#so long as people obey

[thousandbuns]

The juxtaposition: a lone Sorcerer walking towards the sacrificial altar through a crowd of Chaos cultists gathered in a dimly lit, soot- and blood-stained chamber, and their memory of the time they walked through a city in broad daylight, side by side with other healers, to provide aid to the sick and injured. The thread piecing these two images together: countless arms reaching out to to brush against them, to touch them, to grasp the cloth they wear, and disparate voices slowly amassing into a thundering chant announcing the arrival of the divine messenger.

In the memory, the senior healer asks his brothers to exercise restraint - no vocalization, minimal gesturing, timing the psychic action in line with administration of drugs or other conventional medical practices to not perpetuate superstition and set the ground for rationalizing their powers to the masses. They aren't angels, as the people outside call them. There are no angels in the gilded paradise they're building for mankind.

In the present, the Sorcerer enacts the ritual with sweeping, dramatic gestures, far more elaborate than they need to be. A perfectly memorized and rehearsed routine to impress the crowd, each step calculated to raise their spirits and invoke powerful emotion until they break out into religious ecstasy. They remain silent, but the cultists eagerly chant the prayers and curses in their stead. The paradise was built on the bones of those unjustly condemned, and their souls now rise as vengeful daemons.

And it's all an act, a theatrical mask, a stage performance. Whether they were alone or surrounded by their kin, they always wore a mask concealing their true face and true intent to the outsiders. A mask of the gilded, flat-faced helmet. A mask of the smooth, unadorned healer's veil. And beneath the mask there's nothing but emptiness, a sense of cold detachment, a dreamless sleep. A talented hand guided not by personal ideals, but orders from one's superiors. Someone else wrote the role they were cast as, and they memorized the script to the letter.

The wandering theater swapped hands and traveled far among the stars. The two worlds are ages and light years apart. Details have changed a thousand times over, but the intent of the play remained the same:

Use your miracles to make people obey the powers that control you.

[katabay]

”—ah. seems like mother goose has been playing around in your egg salad. if you won’t dance to that tune, I got others.”

honestly, the would you kindly scene is whatever to me*, code yellow is the more interesting violation/betrayal of the body because of how beautifully it escalates the Fontaine reveal/betrayal and shows how ugly some of those ‘locks and keys’ that Tenenbaum mentions are. not only have you been a tool in another man’s hand this entire time, it goes deeper. your body is not your own.

*there used to be a meandering thought here about the would you kindly scene, but it was really just talking around the fact that I spent way too many years seeing people discuss it in the most insufferable and reductive ways possible when it’s a combination of three or four other things that make that moment compelling lmao

collage credits: heart one/heart two

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

[chaosinterlude]

“lucifer is sadistic and mean!! he’s so serious and scary!!”

meanwhile,

he’s just a silly man who wishes for a domestic life with his partner and dog <3

[featherdusterbelphie]

Logged into obey me nb for the first time today. Saw the new update.

The new app screams 'we're about to discontinue the original game soon!'

Which makes me a little sad

[cnl0400]

I understand why they didn't introduce Michael in the past but I think we needed more people suspecting MC was Not From Here™, they should have played More with the idea that anybody could unmask MC/Solomon true motives and Michael already knew, It would have been better for him taunting MC with the idea of telling the truth to everyones else unless they stop making pacts with the brothers (Bcuz y'know, thats what Nightbringer wants, Right? And whatever he wants must be... Not good?)

In earlier seasons the tease the idea of two Rings of Light existing in the same timeline, can you imagine the interactions?

Michael: Wow MC! that's a pretty ring you have there!

MC: ... Yeah...

Michael: It looks identical to the one I have here, see? *Flashes His own Ring of Light to MC*

MC: Ah... *Gulp*

[nostalgia-tblr]

I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron (apart from I skipped some overly long action sequences) and I am not sure so can someone tell me whether or not Tony Stark was the baddy in that film? Because about halfway through I was sure he was but then it was maybe just an evil robot after all and I am confused because either this film was surprisingly subversive or it was about robots hitting each other.

[once-in-a-blood-moon]

Jo Explains with Tarot : Solomon's Unforgettable Past

Incoming long winded explanation/analyzation about the Festival of Flowers from Solomon's "Unforgettable Past" Devilgram, but doing it with tarot cards. So, spoilers ahead and lots of nonsense beyond this point if this isn't your thing :) I broke this into sections so it'd be easier to read...hopefully.

