#but also kind of not

[anarchomoop]

Fields of Mistria really looked at Stardew Valley's town full of unromanceable MILFs and thought "hmmm, how can we one-up that?" and decided to throw in some unromanceable DILFs and even an unromanceable GILF. Let me date a thirty-to-forty-year-old or even older person in my silly farming game I am begging.

[spleenthecat]

you think they were banging on the down low though

[becauseimanicequeen]

I need to find a Thai doctor to mentor me on how to live because they seem to have their shit together a lot better than me.

Doc Dee in Wandee Goodday.

Medical student Fluke in Dead Friend Forever.

Doc Bun in Manner of Death.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Stuck in Heaven (ego gift: Late-bloomer's Tattoo) has been grinding my gears for a while now. It has an idea - and a clear one at that - but i can't figure out what it *is*. Wiki has the event transcript. Pls send help

Alright, back to my proper analyses, and... *cracks knuckles* Oh this one's gonna be fun. I want to say that since this one won't need to get into E.G.O analysis, then this post will be a bit shorter than my other full-length analyses...

But. You know how it is with me. For all I know this one might end up ridiculously long anyway. Also, uh, spoilers for Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina ahead.

So, before we can talk about Stuck in Heaven, we need to talk about the other Abnormality it's directly related to - The Burrowing Heaven.

The Burrowing Heaven debuted in Lobotomy Corporation, but later made a return in Library of Ruina as one of the Abnormality Battles. For the sake of completion, I will be taking a look at both of its appearances in the series.

In its original appearance, Burrowing Heaven takes on the form of a tree-like entity, made up of a fleshy material, with branches that seperate into wing-like shapes and many eyes.

Its main mechanics in Lobotomy Corporation is that the Abnormality needs to be on-screen to prevent it from breaching and teleporting away once it does breach. This mechanic is reflected in a lot of flavor text about it, most directly in the description of its E.G.O Gear, which includes the sentence "Just contain it in your sight."

Burrowing Heaven's story further expands on this idea. The Abnormality is repeatedly said to "live inside your eyes/gaze", to feed on the attention and focus others give it by looking at it. However, the moment one looks away for too long, it begins to stretch the stalks of its wings for two reasons - one, to gather corpses as food for the fruit it bears; two, to reach towards the sky and sun, as if to cover it up.

Religious imagery and symbolism is used all over for this Abnormality. From the act of stretching its limbs being compared to praying to an old-forgotten god, to its wings reaching the skies being compared to an angel, to the action of it growing its thorns and burrowing being described as for the purpose of "reaching heaven inside one's vision".

Now, there's a very interesting part of Burrowing Heaven's story in LobCorp that I want to point out. Usually, when those stories are said in first person, it's either through the use of "we" (to reflect the company/employees writing those down as a whole), or with the passage being specified as either some testimony or log or otherwise being quoted.

However... That's not the case here. For Burrowing Heaven, there is a whole section in its story written in first person, with no clear note of it being quoted from something else. Allow me to paste the segment in its entirety.

"That's what a gaze is. Attention. An invisible string that connects us.  Sole focus.  Do not come here, as there is no place for you to rest.  But you see, I could only bear fruit when I stood inside your sight. Is this what you wanted to see?  When your tears dry up at last, tell me your answer."

Interesting, isn't it?

However, we're not done yet. There is still the context of its appearance in Library of Ruina, so let's look at that, shall we?

In Library of Ruina, Burrowing Heaven's Abno Battle is placed on the Floor of Religion, aka Hokma's Floor, alongside Price of Silence, Blue Star, and WhiteNight.

Narratively, this Library Floor explores the faith and dedication that Carmen's group put into her and Ayin, especially from Hokma's perspective, who unconditionally put his trust into Ayin back when he was known as Benjamin. Thus, all of the Abnormalities fought on this symbolically represent Carmen's unwavering dedication to gathering like-minded people to make her dream come true, and the devotion those who followed felt towards her and her goals.

When it comes to the Burrowing Heaven, there is some more info we can gather from its Abno Battle in this game, starting off with its new appearance:

As you can see, the previously tree-like form has been replaced with one that very clearly represent a human's central nervous system, brain and spinal cord included. The bloody wings and eyes still remain though.

...Now. Those who have played Lobotomy Corporation might recognize what Burrowing Heaven is meant to represent in this form. And for those who haven't, allow me to show you something.

This is what became of Carmen after her death:

A disembodied central nervous system, with its nerves spread out in an almost wing-like fashion.

While most of the flavor text here repeats what we know about the Abno from LobCorp, there are a few unique pieces of text I want to shine a spotlight on right here.

"The desire for the unreachable will only grow bigger. And to pursue it… is to tread a path riddled with thorns."

"Basking in everyone’s gaze and attention… It will finally come to fruition and spread its wings."

"The one who spread their wings sacrificed everything they had, and yet…"

"Just close your eyes. That’s right, you’re doing good…"

"If we ever open our eyes again, will we get to see the fruit of our labor in that gaze?"

