#the refraction railway experience

[sleepyminty]

Respect to those who tanked

[ridergoggles]

The Refraction Railway: Mirrorclock Orangeroad experience

[melliae]

Refraction Railway Line #2 Abnormalities Part 1 (Analysis)

The Möbius strip. The famous 2D manifold that has only one side, meaning that no matter how much you walk, you will always end up where you started. There’s no other path in front of you beyond that which endlessly repeats itself, forever.

Without escape, without release…

“Be still. Just be still, and do nothing more than breathe. For now, that’s how you must live. You cannot fly.” - ??? (Sang Yi), Chapter 48: Bud, Canto IV.

But only to the extent you allow yourself to be trapped in such a cycle, too afraid of soaring away and getting your wings hurt again.

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

Nobody knows what lies beyond the known, familiar and soothing cycle, if there’s a dead end or true freedom. Nonetheless, you must walk towards it, for your and…

For Everyone’s Sake

“Are the talismans filling the room for a wish? Does this wooden doll wish for anything?” - Abnormality Encounter.

An effigy is, in essence, a sculptural representation of someone or something made with the express purpose of acquiring the dignity of that person/thing: whatever happens to the effigy, it will happen to its “model”. Yet one has to wonder what a stiff, featureless wooden doll represents? What kind of person can even begin to bear that quantity of curses on them?

No one.

No human can hope to be strong and resilient enough to carry all that hatred, despair, and sadness. Only a copy of one can do such a thing, especially crafted to be a faceless caricature that will never amount to anything more than that—no one.

It will be forever trapped in that room, bearing all the evils of the world because someone has to do it, and what better “person” to do it than the one specifically made to do so? It can’t wish to be anything but the nameless scapegoat of humanity, the star that weeps for everyone.

“When we look up at our sky… all we see is a pinch of muddled light. But here… I can see lone stars looking down at us. Since the city I can see from here is filled with cries of pain and despair… I’d rather… gaze down at people from the loneliness up in the sky and shed tears with them…” - Unknown Boy, Blossoming League of Nine Littérateurs, Canto IV.

I implied in my post about the RR3’s Abnormalities that Siltcurrent represents the experiences and memories of Mermaids at some level. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Tearful Thing, a human monstrosity with a boundless heart that cries for all misfortunes that befall people, can also participate in the creation of an Abnormality.

However, So That No One Will Cry (“STNOWC” from now on) is not only a manifestation of the Tearful Thing’s trauma and wishes; it’s also one for Yi Sang’s past conflict to an extent.

“Those were the kinds of achievements we accomplished in T Corp’s district. Which is why… I became more engrossed in the mirror. Untainted, unadulterated… I wished to immerse myself in the pure exploration of knowledge. So that… I wouldn’t have to take anything from anyone.” - Yi Sang, Blossoming League of Nine Littérateurs, Canto IV.

It isn’t a coincidence that its namesake skill, “So That No One Will Cry”, is Gloom-based: the expression of bottomless despair born from witnessing the evils of the world and those who one has caused. After all, who doesn’t know the bitterness of not wanting to do anything after doing or getting something wrong? The taste of the lies when someone asks you how you are doing? Those countless cases of martyrs for their loved ones? Maybe that’s why its mid-combat Event has Sloth advantage, because it keep things as they are and were, with the burden being too much to bear for the chosen Sinner.

At the end, someone has to cry, to purge all the accumulated pain, and you can't really be bothered with it.

… But as Project Moon does, things aren’t that simple: for some reason, all STNOWC’s remaining skills are Lust-based and give Cursed Talismans on hit. This last effect can be easily attributed to a mere side effect by the Abnormality’s attack or activity in general, as its mid-combat Event and Logs suggest. The Lust affinity, on the other hand, is a bit more tricky, though thankfully I already explained it in my RR4 post: Lust, in its most general form, corresponds to the Sin of love and passion, which is something STNOWC has in spades—an absolutely selfless love that leads it to carry countless curses.

