#limbus meta

[necronatural]

What's Up With Dante's Name Anyway

It's fairly evident from the start Dante's name is not actually Dante. They express superficial "I've kind of heard of it, but idk what that is" reactions to a number of things, but make it clear that "Dante" is completely alien to them. Their own name!

Notable is that the sinners will write/embroider? their own names on their coats.

You can see Rodion uses her nickname, how she would like to be referred. DonQui's as the standard, a little uneven but clear and readable. Yi Sang wrote his in lowercase. Ishmael started writing hers, then before she finished tore the lower half of the coat off, preventing her from finishing her name. Gregor's is distorted; why that is is unclear, but the top 2 options are "he's right-handed and couldn't fix it once the mistake was made" and "he never learned to write to begin with". His profile seems to be the only one that's been typed out, so either way, he physically struggles to write, thus proving these are written by the Sinners personally.

Now look at Dante's.

They've interpreted the name phonetically. It's so alien to them they don't even know it's Italian. This is absolutely not their name.

Now, important to note Dante is a sinner too! They're in the lineup as #10, and they have a subtitle name just like the rest of them, "DURANTE". Durante is the poet Dante Alighieri's full name; "Dante" is a nickname, a term of familiarity.

Coincidentally, while their profile doubles down on "Dante", their jacket in that profile is written with...what's this??

DURANTE. The subtitle name.

Now, the subtitle names (purpose unknown) are also written out on the sinners, also clearly written by the sinner themselves, in their native language. On their weapons! (Mostly; Yi Sang's is on his bag, and as his knife is sheathed and obscured we can't tell if it's on there as well.)

Notable is Outis, of course;

Her subname is just her name. That's because she's based on Odysseus; "Outis" is a pseudonym, the written word's first John Doe.

This makes the reversal a little strange; going by a LC-assigned pseudonym, but your subtitle is your true name? That doesn't sound right. While it's obvious Dante can't go by their real name (their identity is being withheld for a reason, as mysterious as it may be), something is up!

My current theories are

Funniest possible option: They've been provided with a nickname as their alias, which is alien because absolutely no one has ever referred to them by nickname before

Durante is a surname; they would never be referred to as "Dante" because their first name (notably missing from their promo art's coat) is the one that would get a nickname. Notable that Durante is generally a surname nowadays.

Durante is just an alias, just like Outis', but can no longer be used due to the secrecy around Dante's previous identity

Durante is the name of D corporation (D-corp being where Dante was found, and the region that is soon to experience a mass-death-event of around 200,000 people in June of 985), which they are the CEO/Face of

Durante is the name of a specific role within the D Corporation that is self-evidently very high up, possibly tasked with being the interface for their Singularity (their Star?)

[cyborg-squid]

At the end of Canto IV part 2, thought 1: I feel like what may snap Heathcliff out of his Distortion (or at least contribute to it) would be Nelly telling him the truth of the conversation he only partially overheard; where she does profess her love for Heathcliff (albeit talking down of him while doing so):

"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same..." and on the next page "-my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath- a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff -"

She loves Heathcliff, but also wants to possess him, to own him, body and soul, and wants the status that comes with marrying Linton while she's at it, and while you could say that Heathcliff is hardly blameless when it comes to Cathy's death, it is not as much on him as 'Heathcliff?' says it is, and to assume so is plain (if unknowing) selfishness on Heathcliff's part and ignores Cathy's own agency. But all Heathcliffs (LCB, Mirror World, and original book) put Cathy up on so high a pedestal, particularly after their long seperations from her.

Limbus Catherine is definitely up to something (complimentary), Heathcliff Distorting at this point in time, being told and shown that he is solely responsible for both Catherine's happiness and her sorrow, that he is her cause of death, that 'he' must punish 'himself' for being happy (mirroring book!Heathcliff's own acts of revenge and life-ruining), for having these adventures, how could he be doing that when he killed Cathy?! She's binding him tighter to her, I don't think she's alive in the normal sense but she's definitely out there and by pushing Heathcliff to the brink with Distortion and pulling him to her with senses of guilt and responsibility and love and longing, she may be getting what she wants at last, to truly possess Heathcliff, to be one with him, especially evidenced by her text being the exact same color as his.

thought the 2nd: I'm betting part 3 will have Nelly open up whatever is in that big box she's been carrying around, probably some sort of weapon, I'm personally hoping for a pile bunker.

