#fourth match flame rodion

[lu-is-not-ok]

An assortment of Limbus doodles

[bad-lobcorp-aus]

Au where after canto 5 finishes theres a post credits scene where rodyas like "wow ishy i didnt know you where trans too!", ryoshu responds "Really? M.T." and so on and so forth until all the female sinners all come out as transfemme and then they all just squint at the male sinners until emil sinclair shuffles toward them very slowly.

[literallys-illiteracy]

A Pedantic Overview of Burn in Limbus Company

This is the start of a series I'm going to be doing where I go over each major status effect, the ID and EGO that use it, and any other things I thought I might want to mention, Burn is first because it's Wrath. Affinity and because its the first listed in MD.

Burn: overview:

Burn is, in terms of regular gameplay (non mirror dungeon), bad. Im saying this as someone who really likes burn even without EGO Gifts; 

Burn is the only status which only lowers count at the end of round, with Tremor having so many “trigger tremor burst; then reduce count by one” that it’s standard by this point; Burn is also the only status effect which is wholly incapable of dealing damage multiple times per turn, excluding the usage of two specific ID’s.

Burn struggles somewhat with the sustain of Count and Potency, as a majority of ID’s (burn doesnt have EGO) only apply one or the other, meaning that unless it is a focused encounter or an encounter against a single target (which is the kind of battle where burn deals the least damage due to being capped at 99 once per turn) it is difficult to maintain/stack burn between rounds.

Other statuses have the same struggle of maintaining count, especially due to other statuses triggering multiple times per turn, however it is less important on these other statuses as, because of its hard limit on damage, its ideal to maintain burn potency at max otherwise you get little value.

The other method which different statuses are able to remedy their issues with count is through EGO skills, notably AEDD Gregor for rupture, Cavernous Wailing Hong lu and Everlasting Faust for Tremor, and Rime Shank Rodion for Sinking: the problem lies in the fact that there are no good burn EGO, and that no Burn EGO are able to apply count with the exception of Soup Don, who does not have a burn ID.

Burn EGO Worth Using:

Ishmael’s Ardor Blossom Star

virtually the only decent Burn EGO in my opinion,

ABS rolls a 41 on a Wrath-Pierce affinity coin. This EGO has one of the highest awakening roll of any ego, a positive offence level (+3) and raises stagger threshold by % of damage done (counting for all damage done, whilst also being multi target meaning it raises a fucktonne) 

Ishmael’s other Burn EGO, Capote, applies wrath fragility and provides Wrath damage up. 

Rodion’s Burn ID applies Wrath damage up to different allies. 

Rodion’s Burn EGO also applies wrath Fragility to enemies.

Due to all of the different buffs which Wrath Affinity receives when running a burn team, this EGO becomes a force of destruction when used in a Burn team.

Second off is Rodion’s Aforementioned Burn EGO, Fourth Match Flame.

This is one of the only negative coin awakening EGO skills in the game. It rolls a 38 at highest, and a 20 on heads. There isnt much of note about this EGO other than what was already said of it applying Wrath Fragility. Just make sure to overclock the EGO when using it because the on-hit effects are the same but it consumes 1.5x sanity meaning you get a higher roll on average.

Capote Meursault:

I actually had to go edit a prior section because i forgot about this EGO; Capote Sault rolls for 45 at highest, applies tremor by the burn potency (which is notably very easy to stack), triggers tremor burst, and applies burn count if the enemy is staggered.

This EGO, rather than applying Group buffs, applies wrath/Blunt buffs to meursault himself next turn. As his burn ID does not have a wrath+blunt skill other than EGO this is slightly less useful than it could be.

The usage of this EGO is debatable for one main reason. It occupies the He slot, the other EGO MSault has in this slot is Persuence, which is the most consistent healing EGO that the Burn team has access to.

Pursuance requires sloth and gloom, which are slightly uncommon in burn teams, however there is not particularly high demand for those resources in a Burn team as well, meaning you can fairly consistently fuel this EGO skill for usage. If you enjoy your ID’s living, it is typically advised to use Persuence over Capote.

This concludes the list of good burn EGO.

Bad burn EGO:

All of the rest of them.

Yi Sang 4th Match Flame:

This EGO rolls a 20 at highest, only applies 10 burn at highest, and belongs to a sinner who does not have a burn ID.

9:2 Faust:

This EGO has medium-high rolls, however it consumes up to 20 of the target’s burn for same turn Defense level down, belongs to a Burn-less sinner (sort of) and consumes Gluttony, which is the least common affinity within a burn team, as there is only 1 ID who can produce it.

Lifetime Stew Don Qi:

Sinner without Burn ID, Mediocre rolls. The only redeeming quality of this EGO is the fact that lust resources are abundant in a Burn team meaning you can source it easily, the downside is that the passive is actively detrimental for the same reason; The passive converts resources of random sin affinities into the most common skill affinity of the Status.

Fourth Match Flame Ryoshu:

While not bad like the other’s mentioned, this EGO isn’t explicitly good either.

At UT4 it deals 100% more damage at 20 burn potency, and the corrosion variant applies the buffs regardless of wether the EGO kill’s. 

