aikaruto

[aikaruto]

IM SEEING TALK OF BOOK 7 SPOILERS ABOUT MALLEUS AT IDIA'S DOOR ACTING LIKE THEM NIGHTMARE BITCHES FROM FNAF 4

[aikaruto]

Hello there! Are your request open? Because I was wondering if you would be able to write something for A Date With Death? If they are open, then wonderful!

Here is the following request: Sunshine has been having terrible nightmares about the 'bad' endings actually coming true, to the point, they call Grim/Casper for comfort and maybe ask him to come over, just to make sure nothing bad happens?

Thank you for reading, hope you have a nice day/night.

Through the Shadows, You’re My Light

Warnings: a date with death beyond the bet spoilers, use of Grims Real name, mention of blood, indirect mention of dying

The clock read 2:47 AM, the numbers burning like tiny red flames in the darkened room. Sunshine sat upright in their bed, clutching the blanket as though it might anchor them back to reality. Their heart raced, pounding erratically in their chest like it was trying to break free. Another nightmare, vivid and cruel, leaving their throat dry and their body drenched in sweat.

They had tried everything breathing exercises, grounding techniques, even staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on their ceiling for what felt like hours. None of it worked. Their mind refused to let go of the image of Casper cold and distant, the light in his eyes extinguished. Or worse, gone entirely.

The thought of losing him, of seeing those endings come true, clawed at their sanity. Sunshine reached for their phone, their hand trembling as they opened their contact list and scrolled down to his name. “Casper 👻🤍,” it read, though they’d saved a little ghost emoji next to it for fun.

For a moment, they hesitated. It was the middle of the night, and Grim was likely asleep or busy doing whatever mysterious work Death itself did at odd hours. But the fear gnawed at them, sharp and relentless. Taking a deep breath, they pressed the call button.

The phone rang once. Twice. On the third ring, his voice came through, warm and calm despite the late hour.

“Sunshine?” he asked, the faint rasp in his voice betraying that he’d been asleep. “What’s wrong?”

Sunshine hesitated, their throat tightening. “I… I’m sorry to call you so late. I just…” They trailed off, struggling to find the words.

“Sunshine.” His voice softened, a gentle coaxing. “What happened?”

“I had a nightmare,” they admitted, feeling a lump rise in their throat. “It’s stupid, I know, but it felt so real. You were sitting right in front of me covered in blood and suddenly it was like you were you… were gone, or…” Their voice broke, and they bit down hard on their lip to stop the tears from falling.

“Hey,” Grim interrupted, his tone firm but kind. “It’s not stupid. Not to me.”

Sunshine closed their eyes, letting his voice wash over them like a balm.

“Do you want me to come over?” he asked. “I can be there in ten minutes.”

“I don’t want to bother you,” they murmured, though the longing in their voice betrayed them.

“Sunshine,” Grim said again, his voice steady and reassuring. “You are never a bother. Not to me. If you need me, I’m there. Always.”

Their breath hitched at the sincerity in his words, and they nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Okay,” they whispered. “Please. I just… I need to see you.”

“Ten minutes,” he promised before hanging up.

Sunshine sat in the quiet, their heart still racing but a spark of hope now warming their chest. True to his word, there was a knock at their Window almost exactly ten minutes later.

When they opened it, there he was Casper, his eyes sharp and focused entirely on them. Without a word, he stepped forward and wrapped them in a firm but gentle hug.

Sunshine melted into him, burying their face in his chest as tears finally spilled over. He held them without hesitation, his hands rubbing soothing circles on their back.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice low and steady. “I’m here, Sunshine. Nothing’s going to happen to me. I promise.”

They clung to him, the weight of the nightmares easing with every second he held them.

“I was so scared,” they whispered.

“I know,” he said softly. “But listen to me. Those nightmares ? They’re not real. See I’m right here and you can feel me right?”

Sunshine pulled back just enough to look up at him, their eyes searching his. “But what if something happens? What if-”

“Shhh,” he interrupted, his hand coming up to gently cup their cheek. “Nothing’s going to happen. Not to me, not to you. We’ve faced worse together, haven’t we?”

They nodded, a small smile tugging at their lips despite their tears. “Yeah. We have.”

“Then trust me,” he said, his thumb brushing away a stray tear. “You’re stuck with me, Sunshine. I’m not going anywhere.”

The sincerity in his gaze left no room for doubt, and Sunshine felt the last of their fear begin to ebb away.

“Will you stay?” they asked, their voice barely above a whisper.

