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Heishou Pack - 13th Branch

The ■■■■■■ Branch's Cuckoos disguise themselves as unassuming targets, planting themselves within and gaining the trust of their targets before their boluses kick in and they proceed to ruthlessly maul everything once their master gives the command.

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Persona 4 Revival - Teaser Trailer

The Persona 4 Remake is real

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Theory about Mephistopheles and the Chinese Identity of our American Girl

It seems my pleas for someone to steal my computer have fallen in deaf ears… At any rate, before starting this short, schizo theory, I have to clarify the following line

It’s not “an observer, and a wishmaker.” There’s no connector or word that implies the observer and wishmaker are different people. They are used in tandem, with no in-between at all.

The observer IS the wishmaker, in other words.

This clarification is important because before it, Carmen seemed genuinely surprised at how censored and blurry Jia Ishmael’s story became (“Oh.”, “[…] I suppose”). That means that she wasn’t the one who did it, and it doesn’t make sense for the observer-wishmaker to do it either. Thus, none of the parties we know of caused that phenomenon.

Now, the question is: what caused it? We know thanks to Yi Sang and Canto VI’s mess that the Mirror reflects the possibilities the individual holds at some level, with the worlds of Abnormalities—living symbols of the unconscious mind—described as “cracks in the mirrored world” and “incredibly narrow and unstable chasms.” Basically, and if we take Binah’s words in LC at face value, Abnormalities and the mind are more fundamental than Mirror worlds, acting as their foundations. Needless to say, this has several implications that I won’t get into, but the core of what I’m saying is that the Mirror Worlds are the possibilities of the mind and are only limited by it (as many players have guessed by now).

So the censored and blurred parts now make sense: they were carefully curated because they blatantly contradict what the observer-wishmaker assumes/thinks what defines Ishmael. If those parts hadn’t been hidden, then the contradictions would have made the observer-wishmaker think that Mirror World can’t possibly exist, making its observation an impossibility and thus denying their wish. Naturally, this also has its own implications that I won’t explain, as the only important thing about it is that we have 2 possible explanations now: either the mind of the observer-wishmaker ignored those parts, which is not very likely due to self-evident reasons, or someone modified what the Mirror showed.

We know from Dante’s Notes, that Identities are found via Mephistopheles’ engine (which, according to Faust, is also called Mephistopheles…), meaning that no one can really mess with what is extracted at all. Obviously, maybe Faust put a strange mechanism that allowed some unknown people to control what the extracted elements show, right? But then, the doubt about how those people know what Dante, as the observer-wishmaker, considers possible emerges.

So now we go into the schizo part…

Dante has a Golden Bough in their head, which is the thing that connects them to the Sinners  (Morositas pretty much confirmed it) and the “sapling” in Limbus’ headquarters. We also know that Golden Boughs have curious interactions with Mirror Worlds as per Canto VI, and they have a similar color to Mephistopheles’ engine…

Basically, Mephistopheles was the one who censored the information in Jia Ishamel’s story, likely due to the connection it has with the Golden Boughs in general (hinted during A Notable Change) and thus with Dante. This obviously presupposes that Mephi is alive at some level, which is somewhat supported by the game, from Charon to the Indigo Elder and Cassetti. Even Dante noted it somehow “evolves” with the Sinners in their notes.

For that matter, this has a literary foundation as well! Mephistopheles fulfilled every wish of Faust in all the variants of the story, and LCB Faust enjoyed stargazing in the past according to her evening greeting—and what kind of existence grants wishes in the universe? Furthermore, A Midspring Night’s Dream 2 seems to support this idea as well, with Charon specifically saying “Mephi, twinkle-twinkle like stars” at the end, after Dante woke up from their “fever dream,” which, as we know from the first April’s Fools event, is likely a glimpse into a Mirror World.

(Besides, how to forget the fact that the last skill of “Vergilius” is Mephistopheles running over the Sinners, and I genuinely doubt the actual Vergilius knows how to drive the Bus or would entertain doing so in those circumstances.)

Now, this also leads us to some interesting implications again: if Mephistopheles is a “star,” wouldn’t that make it a fallen one? Representation Emitter shows how Faust (or at least a Faust-adjacent person) discovered the engine somewhere underground. Consequently, does that mean the Stars are angels or similar creatures? Moreover, what does it imply for Dante’s true identity? In all versions, Mephistopheles is subservient to Faust only and no one else…

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Is love to be earned? Musings on one of Canto VIII’s themes

“Under Mercy, all shall be made equal”

Chesed. The Kindness and Mercy of God. His all-encompassing love that accepts and joins all, for only God fully understands your heights and depths, your best and your worst. Thus, it’s no coincidence that Dante’s awakened to its corresponding Sapling of Light’s ability in the Canto whose Sinner is the kindest of all, the one who couldn’t bring himself to hate his siblings, parents, and elders.

But such a thing really goes against what we hold as common morality, right? It’s alright—No, you must hate those who bring you and others harm, and not to forgive them as long as you want even if they have changed or are in the path to do so. Doing the contrary will certainly win you some disapproving/confused glares… Why does that sound familiar?

“Xinchun: ... Right. I guess... if it was anyone else among my siblings, they would have sent their lackeys after us already... Or... maybe I'm not even worth that much effort already.”

“Dissapointed Audience: We raised that failure as our own son? What a pathetic disappointment… Excited Audience: Don't worry... I have faith in our third child. I mean, it's not like we expected anything from this one, right?”

“Wang Qingshan: We've sacrificed so much of ourselves... just for this day... just for the Family Hierarch war… […] If I fail here miserably... having accomplished nothing... they might kill me when I get home… I have to do something, anything... to be a proud sister to my little siblings…”

“Shi Sijing: Father... Please forgive me... I should've done better than this…”

“Xue Baochai: But maybe they'll use a different treatment method on [Xue Pan] this time. Hopefully they'll edit him to be more obedient to mother's commands this time around~”

“Hong Lu: When a child is born, they aren’t celebrated—they are hidden, concealed for years in the dark, so that competition wouldn’t take notice of a new rival…”

Surprisingly, how collective morality can twist itself into the monstrosity that we see in the inhabitants of Daguanyuan. Every family readies itself to kill or be killed to achieve what they want, and impossible standards are put in children.

Certainly, most people would think our society—our ethics—can’t possibly be the same as Daguanyuan’s, but that’s a vile lie. The 2 systems are rooted in the same principles, on the threat that people do not deserve love if they don’t fulfill the standards and rules imposed upon them by others, that they are monsters that deserve to be insulted and gutted for daring to betray others’ expectations, no matter if they are kids or their parent, stranger or friends, or even the ideas we have of people

Truth to be told, it’s near impossible to escape such feelings and gut reactions, and as luck would have it, we are particularly good at pointing fingers, especially towards our parents and older relatives, those who raised us and were supposed to give us unconditional love. But things are always more complicated than that, aren’t they? We would love to always be the good guys, to receive love and care despite our flaws, yet when we have to do so with others…

Certainly, we can blame the Elders and Hierarch of Hongyuan for this. But at the same time, they were victims of that very same thing, weren’t they? Shi Miyin and the past Hierarchs were unconscious of that fact, they never understood what their search for immortality truly implied: just as the river goes down the mountain to the sea and the Sun rises and sets, so does the human life grow and withers away, acting as fertile soil for the next generation. Nature, after attaining the highest level of development, will forever descend into the dark embrace of the unknown, falling apart against the wishes of society and the collective.

“So for many people all too much unlived life remains over—sometimes potentialities which they could never have lived with the best of wills, so that they approach the threshold of old age with unsatisfied demands which inevitably turn their glances backward.” - Carl Jung, Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche.

The wish for immortality is a manifestation of the fear of death, which in turn is a product of fearing life and its disappointments. That is, for the Elders, to die means to have failed their forefathers, their family, and everyone else, admitting that everything they have done was for naught—sacrificies, tears, murders, pain, hatred. The Distorted form of Jia Mu, acting as a mere palanquin for the Xianhuang Worm, a symbol of collective expectations, traditions, and thus fears, with some of the skills’ names and affinities show how little Jia Mu thinks of herself without the Elders—the collective and society—approving of and praising her. 

However, immortality is infinite time and duration, and within infinity everything happens and therefore fades into sameness, which runs contrary to what life is about! Immortality goes against nature, and by “achieving” it, the Xianren fully physicalized their own fear of death born from trying to fit with what society asked of them, foregoing their own essence in search of that little, most “worthless” thing called love, the essence of God and goal of nature.

Back in Canto V, Queequeg felt envious of how Abnormalities “know” what they wish, and Ishamel expressed a curious idea of how Whales may feel lonely and try to make more of them to alleviate it. Naturally, this is similar to how Bloodfiends themselves act, and in that context I have to point out how the Manchengan Bloodfiends described the Golden Bough’s light as warmer and gentler than even the one they thought they lost forever—the same light Abnormalities, the unconscious aspects of life, and even the Pallid Whale seem attracted to. And what does the Golden Bough do? It illuminates the mind and manifests it, bringing buried fantasies into the sphere of consciousness, into reality.

The above was just a very long way to say that nature itself wants to be realized. It wants to be lived and known, and the only way to do so is… simply living, experimenting the good and the evil, the successes and failures. Pitifully for us, conscious beings, we are alienated from what surrounds us from the moment we open our eyes, all the while something primal inside us wants to feel connected to it, which is something only achievable by love, the creator and end of all creation. We, thus, yearn for something that is a deeply unconscious part of us, making us seek it in the external world… The rest is history, isn’t it?

“When we were born, our natures were good. Though our natures were similar, our habits made us different.”

But no matter how marred and deformed the body becomes, the repression of the yearning to live will never disappear, for it is our inalienable nature as living beings. Only in the most hopeless of situations is that drive truly lost. So, despite how aberrant they became, the Elders wished to experience all those possibilities they couldn’t live, those “foolhardy, young, witless, and flawed choices” that lead to “an adventure they would have never made,” which isn’t that far-off from how Bloodfiends work, right? A stale immortality that wishes to return to the natural flow of things more than anything, yet inherently tied to pleasure and blood.

