#Mountain of Smiling Bodies | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

literallys-illiteracy · 9 days ago

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The floor of language:

Did you expect this to be the scheduled essay that got expedited?

On another note, thank you to goat boy Cinna Faun who requested "something Little red (mercenary) related", which caused me to end up finishing this, and also planning a new entirely separate essay which i will explain in a separate post probably It is also interesting to note that, as he has not finished Ruina, he probably should't be reading past the... first(?) section.

and because i care, SPOILERS FOR LIBRARY OF RUINA, INCLUDING TRUE ENDING WHEN MARKED

Desires, Mindless drive, and Inner Nature:

Due to the nature of abnormalities manifesting, the themes of desire are unsurprising, however the abnormalities on this floor are more directly tied to the lens of a bestial, innate desire. The bloodlust inherent to these creatures, being consumed by these desires, losing ones outer mask, showing their bestial urges:

The story of the Riding Hood and the Wolf is one intertwined, paralleling the fairytale of little red riding hood; yet beyond the ending, Red continues to hunt the big bad wolf.

The primary divergence from the original fairy tale comes in the attitude of Red herself, acknowledging the endless cycle that the two share, yet still seeking the day which she can hang the wolf’s head up to rest; Little Red Mercenary is a person who, through being raised in the bloodshed, become desensitised to it, having the hunt be her every waking hour, endlessly seeking to bring an end to the wolf, so she may continue the hunt unimpeded.

The Big and “will be” bad wolf serves as not only the Wolf of the riding hood tale, but also as that from the three little pigs, and likely endless other tales passed over time; The Wolf in these tales never had a name, was never a character in the same way that the pigs or little red was, it was simply the big evil wolf, so everyone called it, so naturally it must be true.

The Wolf embodies ones bestial nature, despite how it may have wanted to be, what its nature could have been, it always was, and always will be, the evil wolf of the tale;

The Big Bad Wolf poses the question of one's nature, with the one of the wolf being largely defined, a flesh hungry beast, yet, through its dialogue we see it regretting its actions, trying to protect others from itself, yet in time, giving into its hunger, its base instinct that, if it were to fill its stomach, it would be happy.

I'll be honest i try to extend the themes when i can, with the semi poetic - video essay-esque way that i write, but really with Mountain of Smiling Bodies there is next to nothing to discuss, it's a big heap of corpses who wants to make you part of the big pile of corpses that is itself. All that's left is a mindless amalgamation of flesh and viscera, endlessly driven forward by bloodlust, by its desire to make others the same way that it is. I'm moving on now, I don't respect this abnormality enough to give it multiple paragraphs.

Unsurprisingly, on the floor that embodies desire in the form of bloodlust, the vampire is not an exception.

Despite not having lore page to draw from like the past 3, I actually have some things to say about Nosferatu.

So first of all, the quite literal bloodthirsty nature of the abnormality, wearing the facade of humanity only to hold back its thirst; transforming it abandons the pretence of humanity in order to quench its thirst, which reveals its nature as a rampaging beast, the madness of the thirst overtaking it.

The second thing of note is the effect “Fear of Water”, which i believe has two possible inspirations behind it, the first of which (and the more likely) being of vampire lore, where vampires are unable to cross running water, and die if submerged in it (i think, i've not read up on vampires too much). The second is simultaneously more and less esoteric, as it links less to the direct lore of vampires, but rather to the thematics of losing oneself to bloodlust. I am, of course, referring to Rabies, who’s patients experience a strong aversion to water, which inhibits the virus’s ability to spread throughout your body.

Thematically the concept of Rabies is in line with Nosferatu, with the Abnormality page sharing the name of its passive, describing the mindlessness in searching and feeding, losing oneself and losing their sight of purpose.

I never actually made the potential connection between those two before, the comparison is interesting but i'm not sure if it goes anywhere.

The Abnormality named “Nothing There” is a creature with a singular goal in mind, to become a “human”, to look like, act like, and in the end, “Become” one of us.

Akin to the Mountain of Smiling Bodies, Nothing There can be thought of as an amalgamation of humanity, the outer shells being worn, making up its whole, a monster wearing the shape of, trying to fool you into thinking it is, a human.

It goes further than the mimicking of our appearance, it also repeats phrases it has heard “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “i love you” and “Manager”.

Nothing there is best described as a doppelganger, a creature which imitates humans, attempting to disguise itself in order to get closer to us.

There is also a possibility that this Abnormality is based on the creature from the movie “The Thing”

Floor realisation links:

The most obvious connection between Roland and this floor would be that of bloodlust — His blind rampage across the city, killing indiscriminately in an attempt to avenge Angelica.