“As long as you need me,” he replied without hesitation.

That night, Sunshine slept soundly for the first time in weeks, nestled in the warmth of Casper’s arms. And though the shadows of their nightmares still lingered at the edges of their mind, they knew they’d be okay. Because with their favorite Grim Reaper by their side, the nightmares didn’t stand a chance.

Ahhhhhhhh I hope you like this and thank you so so much for being my first request 💋💋💋💋💋

[aikaruto]

Did anyone see the English translation for the new teaser song? Not official translations but yeah.

Something like "a kiss of promise, till death do us part" and um..NU UH

I better be overthinking shit but that feels foreboding and apparently the new game could be more mature.

Lucifer please be okay 🙏 and all of the other demon brothers 🙏

So yeah, I dunno how to feel about the new game coming out.. at first was excited, but now I'm kinda unsure because I did like how light-hearted it was and the Lucifer and night dagger scene already left me sobbing enough 🥀

[aikaruto]

Malleus was in the update of the octavinelle manga and kdkdjdjs he’s stuffed into that suit

[aikaruto]

Hell yeah 🔥🔥

i love you mister casper adatewithdeath

[aikaruto]

(POSSIBLE SPOILERS ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE NEW TEASER, I HAVE ONLY SEEN IMAGES OF IT)

I HAVE COME AS A RESEARCHER! AND JUST WANTING TO KNOW THINGS! because I'm finding out more and more that gacha game with fixed cast doesn't mean favorite character is safe 💔 anyways, I heard a character is likely to die and this game has killed off side characters before. Now, I don't know if said characters have cards on them or not because if they do that makes me question the fates of characters from games like Obey Me.

Currently, I'm downloading the game, I don't know much about it. So do tell me, have any main characters died or are likely to die? Do characters with cards on them even die permanently? Is it a fixed cast? Etc etc. Because if it is, I'm slowly coming to a conclusion about my understanding of these sorta games that is not the kind of conclusion I entirely desired but will have to accept 🥲

[aikaruto]

Okay so taking away the gacha mechanics of the game and whatever is going on with the story since the ending of nightbringer.. Was the OG Obey Me ever really "dark"? Was there anything like a war arc that was ever teased or was it always just kinda lighthearted with bits of drama here and there? 😭

Are stakes low in terms of mortality for our main characters? Like, I can't remember when but Levi, Asmo, and Mammon DIED in one of the seasons then got casually revived by Barbatos, it was treated like a joke. But what about if the story entirely ends? And the plot holes? The story has sorta confused me.

Nah, not really - from the beginning Obey Me always had some dark elements, but they're not really treated as such in-game. Eg in season one alone there are multiple episodes of murder and assault, both of other characters and MC, and while it makes sense that demons take no issue with such things, it is weird that MC just brushes these things aside as well and is instant besties with the person who just attempted to murder them out of sheer hatred 👀 (Same goes for the concept of indentured servitude and lack of personal freedom experienced by some characters, as well as manipulation and overriding consent etc.)

So OM always had a bunch of plot holes as a result, by trying to balance Evil Demons with Fluffy Romance. And that's okay, it was a huge success because people could put more darkness in fan works if they wanted to, while a larger number of people enjoyed the game as is ^^

I know there's a lot of retroactive nostalgia at play in the fandom for how the game "used to be dark" but imo it always steered clear of taking such topics seriously, both for better and worse. Any real darkness was in fanon interpretations and fandom creations.

It did get worse at navigating that balance mind you, with death becoming even more of a throwaway trope which removed any feeling of actual worry for the characters. I mean, if you put murder in season one, threat of death isn't gonna do much good after!

Season two I think did a good job of using another kind of peril, but after that it swung more into forced situations rather than following any organic development (eg delving into the tensions in the Devildom and what happened to the King would have been interesting, as would setting up some actual antagonists from the Celestial Realm or beyond. Hell, we've got other layers of the Devildom we've never even seen!).

tl;dr OM has been full of plot holes from the beginning and doesn't take dark themes seriously despite the premise, but it had enough magneticism to maintain popularity in those first couple of seasons due to better (not great!) writing and somewhat consistent characters.

It was never interested in exploring dark themes, but it certainly subsequently lost the edge that it did have early on, and lost sight of the unique selling points and setting that made it a success in the first place.

[aikaruto]

(Possible spoilers? Maybe?) Theoretically, if this game ever had and ending, what kind of ending do you think it would be?For example.. Would it be bittersweet? Happy? Sad? Tragic? (Tragic is least likely imo, I think happy or bittersweet).

