#Dr Canto

[banesberry-anomoly]

Ghosts of the Universe singing a Duet

Hey chat I made a video of our and @stellyfins scp/wl author avatars singing Ghost Duet by Louie Zong 💥

[erlkink-heatcliff]

whose this bloke

[cluescorner]

Canto 6 was incomplete

Literally why are we there? Like, we just go to a manor that's in t-corp I guess. But why are we there? We've got another Heathcliff and he's cool but he just shows up pissed off for no reason and then we leave? Weird af. Nelly, Linton, and Josephine were cool and Hindley...existed. But it's a weirdly low number of supporting characters, and I guess that 1 really important and cool one could have made up for it but that didn't happen. Even the Mili song felt incomplete, like only 1/2 of it was there! Such an odd choice to make at the halfway mark for our 12 sinners. It just feels like a lot of stuff was missing and it's really sad because I was excited for Heathcliff's canto.

[texasthrillbilly]

Power couple

[13thsinnr]

knee deep in fixation hell rn

[kikunai]

Limbus Company Canto VI's insane foreshadowing, callbacks and details

(AKA really fucking good and consistent writing)

these are details that only make sense when you play canto 6 for the second time. spoilers alert.

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.

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Mirror world shenanigans:

you can hear Heathcliff?'s pitch dropping slowly before the reveal (6-33/EP35)

T Corp residents carry timepieces as personal identification (6-03/EP4) but they do not have them, not even their chains. (6-18/EP19)

Dead Rabbit boss and Heathcliff have around the same height, which is very unusual as PM has diverse heights for different characters

DR boss calls his gang "Mad Coney" at first (6-10/EP12) [though this may be a nickname]

in the conversation between DR boss and Heathcliff (6-10/EP12), the former has an uncanny deep understanding of his past.

Faust:

<… Sometimes, Faust looks like she's pausing to look at something before speaking.> -- Dante (6-25/EP28)

Faust makes an indifferent noise when 1. Ishmael and Yi Sang observed that broken mirrors were heard when dead rabbit henchmen die (6-18/EP19); and 2. Heathcliff? mentioned he watches Hindley dies every time (6-33/EP35)

Lightning strikes:

"… A momentary musing reveals that a strike of levin brings about a sensation that is not unlike the joy of fireworks. It fills the dark and cold void of the night sky with its incandescent brilliance, even for a brief moment, before fading away into oblivion." "… Right. And in exchange, it loses everything it has, burning and leaving nothing but ash behind. What joy is there to be found?" -- Yi Sang and Heathcliff (6-07/EP8)

Each strike of lightning is a blessing… For it signifies that you have a place in her heart. -- Linton (6-36/EP40) The thunder of every lightning that struck the manor… was the sound of her breaking heart. With every heartbreak, the lightning strikes. The pain, the bereavement, the shock… are all manifest as lightning, then darkness. Thus, the lightning only indicates that the person in question was so important to her… -- Linton (6-37/EP41)

(before the funeral) "I was never once 'rich' in this manor. I wasn't even allowed to be content. Not even for a moment. And this manor. This manor never accepted me, not even for a—" (6-07/EP8)

"No… this isn't at all what I… I…" "Come back, Cathy. Please…" "Hear my voice just this once, Cathy!!!" -- Heathcliff (6-12/EP14)

"You were the first to leave her, yes… but I assure you, it was certainly for the better. Because she would have… left you first if you hadn't. Because she would have grown tired of you!" "Tired… of me…?" --Linton and Heathcliff (6-21/EP24)

Hindley dying (6-32/EP34)

Heathcliff distorting (6-34/EP37)

Linton dying (6-37/EP42)

Nelly defeated (6-46/EP50)

Heathcliff stabbing himself with the golden bough (6-47/EP51)

Heathcliff dismissed Catherine's feelings when conversing with Yi Sang. It was supposed to brighten Heathcliff's heart, to bring him joy, yet he believes it is nothing and leaves nothingness.

Colours:

Heathcliff mentioned he likes the colour black as "the colour you get when you dump an entire set of paint into a bucket [...] And that's exactly why I tolerate it. Keep throwing paint over paint over paint… and you get black" (6-05/EP6)

"Thus, I have journeyed to this world. To devour every one of those hours. So that you may be stained with the same despair that painted me…" -- Heathcliff? (6-34/EP36)

"Endless vortex of colours, mixing into a sludge. A splash of grey paint over the heart that once gleamed violet. A splash of bloody red paint. Splashes of faded colours. Again and again… until there was nothing but blackness. Unseen by all. Unnecessary to anyone. The colour of the pitch-black night -- The colour of the Backstreets." -- Heathcliff (6-46/EP50)

[ Not a single color remained in the silent Wuthering Heights once the tempest passed. All monochromatic, save for patches of color. ] (6-48/EP53)

[ Come back, Heath. To the manor where the last vestiges of its beauty remain in its violet flowers. ] (6-01/EP1)

Colours are a synecdoche of Wuthering Heights, their impact and their affluence. After Hindley, Linton and Catherine's death, all it remains was Heathcliff.

