#lobotomy corp ramblings

[cent-scratchnsniff]

i was rereading the story dialog for the sephirah while ago (upper layer so far considering i have a doc to contain all of my ramblings and thoughts once looking it over and getting actual lines to be able to know exactly what was said to base my feelings off of rather than the pure unfiltered pain or i suppose somewhat shock at first and those garbled memories of what happened) and after reading tiphereth's and then going to netzach's again it's just.

imagine you have to see what is deemed your other half, the person keeping you sane, your only companion you actually love and like, your literal ‘twin’ have to get crushed but some bum that never does his job and can easily be seen as 'not meeting standards' does get the same treatment at all when your own brother had been destroyed for less like spiraling into some dangerous stains of thoughts (thought be fair he did end up not as respondent and at that point already had what i'll inadequately describe as 'memory leakage' . But from the general idea of the side of tiphereth). he'll be more better than that drug addict ever will be in her eyes, someone who can't even do a report on time and even then is half assed to where at that point they'd just do it themself in the first place. he'll be way better, someone who is quite literally her family. yet why is her brother the only one that needs to suffer through that constant degradation of the soul? the constant wiping of the self? the memories made and lost? why the hell is someone that should deserve it in her eyes, someone so unmotivated and lazy, someone who she deems as a person not able to do a single thing right, not having that happen to them? why is it the person she loves so dearly, so close to her that she wishes would've stayed instead of some now hollow husk and imitation of imprinted memories when that hasn't happened to Any One Else? why does she have to go through all of that, having to see someone that she used to know and adore turn into a hollow husk and imitation of what once was - having to feel as if shes already looking at a walking corpse with memories shoved inside - just for someone like Netzach to not end up crushed to pieces.

[psychology-department]

trans protagonist theory and ayin lobcorp- a small character analysis

(lobcorp spoilers + slight ruina/leviathan spoilers under the cut)

A couple nights ago, I saw this tumblr post by @/somekindofsentience which coined a term called trans [protagonist] theory, regarding the changing of narrative roles of main characters. It comes in two flavors, PtA, and its inverse, AtP.

PtA (protag to antag) can happen in several ways, one of which is to discover something about yourself that likens you to evil, or starting with a goal and just getting more and more unreasonable with it. knowing that what they are doing can be considered "evil" or morally reprehensible in their universe.

PtA is a trope often not done well because they're usually just protags painted to be sympathetic and/or naive antiheroes/antags. Occasionally, while following them on their goals, and feeling what they feeling downplays villainous traits, can't say i'm not guilty of writing that, bc i am an author, and authors are imperfect.

AtP (antag to protag) also usually involves a change in mindset and understanding of self to railroad them into different perspectives, and sometimes go hand in hand in replacing each other's role they 'transitioned from' (or not depending on narrative).

Ayin and PtA

In Greek tales, the hero is tragic, with a flaw that ends up costing everything, driving them to become an antagonist in their stories. It usually serves as a moral lesson in how one trait considered “villainous” can end up causing destruction and death on a large scale. The morally gray nature of humanity can cause debate on what's “good” or “evil,” or whether or not one leads to another, blurs, or overlaps.

The story of A’s ideals goes from being shown as just wanting to continue a shared ideal to day 48, where it is revealed that for this entire time, he was only doing it for the sake of making it up to Carmen, and Carmen only.

Ayin can be said to be an example of a greek tragic hero. He is too stubborn and dedicated to his goal, he didn’t stop to look back on all the death and destruction caused by him following Carmen’s dream in his way, and though he (briefly) considered these consequences, he still continued to trudge on in spite of these traits made to be flaws. He knew, even by a little, that what he was about to do was going to make him seem bad, but went on.

His viewpoint of the world and himself did not change after everything, but stayed the same (sacrifices are necessary), and it’s not because it stayed the same that was most of the problem. it was his actions.

His actions, which at first seem like just accidental neglect, add up to a list of infractions of letting those he cared about the most along with many innocent lives die, injured, or neglected. It is the journey that he takes which makes his reasoning more and more unreasonable to the viewer, the more you go into the game.

The reason why Ayin is such a good PtA (assuming you played the games in order) is not only because you get to sympathize with what he did, Project Moon also made sure that his morally reprehensible traits aren't downplayed, with Angela's narrative in LoR. It avoids the naive protagonist trope, while also being somewhat sympathetic.