What do you think could happen to the characters or what they may face if the devs continue the story? (Hopefully not a war arc, I'm sick of war arcs in stories 😭 I wanna see the celestial realm and devildom possibly make peace tho, and Diavolo's father to wake up)

Also, I heard a possible war arc was teased in NB S1 but never fully explored yet? I hope not, war arc usually ends up having major character deaths and this game has become such a comfort game for me😭 I love Lucifer a lot, he's become my biggest comfort character. I'd rather all of the brothers okay in the end if it ever ends 🙏

(Posting this in a few areas just to get as many different interpretations and predictions as possible!)

[aikaruto]

(Possible spoilers? Maybe?) Theoretically, if this game ever had and ending, what kind of ending do you think it would be?For example.. Would it be bittersweet? Happy? Sad? Tragic? (Tragic is least likely imo, I think happy or bittersweet).

What do you think could happen to the characters or what they may face if the devs continue the story? (Hopefully not a war arc, I'm sick of war arcs in stories 😭 I wanna see the celestial realm and devildom possibly make peace tho, and Diavolo's father to wake up)

Also, I heard a possible war arc was teased in NB S1 but never fully explored yet? I hope not, war arc usually ends up having major character deaths and this game has become such a comfort game for me😭 I love Lucifer a lot, he's become my biggest comfort character. I'd rather all of the brothers okay in the end if it ever ends 🙏

(Posting this in a few areas just to get as many different interpretations and predictions as possible!)

[aikaruto]

The amount of stuff Malleus has done and the lack of consequences lowkey leads me to believe that when Twisted Wonderland eventually ends or even before then, he'll pull a self sacrifice (as in sacrificing his own life permanently) or smth, but could I be seeing things wrongly? His character is very weirdly written, so it's super hard to tell what archetype he is, the story themes of his character arc and Twisted Wonderlands story themes in general, where he's heading, etc 🥲 especially with his magic now weakened.

As I stated in this post: “Well 💦 I don’t think Twst will ever fully commit to killing a playable character in the main cast. It’s just not economical for a gacha game to do. You kill off a character permanently? That equates to no more screen time (or at least way less screen time + new content) for that dead character, which directly translates into less merch and less banner sales. NPCs (like some of the parents and generic background characters) are disposable because it does not impact revenue at the end of the day. Main cast members? They have plot armor.”

His magic being weakened doesn’t read to me as a death flag, but instead a way to nerf Malleus and keep him from one shotting the eventual OB Grim (which I assume is the true final boss of OBs). Additionally, it’s been established that his horns contain a frightening amount of magic, and it is this overabundance of power that isolates him and prevents him from openly expressing himself. With the symbol of his power “broken” or injured, it’s basically going to give Malleus a new lease on life. He can finally be allowed to feel intense emotions without fucking with the weather, and the world is also no longer in danger since his injured horns mean he can no longer use “disaster level” magic. This is putting a convenient power cap on Malleus to prevent resolving problems too quickly moving forward and to facilitate him learning how to better control his emotions + socialize.

I do agree that Malleus is written very weirdly, but again, I don’t think this is because he’s destined to die or sacrifice himself. I think this is a function of what Twst wants to be clashing what Twst “has” to be. Twst clearly wants to tell a deep tale of an isolated young man coming into his own, but Twst also has to appeal to the fandom/players (especially those who self-insert) to make merch and banner sales. They make the odd decision to pose Malleus as someone everyone is afraid of to make Yuu feel special as the only person who treats him like an equal, but then this is almost immediately contradicted by several exceptions in the main cast and even side characters. But still, nothing can change him significantly because it “has” to be YOUR influence that does that (Yuu makes Malleus change his mind about liking Ramshackle desolate, Yuu tells Malleus he seems lonely when Malleus does not realize it about himself). Because of this, Malleus is granted a TON of leeway early and mid-story but no consequences and is frequently repeating the same mistakes until book 7 (which is vey late in the main story) can come along and finally give him some much needed development. The elements try to come together and result in something coherent, but I don’t think Malleus works as intended due to the conflicting interests of the writers.

[aikaruto]

WE GET TO MARRY THEM!?!?!?!