Even when despair and stagnation hit rock bottom, the Elders refused to move from the comfortable stronghold they created, surrounded with artificial nature, content with merely watching the adventures, failures and bitterness their souls longed for. They watched and watched, but never dared to understand what they witnessed, because that would have meant they lived incorrectly and did everything wrong, that they are not worthy of the “love” and “respect” they desperately fought for.

With all of that said, then Hong Lu perfectly acts as the foil for the Elders and Shi Miyin: they are people who refused to follow what life—their own selves—had in store for them, merely witnessing from afar as everything that ends is ultimately meaningless. Only the eternal, such as Danguanyuan and its traditions, has any value, for it will never disappear and change, showing that they have done something worthy. To dream big and sacrifice oneself for the collective are the only correct ways to live, and Hong Lu soon learned that despite lacking such ambitions to begin with, seeing the way he lived as meaningless.

“Jia Qiu: Each heart has a different cause that moves them. How can one speak of the fathoms of a lake when all they have seen is the water’s surface?”

Kong Qiu, by contrast, is the antithesis of the Elders: he experienced the depths of despair the day the Kong family was eradicated, failing in every single way the standard by which Danguanyuan’s inhabitants judged the world. However, despite temporarily falling into a deep hatred for the world, he walked beyond the prison of Hongyuan, into the vast City filled with flaws, disappointment, and hope, and “by the age of 30” he firmly stood up against society and its delusion that there was only 1 way to be and act, as represented by his EGO, Érli. He essentially became what the Elder could have been if they had not been broken, the “perfect man” by which life becomes realized and known, accepting the walks of life and flows of people, but only as long as they follow what their soul and heart tell them.

Fundamentally speaking, then, Kong Qiu has an enormous wellspring of kindness he has managed to perfectly control and manage thanks to the worldly wisdom he has gained. In Kabbalistic terms, this can be understood as Geburah tempering Chesed, or the justice and might of God controlling his kindness to allow the continued existence of creation. Needless to say, his violent but necessary confrontation against Hong Lu shows it the best, as there’s no better guide for the “eternal child” than the adult that experienced the worst of life.

And so, we finally arrive at Hong Lu’s final realization.

“So what if we can race against the wheels of death? If we are always running, we can’t behold the sceneries.”

The Elders and Hong Lu shared the fear of the meaningless represented by death and temporality. They ran and ran to not be hurt more than what they already were. They closed themselves into their respective lands of illusions, warding off the violent and bitter waters of life that dictate the flow of time itself, as Hubert wisely stated. But at the end, after witnessing what the Sinners and Kong Qiu have done for him, Hong Lu decided and exposed himself to the risk of failure, for life is teleology par excellence—seeking its own descent and end as the culmination of its existence.

But more importantly… Hong Lu understood the Elders were no different than him and everyone else from his family. They were much of a child as he was, that even his beloved grandmother was a “little girl” before the eyes of collective tradition and morality. So, instead of killing them in a fit of anger guided by his disappointment, he shared his kindness and love with Elders one final time before closing the doors of their self-created, interminable hell isolated from the world and its refreshing waters.

“Hoping that through my finder you’ll find another answer.”

Love is the creator of nature, its conqueror, and humanity is alienated from nature since its birth. But if his older brother and friends fought for and won him, who is to say the Elders can’t be saved? It may be meaningless, they surely won’t change, but he wants to give them that last mercy.

It may acquire diverse shapes and forms depending on their circumstances and necessities, yes, but Hong Lu knows very well how important it is to feel loved, independent of what people do, for that is what everyone yearns inside their hearts.

Post-Commentary

There’s not much to say here, really. I think the post already speaks for itself. At most, I think the ideas may be somewhat clunky and dispersed? The topic is really dense, so trying to summarize it like this feels lacking. The Divine Comedy certainly describes the same idea, though with harsher lenses (akin to Kong Qiu’s).

Outside of that, the only thing I can rescue is that my appreciation about Shi Miyin can potentially apply to Jia Huan at some level, thanks to Qiu’s comparison. I don’t think his usage of the “Contempt, Awe” EGO is just as simple as him being a “professional hater,” as we know the Spiral is just as susceptible to having its own pride broken and hating itself.

So, with that said, until the next post!

(please, someone steal my computer)

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Crazy Thoughts About Canto VIII Part 3

Did you know that in Hundred-Footed Death Maggot’s background has a sarcophagus at the center? But not any type of coffin; it’s an open one.

And it’s either filled with scrolls or bandages. I’m more partial to the second option, as the EGO animation is clearly inspired by the Jiangshi, or the Chinese “hopping vampire” (who was referenced all the way back in Canto V, as a story Hong Lu said Xiren told him once). This basically tells us that Centipede Apostle is a vampiric creature at some level… and that the same applies to the Elders or Xianren of H Corp.

Why do I say that? Well, beyond the similitude between the EGO background and the Tiekan temple (铁槛寺, or “Temple of the Iron Cage”), it’s because this last location was the family crypt or mausoleum of the Jia family in DotRC as far as I know. But then again, that’s something most people here intuit already, right? Especially with what Jia Mu said about following the “rivers’ path” despite the supposed obsession of the Elders of Hongyuan with immortality.

Anyway, the correlation between the Jiangshi and the Elders is interesting due to how contradictory it is: the Elders are Xianren, or the famous Immortals, ascetic sages or mystics that were able to attain immortality. Many things are said about them that I won’t touch here, but the important thing is that, like every good ascetic, connections with the natural world are present.

And Hong Lu said that the path towards the Elders looks even more “outside-ish” than the outside itself. Besides, the house above looks pretty metallic, with the mountains there referencing their classical depictions in East Asia to boot.

Anyway, as I said, Xian are supposed to be immortals, but true immortals. They do not age nor get sick. So, why are the Elders obsessed with the “immortality of the mind”? There are several options, but thanks to the above explanation, I’m partial to the idea they genuinely died and got resurrected, their bodies rotten and unable to leave the Tiekan temple, either because whatever “magic” they used ties them to it or because the Head will fuck them up if they go out.

(Look at those claws!)

Now, the connection between Centipede Apostle and the Elders seems to go deeper too, as the pillars in the temple have engraved centipedes on them.

(It could also be a dragon…)

So the connection is very obvious, and considering Ishamel’s EGO Corrosion, the Elders are pretty desperate to go outside. Their search for the immortality of the mind likely has to do with the idea of preserving their individuality in another body, skipping all possible limitations their current form of bodily immortality has. And for that matter, yes, I’m completely sure about the body snatching theory thanks to a certain post I read some days ago.

“蝍蛆殺” is the Chinese “name” of the EGO, and it’s a reference to The Erya, a book of the Song period that, as the post writes, describes how centipedes can eat the brain of snakes. Again, centipedes—the Elders—can eat the brain of serpents. 

So yeah, the Elders are a bunch of sadistic vampires that want to eat people’s individuality. Worse of all? It has a fuckin’ explanation thanks to Hundred-Footed Death Maggot’s passive: Reversal Death by Gu Poison.

So, the Gu poison is the easiest part to understand: it’s an esoteric poison created by sealing several venomous animals (like the centipede) in a box or similar so they can kill each other, under the belief it would concentrate the toxins into the last survivor. Naturally, such a potent poison is extremely useful for evil magic and curses, such as killing people… But reversal of death? That’s a new one, and if what I think is correct, it means the Elders are being kept alive by the concentrated curses in Daguanyuan, Hongyuan, and, thanks to Hong Lu, the entire City, as they are nothing but enormous “boxes” in their own ways.

Now, since that conclusion looks pretty wild, I decide to check the Korean name of the passive to check it: “고독반살”, where “고독” should be read as “Gu Poison,” and “반살” as either “reversed kill” or “half kill.” So yeah, it’s likely the Elders feed from the misery they watch in BaoyuTV, just like the Jiangshi absorb the qi or life force of people. And returning to vampiric creatures…

I described Four-Hundred Roses as the embodiment of people that can’t let go of their desires and thus end up living life through others, with the “Four-Hundred” part referring to the countless names the Abnormality acquires (Millarca, Carmilla) in a fruitless attempt at changing its core nature—a bloody and meaningless imitation of baptism. And I hope you are familiar with the theory of how the RR final bosses foreshadow the final encounter of the next Canto because, while I don’t believe it too much, what I described is eerily similar to the Elders’ situation, isn’t it? And fortunately, someone on Reddit already did the heavy editing work :) If the theory is right, then the Elders will merge into a single entity…

I also want to highlight how similar those wings from the CG are to the ones in Hong Lu’s Tears of Tarnished Blood. What does that mean? I’m not sure. I just wanted to mention it xD.

At any rate, the TL;DR version of this… theory, I guess, is:

The Elders were resurrected and now are hiding in the Tiekan temple for ABC reasons.

They need to feed on misery and pain to keep their immortality.

They are losing their individual differences, bearing different names despite slowly becoming one entity.

The final fight will be against the resulting “Gu Poison,” which either will be its own entity or hijack Jia Mu’s body.

Did you know metal is weak against water according to the Wuxing?

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A Potential Timeline for Project Moon Media (Spoilers for all media)

Note: This is mostly broad guesses based on certain interactions/lines across all the available media and common sense (i.e, the smallest or simplest possible time span), so there may be some spoilers from other games. I may also be misremembering some things and skipping others as well, so corrections/additions are welcome.

(I will be using the Day/Month/Year format)

1/985: Nocturnal Sweeping and Canto VIII occur. Lin Daiyu is almost 30, but not 30.

Hong Lu is older than Daiyu, and his birthday is 6/6. He is either 29 or 30.

1/984 to 12/984: Selva Oscura to LCB Check-Up occur.

Late 12/983 to Early 1/984: The Sinners finally meet each other and form the body of LCB.