Nelly's lies, partial truths and betrayal:

Nelly wrote the invitation letter, with Catherine's remark. "Besides… all she said is that she'd be waiting. She never said she missed me or 'wanted' to see me." (6-04/EP5)

"Oh, pish posh! Ridiculous! I was a Butler in direct service of Miss Catherine. Young Master Linton could plead and beg all he wants, but I won't always be taking his side." -- Nelly (6-11/EP13). This however doesnt mean she wont be against the sinners ("This manor has never been on your side. Not even once." (6-45/EP45)).

Nelly offhandedly mentioned she removed all the mirrors in the estate (6-18/EP19) [before Linton moved in (6-36/EP40)], presumably to make Catherine curious about the capital M Mirror

she doesnt recall Catherine opening the letters (6-18/EP19) nor blaming Linton for burning them (6-23/EP26) [even he claimed to have burnt them, possibly to spite Heathcliff (6-21/EP23)] since she burnt them before Catherine can even see them

Heathers, or Heaths for short:

Catherine spent a fortune to give heath colours (6-08/EP9), though Heathcliff did not get the meaning at first("You're wrong. There was no particular love for these flowers. There was no room, no warmth in that heart to spare for mere flowers.")

Linton brought Catherine a golden flower. she remarked that it was for his own sake, only as if he truly loves her he would have brought a violet flower instead (6-18/EP19)

"Those flowers bloom in places like desolate moors or steep cliffsides, so they may appear more lonely than anything else in the world. [...] All other flowers lose their colours and fade as they wither away. But this flower… even as it withers and wilts... remains the same colour. So when you're gone, I will dry these flowers and decorate my room with them." "Uh… what, like make rings of them flowers? Don't say something so foolish. Why would I ever leave you?" -- Catherine and Heathcliff (6-46/EP50)

"Those Flowers... are called Heath. The loneliest flowers that take root and bloom in the wild moorlands, but they're also flowers that survive no matter what devastating tempest comes their way. They endure it all and wait" -- Heathcliff (6-48/EP53)

Catherine's self sacrifice:

"Because birds are meant to fly. Not to be killed like that. Yes. Birds do not belong in their cages; they are beings born to soar the skies. So I am going to empty this pillow of their feathers." (6-19/EP21)

"… will every Heathcliff in every world find happiness?" "Yes, he will. So… it's not too late. For the sake of every remaining Heathcliff in every world, please, invite us to your world beyond. So that we may kill you first and move on to the next, to kill the Catherine of a different world. Again, and again…" "Then, only then, can every Heathcliff reach his own heaven." -- Catherine and Every Catherine (6-47/EP51)

"I don't love every Heathcliff in every world." "I love you. As you are now." -- Catherine (6-48/in game cutscene)

[ But Heathcliff was no longer trapped in a living dream. Perhaps that is precisely why he could open the door to see a new, wider world. ] (6-48/EP53)

The rose from Le Petit Prince referenced by Demian (6-48/EP53 post credit)

Vergilius:

"I am no longer concerned that, in my desire to fulfill the conditions for every clause in my contract, the manager might be irreversibly… hurt. I would be left with nothing if such a thing were to happen." -- Vergilius (6-06/EP7)

read Leviathan please.

=================

"

"… Where do you suppose he is? Heathcliff." "Miss..." "He doesn't have anything left. I am everything he has…" -- Catherine and Nelly (6-12/EP14) "In a way, we’re all ‘deprived’… and that can change a lot of things. Maybe there are things that we can understand only when we’re left with nothing." -- Hong Lu (6-01/EP1)

[mulberriesandtea]

A VERY DISORGANIZED AND WEIRD MESS OF THOUGHTS THAT ARE ALL RELATED TO THE SODA EGO SOMEHOW

So wellcheer's story is like, this employee getting drugged and taken aboard a ship, and eventually coming to enjoy his work there, finding it better than working in the city. In general this reads to me as the escapist fantasy of the employees, wanting something that's more fulfilling, more satisfying, hoping for a change. While I think Hong Lu having it is somewhat self explanatory, I think we need to consider Ryoushuu as well, since both can provide context for one another. I will also bring up the fact that someone pointed out they could correlate to the types of work that give grape wellcheers, those being attachment(being kind and friendly) and repression(denying the abnormality in some way)- which I didn't quite agree with at first, but I think I understand better now that yes, it's likely. With that out of the way~! Let's talk about Hong Lu, since he's the one we understand the most about! These are not clean sections by the way. They're ramblings of a mad man.

