#elsey rambles AT LENGTH

[elsecrytt]

ELSEY YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS TO ME

Elsey listen it's 2 am i need to sleep but your addition to that Dia post KEEPING ME AWAKE

How does it feel to have such a big brain huh? You're amazing please keep ranting about whatever because i will eat this shit up

Oh, also you dropped this 👑

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA thank youuuuuu~ It's so sweet that you enjoy my Takes sfgkhhfgd and it's super encouraging to know that you get something out of them, hehe,,, it's always just.

So fun to see ppl who get similar vibes from the characters, sharing their own views and reasons for that,,, it's lovely to hear from you and Erin, and I'm glad y'all like hearing from me, too~

I've had this whole. Theory of Diavolo post floating in my head for ages but I haven't gotten around to it until now bc it requires a lot of. Screenshot editing,,,,

Now Presenting:

Diavolo - Truth and Lies

Spoilers for:

The Escorts (Memory SR, Chapter M, Luci and Satan on it) Devilgram

The Glory Days (Lucifer Chapter A UR) Devilgram

Main story up through Lesson 16

So basically:

Diavolo has the ability to tell lies - this is confirmed in several places in canon.

My personal headcanon/theory is that this isn't Diavolo being a people person (although he probably is, to some extent). This isn't even a special ability Diavolo has, either as a demon, or as a future Demon King.

I think this is a curse. Specifically, I think this is a curse that Diavolo asked a witch to place on him, and the caveat of this curse is that Diavolo cannot tell a lie.

It's totally possible there are instances of this being blown out of the water in canon but Diavolo is usually pretty diplomatic in his denials and avoids telling direct lies so just stay with me for a moment. I HAVE SCREENSHOTS!!

The first question of course is. "Who would have put a curse like this on him, Elsey? He's the Demon Prince. He's ridiculously powerful, what kind of witch could even do that? Even Solomon might not be able to."

We do know a witch who might have done it! A witch who would have been powerful enough, and who has a pretty interesting relationship with Diavolo: Maddi!

Maddi is acknowledged, by Satan, Lucifer, and Diavolo, to be extremely powerful. Literally Lucifer is going "When someone radiates power like she did..." Lucifer!

The really interesting bit is later on - that Maddi refused to return to the human world until Dia married her, and it was really long ago.

It sounds like, in return for casting this curse on Dia, Maddi wanted his hand in marriage. It'd explain both her entitlement, and the reason Diavolo had a hard time turning her down - because she did him a favor!

And also why Diavolo is pimping out Satan and Lucifer not to see her again lmaoooo. This, I daresay, is why Diavolo doesn't like her - it's not necessarily a reasonable request she's making, but she also did something for him that literally no one else could have done.

Plus she's supposedly smoking hot and if she likes Luci and Satan, her taste in men is absolutely fine. Listen Diavolo I'll take one for the team and marry her myself -

Anyways. Second point here - this happened "a really long time ago". This is a point in favor of my theory, because Diavolo has been asserting that he is honest/never lies for a very long time indeed:

This is a MEGA long time ago - before Lucifer fell from heaven, even.

Now ofc Diavolo doesn't outright say it's a curse (and I doubt this theory is something the devs intended), but it does sound like Diavolo is leaning on the "honest" thing pretty heavily, no?

(Bonus points: In his recently-released character songs, one of Diavolo's lines is actually - "I have nothing to hide/I am always honest")

Consider also the fact that if this is true, it goes a good way to explain how Diavolo is getting along with Lucifer so well, and pressing the point of peace even though Lucifer quite clearly looks down on demons as an archangel.

See, Lucifer actually tells a couple of blatant lies during this visit:

If Diavolo has this ability to know for certain when someone is lying, then he knows Lucifer doesn't hate him/the Devildom as much as he said (and Lucifer's dad hung him out to dry on the speech thing lmaooo)

Now, on to what I consider the most damning piece of evidence - we have the actual statement in Lesson 4 during Levi's TSL quiz, that Diavolo can tell when someone is lying

Diavolo was brought in to judge this event, too - almost certainly because he has this ability. "You know as well as I do" - this is something all the brothers, and possibly the demon populace as a whole, know about Diavolo.

Levi later does concede that he lost; he believes Diavolo's ability, and implicitly, believes that Diavolo isn't lying about it. But canonically, this is our confirmation that Diavolo can tell when someone is lying, possibly as some supernatural "ability".

The real proof comes in lesson 16. Belphie, at this point, absolutely despises both humankind - and naturally, the suggestion that Lilith became human - and Diavolo. That's important. He HATES Diavolo and Diavolo's ideas.

If you chose to tell him "I'm sorry you found out this way", he goes on to mope a bit until his brothers encourage him.

