#HONG LU JUMPSCARE

[quadrantbreaker]

WHATTHE HELL

[faggotskommando]

shitpost collection (tl in alt <3)

[itznarcotic]

soon it will all be 000

[melonisopod]

Predictions for Canto 8:

-Mili Song

-Hong Lu's "Pass On"

-Base EGO voiceline change

-White boy jumpscare (Demian after credits scene)

[pvlvsdog]

Uh hi!! I have never requested for LC so if it's.weirs sounding. Sorry.

Anyways Reader teasing the sinners? (Hc or smth. Whatever works best for you! :D)

No worries! Oh, if you’ve only seen the stuff my irl group left in my inbox /lh /nm /aff this isn’t weird at all! I try to work with hcs when I can, but not specifying that is on me, so until I get around to editing my bio, I suppose I do drabbles n stuff too. Or try haha

UNEDITED

Ryoshu lets out a ‘hmpf’ sound in a what that you can’t really tell if she’s annoyed or amused. She’s considered pretty intimidating by most so it is a bit funny to her to see you acting so bold. Especially when others look at you with disbelief. A few times you could swear the corners of her lips moved upwards. After all, she does enjoy a good quip or any other display of sharp wit. Which then leads to her teasing you right back, though her timing is always unexpected. It’s almost like a little game you two play, seeing where you can push the other one (within reason). And if asked, Ryoshu will shamelessly admit that she enjoys that part of your shared routine

With Rodya it’s a bit hit or miss. It really depends on what you say and it’s hard to read what will get a pass. I mean, to someone who doesn’t pay much mind to her, everything gets a pass. But there are times where you unknowingly will hit a sore spot and her joking demeanour will become a lot more rehearsed. Her main way of avoiding her self conscious thoughts is by making little jabs at others, so don’t be surprised if her ‘silly payback’ stings a bit. Sometimes it’s fine. But it’s not easy to tell if your teasing will make her blush or if it will ruin her day. Her ego, despite the front she puts up, is incredibly fragile and even when you’re innocently teasing her, she might assume you’re looking down on her. Even if she won’t outright say it, you will feel her discomfort shortly after

It’s only a little less unlikely for Don to misconstrue your words. Her love language is very earnest and genuine, so sometimes she just doesn’t get the purpose of your teasing. However, she’s less likely to assume anything bad by it and mostly it gets the desired reaction out of her. Doesn’t really tease you back though, it’s just not her style of affection, I think

You’d think Hong Lu falls somewhere in the similar category but he’s way more witty than he gets credit for and he goes along with your teasing. He sees it as the playful banter it is and when you least expect it he’ll innocently say something to get you just as worked up as you wanted to make him. Always a bit of a (pleasant) “jumpscare” when he does that. Hard to out-tease the lad, but it’s always a good time for both parties when you try :3

Ishmael gives you the most typical reaction. She’s way more used to being the one that does the teasing so when you start with your sillies, she tries to “fight back”. No luck though, you usually get her to flush and there’s no doubt your words affect her. She huffs something out for you to shut up but she’s not very convincing whenever she does so

But if you think Ish reacts strongly, you need to look at Heathcliff. Most times he’ll get absolutely awkward about it. Sure, sometimes he’s a bit oblivious. A bit like when he got offended that Dante thought he frequented clubs. When he was informed that it was a positive kind of comment, he got all awkward and didn’t really know what to do with himself, since that was not the kind of comment he expected to be directed at him. So if you want him worked up and temporarily not-functional, I absolutely recommend teasing the bloke

On a surface level, Faust is not only not affected but not very receptive to your teasing. She responds very matter-of-factly and with the same seriousness in her vacant eyes as if she was announcing the end of your work day. But don’t be fooled. There are occasions where she’ll pull an uno reverse card on you. Responding calmly she’ll inquire about the meaning behind your playful comment until you verbally run into a corner to the point where you’re admitting to the affectionate undertones of your teasing. You don’t even know how she does it. One second you’re being all silly and flirty and the next you’re all surrendered telling her how you like her, getting flustered by her painfully practical approach