[picaroroboto]

I have to say I love the way Project Moon approaches the theme of sacrifice/self-sacrifice - in LobCorp Carmen's death is sometimes framed as a heroic sacrifice but in many ways it also wasn't, and it brought so much harm to the people around her. Ayin dissapearing into the Light at the end of the game is also treated as heroic except all his efforts are undone by Angela because she doesn't want to sacrifice herself for a world that she was never allowed to be a part of. And in the true ending of Library, Angela would have sacrificed herself to undo everything the Library did if not for Roland chosing to save her. The theme shows up sometimes in Limbus too, like in Canto 5 where Dante declares that they'll never treat the lives of their Sinners as ruthlessly as Ahab sacrifices her crew.

I feel like a lot of works of fiction, maybe thanks to Christianity-influenced culture, tend to venerate heroic self-sacrifice, and maybe that works for some stories, but I love it when other stories look at it without that sort of golden veil and reveal that self-sacrifice is often tragic, unessacery, selfish even though it's done for the sake of others. Sometimes choosing to continue to live in the world is braver and more heroic than sacrificing your life to save it, in my opinion.

[enkephallic]

Limbus Company: Deep Analysis of Sin

So, I decided to take a deeper dive into the different sin types in Limbus Company.

The TLDR Version:

Wrath - Unable to accept something

Lust - Having a strong desire

Sloth - Losing sight

Gluttony - Satisfaction-seeking

Gloom - Controlled by pain

Pride - Contempt of others/selfishness

Envy - Desire to surpass

Regarding the sinners' skills, the sin position is important as well. A S1 sin is a surface-level appearance, but S3 represents something deep inside them.

The detailed explanations are under the cut!

Wrath

Wrath, on the surface level, can present as being irritable or hard to get along with.

Wrath S1 examples

LCB Ishmael, who seems irritable and nitpicky at first.

Seven Heathcliff "Why am I doing this stupid job?"

Hook Office Hong Lu "Don't speak so softly, I'll feel homicidal"

S2 gets closer to how they really feel. The feeling of wrath comes from the feeling of "I can't accept this" - whether it's how they're being treated, how their environment is, etc.

Wrath S2 examples

LCB Heathcliff (past speculation) - Discriminated, mistreated, resenting what's happening to him

LCB Sinclair (past) - I don't want to get prosthetics

W Corp Hong Lu - Bored with his job.

And S3 wrath represents a strong rejection - they won't accept Anything they deem contrary to their own beliefs and ideals. It is a violent refusal.

Wrath S3 examples

N corp identities who are brainwashed - Kill all the dissenters and heretics.

Pequod Ishmael - "It's MY way or the HIGHWAY, god damn it!" (Throws a fit if another ID kills an enemy)

R Corp Ishmael - Hates it to the point she's looking for Singularity information of old R corp

LCB Rodya - I can't accept this armchair revolution and endless poverty. I have to kill this old windbag.

Lust

Lust in this case is a pursuit of something non-physical - a relationship, an ideal, a core element of your self. On the surface level, this can present as really wanting to be something.

Lust S1 Examples

LCB Don Quixote - Wants to become a great Fixer.

W Corp Ryoshu - Wants to be a great artist.

Sous Chef Gregor - Wants to improve his cooking.

S2 is a little stronger than just normal desire. They will willingly hurt other people or trample them to achieve their goal.

Lust S2 Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Uses violence and is callous to those invading his turf

The One Who Grips Faust - Massacres Sinclair's village to get what she wants

LCB Ryoshu - Her idea of beauty ties in with violence

S3 is a little different - It's desiring something so badly on an existential level. It's pretty much what they live for.

Lust S3 Examples

R.B. Chef Ryoshu - Needs to be one of the Eight. Will stop at nothing to achieve this.

N Corp Heathcliff - Not brainwashed, doesn't really want to be. Wants to preserve his "true self".