Ayin and AtP

One thing I did not mention about AtP earlier is that characters could also be their own antagonist to protagonist, seeking to atone for their previous actions. Ayin feels extremely guilty over the things that he did, and wants to free himself from the guilt after all is done.

…and so, as The Manager, he does. He manages the Sefirot and helps them calm down from their suppressions, making both parties learn lessons from each other and slowly but steadily changing his role in the story to be more aligned with the protagonist.

I believe that throughout the loops, he slowly changes from just wanting to make it up to carmen, to making it up to others, even if those attempts were not successful. (such as with Angela, which he had forgotten about. I believe there’s no do-over for things like that.)

Even in the light, he continues to try and help the people realize and (indiscriminately) continue their goals without giving into despair with EGO, still trying to make things up to others. He apologizes to Angela up there, too.

His goals are still the same (SoL), but his understanding of everything changes, which leads him down the AtP pipeline of trying to learn his lessons through the Sefirot learning theirs, and to do better. If given enough time for character development, who knows what else he would have done to further this path of redemption.

Ayin, the antagonist, perpetuates a cycle of suffering of death, neglect and suffering. By playing Lobcorp, Ayin tries to that very cycle that he put everyone and himself through with his own hands. He is the start of the conflict, but also the end of the conflict. He is a PtA, but also an AtP, even if his attempts at redemption are only partially successful. This complexity is, in my opinion, what makes him such a well-written character.

[wolffuwu]

hokma wants to fuck ayin so bad /silly

[readingsfrommars]

A Hero in a City Full of Giants, Part 2

Alright, I've done Shi Association and Blade Lineage, now it's time for Lobotomy Corp and W Corp! These two will probably be relatively brief (they were not), but if you know the context, it won't come as a surprise.

After this will be Don's Middle and N Corp IDs!

Oh, Lobotomy Corp Don. You silly thing, you. I will say, on a completely unrelated note, it's cool to see how abnormalities look without the cognition filter active.

The Walpurgis night IDs feel slightly less "canon" than the others, to me, although that's more of an opinion thing. I'd be happy to explain why if asked.

Anyway, the fact that Don received a Lobotomy Corporation ID instead of one of the Library of Ruina ones is interesting here, as we know this specifically is the Lob Corp facility we play through in the game. So, we get the benefit of knowing a bit more context toward her working situation, although to be perfectly honest, the only thing that actually matters is the knowledge of her assigned abnormality, O-04-84, or Meat Lantern.

For those who don't know, Meat Lantern can be a rather frustrating abnormality to work with. First of all, it doesn't like if a work session with it ends too early, and is a fairly common escapee when shit hits the fan. Now, if it were any other abnormality this would be fairly manageable, it's just a matter of suppressing it and that's that, but Meat Lantern is a special case.

Firstly, you will not be notified that Meat Lantern has breached containment. Secondly, once you do realise, you will notice that it isn't roaming the facility. Instead, it has teleported somewhere in the facility and is waiting with its lantern sprouted out of the ground like a flower. If someone walks over the flower, they are killed instantly. You will need to find it before it kills too many people, or, worse, kills one of your important agents. It is a deceptively lethal abno with the right circumstances.

So why did I take the time to explain all of this? Well, if you were someone who, for example, aspired to be a hero that helped the weak and were given the responsibility of dealing with an abnormality that when left to its own devices can kill dozens of employees without being noticed, you would probably place a lot of importance on making sure it didn't do exactly that.

Lob Corp Don has a different way of seeing things, comparing it more akin to a game of Hide and Seek and punishing it for the "mischief" of killing multiple people by smacking its backside before placing it back in containment.

While, Don has always been an oddball case, this feels... strange to me. The most likely cause of this in my eyes is the armour she's wearing. As we have been shown through a number of different stories in Project Moon's catalogue, wearing E.G.O is not without its side-effects upon one's psyche. Obviously there is also the working conditions, as multiple instances within Lob Corp show that the body count is very high in that place (Lookin at you, Queen of Hatred). The way that it appears to have affected Don's mind is that she appears to have a great deal of affection towards the abnormalities, calling Meat Lantern (which outright eats people) cute and struggling to punish it for, again, eating people.

Suffice it to say, Lobotomy Corporation Don Quixote is no hero, although she has a commendable work ethic at least.