Please note: these are my interpretations of the cards. Your interpretations may be different, and that's okay! That's great even. That just means there's more to learn from the cards than just one perspective. So neither of us are wrong, we just see things in different ways. Don't be afraid to expand with your own thoughts if you want!

So, I realized something recently. One of the days on the Obey Me calendar was the Devildom Flower Festival, held annually on June 20th. And I think it's safe to say it's the same festival you visit with Solomon in his card "Unforgettable Past."

In that, he explains the war the Devildom commemorates every year and the legend behind it. The timespan of the war was 7 days. So...from June 20th (not counting it) we'd see that the war started on June 13th.

Why does any of this matter? Well, it probably doesn't to anyone but me, but here I'm going to explain the significance of those dates with...tarot cards!

How this works is how you would calculate your personal birth cards. It's really simple. Just add up all the numbers in the date, but not before making each digit a single digit, to get your results. Usually you get two cards, though there are special instances where some might get three, but's not as common. (I'll use a random date as an example: 8/10/1983 - 8+1+0+1+9+8+3 = 30. There's only 21 major arcana cards that are applicable, so you'd break the 30 down as well to get 3 - the Empress. To get the second card from 3, you use what adds to make 3 which would be 1+2, put those together and you get 12 - the Hanged Man. It's kind of like the reversal of what we did to get the first card. I hope I explained that well enough.

---

June 13th

With that out of the way, let's start with June 13, 6/13. This would give us 10. The tenth card in the major arcana is the Wheel of Fortune. Break down 10, and we get 1. The first card of the major arcana (ignoring the Fool since it's the zeroth card) is, ironically, the Magician.

The Magician card focuses on what you already have and expanding on those skills. Pictured in the card, there is one of each suit from the minor arcana laying on a table (one wand, cup, sword, and pentacle). Those represent the ace cards of those suits, which usually indicate beginnings or starting points. Essentially, the Magician already has novice level skills to help him navigate through his journeys, and as he experiences more his knowledge will grow and he'll "collect" more of each suit. He's an innovator, a go-getter, and as long as he keeps his head on his shoulders and doesn't get ahead of himself, he'll progress just fine. Also pictured is the Magician holding a candle in the air while pointing downwards with his free hand. To me, this could represent a guiding light, a symbol of the fifth element: spirit (as above, so below), a eureka! moment (the lightbulb over someone's head), or that he's declaring his own start - like charging into something with vigor. He's also got an infinity sign above his head, but that'll come in later...

The Wheel of Fortune focuses on chance and opportunity. Sometimes it's an indication of reigning in a new future or era, whether it's within our personal lives or seeing it unfold through society. A few things to note in the illustration is the little red guy??, the sphinx, and the snake surrounding the wheel. To me, I see the red guy kind of fox-like, or even devilish. Regardless, he's sneaky, cunning, willing to take risks to see himself come out at the top in the end. The sphinx is holding a sword, reminding me of the Justice card, or the suit of swords. The sphinx is logical, wielding rationale as a weapon should taking the risk turn to be less than ideal or difficult. A sharp intellect, if you will. And the snake, to me, represents the temptation of wanting to go along with something for the sake of knowledge or curiosity. There's also the three animals and one angel in the corners of the card, but I won't go into detail on them for the sake of brevity. But to me, they represent higher wisdom, or that the fate of the wheel is divinely guided.

-

According to his Devilgram story, he'd spoken to a demon in the human realm, which sparked the brazen idea that he could convince the Demon King and his citizens to work under him. It was an opportunity, a risk he was willing to take if it meant a more favorable fate/outcome for the human realm. Obviously, Solomon thought that he had what it took to get the king to see reason, whether it be through charm and wit alone, or through more brutal means. By that point, he was already able to subjugate demons to his will, so why not go father when the opportunity presents itself? Perhaps even doing so to test his own strength and power.

So, he had the skill, he had the charisma, but he also had the arrogance of the Magician in reverse. All he had to do was take matters into his own hands for the sake of "furthering human kind's development," find an opening, show just how powerful humans could be, and strike. And he struck hard. Solomon took his risk and fought with everything he had in him. Alone. That day, he held the destiny of the human realm in his hands.