G Corp Gregor - After an irreversible transformation, fully believes his reason to exist is to be a killing machine.

Interestingly, both LCB Heathcliff and Hong Lu have a Lust S3.

Sloth

Sloth is inaction, watching from the sidelines, not seeing what is in front of you. This can start with just simply being misguided, believing something to be true when it's not.

Sloth S1 Examples

W Corp Don Quixote - "I am working at a Wing!! CHOO CHOO!! Sally forth!!"

LCB Outis - Her piss-poor act of blind acceptance and obedience.

LCB Meursault - It is simply none of my business if Sinclair hyperventilates and vomits on the floor.

S2 sloth is more purposeful, not taking action when one should or purposefully being ignorant of reality.

LCB Faust - Does not tell Dante and the others a lot of information and doesn't stop sinners from running amok.

LCB Hong Lu - Despite being perceptive, does not seem to register bad situations as bad or react to pain appropriately.

G Corp Gregor - This feels wrong but I'll just continue with it anyway.

S3 sloth is a total loss of vision, not being able to see what's important to them. Losing sight of all they used to desire, and doing nothing about it.

Dieci IDs - Lost their memory and doesn't even remember what was most important to them.

K Corp Hong Lu - Doesn't seem to mind his total loss of freedom and autonomy, despite desiring freedom in other IDs.

LCB Yi Sang - Could not care about anything he once loved or aspired to be, until he was able to gain his wings once more.

Blade Lineage Don Quixote - Once used her strength to fight alongside her comrades, but now kills for purely her own sake.

Gluttony

Gluttony is a desire to be satisfied, whether it's something material or psychological. This can present like greed or selfishness at first sight.

S1 Gluttony Examples

LCB Rodya - "I want meat, I want money, I want to gamble!"

LCB Ryoshu - "Let me smoke. Let me do as I please."

Lantern EGO Don Quixote - Curious about the abnormalities and wanting to know more about them

S2 Gluttony is wanting more at a crucial point in their life, or desiring more than they could chew. It could also mean getting hooked into something or addicted.

S2 Gluttony Examples

LCB Ishmael - "I quit my job, I need something that's not labour hellscape... Hm? That hag can sure talk..."

R Corp Heathcliff - Began deriving enjoyment from killing

N Corp Don Quixote - Didn't even need the brainwashing, got hooked onto the N Corp ideology herself

S3 Gluttony seems to be the final stage of seeking what they desire - being satisfied, even when they shouldn't be.

S3 Gluttony Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Seems completely happy and enjoying himself

Seven Heathcliff - Actually learned to like his job

W Corp Hong Lu - Doesn't want praise or a raise, just fine with how things are now

Gloom

Gloom represents pain, and how it affects how the person treats their situation or other people. On the surface level, they may appear melancholic or having given up.

S1 Gloom Examples

LCB Yi Sang, LCB Gregor - Self explanatory.

Rosespanner Meursault - Crushed by work

R Corp Ishmael - Headache, pain, does not like it here

S2 Gloom is a moment of despair, when something in their heart was broken. This may also involve guilt and inflicting pain.

W Corp Don Quixote and most W Corp IDs (Except Hong Lu and Ryoshu) - The shocking reveal of what W Corp really is.

N Corp Heathcliff - "What the hell am I even doing??"

Lobotomy EGO Heathcliff - "All my friends are dead."

S3 Gloom can represent letting their pain affect how they treat others. Lashing out, being insensitive to others' pain, or simply giving up and accepting the hurt as inescapable.

W Corp Yi Sang - Abandoned hopes for freedom, just wants it to hurt a little less

G Corp Outis - Knows she cannot escape the unfair treatment

LCB Ishmael - Lashes out and hurts others because she is deeply hurting, making it more painful for her too

Pride

Pride is the belief that they are different from other people, and so the rules don't apply to them. This can seem as arrogance at first, even if they are not actually like that.

S1 Pride Examples

LCB Sinclair - Rich boy 1

LCB Hong Lu - Rich boy 2

LCB Faust - Doesn't hide that she thinks she's better than everyone else

S2 Pride can contain disdain for other people, and believing they are better than those around them. Therefore, their actions can be excused in their eyes.

