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melliae · 3 months ago

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Refraction Railway Line #2 Abnormalities Part 2 (Analysis)

In Order to Survive

“We must sometimes become selfish things, full of animosity if it means our survival. Sometimes, we make others suffer so that we may not.” - Dante, Station #6: Exploitation, Refraction Railway Line 2.

In the same vein as King in Binds, Shock Centipede is an Abnormality that bares its meaning openly. It’s not a secret about how the Centipede represents the brutality of living, about how you sometimes have to make other people suffer to get what you want. The sections of Canto IV’s final dungeon previous to its fight make it clearer, showing how Dongrang sold the League of Nine, and how K Corp. (and Alfonso in particular) decided the new protocol for tears’ production.

However, while presenting such a reality as a tragedy, the MD encounter implies it’s necessary at some level, because causing the Abnormality pain is the only way to produce vital items such as a battery that powers mundane activities and electronics (that’s, a standard-duty battery), or an automated electronic defibrillator without apparent limits. Yet, it also tells us that just because the results are useful, the process doesn’t stop from being fundamentally evil in the end, and that we shouldn’t abuse it unless you want the Centipede—the victim—to do more than merely bite your ass. They, too, want to live.

Now, I obviously can’t answer that ethical problem. You are free to make whatever choice you want, but keep in mind to not deny the evil you are committing in case you decide to “push the button”, because the Centipede is keenly aware of it.

But moving from Shock Centipede’s meaning into its overall nature and attitude (because I really don’t want to end things too soon), it’s impossible for me to not compare it with two Abnormalities of the Railway that I previously analyzed: Drifting Fox, and STNOWC.

Beginning with the Fox, the first thing that should catch your attention is that they share two out of three Sin affinities, those being Gloom (in the normal encounters; not so much in RR2) and Gluttony. That’s to say, they both have the same focus of a desperate survival, doing whatever they can to avoid/survive the pain that continuously assaults them. But whereas the Fox is ultimately unchanging, hopelessly waiting for that show of true affection, Shock Centipede is characterized by a deep Envy that—beyond its association with electricity—points at how its mind has become thwarted by its captivity, to the extreme that the Abnormality can only think of how much it resents and envies everyone else during its last moments, forsaking its primitive drive to survive.

Regarding the weaknesses and resistances, I think it’s relevant to note that both Abnormalities are extremely resistant to Wrath and Envy, likely due to the two just being used to being abused and mistreated, wondering who could even envy their situation. In contrast, their shared weakness to Gloom means how neither of them have any defense against the despair and suffering they feel beyond thrashing wildly, desperate beyond belief; the same cannot be said of the Centipede’s unique weakness to Sloth, likely referring to how being indolent to its situation is anathema to its essence and instinct of survival, as seen with every single one of its passives

“Did you know...? Apparently, centipedes' nerves stay active and go wild for a good while even after their heart stops beating. This one's the same.” - Gregor, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3.

Literally, all the Centipede’s passives are an in-the-name thing, just as much as Faelantern’s. I suppose all the “Persistence” passives are more related to the Abnormality’s extremely durable exoskeleton than its electricity, but they are still obvious.

Now, moving into STNOWC, the main difference falls into the position of the trapped being: the Doll allowed itself to be trapped out of a misguided love for others, while the Centipede… Well, any ounce of love it could have potentially had is now but history and dust. The only thing remaining behind those adamantine plates is pure resentment and envy born of the ruthlessness needed to survive over all others. Nevertheless, don’t get confused: Shock Centipede isn’t wrathful per se, despite all the anger towards its captors, it… just envies you, for being able to be free and live however you want.

“The centipede writhes as if to coil up. The Shock Centipede's body is starting to coil up into one spot. "It seems electricity is gathering." As the Sinner pointed out, sparks are flying from the center of its coiled body. It might be a good idea to stop it.” - Mid-Combat Event.

And maybe that hints at why the affinity for the Event above is Envy, because surviving in general breeds all forms of jealousy within everyone involved, at how easy “they” have it thanks to the things and opportunities “they” have and others—you—don’t. Thus, from those seeds, a cycle emerges, of people endlessly abusing and utilizing each other, bringing each other down so they can rise triumphant—all the while ignoring the poison they have accumulated under their feet.