---

June 20th

Onto the eighth day, June 20, 6/20. Adding this gives us 8, which is the eighth card - Strength. And then 1+7 = 8, so put those together to get the number 17 - the Star.

The Strength card is just about that: strength. Strength doesn't have to be physical. More often than not, our inner courage defines our true strength. In this card, we see a woman who looks to be petting a lion. Whether she's attempting to befriend him or trying to soothe him, she's showing great bravery by approaching the situation with calmness and gentility. In the face of what could be a problematic situation, if not dealt with swiftly/correctly, this card reminds us that we have the option to fight with fearlessness, approach with a silent confidence, or we can choose to walk away altogether. Then that leads us to either being the bigger person or being cowardly, depending on the issue at hand. So, remember I mentioned the infinity symbol above the Magician's head? The lady in this card has one above her head as well. This, to me, is a call back that we have the skills to handle any problem that arises. We are equipped with strength and courage and any learned tricks we may have up our sleeve to give us the upper hand.

The Star is one of the more positive cards in the tarot deck (aside from the Sun of course). Maybe uplifting is a better way to describe it. This card holds hope for a brighter future, a better tomorrow. The Star reminds us that it's okay to heal, breathe, and wish upon hope that things can get better. The sky is the limit. In this illustration, there's a woman pouring water back into what looks to be a river with her foot hovering over it. It's almost like she'd lost hope to the cruelty of life, but she's ready try again and slowly dip her toes back in. She's allowing herself time to do so, reflecting on why she wants to and why she's ready, like affirmations. The ripples in the water remind me of both the ripple effect and of manifestations. By taking the initiative, good things may come her way or she may make change within the world around her. Also, in her other hand she's got another pitcher that's pouring out water onto the ground. We can take this either that she's unknowingly nurturing something in the midst of her finding herself, or that by enveloping herself in this new hope, she's actively pouring out the old.

-

On the eighth day, Solomon vanishes, ultimately putting a stop to the fighting. What led up to this decision, we don't know. Although, you can ask Solomon if "the sorcerer" just threw in the towel, to which he stills for a moment, almost as if he were offended or caught of guard by our question. He doesn't elaborate on that further, only responding with- "maybe. We'll never know for sure." It's telling that to him it obviously wasn't a matter of giving up. There was more at stake than just his pride or lust for power. And he made the decision to walk away when he probably could've went on for much longer.

And why would he leave a field of flowers as a "parting gift" if it meant nothing? He's a pretty cryptic guy, after all. But again, we don't know why exactly he did so. It could've been a promise that humanity would further on its own and they'd one day see he was right. Maybe it was the hope that the realms could coincide someday and that he recognized the Devildom's power. Or simply, it was his version of a "white flag." No matter what he originally meant by them, the flowers would go on to be the focus of the festival to commemorate the Devildom's victory. In Solomon's words, "it's a day to hope for peace and prosperity throughout the land."

[gifti3]

I like to to think mcs who wouldnt fall into the conventionally attractive category getting shooked when multiple demons find them attractive

[theaviskullguy]

D&D Obey me- Lucifer, Mammon, + The Twins!

@trash-opposum here you go. seperate post so people can find it but here!

Disclaimer, if i do the rest, im going to avoid making EVERYONE a tiefling or aasimar, those are just for who i think are exceptionally appropriate/is how im playing them as my current dnd character is just Belphegor. If yall want me to make the others (Asmo, Levi, Satan, maybe Diavlo but who knows) let me know!

so let's GOOOOOOOO

Lucifer

Aasimar, the kind from Mordenkainen so no special extra type

Noble background, mainly cause i cant think of anything else

As for class, we have four potential options

Two varieties of Paladin, cleric, or warlock

First paladin variety- Oathbreaker

In this case he was probably originally Devotion before the revolution, and whoops! Oath Broken!