S2 Pride Examples

LCB Meursault and LCB Outis - Competent and they know it themselves. Outis thinks of her comrades as dirt and points and laughs when they die.

W Corp Ryoshu - Her art comes from chopping up the dead and deformed passengers, doesn't give a single shit about them

LCB Rodya - Believed she was special enough to make a difference and split the hag's skull.

S3 pride goes a step further - their own desires take precedence over anyone else's. They may even see other people's lives as literally the same as a blade of grass. If they want something, they'll trample everything and anything.

S3 Pride Examples

The One Who Grips Faust - Probably doesn't even give a shit about the grand ideology or her minions. Just did it because she could, and wanted to.

The Middle Little Sister Don Quixote - "I can kill anyone who disrespected my organization!"

LCB Ryoshu - Has the littlest regard for human life.

Envy

Envy can start out with the simple desire to surpass someone, to become better than others. To want more than what other people have.

S1 Envy Examples

Tingtang Gangleader Hong Lu - Began wanting to be stronger, to have more power.

LCB Heathcliff - Rich bastards are annoying, they don't deserve it more than I do

Shi Ishmael - Just wants to survive in a world of dog eat dog

S2 envy is the need to be better than what you once were, to surpass yourself and get something accomplished.

S2 Envy Examples

LCB Yi Sang - Bettered his own craft and created the mirror.

Pequod Members - Lay their past self to rest, and opted to hunt the whale.

R.B. Chef Ryoshu - Wants to make better and better pies

S3 Envy is the result of their desire to surpass - or that they have accomplished something, but with a heavy price.

S3 Envy Examples

W Corp Ryoshu - Extremely powerful, but her sword will suck up her health if she doesn't charge it properly.

R Corp Heathcliff - Gained insane power but lost something important to him in the process.

LCB Sinclair - Was able to avoid getting prosthetics but his whole family dead.

Pequod Heathcliff - Managed to get out of the Middle but is covered in scars he can't erase.

I will continue to write more specific theories, but this is how I feel about the sin affinities right now! I'd love to write about EGO and enemies as well soon.

[sunshades]

Actually really glad the barber's explanation of the craving for blood finally gives clear sense of what the Lust sin affinity is and how it compares to Gluttony, since bleed is associated with the Lust affinity- it's about a fulfillment of the soul rather than the craving for excessive consumption/hoarding/control that Gluttony has. It is also a good adaptation of what the respective sins are like in the divine comedy, where lust is the considered the "lightest" of the sins because it's the that strays the least from the love of god etc etc. The game is also very light in the sexual association I think, so the image it gives is that in limbus Lust of fulfillment is something very close to a desire for happiness and satisfaction, which then makes much more sense for characters with strong associations with the sin (don quixote, ryoshu) than the more common meaning of it as a bodily want. Fuck yeah.

[toriyaki]

My Limbus OC, Darwin. A member of the LCCB whose life's dream is to write her own book on all the monsters and beasties she's encountered while on the job.

Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, Darwin's journal entries are done with a Company Issued Ballpoint Pen™ inside a Company Issued Composition Notebook™.

Darwin's abno entries will be tagged "Darwin's Notes" on my blog :3c (Keep in mind, I originally made these notes and guides for my friends who recently got into Limbus. They are by no means a meta guide, and are only based off my own personal experiences with these abnos as well as the tactics I personally found to be effective when dealing with them. Don't cancel me for any mistakes I made pls thanks ;w;)

[aabluedragon]

The changing of sides on Sancho’s Armadura is deliberate.*

*This is an ID that does not supplant any existing character in the Canto like Spicebush Yi Sang or Captain Ishmael did. As Sancho likely existed in this mirror world as she did in ours before the construction of La Manchaland, I will make the assumption that her Armadura had sat on her left shoulder during that time for the purpose of this discussion.

