#canto four spoilers

[manager-dante]

i need to flesh this out once i’ve mulled it over more but i adore how limbus company expands on the incredible world-building of project moon, because it is so goddamn realistic.

from the outset the player is presented with this incredibly bleak world in which corporations have become the state. the poor and the desperate bow their heads and toil at the altar of the free market. worth is measured by talent in exploitation. it’s a social darwinist’s wet dream. i also think the choice to base the cast off of literary figures was amazing, because it highlights very important connections to the past. i haven’t read all the books referenced, but the ones i have (the metamorphosis, don quixote de la mancha, & the odyssey so far) draw an unmistakable through-line from the suffering and exploitation depicted in those books to that which occurs in the city. the most horrifying parts of this game in my opinion aren’t the monsters or the machines — it’s the sheer enormity of human suffering which exists in the economic and political system the city operates under. and that’s the worst part, because in so many ways, the suffering and exploitation portrayed in the city is not a hypothetical fantasy — this is just capitalism working as intended. it’s not confined to the historical context of those books, nor the gritty sci-fi horror of the game.

but not only do we have this incredible setting that’s somehow both brutally realistic and fantastical at the same time, we also get to see how our main cast attempts to survive in that world — and ultimately how none of their attempts to change it succeeded at all.

in my mind, canto i portrays how neither kindness nor cold-heartedness will help you survive — especially through the dynamic between aya and hopkins. gregor has been both. he was a war hero in a meaningless war. after it ended, he was discarded as any tool which had outlived its usefulness would be. he can’t even control his arm from becoming a killing machine. and yet, gregor is still exceptionally personable, even going out of his way to be kind at times. but no matter whether he’s a tool for violence in the hands of war profiteers or simply a man doing his best to protect others, he still couldn’t save yuri — just as he couldn’t save his comrades — and this clearly haunts him. neither the war nor its end changed anything.

canto ii shows between rodya and sonya how both direct action and an “inevitable” revolution fail to quell the suffering of the vulnerable. sonya’s revolution is all bluster and no action. he does nothing to help the people in his community in favor of this grandiose revolution that must happen at the “right moment” — even if it means leaving his neighbors to starve in the meantime. rodya’s inspired yet short-sighted action to remove what she saw as the source of her community’s suffering only led to its destruction: the tax collector was a branch, not the root, of the problem, and killing one person did nothing to stop the system which upheld them.

canto iii is even more clear-cut in the ties between sinclair and kromer: neither violent zealotry nor blissful ignorance will save you in the city. kromer’s cult does not “purify” anything, but sinclair’s courage to stand up to her isn’t enough to beat her either. canto iii still doesn’t end in a victory. dante and the sinners barely survive. it’s only through demian (and k-corp’s) divine intervention that the sinners and kromer don’t destroy each other in the corpse pit.

in the most recent addition, canto iv appears to do the same thing. on one hand, you have the devotion to a principle shown through shrenne, samjo, and donbaek. their causes are different, but their devotion is the same. on the other, there is the cynicism, indifference, and escapism of yi sang and dongrang, both willingly complicit in the machine in different ways. and yet — none of them make any positive difference. whether they resisted or submitted, the machine grinds on around them — the only choices are to become a cog in it or be ground to bits by its gears.

to be clear, i do not think the game is arguing that none of these individual actions matter. even if gregor couldn’t rescue yuri, even if rodya couldn’t protect her neighbors, even if sinclair couldn’t defeat kromer and all that she stood for, even if the league of nine members each failed to realize their ideals — limbus argues that it matters they tried. it matters that they’re still trying. it may never be possible to oust the corporate overlords and make the city a better place, but the love still matters.

[layla-lynx]

I love this horrible old woman she’s so happy that she manipulated a defenseless civilian into giving her information 

[dearlystars]

all the people saying limbus canto iv got delayed bc shranne had to be there for pride month is funny bc like. happy pride month gays! we made one sapphic explode and then cut the other one in half!