The main difference with Outis is that she might genuinely not get it. Her guard’s always up and she’s been restless for so long, without a safe place to call her own, that playful banter almost seems like a luxury she can’t afford. She’s still in the mindset of surviving day to day (I mean… her job doesn’t exactly make it easy to let go of that notion) and you’re so casual with her. It makes her feel like a version of herself she had to bury a long time ago. But because of that contrast, she sometimes needs time to catch your teasing tone. She never assumes you mean anything bad by your comments, she likes you enough to grant you her patience and understanding way more than the others, but it takes up to 3 tries for her to catch the intent of your words. She’s not very good at reading back, but if you want to try flustering her, this is a good start

Then we have Meursault. He just really doesn’t get it. Each comment you make gets a painfully serious response out of him and you can’t really tell if he’s messing with you or if he really doesn’t get it. Knowing him, it might be the latter. Though if your teasing is more of the physical kind, you might affect him a bit. On the inside though, sorry, but he won’t let that kind of feeling you give him affect his “professional approach”

And we’re back to characters you would make an absolute mess out of. This time, the title goes to Dante. They are so used to being a tool and not having people pay much close attention to them (other than examining their changed body) that your teasing takes them by surprise. Add to that the fact that they can be rather awkward at times and you get the picture of your manager being delightfully graceless in their attempts to give any proper reaction or response. A few times your coworkers joked that you broke them. That did not help to make Dante more coherent

Before opening himself up, Yi Sang would be rather defeatist, not engaging much in your silliness. But that changes after he gets some time to grow and heal when the bus leads him to revisit his past. It’s much more easy to get a blush or a faint smile out of him and he might even surprise you with some (quite wordy) responses of his own

The only word to describe Gregor’s reaction is ‘exasperated’. He’s not like, outright mad or anything. Yeah, I mean, you do kind of have to watch not to hit a painful spot, but it’s easier to avoid with him (just no bug stuff and you’re pretty much in the clear) plus, as awful as I feel for saying this, he’s way too defeatist to counter most painful comments too. His main thing though is that he can’t believe how bold and blatant you are. Especially teasing him in this way. Him, out of everyone in the bus. I mean, he can’t call himself a catch and the way he sees it, there are much more attractive, put together and younger people you could be going after. Publically at that. Besides, some things you say are just way bolder than anything he could even say when drunk (or so he tells himself, tipsy Gregor is not as subtle as sober Greg would like to believe). If you knew him less, you could think that the way he sighs and shakes his head is a sign of total rejection, but that’s not the case. To be fair, if he tried to respond properly he would probably be more awkward. Romance is foreign to him and it stresses him out that he can’t really guess what people say in situations like this. The way you know you did good is when he completely goes blank. Honestly, he looks a bit staggered. The one time he did try to make a sound, he sounded like that too-

Lastly, Sinclair is a tough one. Because I don’t think it’s just so cut and dry that I can just say he gets cute and blushy. He’s… eager at heart (he wants to have someone, so having you show interest is definitely big for him) but so inexperienced and anxious, it doesn’t help his case. But he’s also one of the sinners that is used to being seen less-than and his insecurity makes him fear that your teasing might have different implications. He’s been called useless and naive, amongst other things, so many times. And he doesn’t want to be seen as some weak willed pushover. Especially not by you. You don’t think that, do you? He prays you don’t. His work is tough on him as is, it would be a lie to say you aren’t a beacon of light amongst his gore and guilt filled world. You’ve seen how easy it was to get him down when his coworkers made comments about his appearance. So it’s 50/50 with him. He might try to object. Sometimes he might actually come off too strongly. Other times he just fumbles with his words. And sometimes, when he is sure that your comment is definitely a good natured one, he just fumbles in general. Honestly, this is a half joke but I can almost see him blurt out ‘I want you’ in response like one time and then scurry off terrified wishing to never be resurrected again

[lu-is-not-ok]

Do you have any thoughts on Hong Lu’s Liwei ID?

Very, very excited.

For one, I am very intrigued by the choice to have his bangs cover his jade eye. It makes me think of how Kurokumo Hong Lu is thus far the only Hong Lu ID with a notable scar over that eye, and he just so happens to be the most standout Hong Lu ID when it comes to art direction and personality. I wonder if Liwei Hong Lu will end up being a surprise return to that kind of Hong Lu ID because of that parallel of seemingly rejecting the jade eye.

Two, I keep thinking back to Liwei's Story Page in Ruina.