In previous posts, I became mentally ill over which hand Don Quixote/Sancho holds her weapon in and how her costuming reflects her current priorities, held desires, and mental state. There, I examined her Armadura being on her left shoulder despite her apparent left-hand dominance as Don Quixote as a matter of knight imagery and style over visual field. After all, many suits of plate armor feature a larger, more thickly armored pauldron upon the shield (or non-dominant) arm, allowing the sword arm to swing unimpeded. Given the explanation of Captain Ishmael’s harpoon leg being on the opposite side of Ahab’s as a quirk of being mirrored, I was willing to set my initial theory until more footage was released of Manager Sancho.

That time is now.

Why would Sancho decide to move her Armadura from her left shoulder to her right? Seeing that she is gripping her spear in a left-hand dominant two-handed grip, I believe she’s made this change for two main reasons.

To fight at her absolute best while facing her Father Don Quixote in mortal combat. Against humans and other Kindred, Sancho has confidence enough in her martial superiority to have her vision blocked by her Armadura when fencing one-handed or to use her right hand for visual clarity instead. In other words, nobody else warrants Sancho bothering to prepare for a battle to her death.

To shield herself from the sight of the cardinal sin she is about to commit. Sancho is holding her lance in the left hand, allowing it to cross over her body so that her right hand grips higher on the shaft. This position puts the Armadura on her right shoulder directly across her line of sight, as if she were raising her shield to charge an enemy. Sancho, in all her devotion, was — is — the First Kindred Don Quixote’s most loyal Kindred. Despite her misgivings about the longevity of La Manchaland and the capability of a Bloodfiend to surpass bloodthirst, she placed all her attention and efforts on accomplishing this dream. So much so, that in a different world, she was willing to believe that her work would hold as she left on a journey with Don Quixote. Not here. Not when the distance between her and her Family, not just Don Quixote, has become so small. Where she failed to show her love to Dulcinea, Nicolina, and Curiambro in another world, her mirror self remains at their sides with unblinking devotion, forced to watch as her Family withers and starves. Love is the hand that guides her weapon towards Don Quixote’s enemies. Love is the final straw that raises her lance against Don Quixote’s festering dream. Allow her this one mercy, to shield her from the betrayal in her Father’s eyes.

In our world, Sancho was not allowed to stay by her Father’s side and potentially sacrifice her life to defend his dream. That dream that eventually became her own as she lived amongst humans on their travels. Instead, she chose to sacrifice her self and her memories to Oblivion to pursue his dream in his stead. That is her duty as his Second Kindred.

Here, despite staying in La Manchaland to fight for her Family, Sancho is once again sacrificing herself in the name of duty. She is Sancho, Don Quixote’s most loyal and illustrious Kindred. She is the Second Kindred, responsible for the life and happiness of all Kindred of La Manchaland. She will face their Father Don Quixote’s wrath in their stead.

[offshore-brinicle]

You know, despite the fact that the Tearful Thing's storyline is often overlooked in analysis of Canto IV I feel like it's actually very significant that Yi Sang and the Tearful Thing are actually paralels in a lot of ways. It all started with them making a simple wish to share happiness with others, and that wish led them to knowledge or power that would eventually be exploited.

Think about Yi Sang's situation in N Corp where, much like the Tearful Thing, he's kept locked away and dehumanized, being "harvested" for the mirror and forbidden from interacting with others while being intentionally kept in a state of perpetual misery while the other workers at N Corp altered what he produced in that isolation for their own gain without any interest on where what they are handling truly originated and with what purpose it came to be, exactly like how the Tearful Thing is treated by K Corp researchers.

The fact that his final monologue CG happens in front of the vat, with the screens that were used to overwhelm the Tearful Thing with sadness and despair so that it would keep crying and producing more material for K Corp, now showing Yi Sang's own memories of regret and sadness and despair instead feels extremely deliberate. Not to mention the fact that his EGO is called "Crow's Eye View"

[lesbianredhoodedmercenary]

happy father's day i'm thinking about this outis line again

I always thought it was a bit out of pocket considering this isn't too long after the events of Canto III, even with how Outis was being harsher this Canto.

But I then I remembered that Outis' son is the same age as Sinclair.