“We start removing every single talisman in the room. The wooden doll paces here and there, uneasy and anxious. We ignore it and continue removing the talismans. As we were almost finished with removing the talismans, the wooden doll stands before the Sinners as though to tell them that enough is enough.” - Abnormality Encounter.

And like a great part of the Sin’s examples in the game, STNOWC is heavily attached to its role as a bearer of pain too, not wanting to abandon it by any means. This situation is repeated somewhat when you choose to remove the Doll’s talismans, despite the final ambiguity presented by Dante at the end. Personally, I think the Abnormality is ultimately afraid of someone else carrying the talismans.

“The wooden doll at the center seemed to be liberated from a binding force. It walked to you, offering an object.” - Abnormality Encounter.

Because even when you give it freedom through choosing to remove the room’s talismans, STNOWC decides to give you a copy of itself, as if to say that you should still use it to carry curses, brushing aside your sacrifice. 

Such stubborn behavior makes the Sin advantages of the previous choice pretty ironic: you either don’t want the Doll to be trapped by your sins out of a slothful refusal to change, or, more importantly, because you hate allowing someone to bear all that suffering alone. And by that matter, the Abnormality’s weakness to Wrath is explained by that last part, because just as well have felt on some level the bitterness of hiding things from others, the frustration that comes from a loved one doing the same surely is familiar; but no matter how much you worry about them, if that loved one keeps ignoring or rejecting any and all help, only a wrathful worry can truly “save” them, and not more (misdirected) love (which in turn explains its resistance to Lust).

At any rate, the main idea should be obvious at this point, about how the answer to suffering isn’t to make someone carry it in complete solitude; that’s nothing but wishful and magical thinking. To stop the pain you must share it, just like the Talismans in both the battle and with Red Sheet Sinclair, lest everything becomes too heavy for anyone to bear.

Only when everyone shares their curses, truly no one will have to cry.

Refusing to Change

“Did the Steam Transport Machine return to when it was first produced? Leaving behind everything it’s gone through. The older the machine gets, the more of itself it will have to reconstruct.” - Mid-Combat Event.

By definition, meaning must exist in our lives. That’s not an idea anyone can argue against, because I’m not even speaking about any sort of metaphysical reality, let alone some kind of deeper, transcendental truth. It’s all a simple psychological fact: the drive to find (or construct, or whatever word you fancy) is an essential fundament of our psyche, of who we are as a species. We are literally programmed to see them anywhere, anytime, and we can’t function without one.

However, just as the outside world keeps on changing, so does our inner reality, and with it what we hold (or held) as true fades away. Thus, when confronted with the reality of our meaning—our life—disappearing to never return, despair sets in and we wonder what we will do. The answer, as most things in life, depends on the individual, but Steam Transport Machine surely shows what a sizable amount of people did and do.

“Hohmm… ‘twasn’t that it released tiny machines to repair itself; it was as though it un—did the damages that had already transpired.” - Don Quixote, Abnormality’s Observation Log #1.

To regress to the past. To act as if things haven't changed, or to try to restore them to what they were. That’s what the Accumulated Past mechanic is all about, being reflective of the work the Machine does and thus the turns the battle is taking, with a higher count indicating an increase in the use and degradation of its body; RR2 follows the same principle, though it was tied to the overall “time” (i.e., turns)  the Sinners took.

Now, since the “past” is “accumulated”, asking where it’s stored is a natural question, and the Logs, the MD Encounter and the mid-combat Event give an obvious answer: Steam Machine’s past is 100% literally gathered in the nixie tubes (incorrectly called “vacuum tube” by Don) in its body. In fact, reducing the number shown by the tubes allows the Abnormality to return to a previous, less damaged state, as seen in its “Returning Past” passive. You can compare it to save scumming in a way.

Accumulated Past is so important for Steam Machine that it literally affects every other part of its kit, including its Poise or, as stated by Don in the Observation Logs, steam generation… or it should in theory.