"The first and last request I do for myself…"

The first Abnormality which Roland resonates with is that of the mercenary, a fitting choice given his past career as a fixer being best described as a “Mercenary” of sorts. The red hood mirrors Roland, being haunted by a beast of the past, never calm, never at rest, until they are able to slay their wolf — Both mercenaries seek the blood of their wolves, each beast having their own story, their own reasons for acting-

“SHUT UP!!! You want to hear the excuses of those wolves after all that’s happened?"

-neither mercenary caring, only looking to end their nightmare, to finally be at rest “In the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly: better be with the dead”.

Likewise to the Riding Hood, Roland sought out the one beast which had haunted him, the source of the distortion, whom he thought to be Angela — Angela, who had her own sorrows, acted as Roland’s wolf. Though she had suffered the same, if not more, than Roland had in the past, he viewed it as separate, after all…

“That's That, and This is This”

Roland next embraces the EGO of the “Will be” big and bad wolf — Though he has due cause, his own reasons, though he has suffered the same, if not more, than the city folk in the past, he was viewed as a mindless beast.

Like Crimson Scar (Red Hood), Cobalt Scar (anyone else remember when this was just called blue scar?) reflects Roland’s drive for peace, for contentment. Through Roland’s rampage, he only wished to fill the hole within him, the piece of himself whom was by the distortion stolen, to fill this hole with his vengeance, the blood of others. Who would have thought the woman to have so much blood in the end. (I apologise I am re-reading Macbeth and these references keep happening subconsciously).

Oddly Enough the secondary thematic contained within this phase is more akin to one of Chesed’s theme, alongside that of Yan, and the city at large:

“All humans grow into brutal beings. Why would I be different?"

Roland’s belief is one of nihilism (the fucking clown is back), that the city is a construct which grinds those within down to a cohesive — That all those within the city are the same in the end, that good people cannot survive in the city, Angelica acted as his proof of that.

"I won’t remember your faces… But you will remember mine…"

The Mountain of smiling corpses is as simple thematically as it is to suppress, the amalgamation of all those that roland has killed in the rampage, all those that had their own lives, all those lives he cut short, formed together, smiling, facing him, nothing more than a collective.

The Mountain is the memories of all those he killed in the slaughter, the blind rampage, all those whose faces he cannot remember, all smiling, taunting him.

The alternative lens to view this abnormality though is that of Roland being the mountain itself, fulfilling the same role as the wolf to come, simply a heap of flesh, searching out more to join it.

"Be honest with myself. Was it for revenge? Wasn’t I merely thirsty?"

Here we have roland’s acknowledgement of his myopic rage in the rampage, never thinking ahead, not seeing a reason to continue living, he simply thirsted for blood, for his primal urges to be released — He planned for, as he puts it:

A night when one is allowed to pursue all kinds of desire… A neverending, blood-red night."

(Of course referencing the star of the city, Blood Red Night, also known as Elena, whom had been defeated by Roland and Angelica in the past)

Just like the bloodfiend he takes the form of, just like the bloodfiend he slew all those years ago, Just like a mindless beast.

The only thing to note here is the name of the EGO he takes on: Dipsia, being a suffix used to mean “Thirst” — Presumably this is simply the name of nosferatu’s EGO in itself, but I thought I would mention this detail.

"The reason I exist…? I’m not even sure anymore."

The final form taken is that of a husk, the purposeless, meaningless Roland, with no desire to continue living, wears the shell of nothing there, the pretence of humanity used to gain his way closer to others, only living to kill, living by way of rote instinct.

Roland is hollow, empty, losing what made him human, simply a monster wearing the shell of one.

The Courage to Protect:

The story of the red mist is one that precedes most other sephirot in the game; Kali, the legendary colour fixer, “The Strongest”, and the first to join Carmen’s entourage (other than A/B).

* This section contains true ending spoilers * * Also Lobotomy Corporation spoilers * *I mean its expected that you've finished the game to be reading a 3000 word analysis post about it but still *

Hailing from the backstreets of district 23, Kali was an orphan child who learned to survive on her own, her oldest memories being when she was seven, surrounded by viscera in an open alleyway. Becoming a fixer at 20, the child was able to live a stable life, giving money to those who helped her survive, and vowing to use her newfound power as a fixer to protect them — Kali found her hands and legs bound in bed, her neighbours sprawling through her apartment searching for any money they could find.

Disillusioned, the child killed these intruders, these neighbours who she had done nothing but protect; Kali realised that these people were no different from the syndicates, seeking power to use against those beneath them, a natural cycle of humanity.

Kali, too, had undergone the role of the beast and hunter throughout her lives. In the beginning she was akin to the riding hood, chasing an ephemeral beast, the only thing that stops her from sleeping at night, the evil of humanity – In truth, it was when she was sleeping at night that the beast struck her, when she became disillusioned, began to see the nature of human minds, it was then that she, momentarily, lost her way.