"Can a Fixer truly be happy with freedom that was forcefully handed to them?"

With how many Hong Lu IDs deal heavily with freedom and the lack thereof as a theme, choosing to give Hong Lu an ID of a character whose opinions seem to show awareness of this odd Paradox of Freedom, of being a Color bringing a Fixer ultimate freedom, yet being a process that a Fixer has no freedom to have any say on, is Very Interesting.

Three, I hope the Uptie story gives us a Blue Reverberation jumpscare. Pit two blue bitches against each other, it'll be funny.

Four.

Beautiful butch Hong Lu.

That is all.

[niumiu]

Hong Lu Almost Died (For Real)

Summary: Hong Lu died outside of Dante's vicinity and his remains are yet to be found. The thought that they could have lost him in a way that was unretrievable made Gregor anxious. Warnings: Gore, Blood, Eye Trauma, Anxiety, Don Quixote Jumpscare

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The first breath that entered his lungs tickled, and sort of stung. He coughed a little as he gasped, learning to breathe again. His heart hammered back to life in his chest.

Gregor sat up.

Everything looked a little fuzzy, blurry and spinning. He patted the ground beside him and his fingers brushed over the familiar frame. He picked up his glasses and cleaned them a little with the fabric of his shirt, then perched them on the bridge of his nose. Suddenly everything looked a lot clearer.

Rodion stretched, Yi Sang looked down at his feet, Sinclair seemed to be a little nauseous as per usual… Dante and Faust spoke over how to best approach their next checkpoint; Meursault and Outis stood nearby them, giving their input on the options. Heathcliff and Ishmael seemed to be lightly conversing about one thing or another. Ryoshu smoked nearby, staring off into the distance.

Gregor blinked.

“Thou art awakened at last!” A familiar voice greeted him, and he almost jumped out of his skin.

“Hah?!” His body jerked into action and he had to physically restrain himself from impaling his fellow sinner, Don Quixote. “Do you have to yell so close to my ear?!”

Don Quixote walked back to Dante without answering his question. Gregor sighed and stood up, stretching his legs. It never felt any easier to come back from the dead, but this time he felt a little more odd than usual.

He walked to Dante, and before he could ask the question on his mind, he heard Meursault say:

“We have found nothing but his hair tie.”

“Thy humble subordinate hath scouted the battlefield, Manager Esquire!” Don Quixote added, “Though mine scouting skills art mighty, there was nothing to be found…”

“As I said, one of the beasts might have run off with the remains.” Outis sighed, ever so annoyed at one thing or another, “I can conduct a proper search,” She eyed Don Quixote before continuing, “If you so desire, Executive Manager.”

<Yes, well… I think both you and Meursault can cover a bigger area in a shorter time— Oh, Gregor.>

“Hey, manager bud. Sorry for bothering and all but…”

“Yes.” Faust cut him off swiftly, “Hong Lu is nowhere to be found.”

“Ah.”

“If you so permit, I shall now begin to search for his remains.” Outis spoke.

“I await your orders, manager.” Meursault added.

<Please do it.>

There seemed to be a slight worry in Dante’s voice.

The two sinners who had been addressed departed, and without being asked to, Don Quixote gave a quick salute and went off on her way. Probably to do more “scouting”.

Faust gave him a strange look, then excused herself and went back to Mephisto. Only Dante and Gregor remained. They stood still, staring at each other.

<Uh… I’m going to… uhm… talk with Vergilius.> 

They quickly left.

The group remained idle and waited for any news of Hong Lu’s whereabouts. Gregor had smoked an entire pack by the time Outis and Meursault showed up again. He stayed somewhere nearby to hear them report to Dante that there were still no signs of Hong Lu anywhere in the near vicinity. Dante dispatched them again.

Gregor stood up and walked away.

He didn’t have anywhere particular in mind to go, his legs just itched for some action. Before he could realize it, he was already running. Cold sweat dripped off his face and a feeling of utter emptiness unsettled him to the core.

After turning at a corner, he saw something on the ground that made him come to a full stop. He was kneeling beside the pool of blood in the blink of an eye. His hands hovered over the blood, still fresh. He had no way of knowing if it belonged to the one he missed the most, but he had a feeling he was on the right path. 