24/12/983: Sinclair’s family is massacred by Kromer and N Corp.’s inquisition (upper limit).

If the Sinners’ number is connected to the order in which they were recruited, then Outis and Gregor joined Limbus after Sinclair, pushing the formation date of LCB to early January 984.

6/983 to 12/983: Considering the previous theory, all Sinners, from Don Quixote to Gregor, are recruited by Limbus.

Yi Sang is a mysterious case, but he was recruited before Aseah was “stolen” by the Ring (which was stated in Leviathan) or after he returned (end of Leviathan). I’m partial to him being recruited after Aseah returned, as Hermann mentioned him in Yi Sang’s flashback and Gubo didn’t make any reference to Yi Sang in Leviathan.

6/983: Leviathan (Chapter 2 onwards) occurs.

24/12/982: Chapter 1 of Leviathan happens.

Lower limit for Sinclair’s family to be killed.

Late 11/982 to Early 12/982: Angela releases the Light and the Library is exiled to the Outskirts.

The League of Nine collapses at some time before the release of Light, but within the same year and close to it (“Pierce of a Torn Winter” EGO gift). This is due to the Ring becoming obsessed with Vergilius’ orphans (his orphanage was attacked by the first Library’s guests to wake up), which is the likely reason for them to “steal” Aseah from Nagel und Hammer to begin with.

~981 to 982: Library of Ruina and Distortion Detective occur.

Timeline is unclear. It's unlikely the entire game took more than 2 years, especially due to the latter half and the SotC/Impuritas receptions.

Distortion Detective occurs on the early part (when the Library is an Urban Legend)

~978: Ayin releases the Light, but it is sabotaged by Angela and she creates the Library. An unknown time after, likely no more than a couple of months, the first Distortion incident happens: the Pianist.

Timeline is unclear. The ritual at Quercus Village (Distortion Detective) is monthly and produced 45 Distortions, meaning that between the release of Light and LoR’s Urban Legend status there are approximately 3 years and 8 months at most. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say there are 3 years between LC and LoR.

~968 to ~978: Lobotomy Corporation occurs.

Most of the incidents we know happen around this timeframe. It’s impossible to give them a proper place.

~965 to ~968: The Smoke War happens around this time (most likely in the 966-967 range), with the new L Corp. and its allies winning. 

Assuming Gregor is 35 in 984, he fought in the Smoke War as a teenager (17 to 18).

Similarly, assuming Myo is 29 during the last part of LoR, she fought in the War as a… 13- or 14-years-old girl.

~965: Hong Lu and Lin Daiyu are approximately 10 years old. The massacre of the Kong family happens and Garion cleans it, moving to destroy Carmen’s labs in the Outskirts afterward.

~955: Lin Daiyu is born, and possibly Hong Lu too.

~784: The Human-Bloodfiend occurs, with the Manchengan family joining the human side. La Manchaland amusement park is created by Don Quixote, but after some time it collapses.

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ipad kid hong lu

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Limbus Company Abnormalities Analyses

Refraction Railway Line #1: Madness

Part 1: Blubbering Toad, Alleyway Watchdog, and kqe-1j-23

Part 2: Headless Ichthys, and My Form Empties

Refraction Railway Line #2: Möbius

Part 1: So That No One Will Cry, Steam Transport Machine, Drifting Fox, and Faelantern

Part 2: Shock Centipede, Fairy Gentleman, Fairy-Long-Legs, Wayward Passenger, and Sign of Roses

Refraction Railway Line #3: MirrorClock OrangeRoad

Part 1: Dream-Devouring Siltcurrent, Drenched Gossypium, and Ambling Pearl

Part 2: Skin Prophet, Ardor Blossom Moth, and Spiral of Contempt

Refraction Railway Line #4: Masquerade

Only Part: Portrait of a Certain Day, Dreaming Electric Sheep, and The King in Binds

Refraction Railway Line #5: Merry Go Around

Part 1: Hurting Teddy Bear, Rose Hunter, and Sleeping Bag of a Bygone Day

Part 2: Der Fluchschütze, and Four-Hundred Roses

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So the Jungian definition of a Persona is that it's a mask used in different situations. Like, the way you would talk to your boss is different to the way you would talk to your friend. Kind of hate it because it's so real he was on to something with that. But anyway talking with someone allows you to understand them better, which allows you to know what to say to them/mimic them better, so raising Social Links lets Hero make better Personas of that Arcana. Acting the 'right' way towards people makes them like you more, so having a Persona of the same Arcana allows Hero to gain more points. It's pretty clever. So the ultimate Persona, then, would be the manifestation of a complete understanding of said other person/the archetype that they/Hero's relationship with them embodies. This post is about Thanatos btw he's got some other stuff going on as well as the generic ones.

But the thing with Thanatos being the ultimate Persona of Pharos' Social Link is that it means Ryoji gets excluded. It's specifically Pharos' relationship with Hero(Ryoji has Fortuna/Saturnus). But I don't think that's entirely right. The original game(and FES) give Ryoji nothing else, and the manga and movies make it clear Thanatos is Ryoji's as well. There's also Thanatos' level. It's quite high: in the original game it's reached at the start of Adamah; in Reload the end, both of which are after seeing all of Ryoji. I think he works best as Death as whole, not just one specific version.

Anyway, Thanatos is, of course, the Persona 3. He's what's on the box, and one of Hero's Persona 3, alongside Orpheus and Messiah. It's also fun that they're the same Arcana as the 3 automatic Social Links, being the Fool(SEES), Death(Pharos), and Judgement(SEES(technically Nyx Annihilation Team) again). But this means that Thanatos(and thus his relationship with Pharos) is important, not just in general, but to who Hero is as a person. Which it is! Having Death sealed inside of him is what made him a Wild Card, brought the Persona users together, even set off the events of the entire game. But Hero's also friends with Pharos. It's not just important on a mechanical level, but also on an emotional one. And Pharos' relationship to Hero is just as important to him! This time especially on an emotional one. I'm not explaining why play the game

So Persona Club P3(my beloved) adds a little more extra spice to Thanatos. The bit in blue.

It says about how what's seen in Hero's awakening isn't actually the Persona Thanatos but the Shadow Death. The more relevant bit, though, is the sentence at the end.

On the other hand, the Persona 'Thanatos', which can be summoned after the fusion of the other parts of Death and Pharos is released from inside Hero, only has the appearance of Death; he is an empty vessel that only copies its appearance, a literal mask.

Excusing my shoddy translation, I take this as meaning that Thanatos is the empty space inside Hero where Death used to be. He's the opposite of what's shown in the awakening.

So while the Club Book is canon, there's tons more to Thanatos in some more non canon P3 media. I'll get to Arena hold on.

So! Starting off a bit obscure, the Weiss Schwarz cards for FES.

It's interesting because there's a bunch of cards for all of SEES' second awakenings that this is a part of.

Hero, Ken, and Mitsuru's also got an alternate version, which makes it clear they are the awakenings.

You get why this is relevant it's December 31st.

While Reload did get new Weiss Schwarz cards, they're not very interesting. What is interesting, though, is the Battle Spirits cards. This time, Messiah is completely ignored in favour of Hero's Personas just being Orpheus and Thanatos. Uhhh idk the new art is really pretty. That's it.

To get back on track, the manga! Minato doesn't like Pharos but likes Ryoji and Thanatos just kind of appears. It sucks but there is a singular page which I think about all the time.

When Nyx Avatar mentions an Arcana, there's a page with some flashbacks about the character associated with it. Some weirdness with the last 5 throws Chidori in the bin(she's not even dead!) and instead gives the Hanged Man to Thanatos. But like man this is crazy. It's the same principle of Ryoji's Social Link: he's so tied to the Death Arcana that giving him another one is a statement in of itself, especially when the point is how Ryoji is breaking away from his original fate. And Thanatos being that makes so much sense: Ryoji very much does not want to become Nyx Avatar/destroy everything, so much so that he would rather die. Thanatos is undeniably allied with Minato, fighting alongside him to save everything. And what's really fun is that this is all about how Thanatos relates to Ryoji, not Minato.

The P3 movies my friend the P3 movies while you have your flaws one of them is not how you handled Thanatos. That bit of the manga actually came out a couple months after M4 so just know that it copied this not the other way around. Anyway, Makoto's entire character arc(and probably one of the most important themes in P3 as a whole) revolves around his reticence to connect with others due to the fear of losing them, and how that's wrong not just because the moments you have now are important, but also because even after they're gone you're still friends. That's something Ryoji's always going on about, and it's especially relevant to him due to how his presence is an extention of Makoto's relationship with Pharos.

And so when Ryoji turns into Nyx Avatar, Makoto still sees it as Ryoji. After finishing its sentence like how Ryoji did for him, he remembers the time he spent with Ryoji and summons Thanatos. What he represents is pretty obvious, especially with the frame where Makoto's silhouette becomes Ryoji. He's the physical proof that what Ryoji was saying was right. And it's not just Makoto who still remebers his friendship with Ryoji; Nyx Avatar also recognises Thanatos as its desire to not hurt Makoto.

Also fun fact the song that plays when Makoto summons Thanatos(Self Redemption) has the same tune as what plays when Junpei summons Trismegistus(Resuscitation). Also it's called Self Redemption and has lyrics like "gonna stand up against that fate"

Uhhh conclusion! Thanatos represents the relationship between Hero and Death and all that entails, being both the physical and metaphorical proof that said relationship existed even after Ryoji's dead.

Now this is why I left mentioning Elizabeth's use of Thanatos in Arena to the end. Of course there's the boring reason, that being that Thanatos is the Persona 3 and thus is the most iconic one, and there's also the reason Elizabeth herself gave, that being that Thanatos being the god of death is in some way giving Erebus what he wants, but there's more. Now both Hero and Ryoji are dead, but their relationship is still just as strong as ever(if not more). It's also clowning on Erebus far more than before. That's the desire of the thing that's going to cause the Fall to not hurt the thing that's stopping the Fall from happening!