[aikaruto]

I hope the new OM! game has a mood tracker so when you're not feeling all that well your newlywed husband can say sweet things to you 🥹🩷

[aikaruto]

PH MY GOD THERES NO WAY????? A NEW FCKN APP!!?? 😭

[aikaruto]

Olympics core

[aikaruto]

Malleus said near the end of his backstory "is this how my life will be for what feels like eternity? All alone until the day I return to the stars?" Then Lilia to Malleus' said that not even fairies can survive fairytales, not even Malleus' magic can stop the passage of time. Could this be some kinda death flag or foreshadowing? Book 7 was a rough ride so there's so many things I'm wondering about 💀

Well 💦 I don’t think Twst will ever fully commit to killing a playable character in the main cast. It’s just not economical for a gacha game to do. You kill off a character permanently? That equates to no more screen time (or at least way less screen time + new content) for that dead character, which directly translates into less merch and less banner sales. NPCs (like some of the parents and generic background characters) are disposable because it does not impact revenue at the end of the day. Main cast members? They have plot armor.

Lilia was heavily foreshadowed to die in book 6 (the conversation with Malleus about seeing the stars aligning, the end-of-book char about the importance of bonds) + early book 7 (losing his magic, and wanting to retire, Silver talking about his dad dying in a foreign land), but Twst spontaneously brought him back with the power of love and wishing hard enough to conjure a miracle. (Ironically, many also worried that Malleus would die at the end of book 7, since there were “death flags” hovering around him, like us being told his UM could only be dispelled if he died or willingly removed it himself.) If any future main cast “deaths” occur, I’d imagine that they’d pull out a similar convenient explanation to revive them.

Things like the ending bit of Malleus’s post-OB flashback and Lilia saying not even fairies can survive fairy tales/not even Malleus’s magic can stop the passage of time, I don’t really see as foreshadowing a character death?? I interpret these lines as more of the narrative trying to drive home 1) Malleus’s livelong isolation and loneliness (which was the central theme of his flashback) and 2) how change is inevitable. It all feeds into the idea that Malleus, powerful as he is, cannot ignore his own troubles and continue living in a happy present with his magic. Unpleasant things will happen, fairies (long lived as they are) are not around for forever, because time doesn’t discriminate. Things can’t stay unchanging forever, and that’s what Malleus has to learn if he’s to mature.

Book 7 repeatedly uses fairy tales and fantasy as a parallel to the characters’ circumstances, and it’s not in a manner that suggests death, but change. For example, Malleus’s virtual pet Gao-Gao Draco-kun lives in a perpetual cycle, going from egg to fully grown dragon and then leaving behind an egg to start the cycle anew every month. Malleus laments having to see Gao-Gao go, and wishes that there was some way his lifespan were not finite. “It's a fairy-tale game, designed to comfort people. Perhaps there's no harm in indulging in its fantasy—one where people live on indefinitely, so long as you take care of them,” Lilia suggests. This draws an obvious parallel with Malleus, who would later go on to use his UM to force Sage’s Island into deceptive, happy dreams.

When Lilia later speaks of fairy tales again, it’s in reference to how quickly humans are making advancements. “No matter how hard we struggle, there's no stopping the advancement of [human] civilization.” He worried that far will be lost to time because of that. “Eventually, we fae will become relics of the past... We'll be forgotten and regarded as creatures from storybooks. But [Malleus] is going to be born and live on for an eternity. I don't want you to be relegated to the protagonist of a fairy tale.” (At this point, Malleus has not hatched. Lilia is expressing that he doesn’t want Malleus to die inside the eggshell and forgotten, only remembered in legends.)

Late in book 7, Idia seizes control of Malleus’s dream world(s) by constructing a fantasy of his own: a gacha game. The power has been shifted from Malleus to his classmates, who all seek to rebel against him. They once despaired at the impossible odds of fighting—and defeating—Malleus, but Idia’s cheat tool grants them power and hope.

So!! 💦 Yeah, I don’t think we have to worry about this?? But I understand why people might be feeling on edge after book 7’s release ending and how nail-biting it was building up to be (which doesn’t bode well for book 8, which may be even more dire).

[aikaruto]

How much creative control would Yana Toboso have? Like, the game gets angsty but usually each book has a happy (ish) ending unlike her other work Black Butler 👀

I'm not sure how much creative control she has but it's definitely not complete freedom. Black Butler is Yana’s own franchise, so she is allowed so much more control over it compared to a franchise like Twst with many shared interests (Disney, Aniplex, etc.) and connected properties. The format of Twst (being a mobile gacha game that relies on banner sales) probably also imposes some restrictions on what she can and cannot write. (For example, probably no permadeath because that eats into banner sales for the dead character.)