"Tadaa~ Transformation complete! Hah, we've a boatload!" 

- Hong Lu Awakening

I think Hong Lu's is specifically meant to represent denial as his form of escapism. He denies anything that happens to him, and instead focuses on other things. We can note that Hong Lu seems to enjoy film in some way, and often mentions boredom and 'entertainment.' Not to mention Land of Illusion(I stare at the 5 gloom cost good fucking lord). Yah. Anyways, his magical girl transformation is an obvious reference to well, magical girl shows. Y'know, the kind of shows you watch and go 'man I'd love to be just like her" at least according to people. Understanding that, as well as pointing out that in both his Dimension Shredder and his Roseate Desire he seems a lot more overtaken by the abnormality than Yi Sang and Ishmael respectively in their awakenings(Yi Sang at least has both arms and Ishmael seems really not to be having a fun time), I think I can safely say that I think Hong Lu being on the boat is quite literally him fully accepting the fantasy of it. Have any of you method acted before? I have done it before, but not correctly, and I'm easily swayed by the emotions and thoughts of the characters I overtake, it's incredibly hard to maintain a divide between 'yourself' and 'your character' if you don't properly understand yourself- I mention this because it's quite literally what the Sinners do. I know this seems random to bring up but I hear me out here. I think it's clear that method acting wise, Hong Lu gets much more lost in his roles than the other sinners- I'd argue Canto IV especially shows this. Some of the others seem to also have trouble with Canto IV's play scene, but I believe the difference between that and their EGOs is how prolonged it is. Hard to explain, but yeah, Hong Lu quietly gets much more lost in his roles and it really does show in his EGOs- which is likely part of the escapism of it all. TL;DR I think his thing is denial, and as such, he represents the Repression half of the Wellcheers Grape Soda, and the reason he's on the boat is that he's *fully* invested in the EGO.

...Someone more into method acting should explain it better and see how it works within the context of EGO.

"Go on, open wide. Relax and cram this drink down your throats, heheh." 

- Ryoushuu Awakening

And that brings us to Ryoushuu, who I think represents the Attatchment side. And that might sound really weird at first. Why is the friendly one who seems to be more open with everyone Repression and the one who quite literally would attack other people and seems much more distant from everyone else despite it being several months now be Attachment? I'll explain more in Hong Lu's corrosion section. Anyways Ryoushuu! I think, in a way, her EGO, and the fact it's Zayin, is rather important- I'm still not quite sure on that aspect outside of 'it is really notable Gregor and Ryoushuu have Zayin EGOs.' I think her form of escapism is much more external than Hong Lu's- of course there's her tendency to smoke, but there's also her tendency to get obsessed with her art- and I think the fact that art is often heavily affected by the emotions of the creator is important. Art's a form of venting in a sense, but the way Ryoushuu does art she forces other people to deal with her problems. It's hard to explain gosh. Basically, she's very much ignoring her problems by creating art- she's not solving the root problem, she's not actually understanding why she's feeling that way, she just doesn't deal with it. THIS IS SHORTER THAN HONG LU'S SECTION BUT IN MY DEFENSE-

"The seagulls... They keep crying and screaming away...!" 

- Hong Lu Corrosion

So yeah these two. Ryoushuu's based on a man who committed suicide after the death of his daughter(who we know is dead in Limbus too, Fourth Match Flame and Red Eyes very heavily imply that, not to mention how Ryoushuu reacts to Outis during Hell's Chicken) and very much so has self-destructive behavior(said staring directly at Indiscriminate Art, which passive wise is exactly the same as Self-Neglect, and her smoking habits), while Hong Lu seems to very much have a persona of being cheerful and oblivious to the point of where it's very hard to tell if he's being genuine or not(The one potato joke in Hell's Chicken)- a persona that has not cracked yet in story, even when Faust attempted to break it with a sledgehammer(Once again, Hell's Chicken). I mention this because his persona has cracked in his EGOs- and this is one of them. I argue that both of their egos will be them no longer able to confide in their coping mechanisms of escapism, and their reactions to that. Hong Lu's EGO specifically shows him with the net stuck around him and in his mouth, and with him seeming almost panicked and lost. It's very particular he seems focused on the 'seagulls' which can seem a bit random, but I believe this is due to the 'seagulls' representing his last thread of escapism- his world, literally and in his denial, is falling apart. I'd argue that Ryoushuu's will be somewhat similar, also representing her thread of escapism falling apart- likely to do with either Yuzuki’s death or her completion of the ‘Hellscreen,’ and her being unable to deal with it.