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Refraction Railway Line #5 Abnormalities Part 2 (Analysis)

It's so much fun leaving reality behind

“I bet that fellow had their beloved. Yup, I'm talking about the one whose head I just blew up. They might have remembered what I don't. That makes this just too exhilarating. Killing people who remember their loved ones, I mean.” - Abnormality Encounter.

So, Der Freischütz, or The Freeshooter. Everyone knows the tale by now, right? A classical “Deal with the Devil” type of story where a hunter or gunner procures magical bullets through less than orthodox methods, such as black magic or from the Devil himself. The Lobotomy Corporation Abnormality, Der Freischütz, conserves the most important plot point while putting its own spin on the story, for what tale is a better symbol of the City than the one that speaks about the true price of its so-called “pragmatism”? When the only thing you are seeking is results, the true price isn’t someone else—it is your own heart.

“My beloved, huh…. Did I ever have people I held that dearly? I couldn't be sure anymore.” - Abnormality Encounter.

Der Fluchschütze’s story is very much the same: the Devil appeared to “him” one day and offered it a weapon that will always hit its targets but whose last shell will blow up the heads of the Shooter’s loved ones. Instead of killing them like its LC counterpart did, however, Fluchschütze simply decided to forget them so as to not cause them harm, obscuring and forsaking the reason it joined the war in the first place.

Yet, that very aptitude sets this “Aberration” from Freischütz, for it puts it in a context we all know pretty well: the (Smoke) War. In such a situation, how does one survive? How does one carry on despite all the committed atrocities and slaughters beyond simply drowning in the pleasure of violence? At that point, any anger directed at it or desperate attempt at surviving just are part of the show the Abnormality enjoys, especially because it doesn’t have to move from its pleasant position.

“Now that I think about it, this bastard went for the closest one to him first when choosing his target.” - Heathcliff, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3

Quite the opportunistic individual, right? The “Designated Target” and “Summon Target” passives further show how Fluchschütze always goes for the weakest link as it comfortably lies at the back of the formation. “Rear Line Fire” and “Front Line Fire” keep the joke running thanks to the affinities, as it truly hates going into the front lines despite shotguns being made for that exact niche. Though, that doesn’t mean it’s bad at melee combat, as the remaining passives hint at how nasty the Abnormality can get at “close quarters” if it already gathered Poise and thus momentum.

So a machine of war and violence. That’s what Abnormality is in every sense, how it presents and thinks of itself. The summons it invokes and kills without a second thought? Its Pride skills that never miss? Its gloating about blowing up the heads of “those who remember”? They are all expressions of Fluchschütze's tale: the devil who only looks back when its magic bullets somehow miss (see “Targeting Settings” status) or it is forced to retreat (“See Through Defense” is Gloom for a reason).

…

Okay, let’s be honest: who actually believes that story? A demon whose bullets always hit? Laughing and reveling in death? C’mon, that’s like a shady wagon with a colorful “Free Candy” message written on it! It is like seeing Spiral of Contempt V2.0!

“'No! I don't want to remember them! I don't… I don't want to remember the ones I love!' 'Oh… please… stop smiling. I said, stop smiling!' 'Get away from me! Shut up!' The shooter pulls the trigger, his voice tainted by anguish… But the force behind the bullets had already become much weaker.” - Mid-Combat Event (Check passed).

The Abnormality is weak to both Pride and Gloom because, below its carefully crafted mask of arrogance, it only holds despair and regret over what the war and the Devil caused it to lose, a gaping wound in its heart that it refuses to treat as it blindly exposes it to everyone, fully convinced that it has forgotten it. Even in the beginning, when the Abnormality was first added to the game during Season 2, it was evident how fragile the bravado of the famed “bloodthirsty gunman” was when confronted with the truth, unable to keep on denying its miserable and visceral heart once you forced everything to fall into place.

The manner in which Fluchschütze presents itself is nothing but a way to cope with its new reality, the hellish war from which one can only escape through sweet death. But surprisingly, it doesn’t deny that; the Abnormality is well aware that it is better for your loved ones if you die as another victim (or innocent man, if possible)... According to its lines when you fail the “tell the shooter that you’re on its side” check, that is, with said option suspiciously having the Shooter’s weaknesses as Sin advantages.

The Shooter only forgives you because it thinks you are like it—that you are it, having the same despair and delicate hubris born from thinking your loved ones deserve better than a bloody murderer. Yet, that action itself is quite self-serving, isn’t it? Abandoning the ones it loves because it doesn’t want to confront their judgment, yet clinging to the shame that drives it to even worse atrocities. Its characteristic Pride then acquires a new light, doesn’t it? Der Fluchschütze likely didn’t forget its loved ones because of the Devil’s contract; it accepted the deal because it wanted to forget them. It was easier to find an excuse instead of confronting what it became in the first place, for a “bullet” to pierce its “head.”

“Oh-oh Round and round we go Holding on to pain Driven by our egos”

Oh, yea baby, it came back.

Heathcliff is no doubt the biggest example of this kind of tale: he refused to wait and listen to Catherine’s true feelings because he couldn’t think of himself as someone worthy of being loved, unconsciously believing he was a mere beast (or devil). Yi Sang fell into a similar abyss after getting rolled in N Corp., focusing entirely on the Mirror’s research instead of confronting Gubo because he thought his “wings” were crippled and could not find a home ever again.

“That is untrue. The one Gubo cares for the most… would be himself.” - Yi Sang, N Corp. Cubic Room I (Reminisced League of Nine), Canto IV.

The heart is a fickle thing. It’s completely understandable that, when hurt, it retreats into itself in order to heal. But such a strategy only works when paired with the promise of going out of the shell one day, ready to confront whatever judgement comes—frightful, severe judgment. In such a situation, wouldn't it just be simpler to forget that something ever happened? To be all by yourself without those voices that care for you, want you to be better, and you don’t want to hurt?

At the end of the day, the contract is really tempting: no matter what you do, you will finally be free of fear and anxiety to do as you wish. Just beware that the Devil, like you, will get what he wants.

The bullet is forever destined to pierce your loved ones, no matter the distance you put.

Nothing can be done by yearning for sympathy for myself

“This flower was once a rose that could have been tiny and beautiful. But now, the blood it holds gives off a cruel smell. Drinking and growing giant, it sucked in blood that overflowed from a spring. Without an end. It greedily gobbles up the stream of blood with its branched roots.” - Abnormality Encounter.

From my perspective, Drifting Fox, Sign of Roses, Headless Ichthys, and My Form Empties have been the densest Abnormalities I have analyzed so far. And now, I’m delighted to put Four-Hundred Roses in that list as well, all thanks to its rich source material: Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. While it’s possible to give an analysis without knowing the novel, the categorization of the Abnormality as a “Fairy Tale” one already discards the notion.

Pitifully, for as much as I wanted to read the book, my current schedule and studies didn't (and still doesn’t) allow me to do that. Instead, I listened to an audiobook I found on Youtube, since it was the easiest way to know the story and quickly understand it. So if you find some misconceptions about the facts of the novel, blame them on that.

And as a last thing before the analysis proper: Don’t take my comments about the character of Carmilla as if they were about her sexuality. I’m not speaking about that, but about her psychology and particular need for Laura.

Now… Where to begin? I suppose with the self-evident facts: Four-Hundred Roses is a very hungry plant, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that its stem and vines—the “lowest” body parts, devoid of any mental faculty—have all the Gluttony skills, incarnating the all-consuming need for blood proper of all vampire-like creatures. This is in contrast to the “flower’s” more ample emotional spectrum, varying from frustration at the inability to satisfy its hunger to a certain kind of reticence over its situation, longing for just blood and nothing else.

“It desires not to slay, nor does it to harm. That creature… it merely yearns for blood. I don’t suppose that flower was always such a beastly thing.” - Don Quixote, Abnormality’s Observation Log #1

Four-Hundred Roses’ seeming emotional instability is seen in many aspects of its battle, such as the recurring Mid-Combat Event and, more than anything, battle themes: Me Relinque and Ne Me Relinque, or in English, Leave Me and Do Not Leave Me, a solemn, almost funerary song that soon becomes a frenetic tango-like melody when the Abnormality loses its “sweetness” and succumbs to its hunger. And as Reddit user chairamel pointed out months ago, such a behavior may have its origin in a small excerpt of Carmilla, near the end:

“The vampire is prone to be fascinated with an engrossing vehemence, resembling the passion of love, by particular persons. [...] In these cases it seems to yearn for something like sympathy and consent. In ordinary ones it goes direct to its object, overpowers with violence, and strangles and exhausts often at a single feast.” - Chapter XVI: Conclusion.

Furthermore, at the beginning of the novel, Carmilla’s “mother” described her as a nervous and chronically ill girl, which was enough for Laura, her father, and their entourage to gloss over the vampire’s strange behavior. Considering how Carmilla killed Bertha and moved on without waiting, quickly going for Laura, it is obvious her “nervousness” was just another excuse to gather sympathy and compassion for herself, a pat on her back not unlike Four-Hundred Roses’ attitude when it silently pleads for the Sinners’ blood, driven by its Endless Yearning—and God have mercy if you refuse to give any.

At this point, it should be obvious that Abnormality is Carmilla’s analogue here. It imitates her character perfectly, how their shallow charm serves only to hide the true core of their existences, as marked by the complete absence of any other Sin affinity beyond Lust and Gluttony (and Wrath, but I already touched on that). Even Four-Hundred Roses’ resistances mirror that, since it doesn’t have any weakness or resistance at all: it simply doesn’t care what others think about it, just like Carmilla herself.

“You will think me cruel, very selfish, but love is always selfish; the more ardent the more selfish. [...] You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me and still come with me, and hating me through death and after. There is no such word as indifference in my apathetic nature.” - Carmilla, Chapter VI: A Very Strange Agony.