He stood on his feet again, paced around the blood puddle in a circle, then went off in a direction. He was never really good at tracking. His specialty was maiming, slicing and killing. Gregor prayed silently to something he didn’t believe in, but wanted to. If only he could find anything that could be used to bring Hong Lu back.

The war had him witness entire battalions being wiped in the blink of an eye, but he still couldn’t get used to seeing somebody he was slightly close to die. Even if they would always be brought back to life— as long as the contract was in effect— it still hurt to see them die. Now as he ran for his life, he refused to face the fact that there was still a way for them to pass away for good. That would be to leave no remains behind.

Gregor tripped pathetically and fell on his side. He thanked the cursed heavens that it wasn’t on his face. Dante wouldn’t want to rewind the glasses unless somebody else died along the way, and then he’d have a headache. Still, his mad chase was forced to a halt by his own clumsiness and incompetence, and he laid on the ground. His body was still but his thoughts were still racing farther than he wanted to. It would hurt if this was the end for Hong Lu. He’d spend every night from there on thinking and wondering what happened to him. Every smoke break, he’d be reminded of his silliness and generally light-hearted foolishness.

One day, many years from now, Gregor would be doing anything— maybe brushing his teeth before going to bed— and then he’d see the ghost of a man he no longer remembered the name of in the mirror. Then his chest would ache again.

Gregor sighed and sat up, getting on his feet in no time. He resumed the search, this time no longer running. He bit his bottom lip and looked over, feeling the vague scent of blood in the air and letting it guide him. Eventually he could spot droplets of fresh crimson painting the path for him. The droplets became bigger as he approached their source, and once he turned a corner he found it.

Half of his face had been melted off the bone and the skull behind it showed itself pristine white. The other half had been clawed at, and the eye had been gouged out of its socket, but it was somewhat recognizable. If anything, the nametag on his uniform and the long, dark blue hair gave his identity away. Gregor paused and stared with wide eyes.

He kicked his way through the gore that littered the floor around Hong Lu. The fellow sinner still held his weapon firmly in one trembling hand. His other arm laid by his side, twisted in an unnatural manner. Once Gregor stepped into his personal space, Hong Lu’s body showed reaction. The blade of the spear swung vaguely his way, but Gregor could block it easily with his own mutated arm.

“Hey— Hey! It’s… It’s me.” He said.

Hong Lu froze, then his chest vibrated, and blood gushed out of what probably was his mouth, or somewhere in his neck. It was a miracle that he was even alive. Gregor breathed in shakily and held his colleague’s good hand in his.

“Don’t fret. Dante’s gonna get you patched up in no time, buddy.”

An agonizing whine came out of Hong Lu’s remains. He breathed slow and slower, his conscience beginning to fade away. The wounds must’ve been pretty recent, considering the blood that pooled around him was fresh. He must’ve resisted for far longer than he should’ve. Hong Lu seemed to be delicate, with his rich boy mannerisms, but he was far stronger than he looked. It would still take a while for him to die like that. Gregor could only think about the many times he’d died before, and how slower deaths were always the worst for him.

Hong Lu groaned and squeezed his hand, and he had to swallow dry. He let go of Hong Lu’s hand and raised his palm to gently pet the sinner’s dark hair.

“It’s— It’s going to be alright. I found you, okay? We’re going back to the bus. Don’t worry.”

Gregor let his palm fall to his colleague’s shoulder, squeezed it comfortingly, then gritted his teeth and in a swift move, let his bladed arm sink into Hong Lu’s chest. The sinner’s body jerked in surprise, and his good hand flew up to squeeze Gregor’s wrist for a few seconds, before it lost its grip and fell back to the ground. Gregor breathed in and out, slowly and shakily. Once he recognized Hong Lu was properly dead, he pulled his bladed arm out of the wound. Blood gushed out and Hong Lu’s body deflated like a plush that lost its filling.

It hurt, but Gregor knew he had to die regardless for the rewind to work properly. He stood up and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in through his nose and breathing out of his mouth. He managed to somewhat calm himself down, but not enough. If only he hadn’t smoked all his cigarettes earlier…

There was no use crying about that now. He swung Hong Lu’s body over one shoulder, grabbed the halberd off the ground and made his way back to the bus. He was somewhat worried he’d have trouble finding his way back, considering he ran around without really knowing which direction he was going. Still, the bigger of his concerns now rested its weight on his shoulder, so he knew he’d had to find the way back.