Note that the passive of this EGO is non existent for 3 rounds at a time in most battles, however most EGO passives in the game are either extremely good or extremely bad.

Forest for the flames is technically a burn EGO i guess.

Ryoshu base EGO is decent amongst Zayin EGO, rolls for 28, and applies 2 fragile next turn on heads hit, alongside having one of the coolest animations in the game (among the base ego at least)

Lifetime Stew Sinclair:

No. 

WHY ARE YOU BUYING EGO AT THE SOUP STORE?

9:2 Sinclair:

This EGO is the most recently released Negative coin on awakening EGO in the game. It is also not good. 

The EGO applies 4 burn unless enemies have zero burn, in which case it applies 8.

On a tails hit (rolling 26), if the enemies have 10 burn apply mediocre debuffs for next turn.

On corrosion, which is also a negative coin, meaning that it’s better by default, it instead applies lust fragility, which is decent however not particularly useful as the highest damage effect’s and skills of burn are Wrath Affinity.

Honorary mentions/generally good EGO;

There are two (2) different EGO for this section, they aren't strictly burn based EGO however they compliment the team well.

Both of these EGO are however the same type, resonance based EGO: Holiday outis and Garden of Thorns Gregor.

Both of these are the same functional idea so they wont get a separate section for each of them, the main idea is that they are able to buff lust and wrath specifically efficiently which are the two most common burn affinities; as both apply damage and/or power up for the highest resonance, with holiday being a wrath affinity skill and Garden of Thorns being Lust (and requiring a full lust lineup of skills for max value (6+ A resonance))

 Burn ID’s: a history, and also me whining a little bit:

Burn is among the status effects with the least amount of units in the game, note that im not saying anything definitively because im not fucking counting each status effects units.

Also this history section is not going to be super specific, mostly going off anything notable that i can remember because nobody keeps a timeline of everything limbus, note to self, make Cogitopedia page of Limbus release timeline.

On launch burn was starved in the same manner that literally every status effect was back then; 2 Ein Sof ID’s (00 ids)and ~5 EGO skills, excluding 4mf Yi Sang because I am biassed.

The IDs being Liu (6) Meursault and Gregor, and the EGO being Ardor Blossom Star, Forest for The Flames, and the three 4MF that i am willing to acknowledge.

Like all status effects on launch, burn was utterly terrible; With the above listed ID’s/EGO, there was a grand total of 1 way to apply burn count, being 6 Meursault skill 3; None of the other mentioned apply count, meaning that it was nigh impossible to stack for any significant damage.

Once again i want to note that none of the status effects were good on launch for a decent while, with the exception of charge which had a grand total of 2 good units, which was honestly 2 more than any other status.

The first significant release was 6 Hong Lu, also known as 0606 and Hong Liu, who added two more ways of applying burn count, however his Potency application was non existent, he was also the first, and for a long time to follow, the only way of gaining Gloom on a burn team.

Back during this time, mirror dungeons worked a lot differently, but i'm not going onto that tangent today, the main reason i'm bringing this up is as a transition to the Krooming Faust herself, who was uncontested as the best non launch ID at least until the next paragraph;

Because there was not feasible way to run a full burn team, and because of mechanics i'm not explaining, she was extremely good for mirror dungeon if you for some godforsaken reason planned on running a team that wasn't just brute force, as an additional note, the only good Burn EGO at the time was Fiery Down, which meant that Kraust was able to apply burn potency for 9 damage. woohoo

No. I refuse.

Following [Redacted], came the Chimken evemnt. 

From this event came Sinclair's second worst sin, and Don’s Lifetime Stew, which actually (at the time) wasn't half bad.

Though neither of these are actually notable there are 2 reasons I'm bringing up the chimken event. The first is the EGO gift received in the dungeon, which is now accessible from the floor pack of the same name, which works as Fiery Down except for burn count, which made burn downright usable for that event; the second point is linked to this EGO gift as well, with the funniest interaction of any EGO gift: Lifetime stew sinclair, when applying burn to allies, will apply EGO gifts the same as it would enemies, so every time you used the EGO, you risked dealing 50 damage to your IDs rather than healing them.

Season 2 - Reminiscence:

Upon the launch of season 2, we got 2 more burn EGO, (i know we didn't technically get them “On launch” for the season, nobody likes a pedant, i would know); the Capote EGO, bringing our grand total up to 10, which was, if memory serves correct, the highest amount of EGO for any status effect at the time, in order to balance this out, we would only get 1 more burn ID this season.

As for the Capote EGO themselves, Ishmael’s wasnt the greatest, but anything is better than a negative coin awakening meaning that it was still better than its competition; the main objective of burn isnt to deal damage through skills, meaning that the wrath synergy didnt matter as much as it does today, with all of the value that Philip and 6 Rodion bring from resonance.

Capote Meursault is not used and i already talked about it in the EGO section, Pursuance is better, as well as easier to fuel because we were able to fill slots with resources we needed. 

Later that season, in order to match her having 2 Burn EGO, ishmael gained a burn ID, as 6 ishmael. 