Anything and everything was “received” by Mircalla, as long as it came from Laura—but so it had been with Bertha as well. Choosing them from childhood, stalking their families (see her strategy with Spielsdorf), and delaying the deed for as long as she could… Carmilla is a monster that didn’t doubt in killing dozens of women to satisfy her thirst, both in the story and previous to it, so why? Why did she put so much work into those 2 girls and the countless that came before them? The answer, thankfully, lies in the figure that Laura represented to both her father and Carmilla: the Kore, the innocent and helpless maiden who holds a “magical” (i.e., non-existent beyond the projection itself) allurement over people.

Needless to say, Laura is anything but a Kore; she’s just a plain, naive, and isolated teenager whose sole parent couldn’t bring himself to “release” her (until the last chapter, with their tour through Italy) but tried to coddle her with anything she wished for. In that sense, inside Laura remained a primitive something, a certain level of innocence connected to nature itself, which proved irresistible to the undead, who, by definition, lives apart from nature, alienated from her very soul and the touch of divinity. The same applies to Bertha and her uncle, who lived “lonely evenings at home.”

“The ‘Kore’ has her psychological counterpart in those archetypes which I have called the self or supraordinate personality on the one hand, and the anima on the other.” - Carl Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.

Yes, Jung is at it again.

Thus, from a psychoanalytic point of view, Laura lived the tragedy of being an image-bearer to those close to her, someone by whom they felt psychologically fulfilled. Curiously, this feminine duality is also seen at some level in the Divine Comedy through Beatrice, as she is Dante’s Anima (contrasexual psychic archetype) and a Christ-like figure, with Christ naturally being a symbol of the Self, the whole nature of man that embraces nature and divinity. And what does Christ offer?

“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’” - John 3:3.

Rebirth. Resurrection. Rest for the spirit and redemption—such things are what Mircalla, through her constant choosing of girls like Bertha and Laura, wanted to achieve. Yet, baptism is union with God and thus nature, which, as I wrote, is antithetical to vampires: they cling to life with everything they have, despite death being a needed part of it. Even Carmilla knew that, as she proclaimed that “everyone must die; and all are happier when they do” during her fit when listening to and watching the funeral procession, and people are generally more honest with their thoughts when they are driven by their emotions.

Furthermore, there’s that scene near the end in which the group of men opened the tomb of Mircalla and found her body floating in a “pool” of blood at least 7 inches deep. Considering that blood is the gross version of water, the baptism imagery becomes obvious, as well as Mircalla’s desire to die and be reborn through Laura’s “warm life” (as the poor girl dies for the vampire’s, of course). More important, however, is how this is reflected in the Four-Hundred Roses and its Mirror Dungeon Encounter.

(The transformation from “Millarca,” Bertha’s assassin, to “Carmilla”).

The “Plug the spring” option is easy to understand, as it falls into the unstable behavior of the Abnormality (just like the “Bloodthirsty Stench” passive), so I’ll skip it. The other 2 are much more interesting due to their EGO gifts: feeding it the Sinners’ blood causes it to bloom into Millarca, a healthy-looking rose, likely due to how hydrated the Abnormality is; meanwhile, breaking the spring’s entryway causes Four-Hundred Roses to submerge and drown in the blood, to be reborn in Camilla, a… withered, pale, and ugly rose—a far cry from the “tiny and beautiful” thing it was in the past.

Baptism is rebirth. It should have redeemed the Abnormality. So what went wrong? To be precise, absolutely nothing. The blood baptism showed who Four-Hundred Roses truly is and the course it should follow. But just as Mircalla was unable to give up on life and thus clung to the innocence of certain kinds of girls, “Carmilla” is unable to give up on its primitive desire for life, wishing by all means to recover its lost vitality instead of living with things as they are (see the EGO gift’s effect of draining the enemies’ HP). Basically, both entities refused to confront their desires, abandoning the idea of conquering their lives so they could/can “live” them through others, wanting their pity, acceptance, and “you did your best.” It’s not a coincidence that the section of Canto VII’s dungeon where you fight the corroded Bloodbags, Bloodfiends, and Fixers is called “An Internment For Those Who Could Not Abandon Their Desire.”

In many of my previous posts, I have commented that roses are a symbol of individuality in Project Moon’s work, and this case isn’t different: The “Four Hundred” of the Abnormality’s name comes from the countless identities and shapes it has acquired through being “reborn,” similar to Mircalla’s amassing of “baptismal” names… Buuut, just as the vampire’s identities were always tied to her original one, the Abnormality’s nature is always the same, no matter what it does. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” right?

Fundamentally speaking, then, Four-Hundred Roses longs for life more than anything else, with blood being a symbol for it in the same way it is for Bloodfiends. It wishes to gorge itself in the ecstasy of nature—of the sun, air, and vitalizing waters—and feel in touch with it, finally happy and content with itself once more, not tied to the pity of others. Yet, blood is not only life but connection as well, therefore binding the Abnormality forever to said others, not unlike Mircalla’s search for redemption through innocent girls, the “children” who are life and nature embodied. And unfortunately for them, there’s only 1 answer for their “moral” conundrum of knowing the harm they have to cause to keep “living”:

“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” - Matthew 10:39

To be alive is to follow life’s journey, its becoming and decaying. It is impossible to return to that state of innocence and freedom, filled with childlike wonder at every step. If you try, you will be forever smothered by feelings of shame and inadequacy, for you are refusing to follow what life prepared for you—you are stunting your own progress! Thus, the only path forward is to accept and live that fearsome descent instead of just acknowledging it from a distance like Mircalla did during the procession.

Now, what I wrote above surely must sound cruel when applied to the Bloodfiends, but there is no other option if they want to be truly happy with their existences and move beyond the desperate hunger and self-pity that is so common across their kin. To do such a thing—to sacrifice one’s desires in order to change—is no easy task, yes, though not impossible, as Don Quixote and Sancho demonstrated. After all, victories are very much like life, right? They never come easily and thus don’t have a place for lamenting one’s lot beyond mere venting.

As always, you are free to make a choice at the end: you can live your life, become weary and marred as everyone else, or you can take it from others, never owning it and forever dependent. Either way, remember: no matter the time it takes and the devils that may appear during the journey, one’s Self will remain the same.

I know successful or not, I am who I am

Finally, the last part of Railway 5! And just for Resurrection Sunda to boot! Well, at least to me and my country; different timezones and all. Still, a curious thing considering the themes Four-Hundred Roses touches upon, and speaking about it... Yeah, it's the only one I have something to comment xD Fluchschütze is quite straightforward with its meaning.

Now, I'm aware that 400 Roses' section is more like a weird analysis of Carmilla. I won't deny that. But I was forced to do it because, well, that's the point of the Abnormality: it's Carmila/Mircalla through and through, and I just simply could not do a psychoanalytic reading considering the nature of all the other rose-related Abnormalities. Besides, there's a little detail that I want to highlight as well:

"This corresponds to the psychological fact that the anima always stands in the relationship of a daughter to the wise old man" - Carl Jung, Symbols of Transformation.

While Bertha and Laura aren't an Anima-figure for Mircalla, they fulfill the role with their respective guardians, don't they? A curious coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.

In similar questionable conclusions, I only have a few theories about why Project Moon choose the "400" number for the name:

At the beginning of the novel, Laura said that 800 or 900 pounds do wonders in Styria, so by halving the quantity PM is possibly saying that whatever the Abnormality does isn’t enough.

There are approximately 200 years of separation between Mircalla’s approximate death and the story proper. So maybe the “400” is a reference to how many names Mircalla acquired (2 per year?).

Finally, according to Hebrew gematria, the letter Tau (ת) has a value of 400, with the letter being commonly associated by western mysticism to the maiden figure (see Aleister Crowley’s comments about the Universe/World card).

None of them really convinces me, so if you have any idea, feel free to comment it!

Now, moving into something more likely, during the write-up I thought how Meursault related to the Abnormality, and I remember Nagel und Hammer's Singularity: canned experiences extracted through Nails, which are reminiscent of thorns. Maybe during his search for "life's joys," our dear Frenchman used (or even abused) them.

And that basically concludes my observations about the post as such, since the rest of things (i.e., the passives) don't really need an explanation. Even Don's relation to Abnormality should be somewhat obvious already. But I still need to comment something that, pitifully, is bad: I won't be able to analyze the non-RR Abnormalities (and the RR6 Abnos too) anytime soon due to my schedule, especially thanks to my practical subjects and soon-to-be internship next semester. That doesn't mean I won't do them, just that they will be on hold due to university.

So with that said... the usual disclaimers: feel free to comment your own interpretation about Abnormalities and to point out spelling mistakes! Until the next post!

[melliae]

quite a piece, isn’t it?

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I don't think this is talked about enough tbh. What do you mean Aigis went to the moon.

[melliae]

I need more people to write Aigis and Ryoji as friends, post-game or in some canon divergence au. They are made to be opposing forces, to clash for the fate of the world, but the purpose designated for them by their creators is not the purpose they chose to follow. They become friends in both because and in spite of what they are, because who would better understand their struggles? Neither is truly human, but they are both people. People who doubt their own humanity. They validate each other's struggles in a way no one else could, before affirming that yes, you are a person, you worked so very hard to be a person and I recognize that struggle and say that it is ok if you don't understand all the nuances of humanity right away, I won't judge you, because I am the exact same way.

Yes, Aigis initially saw Ryoji as dangerous, and he was, but I want them to grow past that. I want them to be able to look back at their first clash and think about how much they've grown since then. I want them to tell each other that the fact that they feel remorse for the lives lost is a clear sign of their newfound empathy for others, and that yes it's difficult, grappling with those feelings, but they should face them head on for the sake of those lost lives. I want them to come to see the other as one of their closest friends, the one they can turn to whenever they need.

Aigis and Ryoji should be friends, because they chose to be more than the enemies they were when they first met.

[melliae]

Kind of Abstract P3 fic I want to promote once more (I don't know how to do it)

Sapphire (11,751 words) by Me.

Chapters: 3/3.