Gregor gritted his teeth and put his entire focus on it.

Later that night they'd finally reached the checkpoint, albeit many hours later than planned. Of course Vergilius had given an earful to both Hong Lu and Dante, and while the Executive Manager seemed to be almost sulking, Hong Lu was simply quieter than usual. Gregor was honestly just glad he was alive in the end.

"Thanks for not giving up on me." Hong Lu jumpscared Gregor by entering his room right behind him.

"Wha— ah!?"

"That was kind of you. Dying that slow was really not fun!"

"Uh... uhm... I don't think any kind of death is fun but... you're welcome?"

Hong Lu smiled brightly at him.

"Just don't run off like that ever again, okay?"

Hong Lu nodded. "Okay! Do you want to come over and have me wash your hair?"

Normally Gregor would've said no. He felt sort of bad that Hong Lu was wasting expensive products on him but... He'd feel a little off if he didn't spend a few more hours around his fellow sinner. It was true that Hong Lu hadn't been lost after all, but his mind was still digesting the frightful experience.

"Okay, I'll accept, but only this once."

"Yay!" Hong Lu caught him by the sleeve of his shirt and without asking twice, dragged him to his room in the corridor.

It was a little silly, but Gregor was really relieved this airheaded idiot was still alive. He let himself be dragged around with a little smile on his lips.

[wawego]

Ty for the advice!! I already had faust and hong lu, so I made Outis to round out the team. I got jumpscared by everlasting and honglu Wailing. I sadly dont have the material for T-Don so itll be SubOptimal for now.

Man, everlasting faust is real pretty and in happy i have her but I am REAL bad at tremor. I struggle soooo bad with building it enough to really work. Is it cuz i dont have tdon or any of the molar units?

[lu-is-not-ok]

While we're psychoanalyzing the EGOs, what are your opinions on Dimensional Shredder? Deffo something on freedom there, but I'm having trouble putting it to words myself.

Alright, another shared E.G.O. Cracks knuckles.

You know the drill, under cut we go.

So let's talk about Wayward Passenger as an abnormality first. It's a representation of the horrible things W Corp puts people through on their WARP trains given form. In a way, that makes it similar to abnormalities like Mountain of Smiling Bodies or CENSORED (if you subscribe to the smoke war monster theory).

The dungeon event in which we meet Wayward Passenger is especially telling in what themes it wants to carry. The narration mentions that the corporation responsible for disappearance will simply pretend that this person never existed. The reveal that the Passenger was actually a W Corp employee further adds to this.

(Also, random tangent, but am I the only one that got reminded of Bongcheon-Dong Ghost by this abno's event? Something about having to point a terrifying monster in a direction away from you and hope it doesn't come back just brought back memories. At least the Passenger has enough manners to not jumpscare you.)

When it comes to the abnormality itself, Wayward Passenger carries themes of corporate exploitation and negligence, specifically in the way W Corp might find its employees expendable and doesn't care about inflicting suffering upon its clients as long as they profit from it.

There are also some themes of abandonment and being lost, but also tenacity in spite of it. Despite not being able to escape, Wayward Passanger still searches for a way out and never stops moving forward.

So. With all that being said. How does it all tie back to Hong Lu and Yi Sang, as they are the ones with Dimension Shredder?

Thanks to Canto IV we now know that Yi Sang absolutely fits under the exploited by corporate greed umbrella. It's a major theme of his whole chapter in fact! The themes of being lost are also reflected in Yi Sang's aimlessness after the League collapsed. He was completely lost and effectively abandoned by everyone except Gubo, only to be further exploited by even more corporate greed.

Hell, you could even say his character arc in his Canto represents that tenacity in spite of being lost I mentioned. Though his goal might not be all that clear, he still wants to keep going and keep moving forward, no matter what.

When it comes to Hong Lu, we don't have nearly as much information... But we can speculate! I think in this case the "corporate exploitation" is less literally corporate, but still applicable. I'm talking about Hong Lu's family, of course. Though we don't know much, we do get quite a few hints about his family exploiting him for their own gain, especially now that we're getting a Hong Lu ID that is quite literally based on the idea of paralleling that part of him with Actual Corporate Exploitation!