I think they'll both be either Lust or Gluttony EGOs put a cute little thumbsup here

Of course I can be like, completely wrong. Anyways it's like 3 in the morning stream heart's claws by vane(flashing colors warning): 

https://youtu.be/2M2BHjVQPH4

i wanted to post the sodas but that’d take too long

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in April 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Spring on the Peninsula - Ery Shin 🧡 When I Arrived at the Castle - Emily Carroll 💛 Bloodline - Jenn Alexander 💚 Grey Dog - Elliott Gish 💙 Every Time You Hear That Song - Jenna Voris 💜 I'm in Love with the Villainess v. 2 - Inori and Hanagata ❤️ The Caravaggio Syndrome - Alessandro Giardino 🧡 Leather, Lace, and Locs - Anne Shade 💛 Firebugs - Nico Bulling 💙 I Married My Female Friend v.2 - Shio Usui 💜 The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray - Christine Calella 🌈 A Sweet Sting of Salt - Rose Sutherland ❤️ The Selected Shepherd: Poems - Reginald Shepherd 🧡 Rough Trade - Katrina Carrasco 💛 Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married - Georgia Beers 💚 Taming of a Rebel - Eada Friesian 💙 Dayspring - Anthony Oliveira 💜 The Titanic Survivors Book Club - Timothy Schaffert ❤️ Orphia And Eurydicius - Elyse John 🧡 The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers - Samuel Burr 💛 A Good Happy Girl - Marissa Higgins 💙 Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine - Nicole Melleby 💜 Here We Go Again - Alison Cochrun 🌈 Women! In! Peril! - Jessie Ren Marshall

❤️ Blood City Rollers - V. P. Anderson and Tatiana Hill 🧡 The Prospects - KT Hoffman 💛 Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia - Christi Furnas 💚 WATCHNIGHT - Cyree Jarelle Johnson 💙 Love From The Sidelines - Tuesday Harper 💜 The Pleasure in Pain - Roxie Voorhees ❤️ Mal - Perla Zul 🧡 The Black Girl Survives in This One - Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell 💛 Darker by Four - June C.L. Tan 💙 Otherworldly - F.T. Lukens 💜 Hearts Still Beating - Brooke Archer 🌈 Tryst Six Venom - Penelope Douglas

❤️ Teenage Dirtbags - James Acker 🧡 The Heart Wants What It Wants - D.M. Batten 💛 Something Kindred by Ciera Burch 💚 Sheine Lende - Dr. Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai 💙 Rainbow Overalls - Maggie Fortuna 💜 Flowers for Dead Girls - Abigail Collins ❤️ Canto Contigo - Jonny Garza Villa

❤️ Court of Wanderers - Rin Chupeco 🧡 Molten Death - Leslie Karst 💛 Triad Magic - ‘Nathan Burgoine 💚 You, Me and Bad Movies - Twoony 💙 The Faithful Dark - Cate Baumer 💜 A Case for Discretion - Ashley Moore ❤️ Party of Fools - Cedar McCloud 🧡 The Last Love Song - Kalie Holford 💛 This is Me Trying - Racquel Marie 💙 Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao 💜 Sun Eater - Dre Levant 🌈 The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram

❤️ Bad Dream - Nicole Maines & Rye Hickman 🧡 If We Were Stars - Eule Grey 💛 The Broken Lines of Us - Shia Woods 💚 Eye of the Ouroboros - Megan Bontrager 💙 Henry Henry - Allen Bratton 💜 Dear Bi Men - JR Yussuf ❤️ Paige Not Found - Jen Wilde 🧡 Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership - Chaya Milchtein 💛 Wide Awake Now - David Levithan 💙 Merciless Saviors - H.E. Edgmon 💜 Smile and Be a Villain - Yves Donlon 🌈 Crash Landing - Charmaine Anne Li

❤️ Call Forth a Fox - Markelle Grabo 🧡 Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2024 - Beau Adler 💛 Good Bones - Aurora Rey 💚 Curiosities - Anne Fleming 💙 Someone You Can Build a Nest in - John Wiswell 💜 Revisiting Summer Nights - Ashley Bartlett ❤️ Bright Spring - Emmaline Strange

❤️ Girls Night - I.S. Belle 🧡 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💛 Withered - A.G.A. Wilmot 💚 A Wolf Steps in Blood - Tamara Jerée 💙 It Always Finds Me - Anthology 💜 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt ❤️ Moon Dust in My Hairnet - JR Creaden 🧡 Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker 💛 Relinquishing Control - J.J. Arias

