OM! Fandom blog | Yin | She/Her | 19 | Human exchange student | Sharing what I like/create | Will occasionally share stuff from other games, anime, mangas/manhwas and fandoms!
Polygamy and Polyamory is fairly common in the Devildom with the abundance of emotions while Heaven leans towards monogamy with a few exceptions.
We have seen ghosts in a few events and I like to think they have their own dimension, a fourth world that is mostly shut off and stays neutral yet always accepts refugees.
Ghosts can make pacts with Demons if they are powerful enough. Ghost have a physical form, the translucent spirit is actually more for the majority of spirits (there is a difference between ghosts and spirits). Mc technically doesn't have to chose between angel, demon, or immortal, and can just become a ghost or spirit once they pass.
The Devildom so far has been the only nation able to strike a trade deal with ghosts and create good relations which is why there's ghosts in the Devildom but not in the Celestial Realm.
Mammon is usually in charge of snooping out criminal organisations and Lucifer usually wipes them out if they don't comply with standard protocol regarding businesses.
Simeon sometimes teaches the younger classes at RAD with Solomon.
There's no OSHA in the Devildom, there's Barbatos and Lucifer.
The Devildom was recovering from a recession when Diavolo took charge. It almost broke him when he learned how many were still starving when his father left.
The fae recently accepted Diavolo's peacekeeping mission when he returned the Fae king's crown. In return they sent a few ambassadors with a new crown for Diavolo. This was unprecedented for their relations and cemented Diavolo into power so the House of Lords cannot try to halt his coronation without causing international outrage.
Mammon's crows have official work by the crown as messenger's, Mammon is often compared to Hermes due to this and his speed.
The Devildom and Celestial Realm doesn't have plastic because it's so unnatural that demons and angels break out into hives when interacting with it. Most items are metal or silicone.
There aren't lgbt pride parades in the Devildom since pride parades came about with the HiV and Aids crisis which didn't affect other realms as Diavolo actually had doctors work on a cure. They do have sin festivals instead with all sorts of Stalls and Lucifer put Satan in charge of coordinating it.
The House of Lords is slightly more efficient than Congress and Parliament due to the threats of demons rioting.
I feel like most of us have forgotten about how Asmodeus had tried using his charm on us quickly after meeting us for the first time. Asmo's charm sounds a lot like drugging someone with an aphrodisiac so the ability for the target to willingly consent immediately becomes questionable. the more cautious Mc's would not trust him after doing that and Asmo may not understand what he did wrong in the first place and try more forceful tactics to seduce them again.
Tw: Asmo's (attempted) charm, Asmo corners Mc and makes them scared, no one in the house knocks, angstyyy then Mammon saves Mc for a happy ending
Asmodeus was reaching out for a light he could not touch. He isn't sure where he went wrong but it couldn't be Mc being overly cautious when they reconnected with Belphegor so fast. Maybe Mc was intimidated by his beauty, that has to be it, right? Mc clearly must be the type to admire from a distance. If that's the case then all he has to do is take charge to get them close.
Asmodeus slips from his room and searches the house for Mc. He's never gotten to be alone with them before, not since he first tried to charm them. He bust into Mc's room without knocking as all the siblings do causing Mc to jump. Mc was on their bed doing homework when Asmo barged in. They're very confused as to why Asmodeus is here and frankly a bit anxious as to what he wants.
"Asmo, is there something you need?"
"I thought you might want to admire me up close! After all, you can't get a good view of my perfection from such a distance."
Asmo smiles as he leans onto the bed, getting close enough that Mc could feel his breath on their face. Mc scoots back only for Asmo to get closer. They look away from Asmo's eyes after feeling a magical attempt to charm them again, just like the first time. They knew the charm would be canceled out by their other pacts, but they still wouldn't dare tempt it as they kept backing away.
"Asmodeus."
"Why are you moving away hon? Is my perfume too strong or am I just too dazzling?"
Asmodeus kept leaning in until Mc was backed against their bedframe, then Mammon cane in. Mc had texted Mammon to come over to study just a bit before Asmodeus barged in.
"HEY HUM-...an."
Mammon's expression darkened as he tried to read the situation. Asmodeus huffed in annoyance only to quickly become confused by his older brother's expression.
"Mammon, Mc and I need some alone ti- Mammon?"
"Asmo, you're Making Mc uncomfortable."