With how cagey Hong Lu is about the deeper parts of his past, and how hard it is to tell when he's being genuine, it's honestly hard to pinpoint any of the other themes onto him.

However, we could work a little bit backwards here and see how Wayward Passenger might apply to Hong Lu's recurring themes of freedom.

In that way, we could be onto something here. Wayward Passenger is no longer under W Corp's protection, if it ever was. It's lost and abandoned by the thing that was supposed to be protecting it... But on the other hand, it is free now. W Corp can't reach it anymore. It can go wherever it wants and nothing will stop it.

If you want to translate that to how that might apply to Hong Lu, then you could interpret that as a sign that Hong Lu can only attain "true" freedom by severing ties with the thing exploiting him, aka his family... At the cost of losing the comfort and protection they offered him, as little as it may have been.

You could say that idea is reflected in Tingtang Hong Lu. Yes, he is probably the most free when it comes to authority bearing down on him compared to all his other IDs. ...But he's also a gambler living in the Backstreets leading a gang so incompetent he has to threaten them with death to keep them in line. He may be free, but his life is far from comfortable.

...I think it's funny that I already wrote that much and I haven't even touched the actual E.G.Os themselves, whoops! Let's go do that.

First thing to note about Dimension Shredder is that its damage type is Pride, especially since Yi Sang's version doesn't even *require* Pride resources. In fact, Dimension Shredder is the only non-base E.G.O that deals Pride damage.

To go a little bit deeper into that, all of the base E.G.O that deal Pride damage seem to imply taking an action while ignoring the consequences that might follow them. Rodion's What Is Cast is the most obvious example here, representing her murder of the pawnbroker without considering how the Middle would react to one of their family being killed. Likewise, Outis, Meursault, and Faust seem to carry similar ideas. Outis reminding herself of the Odyssey's purpose, as if trying to cope with the unforseen consequences of her actions. Meursault acting out despite noting how doing so only tightens the chains of those judging him. Faust opening herself to knowledge and possibilities regardless of what it may do.

In a way, that is what Pride is at its core. Performing actions purely because of what benefit they bring to oneself, without considering the drawbacks and consequences.

There's a couple of ways we could interpret that with Dimension Shredder.

For one, we could zoom back out to what Wayward Passenger represents. Dimension Shredder being a Pride E.G.O could be signifying the Pride inherent in corporate exploitation. By its very nature, it's an action done purely for the corporation's benefit, without considering the consequences on other people.

The other is a bit more directly applicable to Yi Sang and Hong Lu themselves. It could represent how they, and the abnormality included, continue moving forward regardless of what may stand in their way. Regardless what the consequences may be for doing so.

During the attack animations for both Dimension Shredder Awakenings, we see Yi Sang and Hong Lu enter a dimensional rift they make, with both of them notably hesitating before doing so. Judging by Hong Lu's expression when he exits the rift, it's not exactly a pleasant experience. And yet, they both do it anyway. The benefit of continuing to move outweighs the damage it may inflict on them, so they ignore the consequences. I think it kinda points to my second interpretation above.

When it comes to Sin Resources, both Yi Sang and Hong Lu require Gluttony, but while Hong Lu requires Pride, Yi Sang requires Sloth. Let's dissect it one at a time.

Gluttony in Limbus Company has two meanings, in my opinion. On one hand, there's the Greed-adjacent aspect, where it represents the want for more and more. This neverending need for growth, for consumption, for progress. On the other hand, when it's seen in a more sympathetic light, it can represent the actions one commits for the sake of one's own Survival.

When it comes to Dimension Shredder, I think it's a little bit of both for both Hong Lu and Yi Sang. They both need Gluttony to survive in an environment where they're actively being exploited, but at the same time they need Gluttony to keep moving further and further forward, to keep making progress endlessly.

For the other Resources that each of them uses, I think it specifically represents what part of them is what allows them to be easily exploited by those above them.

Sloth for Yi Sang represents his apathy and passiveness. He gets exploited because he doesn't care enough about himself to fight back against it. Why bother? It doesn't matter, everything and everyone else was exploited, so why stand up to being exploited yourself? While this is something that Yi Sang starts to come out of by the end of Canto IV, I doubt it's a habit that will be easy for him to break just like that.