W Corp Don is a prime example of the speed at which The City can and will bring Don to ruin.

If you know how WARP trains work, you know why I don't need to explain much here. If you don't...

WARP trains are a form of near-instantaneous public transit, which is all well and good until you remember how time works when moving at or close to the speed of light. If you are not in first class seating, you will discover a few things.

Firstly, the train does not, in fact reach its destination instantly. Initially, people on the train may think this is the result of some sort of breakdown, and that, once the train is fixed, they will be able to get out at their desired stop soon.

Secondly, you do not need to eat or drink while on the train. This is not immediately apparent to the passengers, but when minutes becomes hours and the train still hasn't reached its destination, this will eventually be noticeable.

Eventually, hours will become days, weeks, then months. People will begin to panic, some may become violent, and if you are unlucky enough to see someone go past the point of no return, you will learn the final, terrible truth of WARP trains.

You cannot die within a WARP train. No matter what happens to you, you will still be conscious. You are forced to experience the full journey, even after a hundred years and you've watched countless people, who were once strangers, but have become life-long friends in the countless years since. Even after three thousand years, when you have long since forgotten your name, language, and what you were when you got onto the train. You will live through it all.

At your destination, a functionally identical reconstruction of you will leave the train at its destination, completely unaware of the eternity they experienced behind them.

This one does not need much explanation, although I will happily point out one very interesting detail about the ID story.

W Corp Don's ID story does not show her Uptie 3 art at all. All we see after her initial ID art is a black screen as it describes that Don's reaction of disgust and horror is the same reaction anyone has upon learning the truth of the trains.

Instead, the Uptie 3 art gives us the aftermath.

It shows us what the revelation has turned Don into.

Do you see a hero here? Because if you ask me, I don't think the word "hero" will appear in W Corp Don's thoughts ever again after this point.

[ferronite]

Quick(ish) doodles of some more of my nuggets :)

...I think the quality got tanked. Damn.

[toxicglitch]

Mind electric chonny jash version had my brain

So captain gets drawing privileges.

Heart soul and mind

These are sorta more literal in a sense??

Captains' hearts not exactly anywhere near where captain is, it's still in a much softer period of his life where he couldn't help but care about others, he couldn't help but want to help anyone he could, he couldn't help the overwhelming urge to be nice to everyone he met. It still hurts him every time. Every time he gets close to someone, and he loses them all over again, no matter how many times he's been in the loop. his mind is generally against the idea of getting close to ANYONE. usually ends up hurting them so they rather not do such things. yet they do still. It thinks against friendship, tying bonds and such. It's not like it can stop it from happening though. While the soul is numb. numb to it all. It could not bring itself to care. it could not bring itself to think. it cannot bring itself to even exist. it is just a hollow shell. it rather live without the heart and mind. but to survive you need both right? I loved my fucked-up boy. I love this creature. The cup. [captain]

[ewitsrin]

info dumps about my fucked up, cringe lobcorp sona cutely (below the cut)

Ozzia thinks that they've got the whole aleph pretending to be human thing down well because it's clearly doing better than Nothing There, but in all actuality, while he can mimic humans and their behavior very well, she probably wouldn't fare well outside of the corporation without assistance. She struggles to understand human boundaries and that some of the things she does aren't exactly good for most people. (ex: dragging people into the void for fun and then letting them out a little while later, or teleporting a dangerous abnormality out just to prove a point) While the things she does usually results in no harm to the other individuals, they can still be quite upsetting. She doesn't really get why others get upset at him when he does something "silly", like teleporting a singular bean into a man's kidney. Furthermore, she doesn't understand why those who are aware of her being an Abnormality are so wary and uneasy around her. They consider themselves to be on equal footing alongside of her fellow agents, even if she isn't human in the slightest outside of appearance. When others express fear or disdain towards him, he doesn't know how to react and just...shuts down. It likes to think that it's just like everyone else, and that it's doing a good job, but the difference is striking to everyone who knows what he is. Their pressence is cold and offputting, even if they're happily smiling and chattering like any other person. He wants to be liked and cared about verrrrry badly, and it's quite obvious that he's desperate to just be a normal human being. He just...can't be, because he isn't.