She was the first decent burn ID, and the first ayin (000) id. She was able to apply burn and burn count, and she did this without having a functional passive until this season… 

That's the entirety of season 2… this is why I chose burn to start with, because there's hardly anything to talk about.

Season 3 - Bon Voyage:

This season's battle pass brought us two EGO, 12 now total, and there is no reason to talk about 9:2 because they aren't good.

Next up is Walpurgisnacht, with the introduction of Bullet Outis, the first time that burn was usable outside of mirror dungeon, as Glimpse of flame was available (although much rarer than today), as she was, and still is, the only way to make burn deal its potency as damage multiple times in a turn, although with the caveat that she needs to accumulate Bullets.

There was a blank period for a bit and just so that the timeline isn't that jarring i'm adding this line here.

The next release was the two 6 ID’s, 6 Rodion and Ryoshu: Ryoshu was the first source of Gluttony resources, and the first source of slashing damage outside of EGO skills.

Rodion is good, she buffs wrath, applies decent count and decent potency, and is able to act as a very good dps. For a very short period of time, and i mean like a week, when the Ring ID's were released they counted as ID's which apply all status effects; Due to the addition of the Ring ID's, it was possible to activate both Soothe the Dead, and Bloody Mist at the same time with the use of Ring ID's, Captain Ishmael, [No], a burn ID of choice, and a bleed ID of choice. in the week following the Ring ID's were changed as to only count for Bleed, and to not count as any other status effects.

Philip Sinclair rolls a 40. 

Burn Team concepts:

Generally, if you plan on running a burn team, the first thing you should consider other than a psych evaluation, is saving Lunacy and free pulls for Walpurgis event periods, as the two most valuable units for burn teams are both 000’s from said banner; Of course the two ID’s being Philip Sinclair, and Magic Bullet Outis.

Ideally you are able to first and second slot these two ID’s into your team: Philip Sinclair is able to apply +6 burn count on skill 2, whilst having the highest rolls of any other Burn ID. He is also incredibly useful to have skill slots on as his skill 3 heals bonus sanity on clash win, meaning he becomes more useful in a fight faster than other ID’s are able to.

Other Than 06 Ryoshu, Philip Sinclair is the only source of slashing damage in a full burn team outside of EGO*, meaning that slotting him first will gain additional value compared to other ID’s in many situations. 

Additionally, in terms of EGO resources, Philip Sinclair was the first Burn ID since Hong Liu to have Gloom affinity skills, and the first ID since Liu Ishmael to have envy skills.

As for EGO you can use on Sinclair, Impending day gives more value than Lifetime Stew, as it allows for easier wrath resonance, more damage type coverage as Philip has no Blunt in his kit, and does not immolate your teammates.

Branch of knowledge is incredibly hard to fuel in a burn team, as only 3/36 of the teams skills are Gluttony affinity, and said skills belonging to one specific ID. 

With that being said, due to the nature of Philip Sinclair being on neutral-positive sanity regularly, the Branch of Knowledge passive is more useful than it would be on other ID’s who plan on remaining at 45 SP; 

The other option is Blubberbuble, who is slightly easier to fuel, and gives survivability to your team; due to Faust lacking a Burn ID, and the fact that there are the same amount of sloth skills as gluttony, Burn as a team lacks a large amount of sustain, as pursuance requires sloth resources, Fluid sack is unavailable, and Lantern (sinclair) requires Gluttony.

See note above about what HE to take. The answer is still Lantern, never take 9:2.

Magic Bullet Outis is the second cornerstone ID of the Status effect, enabling Burn to deal damage multiple times per turn. With her being the only method of dealing multiple times your burn in a turn, its highly recommended that you have this ID for a burn team.

There aren't many notes of what EGO to take on this ID, the main notes are that half of her skills, + defence being pride allows for the fueling of Suffering Becomes Existence, as long as you have enough Sloth resources, and that Holiday allows for easier Wrath resonance.

The Final highly important ID is Liu Rodion, who, alongside her 4th match flame EGO, allows for wrath resonance to become highly potent, applying Wrath damage up and Wrath fragility across the team and enemies.

Bringing Rodion is your highest reliable source of Pierce damage, as 1/6 of Outis skills are pierce, with the same ratio for Philip, however his skill 3 becomes skill 4 during passive, which is a Slash skill.

Rodion is the closest thing that we can get to Glimpse of flames outside of mirror dungeon, with dealing wrath damage based on potency…. With a max of 30. She additionally is the only source of Pride affinity if you lack Magic Bullet.

The Suggested Team is as follows:

Dawn Office Fixer Sinclair.