While Don seems to be pretty sure about the relationship, there’s no gameplay element that reflects such a relation. The closest thing to it are how some of its skills do more damage based on the Machine’s Accumulated Past, and its RR2 exclusive passive, “Overlapping Past”, which grants it 1 Attack Power Up for every 80 Accumulated Past. It’s possible to make the connection between “more steam means more skills used, and more skills used means more turns”, but I don’t think the Logs referred to that…

At any rate, “Overlapping Past” is a curious name, because it implies that Steam Machine is somehow overlapping (duh) its past states within its current one to achieve greater strength in every attack. Something equally interesting happens with its other passive, “Metronome”, named for the instrument used to set a regular tempo by musicians and dancers to help maintain the rhythm in their work, which means the Steam Machine’s Accumulated Past helps it to set the “speed” of the fight, explaining the defenses and attack modifiers acquired through the tube’s numbers.

All of that clearly shows the Accumulated Past is not some sort of abstraction or symbol for something else; it’s an essential part of the Abnormality. Its past is a tangible reality to which it can not only return, but also clearly manifest in the present, and that ultimately controls it. In fact, one may say that the past is the thing that makes up Steam Machine’s own existence, as shown with the story presented through its skill set.

Beginning with the two “oldest” skills as indicated by their names, “853” and “5384”, these are Sloth-based and thus indicate the mindset the Machine had “back there”: a complete lack of zeal for its “work”, mindlessly carrying luggage without any deeper consideration about its existence. Such a state is as soulless and robotic as you get… or maybe not. Maybe that is its soul, its entire existence from which its very own sense of self and thus pride grew as defenses against its meaninglessness, as shown with the Pride skills, “6463” and “6753”.

“A purposeless machine is bound to lose the meaning of its existence, even if it is functional.” - Abnormality Encounter

But it doesn’t matter how many swords are used to defend one’s ego, everything inevitably has to change, especially within Steam Machine’s absurd lifespan. Thus, when confronted with that truth, what can it do besides raging against the world, as “6475384” demonstrates? It’s unknown if it was betrayed, abandoned or something along those lines, but its hatred is a real and dangerous thing; we all know the horrifying things people and even us can do in order to make our existences feel meaningful (again).

And finally, at the end lies “974569A”, the only possible destination a being that refuses to change can arrive at: envy for all those who can move beyond a monotonous existence, finding meaning within their selves that change with every step of their journeys. For the first time, the Machine finds itself broken in a way its ability can’t erase, for it has gone through an untold quantity of time trying to hold onto the only thing it has through reliving its past, all the while ignoring that single, insulting fact.

This understanding is reflected in its Sin resistances too, especially to Sloth since it’s touched upon when you choose “order it to do nothing” during its Encounter: because it was made with the purpose of carrying things and do work in general, Steam Machine will simply blow up when confronted against a situation in which it can’t do anything, unable to fulfill its only purpose. That’s to say, the Machine won’t give up on its meaning and core essence by any means, despite its own affinity for inertia and refusal to change, which in turn explains its resistance to both Pride and Gloom—it’s too stubborn and bitter to question its ways, let alone be distracted by the despair of losing its meaning.

Steam Machine will keep doing the same, over and over again, for all eternity. And you, the Player, are the only one who can free it from its self-created cycle.

“It was working ceaselessly. The machine has never stopped working since its pressurized, scalding hot steam turned its first gears. We must break the cycle in which it has long been trapped to continue on our path.” - Dante, Station #2: Servitude, Refraction Railway Line 2.

However, during its Encounter, you are also free to perpetuate it through your own indolence and needs.

“Machines exist for a purpose. You feel like you should give it an order.” - Abnormality Encounter.

That’s the reason behind the Sloth and Gluttony advantages in the “order it to carry luggage” choice, and why Steam Machine kind of “turns off” in case you fail the check: the order lacked a purpose, an actual need behind it. But that leaves the Envy advantage unexplained, because what does a Sinner’s envy has to do with the purpose of an order? The only answer I can come up with is that the advantage reflects a twisted desire to maintain the cycle out of fear the Machine might one day break it, to bring it down along with the chosen Sinner. And considering how susceptible and weak the Abnormality is to Envy, it’s plausible.