[tibtew]

this image was always painful but now that we have more context on it, it's straight up just driving me insane

the fact that dongbaek and yi sang are at the front, but dongbaek is hiding her hands.... the fact that gubo is off to the side and looks anxious almost.... the fact that dongrang stands at the back (fully at the back, to me it looks like he's standing behind even the guy he's shoulder-to-shoulder to) and is the only one not looking at the camera, his heart not truly in it...

[gottagetgogottagetattahere]

I feel like a good litmus test about limbus company is that part in Canto IV where you see the infinite chicken hack and your first reaction was:

A) horrified about the animal cruelty (u are sinclair)

B) morbidly amused by the horrific logical conclusion k-corp came up with the healing ampules

C) disgust/depressed about how this could feed so many people but is instead used for profit

D) ...But does it taste good?

[elizkras]

he's not :(

[tictoxic]

CANTO 4 SPOILERS

Is this anything

[endergirldragon]

reposting some old stuff

[smolselfshippingaxcycat]

iM NOT FUCKIGN OKAY AFTER CANTO 4 SOBBIGn

tHE THE THING THIGN ADN THE DISTORTY HGNRHGgh

OSbbs

[circuit3301]

Canto 4 Spoilers

hey bro... you feeling ok? all seriousness this is a fun fight, not to hard but good, its so nice to hear a new mili song hitting it out of the park yet again. 

also Dante proving once again they are the best character ever written. and i love how faust is quite literally their filter

and AHHHHHHHHHHHH

MY BOY MAKES AN EMOTION!!!

loved this chapter, a mili song, holy shit the last fights ending, HE SMILED, and the implications of Dante remembering what they saw makes this an amazing chapter, well done PM

bonus: my favorite section of the ED: Dante being Dante, and Charon probably running over a family of 5

nevermind, that's not the end of this post

you little shit what are you doing here. actual child jumpscare

hi Dante what's up? just gonna tick huh? that's fine, no underlining meaning here

[mossy-paws]

Rodya found the yaoi :( (Limbus company)

The shitpost comic I’ve been working on has. Been taking much longer then expected I know I originally wasn’t planning on drawing anything limbus comp related until I got other important things done but I couldn’t get this out of my head so I had too 😔

OG image also! I got a ton of stuff cooking atm so HOPEFULLY I’ll have actually good art soon, I’ve just been very very busy with final exams and school

[korronotsoshiny]

If there’s one thing I miss about listening to Hero, it’s the fact that-

I can’t listen to the second part without La Don’s laughter as he staggers and wipes out half my sinners. It really compliments the mutual mental breakdown we have together. /hj

I kid you not, I was crying when he landed his unbreakable coins non-stop until I reached his third phase. Then I cried more at the cutscene.

[myreputatioooon]

the way carmen cgs flashed....has healthcliff been going through a years long distortion process this entire time...???

[tibtew]

disjointed yi sang ramble (canto iv spoilers kind of):

okay I know chapter 4 isn't over yet BUT I can't stop thinking about how the big 000 ids for gregor and sinclair in their chapters (and tbh I think this can be applied to rime shank rodya as well) have them conforming to what people expect of/want from them while yi sang just. Becomes Dongbaek because he no longer has a place in her world and she has no place in his... all they have is the sweet-smelling sense of nostalgia...

it reminds me a lot of this passage from the wings:

additionally, while I think the entire league embodies the wife character to some extent, the direct moments of conflict where she lashes out feel the most. dongbaek to me. also interesting to note that she's the only league member he's been able to properly Fight so far.

also, since this rant was inspired by his new id: "once all these flowers have been stained red only then will "I" bloom as well" to me reads as him trying to destroy his past in an effort to regain his sense of self. hm.

also also I find the fragrance aspect of the bloom ego so interesting when you consider that the protag in the wings sniffs his wife's perfume to remember her....

[melonisopod]

Lifetime Stew is so much darker in hindsight.

Sinclair and Don Quixote both get it, and it’s specifically *Lust*, not *Gluttony*, despite being food-themed. (Although Gluttony in Limbus terms is basically Greed, and Lust very broadly refers to “desire” for things that aren’t material).