❤️ Selamlik - Khaled Alesmael 🧡 Houseswap 101 - Jaime Clevenger 💛 Earthflown by Frances Wren & Litarnes 💚 Covenant v.1 - LySandra Vuong 💙 Honey - Victor Lodato 💜 The Dragonfly Gambit - A.D. Sui ❤️ Double Dyno - Sharon K Angelici & Taylor Rose

[mandatorypartyy]

"he's not gone, he's just dead"

ARE YOU K I D D I N G ME

as someone who lost my own dad last year, this is now one of my favorite episodes i've ever seen thus far and holy shit they did not skimp on the feels whatsoever. like. knife in the chest only to have it be replaced with fuzzy warmth when i saw Splice's dad wave to them back in the TARDIS. and honestly i've been waiting for a dr. who-sized and well-placed twist in the plot of an episode, and when Ruby got shot by Canto, it legitimately took my breath away

all of the nods to war, capitalism, AI too ... they are cooking

very very good work Steven Moffat (under RTD of course; best setup in my opinion)

[banesberry-anomoly]

Another banger collab with @stellyfins 🔥

[ratlesshonret]

I ran some numbers just for fun, and came to some interesting conclusions about Limbus Company's story structure and game design. I analyzed what percentage of stages are just story, have story/combat, and are just combat, for Cantos IV, V, and VI.

Canto IV, in general, is regarded as fairly poorly paced, with many stages of just combat against the same generic enemies, while Canto V and VI are regarded as having fixed these issues by adding more story stages and supplementing many would-be just-combat stages with story parts at the start or end of the fight.

But, what are the numbers? To be clear, while I will list dungeons, I will not be factoring them into the final calculations because I already did the calculations without them and I'm too lazy to redo them.

And once I run the numbers, I'll go into a lot of detail about why the story may feel more well-paced, especially in Canto VI.

Doing a check, Canto IV has 54 total stage. -9 Just Story -21 Combat/Story -23 Just Combat -1 Dungeon

Now, let's take a look at Canto V. It has 36 total stages, putting it already at 18 less levels than the last Canto. -12 Just Story -21 Combat/Story -2 Just Combat -1 Dungeon

Finally, let's look at Canto VI, which has 48 stages. -14 Just Story -28 Combat/Story -6 Just Combat

Now, let's run some numbers. In Canto IV: -81% of stages have some combat -42% of stages are just combat -55% of stages have some story -16% of stages are just story If you count story/combat stages as half a stage on each side, then Canto IV has 19.5 story stages, and 33.5 combat stages. This means that you spend about 62% of time in combat, and only 38% of time in the story, assuming that each combat and story section takes the same time to play through.

Now, let's look at Canto V: -63% of stages have some combat -5% of stages have just combat -91% of stages have some story -33% of stages have just story If you count story/combat stages as half a stage on each side, then Canto V has 22.5 story stages, and 12.5 combat stages. This means that you spend 34% of time in combat, and 66% of time in the story. This is literally the exact opposite of the last Canto.

Finally, Canto VI: -70% of stages have some combat -12% of stages have just combat -87% of stages have some story -29% of stages have just story If you count story/combat stages as half a stage on each side, then Canto VI has 28 story stages and 20 combat stages. This means that you spend 41% of time in combat, and 59% of time in the story. More combat than Canto V, but not as much as IV.

For a quick TL;DR, if we assume combat and story take equal playtime to complete: Canto IV - 62% Combat, 38% Story Canto V - 34% Combat, 66% Story Canto VI - 41% Combat, 59% Story

As we can see, Canto IV and V are basically reversals of each other in terms of the combat/story ratio, while Canto VI is somewhat in the middle of them, leaning closer to Canto V's ratio.

However, one big thing to consider with Canto VI is the amount of boss fights. Many stages in Canto VI have long boss battles, and if these were counted as their own kind of stage, I imagine this part of the game would have a very skewed ratio compared to previous parts. If we make some general assumptions that these fights take much longer than the ones in Canto IV, and are more likely to result in retries due to their difficulty, then the combat time in Canto VI may be closer to a flat 50/50, or even a 60/40 in the other direction, which would put it almost even with Canto IV.

So why does Canto VI not feel like a slog to play through compared to Canto IV? Well, you may already know the answer: the fights are more interesting. Fighting a complex boss with gimmicks and flavor is much more fun than just beating up the same robots and EGO-wearing Fixers over and over again. And even if you have to retry the fight a few times, the learning of a bosses abilities and how to approach the fight, alongside details such as unique sprites, animations, and music, leads to a generally more engaging experience.