But what if you choose to say "You really won't believe it?"

Belphie insists he won't believe it. He could never believe it. And honestly this makes a lot of sense, and feels like the natural reaction he'd have to such an unforeseen revalation.

And then Diavolo says "It's the truth". Diavolo, who Belphie hates. What reason does Belphegor possible have to -

Aaaaaand he believes him. Just like that. Now, I'm gonna be real, I'm not super impressed with how the writers handled this plot twist, especially in light of the aftermath. HOWEVER.

It's still fucking weird that Belphie just accepts Diavolo's word so easily, accepts the entire story and spins right into repentance and blaming himself for Lilith's death...

...unless. Diavolo is magically incapable of lying. Perhaps because he's been cursed?

The brothers all know about Maddi (it's in the escorts mission). They very probably would all know why Diavolo doesn't get along with her, but still has to accommodate her when she visits. It would make sense for Belphie to know about this, actually.

Annnnnyyways that's my favorite pet Diavolo theory that's been rattling around in my head for a while. It's by no means canon or confirmed (canon seems to forget about Diavolo's ability to tell when someone is lying on the regular, anyways), but my god, is it interesting.

Diavolo being a living lie detector and unable to lie makes him an invaluable plot device, a useful tool to a resourceful enough MC, and even as cursed as the theory suggests, if you remember a little oneshot I wrote called "Heartache".

It is just. hnnng. Absolutely delicious. I love the idea so much and wish there were more of it in canon... but hey. That's what fics are for ;)

[elsecrytt]

im gonna go ahead and Be Like That for a bit and talk about my oc,,, i'd like to just yell abt this in dms with friends but i'm feeling self-conscious atm so onto tumblr go these ramblings

i actually DO have a longfic conceptualized of main/canon mc!elsey's storyline. i also have a shitload of aus/alternate storylines/one-off concepts that i really enjoy but i wanna ramble about canon elsey

it's hard for me to decide like,,, how promiscuous i want them to be bc on one hand YES GIMME ALL THE BOYS but on the other,,, that sweet delicious one-on-one intimacy hhh.

they start out pretty reasonably upset by the whole devildom exchange program thing in general.

elsey's arc as a whole contains a lot of questions about the morality of the exchange program, and specifically, the lack of checks on diavolo's power.

throughout the story, as they gain confidence that they're not about to be immediately killed for mouthing off, they challenge diavolo on many an occasion, and in general tend to be his harshest critic.

this is mostly bc they do believe he is genuinely good and has the capacity to be the person he wants to think he is - but he needs to get actually chewed out when he does something wrong instead of walking away guilt free.

a big part of their dynamic is that elsey is lowkey grooming him to become an ideal leader, and diavolo is going to get very hung up on them because he doesn't want to disappoint them.

no one else shows disappointment in him, not in a way that matters. but with elsey, it feels real, like he's failed his dreams.

anyways in the main story. i think asmo is actually the one elsey gets with intimately first. he's super affectionate and bubbly and it's just very easy to love someone so sweet, plus, he CAN show them a good time. a really good time. (plus spa nights,, painting nails,, all the sweet little indulgences).

it's ironic because elsey won't build a relationship with him really, and although they'll get very affectionate and fond of him, he's just not what they want in a partner.

mammon is the sidekick he always is. elsey can read the room and it's not hard to figure out how he feels, but they're content to let him be all cute and tsuntsun.

ultimately though, although i do ship them in some aus, mammon is really just there to be their best friend. so elsey ALWAYS has someone they know is on their side, and to keep them from feeling completely and utterly alone in the first part of the story.

i know i have one scene imagined of elsey climbing into his bed, completely platonically, just to feel safe for a bit. i really do play up the danger/dark aspects of season 1 and elsey has a hard time :(

later on, as elsey gets Into It with lucifer (and not in the sexy way - he is very much straight up threatening their life and meaning it), they do get involved with satan, who is extremely their type.

this relationship starts out pretty shallow, but it's very good sex. they appreciate one another as people and elsey is probably catching feelings but for satan this really isn't that deep, he's just enjoying getting one over his brother and having a good time with a like-minded partner.

elsey refuses a pact with satan much like canon mc does, for mostly the same reason; they feel a real bond with him and they don't want to let him bind himself to them for such a casual and petty reason. they're genuinely trying to respect him and be good to him.

ofc satan takes it wrong and lucifer comes into the rescue and the arc continues as normal, and elsey and satan really bond on that nice juicy deep and intimate level. they both have Issues, okay?

but elsey becomes more distant bc their issues with the lucifer+belphie situation start really coming to a head and they're genuinely scared for their life.

they don't trust any of the brothers to be on their side, not even mammon. they're still scoping out diavolo, but they suspect he'd toss his morals aside if his precious lucifer needed him to.