It'd either be a point of pride for him ("I fought for what I believe is right, and there is no shame in that") or he'd hide it from everyone

Second paladin- order of the Crown! obviously because of Diavlo. fellas is it gay to swear undying devotion to your future ki- *gets shot*

Cleric, then Order Domain. clerics are sworn to gods and not demons but shush his patron might still be Diavlo. in an actual D&D setting i can see him instead swearing to like Tyr or something.

he wont be healing. clerics are tanky he's out here ordering people to drop their weapons and then fucking murdering them

Warlock, gotta be fiend patron. im not sure if its possible to be your own patron but itd be funny as shit. worse case its fiend patron with some flavor homebrew as i call it to literally just be a fiend in his own right climbing the infernal ladder as he levels up

i promise the others wont be as long

Mammon

Earth Genasi as those are descended from the Dao, which are the greediest genie. Also, they just look rich with gem-like stuff growing in cracks on their skin you just know Mammon's one of them

Charlatan background. he is scamming people left and right and it works

Rogue, thief subclass. Honestly any subclass other than Arcane Trickster (hes not smart enough) or Scout (hes not equipped for the "outside of civilization" shit)

Unlike for Lucifer, the others have Backstory! Woo!

Mammon is the son of a Dao and a human. His human parent helped him escape from the Elemental Plane of Earth, but then he was left on his own

So. He quickly learned how to con people. At first it was for survival, and then greed.

He found Lucifer while running one of these cons. In particular, his "con" was a vanishing act. He claimed he could become "one with the earth" when really he was curling up on the ground and casting Pass Without Trace. Lucifer saw through this illusion and threatened to out Mammon as a conman, unless he joined him as his ally. So, he did.

Lucifer keeps him in check, but that's not to say Mammon isn't fully on the straight and narrow

Beelzebub

Tiefling!!! variant tiefling favored to have fly wings.

Outlander background, ill explain why in a sec

Barbarian. Need I say More?

actually i will- Totem animal, spirit of the bear. Since bear gets resistance to all damage (other than psychic) while raging and i feel that works with Beel more than anything

now for his backstory! he isnt canon in the campaign im playing belphie in but his backstory has the same catalyst. When he was five years old, the kingdom he lived in was caught in a rebellion against a tyrant. In which, Beel saw his older sister get killed by a royal guard. Belphie was going to be killed- but was protected by a tiefling in a knight's armor (my previous character who was killed. rip avi)

Beel, in his five-year-old mind, just ran. He took off without a second thought- a decision he now regrets deeply.

He ran into the surrounding woodlands. And gets an Atalanta-style backstory. For those who dont know, Atalanta was a princess who was abandoned in the woods and raised by bears

So Beel is raised by bears. Which is way better than being raised by wolves

They teach him how to hunt, gather, and its all well and cute. He sometimes entered the rebuilding kingdom to trade in leftover meat for clothes and weapons- and, to try and find Belphie. No luck.

Eventually, Beel grows to be a powerful warrior. Hangry, sure, but his rage hold the rage of freaking bears. so keep him fed. please.

Anyways Lucifer and the gang (everyone minus belphie) encounter Beel in the woods, watching the cubs. Beel agrees to adventure with them. He says goodbye to bear mom and promises to visit- hopefully, with his twin, next time.

Belphegor

hehe its ME

Zariel Tiefling but i dont give a shit about the infernal legacy its just There. tail is a cow's tail he basically just looks like his demon form

Hermit background. again ill explain in a sec

Druid, circle of stars! to people about to scream "i just checked the wikidot why he no circle of dreams??" because that doesnt have to do with dreams and sleep as i wished it did. its the obligatory faewild subclass. i hate the faewild subclasses (other than the bard one that ones fun)

Currently n the campaign im in we're level 5, so his two wildshapes are wolf, and a bull. But he also has his three starry forms due to being circle of stars.

now. backstory! strap in this is Long

he's saved by my previous dnd character- Avi- and is taken in by him and his husband when the rebellion was over.

Except. due to seeing his sister die and not seeing his twin after that, Belphie assumed the worse and thought that Beel also died and he was the last one of his family

He fell into a pretty deep depression and had no motivation to do anything besides sleep, cry, and eat very tiny portions of meals.

eventually his adoptive dads start telling him stories. and. surprisingly. they seem to help! Belphie is still a shrinking violet but he eats more and can cook and do basic chores!