Lobotomy E.G.O::Magic Bullet Outis

Liu Rodion

And the secondary ID’s// less vital ID’s being:

Liu Ishmael (EGO skills, extra damage, burn and count)

Liu Meursault (regret allows for decent rolls. Pursuance is one of three available healing EGO, able to apply count on skill 3)

Liu Ryoshu (Gluttony affinity resources; 4MF; Contempt, Awe. red eyes (normal) & Forest for the Flames for Lust Resonance) 

Liu Gregor (Sloth Resources. Garden of Thorns EGO useful for Wrath or Lust Resonance)

Support Passives//Non-Burn ID's:

The most notable ID which can be used in lieu of a burn ID is The One Who Grips Faust; Due to almost all burn ID's possessing a lust affinity skill, it is incredibly easy to activate her whistles passive, allowing your units to gain SP much faster. this brings us onto the next main idea which you can use for support passives: Sanity Maxxing: due to how Philip Sinclair works, if you get as many sanity passives as possible stacked on top of each other, you can keep him in EGO state for an absurd amount of time; Other than Grip Faust, the best SP passives are: Ring Yi Sang, Base Yi Sang, and Base Hong Lu. You can also technically use Captain Ishmael who is, on a technicality, a burn ID. This is here just to cover all my bases. Ring ID's have wrath and lust affinities, and benefit from the burn on target, making them viable substitute ID's

[crownlandssun]

posting this to tumblr too but i am having legitimately so many fucking thoughts about fourth match flame and the scorched girl abno and how it relates to each sinner who has a fmf ego. strap in babes

spoilers for canto 4 of limbus company, as well as content warnings for violence as per project moon games!! stay safe :)

scorched girl specifically carries a theme of loss and abandonment, just as an overarching note for this post.

ryoshu is based off of hell screen, which follows a painter named yoshihide making a folding screen that depicts hell. the lord commissioning him has a really weird thing with yoshihide’s daughter and is actively throughout the story trying to make her his mistress, to which yoshihide refuses. yoshihide has this thing throughout the story where he can only paint things he’s seen, and for his references for the inhabitants of hell on the screen, he begins violently torturing his servants for these references. near the end of the story, yoshihide asks the lord commissioning him to burn a beautiful young woman to death in a grand carriage as reference for the final part of the screen. the young woman who burns alive, however, is yoshihide’s daughter. with the screen finished, yoshihide finds out what happened to his daughter, and hangs himself, to which the story ends.

so ryoshu, with her views of violence as art pretty clearly equate to yoshihide requiring these references for the screen. and with ryoshu’s new egos, spider bud is equated with themes of motherhood and the violent protection of the spider’s young. those, i don’t think there’s anything that requires in depth analysis at the moment.

ryoshu’s other two egos are both based off of fire. and scorched girl/fourth match flame for ryoshu specifically because now she has symbolism as both yoshihide AND yoshihide’s daughter.

next, rodya. and i will never forgive limbus fans for ignoring rodya’s canto as much as they do, but that’s beside the point. all of rodya’s egos down to her base ego focus pretty heavily on the freezing/hardening of the heart in order for her and others to survive, as well as how yurodivy was changing before she left. her line upon using the ego is “if even fervent flames can thaw the heart”, which keeps both rodya’s themes of “greater good” that are prevalent throughout both her canto, crime and punishment, AND the scorched girl’s themes of loss and abandonment. in particular, both the loss of rodion’s innocence and ideals for the world that she wanted to make a reality and the way she also embraces the flame in this new life, where she once again, if even for a moment, seems to have a way for her hope to burn and live again.

all of rodya’s egos so far are themed around this idea of hardening the heart. the scorched girl abno and therefore the egos as a product of her revolves around abandonment and specifically letting go. this tracks with all of the egos, but it varies from sinner to sinner, which for me only supports the theory that that their base egos are representative of both their backstories and their mental states.

finally, and my personal favorite, yi sang’s. yi sang’s stands out to me so much because it makes so much sense if you think in limbus’ context as well as the context of the narrator in the wings.

when yi sang’s fmf is used, his line is “i burn what i wish to burn”. and his stands out the most to me.

yi sang in limbus has, up to this point (pre-company) has allowed the current to pull him along and leave him with his metaphorical broken wings to where the point his colleagues/friends are taking advantage of him, similarly to the narrator in the wings and how he simply ruminates on his life throughout the story. but his line being THAT specifically holds such a candle to me (pun intended) because yi sang’s is so consciously centered around what he wants and the choice is finally gets to make; the loss of his shackles.

it’s just. it’s so important to me. ryoshu’s represents loss of yoshihide and his daughter, who both die at the end of hell screen. rodya’s represents the loss of innocence and the hardening of the heart in order to survive. and yi sang’s represents him finally having a choice. it’s so so important to me.

[miserymisume]

I would love to see the trio in Lumbussy

Meursault = Big Bird

Don Quixote = Judgement Bird

Rodion(???) = Punishing Bird

I know LCB mostly uses aberrations but they have Fourth Match Flame so

[lirational]

What are your thoughts on limbus company Egoes what do you think is your favorite in design. I say favorite is dimension shredder Hong lu and Body Sack.

I have a soft spot for Fourth Match Flame EGO artworks! Though my favorite among those is a close tie between Rodion and Ryoshu. Telepole has neat artworks, as well ^^

As for IDs, my favorites would be Grip Faust, Seven Association Outis, and I would say Rabbit Heath mostly bc at that time it was my first and strongest ID.

[mulberriesandtea]

Thanks for bringing up that shrimply fantastic point, that's actually how I started this thought process! In my defense, I should sleep but I am not.