Fandom: ... Persona 3 (What did you hope for? It's on the title).

Rating: General Audiences.

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply.

Relationships: Arisato Minato & Original Character(s); Original Character(s) & Yuuki Makoto (Persona Series); Male Persona 3 Protagonist & Original Character(s).

Characters: Male Persona 3 Protagonist/Arisato Minato/Yuuki Makoto (Persona Series); Original Characters.

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant; Inspired by Jung; “Be Not Afraid” Moment; Not Beta Read; Religious Imagery & Symbolism.

The color of the first stone, of the glimmering sea, of the vast sky, of outer space, and of the one Star.

Makoto, unawarely, had always been surrounded by it. Swimming and breathing in it. Yet, only in these moments he began to realized why he could only live through and within it.

Don't expect too much of it. It's madness from beginning to end. Also, english isnt' my first language.

[melliae]

Refraction Railway Line #5 Abnormalities Part 1 (Analysis)

“Oh-oh Round and round we go Holding on to pain Driven by our egos”

…

Wait, why do you mean that’s the wrong song? It has the “round and round we go” part and all!

…

From the previous Canto you say? And what about this one?

…

“Swaying on a horseback”? “Here we go another lap”? Isn’t that kind of the same thing? 

…

Well, no, I suppose they are not.

Life is all about cycles, eternal repetitions of experiences and principles that, even if they are new to you, have been experienced by humanity as a whole at some level. Some of them are dangerous and are better off broken; the Earnshaw family and Heathcliff are all about that, how some things must be left behind.

But if such a thing is true, then what makes Don’s “carrousel” different? Well, she has already answered it in the game itself, for the cycle that Sancho is walking is none other than the greatest and only adventure that has ever existed: life.

Yes, life is painful and horrible, but it also has its highs and pleasures, so marvelous and deep that they are taken as granted, the ideal that every moment must follow and with anything else being unacceptable. But that’s not true, because life’s sole standard is its wholeness that encompasses all without exception, with every other canon and rule being a mutilation of said wholeness, from which we have already seen some…

"Everyone has wishes. To deny them is to deny yourself."

“It must have reached this depth after burrowing and burrowing.”

Self-destructive self-acceptance, a (self-)hatred that spirals out of control when the world isn’t how one wants it, and the resignation to the thought that there was never any hope—all of them are cycles that must be broken, for they stagnate and try to homogenize life, conquering its uncertainty. But the wheel keeps on moving, crumbling any and all attempts of resisting. The only question is if you have enough strength to rise and fall as many times as life asks you.

Remember: life is a game, so don't spoil the fun!

Happy to just be part of your story

“You removed the nails from the teddy bear. Bloody pus pours out of the holes. Once the plush had finished its copious exudation, only a dark cavity remained within. It is an empty void.” - Abnormality Encounter (“Remove the Nails” option, check passed).

We all know Happy Teddy Bear, right? The teddy bear from Lobotomy Corporation that lived a happy life with its previous owner before being abandoned at the bottom of a drawer. Yes? Sweet, because just like Pink Shoes and Red Shoes, Hurting Teddy Bear is an “Aberration” of the original Teddy Bear… or, well, at least a deeply related Abnormality. Either way, the meaning of the 2 Teddy Bears is plain to see: the yearning to be looked at and loved once more.

“Why don't you try impaling yourself with it, then. Feel what it's like to have someone curse you…” - Sinclair (Hex Nail), EGO Awakening.

But while Happy Teddy Bear was abandoned after a placid life full of love, Hurting Teddy Bear didn’t have such “good luck.” Instead of serving its intended purpose, to receive and give love, the Teddy Bear was abused and mutilated by its owner with stakes and curses, as if it were no more than a wooden doll, an outlet for every ounce of malice and frustration. And yet, despite all the hurt and pain, the Abnormality clings to its given purpose with the little to nothing that remains in that inner void of his; its MD Encounter, Battle, and Log always make sure to point that out.

Strangely, despite all but 2 of Hurting Teddy Bear’s skills focusing on its desire to love and be loved, none of them are Lust. There’s no actual demonstration of pure love per se, just as there’s no weakness to Lust and passion. The skill that is closest to such a thing, according to Rodya (“It hugged me so tightly, but I felt so… comfy and warm.”), is “A Sad Embrace”, which is Gluttony-based and used only against those who the Abnormality thinks it has played enough with (negative effects > Faint Memories). Such a Sin affinity just further shows how completely empty is the Teddy Bear inside, “hungry” to constantly fulfill its role and experience the love it thinks it rightfully deserves.

“Most Sinners push me away, taken aback from the sudden awkwardness… … but the teddy bear impatiently stomps its feet, apparently jealous. Perhaps what it wanted was affection, after all?” - Abnormality Encounter (“Embrace the Sinners” option).

That explains its Pride resistance, though one should take care to not confuse it with vanity or haughtiness; the Teddy Bear just has enough sense of self to know what it is and for what it was created, and nothing will convince it otherwise. But on the other hand, all those curses and stakes aren’t for show either, as they have twisted the Abnormality’s “original” identity enough to make it develop Gloom and Envy skills. After all, only a word in which a teddy bear has been abused until the point of deformity, a skill called “Expression of Love” can be of Gloom affinity, inflicting only pain and pity instead of sharing actual love. Maybe that’s why it’s resistant to Gloom as well: it’s too empty inside to feel more pain.

By that matter, the Attachment status is a reflection of, well, the attachment the Teddy Bear has developed over the Sinners due to the constant “hugs” (i.e., attacks), explaining the Clash Power it gives to the attacker—a reflection of its desperate attempts at giving affection. And going by both the Logs and the previous quote, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Abnormality can’t control itself for too long when all of its “favorite” people are within its claws’ reach, close enough to give them a big embrace that overflows with sorrow and nostalgia. Yet, I have to note that attachment is not actual love, but at most love mixed with anxiety, a sort of identification with the object that, in the Abnormality’s case, vanishes once its fear and pain are soothed through “affection.” That’s why “The Once-Loved Ones” passive is called that, because its fixation goes and comes as it pleases during the battle.

But if the growing attachment is correlated with Sinners “playing” along, what happens if they refuse to do so? Well, beyond hurting the Teddy Bear’s feelings because it can’t stand being rejected as per its weaknesses to Wrath and Envy, or overall bitterness and abuse, you are pissing it off too. And boy, “Rough Expression of Love” shows perfectly that it’s not spineless at all, ready to force its way to get what it wants.

…

Oh, and you are also hurting the Sinners. Not physically, but mentally.

“Perhaps the nails looked too threatening. No one wanted to get close to the bear plush. It slumps its shoulders, clearly hurt. It's clear that most Sinners felt bad about this decision.” - Mid-Combat Event (“Look away” option).

In this regard, Hurting Teddy Bear is as much pity-inducing as Drifting Fox. In fact, we even get a call-back to it in the Log #3! But at any rate, that should explain the Lust advantages of both the previous Event and the Mirror Dungeon’s “remove the nails” option, with the other advantage of the latter (Gloom) standing for the same thing.

Compassion, sympathy, pity… the Abnormality really thrives on those emotions, doesn’t it? Even its second unique status, Faint Memories, plays into it somewhat because what can the Abnormality reminisce about besides its previous owner? After all, it’s the despair born from its past abuse and abandonment that impulses the Teddy Bear to embrace all the Sinners and to put itself together after finishing the “playing sessions,” as its “To Remember” passive indicates. Such an attitude certainly goes hand-in-hand with its Sloth skills and maybe even its envious expression of love, since timidity is the root of several cases of envy—”if I was braver,” “If I had the strength,” “if I could do something,” and other self-deprecating thoughts that cause one to live in a fantasyland instead of taking action.

(Yes, that’s why “Timid Expression of Love” is a clashable counter and why it consumes Attachment: the Sinner is the one taking the initiative here).

All in all, Hurting Teddy Bear is quite neurotic in its behavior, abruptly changing its usual timid and depressed behavior to an unrelenting anger when things don’t go its way, and from there to its previous shyness once more. Even if it gets satisfied, its own numbness and fear will push it to seek affection again, the craving and attachment getting worse throughout the fight until, inevitably, it wishes the love of everyone involved—but without any maliciousness, no, never. Even at its worst, the Teddy Bear takes care to not hurt (too much) its “playmates,” to control its strength and avoid making them “sick” with its curses and nails, though the real motive remains forever unknown: maybe it’s due to genuine concern for others, or maybe…

“My Family… has finally found true happiness. Because they have suffered far too long… they deserve this happiness, more so than anyone.” - Don Quixote, Abject Failure I (The Tale of a Great Fixer Who Once Reached for The Dream), Canto VII.

Because it won’t have anyone to play with anymore, completely alone and lacking the thing it longs for so much, that it thinks it deserves more than others. Faust, Rodya, Sinclair, the Manchengan Bloodfiends, and countless other people in the City… Whether “justified” or not, “deserved” or not, they all must be yearning to be looked at with love and pride, to be told that they did good and can finally be happy.

Past abuse and neglect do wonders for one's mind, don’t they?

Why is it that some were given the role of villain?

“I am on the hunt for someone. It needs to be taken care of urgently. What I am looking for is an apple that will become a princess, not knowing its rightful place. It must have passed this way. Do you know what direction it has taken?” - Abnormality Encounter.

For those who have read my post about Hong Lu, what I’ll say here should be obvious. For those who haven’t… It still should be obvious, because Rose Hunter enters in the same group as Blubbering Toad, Shock Centipede, or King in Binds, which is to say, its meaning is all too obvious: the mania and compulsion to carry out one’s “predefined” fate.

I originally compared Rose Hunter’s underlying meaning to Ananke, the Greek primordial goddess of necessity and fate. That's because, in some obscure myths like the Orphic ones, Ananke and Chronos hatched the cosmic egg from which the deity Phanes and the universe were born, which is just a mythical metaphor for how existence came to be through time and necessity. From there, I concluded that Rose Hunter is a “tautological templar,” whose entire ideology and thus existence is rooted in the idea of fulfilling its role according to… according to what, exactly? I said the Abnormality is tautological, so its likely answer, if asked, would be that such is its “tale,” but there must be something else there, as it presents one of the most important motifs in the entire game: roses.

