistakes happen all the time, and many delicious discoveries are the result of either accidents or simple curiosity.”

Nobody said a word, but they were in complete agreement that Solomon’s dishes had never been - nor would they ever be - a part of that esteemed group.

[beevean]

Is there a direct translation of the story written in Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge's Japanese instructional manual? (Not talking about the North American instruction manual's writing of the story)

Apparently not. Let me fix that.

Count Dracula was alive...

After a fierce battle with Christopher, he had escaped from the collapsing castle and narrowly avoided death.

However, having exhausted his powers, his body had turned to mist, and he was no longer able to transform into a human.

The Count decided to wait for the time to regain his physical form and take revenge on the Belmont family...

One day, 15 years later, in a village in Transylvania, the coming-of-age ceremony for Christopher's son, Soleil, was held.

He had officially inherited the title of Vampire Hunter, and with the power of two vampire hunters, father and son, it was thought that the peace of Transylvania would last forever...

However, the next day, Soleil disappeared from the village like mist. And that night, four castles appeared, casting a magical shadow with a thunderous roar.

Yes, the Count had been waiting for this moment.

Now that Soleil has grown up and acquired holy powers, Dracula plans to use the last of his magical powers to turn him into the Dark Lord, and use that power to regain his lost body.

Christopher is horrified to find out that his son is being controlled. He must do whatever it takes to rescue his son and crush the Count's ambitions.

And so, a new battle is about to begin.

[noirs-pages]

Diavolo 1

Summary: A morning with you and your pet Diavolo, who always insists on sleeping with you.

(haaaaa I really hate the grind of this game. Really am spoiled by Arknights, not that it’s a breeze but at least I don’t have to rely on stupid huge numbers for, like, 2 minutes of story. Anyways, house pet au, but obey me this time.)

Honestly, you could never understand the reverence a lot of your fellow ex-students would give towards their own pets. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but there’s something about the kind of worship they’d show that would put a bad taste in your mouth. You treat something like a untouchable god, you inevitably end up putting a distance that you’ll never want to cross.

Those students packed on so many rules, they never failed to stifle you just by hearing them. And oh, the amount of times you were forced through lecture after lecture about the “proper” way to respect your pet, like you haven’t had Diavolo for years. All because he just so happens to be a creature that all other pets bow down to.

You must always wait for him to eat before you do. You must give up your bed if he finds it suitable. Never sleep in the same space as him. Clean yourself up, as your conduct reflects his. Correct your stance, as you must hold up to the reputation such as creature has.

Fuck off.

You can imagine all those high class people clutching at their pearls when you woke up to Diavolo flat on the back of your head, all four wings spread right over your face and ears like he’s trying to keep the sun’s leaking rays out. His little claws were lightly hooked on your scalp, just to keep himself from sliding down.

You reached up, slowly nudging the dozing creature off your head and onto the pillow next to you. Naturally, the loss of warmth woke him up, though he wasn’t fully alert. He looked ready to fall back asleep but he could never sleep without you nearby. You sat up, allowing Diavolo to crawl and curl into your lap. His leathery wings twitched and flapped and you couldn’t resist smoothing your thumb over them.

“Mornin’ little guy,” you sighed out, patting his back of dark red scales with flecks of gold. "You're more tuckered out than usual, huh?"

No matter how many years have passed, you still find his pattern to be fascinating. The vibrancy of that gold was suiting for his status, though even with that fact made apparent to you time and time again, it still felt far away.

The most powerful pet known to anyone, as you’ve been told, and yet it has not clicked with you. Diavolo is just Diavolo to you. Nothing more than a small demonic dragon that wants to be spoiled by your touches.

“Hm?” the curtains of your room weren’t exactly the blackout kind, but there’s just enough darkness to highlight the vein-like patterns on a certain pet’s tail. “Oh, it’s you. Morning. Shouldn’t you be with Solomon?”

And, of course, the little critter with the odd skeletal wings for horns never said a word to you beyond a very slow blink.

“You here for Diavolo again?” you laid back down, losing all motivation to get up, “Well, you’re gonna have to wait. I’m still tired.”

After Solomon’s trip up a mountain for a specific flower for his potions, you need all the rest you can get. He may be letting you stay here in his house, but your body was a thing with limits and you’re not about to exceed them. He can stand to let you be a little selfish, especially since, if you ever wanted to leave, his little pet Barbatos would follow you.