"Whatever could you mean Mammon? I'm just showing them my beauty."
"Asmo, did you ask permission to get that close?"
"Do you ask permission Mammon?"
Mc cut in a little, a bit quietly hut enough to be heard.
"He asked how much space I like, he's been respectful of my wishes. Please don't try to use your charm on me again.
Asmo blinked and Mammon quickly pulled him away from Mc. hearing Asmo tried to use his charm on them, Mammon wasn't very happy, a little enraged in fact, but he was going to be patient since his brother is often rather delusional.
"Asmo, Mc is uncomfortable. Did you really try using your charm on them? Have we let you go unrestricted for so long you think you can do this? Look at Mc's expression and I dare you to tell me they're into it"
Asmo finally looks at Mc's expression, now seeing the discomfort on their face, the way they had their arms crossed over their chest as their body language closed them off from interpreted danger.
"I thought they were too scared to get up close to see my beauty, I just wanted to give them a closer look and make them love me."
"Asmo, we can't assume these things. Do you have any idea how scary your charm actually is? Besides, your charm isn't the same as someone loving you, now... uhhh, what would Lucifer do... ya know what, just go to Lucifer's office, he can handle this.
Mammon let Asmo go to Lucifer's office for a long lecture before offering his hand to Mc. Usually Mammon would grab it as Mc allowed that, but it didn't seem as appropriate this time.
"C'mon Mc, let's get ice cream."
When the two returned, Asmodeus had left a sincere apology letter to Mc's door. Perhaps, now that he knows better, Asmo can connect to the dearest Mc.
Oh yeah, if it can be thought of it can be shipped (but some shouldn't be). I usually think of Barbs as adopting Solomon but if I step out of that headcanon then the dynamic is interesting to explore.
Barbs is another case of "throw darts all you want you still printed out a photo of him to hang on your wall". What I think is most important is why Barbatos was upset; the fact Solomon made him eighth. He clearly loves this man which can be taken as familial or romantic.
Solomon clearly holds Barbatos in high regard, which may be why Barbatos is eighth instead of first. Solomon was just trying to make himself more worthy of Barbatos pact.
Barbatos holds Solomon away from the stove with the fork in his tail whenever they cook. He makes Solomon peel potatoes so he can feel useful.
Solomon goes into Barbatos room and snuck a bed in there so they could actually sleep together comfortably. He even brings Barbs extra blankets during the winter.
Solomon has committed crimes against food while looking Barbatos dead in the eyes. Barbs has accepted that his boyfriend can't improve and just needs to stay away from the kitchen.
Solomon gets jealous of Diavolo taking up Barbatos time and summons him randomly for attention help with his magic projects
Barbatos, when stepping out of time to take a nap, will stay in Solomon's bed.
Perfect cosmic horror of a butler x human thing he pulled out of the trash
The relationship is very active, Barbatos is always chasing Solomon out of the kitchen or through the palace gardens.
Solomon successfully made a birthday cake for Barbatos, the feat was never repeated.
Diavolo is very concerned as to why Solomon needs to summon Barbatos so much.
YO DM/post that post you had about how Lucifer's actions are fueled by trauma responses/triggers! It would help with some of my writing, and I love to hear people's takes on our overworked, low-key alcoholic, traumatized demon man <3
😶
I don't actually have it written up yet. Legit I didn't think anyone would be interested 😭
And well, it'll take A While™️ to write up because I have to go back and look at season one again(its where most of the most noteable triggers are tbh)and it's just going to be a beast of a post + my chronic health stuff is fluctuating.
BUT
I can talk about the two things I've been ruminating on. Sorry if it's rambly I'm still working all my thoughts out and will probably change or reword stuff when I have a propper post.
Uh, also gotta preface this by saying this is just based off memory of things my therapist has told me about my own c-ptsd and how ptsd works in general and I'll have like a proper list of research in the Real Post.
Read More because I had more to say than I thought
First is how the game treats Lucifer's reliance on alcohol like it's completely normal and not cause for concern(and sometimes like it's supposed to be cute which 🤨)and also the fact it's actually extremely unclear exactly how often and how much he's drinking.