And Then Avi Goes Missing

His husband- Skull- asks the now 11 year old Belphie if he wants to come along to find him. Belphie declines, saying he needs to get in control of his life and some big quest is probably just gonna leave him with more trauma

Skull lets him stay home, and gives him one of his feathers. So if Belphie ever needs a hand, he can call Skull over and. well. have one of his dads at least

For five years, Belphie took to studying druidcraft, and the stars. He also enchanted his favorite pillow to float and be able to carry him. So he had a little more comfort when going out to buy groceries. He'd make detailed star maps to sell in return

When the sun rose on his 16th birthday, he left a note at home saying he felt ready to tackle his own destiny, and left.

He had a brush with Lucifer, but not Beel. so close, buddy.

Anyways he arrives at The Hunters Guild, finds his parents again, and takes residence in the observatory, where he studies his stars and druid magic again. But also, sleep and dreams.

and. yeah thats where we leave off! god that was long im sorry

[impish-ivy]

Here’s a refresher of how Asmo and Solomon forged their pact.

Spoilers for lesson 7

Welp. That’s that.

He was not forced or manipulated into a pact in NB. He wanted to forge a pact, he literally says so.

This pact is a huge part in Asmo fully accepting he’s a demon. By saying he was manipulated into this pact you’re taking a ton of Asmo’s agency as a character away.

[dirtytransmasc]

I'm sorry but the moment Alicent decided to obey her father she knew what was going to happen she knew she would have to have sex with him and have heirs. It's the only reason viserys remarried

"decided"????

what else was she meant to do? this was a day and age where women, especially young girls were controlled by their fathers, to some if not a great extent until they were married off (children of nobles typically betrothed for political reasons not love, these betrothals arranged by their fathers to whoever they pleased and saw fit, no matter what it could mean for the daughter). was she supposed to say no? was she supposed to disobey? what could have happened to her if she did? there was no point in which she could say no, when she could disagree. she was a girl, a child, all she could do was bite her tongue and pray for a miracle, pray for Viserys to not take to her, that at the very least he would wait to get her pregnant (the fact a 14 year old had to worry about that is sickening)

she was 14, she was grieving Aemma and reliving the pain of the loss of her mother, her father gave her an order, though disguised as a suggestion, one she could not deny. it didn't mean she wanted to, it didn't mean she wanted him to marry her, it doesn't mean she would have been forced to bear heirs as a child herself (especially because Aemma died because Viserys tried to get her pregnant to young and cause long lasting health issues that eventually lead to her fatal pregnancy), it doesn't mean she wanted any of it. but she didn't have any other choice, she didn't have a choice when her father sent her to his chambers, when Viserys claimed her hand, when Viserys assumed her consent and raped her in their marital bed, when she bore multiple children before she was 18, when she had to take care of him in his illness, when she had to practically rule in his stead. women didn't have choices at the time, nine of it was s choice she could have said no to, she just had to take it, all of it, cause her father told her to and it's her duty to obey him, and then Viserys married her and it was her duty to serve him.

y'all are so quick to blame a CHILD for the actions of her father and the king himself and forgetting the time and place she was in. nothing she could have done would have spared her fate, if not bringing her a worse one.

[doodlboy]

Yk realistically if the om bros were fucked up like demons should be, they wouldn't be that disturbed by bloodlust el's personality.

However, I think the terror and angst comes from the fact that they lived with him his whole life, and for the most part, he was very passive and calm and never immediately resorted to violence, so to see [what used to be] their human revel in bloodshed is.. unsettling.

[bbnibini]

Rant Lesson 20 (Obey me Nightbringer under the cut) and NB in general.

Fair warning: I had a really bad day and I'm sleep deprived and overworked so I wasn't able to mince my words.

I had a really small hope that NB will learn from the OG's mistakes and grow past it and make a better game that caters to its audience but lesson 20 Normal was severely underwhelming. They went for the "safe" side again and made everyone fight for the MC's affections as a wrapup for this season.

They were doing so well on making the romantic scenes optional and the interactions with the characters a lot less forced but with the abrupt end of season 1, it the sudden transition to everyone just falling in love with MC again felt like a whiplash. What happened to the nuance? The character development? Why are the characters...so tropey? It didn't use to be like that in the earlier lessons.