Somehow or another, Diavolo managed to charm him and it’s been a thing Solomon has never let go of. It’s hilarious, really.

"You can get on the bed if you want. I won't tell Solomon." Anyways, you’ll get up in about an hour. Nothing too bad.

[today-in-the-devildom]

Just ignore the screams

They're not from either of the humans experiencing the horrors of the Devildom for the first time—in fact, they seem a little too interested in them for their own good. No, the screams actually came from none other than the Avatar of Greed himself

You see, a new Devildom horror movie released recently and the residents of HoL got together for movie night. Minus Lucifer that is, since he was still at the Demon Lord's Castle. However, once he got home he silently hushed into the living room and lurked in the shadows for a bit. And then, the very second the tension reached its peak, grabbed the second eldest's shoulders, triggering the loudest, most ear-piercing scream that has ever been recorded in the entire Devildom

-April 12th-

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[nocreativityfornames]

Barbatos: *opening his birthday presents*

And this one is... *frowns* a toy...?

MC: *finger guns* ✨ A Barbie for a Barbie ✨

Everyone else: *awkward silence*

MC: Also, she's a cook...!

Everyone else: ......

MC: *looks around* Really, no laughs?? You guys have no sense of humor...!

Lucifer: *facepalms* Barbatos, I apologize for them-

Barbatos: *amused chuckle* No, there's no need for that. I actually like the gift, after all, I can't say I've ever gotten a "Barbie" for a present before...

MC: Hah, see?! Take that, bird demon man!

Lucifer: ???

MC: Anyway, happy birthday, Barb! 😊

Barbatos: *chuckle* Thank you, MC.

Solomon: *leaning in* I actually liked that joke, by the way. It was very creative.

MC: You're the real one, Sol.

[kraviolis]

Belos: I’m going to raise Luz as my daughter and ensure that she remains pure and loyal to me.

Also Belos: I’m going to let the 7-years-old clone of my brother take care of her I’m sure he’ll be able to do that.

you joke but thats LITERALLY his entire thought process at first. he's so isolated and arrogant that he couldnt possibly comprehend the idea that luz wouldnt see him as her father despite the fact he literally told hunter he was going to be her older brother and never once encouraged hunter to see him as anything but an uncle.

i attribute this to the fact that philip is an orphan who only ever knew his blood brother as his only caretaker, so he sorta took having a brother for granted and didn't realize that was something you could want rather than something that just Is.

(also caleb was the only person philip ever truly knew + loved and even well into his 300s he never once picked up a child psychology book and realized that Perhaps His Worldview Was Skewed Because Of That.)

he literally like. could not comprehend the idea that you could even choose your own family outside of like. being adopted by someone. thats the other thing with him being so annoyingly christian in this AU, he was taught that your blood family (esp yr parents) is always the most important thing in your life & you should always be grateful to them no matter what.

(this is another factor into why he keeps making grimwalkers. in his own twisted viewpoint, it's him giving caleb another chance. and another. and another-- at least in this specific characterization of him.)

philip thought that him adopting luz would mean she would immediately be eternally grateful to him and call him father and the whole nine yards. but he forget to actually express that expectation until it was too late (aka until he heard her call him uncle for the first time)

honestly, hes not MAD about it. he's just sorta :( about it bcus hes not actually insane and can still logically think like "she did say she had just lost her real father to an illness its perfectly reasonable for her to not want to replace him" (he doesnt think it outloud but he also enjoys living thru her vicariously

but also later on as she gets older it gets to a point where he's like "ok its been years now why isnt she trying to replace him yet" bcus he thinks its a normal + healthy part of the grieving process to replace the person you lost (figuratively or, in his case, Literally)

[kitkatt0430]

So I've started watching Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle and it's hilarious.

The Princess has been kidnapped and taken to a Demon Lord's Castle. A hero has bravely stepped up to go on a grand adventure to save her. This anime is not about him. He's the background events.

The main plot is that the princess is suuuper bored. The only thing to do is sleep except her circumstances are so uncomfortable she can't even do that. So she begins a single minded quest to improve her sleeping situation. Much to the consternation of her captors.

But every time the Demon Lord tries to tell her to stop escaping to steal stuff... she's sleeping so peacefully and cutely that he can't bring himself to disturb her.

The whole thing is so cute and deliberately silly.