a lot goes down around the lesson 16 stuff. it happens differently dksjhfglg i'll just put it like that, and elsey is much more involved in belphie's escape than mc gets to be in canon.

their relationship with all the brothers gets a lot WORSE from there. i've contemplated an amnesia arc here and there after it, it's that bad.

season 2 kinda consists of the brothers trying to win elsey back. belphie and lucifer's pacts were offered to make them feel safe and didn't actually solve the hard feelings between them.

lucifer and elsey have sexual tension/mind games going on between them HARD in season one. like, really hard.

elsey is doing their best to play on his flaws for their survival, but doesn't know him that well, and he wants to keep his brother secret but can't just kill them.

after everything's wrapped up, ofc, lucifer ends up feeling extremely guilty about it, but Pride and all, etc., plus his relationship with elsey is too volatile for an apology.

season 2 is the one where they start to get closer bc lucifer is willing to be honest or direct, and the finale allows him to display how he really, genuinely does care about them. more than his brothers, even.

like just imagining,,, how they get together is a surreal thing in my head bc i actually do ship them very much, luci is a fave and Big OTP material, but...

they're both really prideful people. lucifer is more mature - he's able to put aside his pride and take a rejection pretty gracefully - but i prefer a more erratic elsey who's like,,, almost a tsundere

if it were anyone but lucifer, they would never even consider forgiving the threats to their life. but they admire him so much; he has so many traits they look up to and enjoy, and on some level they do know they really crave his presence and attention.

elsey WOULD be prone to having hatesex with him lmao (they've probably done it with satan or asmo once or twice) but lucifer wouldn't because he doesn't want to poison the potential for a real relationship.

perhaps after a long period of groveling and displays of affection and him even getting one over on them here and there bc of course he does - elsey will relent,, bc like satan they are extremely attracted to him.

[elsecrytt]

you?? wrote??? a NEARLY 11k WORD fic?!?! I am saving it for later but also HOW do you not forget what you wrote??? I can do maybe 2k and even then I scroll back up like 'huh i wrote this? can't remember'

hehehe i have a longfic up that's 32k words published so far, and maybe 20k more words in the draft? one of my friends who's wayyy better at updating consistently than me, is going on 160k+

if you're genuinely curious about the process, i have headings!! for example, for "The Son he Calls Brother" each major scene i had kinda summarized in a heading:

"Have you considered adoption" is the scene where Lucifer gets his son brother.

"War Veteran attempts to teach a small child" is Lucifer lashing out at Satan and then having his PTSD episodes.

And then "How (not) to discipline your demon (son)" is the ending bit, where things just completely fall apart between the two of them.

In a general sense, I logistically don't forget what I write because I'm a VERY one-foot-in-front-of-the-other sort of writer. I just write the next sentence, then the sentence after that.

Generally I do know what I want the scene to be (less so for smut), and so I just kinda pick a good starting point and get going from there.

So hmm from your perspective, you could say that I mostly write like, 2-5k word scenes that link into one another.

I've written much longer than that just when I like... meander a bunch? I'm the type who can ramble, like, a LOT. So it's often not difficult for me to come up with more to say.

I don't need to remember! I will simply keep writing more!! sdjkfghldghf but yeah I do generally remember what I've written.

I'm also an extremely fast reader, and I'm hmmm... very invested in a lot of my ideas, so I think about a lot of them quite a lot.

but also sdkfhglkshdfg then i look back on anything i've written (including this reply!) and go "wait this is rambling, unclear, doesn't convey what i need it to" and the struggle is real but i'm out here workin at it XD

[elsecrytt]

So real so true I have a whole Diavolo rant in my drafts that touches on this and it's just. afjkfgjdlgkjh

Watching Season 1 Lucifer and Diavolo will never not remind me of like. Those WILDLY uncomfortable scenes in movies of female secretaries being hit on by their bosses. They have their moments of friendship that are nice but it's jarring when you look at all the instances of Diavolo being... kinda just a huge dick.

I do like Diavolo and he does absolutely fascinate me for this very reason. He's not just... one thing, you know? He causes a LOT of problems by withholding information from people, but some of his motives feel very selfish but still sympathetic.

He's lonely. He doesn't think his friends actually like him. He wants to join in on the fun, he wants to feel the warmth of friendship and companionship.

If you look at Devilgrams, Diavolo is constantly commenting that he'd like to be invited too, or he wants to try out that activity, or that it looks fun/cool. I feel so, so sorry for the guy.

And in season 2? When he feels so genuinely sorry that he can't fix this problem, so helpless, he apologizes and considers it a responsibility that he's failed in? That's leadership right there.