Roses are a symbol of the mind and individuality in Limbus: everyone has 1, unique to them and only them. Yet, that doesn’t mean one is able to see it, let alone actualize it; sometimes, the individual is led astray by their desires and thoughts of what they should be, as with Sign of Roses, and the 2 Sinners that received Rose Hunter’s EGO show a bit of that inclination: Hong Lu and Faust, both of them eager (or maybe resigned) to fulfill the roles assigned to them. After all, just as the stars and time do not wait for anyone, the universe—that is, your own individuality—wasn’t born by doing nothing.

So, despite the Hunter having a rose as a head, it is all too susceptible to the false ideas of identity and duty, embodying the compulsion of the mind to fall for a concrete and fixed self, the idea that “you can’t be anything but.” In fact, one can go so far as to say its mania is a hunger for a purpose or role, since all of the Abnormality’s skills baptized with “Lasso” have Gluttony as an affinity, and what better way to represent the inevitability of fate than with a lasso? Even the Barbed Lasso status and enemies, which are representations of the snares that the Hunter throws at the Sinners (as the Logs explain and the “Spiker Whip” and “Barbed Lasso” passives hint), play with the idea of the fetters or ropes of destiny.

“With lightning fast reflexes, [Sinner] deflects the barbed lasso to the side. The lasso, deflected, flies in the other direction. The Rose Hunter hesitates, surprised by the turn of events.” - Mid-Combat Event (Check passed).

And with fate, the hubristic idea of rebelling against it comes along, and I don’t think I have to explain how it connects to the Pride advantage of the previous Event or the Abnormality’s weaknesses to Wrath and Pride. However, this logic may not apply that much to the rest of Sin affinities.

Beginning with the resistances to Gloom and Sloth, they are easy to understand thanks to Rose Hunter’s single-minded obsession that easily ignores the cries of its targets and potential distractions that can slow it (“Going too fast with tunnel vision might cause you to miss so many things.”). But its weakness to Lust… It’s complicated. While more often than not my definition of the Sin as love and/or desire for desire’s sake is enough, I think in this Abnormality’s case it goes more into the abstraction described by Hohenheim and Yi Sang in the Check-Up Intervallo:

“Hohenheim: The meaning of Peccatulum Luxuriae, 'Lust', is not exactly what it says on the tin. A more illustrative description would say that it is… ah, yes. An obsession to spread a fragment of what forms the self. A desire to propagate, to breed. Of course, there is more to this concept than just that. While the word itself may be subject to interpretations limited to the carnal understanding… Yi Sang: …To share one's knowledge, one's ideas, to invite others into gaining the understanding of a sliver of oneself… You seek to express that such things are 'Lust' as well.” - Chapter 9: Dulled Harpoon, LCB Regular Check-up.

Folktales, legends, and stories are some of the most important parts of a collective identity, or culture. Some knowledgeable people may call them the fundamental memes of human society, the DNA of the soul, and they wouldn’t be far off, for it’s through the sharing of stories (alongside other cultural elements such as cooking or art) that the individual can establish a common ground and communicate with others. Love can only be born by seeing the Self in that which is alien to the mind after all.

Following the above, the presence of Lust in Rose Hunter should be clearer: by forcing everyone to play their parts in their “tales,” the Hunter creates a common “language” that embraces everyone and gives them a place and time to “shine.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it thinks it’s doing a favor to the individual (or, well, Apple, in this case), believing that it’s better to follow the role assigned by “society” instead of living in fantasies that will never come to pass; the line of Faust’s EGO Awakening (“Be ensnared, for that is only right.”) seems to point to that, too. But if that’s true, then what stops the individual from doing the same, from ensnaring the Hunter and lovingly sharing your own “individual myth”?

“Such tale is your wish? Then I hope you have it within you to be responsible for your own words.” - Abnormality Encounter (“Point it in the wrong direction” option).

And we know that Rose Hunter, despite its obsession and almost moral panic for things to go their intended way, can be led astray from its original tale too. It’s just natural, then, that it’s weak to love and passion, to the unbridled emotion of departing into a genuine adventure, in a similar way to how the huntsman from Snow White was moved by the princess’ tears—with some adaptations heavily implying romantic feelings! All in all, It seems that the Hunter is destined to never finish its mission, all the way from its very source and inspiration.

Another thing I want to rescue from all this talk about Lust, love, and stories is a particular thing that Faust wrote in the Logs, about how the Abnormality prefers to target individuals with psychological instability such as Sinclair, who was on the verge of becoming part of N Corp.’s Inquisition under Kromer’s not-so-subtle manipulation. That goes to show just how encompassing Rose Hunter and its “tale” are, always lurking in the dark forest of life, ready to trap its targets and force them into their predefined role. But just like Kromer, once its “offer” (i.e., its lasso) is rejected, the Abnormality “rightfully” gets angry at those who disrupted the flow of things, with its Wrath-based “Strangling Crown of Thorns” fittingly being the sole skill that targets the Sinners with lower sanity.

“He kept throwing more and more lassos, and every time he did… he grew increasingly accurate. He even started throwing two lassos at the same time, without a single miss, too! Ah, but he had a hard time avoiding our attacks because he was so focused on throwing his lassos.” - Hong Lu, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3.

And obviously, the more the fight continues, the more desperate and flustered Rose Hunter becomes, as hinted by its “Interlocking Brambles” passive—focusing on offense only while ignoring defense completely. It makes its last skill, “Whip Wreath”, funnier thanks to its Sloth affinity, strengthening the idea of the Hunter thinking that anything but pursuing its targets, including defending itself, is a waste of time or the like.

To finish the analysis, it’s essential to go over its MD Encounter, for the options and their Sin advantages further show the big paradox of Rose Hunter: whether we are guided by jealousy and resentment over the Apple’s attempts to escape, a solid sense of self that refuses to follow the script, or just plain out envy for the clear direction the Abnormality has, the ending of the story of the Apple and the Hunter is ultimately decided by us and only us.

No matter what Rose Hunter professes, our fate and essence as individuals are no more than the reflections of our constantly shifting thoughts and feelings. If there’s a genuine self under all of those things, then one has to see the story of Sancho and Don Quixote to know its exact nature.

“Our adventure then… was full of amateurish mistakes and foolhardy confidence, but… [...] Those were the days when my heart beat more vibrantly than ever before.” - Sancho, La Manchaland, The Dreamer (The Tale of a Great Fixer Who Once Reached for The Dream), Canto VII.

There’s no bigger act of betrayal against the collective than to go against its expectations in order to follow one’s personal tale and individuality. And yet, the decision of what path to tread is solely our own, for the truth is that you aren’t what happens or happened to you, but what you choose to become.

Return them to the shelf 'cause now I understand

“The shadow in the skull was nothing but a lingering feeling. Resentment. Penance. All of it, to no avail. So it fades away in silence. All that remains is a hollow skull.” - Abnormality Encounter (“Watch” option).

Most Abnormalities are easy to understand, even if you have to exercise your brain a little to do it; Blubbering Toad, Shock Centipede, Ambling Pearl, and King in Binds are examples of that kind. But that means the remaining Abnormalities fall in the other extreme, being much more abstract and harder to understand, such as KQE-1j-23 or Skin Prophet. To both my luck and misfortune, Sleeping Bag… I don’t know where to put it.

I started its analysis with the thing that caught my attention the most: the Abnormality’s code, in particular its “type number” of 03. I don’t normally do that unless there’s a good reason for it, as was the case with KQE and its code identical to Nothing There’s. For Sleeping Bag, it was due to the rest of Abnormalities that have the same number, such as One Sin and Hundred of Good Deeds, WhiteNight, Skin Prophet, Blue Star, Fragment of the Universe, Spiral of Contempt, and Dimensional Refraction Variant—all of them heavily eldritch and “alien” even among Abnormalities. In comparison, Sleeping Bag feels... awfully common. It shocked me to a degree, especially because of how clearly Thoracalgia expressed Sleeping Bag’s meaning, which is the reason why the best place to begin the analysis is its EGO.

So, what exactly does “thoracalgia” mean? Chest or thoracic pain, essentially. It’s easy to see, considering that the most prominent features of the Abnormality are its giant skull and inhaler-shaped rib cage. Unironically, the design of choice tells us a lot about what exactly is happening with the Sleeping Bag. But first, I have to ask: is anyone reading this familiar with the concept of Nightmare? I’m not strictly speaking about the “bad dream” kind of nightmare but about the origin of the term itself.

(The Nightmare, by Henry Fuseli).

Originating from Northern Europe, the Nightmare is, as its name indicates and the painting shows, a type of nocturnal and malevolent spirit that sat on the chest of sleeping people, leading to bad dreams, suffocation, paralysis, and anxiety. They were the folk explanation for the phenomena of sleep paralysis and… nightmares, in particular their emotional and frightful aspects, with the last part of the name, “mare,” referencing them, as it’s derived from Proto-Indo-European “mer-,” meaning “to die.”

Needless to say, Nightmares are ominous as hell, and the entirety of Sleeping Bag is heavily reminiscent of them, even to its name. Besides, what term beyond “nightmare” fits with a shadowy figure that lies inside the chest of the Abnormality, described as a “[phantom] of resentment and penance”? After all, it’s not the “Person” who is crying tears of blood, angrily mauling in pain, or laboriously breathing in order to feel the pleasure of relief. The actual entity in pain is none other than the Skull itself, who, even devoid of all flesh and vitality it must have had once, continues to suffer from the crushing agony in its heart.