So, with mind altering substances like alcohol the goal of abusing it is to force his mind and body to relax, to stop thinking. And yeah, getting tipsy sometimes to help relax isn't indicative of substance abuse, but the way alcohol is Lucifer's first(and often only)choice to stop thinking and check out from pretty much everything is a sign. He "has to get drunk in order to be honest about his feelings" because to the trauma brain higher emotions are dangerous and not useful for survival. It becomes less about having a little drink with his favorite music as a fun little treat and more about numbing everything so he can continue to ignore his trauma.
There's a state that c-ptsd can cause(the name escapes me) where your brain is quite literally not accessing certain parts. You're supposed to leave that state once you're safe, but the problem that happens with ptsd/c-ptsd is that you can get stuck in that state of "the danger is gone but its not safe, we're not safe, we can't relax; if we relax The Bad Thing will happen again". This state can cause emotional numbness or disconnection from emotions to the point you can't tell an emotion is happening until it's overwhelming. If it's been happening long enough it can impede one's ability to identify and tell emotions apart, and/or can cause you to have physical signs of emotion but not the ability to feel them. Lucifer seems to be able to feel and be aware of his emotions, but tends to hide or limit them. Wether that's just because he's a naturally reserved person, a trauma response, or both is something I'd want to do more looking into before coming up with any sort of definitive answer.
So Lucifer gets drunk to shut that part of his brain up and to allow him to get into a state where emotions feel—if not safe then at least tolerable—again, to escape the hyper-vigilance even if the hang over will feel awful. And if Demonus works like human world liquor the added effect of taking a depressant will just compound the perceived need for more escape.
The overworking can also be a sign of that, actually. While it's true that some people just handle a lot of work well and enjoy it to an extent; I believe that Lucifer's over working is another maladaptive coping strategy. In the sense that he can't be haunted by anything that happened in the past if he's too tired to think by the time he maybe goes to sleep. "Keeping your mind off it" is actually a coping mechanism that might be recommended, because it's not inherently bad. Unless you're working yourself to death. From what I recall Lucifer doesn't tell us how he feels specifically about his work so I don't want to say, "he's for sure overworking himself as punishment for a perceived failure to protect his family" but it is a possibility.
That's why the game framing it like we should be okay with Lucifer getting drunk to confess to us feels so... icky to me(and why him slowly not needing it anymore was so noticeable).
And his pride as a Sin very easily ties into the issue. Needing help has been shown in game to come with the same challenges one may face in real life. Along with Lucifer being the parentified older brother you have the perfect recipe for someone who could end up viewing needing help as something that makes them lesser, or as something they shouldn't or aren't allowed to need.
Then second thing is that Lucifer is extremely good at masking right up until he faces a trigger, so the average person would just mistake his rage outbursts for general anger issues when actually the way he responds when angry and when triggered are different. Of course there's also the fact not all triggers will result in obvious trauma responses like panic attacks or outbursts of rage. So scenarios where Lucifer suddenly starts acting more strict or is controlling in a way he usually isn't can also be a sign that a trigger has happened.
Just look at how Lucifer responds to mc trying to go into the attic. He starts out by simply laying down the rules("you aren't allowed up there") but then as we keep ignoring him making him feel like he's losing control he escalates to threats before deciding that it's fine as long as we go up there on his terms(using the record as an excuse to allow us up. Which is only because we shouldn't have been able to see through his spells)
vs
his meltdown when he realized that not only had we met and talked to belphie, but that the whole time we'd been getting close to the others to free put his brothers in danger belphie and had in fact managed to get around his very carefully curated sense of control. Which is a big tell actually. Lucifer is a very careful person who plans things out and can usually adapt very well if things go awry. But the second you add in a trauma trigger his ability to calmly face problems goes out the window. And that makes complete sense when you factor in how the body deals with trauma; which is that it zeros in and narrows your field of awareness down to just "escape at any cost. Fight or fawn if you have to but escape. Survival is first".
Lucifer finding out we had created a situation that wasn't really different from what happened to Lilith hit a trigger that caused him to react violently, as he usually does when he's triggered. His main reaction is pretty squarely the fight in 'fight or flight'.
PTSD literally rewires your brain, and so because 'killing it first' is what kept Lucifer and his siblings safe in the past, thats what his brain is geared toward now. If the problem is gone its not a problem sort of thing.