I think that's actually the other important part of this- because going by their stories and foreshadowing in the game so far, both likely developed their escapist tendencies due to that point of their life. Ryoushuu worked for or at least angered the fingers in some way, and from Library of Ruina, Leviathan, and Rodion's background, we very much know that it never ends well, and definitely didn't considering her Fourth Match Flame seems to be representative of that aftermath. Hong Lu doesn't even seem like he's completely out of the control of his family- I definitely don't think he's at the end of DoTRC yet.

They're both dealing with it through not dealing with it at all, and that's not sustainable for either.

Also the idea of Hong Lu and Ryoushuu kidnapping people is entertaining to me, and while I don't think that's the case it's incredibly funny (*kicks my Ishmael and Gregor crackfic under the rug*)

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.

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[asocialmoth]

Its Limbus Friday again, hooray!

I think its cool that Rodion's EGO background and dialogue really helps gives sense why she got Fourth Match Flame. Maybe she'll get Frost Splinter as well?

Also official Limbus Twitter posted new art:

God I hope goofy Dante is canon in Limbus. I cherish the thought that the all powerful time keeper with a clock for a head that manages a Suicide Squad-style deadly team is actually a goofball. And unlike Hong-lu who does it accidentally I hope Dante gets on to the sinners' nerves knowing they can't kill him since he's too important to the company.

[timekeeping-sinner]

(This is a reference to the combat demo videos we got.)

The bus's phone, one of the connections to Limbus Company's headquarters rings.

<span class="npf_color_chandler">Hello, this is Limbus Company HQ doing a check-in. How have the Sinners designated as "Yi Sang", "Faust", "Don Quixote", "Heathcliff" and "Rodion" acclimated to the E.G.O. known as "Fourth Match Flame", "Fluid Sac" and "Telepole"?</span>

<The Sinner picks up the phone and listens, there's a brief moment of silence after the question.>

Believe me, I'd like to know the same thing

My guess is they've found some way to manifest it in one of the branches we traveled to.

[lu-is-not-ok]

thoughts on the fourth match flame egos?

Oh baby, a triple. And a LobCorp abno as well! Let's see if I can make this one the longest out of all of them.

Also I got like three asks about this E.G.O so I probably should get to it huh.

Yeets you under the cut.

Alright, let's start by talking about Scorched Girl. This is an Abnormality all the way back from Lobotomy Corporation, and one which reappeared in Library of Ruina. As such, there's some material we gotta sift through. And by we I mean me. I'm the one doing the work here.

As is fitting for an Abnormality based on the fairytale of The Little Match Girl, the main themes of this abno are innocence, abandonment, hope for a better life, and the eventual snuffing out of that hope by life's cruelty.

However, this is where LobCorp twists the tale into something else, as while all of those themes apply to Scorched Girl, there is a major addition that recontextulizes all of the above. The bitter despair that follows when one is crushed, and the want to burn everyone's else's hopes and happiness in a fit of directionless revenge against the world.

While probably not as direct when applied to the Sinners, this theme of lashing out in the face of losing hope seems important enough to keep in mind.

Now, while I don't usually look too deeply into the visual designs of the E.G.Os, as the differences are oftentimes subtle... I feel like I need to do it here, because Fourth Match Flame has this little quirk of being Project Moon's special little Advertisement E.G.O where they gave each Sinner using it a unique design.

Also, not joking when I call this the advertisement E.G.O, almost all (if not actually all) pre-release material that showed previews of E.G.Os was of the Fourth Match Flame E.G.Os.

Let's go in the order that the E.G.Os were unlocked on the Battle Pass, shall we?

When Rodya uses Fourth Match Flame, her outfit turns into what I can best describe as a ballroom dress wreathed in flames, complete with matching tall gloves made of ash. It gives off this idea of opulence, of fancy balls that only the rich are invited to. Applying Scorched Girl's theme of a hope for a better life here, this could signify that this is the kind of life Rodya deeply wishes for. One where money isn't an issue, where she and her neighbours can live comfortably without worrying when their next meal will be.

Yi Sang's Fourth Match Flame puts him in a labcoat, specifically the kind of getup you'd see Ayin in, and if you're past Canto IV, Sang Yi as well. Funny Yi Sang Ayin comparison memes aside, I think Canto IV really helps apply this to the theme of hope for a better life. Because that is the kind of life Yi Sang wishes for. One where he can simply research for no other purpose than the joy it brings him. The fact that his outfit here specifically mimics Sang Yi's, aka the version of himself that Yi Sang views as perfect, further adds to that idea.

Finally, we have Ryoshu, the one we know the least about out of the three, and the one I can tell the least about from her Fourth Match Flame outfit. The best way I can describe it is... that it feels soft. Warm. There's a sort of simplicity to it that gives me nostalgic and innocent vibes, but I can't exactly put it to words why. While we don't have Ryoshu's backstory yet, and thus can't pinpoint what life she's hoping for the way we could for Rodya and Yi Sang, I think those vibes alone paint a certain picture. I think Ryoshu wishes to go back to a time that she associates with warmth and softness.

If we assume that Ryoshu, just like Yoshihide in Hell Screen, had a daughter who had tragically passed... Perhaps that's what her Fourth Match Flame alludes to her wanting to go back to.