But if you, ignoring and tempering your own fears and necessities, decide to help it through destroying the cycle in which it trapped itself, there’s only one thing you must do: to break its nixie tubes. Only there, with its past misplaced and lost, out of the shadow of what happened, Steam Machine can truly begin to live in the present, unbounded by the refusal to let go of its past, creating its own life instead of endlessly repeating all it has done.

Maybe that’s why its mid-combat Event has a Gloom advantage, for it’s hard to suppress that desire to act as if nothing has changed. It’s a path full of despair and anxiety that most people fear. Nonetheless, you must walk towards the future and live in the now, because when you take the first, second, third step forward, you will realize it.

Changing isn’t as painful as you think it is.

Note: For those who still haven’t noticed it, all of the enemy debuffs during RR2 are inspired by the non-history Abnos + Fairy duo. In Steam Transport Machine’s case, the buff corresponds to “Hardening”, with the icon literally being the nixie tubes.

Umbrellas of Love

“There is no way to know why the fox remained buried under the umbrellas, but perhaps removing them all will inspire it to move to a different spot. The fox gently holds the old and worn umbrella in its mouth and yips at us, as though it did not want us to take it away.” - Abnormality Encounter.

Driftig Fox is an interesting Abnormality, because I believe is the only who has an excerpt of the Lobotomy Corp.’s original documents, and four different iterations of its EGO: Sunshower Yi Sang, Sunshower Outis, Lobotomy EGO Heathcliff, and Lobotomy EGO Dongbaek. It has a lot of material to analyze, to the point I really don’t know where to begin… So I think its overall kit is a good place to start.

Unlike the previous two Abnormalities, the Fox lacks any gimmicky status, making its fight quite straightforward. The closest thing to Talismans and Accumulated Past is its Gloom skill, “Cries Seeking Something”, that normally allows it to summon Old Umbrellas, which in turn have access to a single Gloom skill that inflicts both Rupture and Sinking. In RR2, the end result is the same despite the differences in mechanics.

From this, we can obviously deduce that hopelessness, despair, and the like are the core part of its existence, with even its defense skill, “Waiting”, reducing the Sinners’ SP through pity alone (apparently). That much is obvious, mentioned even by the Logs.

“In particular... it sometimes does nothing and waits, but the attack that comes after was especially powerful. ...Huh. The fox... sometimes cries.  Looking at the sky, howling for long... as if it's laying bare some kind of sorrow into the sky.” - Sinclair, Abnormality’s Observation Log #2.

But that’s not all, because, just as the effect of its skill shows, the Fox focuses on its survival too. The RR2 version of the skill demonstrates it better, since it gives it the special status “Protection Umbrellas”, which grants it Protection scaling with the former’s quantity; that’s to say, the Old Umbrellas are meant to shield the Fox from the rain, apparently lodging into its body as answer to its cry. The normal version lacks the mechanic and directly summons the Umbrellas, though the overall meaning is kept the same.

This desperate desire for survival is represented by its two Gluttony skills, “Sorrowful Recoil” and “Sorrowful Torrent”, used only by its umbrella-perforated body: even if they are painful and make contact with others unbearable, causing it to recoil, the Fox “gladly” accepts such mutilations in order to survive. This behavior is reflected perfectly in the excerpt I quoted under the image, from the “take the gathered umbrellas” option, and in a couple of battle mechanics:

Its passive, “Last Struggle”, causes the Abnormality to desperately call for help every turn when it’s on its last legs (less than 15% HP), getting weaker and slower every turn. Naturally, those who answer will do everything they can to protect it (Umbrellas with 30% more HP).

Based on the name and effects, the Umbrellas’ “Scattering Sorrow” skill seems to represent how they try to perforate the Sinners and deflect the rain towards them, despite how tattered they are.

It doesn’t matter if one likes it or not, the Old Umbrellas are the only “shield” the Fox has and knows, and they will try their best to protect it… which makes Sinclair’s conclusion in the Logs much more horrifying.

“I, I see where it's coming from. We have to take away the worn umbrellas on that poor child, and embrace it ourselves. We-” - Sinclair, Abnormality’s Observation Log #3.