Desperately needing to be in control is a fairly common thing that people with trauma have to deal with. 'Control', or rather the loss of it being one of Lucifer's main triggers is also why it takes so long for him to be comfortable asking us for things. (Lucifer's need for control and how that does or doesn't affect his romantic relationships is it's own post I gotta get to)
It's also why Lucifer doesn't react all that positively to the Hellfire Newt Syrup incident(the chapter is literally called "Maintaining the Façade"). He literally hides himself away until he feels in control enough to see us. And then we touch him by accident(read: in a way he wasn't expecting and so out of his control) and his control breaks and he instantly does his best to put the mask back on. But the syrup is winning now and making him say things he wouldn't usually. He's pretty visibly not happy, but since it's going to happen wether he's ready/willing or not he takes a semblance of control back by directly asking us to give him an order which will remove the effects and give him full agency and control back. But not before it has him admitting how much he missed us and telling us he loves us. Because this is a dating game first and foremost and they didn't take the time to actually have mc get close enough that Lucifer felt he could trust them with any sort of vulnerability. (Which is why asking us for a command was the last ditch effort and not the first thing he tried. Because while Lucifer trusts mc not to order him to harm himself/others he's not at the point where he can trust them with the raw wounds of his past)
The PTSD brain is not usually fond of open and honest talks about trauma. Vulnerability can become conflated with danger, where even if you know someone is safe, that they won't hurt you, the very idea of relinquishing control of the situation, of putting yourself in a position where emotions could happen or be used against you—your entire body will reject it even if you've been working on healing.
But that's why his progress with mc later is so important and why I honestly think the aphrodisiac chapter would have hit so much harder if it was later in the season when Lucifer trusted mc more and it was easier for him to be even slightly more open.
Which to be fair to ourselves as players we wouldn't have noticed a lot of this the first play through of season one because at that point we didn't know him well enough and he hadn't warmed up to us until basically the last chapter. (Even in his early cards he's very distant and even his flirting is very hard to pick up on)
PTSD coping mechanisms are things your brain came up with to keep you alive. Which ones are working and which ones aren't are going to change along with you and your environment. Which is why I didn't say 'healthy' there; because some extremely necessary coping mechanisms are genuinely unhealthy but at the same time the only thing keeping you alive, or together enough to function. They're also the ones you'd usually notice and try to replace/unlearn first.
But Lucifer isn't doing any of that. He's not finding new coping mechanisms because, I genuinely think he doesn't realize he needs to. And you really can't make new coping mechanisms that are good for you and the people around you when you're still in situations that are similar to what caused your trauma, or end up in situations that cause new trauma.
Anyway. Uh, I hope that was what you were looking for? And that my rambling didn't ruin anything and at least sorta made sense. Feel free to keep asking about it if you want.
OH MY GOD THANK YOU I LOVE THIS. All the psych/neuroscience parts are RIGHT up my alley. I think your read of Lucifer is cool, esp part about his relationship with control. I always thought that it was more of a vulnerability/pride thing that kept him a bit closed up but what you’re saying makes a lot of sense actually. Also the idea that he won’t or can’t heal as well from his trauma because he is and always will be in the exact same place with the same people is insane. I don’t think an immortal ever stops to rethink their coping mechanisms, I like to think that MC helps Lucifer with this. Lore-wise as well, his emotions and experience with the Fall and Lilith’s death just get more complex when you consider Satan’s creation. What could he have felt when all the wrath was literally ripped out of him? It hurts a bit but I consider Lucifer ripping off his own wings to be more a moment of self-harm than a moment of rage at his father? AH so much to say about Luci, I love this character so much. Thanks for the answer! Looking forward to the Real Post(TM)
I like to think that Mammon loves helping MC out with chores. I headcanon it, actually. It’s even canon in the game that he’ll do anything MC asks for. It’s funny coz he’s the kinda guy who would slack off and make excuses not to do stuff. Like who wants to wash the dishes anyway? How boring. But wait, if he gets to do it with you? It’s now fun coz it’s like you’re a married couple. Aww, all those domestic fluffy feels, his heart can’t take it! At least Lucifer is happy. Ok seriously tho, even though everyone takes turns to do chores in the House of Lamentation, I imagine if it’s your turn, it’s so much work for one person, like there are 8 people including yourself you got to cook for, and do so many dishes as well! Thankfully you have your faithful puppy helping you out. He’ll be like “don’t stay up too late coz of all the work” and “all that scrubbing’s gonna hurt your delicate human hands” and continue making as many excuses as he can think of. But you don’t mind in the slightest!
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