In this exact manner, Gebura mirrors Roland’s past, and Roland her’s; the life of a fixer, though originally a life one could enter wholeheartedly, is one that reveals the underbelly of humanity, the grievous festering wounds of the city, and the rot that infects every mind within – Roland, too, once lost his way, though being a powerful fixer, leading a grade one office before he had achieved this rank himself, he slowly degraded into the mask he wore.

I am aware that I have written about Roland alongside the mask of the persona like… thrice already? At the same time it is really important to state that this psychological overtone within these games’ stories is not one that is being added arbitrarily, and are key to understanding the fundamental themes of human identity within. O’er these characters, neath the worldbuilding, lays a story that is beyond the game, a story of humanity and growth. I have a mutual, @jugendraws whom has said to have a script akin to my own, which covers these same kinds of themes, and I implore you if you like reading these at all, that you should keep an eye out for theirs.

Tangent over

Like Roland, Kali’s emergence from this shell, from their mask of a stoic fixer, came forth from meaning delivered by an angelic woman. Angelica. Carmen. Though the stories are not perfect analogues, they each mirror another so forth that Roland cannot deny his similarity to Gebura’s past – Gebura even shared in his mindless rampage, also following in the death of her loved, ‘the return of the red mist’ in lobotomy Corporation, but where Gebura realised, remembered her past, the reason for her strength, she ended in this.

Roland, too, ends in the same realisation, protecting those who dare to dream, who sought to live, who wished for paradise, defending Angela from the Reverberation’s ensemble, before making a final decision found through his past realisations, and saving Angela from disappearing.

Uuh also something thighs, ok.

There is also something interesting to note about Geburah herself, so let's do that:

Kabbalah:

So, while I am not an expert on this topic, nor jewish myself, I wanted to note something that I found interesting correlating between Gevurah’s representation in Lobotomy Corporation and in the tree of life.

Gevurah, being adjacent to Tifres and across from Hesed, is a word meaning “strength”. The sephira herself is representative of a loving protection, being the love that comes from limitation.

This correlates, as mentioned before, with Project Moon’s Gebura through her desires to protect Carmen, using her strength to show love to others.

This concept is parallelled in more ways than this however, as the method which the aspect Gevurah shows kindness is that of channelling the Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light), and ensuring that all creations are able to receive this light according to their limitations – the show of affection through limitation, and understanding of another – this may be represented, in a anthropomorphised form, as the ways that we show our care for others, using our various strengths and understanding of others, alongside our dedication, which in its own is a form of strength, to show affection and love.

Gebura, in her Lobotomy Corporation story, shows these traits quite explicitly, being the first to channel the light and manifest EGO, for the purpose of protecting those that she cares of; Gebura’s brutality regarding the abnormalities can be interpreted as her understanding employee’s limitations, wishing to protect them from the unbridled light, or humanity, of the abnormalities.

Departing from the Kabbalah, which I am far from qualified to talk in depth on, we will now be featuring a surprise guest, on a topic I am somewhat more familiar with.

Her:

This section stemmed forth from my wondering of how Carmen relates to the above passage, as despite my obsession with the pretty distortion lady, I had yet to look into any religious or biblical roots regarding her character.

Carmen is a name with two distinct origins, Latin and Hebrew.

In Latin, from the word Carmen meaning song, and being the root of the word “charm” (which is extremely accurate to Carmen LC considering she is extremely charming) (also there's probably some correlation to song and her radiant voice but i’d rather just obsess over her for a bit).

In Hebrew, from the mountain Carmel, which is translated roughly into “Vineyard of God”, and is the namesake of the Mendicant order of the Carmelites, alongside a settlement mentioned in the bible.

It is also important to note that the name Carmen has become innocuous with that of Mary, Mother of Jesus, due to the aforementioned order, once again11 linking Carmen to abrahamic religious themes.

The settlement of Carmel itself was important on its own due to it containing a natural spring of water, which then man made pools were constructed near to collect from; Carmen herself sought after the “river” of humanity within Lobotomy Corporation, and prior connotations with her names significance in Catholicism make a compelling argument for her entourage being figurative of the Carmelites, woking in poverty for the betterment of the world.

(as an additional note, the Carmelites claim ‘Elijah’ to be their order’s spiritual father, or their beginning of sorts, in the same manner that Elijah is the first researcher to die, and the first of their group we learn the real name of, our beginning of sorts).

(also i don't know if this is intentional, as like 90% of what i say about anything is conjecture). This is rather short as I am likely a decade away from finishing a Carmen essay proper due to the fact that she is the root of every game’s story, and something something 10 years of Limbus Company. Also I'm a needless perfectionist pedant who thinks that it's impossible for me to create something that does justice to the concepts.

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