...In case you were wondering why I was being so scant on the interpretation part of this analysis, this is why. This connection is what changes Burrowing Heaven from a nebulous concept to a direct parallel.

Burrowing Heaven, at its core, is a reflection of Carmen. More specifically, Carmen's dream, and the way she and her followers acted to reach her goals. How, to pursue it, they had to single-mindedly focus on that goal, to make many sacrifices for the sake of reaching what seemed unreachable.

It could also represent how Carmen's seeming demise and the following tragedies happened because nobody paid attention to the warning signs, nobody focused on Carmen when she was at her lowest. And yet, those very tragedies are what led to even more attention being put on making progress towards that goal, towards Carmen's wings spreading out and reaching ever closer towards the heaven she so desired.

The gaze being put on her may have put her deep underground, in the vat where her nervous system became a source of Cogito... but it also eventually led to the breathtaking sight that was the Light. And now that there is no more gaze left on her, her wings can spread everywhere, blocking out the sun with her own Light.

When you think about it, isn't that how Distortions take place under Carmen's influence? Just close your eyes and ignore the world around you. Let your desires guide you. Just like Carmen is encouraging you to do, patiently. That's right, you're doing good, following what she says.

...Okay that's all fine and good, but what the fuck does all this mean for Stuck in Heaven? Let's get to that.

From just a cursory look at its physical description, Stuck in Heaven appears to be the next step of progression in this Heaven line of Abnormalities. From the tree-like form of the LobCorp Burrowing Heaven, to the brainstem in Library of Ruina, to Stuck in Heaven taking the form of growths directly growing over a person.

Interestingly enough, the Mirror Dungeon event describes Stuck in Heaven as having "the appearance" of a branch, yet being human. Curious.

This is also where a difference is established between Stuck in Heaven and Burrowing Heaven, with the event text directly referencing the Abnormality that Stuck in Heaven is related to.

"Heaven sometimes burrows; other times, it makes a home in the heart. Once taken root, that heaven will only be visible through the eyes of others."

Immediately, this tells us one major thing - Stuck in Heaven does not burrow like Burrowing Heaven, it does not need to feed on the attention people give through vision. Rather, the thing it aims to take root in is the heart.

The text you get from taking the [Close your eyes.] option explains why Stuck in Heaven does that. When it takes root in one's heart, closing one's eyes is not enough to get it out of one's gaze, as the sight it sought out is that coming from the heart itself.

I believe this is also why actually trying to [Return the gaze.] with one's eyes does nothing. With Burrowing Heaven, which actively sought out one's eye vision, one can find many references to it being alive and actively watching its observer back. However, trying to do so with Stuck in Heaven results in it ignoring the observer. The heaven Stuck in Heaven is looking for is not in the eyes, but past them. "Behind me", as the text puts it.

Now... all of that might not have much meaning without further context. After all, what's all this looking with one's eyes and looking with one's heart stuff about?

And this. Is where we get to The Little Prince.

Yeah, remember how Demian seems to be representing the titular Little Prince himself, through him directly quoting the kid?

Yeah, that's not the only thing Limbus Company borrows from that book. In fact, from what I've gathered, The Little Prince might just be one of, if not the most important books when it comes to the themes Limbus Company is setting itself up to explore.

And the main theme that Limbus Company borrows from that book is the theme of seeing with the eyes vs seeing with the heart. It is all over this narrative. The constant focus on perception and what everyone is percieving through their senses. The equal focus on the heart, of how subjective reality is when looking at the reflections of one's heart, yet how one has to follow the heart to reach the unreachable. I mean, for fuck's sake, the word Limbus can refer to both a part of the eye and a part of the heart!

Most importantly, I think it's also the key to understanding Stuck in Heaven a bit better. In The Little Prince, a clear divide is established between the Little Prince, who uses his imagination to understand his reality, and "the grown-ups", who focus solely on the physical world.

Stuck in Heaven's E.G.O Gift is named Late-Bloomer's Tattoo. A late-bloomer is someone who takes a long time to develop one's skills or grow up. For Stuck in Heaven to be able to leave its mark (or Tattoo) on someone, to take root in their heart, one has to not be a grown-up yet, to still be able to see the world with one's heart rather than one's eyes.

So... What does it all mean?

I'll be honest, I don't fucking know! I don't even know if Stuck in Heaven even still has connections to Carmen the way Burrowing Heaven does!

What I can say however, is that Stuck in Heaven is likely extremely interconnected with the main plot and themes of Limbus Company, the same way Burrowing Heaven was for Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina.

Does it represent the goals of Limbus Company itself? Faust? The Golden Boughs? The fucking Mark of Cain?

The reality of it all is... we just aren't far enough along in the story yet to be sure. The way it connects to one of the bigger themes of Limbus Company, alongside it being directly related to the Abnormality that was so directly paralleling the end-game reveals about Carmen in LobCorp, means that we likely just don't have enough of the puzzle pieces yet to see the full picture of what Stuck in Heaven truly represents.