The fact that Pride is a resource here for Hong Lu paints his passiveness when being exploited under a different light. He doesn't buckle because he's apathetic like Yi Sang, it's because he believes that the benefits of letting himself be exploited outweigh the drawbacks enough to ignore them. If we apply this to his family exploiting him, it paints a pretty vivid picture. Sure, he is being used and hurt by his family, but just accepting that it happens means he still gets to enjoy the comfort and "love" they give him. Because what happens if he stands up to them? He likely gets punished. He loses that comfort he relies on. So he'd rather just bear the pain and pretend everything is okay, because the alternative is far worse.

Now, let's examine the dialogue lines, because I think they are very interesting with all of that analysis behind us.

For starters, I think for both Dimension Shredder users, their Awakening lines are a reflection of their coping mechanism in the face of being exploited being pushed to its absolute limits.

Yi Sang's Awakening line is a reflection of how he tries to throw himself into research and scholarly pursuits as a form of escapism from his reality. Whether it's his activities with the League, or his dependency on the Mirror, we see in Canto IV that he turns to acting the part of a researcher when faced with corporate exploitation.

Likewise, while using Dimension Shredder he makes notes of his surroundings like a researcher traversing the space. Noting the enchanting colors and how he can't memorize the path he's on. However, his tone of voice is a lot more... manic? It's emotional, seemingly entranced by what he's seeing. I think it signifies how, when pushed to his limits, Yi Sang would completely throw himself into his research, to a perhaps almost obsessive degree.

Hong Lu's Awakening line on the other hand reflects how he tries to keep a happy tone regardless of the circumstances. His defense mechanism is hiding what he's truly feeling behind a mask of smiles and jokes.

Tingtang and Kurokumo Hong Lu are probably the best examples of this. While having a constant jovial tone, Tingtang Hong Lu is an utter piece of shit only using kindness as a thin veil to hide his actual intentions. Kurokumo Hong Lu on the other hand uses a somewhat polite tone despite the fact he clearly does not respect anyone. It's even more obvious with the latter when you examine his post-uptie illustration more closely. While he wears a smile on his face, the veins shown on the hand clutching his sword say that he's not as calm as he seems.

While using Dimension Shredder, Hong Lu tries to keep up his smiling facade... Except this time, he fails. At his very limit, he's too worn down and tired of the abuse to pretend he's fine. The words do come out, but he can't make them sound the way he wants to anymore. The mask finally cracks under the pressure.

Matching with how the Awakening lines share a specific theme, the Corrosion lines do as well. Dimension Shredder Corroded dialogue lines all seem to express some form of realization that they are finally free.

Yi Sang's Corrosion line describes how the alley he's going down does in fact have an exit. It's an open one. Not only is it a reference to Poem No. 1 from Crow's Eye View, but the way Yi Sang speaks it is very interesting here. His tone is fully confident, and even seems to lack the usual tired breathiness that Yi Sang usually has.

Good thing I'm writing this after Canto IV has come out, because... All of that is reflected in Yi Sang's character arc. He does realize that the alley is open. He does realize he can keep moving forward. And, most importantly, he does gain the confidence to not let himself be stopped.

With all of that context, let's look at Hong Lu's Corrosion line. His dialogue line expresses how nobody (or nothing) is forcing him to "be located there", causing him to fall into a fit of gasping laughter. There is something. Incredibly disturbing about this line to me. It's this dichotomy between Hong Lu hesitantly realizing that he's no longer stuck, that nobody is ordering him around anymore, and his downright histerical sounding delivery.

Since we don't have Hong Lu's Canto just yet, I can't do the same comparison as I did with Yi Sang... But I could try to predict what Hong Lu's Canto could end on if we assume this line is foreshadowing it the same way Yi Sang's was.

I think Canto 8 will show us Hong Lu finally break. There will be no more mask to hide behind, just a flood of emotions that had been held back for all of his life. Most importantly though, it won't be pretty. If there's any Sinner who will be in need of emotional catharsis through a mental breakdown boss battle, Hong Lu seems like the perfect candidate for that. Either that or Hong Lu just straight up fucking murders someone on screen. Ideally both.

There's probably more I can analyze based on the visual designs of the E.G.O... But honestly this already got way fucking longer than the Roseate Desire analysis so I'll just leave you with the mental image of me chanting Hong Lu Commit Fratricide.