Her son, who thinks that she died in the Smoke War (the in universe equivalent to the Trojan War as depicted in the Iliad and the Odyssey) because she hasn't been home in years. Her son who cannot cry out to her. And her son, who is currently in much the same position as Sinclair regarding his self-perception and ability to fight, as Telemachus refers to himself as "a weakling knowing nothing of valor" (Book 2 of the Odyssey, line number and exact wording depend on translation).

I think this line reflects more on Outis and her anxieties about her family thinking that she's dead, as well as a reference to Telemachus experiencing his own journey to manhood, much like Sinclair.

I think there's also things to be said for the parallels between Sinclair and Telemachus, even just the ones imagined by Outis. Hell's Chicken had her showing a very paternal worry over his diet (raise your hand if your dad has ever said you'll be short forever if you don't eat right). Overall, even though Sinclair and Telemachus only share the bones of a coming of age narrative, Outis is seeing connections there because she misses her family.

As with this one. Again, she's showing her hand more than she means to. Though she's talking to Dongrang, I think she's also talking to herself. Trying to reassure herself that home will always be waiting. Dongrang, however, decides not to return, but to pursue glory no matter who he hurts in the process. The Odyssey also contrasts the pursuit of glory with the desire to return home. Odysseus has to choose humility in order to return.

Outis has been keeping up a careful persona around us, but it's slipping. Her desire to return home is seeping through even as she tries to assert herself by clinging to the glory from a war that's long since ended.

[fengchikelp]

please i want her e.g.o so bad please please

[smokewars]

im just saying i think its interesting that despite how ultimately bleak, selfish and cruel the city and its residents are - its still extremely common for people (mainly fixers) to work together. and yeah i know its because there's strength in numbers, but at the same time a lot of those people get attached to others in the offices or syndicates they work in. they celebrate together, go drinking together and some of them even fall in love with each other. despite everything, there's still love and companionship to be found in that hellish world

[necronatural]

Limbus Company theory

Okay, I have absolutely no idea if anyone's noted this yet. Did anyone pick up that the Sinners are held down by a Sin, represented in their EGO, and their Canto are about their struggles against another sin entirely. The branch creates a space for 'penance'. When Rodya entered the field of effect of the branch, Baba Yaga went crazy, freezing the entire mine. There's clearly some paralleling at work here.

So let's go through.

Gregor, Canto 1: Sloth V Gluttony (survival); note that this expedition failed, and we later explore Sloth with Yi Sang

Rodion, Canto 2: Pride V Gloom; note that Rodya refused to actualize

Sinclair, Canto 3: Gluttony (Greed) V Lust

Yi Sang, Canto 4: Sloth V Gluttony (greed); Dante's resonance begins

Ishmael, Canto 5: Gloom V Envy; Dante's resonance progresses

When we look at the dominant sins of the remainder...

Heathcliff, Canto 6: Envy...

Don Quixote, Canto 7: Lust…

Hong Lu, Canto 8: Gloom…

Ryoshu, Canto 9: Wrath…

Meursault, Canto 10: Pride…

Outis, Canto 11: Pride…

Faust, Canto 12: Pride…

Dante, Canto ?: ????

Sins not confronted yet: Sloth, Pride, Wrath

Sinner sins left to explore: Envy, Wrath, Lust (If we're talking strictly what progressed Dante's clock, Gluttony & Pride)

Assuming Dante's doomsday clock setting is moving in 5 minute intervals, Dante currently has 2 positions left on their clock; 5 minutes to midnight and midnight itself. It's made almost explicit that their resonance with sinners is the tool with which they resonate with the branches. By obtaining each sin, they're building to some sort of complete whole.

Predictions based on this theory; Pride being so back-heavy probably means we're going to scramble for branches with Hermann. It gives the impression that for whatever reason Pride is necessary, which is interesting.

My own theory: Rodya says she'll settle in the cold [Gloom] for a little longer, and Sonya says she doesn't have the mark. I'd say this might mean Rodya hasn't sufficiently resonated. Sonya may have tried to bait her in hopes of getting better results in this regard.

This may mean ...