Another interesting thing to note about the appearance of the E.G.Os is a notable contrast between the background for Rodya's Fourth Match Flame, compared to that of Yi Sang and Ryoshu. For the latter, the village in the background is already burnt down. It's already smoldering and covered in ash. For Rodya however, it's in the middle of bursting into flames.

Considering how for Scorched Girl the flame on her match signifies her hope, with it running out meaning she no longer has any, I think this detail is important. For Yi Sang and Ryoshu, the source of their hope is already gone. We know Yi Sang's League is already gone, and we can assume that is also the case for Ryoshu's daughter. Rodya, however? She still has hope to fight for. Though many of her neighbors have died, there are likely those who still survived. Those who still need her help. Those who she can share that better life she wishes for with.

Now, let's look at the Sins, genuinely my favorite part of the analysis I think.

All of the Fourth Match Flame E.G.Os are Wrath damage, Wrath being the Sin associated with actions done out of self-rightousness and defiance. It's the sin of deciding things need to change simply because you want them to. This, of course, applies to Scorched Girl on many levels.

The two most important ways Scorched Girl ties back to the concept of Limbus's idea of Wrath are both in its potrayal of hope. The idea of acting on your hope for a better life, to refuse what you currently have because you wish for something better, and the following lashing out at everyone else when that hope is snuffed out, as you believe that nobody deserves happiness if you can't have it.

As for the Sin requirements... Hoo boy there's a lot. All three of the Fourth Match Flame users require Wrath, with Ryoshu and Rodya both requiring Pride, and the latter also needing a bit of Envy. Yi Sang, on the other hand, requires Sloth and Gluttony instead.

Strap in lads, I got a lot to analyze.

Wrath is, of course, the most important ingredient to all of this. To be able to use Fourth Match Flame in the first place, one needs the self-rightousness and/or defiance to say that their hopes Do Matter, or that everyone else's Do Not.

Rodya is very clearly applying Wrath in the first way, her actions of lashing out against injustice being perfectly summarized by her murdering the pawnbroker. Defying how the Yurodiviye wanted to change the world, and instead taking the matters into her own hands, trying to make her wishes into reality herself.

Ryoshu is a little bit harder to tell, but I think it might be the latter way. While her current obsession with violence in the from of art could have developed for multiple reasons, it's likely that the despair she felt after losing her daughter was at least one of them. Having lost her own hope, she decided to tear down the delusional hopes of everyone else around her, revealing to them just how cruel and ugly the reality truly is through her art.

Yi Sang's case seems quite interesting to me. I think the fact that his Fourth Match Flame E.G.O requires the most Wrath out of all of them is no coincidence. After All, Yi Sang is the most passive out of these three, and he struggled to properly stand up for himself. However, Canto IV shows us that once Yi Sang's truly had enough, he Has Had Enough. In this way, I think this E.G.O represents Yi Sang's boiling point. The moment his quiet seething at his horrible situation finally drowns out his hopelessness and lets him lash out, if only for a brief moment.

Let's move on to Rodya and Ryoshu's Pride requirement. Pride as a Sin represents actions done purely for their benefits, with their negative consequences being ignored. This I think describes how both Rodya and Ryoshu lash out perfectly.

Rodya's act of murdering the pawnbroker and aligning reality with her hopes is done purely because of the perceived immediate benefit of it. To take the pawnbroker's money, to free her neighbourhood of the pawnbroker's reign. However, in doing so Rodya overlooks the consequences of killing off a member of the Middle's family, leading to even more harm being brought to those she wished to help.

Ryoshu's Pride presents slightly differently, but still is just as obvious. Her art has the main purpose of tearing down the delusional hopes of others and exposing the gruesomeness of reality, something that Ryoshu seems to actively strive for. However, in the process of doing so, Ryoshu neglects to care for the harm she inflicts on the way. She doesn't care how many people she has to hurt or kill in the process, the purpose of her art always outweighs the losses to her.

I think the inclusion of Envy as Rodya's Sin requirement for Fourth Match Flame further helps contextualize her actions. Envy represents actions done in reaction to other people and their actions. Rodya's attempt at aligning reality with her wish for a better life isn't motivated purely by herself, but it's also a reaction to the people around her. It's a reaction to the pawnbroker's selfish greed. It's a reaction to Sonya and the Yurodiviye's apathetic inaction. And of course, it's a reaction to the suffering her neighbours have been going through.

Now, time to look at our special boy Yi Sang, who decided to have two Sin requirements that don't match the rest of the Fourth Match Flame users. For a good reason too, as he stands out as the odd one out in this line up.

Yi Sang's Sloth requirement is easy to understand, with just how much it applies to him. Sloth represents inaction and actions done out of apathy. Sloth is also unique in how it interacts with Wrath, as the inclusion of one will recontextualize the other. In this case, it paints Yi Sang's defiance as somewhat hollow. It gives off the feeling that, despite lashing out, Yi Sang still believes that it won't matter in the end. His actions of tearing things down are still dripping with hopelessness.