Yana will typically tweet out when she is responsible for the "scenario" (ie story) of a particular event or when she takes charge in the direction for a vignette. As for things like the main story, she has mentioned before that she has to write the script and then send it off to be looked over and approved by Disney. It's possible that Disney told her to make changes or won't allow for certain things to pass.

I do want to add the caveat that although I'm sure many Twst fans are also fans of Yana's writing, it would be incorrect to attribute all of Twst's "good" writing to her. She’s not perfect or infallible as a creator. We have to remember that there is an entire TEAM behind Twst, and this team is capable of producing great content, just the same as Yana is responsible for producing bad content--it just depends on the scenario. For example, Yana had a hand in overseeing the notoriously bad book 2 and Stage in Playful Land, while members of her team (Sumire Kowono, Wakana Hazuki, Jun Hioki, etc.) handled the excellent manga and light novel adaptations. I really think it’s important to evaluate everything on a case-by-case basis rather than assume quality based on the identity of the person behind it.

[aikaruto]

Is Diavolo x Lucifer even strongly hinted at to be canon? Gemini ai sucks at telling me since it's giving me mixed answers & I'm getting a lot of bias from other fans, I find a lot of material but can't tell if it actually hints at them being romantic or if it's up to fans interpretations. I'm too scared to ask anyone else because I don't wanna be doxxed or anything again😭

Lucifer, Diavolo & Fandom Toxicity

When it comes to headcanons and interpretations, it's super subjective and different takes are very valid!

However, headcanons and interpretations do not have to be accepted by other people. Everyone should simply enjoy the game as they see it, and enjoy that others enjoy the game their own way too.

When it comes to canon however, it's important to remember that this is a franchise marketed by Solmare as otome and romance simulation - the only romantic relationships canon to the game are those between the player/MC and the characters.

Different levels of platonic/familial affection are shown between characters though, whether that's Beel and Belphie, Lucifer and Simeon, or Simeon and Luke for example. Beel and Belphie are shown as having a brotherly relationship, similar to the more distanced relationship of Lucifer and Simeon (the latter as an angel also being as much a brother as the seven demons are).

Diavolo is shown as being fond of the demon brothers in particular (and less so of the angels and Solomon), but this is also wrapped up in his relative emotional immaturity - because of his position as royalty, lack of family, and superior power, nobody can really stand up to him or set him right. (Barbatos being a notable example, though even he has his powers held by Diavolo's command.)

As a result, his affection for the demon brothers can come across as more of a possessive attachment, that the brothers "belong" to him, and certainly that they cannot stand up to him. This is a common trope for royal characters to start out with - a lonely and spoiled individual gradually growing into a well rounded person. And of course, such a personality does not mean he is bad or evil (aside from being a demon!), just that his life experience has been different to those around him.

Through the series we see Diavolo mature and come to understand himself and the concept of friendship better, but his friendship with Lucifer will always have a very strong power dynamic - Diavolo does not own the other brothers, but Lucifer is sworn to obey him for all eternity. A great deal of Lucifer's stress is thus trying to keep his brothers in line so that he is not forced to choose between them and Diavolo (something that of course does happen when Belphie openly rebels previous to season one).

Lucifer is repeatedly shown to be uncomfortable with Diavolo's constant attention, but maintains a friendly if exasperated friendship with the prince. But underneath that friendship, he doesn't actually have a choice in the matter.

Unfortunately Solmare somewhat abandoned character development along the way which leaves Diavolo in limbo a little, but perhaps with time he would have released Lucifer from his oath so that they could have had a friendship on equal terms.

In the span of the games though, it's very clear that Lucifer puts his brothers first, and would very much like to actually be free.

And as for Diavolo, previous to becoming a romanceable character he was shown to be jealous of the demon brothers for being closer to MC than he himself was.

~

Headcanons could be made for any number of relationships between characters in the game, and that's absolutely fine - that's what imagination and fiction are for!

Headcanons can also be used to overwrite canon for your own interpretations and preferences, which again is all good.

It just doesn't overwrite reality for the game itself, nor should it dictate how others enjoy and engage with the game ^-^

As a final note, I find it very sad that doxxing and harassment is still a worry in the Obey Me fandom. That kind of toxicity is what kills a fandom off, and OM has certainly suffered because of its fandom becoming infamous for being hostile and abusive.

It is just a game. Fiction. Pixels.

It's supposed to be fun.

Don't waste your time on those that spread misery - block liberally and take no part in such things ❤️

~

Obey Me Theories Masterpost