Interesting, really, how the exploited Centipede can easily become part of this cycle when driven entirely by its instincts and feelings. But then again, it’s not as if you were any different, weren’t you? It may be impossible to erase the curse of life, and we will one day have to confront it and take our choice. Whatever path you take, however, keep in mind a single thing: don’t deny the consequences of your action—don’t deny your “evil”.

Sensual Decadence

“The Fairy Gentleman spoke with a jolly laugh. ‘Huhu... Didn't think this much would be gulped down.’ A short hiccup could also be heard. ‘I admit, it caught me off guard a tiny bit... Just a tiny bit.’ The fairy then puts the cup in his hand to his mouth.” - Mid-Combat Event.

Absinthe is one of the most famous and influential liquors or spirits in the entire history of the west, and with good reason! It was cheaper to produce and buy, and thus was sold like hot cakes when the great french wine blight hit Europe around the second half of the 19th century. Hundreds and hundreds of gallons were consumed daily by the common folk, and it was extremely well received in artistic circles, to the point of being the signature drink of painters and writers alike, like Vincent van Gogh or Ernest Hemingway.

However, such popularity ultimately spelled its doom because, for reasons I won’t go into, absinthe was reported to cause all kinds of hallucinations and delusions, as some sort of magical source of inspiration. The reputation grew and grew, and more myths and stories were added, like it causing mental illnesses or driving people to commit all kinds of crimes and atrocities. By the mid 20th century, absinthe, the so-called “green fairy” thanks to its emerald color and infamous reputation, was finally banned, and only in recent years it has had a resurgence due to its legalization in many countries.

Now, I suppose all of you are wondering why I explained the history of absinthe, and the answer should be obvious if you had any encounter in the MDs with Fairy Gentleman. After all, its first EGO gift, the only one obtainable without fighting, is a glass of green spirit, with the characteristic spoon and all. Taking into account this, along with the Fairy’s gracious attitude, its meaning reveals itself once more.

“I hope you have been well since we conversed last. I see flowers bloom outside, and the birds chirp every now and then. Though the scents of flowers spread as they like, they create a rather sweet smell once mingled in one place. I wonder if you have taken in such a smell.” - Yi Sang, Blossoming League of Nine Littérateurs, Canto IV.

“All that I ask… is to keep this as a moment of laughter, solely between us.” - Yi Sang, Blossoming League of Nine Littérateurs, Canto IV.

It’s abundance and happiness, the joy that one derives from sensual pleasures and sharing them with others, not so dissimilar to how the League of Nine was during its first “days” in District 20, akin to children discovering and feeling the world in all its glory through their senses. They became enamored of what they discovered and showed between them, just like the artist (supposedly) did with the visions and inspiration given by the green fairy. Yet, for external eyes, such joy is no different from debauchery, a slavish and animal-like attraction to the appetites of the gut (or of the mind, in the League’s case).

However, while the League of Nine was an innocent group, devoid of any malicious intent, Fairy Gentleman is… Well, Rodya explained it best.

“I mean, as soon as our eyes met, he flew up, like swoosh~ all of a sudden and then squashed me with the mouth on its belly! Like, splorch, y'know?” - Abnormality’s Observation Log #1.

No matter how nice and polite the Fairy actually is, when its desire and hunger reach their maximum, it won’t have any second thought about satisfying them. That’s why its most powerful skill is Lust-based, because it’s already as drunk and satisfied as it can get, yet it keeps on asking for more and more, to the point it will devour its “privileged guests” due to them simply being there, emanating that sweet smell that it’s craving.

Again, it’s not that the Abnormality is a bastard or something; it’s just that it doesn’t have any temperance, lacking any and all control over its appetite. That’s the reason many of its skills are Gluttony-based, trying to fill its empty stomach, as well as it being resistant to Lust and Gluttony. Though, if you are lucky, you may be able to convince it to control itself for once during the mid-combat Event, by simply imposing your necessities over its. The Fairy, more than anyone else, should know how being hungry sucks.