Then, there's the Gluttony requirement. The thing with Gluttony is that Limbus provides two equally as important interpretations of it - actions fueled by the neverending wish for More, or actions fueled by the need for Survival. Both of those can be considered to be actions fueled by a form of Hunger.

In the case of Yi Sang, I believe the Hunger driving him is that of Survival. In reality, Yi Sang's act of hopeless defiance is a call for help. His Fourth Match Flame E.G.O represents his will to live trying to lash out at the world around him, trying to scream No, I Want Better Than This! in the face of his hopeless situation.

Just like I don't think it's a coincidence that Yi Sang needs the most Wrath out of everyone to use Fourth Match Flame, I also don't think it's a coincidence that the amount of required Sloth equals the amount of required Gluttony. It represents his constant internal struggle between his hopeless apathy and hopeful will to live.

A battle that Canto IV finally gives us the winner of.

[pm-my-beloved]

Honestly, I'd like to add to that analysis one more potential point in regards to rodias 4th match flame. I feel like her relation to 4th match flame might also be ironic, with her being the match that has burned her neighbourhood. When she was lit with anger towards tax collector and murdered her, and sparks from this event caused the entire finger situation

thoughts on the fourth match flame egos?

Oh baby, a triple. And a LobCorp abno as well! Let's see if I can make this one the longest out of all of them.

Also I got like three asks about this E.G.O so I probably should get to it huh.

Yeets you under the cut.

Alright, let's start by talking about Scorched Girl. This is an Abnormality all the way back from Lobotomy Corporation, and one which reappeared in Library of Ruina. As such, there's some material we gotta sift through. And by we I mean me. I'm the one doing the work here.

As is fitting for an Abnormality based on the fairytale of The Little Match Girl, the main themes of this abno are innocence, abandonment, hope for a better life, and the eventual snuffing out of that hope by life's cruelty.

However, this is where LobCorp twists the tale into something else, as while all of those themes apply to Scorched Girl, there is a major addition that recontextulizes all of the above. The bitter despair that follows when one is crushed, and the want to burn everyone's else's hopes and happiness in a fit of directionless revenge against the world.

While probably not as direct when applied to the Sinners, this theme of lashing out in the face of losing hope seems important enough to keep in mind.

Now, while I don't usually look too deeply into the visual designs of the E.G.Os, as the differences are oftentimes subtle... I feel like I need to do it here, because Fourth Match Flame has this little quirk of being Project Moon's special little Advertisement E.G.O where they gave each Sinner using it a unique design.

Also, not joking when I call this the advertisement E.G.O, almost all (if not actually all) pre-release material that showed previews of E.G.Os was of the Fourth Match Flame E.G.Os.

Let's go in the order that the E.G.Os were unlocked on the Battle Pass, shall we?

When Rodya uses Fourth Match Flame, her outfit turns into what I can best describe as a ballroom dress wreathed in flames, complete with matching tall gloves made of ash. It gives off this idea of opulence, of fancy balls that only the rich are invited to. Applying Scorched Girl's theme of a hope for a better life here, this could signify that this is the kind of life Rodya deeply wishes for. One where money isn't an issue, where she and her neighbours can live comfortably without worrying when their next meal will be.

Yi Sang's Fourth Match Flame puts him in a labcoat, specifically the kind of getup you'd see Ayin in, and if you're past Canto IV, Sang Yi as well. Funny Yi Sang Ayin comparison memes aside, I think Canto IV really helps apply this to the theme of hope for a better life. Because that is the kind of life Yi Sang wishes for. One where he can simply research for no other purpose than the joy it brings him. The fact that his outfit here specifically mimics Sang Yi's, aka the version of himself that Yi Sang views as perfect, further adds to that idea.

Finally, we have Ryoshu, the one we know the least about out of the three, and the one I can tell the least about from her Fourth Match Flame outfit. The best way I can describe it is... that it feels soft. Warm. There's a sort of simplicity to it that gives me nostalgic and innocent vibes, but I can't exactly put it to words why. While we don't have Ryoshu's backstory yet, and thus can't pinpoint what life she's hoping for the way we could for Rodya and Yi Sang, I think those vibes alone paint a certain picture. I think Ryoshu wishes to go back to a time that she associates with warmth and softness.

If we assume that Ryoshu, just like Yoshihide in Hell Screen, had a daughter who had tragically passed... Perhaps that's what her Fourth Match Flame alludes to her wanting to go back to.

Another interesting thing to note about the appearance of the E.G.Os is a notable contrast between the background for Rodya's Fourth Match Flame, compared to that of Yi Sang and Ryoshu. For the latter, the village in the background is already burnt down. It's already smoldering and covered in ash. For Rodya however, it's in the middle of bursting into flames.

Considering how for Scorched Girl the flame on her match signifies her hope, with it running out meaning she no longer has any, I think this detail is important. For Yi Sang and Ryoshu, the source of their hope is already gone. We know Yi Sang's League is already gone, and we can assume that is also the case for Ryoshu's daughter. Rodya, however? She still has hope to fight for. Though many of her neighbors have died, there are likely those who still survived. Those who still need her help. Those who she can share that better life she wishes for with.