They were doing so well on making a better paced game but the past daily texts as well had forced romantic options and an MC that is really hard to relate to especially if you Stan specific characters (say what you will about NB being Solomon-centric, but boy am I not feeling it in the latter lessons. Was Solomon even there? Most of his content were off-screen. It was so frustrating. I hate the fandom sometimes and how they treat him). The only opportunity you can get to interact with him is the medal scene.

Then they had this brilliant idea to hide the only interesting thing that happened in lesson 20 in hard mode!!

Hello??? Isn't it important for everyone to know that the Raphael who came to the Devildom was an impostor? (And likely Michael or another angel?)

I'm done. I'm so done with this game. It's literally going back to its old habits. The poorly paced events are even worse with the absence of the 150 DV sales and the higher pity requirement for cards and Skill Levels to unlock full bloom.

Wow! /s The side characters finally get to have an event of their own? But I find it a little unfair Lucifer gets an individual spotlight along with Mammon but they can't seem to do it for Solomon and even Simeon!! Remember that Smash Bros event in the OG where they said Barbatos was the star but it turned out to be Belphie instead? Wtf is wrong with this game?

I'm so glad I had plans not to continue playing this. I feel so bad for the fans that will choose to stay despite all that's happening.

[melverie]

I thibk if Luci was a teen he woukd have listened to rock

He does give off that vibe!! And at the very least we know that Lucifer at least owns one (1) rock record ever since the 'Lucifer the Demon of Rock' devilgram

My personal headcanon is that after that devilgram, he realized he actually enjoyed the genre a lot and secretly started to listen to more and more rock. So now whenever the brothers go out for karaoke and he accidentally had one to many horns of Demonus, he exclusively sings his heart out to rock songs. He knows all of the lyrics by heart too and he's putting on the performance of a lifetime every single time, but the others know better than to record any of this, so unfortunately you had to be there to experience the full glory of it :(

That's also part of the reason he doesn't want to sing in front of Diavolo. Can't let anyone know that the Avatar of Pride listens to anything but the most exquiste classical music

[aeide-thea]

poll made by a minor so i'm not linking but it was like 'why do you have short nails? list of possible justifications' and i was just immediately like. i hate your framework already. why are you framing this as 'i assume long nails are Normal so if you have short nails what's your excuse.' why do you have long nails.

[brionnnne]

People HC Belphie as having narcolepsy, but rather than that, I'm thinking it might be hypersomnia ? Generally because narcolepsy has episodes of involuntary sleep, but Belphie doesn't necessarily just fall over and go to bed where he stands from what I know. It seems like he (for the most part) has enough presence of mind to choose, I guess, where he sleeps, or that he just doesn't really care. Also, there's the fact that he doesn't seem to dream often, which isn't the case for narcoleptics; typically they even have higher REM sleep density, but then Belphegor states that you'd assume he dreams often with the amount of time he sleeps, and yet he doesn't. Hypersomnia, however, includes excessive daytime sleepiness, prolonged nighttime sleep, sleep drunkenness (difficulty transitioning from sleep to wake; waking with confusion, disorientation, slowness and repeated returns to sleep). And hypersomniac patients often take long naps during the day that are mostly unrefreshing, with naps being more frequent in patients, and 75% of patients saying that short naps are not refreshing.

Idiopathic Hypersomnia, specifically, is excessive daytime sleepiness without narcolepsy or the features of other sleep disorders, that occurs in the absence of medical problems or sleep disruptions which, if you want to give him a sleep disorder, to me, this one seems better fitting for a general diagnosis.

EDIT: I was informed by a very nice anon that sleep attacks are not always as abrupt as I initially believed them to be, and can vary on a case-by-case basis. That the narcoleptic can sometimes still choose where they fall asleep (I've only seen more extreme cases, which makes sense; they're likely more worth showing online for educational purposes) or even manage to stay awake. This ...makes a lot of sense, honestly! Like I'm-not-sure-how-I-overlooked-this kind of sense. And yet, I did! I completely missed this on the initial posting, so I wanted to make this addition just in case. And as a DISCLAIMER: This post is meant to be observational / for fun, so please do not use it for learning!! I am not a teacher; I am not trying to teach, and most importantly, I am not qualified to teach anyone about narcolepsy! I really just have general knowledge about hypersomnia, and that's only through the many searches I've done trying to find out if I might actually have it myself, but in doing this, I just so happened to notice some parallels, and thought it was worth adding this into the discourse.