The last few Cantos will be a losing streak (LOL)

Someone who hasn't cleansed themselves of their opposing sin/formed the mark of cain will get the branch; I'd imagine this person shares sins with Dante, Vergilius, or Charon, who I believe are probably Envy, Wrath, and Lust respectively (OOP @ WHO WE'RE MISSING ⬆️)

In that respect Vergilius V Sloth, Charon V Pride, Dante V Wrath. I even think the wrath Dante is opposed to could be Vergilius

Very notable there's only 3 sins missing; it could be possible we already have Dante's branch; they were very obviously part of the group of Cain Marked, and again, their clock started at 25-to-midnight and just kind of sat there for a little while. It's also possible it didn't move until Yi Sang because their sin was Gluttony (ambiguous manifestation)? If Hermann also represents Lust ..... Think about it

Rodya's refusal of the call of Cain might become plot-relevant, just as our failure to observe what happened to Gregor on the myth arc timeline of 3 years ago and relationship with the Big Bad makes it obvious he's going to be a core character in the future. We can tell based on those who have the mark of Cain that he just doesn't have the chops, so mayhaps their mutual exclusion will be a surprise tool that will help us later.

And of course, my theories for the sins that weigh down our remaining Sinners: Heathcliff V Sloth, Don Quixote V Wrath, and Ryoshu V Pride. I predict all the Prides share Rodya's opposing force, which is Gloom; we see this in the books these characters are based on, with Meursault's despair of being sentenced to death being overcome by his Pride, Outis putting herself through grueling trials for the sake of returning to her family, and Faust beginning with suicidal depression leading to her pride creating(summoning) Mephistopheles.

I think it would be pretty funny if Dante was Gretchen's evil baby. Or that Gretchen might have been their previous self, manipulated into giving birth to Dante (extremely vulnerable and exploitable state), which they will be disgusted by and put to death. How many representations of the Divine Feminine in classic literature can Dante represent any% speedrun

[cyborg-squid]

Slept and reflected on my Canto 7 thoughts some more and stumbled some themes regarding the original Don Quixote and the themes of parent and child they have with Sancho and the Family; this was sparked by DQs panic effect which was something like 'Duty/Responsibility to the Family' (can't find the exact text).

And, while this might not be something I personally agree with, there's this idea and trope that parents, when they have a family, have to give up some of their hobbies or aspirations or the like; we can see that, by the end of DQs story, he has accepted that he has to give up his heroic dreams in order to take care of his Family, believing now that the two can no longer coexist. And knowing, rather accurately, that it was his dream that put his Family in this position to begin with; at the start, his Family didn't really believe in his dreams of human and Bloodfiend coexistence and heroic Fixers, but they were willing to go along with it because they love their Father.

It's a little painful to type this, but the assessment of his dream as being naive is pretty accurate, at least in it's manifestation via La Manchaland, because while he has been able to maintain strong self-discipline in refusing to drink from humans, his Children didn't have that same quality and didn't fully know what they were getting into with being a part of La Manchaland, and the deprivation they would end up being subjected to, all for a cause and dream they didn't truly believe. It's no surprise, then, that they ended up breaking. The Children, even though they're not being forced per se, go along with it in order to make their Father happy, without fully knowing what it would entail.

And by the time of the final boss fight, DQ knows this, sees the suffering his childish dream has wrought upon his family, and is now ready to bear the responsibility of taking care of them, as well as the responsibility for their sins, which (in his eyes) means the final abandonment of his long held dream. Our Don Quixote has most often been depicted as a childish one, but it is La Manchaland's Don Quixote that now has an arc depicting a reaching of maturity, albeit a stunted sort. Like I said earlier, the idea that being a parent, starting a family, means letting go of your past dreams...

...but he really didn't need to. Because DQ's dream of peace, tomorrow, and of Fixers, which he first inherited from Bari, were successfully passed on to Sancho, even if she didn't recognize it at first. It's not something that grew naturally in her, it seems, as she ended up being the more 'realist' one than DQ in the past (in the present Canto these positions are reversed), but they're present nonetheless, and that belief is stronger in her than it is in others of the Family, likely because she was the one with a stronger bond to their Father Don Quixote, as well as becoming closer to Bari, the originator of said dream.