Diavolo has a genuinely beautiful vision (bringing together people from different worlds) and he IS committed to it. And he wants everyone on board with him, too, he wants everyone else to want it.

These are good qualities! I appreciate them a lot, I love him for it! But he. Has. Issues. He does things wrong. And often he doesn't even get so much as a "not a very cash money move of you, Diavolo" for it.

Many of his flaws have been detailed above honestly,,, they make him very relatable. The best characters imo have flaws, have issues that they need to deal with, and Diavolo could be a poster boy for that.

Diavolo's encroachment on boundaries mostly comes from the writing using him as a plot device or quasi comic relief, but character-wise, it's explained by the fact that he's simply selfish.

He is a lonely man who wants friends and can't make them because he thinks he can just make friends by sheer force of presence.

In season 3 I was really hoping Belphie wouldn't get along with Dia at all, and Dia would learn from that. There are some people who just don't want to be your friend, and that's okay. You leave them be. You appreciate what you have. You find other people to engage with.

It was a rough lesson for me to learn, and it's hard, even after you learn it. But it's something Dia really, really needs, and it's something the writers just aren't giving him.

Anyways in my dreams (longfics?) you get to become the CEO of bullying Diavolo and over a series of sometimes humiliating and humbling experiences for him, hearing "No" several times over again and being forced to respect it, he slowly learns to understand the helplessness and anxiety he is inflicting on others, and you teach him ways to treat people better, while bullying him a bit.

Diavolo's lack of character progression is one of the main reasons I ignore the canon story. His flaws were easy to ignore at the start when his role wasn't so prevalent. But know? I can't engage in the story lessons because my MC would never tolerate such bullshit without snapping.

Oh, we're locked in a karaoke bar and forced to sing? And you're telling me THE PRINCE can't break the magic curse? Yeah no, I'm calling bullshit and using a pact to order brother to tear down the door.

Boogieman in the hotel? Again, you're the strongest demon out here it should take you a second to deal with that. I'm not traumatizing my boys even further.

Place at the Student Council? So I can see you even more? HAH! Fuck you.

And that's without touching any event stuff and lesson 16 with the whole "Your death is in the past let's celebrate my birthday!"

I try to be fair to all the characters, including ones I didn't like initially. But... Diavolo makes it hard for me. Also, it's super late and a frog won't shut up outside my house, so I apologise for any lack of coherency here.

I think as a character, Diavolo can be very interesting. I have a whole OC that exists to draw attention to his privileged and lonely life and also romance Levi I would like to see him get more genuine development, but it's tough when you've only got 20 chapters spread between 14 characters. As he is now though, I struggle to see his appeal as a romance option. I feel as though he has the potential to be a good leader and he genuinely seems to not want to hurt anyone, but... well, you know what they say about good intentions.

The karaoke incident seems like part of a larger writing issue where the powers of the demons (and angels) are generally pretty inconsistent. Diavolo can make an entire fake sun but can't break out of a karaoke room, Levi can't climb a wall or run 100m without getting winded but he presents a significant physical threat to us in early chapters, everyone is generally as strong or weak as the plot demands them to be.

But the bogeyman incident. I love Solomon but Solomon and Diavolo both got on my shit list for that one. MC was protected by Luke's blessing, but Asmo, Belphie, and Beel shouldn't have had to face their traumas/fears (also Asmo's being played for laughs kind of but... it's his very real insecurity) for the sake of our test. Satan at least had both Lucifer's and MC's support through his. It's weird that the one test that actually amounted to a real challenge was more of a challenge for our demons than us.

And the student council. What are we going to do? What is our actual role planned to be? Are we going to be another accessory member like... all the brothers but Lucifer, with no real voting power but random responsibilities? Are we expected to be another Diavolo yes-man?

I feel like throughout the whole story, Diavolo is shielded from consequences, especially by Barbatos. The first time he seemed to have a mistake shoved in his face was S2, where Lucifer suffered the consequences of Diavolo keeping secrets (Yes it wasn't directly Diavolo's fault, but if Diavolo had been more transparent from the start Lucifer could've helped out in the research or possibly recognised what was happening to him). In S3 he seems to sort of grow from it(?) and tries to get closer to some of the other brothers as a king and a friend (see: while the karaoke incident was a little BS, he did at least try to protect Levi and MC...). But it's quite inconsistent and in S4, it seems he's back to his old ways again, taking pictures of Lucifer in clothes he's quite clearly not comfortable wearing, ignoring all signs of how uncomfortable he is, and acting without consideration for others.

Of course, all the characters suffer from this to some extent. The issue with a seasonal otome game like Obey Me! is that the writers likely didn't know how many seasons they'd get when they started S1, and quite possibly still don't know how many seasons they'll get since the game is still quite popular. Diavolo I think just gets the worst of it.