However, that doesn’t mean the nightmarish Person is unneeded, for the Skull would be no more than a pile of (supposedly silent) bones without it. That accumulation of pain and agony also doubles as the heart itself of the Abnormality, its animating spirit and the reason why it still lives despite its place being in a bygone “era.” It also explains a great deal about the Sin weaknesses: from the tender care that universally soothes the chronic pain to the excessive anger against one’s body, the desperate need to extirpate and throw away the heavy and inadequate heart, full of envy.

“The ‘air’ seemed to improve the poise of whomever breathed it in, enhancing the keenness of their attacks. This is when the shadow entity within the skull began to mobilize, attempting to steal the ‘air’ from all those who had it.” - Outis, Abnormality’s Observation Log #2.

Yes, that’s what the “Oxygen Saturated” passive represents: the Skull gets so high in oxygen that it has to liberate it, yet its heart wishes to have it back. “That’s… MINE!” also plays in this due to its Envy affinity and capacity to siphon Poise from the Sinners. But more important are the animation itself and the fact that only the Body part can use the Envy skill, implying the rib cage is protecting the Person like it would do with an actual heart. Other passives, such as “Shattered Ribcage” and “Ribcage Regeneration”, just strengthen that point.

But things with Abnormalities are (almost) never that simple, right? Yes, the Person inside the Abnormality is the accumulation of suffering and fear of the Skeleton, but that also means it is its sense of self as well, for what are Abnormalities but lingering feelings and thoughts? That’s why the only skill proper to the Person part is the “Freed from the Life of Suffering” defense, because by killing the Shadow, you are finally ending the painful sickness and the life that identified itself with such misery.

“A single breath was more than enough. For the first time in their existence, they could breathe in and out as much air as they wanted without hurting. Every living second of their life was pain. No one will ever understand that..” - Abnormality Encounter  (“Pick up a respirator” option, check passed).

The “Share the Pain” skill already says that much, about how the Abnormality had no other choice but to accept its circumstances and identify with them—with its useless body that can only experience hardships, unable to move even a single inch. Pain was and is its world, and no matter how “haughty” and “self-grandiose” other people act by saying that there are more things to life, they won’t simply understand it even if the Abnormality were to hit them with that very pain; at most, they will only grasp a fraction of it through its screams full of anguish.

Thus, there’s a sort of a double reading here: is the Skull haunted by unbearable pain, or does it simply refuse to let go of it? We obviously know that the “ghost” inside the ribs will eventually disappear one day, but only if we keep our distance and don’t do anything, merely watching and learning from it instead of giving in to our pity and/or know-it-all reactions that lead us to put a respirator on it. And worst of all? Such a decision can, in fact, help Sleeping Bag, despite going against its opinion and self-image—the whole world it created, the living nightmare it experiences.

The world turned upside-down.

Truth to be told, chronic pain is not something I’m that familiar with, but if my propensity for anxiety is something to go by, then it’s no wonder why the inner world of the Abnormality is a mess. When one is in so much pain and misery, everything outside of that is nothing but a formless blur, a vague and dull sensation that one can’t make sense of at best and that just contributes to one’s suffering at worst. Yet…

“Blowing air into its mouth was to no avail. There was a coughing noise not long after. Perhaps liberation is nigh.” Abnormality Encounter  (“Pick up a respirator” option, check failed).

The Abnormality hopes one day its suffering will end, either by dying or by finally being able to breathe—to live—painlessly, its despair and hope fighting inside it thanks to such thoughts (“I was only reaching out to grasp onto something, anything”). And again, we know its pain will disappear one day, but when that day comes, it will be all hollow and silent, not even one answer offered.

Holding out into the painful memories, remaining scared of what will remain… One must wonder if hope and fear are more painful than the sickness or if they are the sickness itself, causing reality and nightmare to become one. But alas, only the Abnormality can answer that.

Here we go another lap, prizes to claim

Yeah, I couldn't avoid naming the sections with the Canto's song. I think it's cute, fitting, and serves as an attempt for something new, especially because I feel these posts are getting longer and longer. They aren't monstrosities as Headless Ichthys or MFE, but still...

At any rate, choosing the quotes was easy for the Bear and Rose Hunter, and not so much for the Bob Squarepants' wrinkled worm. I suppose that's because the previous 2 Abnos are actual parts of the Canto and such informed part of its themes.

But speaking about Sleeping Bag, its section was funny to write. I was stumped on what it meant until the night I had to take muscle relaxants due to my neck pain. Despite the terrible night they caused me, they also turned on the lightbulb! It was pretty similar to what happened with Fairy Gentleman and Nikocado, back in September of last year xD

Regarding the long list of passives I didn't explain… C’mon, their names already explain everything! “Oxygen Supply”, “Deep Breath”, and “Excruciating Suffering”? All of them relate to the Abnormality’s breathing and air, represented by Poise. The only one that is remotely interesting is “After Effect”, and it is likely a reference to how “weak” the skeleton becomes after the destruction of its “heart,” a sort of… I’m not finishing that.

Anyway, there’s something else I wish to comment before moving on: the “Prone” defense skill surprisingly has some scientific backing! The prone position is a body position characterized by lying with the chest facing the floor and the back up. That causes the heart’s weight to move from the lungs to the chest in general, diminishing the pressure on the former and allowing an even-er (does it even exist?) inflation.

In contrast, Rose Hunter... I really don't have much to say about "him" beyond 2 things: the motif of the rose as individuality is surprisingly uniform, and the motif of apples is getting interesting. Regarding the former, I wonder how Four-Hundred Roses relates to that.

And finally, about Teddy Bear, I think it’s weird the way its fight measures the accepted “affections,” since it's based on the quantity of negative effects the Sinners have, which are mostly nails and curses. It's as if the Abnormality is aware of how ugly it has become and taints everything it touches. Maybe it knows how broken it is, despite its search for affection? I don’t really believe so, but it’s an interesting perspective to consider.

Also... I don’t know how the option of its MD Encounter I left out works. I mean, yes, the Sinners applied “band-aids” to the Bear, but how does that heal their HP too? They didn’t apply bandages to themselves, so it’d make more sense for that option to heal their SP… Unless they stole some of them while they were at it. It’s possible, I guess xD

But speaking about bandages, I think I need some too. University started this week and my schedule is hot trash! There's no day I leave before 19:30, especially with the practical subjects of this semester. Truly, it's worse than hell, and by that I mean that writhing these things during night is one way to an early grave 💀

So, beyond my usual disclaimers (feel free comment whatever you think and, please, point out my grammatical/spelling mistakes), there's an extra head-up: the 2nd part is going to take some time to finish (early to mid-April, maybe) and that the post about non-RR Abnormalities will take even longer, though the 1st part will likely be out before RR6.

With all this said and done, then, until the next post!

[melliae]

Wish I had a better explanation for the astrology, but someone who knows more about it than me/manages to find information that isn't entirely a scam might be able to.

Oh, good lord, you just had to call me...

Anyway, I commented this in a reddit thread 2 years ago, so I will just quote myself:

Now, onto more esoteric things, I've also read some interpretations about how the zodiac can also symbolize a kind of spiritual journey, beginning with the birth of consciousness in Aries and ending with the complete integration of all experiences in Pisces. Such interpretation is, to no one's surprise, heavily debated and even rejected in astrological circles, but I think it could act as a nice reference to how Makoto and Kotone awakened to the Universe. In the same vein, Pisces can also be connected to one of the images in the book of Lambspring (an alchemical text), which shows the duality between soul and spirit and how the two of them should be joined to achieve "a vastness of which no man can describe", which naturally refers to the idea of "coniuctio" in alchemy that allows the creation of the philosophical stone, a symbol of the Self according to Jung and thereby a synonym with the Universe.

Outside of Pisces' tendency towards wholeness (or togetherness), there are other things I want to highlight:

The Ichthys of Christ, obviously. They are associated so much that the entire astrological age of Pisces is defined through Jesus and christianity.

Pisces is a mutable sign of water, which is to say that implies an adaptability and versativility in the emotional realm (again, the concept of togetherness).

Its classical ruler is Jupiter, the planet of abundance, fertility and joy, the greater benefic. In this regard, I have to mention how the mythological Jupiter/Jove/Zeus was the only Classical male god (to my knowledge) that gave birth by himself.

The gods he birthed? Minerva/Athena and Liber/Dionysus, the latter from his tigh after he implanted the remaining heart that his daughter offered him (sounds familiar?).

In the femenine side, we have that Pisces was originally more connected to mother deities such as Ishtar/Innana and Aphrodite. In the first case, Pisces was more of a dove originally.

In Tarot, Pisces is universally associated to The Moon card. I don't think I have to explain this one, do I?

There's also the decans, but I don't think they are that important. Nonetheless, for the sake of completition... the 1st decan is goberned by Saturn, the 2nd by Jupiter, and the 3rd by Mars.

5th March falls in the 2nd decan, and the other 2 can be related to Ryoji at some level through Saturnus (duh) and the Death Arcana (Death = Scorpio = Mars). Basically, the greater benefic surrounded by the 2 malefics.

When was P3Hero born?

He's not given a birthday anywhere, but we have some clues.

He was a 2nd year in 2009.

He was less than 8 years old in the accident 10 years ago.

He was born on the 5th.

The first one gives an age range of 2/4/92 to 1/4/93. The second's a little harder since we don't have an exact date, but it has to be after Aigis' first activation 10/9/2000 and in 2000. That already limits the age range to 5 months, from 5/10/92 - 5/3/93.

Oh no. Astrology time.

So I don't actually know too much about it. It's actually super interesting looking into it and seeing how manipulative all of it is. But this is a fictional character, and things that don't matter in real life can here. I just looked up the signs and their meanings for all possible birthdays and narrowed it down to 5/3.

March 5th 1993! How nice. Wish I had a better explanation for the astrology, but someone who knows more about it than me/manages to find information that isn't entirely a scam might be able to.

[melliae]

I want to hear people's reasoning as to how Ryoji being Death is a reason to dislike him. One, that's not his fault. In fact, he's very upset about it. Two, how badly are you misinterpreting P3 to say that that's an inherantly bad thing.