Outside of this, I think it is important to note the strange relationship the Fairy has with Envy. Its only Envy skill, “Not This Time!”, is an obvious reference to how it doesn’t want to lose the Wine to you once more. But its affinity to Envy is more complex, since it’s resistant to it in normal encounters, while being weak to it in RR2. That’s to say, it doesn’t care about how other people feel about it as it keeps moving around like a “bully”, yet it also finds itself flabbergasted once other’s resentment—their wrath and bitterness—hits it in the face. If anything, it seems the Fairy in RR2 is more “infantile” in a way, and prideful as well, not aware of all the damage it is doing; the one found in the MDs and history mode is more mature, knowing what to ignore and when, unless they simply refuse to move and be moved, and force themselves into it.

“The glass in its thick hands clatters to the floor, spilling fairy limbs and green fluid everywhere. 'Some visitors you are! How rude!' The mouth on the blob's abdomen splits open and spews sour fluid in our direction.” - Abnormality Encounter

Like when you make it drop its precious cup and wine! Fairies really love their drinks, did you know? That’s more or less the idea behind the “fairy cup” motif, stories about how a person is offered a drink by “the little people” or fairies, but ends up scooting away with the cup. It’s not exactly a precise comparison, yes, but I still wanted to mention it, since it’s a Fairytale Abnormality, and the contents of said stolen cup tend to have magical properties, or are simply acid—classic fairy move.

Finally, in regard to the passives, most of them are pretty self-explanatory, with the only remarkable one being “Stimulating Smell, Isn’t It?” due to the implications of Fairy Gentleman using its body to produce its putrid-smelling liquor…

Imagine having so little control over your cravings and desires, letting them direct your every action to the point you mutilate and cannibalize your own body solely to feel satisfied. Fairy Gentleman is no different from an animal solely guided by its “erotic” and primitive instincts, not unlike Faelantern. And in the same vein as the latter, that may be the point of the Abnormality: a “fable” about the risks of going overboard with your appetites, whatever those may be, for if you obey them without question or thought you’ll end up destroying yourself spiritually and physically, longing for the filthiest of things.

You are a human with a soul—so much more than a fairy. Please, learn to use it.

Civilized Pretence

“If that's the case, the reason it makes the clover tree to grow... is to keep us from being hit by the harmful rain so that gains more benefits when eating our flesh? To... make its meals tastier. Ugh, I really think that thing doesn't deserve to be called a fairy.” - Ishmael, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3.

And here we have another tricky and predatory fairy!

At first glance, Fairy-Long-Legs is really similar to Faelantern and Fairy Festival, feigning kindness in order to trick and get close to their prey. Yet, one would be hard-pressed to say the latter two are exactly the same as Long-Legs, when this last Abnormality is much more civilized than the rest of its kin, especially when compared to its easily tempted companion. Its behavior is unmatched in terms of patience and elegance between the fairies, always taking time to “care” for its food’s flavor and bringing itself with dignity when taking chunks of flesh from it. Damn! Even its Pride-based guard animation has a certain grace to it!

But no matter how much a fairy pretends to be civilized or cultured, it is and will keep on being a gluttonous fairy. The summoning of giant clover is just an extension of that: a needed step so it can fulfill its desire for “quality food”, as seen with the rest of skills being Lust- and Gluttony-based. Even its pride at the end should be no more than mere vanity, regardless of how that disposition shows certain evolution in the fairies’ behavior and “culture”, because it’s solely reactionary.

In regard to the rest of the Abnormalities’ elements, the most noteworthy ones are the affinities, as usual. Particularly, its weaknesses to Envy, Wrath, and Gluttony during normal encounters tells us that Long-Legs is not used to being on the receiving end of being hunted, being filled with all sorts of curses and resentment. That may be too problematic for its taste, likely preferring more lazy prey that won’t fight back, that won’t challenge it and make it exposed to the rain, despite its lack of any Gloom-related affinity… And yes, that last part is the reason behind the Gloom advantage of the “weather the rain” option during its MD encounter, following a similar logic to Drifting Fox; the Gluttony advantage focuses more on the necessity of overcoming the rain, in the goal that lies after it.

Now, moving on to its RR2 version, Long-Legs’ affinities change when you confront it, in the same way as Fairy Gentleman before. Neither Wrath nor Gluttony seem to take it by surprise anymore, almost as if it expects to be hunted and preyed upon too, if the new Gluttony and Lust resistances are something to go by. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t like to be mocked, as seen with its new weakness to Pride and the conservation of the old one to Envy.