Because with Sancho, the belief in the dream isn't innate or 'natural' to her, we see that the world of the City is not an easy place for dreams of peace and justice to exist in, but she believes in and loves her Father (and dear friend Bari), who believed in that dream, and thus she will continue on that adventure in his stead. Because there is also this idea of parents living vicariously through their children, or children carrying on the legacy of their parents. La Manchaland's Don Quixote, as shackled, by duty and responsibility, to the past as he now is, is unable to move forward as he once could, but Sancho, our Don Quixote, is still able to, thanks in large part to the gifts and dreams he gave her (as well as the aid of the Sinners, in helping her realize that the dream is not yet ended), and will now move forward in his stead.

[picaroroboto]

in book Wuthering Heights almost everyone is against Heathcliff from the moment he's adopted into the Earnshaw family, insisting that he's "of the devil" because he has darker skin and that him being quiet and sullen is further proof of being evil by nature. When he's mistreated and abused by people who are convinced that he's awful it becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy when he grows up into a mean and spiteful person, like how you can't be surprised when a kicked dog bites back. The novel is sympathetic to him at times, but it's also told from the perspective of an older Nelly who's grown to hate him as he's gotten worse, and it's also very Victorian, from a time period where it was believed that being in poverty was a sign of moral failing. If you read it in modern times you end up looking at it with knowledge of how cycles of abuse work, and see Heathcliff's character from a sort of nature vs nurture angle. The Limbus version of Heathcliff is basically plucked from the midpoint of the novel before this transformation is complete, his character is in thematic dialogue with that of the original.

In Canto 6 all of the antagonists - Linton, Hindley, Nelly, and the Erlking - all criticize Heathcliff by telling him in different ways that he hasn't changed at all, that he is incapable of changing, that he is and always will be a wretch. The abuse has seeped into the extreme of the Erlking's absolute self-destructiveness, where he's convinced that it would be better if every Heathcliff didn't exist. But he has changed, or at least started to, even the fact that he's returned to Wuthering Heights to confront his past and continues moving forward past everyone trying to tear him down counts for something. At the risk of sounding too sappy our Heathcliff has got something that the book version and seemingly every other Mirror World version doesn't, and that's friends - friends whom he can count on to bring him back when he's out of control, and who are still holding out hope for him.

Canto 6 is also the work of someone who very clearly read and loved the novel looking at the text and asking "Could anything change?". Say, if Heathcliff had stuck around eavesdropping for one second more to that one conversation and heard Cathy saying how much she loved him - well, I suppose things would have turned out better but there wouldn't have been a second half of the story then, but you want to ask this question anyways because you care about the characters. In some ways Canto 6 like a very good fanfiction and not just because it's a secondary work, but because it's striving for a better outcome for the pairing while also having a strong understanding and appreciation for the original, carrying through it's ideas, imagery, and themes while also looking at them differently. And because it takes the concept of AUs seriously.

[enkephallic]

Hong Lu's Eye and Gloom

There's a few things Dieci Hong Lu, Liu Hong Lu and Yurodivy Hong Lu have in common - they all possess a gloom skill. And after their third skill, there's a shiny sound effect along with his eye sparkling.

Here are the examples of what I'm talking about:

Surely it can't be a coincidence. But what does this even mean? My theory is as follows:

Hong Lu's eye functions like the moonstones woven into Liu Association's clothes. Library of Ruina reveals that these outfits are great for dealing with distortions, as they enable the wearer to wall off psychological distress and mental harm.

Perhaps he was born with this, or it was fitted onto him at a young age. But if his eye really enabled him to shut off his emotions, it's possible this was used by his family for their own gain. It would also explain the way he's seemingly indifferent to murder and pain.

[korroshiame]

Limbus Company Canto VII Part 2 spoilers ahead!!

Me: “Oh, wow. After they did the entire Clear All Cathy thing, I wonder how are they gonna foreshadow Don’s Canto. Hopefully, it wasn’t directly in our faces the entire time-“

… On the bright side, we finally know what happened to Sancho. Yes, I know her EGO is T3, I will rectify that error real quick.