So, Lifetime Stew is based on the fable of Stone Soup, wherein a man managed to feed his whole village by bringing each together with a different ingredient, to make a soup that would last forever. He just kept telling each person in the town square, “All it needs is one more ingredient,” and everyone just kept adding to it. Is the gist of it.

Sinclair and Don have voice lines that more or less imply the same thing - the Abnormality (Basilisoup) just wants everyone to try its delicious soup! Cute, silly concept, right?

So what do Sinclair and Don Quixote have in common?

(SPOILERS beyond this point! You’ve been warned)

In Canto 3, Sinclair recalls that once his mother, father, and sister all received full-body prosthetics, they no longer had a need to eat. The table was set and food was placed only for him. It’s one of the things he found so especially heartbreaking, that he was the only one left in his family who could still eat food. It’s such a core memory that it’s plastered on the window-wall of his cell for his base E.G.O., four roboticized humans sitting at the table, with no food present.

He desperately misses getting to share meals with his family.

And in La ManchaLand, the Bloodfiends have been starved of blood for the past 200 years, barely sustaining themselves on hemobars that don’t satisfy them. They can *live* without subsisting on human blood, but they’re utterly miserable doing so. The only one of the First Kindred’s clan who escaped such a fate was of course, Sancho, though she’d long forgotten she is a Bloodfiend, Faust says she still craves blood. She’d been in effect, the only Bloodfiend allowed to sate her cravings, while the rest of her kin starved. Being the only Bloodfiend able to escape their fate was so traumatic for Sancho that she wanted to forget everything about herself.

In other words, Basilisoup/Lifetime Stew is about “the joy of sharing a meal with family,” something both Sinclair and Don Quixote desperately wish for.

KIM JIHOON WHEN I FUCKING GET YOU

[isuggestdistortion]

Really important question. What’s the best way to distort somebody. Like what’s some great build up, I’m making a campaign and I need to give my four campaigners the horrors.

Ooh! I actually have a lot to say about this one!

There really isn't a "best way" to distort someone, since the experience is highly dependent on the individual and their circumstances, but I'll try and offer some guidance, since that's what I'm best at :)

General Advice

Setup and Payoff

Something incredibly important not just to a dramatic reveal, or climactic moment (like, say, someone distorting for example) but to any plot event in general is the concept of setup and payoff.

Basically, if you want to have a big moment, it has to be hinted at throughout the story beforehand. It especially needs to be hinted at towards the beginning of whatever arc it's relevant to.

[[CANTO 6 SPOILERS]]

For example, in mission 1 of Canto 6, Heathcliff has the lines "You've no idea how many times I imagined it, played it out in my head. Returning to that bloody manor, smashing every little thing in that place to bits until there is nothing left", immediately followed by "If I ever lose the plot and push myself to the brink of no return, I trust that one of you louts will pull me right out of it"

These lines are the setup to his eventual distortion towards the end of the canto, what he attempts to do after distorting, and the subsequent struggle to bring him back to his senses. One of the reasons it works so well is because it was hinted at like this. It didn't come out of nowhere.

[[END OF SPOILERS]]

Theme and Narrative

We can't talk about Distortion without talking about what it represents symbolically, narratively, and thematically.

Distortion represents an embrace of desire, and of the self. An acceptance of the Id, and rejection of the Ego (hey, those two psychology concepts sound a little familiar, don't they?)

It's a return to the purest, most primal form of humanity. To a time unburdened by the innumerable menutiae of the modern world that we humans were never designed to endure. That's part of the reason why it feels so freeing for those who partake in it.

For a character, it can mean an acceptance of their own fate or powerlessness, the embrace of a fervent desire, or a physical manifestation of their strongest emotions (anger, fear, sadness), or even a shattering of a worldview.

Its something that signifies that, at this moment, this character has lost everything, and the only solution is to give in to the parts of themselves they locked away in silence. Once they've had a taste of desire, it comes in like an unstoppable wave.