I'm sure as we head closer towards Limbus Company's endgame, the true meaning of Stuck in Heaven will become much, much clearer to us. But, until then, all we can do is wait and see what comes next. It's definitely a subject I'll want to revisit later on, once we get a better grasp on the overarching plot and will be able to start properly connecting the pieces.

Sorry that I couldn't give a more definite answer as to what Stuck in Heaven's exact meaning is, but from all the analysis I've done I genuinely think this is the best answer I can give. That it's a direct parallel to something within the main plot of Limbus Company that we have yet to learn, similarly to how Burrowing Heaven is a direct parallel to Carmen and the path taken to reach her goals.

[weeinterpreter]

Artemis: How does one turn their emotions off?

Juliet: Okay, so first go to settings.

[dweetwise]

The only dbd shipping chart I care about

[fiveguysshake]

QSMP: The First Generation of Quesadilla Island

Context: in my head canon, I believe that the current members of Quesadilla island were the “eggs” of a previous generation, with the exception of a few members. Here’s a story of that head canon! :3 this one is just a prerequisite, so look forward to further installments!

Many years ago, when One was unaware of the horrors of the island experiments, One descended upon a certain ‘Quesadilla Island’ in hopes of curing One’s boredom.

When One arrived, One noticed a few familiar faces - the God of Architecture, for instance, and his partner: The God of Strength. Alongside them, One assumed that it was the daughter of Her Majesty Goddess of Flame, and One would be correct.

As we stared upon the beady eyes of a woman in a jarringly realistic Catus Domesticus costume (of which scared One to One’s core, despite One’s eternal status), we learned of its’ name - Lacrimosa. It was, in layman’s terms, a sort of “manager” for the project. It was to look after us, make sure we were content with this sort of ‘vacation’.

The first day was hardly anything to speak about. We simply got acquainted to one another. A few notable new faces comprised of the following …

Roier (who One now refers to as Roier Senior), who appeared to already have lived most of his life by the time he arrived. Despite us being stripped of most of our possessions at the beginning, he always had mints. One never took them.

Danielewski Mouse, who stood no taller than a single meter, but was a smart businessman who always had a cigar in his mouth.

Harris“MC”, who was (is? One is unsure) a young man from the deep wastelands of a far away planet. He spoke of his experience there in the wastelands. One found it terrifying, but inspirational.

Mayday “Studios”. No one ever figured out his real name, and he was the skittish type. One rarely saw him, so it’s no wonder his children turned out the way they did.

While most of these individuals felt fear at the prospect of being stuck on an island, One remembers oh-so clearly how Mayday grinned. It was like he was waiting for this his entire life. One has never seen such a look, in One’s billions of years of existence. Frightening.

Day two was…exciting, to say the least. This was the day we received the news that we would be looking after the remnants of a DNA experiment.

Each of us (of which there were about 40 of us, give or take) were “gifted” with an infant to look after. One named One’s son Kameto. There were various ways people came up with names. My favorite was certainly Mina’s (the daughter of the Goddess of flame One was talking about earlier) decision to name her child “BadBoyHalo”. One found that amusingly ridiculous. She did not laugh, which caused One to laugh even more intensely.

Kameto was a handful from the very beginning. Each of our experiments had a unique item that they arrived with, and his was a black headband. There is not enough room here to explain how many times One caught him chewing on it. One’s child was a born leader, and he, on many occasions, dragged One around to interact with the other children. Despite One’s status, One prefers to bide One’s time by simply being left alone. Unfortunately, due to Kameto, One had to interact with the other islanders.

One found this utterly distasteful.

The only islander One became genuinely acquainted with was a young woman by the name of Eia Apollo. Her son, Enzo (who now goes by Etoiles), matched One’s son with terrifying accuracy. Unfortunately, many years after the experiment ended, One had to bury her after an attack on her village.

Enough of One’s rambling, One supposes One should go through the experience in more detail, so One shall end this log here.

[twentysidednerd]

hoping i rid myself of my connection to The Corruption by desecrating the ritual site that has become my abode (i finally trimmed the bushes outside of my window and pulled a literal fucking vine out of my A/C unit so hopefully that means i stop getting so many bugs in my room) (the spider i found last night doesn’t count, my room’s always kinda been prone to those. damn you, Annabelle Cane)

[revenancy]

someone ask me wip questions, @iucemon is watching the new transformers movie and i'm lonely

[morwynposts]

Instead of cutting myself maybe I should cut a boy (or girl) up in increasingly creative ways instead hmmm thinking thinking

[xiaoyuyunism]

why would you choose that as the listener name come ooon

[miraculous-showtime]

today will either be the worst or best way to end off the year. (new years gacha in like 3 hours.)

[ween-kitchens]

there should be a recognised tag for all stuff that is upsetting/negative so I don’t have to block a million tags to avoid seeing like murder of children all over my dash

[homeiswherethehabitatorhabitats]

What, like it's an achievement?

[fool-for-luv]

anyone notice that the moment kristian nairn left game of thrones the whole show went downhill?

[flying-yellow-bib]

Halvor, couldn’t you choose another day to win?