(CANTO VI SPOILERS BELOW)

Canto VI is also special in how oddly it is balanced. Most of the combat-only stages occur around the start of the final third, while almost half of the just-story stages happen within the first third. It leads off with a lot of story and setup, before throwing you into fight after fight, and eventually, boss after boss.

In my personal opinion, I wasn't the biggest fan of how Canto VI just felt like a boss-rush. But I understand why many people enjoyed this type of gameplay. Especially fans who came over from Ruina, like myself, and who are used to the structure of back-to-back tough and unique battles, rather than the early-Limbus structure that gave dozens of waves of generics to plow through.

But back to the game-design aspect, I think the way Canto VI does setup and payoff is interesting. In Canto V, the story and combat sections are fairly balanced. Each combat stage comes with story, and the few that don't usually place a just-story stage immediately after. Canto VI also does this, but it's a bit different with how many bosses there are.

In Canto VI, it begins with lots of story, as mentioned before. This sort of leads to a feeling of building up to something, the exposition leaves you invested. When you get to the "boss rush" section, you get rewarded with the story payoff whenever you defeat a boss. Once that's done, you get thrown right into another boss, with another payoff. The story starting slow and building means that they can throw you into a cycle of challenge-payoff-challenge-payoff in a way that feels real and rewarding to the player. The tough challenge comes, and you get immediate story payoff that works due to the first third of the story being used to set up many different plot threads and characters.

Once that middle-third "boss rush" is over, you get a bit of a break in the form of the Wild Hunt. The section of stages that's mostly just combat, with fairly little story in it. After a few levels of this, you're back to bosses. This time, however, they usually come accompanied with full story stages after their defeat, which are usually used to set up the scenario for the upcoming boss fight afterwards. It's similar to the boss rush segment, but much less of a rush and more of just a chain.

This section mainly works by making each boss feel more impactful. You already dealt with the boss rush, but now, this chain of bosses coming with full story-levels worth of setup really makes them feel like the important ones. You climbed up the hill of bosses, and received that challenge-payoff cycle several times, and now you're at the part where it's more of a buildup-payoff, where the payoff is the boss fight. And of course, this culminates in the ultimate buildup-payoff, where you get two whole story stages worth of buildup into the final battle against the Erlking and Catherine.

Overall, this story structure is effective because it balances the story and combat in a way where it starts with a slow build, uses that to throw you into a cycle of challenge-payoff, gives you a small break of just combat, before finally giving you larger buildups into the more important bosses.

So even though you may be spending just as much, or even more, time in combat in Canto VI than Canto IV, it feels better because Project Moon balanced the story in such a way where every battle gives you a payoff for completing it, and each fight has been sufficiently built up by the former story segments.

[sage-lights]

Hi! here's a few random asks, feel free to pick between them or not answer at all if you want. Up to you!

who's your smosh crush right now?

Why is Arasha your favorite?

Did you ever think about un-stanning Smosh? Why?

Who on the cast would you say your most like?

🥰🥰🥰

hi anon! thanks for sending these in 🫂

amanda lehan-canto. oh. my. fucking god. i'm so obsessed with her it's crazy. i think she's so beautiful and funny and talented but also soooooo smart. yeah. i just love amanda 🤭 (and as a fellow tall girl, i always love a tall girl who's confident with their height)

tbh she reminds me a lot of my childhood friends. not gonna say too much because i don't tend to reveal too many personal details for my own comfort, but there's something about her that is so familiar to me.

yeah, i do. i'm sure a time will come where my love for smosh will start to wane and i'll return to being a normal person, but i'm in no rush to get to that point. it was def hard to be such a huge fan for the months where they were silent about palestine (which i've talked about quite a bit here), but i'm glad they've finally done something.

just answered a similar ask! but tl;dr it's courtney and angela, probably 🤝

[texasthrillbilly]

Coolest parents in the galaxy.

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

Inquisitorius-Sin-Bin's Fic Masterlist

AO3: AramsayiPregius

Grand Inquisitor x Reader Fics:

Comparative Anatomy: 4,001 Words, Rated E

Unravelling the evolutionary history of humanoid species across the galaxy has long been your passion, but a particular species has become of great interest to you. Perhaps it is the unique glimpse into the biology of an ancient, long-extinct species that they offer. Or, as the Grand Inquisitor suggests - maybe something more basal within you motivates your research. You're going to need to revise all those papers you've written after this encounter...

Whiskey and Teeth: 5,192 Words, Rated E

The Devil-Man at the bar told you not to do it, too bad you never listen. Your reckless ways are going to catch up with you one of these days, and you're going to find out the hard way - the Grand Inquisitor always gets the job done.