[hijackmac]

ALSO!! Some of my buds on friendcorp saw me talk abt this before but I might as well mention this here;;

Jose is HEAVILY corroded, like oh wee oh jeez oh ouchie!!! So you know how technically when someone is corroded they hear the whispers of the abnormality from said gear they're wearing? Jose is buddies with Army In Pink/Black in the first place, only thing is he frequently hears either of them talking to him in his mind. Whether that'd be AiP going on about how to make people less stressed and care for them, or AiB literally telling Jose to absolutely throw somebody over. Sometimes you can see him just looking around even when being in a conversation as if there's someone else in the room- That'd very likely be him hearing either AiP or AiB talking to him.

<< MORE SILLY RAMBLES UNDER CUT !!

Most of the time it depends on his mood on which one would speak! But also thanks to corrosion- If Jose is in a bad mood growing to be a terrible mood the overall brightness of all the colors across his body (including gear or whatever clothing he's wearing) will begin to dull in color to where if nothing is done about it- He will eventually just turn completely black and white, ending up having fully void eyes. At this point its where AiB takes control most of his actions, which can lead to outbursts of a good amount of negative emotions that the usual way of 'beating the sense back into em' taught in the Corporation won't work with him. And just lead to even worse outbursts.. (Mind you this man is also an ex-fixer who was an near urban legend in the backstreets, if you're not wearing good enough gear he's probably going to make your spine and femur switch places).

BUT THAT'S JUST A ITTY BITTY PORTION OF A GOOD AMOUNT OF IT!!! I REALLY LIKE DOING THESE SILLY RAMBLES AS IT HELPS ME GET SOME INFO DOWN HEHEHEHE :]]]

[nezumithewriter]

Lobotomy corp au!!!

lobotomy corp au my beloved

i had this idea on a whim after listening to the neutral theme for the game too much, and then I was looking at pinkberry art and ahad a brainblast

basically in this au most of the bmc cast works at L Corp, a wing of the city that provides power by harvesting energy from nightmares beyond human comprehension.

Chloe, Michael, Jeremy, Jenna, and Brooke all work at L Corp, with Rich and Jake becoming later employees in the au

Chloe's been here the longest alongside Brooke, and is the head of the Training Team. She has beef with several abnormalities in the facility except for one (take a guess) and is one of the highest leveled agents. She was put in charge of training new agents, despite her hating the job and her passive aggressive personality.

she's one of the only people i've drawn art of. She's wearing the E.G.O. Suit for Faint Aroma, her usual outfit.

Jenna is an agent that was hired after Chloe, but knows almost everything about the abnormalities. She helps Chloe with training, telling the newbies about all of the ways they could die. She's a part of the Training team but often is moved to Information.

Michael and Jeremy are both new agents to L Corp, expecting normal energy work and not horrors beyond their imagination. Michael is better at suppressing abnormalities than Jeremy is. Together they're both useful when doing work or otherwise. It sucks that both of them happen to always end up fighting eachother during the timeloop because of some abnormality effects (The Singing Machine, Melting Love, Queen Bee, Parasite Tree, etc)

As for Brooke? Well, during a mass breach she died, but she was found by another abnormality.

She's happier now.

(her body is kept in Alriune's containment chamber. Chloe constantly visits for attachment work. Chloe found Brooke's old cardigan and put it on her.)

[eggonthemoon]

Current dilemma:

- Ran out of content in Limbus

- Wants to start playing Ruina again (never finished it)

- But I hesitate because I still haven’t finished Lob Corp either

- Wants to finish Lob Corp

- Remembers the torture that is managing that hell hole

- Goes back to playing Limbus

REPEAT

[unma]

Huh? What do you mean 'my children'? WHO'S NARRATING THIS???

[cent-scratchnsniff]

snow queen observation level 4

[ashendalia]

I HATE THIS GALAXY CHILD

[tariah23]

Already made a steam account ahh

[golexusu]

Idk why I think having creatures like Mahoraga from JJK or Nothing There from Lobotomy Corporation would be kinda cool and silly to have as friends to me. Like I wake up tomorrow and I have to bake a cake with my best buddy Maho and we're going to eat it with Mountain of Smiling Bodies

Idk if there's something wrong with me or not

[hazardsofspikesandnevadeans]

Which of my favorite analog horror series are you?

Gemni Home Entertainment

You got some good taste, you probably had a bit of an SCP phase at one point and you seem like an animal lover