And thus, returning to one of the previous points I made, I can only conclude that Fairy-Long-Legs is a “tale” made to represent the risks of when the advancements of culture are solely guided by instinctual, gross needs, not unlike the animalistic joy of Fairy Gentleman. This naturally paints an interesting picture of what Fairies mean within Project Moon’s universe, from the fully instinctual, simple-minded Fairy Festival to its two, more elegant “cousins”: parodies of humanity’s susceptibility to their own desires and cravings. But again, that much is obvious, no? Library of Ruina already went about it through the Floor of History Realization, about how “nothing in the City is made out of pure goodwill”.

From kidnapping people and sometimes replacing them with “copies” that are “off”, to the common but unfounded myth about having no soul, Fairies, as a concept, will forever act as dark mirrors of humanity’s most cruel and animalistic tendencies. Maybe that’s the reason behind the “Long-Legs” name, for a Daddy-Long-Legs isn’t necessarily a spider to begin with; it can also be an arachnid that, despite being inoffensive to humans, is eerily similar to spiders.

Instead of being fully “alien” creatures, Fairies may be a lot closer to us than we like to think.

Note: Following the pattern I pointed out in my previous post about RR2, the buff related to Fairy-Long-Legs seems to be “Accelerating”. But beyond the shared color and the focus on legs, those two don’t share any mechanics. I’d like to point out that there’s no boss in the entire Railway that’s tied to speed or Haste, beyond Fairy Gentleman and its Wine, so there aren’t many options to choose from…

OSHA's Worst Nightmare

“This stranded employee was approaching us, preparing to go through the motions.” - Abnormality Encounter.

Everyone hates their job… Well, not everyone, really. Not remotely close to everyone. But still, it’s a famous sort of joke or snarky appreciation about all the awkward situations in which one ends up thanks to the attitudes of coworkers, bosses, and those despicable, all-withering beasts we commonly call “clients”. Needless to say, the City isn’t an exception, with all those daily massacres and use of literal human resources.

However, from among all Districts and Wings in Project Moon’s universe, from among all ways of life and works, the one who holds the crown of hateable jobs—the holy grail—is none other than W Corp. and its cleanup crew. There’s literally no character that actually likes working on cleaning the mess inside warp trains, with the sole exception of Ryoshu (and maybe Mersault, but he doesn’t like it either). The work is vomit-inducing, the knowledge is abhorrent, and the only solace is the absolute resolve to never take a warp train.

… Still, work is work, especially if they come from a Wing—no one really wants to die of hunger or worse, after all. So in order to survive, getting our hands dirty is just a small price. Though, the nagging envy and dissatisfaction will never quite disappear, no matter how much time passes. But that’s a part of the job—of any job.

Such is the meaning behind Wayward Passenger, the trauma W Corp. has caused on every person who has used its trains and those who work in them, but especially the latter as seen with the new options added to its MD encounter. That’s why it only has Gluttony and Envy skills, for the W Corp. cleanup agents want to be anywhere else but there, in the trains, yet duty bounds them. They simply do not have any choice in the matter. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they even envy the passengers, who are made to forget about all that happened, continuing their lives without worry.

(And yes, the Envy skills in this case also have the usual relation with electricity/energy. Its blades are literally energy, and it has to spend it to regenerate them in the same way it does with its Dimensional Rifts).

Outside of that, it’s quite interesting to see that Wayward Passenger is weak to Lust and Gluttony—to love and survival. It seems the Abnormality doesn’t take it well to be reminded that the “things” it’s dealing with are living beings too, able to love and, more importantly, fight for their survival. While the Passenger may be able to distance itself psychologically from its “workload”, it isn’t perfect, never reaching the indifference proper of Sloth.

On the other hand, its resistances are nothing too special. The Envy one in particular is obvious, since Wayward Passenger already shares the same feeling—nobody wants to be in what is basically the bloody bowels of hell. As for the Pride resistance, it goes hand in hand with its weaknesses: the expression of love and the instinct of survival are terrifying things to witness in this line of work, but pride… to defend oneself through an empty sense of self-grandiosity is simply irritating, not arousing a single bit of compassion or doubt.

And finally, there’s the Sin affinities during its Encounter, which are surprisingly easy to understand as well. You either pity and/or love Wayward Passenger enough to entertain it and make its work easier, or you just simply don’t care enough and want it gone as soon as possible, pointing to whatever direction you find convenient.

Hellish work indeed. Horrible workload, and horrible customers. I wouldn’t even touch it with a 10 feet pole… But if there’s genuinely no other option, we should at least make it a little more pleasant for others, don’t you think? It may not be much, but trying to acknowledge the humanity of what we have in front of ourselves is a step up from ignoring it, from turning into resentful monsters that wander through the endless possibilities of life solely with their eyes, squandering our (one) true path.

It’s not about defending or taking pride in your work, necessarily. But about seeing what’s in front of you, what you can actually seize and not lose.

Note: And here comes the second-to-last enemy buff from the Railway, “Opportunistic”. Just like Steam Machine’s “Hardening”, the symbol of “Opportunistic” is one of the blades from Wayward Passenger.

Sign of Roses

“What does this signboard say? It hangs itself on a tree, trying to make its content known. Its desperation is almost pitiable.” - Abnormality Encounter.

I already commented this many times in my theory posts, but I suppose doing it a third time isn’t that unwarranted. After all, the relationship between the nervous central system, the psyche, God, and the archetype of the Self is an important symbol and topic in the game.

And yes, all the previous images are connected one way or another. And the main connective tissue is, naturally, Jung’s theory of the mind: analytical psychology.

Jung was a student of Freud originally, postulating that the unconscious contents of the psyche—all the psychological contents which your conscious mind or Ego, the thing that you normally call “yourself”, is ignorant of—are personal in nature. But after acquiring his own experience (and some mental breakdowns), he reached a conclusion vastly different from his teacher, that the psyche, the totality of one’s mind, isn’t only an individual thing, but also a collective one—you aren’t an isolated island, but the sea that connects every island as well. Naturally, this doesn’t refer to the individualized, conscious mind, but to the other half that makes the psyche, the unconscious mind, which exists both as the personal unconscious that Freud described… and a collective unconscious, equal and shared by all humankind.

“A more or less superficial layer of the unconscious is undoubtedly personal. I call it the personal unconscious. But this personal unconscious rests upon a deeper layer, which does not derive from personal experience and is not a personal acquisition but is inborn. This deeper layer I call the collective unconscious. I have chosen the term "collective" because this part of the unconscious is not individual but universal; in contrast to the personal psyche, it has contents and modes of behaviour that are more or less the same everywhere and in all individuals.” - Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.

I’m not going in-depth about all of Jung’s theory; that would merit post after post just to cover the basics. But that main gist is that Jung proposed that most, if not all, psychological problems rest in the relationship one has with the unconscious, be it the personal or the collective one. This is because the unconscious is the matrix of life, the source of all change and energy, as well as the “eternal wisdom” that applies everywhere and everywhen, since it’s the product of the countless experiences of all forms of life since time immemorial.

“The collective unconscious, however, as the ancestral heritage of possibilities of representation, is not individual but common to all men, and perhaps even to all animals, and is the true basis of the individual psyche. [...] Theoretically it should be possible to “peel” the collective unconscious, layer by layer, until we came to the psychology of the worm, and even of the amoeba.” - Jung, Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche.

So it’d be correct to say that, instead of you having an unconscious that’s common to all life, the unconscious of life has you. You aren’t the subject, but an object, a product born out of the countless interactions of the unconscious, and thus inherently tied to said collective. You cannot overcome the unconscious, because it’s the mother that birthed you, the parent that raised you, the teacher that showed you the world, the first love that made you feel complete, the friends that blessed you, the enemies that diminished you, the obstacles that brought you to the bottom—joy and misery alike.

Truth is, the collective unconscious is everything that surrounds you. There’s nothing outside of it, and nothing lower or higher than it. It’s all existence that can be possibly known by life… Yet, consciousness, as its name indicates, isn't that unconscious; it’s “alienated” from it. It perceives itself separated from the whole, despite being nurtured by said whole. And the more differentiated the conscious mind becomes, the more separated and afraid it becomes of the world, and from there all problems come forth: the inability of the Ego to properly grow inwards, which in turn means it can’t properly grow outwards.

Depression, anxiety, psychosis, neurosis, schizophrenia… All of those problems, one way or another, are rooted in an improper relationship with the unconscious and thus the external world. Jung wasn’t able to found a one-size-fits-all solution naturally, but he got pretty close by suggesting an archetypal process he called individuation, the process by which the conscious mind integrates contents of the unconscious, allowing the reach a middle point between them, a harmonic relationship that allows everything work as a whole—the collective working for you, and you working for the collective. Jung called such an archetypal situation of wholeness the Self.

“I have called this wholeness that transcends consciousness the ‘self.’ The goal of the individuation process is the synthesis of the self.” - Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.

The Self is not only consciousness, but also the personal and collective unconsciousness. It’s darkness and evil, and light and good as well. It’s the whole of life that existed long before you, and that will endure long after your death, because you yourself are part of the whole, which in turn can be said to be the only thing that truly exists. You are an image through which the Self becomes conscious of itself.

If all of that sounds like a headache-inducing mumbo jumbo, then you are on the correct path! The Self and the collective unconscious are, by definition, beyond the scope of what consciousness can fully grasp, just as it’s impossible to understand the universe—of which you, as the subject that experiences it, are part of—as a whole. Yet, just because it’s impossible to comprehend in its totality, doesn’t mean humanity didn’t have intuitions of the Self, represented in the form of mythological and folkloric symbols, because that’s the kind of language the unconscious speaks.

“Because of its unconscious component the self is so far removed from the conscious mind that it can only be partially expressed by human figures; the other part of it has to be expressed by objective, abstract symbols. [...] Plant symbols are generally flowers (lotus and rose). These lead on to geometrical figures like the circle, the sphere, the square, the quaternity, the clock, the firmament, and so on.” - Carl Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

I… I’m not going into all of this; it’s simply too much. However, the main point I wanted to rescue is how the rose can act as a symbol for both motherhood and of the Self, because the archetypal figure of the mother is nothing but another property that belongs to Wholeness, being the psyche that birthed everything. Even Christ himself, the figure in which humanity/consciousness and the divine/unconsciousness are joined, is a manifestation of the Self, just like Buddha. Naturally, it’s not a question about wether they existed or not, but about what they unconsciously represent for people.

“In truth, Phanes is the happy day. In truth, Phanes is work and accomplishment and its remuneration. He is the troublesome task and the evening calm. He is a step on the middle way, its beginning, its middle, and its end. He is foresight. He is the end of fear.” - Jung, Hymn to Phanes, Black Books.

Because it represents the same thing for Jung, as seen in the excerpt above of the Black Books, the diaries in which he registered his experiences of “active imagination” or explorations of his unconscious. So even if he put the somewhat partial and subjective name of Phanes, the primordial deity of orphism, the same thing occurs for all Self-images in humanity’s myths, legends, tales, and so forth: salvation. That’s the root of the famous parable of the vine imparted by Jesus, how humanity is completely lost without “him”, the Self.

However, every archetype—the psychological principles that make out the collective unconscious—has both darkness and light alike, for they are the accumulated of all experiences without exception. Thus, it’s natural that the individuation process has its dangers too. It’d be all too easy for people to give in to the “madness” inherent to the unconscious without opposition, too tired of fighting back against life. But the Ego is an essential part of individuation, the fulcrum around which everything must be balanced because it’s the only thing that can make something conscious and realized.

“Be silent and listen: have you recognized your madness and do you admit it? Have you noticed that all your foundations are completely mired in madness? Do you not want to recognize your madness and welcome it in a friendly manner? You wanted to accept everything. So accept madness too. Let the light of your madness shine, and it will suddenly dawn on you. Madness is not to be despised and not to be feared, but instead you should give it life. [...] Be glad that you can recognize it, for you will thus avoid becoming its victim.” - Jung’s Soul, Red Book.

“Embracing the madness is a necessary step for humans to move forward. A crystal rose that seems to be facing a certain direction at all times. This humanlike object is said to absorb the moisture from a certain river to bloom.” - Lunacy’s Flavour Text.

The unconscious is uncertainty, the collapse of the superiority of the conscious mind. It’s the acceptance that life itself won’t go as you want, that it dances and moves as it wishes. And that you’ll accompany it in that celebration, not as its slave, but as its equal, for you are its long-lost brother/sister that it wishes to join to once more. You, too, are a creation of God, the “rose” He gardened for so long by the side of His “river”, inside His “womb”.

Unsurprisingly, like all Abnormalities, that’s where Sign of Roses falls, because the City has been possessed by its own madness. It has become so alienated from the unconscious that its inhabitants are unable to understand they are guided solely by that kind of trauma, hidden under the slogans of retribution, vengeance, righteousness, and rationality. The City has repressed everything irrational, yet it's smothered by it.

But if such is the case, if the disease of the mind has expanded so much, then the unconscious must fight back, to release itself from the yoke humanity puts it under so its one wish can be heard: to be realized. That’s the underlying meaning of the Sign, the caricature of Christ, the dark side of the Self that embraces all that exists without judgment, filled by a naive, all-encompassing love that allows any and all atrocities. That’s to say, it’s the Devil or Beast, the dissolver of consciousness, the agitator of the unconscious, the exhausted inner tension of all living beings that wishes to be resolved.

“This is an adequate place to get off this train without getting lost. The refraction rate is already off the charts. For the first time since we embarked on this journey… I see a signpost. Maybe, this is where this railway line ends. Or maybe...this is where we meet our ends.” - Dante, Terminus: The Garden, Refraction Railway Line 2.

The Sign of Roses is at the center of the Railway because the Self is the whole and center of the psyche, the “smaller than small, and bigger than big”. Thus, it’s also the terminus and its beginning, the Abnormality or psychological tendency that causes people to give in to their desires and instincts without care, after a long life of “self-control”. It’s the respite that Christ promised to his followers, the celestial Jerusalem that will become the last place of rest for the believers and faithful.

“Oh, and... the color of those roses changed as well. Everyone told me that it was as though the bottled—up feelings inside them were melting away. And so did I.” Hong Lu, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3.

“Psychologically, it is again a question of the self, enthroned in the place of the middle, and referred to in Revelation as the beloved city (Jerusalem, the centre of the earth).” - Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.

It’s no coincidence that Sign of Rose's arena is filled with ruins overcome with brambles and roses—the dregs of the unconscious that bring down the works of the conscious mind. However, I previously said roses are symbols of the Self and thus of the Ego, since the latter is an “image” of the former, so… why are there roses in a landscape that has abandoned any sort of consciousness? Well, that’s because the Ego is a “complex”, a psychological “entity” that acts as a personal instance of the archetypes so to speak, and the unconscious happens to have many of those.

“Eyes are round and in common speech are likened to ‘cart-wheels.’ They also seem to be a typical symbol for what I have called the ‘multiple luminosities of the unconscious.’ By this I mean the seeming possibility that complexes possess a kind of consciousness, a luminosity of their own, which, I conjecture, expresses itself in the symbol of the soul-spark, multiple eyes (polyophthalmia), and the starry heaven.” - Mysterium Coniunctionis.

That’s both the reason why the Flesh part has so many eyes, representing the Self as a union of those “multiple consciousnesses”, and why the unconscious can be compared to the firmament, which has its own layer of symbolism in Limbus. But more importantly, it tells us something extremely important about the Abnormality’s appearance: just like STNOWC, Sign of Roses bears the effigy of humanity—its flesh—in a twisted way, as the singular vine (yes, that’s the reason behind the passive’s name) from which every other "rose" blooms.

Thus, Sign of Roses is nothing else but the weakening of the human spirit against the unconscious compulsions and drives, an “individuation” gone wrong that ends up with the collapse of consciousness, slaved eternally under the complexes' yoke for whatever remains of its life. And what else it could want if not to share such a prospect with the world, as seen with the unique death animations for the Sinners, now becoming their own “whole individual”—their own garden—from which every desire can bloom, like a mother and its children.

“Yes, as you have learned, extracting Abnormalities is my job. But creating them is Carmen’s, whom you buried a long time ago. She is the mother of all Abnormalities that have existed in this facility and all that will emerge in the future.” - Binah, Lobotomy Corporation.

Really, it shouldn’t be a surprise that all of this connects with Carmen, the maternal aspect of the unconscious mind that accepts any and all things, wanting people to give into their unconscious urges as she herself hinted in “Leviathan”. She is the Christ-like figure who baptizes/drowns people in the waters of the River, making them reborn in a shape that’s able to “love” everything. It’s not a coincidence she’s the (666) Beast, the shadow of humanity and the Self, twisting God’s greatest virtue that saved both Dante and Faust in their respective books.

And keeping on with the parodies of Christ, Sign of Roses’s “Crown of Thorns” status stands for a symbol of the pain that comes from containing all fears and desires within, to keep an image of “self-control” or purity, as if to say you aren’t Christ and you shouldn’t resist the temptations. That’s why its Pride and Lust skills are the ones that apply the status, saying to you that you should take pride in who you are and love yourself, to let bloom every kind of atrocity.

From the rest of the skills, the only ones that are worth highlighting are two. First, it’s “Wishing for Eternity”, solely due to the connection it has with King of Greed’s flavour text about greed and happiness wishing for eternity, expressing clearly the suffering that is brought about through the differentiation of consciousness after eating “the apple from Eden”. The second one is its Envy skill, “Wall of Separation”, because…

“See? Wish, wish for it. Knowing that it is a sin. Only then can you bloom such colorful roses.” “You have to bloom the roses. You want to escape this garden don't you?” “Let us... let me help you.” “Our only wish is that our garden will bloom full of flowers.” “Now, what will you do?” - Mid-Combat Event.

The Sign can’t nurture its own roses. It lacks the ability, the drive to do so. It speaks so highly about the Sinner’s capacity to bloom and accept themselves, yet itself is unable to do so because it’s ultimately empty. It collapses into countless petals the moment the brambles come undone, because it lacks any and all substance beyond the chains of desire, not so different from King in Binds in a way.

It envies living beings because they can take care of their seeds and bloom. It envies them because they are alive, while itself is dead and unable to change. They have a soul, while it doesn’t.

I wonder what this tells us about Carmen…

Note: The last enemy buff, “Thirsting”, obviously belongs to Sign of Roses, and the bible says everything that there's need to know.

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” - John, 4:11-15.

Post-Commentary

Hello, once more! It’s with great pleasure that I bring the last part of the Railway 2’s Abnormalities. This one took a long while, mainly because I lost some of my motivation due to university during Fairy Gentleman’s part… which, coincidentally, returned the day in which Nikocado Avocado announced his lost weight xD What a curious coincidence, really.

But anyway, seeing how that man took like, what? 2 years or so to get in “shape”? It motivated me enough to finish both Fairies’ sections quickly, like one to two weeks in total. After all, I couldn’t mope around when I had (and still) many things to do in my life.

Regarding some curiosities about my analisis, I think the biggest one is the Sin advantage of the “press the droplet-shaped button” option. I didn’t analyze it because it’s weird now. Like, the first version of the Encounter didn’t award the player with any EGO gift, strengthening the idea of how the Abnormality represents the idea of being needlessly cruel and sadistic, hence justifying the Envy and Wrath advantages. But since the option now gives you a new EGO gift, it somewhat diminishes the previous idea, though it doesn’t blatantly contradict it: you are still being an asshole.

Another includes Wayward Passenger, where I’ve to stress out something: said Abnormality is connected to W Corp. first, and then to the general concept of escapism and envy. The need of having to expand that latter part was due to the Dimensional Shredder EGOs, especially those of Yi Sang and Hong Lu—instead of envying people for their choices they have, they decide to take pride on the “journey” their external circumstances put them on (Sloth and Gluttony, apathy and duty/necessity).

And finally, if you didn’t understand 'Sign of Roses’ section…

TL;DR: Roses are symbols of the Self/psychic wholeness, but also of consciousness, for the flowers “are” brains. Thus, the Sign wants your “rose”/mind/soul/being to become a vine from which all other “roses”—the smaller “consciousnesses” or complexes that make out the unconscious mind—can bloom and live through, sacrificing your own existence. That’s due to the Abnormality being unable to bloom its own flowers (anymore?), having to “drain the sin” from others.

Now, with all of this said, my next post about Abnormalities should be about none other than Railway 1, thanks to Canto VII coming soon and thus giving us a big dose of needed context for Headless Icthys and Alleway Watchdog. After that one (and RR5’s, naturally), I plan to finish with an analysis about the Abnormalities that were left out from the RRs: those from Canto I and Canto II, and Brazen Bull.

As always, feel free to comment your own thoughts and point out any spelling mistakes!

#limbus company #refraction railway 2 #abnormalities #Shock Centipede #Fairy Gentleman #Fairy-Long-Legs #Wayward Passenger #Sign of Roses

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