Now, let's look at the Sins, genuinely my favorite part of the analysis I think.

All of the Fourth Match Flame E.G.Os are Wrath damage, Wrath being the Sin associated with actions done out of self-rightousness and defiance. It's the sin of deciding things need to change simply because you want them to. This, of course, applies to Scorched Girl on many levels.

The two most important ways Scorched Girl ties back to the concept of Limbus's idea of Wrath are both in its potrayal of hope. The idea of acting on your hope for a better life, to refuse what you currently have because you wish for something better, and the following lashing out at everyone else when that hope is snuffed out, as you believe that nobody deserves happiness if you can't have it.

As for the Sin requirements... Hoo boy there's a lot. All three of the Fourth Match Flame users require Wrath, with Ryoshu and Rodya both requiring Pride, and the latter also needing a bit of Envy. Yi Sang, on the other hand, requires Sloth and Gluttony instead.

Strap in lads, I got a lot to analyze.

Wrath is, of course, the most important ingredient to all of this. To be able to use Fourth Match Flame in the first place, one needs the self-rightousness and/or defiance to say that their hopes Do Matter, or that everyone else's Do Not.

Rodya is very clearly applying Wrath in the first way, her actions of lashing out against injustice being perfectly summarized by her murdering the pawnbroker. Defying how the Yurodiviye wanted to change the world, and instead taking the matters into her own hands, trying to make her wishes into reality herself.

Ryoshu is a little bit harder to tell, but I think it might be the latter way. While her current obsession with violence in the from of art could have developed for multiple reasons, it's likely that the despair she felt after losing her daughter was at least one of them. Having lost her own hope, she decided to tear down the delusional hopes of everyone else around her, revealing to them just how cruel and ugly the reality truly is through her art.

Yi Sang's case seems quite interesting to me. I think the fact that his Fourth Match Flame E.G.O requires the most Wrath out of all of them is no coincidence. After All, Yi Sang is the most passive out of these three, and he struggled to properly stand up for himself. However, Canto IV shows us that once Yi Sang's truly had enough, he Has Had Enough. In this way, I think this E.G.O represents Yi Sang's boiling point. The moment his quiet seething at his horrible situation finally drowns out his hopelessness and lets him lash out, if only for a brief moment.

Let's move on to Rodya and Ryoshu's Pride requirement. Pride as a Sin represents actions done purely for their benefits, with their negative consequences being ignored. This I think describes how both Rodya and Ryoshu lash out perfectly.

Rodya's act of murdering the pawnbroker and aligning reality with her hopes is done purely because of the perceived immediate benefit of it. To take the pawnbroker's money, to free her neighbourhood of the pawnbroker's reign. However, in doing so Rodya overlooks the consequences of killing off a member of the Middle's family, leading to even more harm being brought to those she wished to help.

Ryoshu's Pride presents slightly differently, but still is just as obvious. Her art has the main purpose of tearing down the delusional hopes of others and exposing the gruesomeness of reality, something that Ryoshu seems to actively strive for. However, in the process of doing so, Ryoshu neglects to care for the harm she inflicts on the way. She doesn't care how many people she has to hurt or kill in the process, the purpose of her art always outweighs the losses to her.

I think the inclusion of Envy as Rodya's Sin requirement for Fourth Match Flame further helps contextualize her actions. Envy represents actions done in reaction to other people and their actions. Rodya's attempt at aligning reality with her wish for a better life isn't motivated purely by herself, but it's also a reaction to the people around her. It's a reaction to the pawnbroker's selfish greed. It's a reaction to Sonya and the Yurodiviye's apathetic inaction. And of course, it's a reaction to the suffering her neighbours have been going through.

Now, time to look at our special boy Yi Sang, who decided to have two Sin requirements that don't match the rest of the Fourth Match Flame users. For a good reason too, as he stands out as the odd one out in this line up.

Yi Sang's Sloth requirement is easy to understand, with just how much it applies to him. Sloth represents inaction and actions done out of apathy. Sloth is also unique in how it interacts with Wrath, as the inclusion of one will recontextualize the other. In this case, it paints Yi Sang's defiance as somewhat hollow. It gives off the feeling that, despite lashing out, Yi Sang still believes that it won't matter in the end. His actions of tearing things down are still dripping with hopelessness.

Then, there's the Gluttony requirement. The thing with Gluttony is that Limbus provides two equally as important interpretations of it - actions fueled by the neverending wish for More, or actions fueled by the need for Survival. Both of those can be considered to be actions fueled by a form of Hunger.

In the case of Yi Sang, I believe the Hunger driving him is that of Survival. In reality, Yi Sang's act of hopeless defiance is a call for help. His Fourth Match Flame E.G.O represents his will to live trying to lash out at the world around him, trying to scream No, I Want Better Than This! in the face of his hopeless situation.

Just like I don't think it's a coincidence that Yi Sang needs the most Wrath out of everyone to use Fourth Match Flame, I also don't think it's a coincidence that the amount of required Sloth equals the amount of required Gluttony. It represents his constant internal struggle between his hopeless apathy and hopeful will to live.

A battle that Canto IV finally gives us the winner of.