Blowing Cover: 7,341 Words, Rated E

You've always wanted to see the galaxy, and your line of work gets it done. Not the career you ostensibly hold, but the contract work you perform for the Imperial Security Bureau.

This latest assignment is a trickier task than the rest. Untangling an entire network takes more time and finesse than you're used to. When your updates begin to falter, you're due a visit from an unhappy employer.

The price of failure is higher than you're willing to pay, but then again, you are very good at what you do.

Canto Bites: 8,826 Words, Rated E

You never forgot the names and faces of the Jedi family that you lost. Each day you live on, making it your mission in life to avenge your fallen brethren. Tonight you have a spectacular plot in the works, with your prized stallion at the very center of it. Everything is going according to plan, until an unexpected arrival turns into a deeply intimate encounter. How far are you willing to go for one more moment with someone that you've loved and lost? Even if you know the atrocities they've committed against your own kind...

Studied and Praised + Sequel Explored and Worshiped: 32,789 Words, Rated E

You've spent your entire life as the most overlooked member of the royal family, but you have plans to change that. Once your designs have been realized, you will truly be the heir to your father's Empire. There is only one obstacle standing in your way. Surely you won't allow him to become your undoing, or will you?

Sentimental (Ongoing): 6,806 Words, Rated E

Even those left at the Jedi Temple can feel the heavy cost of the Clone Wars. Fear, loss, uncertainty- although the Order has methods for dealing with such emotions, anxiety has you analyzing your surroundings, constantly on the lookout for the next threat.

A seemingly innocuous action becomes an obsession. Seeking guidance, you are drawn to the chambers of your old Master. Attachment is not the Jedi way, but could it be the Force itself guiding you along this path?

One Temple Guard might be able to lend you an answer.

Ride or Die + Sequel Fly or Fall + Appendix (Ongoing): 248,403 Words, Rated E

It has been seventeen years since your rebirth on the plains of Utapau. An orphaned child with nowhere else to go, you were adopted by your clan leader Drago and his mate Bolen, who made you their own daughter through the unique tattooing rituals of the surface-dwelling Pau'an.

Now you lead a group of your kin to trade with a neighboring clan, when you come across a lone stranger riding across the grasslands. Nothing about him makes sense, least of all the marks he bears on his forehead in conflict with the symbols he carries on his shoulders.

You must guide him on his mission, while you ponder the secrets of his past that might just align with yours, and balance the survival of your small clan amongst two powerful opposing forces.

Other Fics:

Dr. Victre: 14,200 Words, Rated T

Unfinished series published back in 2016/2017, back when there were only 4 canon inquisitors. The lore is severely out-of-date, so if this series is continued, it will be a reboot. But! I have heard from others that the work has merit, so I will continue to keep it linked here.

[renisfan]

Some ideas I have with the new toys:

Potent can allow him to have a second attack even if he can't naturally double and enemy has NFU (and additional 40% damage if he can double). It also gives DR that can work with his fixed damage cut. Heavy Blade ensures No Quarter proc even if the enemy has guard or can't counter. Sturdy surge recovers HP with special proc and Alarm gives canto.

Budget winter dimi OHKO build to work with the meta where fast nukes with first hit DR is everywhere. Compared to winter dimi he still need to take hits but he can run NCD 4 to counter sweep/flash users. Hardy bearing also guarantees he won't take more than 2 hits before he can attack, and hopefully No Quarter should kill the enemy to ignore any follow-up attacks. Def/res finish to help with his survivability but better to get more DR support as well. Atk oath echo is just nice-to-have for extra buffs.

This is a more simple upgrade to his current GLR build. With engage effect to get rid of the need for pulsing support, and Inf. NFU 4 so he can have NFU with any team comp. Bulwark would better be atk/spd or spd/def but those doesn't exist yet. Phantom spd for easier GLR proc but can be other seal that gives real spd too

You've heard of TP4 + VA... But what if we make it GLR?

The nice thing about this build is he doesn't need teammate or attack first to charge GLR, but while GLR has higher cut and is unpierceable, compared to VA it'll have less protection against brave hit (I'm still salty Atrocity II doesn't work against brave hit :( ), and you still need to outsource NFU or you lose out on either DC or Finish 4 :(

Good old prime build with self-sufficient NFU supply. Compared to brave unfortunately his refine asks for ally in 2 spaces so it's more guaranteed the effect will be up. Obviously he still need 2 bonuses though but that should be easy. The new Igrene for example is very good with her movement support. And A!Peony to fill in dodge + canto (+ extra stats and healing too)

Finally his galeforce is no longer tied to TP! Dual boots goes brrr

...well he still need to watch out for guard :( Lumera can help but it still has a range. Tempo seal/bonus support when IS :(

Damaging build now with DR piercing (finally)

But from my experience with VA F!Dimi, he probably still won't be proccing it for most of the time 🥲

Vengeful Lance refine with true damage + slaying + tempo + L!Nanna effect please IS 🥺

Not doing the 2 axe bois because 1) summer dimi has no synergy with any of the Marth ring / Potent / skills he can't use :( 2) winter dimi is already strong enough it would only be some minor buff (like 1 cd NQ so he can kill winter billys from 2 spaces too) so I think it's not worth making a whole picture for it

[altidiya]

About Distortions and Mothers (and trans daughters)

One thing I have been thinking for the Project Moon Westmarches I'm GM, is about Distortions... and mothers. Mostly me trying to write down how I understand a character, so my Virgil can say if I understand her well or not.

This is because one of the PCs is in fact a girl that distorted and her mother wanted to weaponize it instead of, like, care.

The story of Syzygy [@cataphractastrophe beautiful character] and Hyde...

My interpretation has been always that, at least until Limbus destroy me saying that it happens like a week after LoR, the Distortion phenomena is something that no one is complete aware what it is, people can confuse Distortions with Monster or weird augmentation, and that EGO is so rare that probably people still react like Roland asking what Workshop create such an amazing design.

This is important because lack of knowledge means curiosity and investigation. And something I really loved on Canto IV was the idea of Corporations having interest on it. Trying to decipher through the scientific method something inherently emotional and unstable.

Dr. Hyde is one scientist that is trying to do that from below. A woman so obssess with understanding the world, to eliminate any ounce of ignorance. And egocentric enough to see each person that isn't in her intellectual and zealot level as a ignorant Rat.

This woman create life in lab with the porpuse of experimentation. This woman became a mother not by accident, not by wanting, not by love. But by a clear cut objective. A son result of scientific objectives.

Jervas -her son- was, in that sense, a man without a soul. Not only in a metaphysical sense if someone created artificially without the normal process of birth has a soul or not -he still human by the definitions of the Head-, but because the experience of finding porpuse was taken from him. Different to everyone else that has a journey to understand why they exist, he was created with a porpuse, and that porpuse was to serve.

And Hyde only cared about that objective. Even if there is love to creation, that love is tainted with ego, with the idea of "I made that".

But what is already a somewhat interesting backstory for a TTRPG, meets with one thing about Project Moon: On the face of trauma, a cute girl talk to your head. Jervas distorts, dies, and birth anew as Syzygy, the girl of fire. Hyde naturally doesn't see it that way, for she, Jervas simply survive a very weird process, an unknown process, and Syzygy doesn't exist. Because Syzygy wasn't created with an objective, she born, and for that, she has the human experience of ignorance. And for that, she can't be Hyde's son.

I will admit, I'm in love with the idea of representing the struggles of families that don't accept the transition of their sons and daugthers with the PM detail that, Hyde isn't transphobic herself, she couldn't care less, what she reject is the idea that the body she created has another identity and name.

Because, at the end of the day, Jervas future was clear. Syzygy future is a mystery. And Hyde hates mysteries.

Then we got to the symbolism of Jervas/Syzygy Distortion and the relationship (at least on my head) with Hyde:

The Phoenix dies and rebirth on a cycle of unknowing. Ignorance is a essential part of the process, not knowing what will happen once one rebirth. This is, basically, a total opposition to Hyde, who wants to understand and know everything. Uncertainty is a sin, and dying without knowing what comes next is for Hyde, the worst nightmare. The maximum defiance is abandon self preservation for a non-sure answer. In that, Jervas dies, and Syzygy is born without a clear path.

But, why it is a Distortion then? Because the focus of Jervas was dying, the end, escape. Hyde leash still present on the Distortion as Jervas path to self destruction isn't about embracing uncertainty, but the lack of care for it. And maybe even worst, obtaining an answer to that uncertainty.

The path to liberation of Hyde's true leash is, then, embracing uncertainty and lack of knowledge. Maybe not the path to E.G.O., but clearly the path to finally break free from her presence on the mind of Syzygy, who is hunting her after the incident.

Hyde, on the other hand, has discover something more unkown and interesting than her previous investigation: The Distortion Phenomena. A weapon, for sure, not different to trained dogs on her mind. But something that is hard to replicate. That only her creation can do. And Hyde, as always, want answers above all else.

And that is what has me excited writing notes about what can happen. Hyde isn't the only one that doesn't like ignorance, and some powerful factions can be very interested on uncovering the truth about this weird phenomena.

TL;DR: Mothers can make you Distort, Syzygy says Yes to Trans Rights, and "no thoughts, head empty" is the true way to confront your scientific minded abusive mother.