Knowing the Source Material

Also of great importance is knowing how distortion manifests in the source material, and how it's used in the context of its own world and narrative.

That, and knowing how it works from a rules perspective. The aura of pressure that surrounds a person when they distort, how they have that fun little conversation in their head, while everyone else only sees one side of it, the fact that the physical form and abilities of a distortion are often a direct representation of their desires, that sorta stuff.

Distorting NPCs

Make the Players Care

If you want to subject your players to the horror of an NPC distorting, the players have to not only have known the character before they distort, but will have to have grown attached to them as well.

Have the NPC show up on earlier story arcs before the arc where they're most prevalent. Have them help the players. Maybe they stumble across the party and help them out of a tough situation. Maybe theyre the ones to cheer the players up after a particularly sad moment. Maybe they're just fun to talk to, or they have meaningful conversations with the players about their journey.

Allow the players to really connect with the NPC. Maybe drop some hints here and there that something isn't quite right about them, or that they're trying to hide some sort of secret.

Once the players have grown attached, that's when the signs should start getting worse. Let the players experience the slow dawning realization of what's happening, and that it might already be too late. All the signs were there, how could they have never noticed them before?

Make the Players Lose Something

If you're feeling particularly evil, you can also make the loss of an NPC hurt even more by giving it direct in-game consequences.

Maybe they were a chef for the town, and their sudden absence means food is going to be more expensive for the party in the foreseeable future.

Maybe they were a shopkeeper, and now the players are going to have to find somewhere else to buy items.

Maybe they were a town guard, and now thst they're gone, there's not as many people left to defend the town from monsters, so more dangerous monsters start to surround the area.

You can even use this to justify an increase in difficulty over the course of the story. It can even give your players a new goal to work towards if they can't be saved, and if they can still be saved, it gives them a direct gameplay motivation to save them.

Distorting Player Characters

Communication

First off, if you want to have a player character distort, or think it could be interesting, talk to your players. Ask them what they like about the campaign, and what their plans are for their characters' arc.

Try to weave these into the story whenever you can, and talk with each player to make sure they're satisfied by their role in the story and how their character is developing. Also, ask if they have any new ideas, because a lot of the time, they will.

Ideally, a player will come to you and ask about how to implement a distortion into their character arc, but you can also mention it as a possibility to pique their interest.

The big thing though is that both the GM and the player should agree on how to handle something like a distortion in their arc. Never do anything major with a player's character without the ok from the player. Make a plan for how it's going to happen so it can be the best scene it can possibly be!

Secrets and Aftermath

Make a plan with the player about what they want the aftermath to be like. Do they want distortion to be the end of that character, with them dying distorted as the finale to their arc? Do they want to become a boss for the players to face? Do they want the players to be able to save them and pull them out of their distorted state? Plan the ending with them in advance.

And don't be afraid to be secretive. Keep the huge reveal just between you and that one player so the rest of the party can be shocked and fully immersed in the moment when it comes. Using DMs to communicate secrets to individual players is always a valuable tool in this regard.

The Moment of Truth

Crisis

Now we get to the actual scene. Distortion starts with a mental break and/or low point for a character. Even without what's to come, whatever just happened is something that would be enough to do lasting psychological damage to the person who's about to distort.

A Voice

The character starts hearing a voice in their head. Hearing any sort of voice would utterly terrify them, but something about it just feels almost natural. It's as if this calm, patient, and understanding voice is a sign that everything is going to be ok. It's that of someone who cares when no one else will, one that wants to guide them to whatever they need above all else.

Memories

The character begins remembering the events that led them here, as the voice in the back of their mind expresses their sympathy. Its tone is almost curious, like it wants to learn all it can about your struggles so it can decide how best to care for you in this moment.

A Desire

The voice then asks a simple question. It asks what it is that you truly desire. You answer, and the voice makes it so.

Conclusion

Ok wow this was a long post, but it's something I genuinely love talking about so I hope you can find some good advice in here (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠)