#<- bc the abno is from limbus that's why. sorry

[justcallmealt]

... Yeah

Sunshower Philip be upon ye

Music:

[silkenedstars]

Hi this got way more attention than what I initially expected (5 hearts) so I took the liberty to rewrite the entire essay, hence why it was delayed for… almost a month, I’m so sorry about that skjdgns

Anyway, as Sunset Wayfarer and Ardour Blossom Moth are both abnormalities with little information available for them (Sunset Wayfarer more so than Ardour Blossom Moth), there will inevitably be people disagreeing with what I've concluded from both abnormalities. I had that very experience with my friend who was helping me edit this essay and honestly? If you have any interpretations of these two that differ from my own, please let me know! I love hearing other people’s thoughts on things.

I will also be referring to both abnormalities by their initials (SW and ABM) to preserve my sanity since this is going to be a long, long post. (As of editing, this essay is 27 pages on google docs god help me) I will also be referring to both abnormalities with feminine pronouns because I love doomed yuri (but you're free to refer to them with masc pronouns for doomed yaoi, or like, literally any pronoun bc it doesn't matter).

Also special thanks to the limbus company wiki (wiki.gg not the fandom one) as this essay would've taken even longer to write without their work.

Okay okay so to start off: what Sunset Wayfarer is supposed to be.

There's barely any information about her, if at all thanks to her remaining an encounter-only abno (unlike ABM, who has a lot going for her) but we can still get the general gist of what she's supposed to be.

This is the only image we have of her and look at how peaceful this scene is? I'm not the best at describing pictures by any means but I think we can all agree that SW here gives off a friendly vibe.

If you come from lobcorp then you know that just looking friendly isn't enough, but fortunately SW acts just as friendly as she looks. Regardless of what you choose to do for her mirror dungeon event, she'll heal your party and her dialogue all throughout is understanding of your choice.

Now for her personality, yes, she has one. Most abnormalities in the mirror dungeon encounter do but I digress.

Starting from the first set of dialogue you're given when you first come across her, SW's personality is pretty straightforward.

"Look at those butterflies! Aren't they just beautiful?" - This is the very first thing that she says to Dante the moment her encounter starts. Not only is she acknowledging Dante's (and the sinners') presence with that sentence, but she's also bringing their attention to the butterflies surrounding her, beings that she deems beautiful.

Here, with these two sentences, you already get the sense that SW is someone who appreciates the beauty of the world around her; someone who focuses on the positive side of things.

"And gander at that sunset, too! Really makes you want to go for a stroll." - Here again, she's bringing attention to something that she likes seeing. The second sentence also indicates that she prefers the outdoors, but considering that we encounter her in the woods, I feel like that's a given.

"Why don't you stop for a moment and take a breather here?" - And here, not only is she asking Dante and the sinners to take a moment to rest, but going off of what she has said previously, she's also asking them to take a moment to take in their surroundings.

"Something yellow gestures warmly at you." - Dante that's rude. Interestingly though, and do correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the only instance when an abnormality that's offering help has their action described to be warm, or any other synonym of friendly.

For Fairy Long Legs, we only get dialogue from the abnormality and no commentary from Dante.

For Faelantern, we only get Dante's narration but they don't use any adverbs. Sure, the small fairy is smiling, maybe even dancing, but it tells us nothing of their intention. For all we know, the fairy could be planning to murder Dante and the sinners... which they are, but I digress.

Next up is the first choice we get to pick, as well as the rewards for it.

"Wasn't it tiring coming all the way here?" - SW is being compassionate here. She had the option to stay quiet and leave Dante and the sinners to rest by themselves, but instead, she asks about the group to see how they're doing.

"Really, check out those butterflies. Just watching them will warm your heart." - And right after, she tells them something that will help them. "Do this, it'll help you" is what she's saying here pretty much. Even though SW doesn't know anything about the group, she still wants to help them: she's caring.

"You looked at the butterflies as the voice suggested. They indeed fill the heart with a certain warmth." - Aside from this proving that Dante is really gullible (nothing new, we all already knew this) and showing us that SW was being honest, this also implies that she has healing capabilities. This I will get back to in detail later.

"Looks like some of them want to tag along!" - This part is relatively clear. SW has spent so long in the place of her encounter that she can understand how the butterflies act.

"A kaleidoscope of butterflies started following you, even after you left that scenic spot." - This part is a little difficult to figure out in relation to SW, but I think I worked out something. Even if they're two separate entities, SW and the butterflies surrounding her are connected at the end of the day. They are a part of her just as she's a part of them. It's difficult to say if they are the same being, but they share a connection which is why I'm confident that the butterflies decided to tag along with Dante because they were acting on SW's worry and concern over the group.

And at last, the ego gifts and healing. She heals all allies regardless and those with lust skills additionally heal their sp. Firstly, since sinners with lust skills got additional healing, this must mean that SW is an abnormality related to lust. This I will get into later too. Secondly, the ego gift:

There's another mention of lust, so SW being related to lust is even more likely. But do you see it, the ego name?

Eclipse of Scarlet Moths.

I'll be honest, when I first thought about SW and ABM being a perfect ship, I didn't think about this ego at all at first. Seeing it later was a funny coincidence though.

Eclipse of Scarlet Moths... huh? It's an interesting name for the ego since we know that the scarlet moths in question are the butterflies that were hanging around SW, so why the name change? I think there's a point to be made about the eclipse part of the ego name too, but I'm not familiar enough with astronomy to make that point.

And lastly, we have the option to ignore her and leave:

"You must be very busy then!" - She's understanding from the get-go. She doesn't try to get the group to stay, if they want to go then they go.

"It made the same gesture as when it first greeted us. Perhaps it was waving goodbye all along." - These two sentences are interesting as they imply that she's used to seeing people come and go. This is a theory of mine, but I like to imagine that SW used to be an abnormality in one of the side branches of L Corp, one that the employees visited frequently because of the respite she offers them in a way that allows them to extract energy from her, but I digress.

"Another time, I suppose!" - She's still positive here, and judging by her words, she's willing to let the group rest with her the next time they drop by, whenever that will be.

And at the end, she heals the group in an unconventional way, but healing is healing so it doesn't matter. This does imply though that SW likely noticed that the sinners were feeling "tired" (her words) from the get-go. This means that she's observant as well.

I do want to point out here that her healing, both for when you accept her offer or reject her, isn’t only literal but metaphorical as well. Specifically, it’s a symbolism for how kindness affects other people. If you accept it, if you let yourself be vulnerable so you can connect with another person, you're rewarded for that connection via that person helping you out. That's also why identities with lust skills get bonus sp healing, thanks to lust and its themes of wanting to connect with others.

On the other hand for rejecting, you're never punished for doing so because it's understandable why you wouldn't want to open up to a complete stranger, regardless of whatever their intent may be. But the healing is still there, because that original kindness that stranger offered was there. It shows that even if you reject any offer from others to help you, you'll still carry that small kindness shown to you wherever you go.

Or like, you'll remember for 3 turns then forget about it but I digress.

So what is her personality? What about her healing capabilities? What does her being associated with lust mean for her?

Her personality is a mix of the traits she has shown us so far: she's an optimist who takes the time to appreciate the world around her and its beauty, she likes taking her time to do just that, she likes spending her time outdoors, she's caring even towards strangers, she's warm, friendly, she's compassionate, she's helpful, she's honest, she's understanding, she's gentle and she's supportive.

There's an obvious lack of character flaws, but she doesn't need them. As of now, SW is an abnormality that's the manifestation of goodwill, it wouldn't make sense for her to have character flaws. That said, you can definitely give her some, or even better, write her in such a way that even her positive character traits end up fucking up a situation.

...Sorry I said that like there's going to be anyone other than me writing SW x ABM content. Anyway.

Her healing capabilities are next. I'm sure most of you guessed this already by now but she heals, because her healing is a reflection of her care and kindness. This isn't just that though, her ego gift shows that she's capable of harm as well, it's just that she'd much rather help others rather than harm them.

And lastly: What does her being associated with lust mean for her?

If I made this before the check up event came out, I wouldn't be able to answer this. Buuuut since I'm making this after the check up event, I can answer it!

Remember how Hohenheim described the lust pettaclum? Here are the screenshots in case you don't:

Ironically Yi Sang's explanation in particular is closer to SW than Hohenheim's explanation. SW might not exactly be sharing her knowledge or her ideas, but we do know of something that she likes sharing with others, don't we? That being the beauty of the world that she lives in.

There is one problem with this though, that being that while SW does want to spread her joy that she finds in the world (thus a desire to propagate), it's not to the where she's obsessed with doing that. We established earlier that she's not forceful.

Despite this, she's still associated with lust. But what if instead of that, it was love that she actually has a connection to? Sharing the beauty of the world with others, helping along strangers that she comes across are both forms of love, aren't they?

Anyway enough with this love stuff and enough with SW, it's time to talk about Ardour Blossom Moth!

To start off, she has soooo much more information available: observation logs, three different events, 3 ego gifts, Ishmael's ego for her, Faust's LCE ego for her, background art, enemy information, several sprites and attack animations.

ABM is also the one who puts in the doomed part of the doomed yuri she and SW make up.

Anyway, due to the sheer amount of information available for ABM, I'll explain everything there is to her first then I'll connect them all. And after that? The yuri explanation all of you have been waiting for.

So to start off, Ishmael's ABS ego:

Let's analyse the art first!

The first thing I noticed is the lack of ABM herself. I checked Ishmael's sprite and there's nothing that could indicate that ABM is hiding on her in this art either. I will come back to this later, this is important.

The next thing I noticed was the environment, specifically the corpses that are surrounding Ishmael. Some of them are reaching out towards her as well, maybe seeking redemption of sorts? I'll get into this later too.

Notice how everything is burnt? This does fit in with what ABM is on the surface, but I believe there's a deeper meaning to this as well. (Hint: it's doomed yuri)

I think someone could make a point with her clothes too but that definitely won't be me since I know next to nothing about fashion. If anyone that’s an expert on fashion is reading this, I’d love to know your thoughts.

"Though I can't guide you... I can offer a warm embrace."

Now we have her quote here. This is where I mention that egos aren't all that reliable to learn the story of an abnormality since they're more about how a sinner connects to a certain abnormality, but I don't think we need to worry about that in this one instance since I believe that there's a strong connection between how Ishmael openly acted on her obsession during her canto and ABM's personality in general. This I will get into later, of course.

But the line itself is interesting.

"Though I can't guide you..." has interesting implications. If we go with the corpses reaching towards Ishmael in hope of redemption, then doesn't this mean that Ishmael (or ABM in this case) believes herself to be too far gone for redemption herself, or not the being of salvation that the corpses thought her to be?

Then the following words; "I can offer a warm embrace." Yes please I want the hottest embrace you can offer— I mean what who said that? Ahem. It's an offer, a compensation for something that she can't offer. It's interesting that she offers this, too. Did she see that the corpses were yearning for salvation and her warm embrace will be the closest thing she can give them, or is it that she herself yearns for redemption and is unable to reach it, so she can empathise with the corpses' desires as she offers her embrace, something she desperately yearns for herself because she cannot have it to any meaningful degree?

Next up are the stats for the awakening version:

The ego's risk level is HE while the abnormality is WAW, so the connection with ABM is a little bit weak though I'd assume this is because Ishmael is a person capable of changing and ABM is an abnormality stuck in her ways.

As the lobcorp manual points out, HE class abnormalities can easily kill a number of employees so you need to pay more attention to them, but they're still relatively easy to manage so there's no need to be concerned over them.

WAWs, on the other hand are very devastating and can easily kill huge groups of people. You'll need to pay a lot of attention to them and be very careful with them if you want to avoid a huge loss.

All this is to say that ABM's level of obsession far exceeds Ishmael's. But... why obsession? Where did I get obsession from? I'll explain it more in detail later, but it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Ishmael's ego is wrath and ABM is associated with it, and wrath is a form of obsession, isn't it?

The ego resources further point to this. If just ABM being associated with wrath isn't enough to prove that she's associated with obsession, then the ego resources for ABS certainly should. It has two more sins associated with obsession: the desire to spread what you are and the desire to become something else entirely.

Ardour also means great desire/passion so there's that.

And the resistances: wrath is ineffective, lust is endured, sloth and gloom are both fatal. The first two check out, ABM is a fire related abnormality after all, the weakness to gloom is also understandable since the greatest counter to rage has to be depression; you can't feel angry if you're struggling to feel anything in the first place.

But sloth? Though not as much as wrath or lust, sloth still has some association with burn. Faust's LCE id even has sloth as its first skill, so why does this ego give Ishmael sloth weakness? Not even just Ishmael, ABM herself is weak to sloth.

Well, sloth and gloom have similar meaning to one another and while they are different at their core, they still share their similarities with their symptoms. It's like people who confuse greed and gluttony with one another. They're two different sins, but they have enough similarities with each other to be confused for the other nonetheless.

So the weakness to sloth further enhances the meaning the weakness to gloom has.

I won't really talk about the stats of the ego since they're really inconsistent even when sharing an abnormality (both pursuance ego heal, fluid sac only has one ego that heals), they + the passive might be important to mention (passive specifically explains why the ego has lust as a resource) but I won't get into it because this essay is already very long and while I am neurodivergent, the more I write the more I lose my sanity so I'll just move onto the next thing to preserve what little sanity I have left writing this.

Now, for the corroded version of ABS!

There's barely any difference between this and Ishmael's, as is the case with most ego. The only thing noteworthy about this is that unlike other ego art where the sinner missing means that the abnormality has taken over, for ABS we go from only having Ishmael to only having ABM.

This is technically still the sinner being taken over by the abnormality, but I do wonder if this is actually to showcase Ishmael becoming ABM. Specifically, Ishmael losing herself in ABM's obsession and becoming her in the end, similar to what happened in her pquod captain id.

Take a look at their idle sprites, too.

Notice the similarities between them? Ishmael is still there, but she has been corrupted (corroded, if you will) beyond recognition. Notice how similar she looks to ABM as well. I wouldn't be surprised if this corrosion is just the transition, and the next stage is becoming ABM herself. (Diversity win!!)

Next is her corroded line:

"Do you see? My writhing struggle, hoping the world is cocooned in flames with me..."

Well now, doesn't that sound like someone who's full of resentment and wants to bring the world down with them?

Personally this line is very obvious in its meaning (it's very much screaming hatred if you ask me) but let's analyze it a little bit anyway.

The part that pops out here for me is "hoping the world is cocooned in flames...". Cocooned, like how larva become moths via cocoons? ABM's association with lust gets stronger the more we look into this ego.

It also fits in with the narrative that Ishmael is becoming the abnormality via the corrosion. ABM wants to spread her hatred and does exactly that by either turning humans into abnormalities just like her, or leaving them a charred mess.

"Do you see? My writhing struggle," - It's a pain that Ishmael/ABM seemingly want to be acknowledged, but so far no one has. That makes her resentment make sense. Her pain is ignored by countless others, no wonder why she wants to spread it around so it'll finally be acknowledged.

Last for this section is her attack animation for both awakening and corrosion.

The animation for awakening is her swooping down to kiss the enemy then pulling away just as they explode. The one for corrosion is largely the same; she sucks away at the enemy's energy/blood/whatever but she doesn't pull away from the explosion this time.

Kissing the enemy.... is certainly a choice, though it could be the embrace that she was speaking of.

Anyway, that's all done, time for the next part! Now we go to our next piece of analysis, Yi Sang's observation logs regarding ABM! It's still not exactly reliable, that'll be when we get to the abnormality events and ego gifts, but Yi Sang's thoughts on ABM should still give us some insight.

I'll gather the important lines from the first observation here:

"Nay, allow me to rearticulate. It would be more evocative to say that the flame itself has taken the form of such an insect."

"Watching the little bonfire, watching the twigs turn into bright red lanterns, then into black soot--I could not help but reach out to appreciate its warmth."

"Many share this sentiment, no? We need not touch the fire to know it blisters our skin and burns our bones. Yet we still yearn for its heat, to grow nearer to it."

As a quick note, I think Yi Sang  going right up to ABM and coming right back burnt into a crisp is more so Yi Sang being the weirdo (affectionate) he is than anything about ABM herself. It could also be a play on the words "moths to a flame" with how Yi Sang walked right up to ABM and got burnt.

On that note, based on these lines, she really does seem to have a pull for certain kind of people. The metaphor was always there, with one of light's symbolism being that of guidance and fire is a source of light. Those who are lost, who have lost hope, who don't know their place in the world and anyone who shares a similar feeling were always going to find ABM's light attractive and cluelessly walk towards her without realizing the danger they were in.

Here is the second observation log. The first half only confirms what we knew of ABM through Ishmael's ABS ego so I won't talk about them, but the second half is interesting. Below is the only important part I'll be focusing on:

"Thus, it follows that breaking its wings would allow us to take the offensive in this battle."

For those of you who haven't played lobcorp or watched any of the story on youtube, here's a fun fact for you about abnormalities: They can't die, they're basically immortal, but most of them still feel pain.

That is to say, while Yi Sang's suggestion of breaking ABM's wings is justified and the only option that they really have, it's still extremely cruel, especially so coming from Yi Sang. Not only is ABM going to feel the pain of that, but she'll also have her freedom taken away from her.

But maybe that's not so much of a bad thing as one might initially think. What do I mean by this? It's doomed yuri related, I'll get to it later don't worry.

Now, onto the 3rd observation log that's connected to the 2nd one:

Rather than pointing out the important parts, I'll make a commentary of everything that has been noted.

In the 2nd observation log, Yi Sang points out that the embers the sinners get from ABM's embrace do not burn and only bring warmth. However some of the sinners have experienced painful burns with a cause he doesn't know about.

In the 3rd one however, he realizes that these embers spark when ABM fans them with her wings; thus the need for her wings to be broken.

This does highlight some of ABM's personality and, despite how cruel it must be, violence is needed to win against her.

Maybe it's manipulation on her part; acting helpful by bringing people warmth only to pull the rug from right under them by sparking the embers, forcing them to burn alive. Or maybe it's just instinct for her to keep any flame from extinguishing. The embers are small after all, barely capable of hurting anyone, and it's only through the powerful flap of ABM's wings do they become a devastating force.

I believe it's the second interpretation that's actually happening as it fits right in with the belief in ABS; that she is incapable of guidance due to her very nature, but she can still offer some comfort thanks to that exact nature.

There's also another connection with lust here. ABM spreads her embers to others, turns those embers into powerful flames which then spread onto more people, so on and so forth. In a way, that's also propagation, isn't it?

Faust's LCE id is also interesting. At first I was thinking of skipping it because I didn't think it had anything of importance (even back in lobcorp, ego equipment themselves have minimal information on abnos) but then I remembered the very brief word she used for ABM, "self-destructive", so I came running right back.

"Subject's engagement threat level: moderately high. However, considering its self-destructive nature under specific circumstances... Ardor Blossom Moth final designation: WAW-5."

This is the line you get when you first obtain her LCE id. It's clear that the subject in question is ABM since, this is her ABS ego id. Would be funny if she was actually talking about Dante but I digress.

Self-destructive nature under specific circumstances... From my own experiences, I've always taken self-destructive (behaviours) to be just another form of self-harm, which it is. Any act of sabotaging yourself is self-destructive, be it smoking, pushing away your friends or literally exploding.

This is also why Ishmael has a direct ego that resonates with ABM. We saw how she acted during her own canto. But Faust also has this ego. Even if it's not to the same degree as Ishmael, how much does Faust resonate with ABM?

Well for her, it's less resonating and more empathising. Take a look at this:

This is the narration given to us by Carmen. Faust resonates with and achieves a higher attunement level because she's willing to understand and empathize with ABM. It's hard to say if Faust has a connection besides empathizing with ABM since we're not given further info on her id story nor have I read Faust's source book. Her canto isn't out yet as of now either so I might come back to this if it is.

But this is pretty much it for Faust's LCE id. The rest of the information we can gather from her id either concerns every other abnormality or is something else entirely.

Also as a fun fact, LCE Faust's sin affinities completely match with ABM's, though I don't know if that's a result with her empathizing with ABM or if it's in regards to her own feelings.

Now that we're done with that, time to move onto... ABM's various events! I'll start with the easiest and shortest one, that being the LCB check up dungeon event:

Only two lines from this matter for us.

"The flaming wings die out one moment, only to roar vigorously in the next."

"An incessant attempt to set fire to everything around it."

This reads as desperate to me, unusually so. I'm going to have to bring up a point I was planning on discussing for the part reserved for it, but ABM doesn't even fight like this. Sure, her movements aren't exactly what someone would call levelheaded either, but it's certainly not frantic.

Then again, during the fights with ABM, we're in her ideal environment while a containment unit in LCE is the furthest thing from an ideal environment for her.

Next is the mirror dungeon event. Unlike with SW, I won't analyse the ego gifts since a quick look tells me that they only reinforce what we already know.

"Orange circles float in the air before your eyes. The lights flutter and dance in the air, creating a haze." - I believe that the orange circles Dante mentions aren't actual circles but instead several other ABMs. How do I know this?

This is the artwork we get for this mirror dungeon event. You might be inclined to believe that the orange circles in question are very obviously the circles in this image, but that's not the case.

We know from this image (that is ABM's background art for her battle) that the orange circles we see in the event art are mini volcanoes (I don't know if that's what they're actually called but I digress).

And it'd be one thing if Dante really was talking about these, but the way they describe the orange circles as "the light flutter and dance in the air, creating a haze" would fit into ABM much more than the mini volcanoes. Going off of this, we can safely assume that the haze in question is formed by the army of tiny ABMs flying about in the event art… which is the case.

"Something is burning to death within. Would you be scorched as well if the flames touched you?" - This is something I'll get to again later, but we've seen this before, haven't we? Ishmael's ABS ego, specifically the corrosion. I already pointed out the similarity in sprites and how you can still see Ishmael within the corrosion sprite, but how she's still beyond recognition.

Now is where we get to the choices:

"Enchanted by the haze, you extend a finger, waiting for one of the lights to land." - There isn't much to say here, I've already said this during Yi Sang's observation log. Despite seeing the danger, Dante still reaches out their hand for... something. Though Dante's case is very different from what I mentioned in Yi Sang's observation log since reaching out was a choice that Dante made, and they were more interested in the haze itself rather than the light and warmth provided by ABM.

There are definitely faults in this take, but I don't think the details matter all that much.

"A glimmering ball gently perches on your digit. Then, a fire engulfs it." - I'm a little unsure of this one, but it seems to me that one of the ABMs took this as invitation. It feels similar to the corpses back in Ishmael's ABS ego art reaching out towards Ishmael/ABM, and Dante's finger immediately catching fire without any pain further enforces this to me.

"Another glow attaches to your body, then four, then eight. They multiply until you have been entirely shrouded in light." - This piece of information clarifies that the small lights aren't exactly ABM, but instead a child abnormality of her, in a way. The ABM we know is big, but these child abnormalities are likely the size of an actual moth.

Judging by how the event was resolved, I doubt that the smaller moths gathering on top of Dante was a good thing by any means. Sure, they came out of it unhurt, but any sinner who had an id without a wrath skill equipped got hurt.

Which makes me wonder if this exact event happened to the sinners as well, by which I mean the small ABMs surrounding their body. Losing 10 HP is practically nothing, so I'm assuming this means that the moths aren't capable of doing serious damage. This would explain why ids without wrath skills got hurt while those with wouldn't; they'd be able to withstand it thanks to having an affinity for wrath already.

This option is very anti-climactic but the safest thing to do.

"Resisting the temptation to reach out, you decide it's better to stay away from such dubious warmth." - There's not much to say here aside from the temptation to reach out towards ABM's flame is instinctive, maybe innate, it's still a pull you can resist. Though I doubt how resistable it might be to certain kinds of people.

"You feel a cold wave crawl up your spine in an instant, but it may be the right choice." - It is, leaving is the right choice, at least in terms of keeping yourself safe. The coldness that Dante feels the moment they turn around is exactly why ABM's flames are so dangerous. Flames are warm, and whatever is warm is also comfortable. It's far too easy to stay where it's comfortable despite how dangerous it might be.

"Even children know not to play with fire." - But that doesn't stop them from doing so, does it?

And here is the high risk high reward choice.

I'm not going to bother analysing this choice one by one but comment on it as a whole. Aside from this choice giving me vibes of someone who doesn't care for their own life, ABM forming within the haze is curious.

While it's a little hard to decipher what this is supposed to mean, I know from other abnormality encounters that an option that lets you obtain 2 ego gifts at the cost of a fight are options where you piss of or upset the abnormality you encountered.

What does this mean for ABM, though?

Faust's LCE says that ABM has a self destructive nature, we established that before. If someone has reached a point where they act self-destructive over something, I doubt that person has any sense of self worth. For an abnormality like ABM that's associated with wrath as well as what we know of her so far, I'm willing to bet there's a lot of self hatred involved as well.

What I'm trying to say here is that Dante in the 3rd option (something draws you into the haze) likely reminds ABM of herself. As an abnormality, she's bound to her fate and cannot defy it (otherwise she wouldn't be an abnormality in the first place). Seeing someone who has control over their own fate have a lapse of judgement and be drawn to your existence as a result would be an insult.

She knows that Dante isn't overcome by the instinct to reach out towards her flames in search of warmth, because Dante would've reached out, instead they walk right into the haze and it pisses ABM off. Here she is, bound by her own nature and unable to escape it, and this human who would know nothing about her pain is in awe of her existence. That just pisses her off.

This is also why we get the Ardent Flower ego gift together with Hellterfly's Dream. I can't comment on the latter much but I can say for sure that Ardent Flower is a representation of this exact feeling; of feeling belittled because of how someone perceives you and feeling angry due to it. Yes, ardent is a synonym of passionate, but passion can be fueled by both love and hate. Feel free to guess which one ABM has plenty of.

Now onto our last section for ABM before I tie everything together. Her enemy information:

First a quick look at ABM's stats. The resistances for her body line up with Ishmael's ABS ego, with the only difference being that ABM also endures envy but that makes sense, it's one of the resources for ABS.

Her wings are more or less the same with the only difference being that they're more fragile.

Onto her attacks. Yi Sang already got her attack patterns down but there are still some things that I want to bring up. Aside from the cycle of putting people on fire, stoking the flames to create stronger fire, then spreading more fire, her attacks also have a focus on wrath; namely inflicting her enemies with wrath resist down then converting her non-wrath skills to wrath skills.

She's basically a limbus player if a limbus player knew how to read instead of winrating every encounter lol. (It's me, I'm limbus player.) She's also what Nclair wishes he was, but I guess a human's hatred was never going to be on par with an abnormality's hatred.

Her skills are 2 sloth, 2 pride and 2 wrath respectively. What does that mean? For sinners, the sin affinities for their attack skills represent their feelings for the current mirror world they're in. To make a quick example: Heathcliff. His canto is already out so I don't have to go in depth with this explanation, but up until his KK id (which seems to be the happiest he has been, ever, do correct me if I'm wrong though) every single id Heathcliff had features an envy skill. This was a way for PM to show his feelings of inferiority born from his past, and that manifests the strongest in the form of envy because he's not allowed to have Cathy (the only person who didn't treat him like shit), but someone who's better than him in every aspect is.

What does that mean for ABM though? I interpret her sloth skills to mean that she has resigned herself to her role. She's destined to live an existence where she brings harm upon anything that comes too close, it's instinctive for her, so why even fight it at this point. But you know who else has sloth skills and has given up on defying their fate? That's right, Hong Lu! (this isn't about him)

Next, her pride skills. I interpret them as her response to her fate. Although she was born like this, she still yearns to be free; to escape. That's why it's such an insult when someone like Dante steps right into her domain like they're offering themselves up to be one of her. It's a personal slight, it's an insult to her ego, her pride.

And lastly, her wrath skills. I interpret them as another kind of response to her fate, as well as her feelings towards it. She's stuck with her role? Fine, she'll do such a good job at it that she won't be the only one suffering from her existence by the end of it. Her wrath skills also represent her frustration for her circumstance, but that one was obvious.

Her battle event goes like this:

I won't talk in depth here, but Dante is right that it's the core of ABM; it's the scorched remains of who she once was if that person ever even existed, if ABS Ishmael's corrosion is anything to go by.

Also note that this is one of the few events where you're asked to roll under the designated number and not above it. It's almost as if suppressing your emotions is what gives you an advantage, I wonder what that could mean?

Notice a certain line here: "Their fingertips begin to blister and bubble, but perhaps [Sinner]'s passion burned hotter than the flames itself."

With someone as self destructive as ABM is, you're bound to get hurt trying to help her. It's only by having a strong will, one that's stronger than ABM's hatred for herself and those around her can you truly reach out and help her.

It'll hurt, it'll be painful, but it's the only way to really touch her heart.

So then why does the chosen sinner throw away ABM's core? Didn't I say that was the remains of who ABM was?

These two questions are related to one another. The chosen sinner threw away ABM's core because Dante rightfully perceived the core to be what fed ABM's flames, thus it had to go. Following this decision, ABM's flames immediately calm down. She loses her ember and the sinners all lose burn.

All this to me is what proves that the core is ABM's remains. Part of her consciousness is still in there, somewhere. It might be dormant but the emotions that part feels (namely wrath) is exactly what acts as fuel for ABM. It's only by separating who she once was from the flames that are literally consuming every second of her life does the fire grow weaker.

So what happens when the chosen sinner fails the check?

The pain is simply too much, the will to help isn't strong enough. You can't be blamed for pulling away after realizing you'll get hurt, but pulling away from the person hurting won't make their situation any better.

It's an understandable choice, an understandable reaction, but in the end it just hurts more.

ABM's reaction isn't exactly clear here. Is she acting on instinct, is it a defense mechanism that triggered the moment she realized someone reached out not towards her flames, but to her heart for once?

Or is this anger in response to what has been attempted? That someone would dare reach out to her only to back away because of the pain, when the pain she's constantly in is so much worse than what they have been temporarily through?

It could be both, it's definitely one of them, but we'll never know for sure.

Now with all of that analysis done, what is ABM? Who is she? What's her deal?

ABM is, to put it simply, a form of corruption. Specifically a hatred so strong that it eventually takes over every aspect of your life, until you're left completely miserable. Sometimes the hatred you feel will be weak, sometimes it'll be so strong that it'll be painful just to experience it, but the feeling will always be there until you hurt yourself and your loved ones. It's the kind of hatred that makes you resent yourself, it's the kind of hatred that you'll take to your grave but most importantly, it's the kind of hatred that exists as a never ending cycle.

But as much as you resent yourself for being so hateful, deep down, you still want an out for this situation. You might've sunk too far to ever get out of the hole you dug yourself in, but that won't stop you from wishing for someone to reach out and drag you out of it.

That's why the scorched bodies in ABS Ishmael's art are reaching out towards her. They're all hurting, they have hurt others, but they still wished to be saved from the cycle they're stuck in.

But Ishmael cannot do that herself. She's stuck in that cycle as well. If she were to grab their hand, it'd inevitably end up with more pain. Her embrace; her understanding, her empathy is the only thing she can offer. It's the only thing she has to offer.

The same can be said for ABM as well. When Dante reaches out towards her, she's quick to "embrace" them; shrouding them in light as the smaller ABMs attach themselves to Dante. It hurts, it must hurt. Maybe not Dante specifically, but it's a painful experience for the sinners who haven't felt the pain that naturally comes with wrath.

There's more to say, but I feel like anything more I add will just reinforce what I've said about ABM being and representing a cycle of hatred and corruption.

And who is she?

ABM is someone who has been born into and stuck in this cycle of hatred all her life. Though she is capable of showing compassion to others and can help others out in her own way, she'll almost always end up doing more harm than good due to her very own nature.

She's irritable, she's prideful, she hates herself, hates those around her too, she's resigned to her own fate and the only way to pacify her is to contribute to the very cycle she's stuck in and responding to her violence with just as much (if not more) violence.

...wow, she's almost the exact opposite of SW, huh? A majority of her personality is just negative traits with just a few positive traits that end up doing harm anyway.

Wait hold on a second, everything I described sounds more like toxic yuri between the two and not doomed yuri? Well then, allow me to explain exactly why they are doomed yuri and not toxic yuri.

You know how I talked about ABM essentially being and representing a cycle of hatred (while SW is a representation of goodwill)?

SW is both the end to that cycle as well as a contribution to it.

She's the only one who shows unconditional kindness towards ABM, the only one to never resort to violence with ABM even if it hurts her.

It'd surely piss ABM off, after all, how could you just love someone like her? Someone who's the epitome of hatred? And given her temper, SW's kindness would inevitably end in her death... but remember! Abnormalities are immortal so SW's death will be temporary. And considering SW's personality, I don't think she'll stop being kind towards ABM just because of one death.

It's that very fact that turns SW's and ABM's relationship from a toxic one-sided yuri to a slowburn doomed yuri.

It's inevitable that the two would feel love for one another, SW towards ABM because of all the small things that ABM does, and ABM towards SW because she's the first being to treat ABM with unconditional kindness and without a hint of violence.

And this is where the doomed part of the yuri comes in. Though they may love each other greatly, ABM is destined to burn SW to death eventually, over and over again. I don't think SW would particularly care about this given how many times she would have to burn to death to even reach this point in their relationship, but that doesn't make ABM feel any less guilty or horrible for her very own nature.

Imagine the guilt you'd have, the kinds of thoughts that would follow you when you try to touch your beloved only to burn and hurt them. Imagine how horrible it would feel when they tried to reassure you saying they don't mind the pain, when you really should be the one reassuring them.

They cannot kiss, they cannot hold each other, they can't even touch one another without one of them dying.

Sunset Wayfarer is the answer that would free Ardour Blossom Moth from her cycle of suffering, but given their very nature as abnormalities, all she ends up doing is putting herself and Ardour Blossom Moth in a different kind of cycle; one that's still full of suffering.

The only way for these two to have a moment of peace... is through violence. Only by ripping off Ardour Blossom Moth's wings, only by extinguish her flames by force and leaving her in a vulnerable state is it possible for the two of them to touch one another and hold each other without fear of pain or death.

Their relationship, no matter how much they love one another, will always end with one of them being hurt.

Also um,

notice how similar the butterflies surrounding SW and one of ABM’s ego gifts look??

even projmoon themselves ship these two abnormalities they're literally meant to be