At first glance, it sounds perfectly fine and sensible, repeating the information given by the fragment of L Corp.’s document in Dongbaek’s Log. However, we know that Sinclair felt bad for destroying the Fox’s umbrellas (for a reason) thanks to the second log, and that removing them as well would have caused the Fox greater pain, as seen in many parts:

Its “Broken Umbrella” passive grants it 3 Fragile every turn once its umbrella-filled body is broken (during a normal fight; the RR2 version was modified to be harder I believe).

The Umbrellas actively hurt the Fox through applying “Umbrella Splinters” once they are destroyed. This happens with Sunshower Dongbaek too, but through degrading her mind with Sinking instead of applying Rupture to her body.

In the RR2 version, two unique Glooms counters were added to its kit, “Volatile Response” for the body and “Volatile Reaction” for the head. Taking into account their names, the Thorns they grant on use, and the previous mechanics, it’s quite obvious what they represent.

And finally, there’s the “pull out the umbrellas” option in the Encounter

“Those umbrellas seem to be causing it pain. When you pull them out with force, bits of its flesh come off with them. The fox yelped sharply and gave us a glare. Then, it smacked you with the umbrella in its mouth. It seemed to reprimand your attitude of pursuing resolution without forethought.” - Abnormality Encounter.

It’s quite telling that Heathcliff—the one who has the Identity with the Sunshower Lobotomy EGO—was the one that snapped (somewhat literally) Sinclair out of his “panic” state

Don’t misunderstand, though. There's no doubt about how the umbrellas harm and bring pain to the Fox, but living in such a state is much more preferable for it than being in pain and exposed to the rain simultaneously. In fact, this paradoxical, self-destructive drive to survive is also seen in Dongbaek’s kit—with two of her skills aptly named “Self-defense” and “Sink It All”—and Outis’ Sunshower, which, beyond her Gluttony affinity, has an interesting contrast between the Awakening and Corrosion voicelines 

“I don't need... any pointless attention!” - Outis (Sunshower), EGO Awakening.

“Don't—leave me this time…” - Outis (Sunshower), EGO Corrosion.

I normally don’t do this, since EGOs are better reserved for a character analysis. But I’m going to do an exception for this version of Sunshower due to how well it translates the Fox’s ambivalence regarding the “affection” given by people: at its best, the Abnormality knows that the people called by its cry will only hurt it, notwithstanding their good intentions; at its worst, it accepts any and all attention without care of the resulting pain, as long as it can take refuge from the rain, however small it is.

At the end, it doesn’t matter how many people come to its help, Drifting Fox will forever remain out in the open, constantly assaulted by the rain as it wanders in dark and damp alleyways, for the umbrellas are too old and worn to be of any help. That’s why it will always be hungry for more, too scared and distrustful of people to not allow itself to be touched and thus satiated, explaining both its affinity and weakness to Gloom and Gluttony.

… But there’s something else regarding the Fox, something that doesn’t fit with its perpetual hunger for a place to rest: why does it keep on crying for help instead of just moving out of the rain? Why does it insist on roaming the darkest, most humiliating places? Those questions were implied in the first quote of this section (again), and then by the two Lobotomy EGO versions.

“Look. See how she is helplessly caught in the falling rain. She must have no intention of avoiding it. She is simply showering herself and all others in the rain…” - Yi Sang, Dogbaek’s Observation Log.

“But… When I'm done, the chill reminds me that I'm alone. I go back to wandering damp, dark alleys… Now I can hardly sleep anywhere else.” - Heathcliff, Lobotomy EGO Uptie Story.

Due to their circumstances in which they are, both Dongbaek and TLA Heathcliff are stubborn individuals trying to bring great changes to the City, with the latter even planning to “go back [somewhere] with pride” after creating a world without technology—to keep enjoying life. Yet, in the following quotes he states that he has no friends left and rejects all sources of possible comfort, sleeping in the cold streets, akin to how Dongbaek lets herself exposed to the rain without care.

What I’m implying here is that the Fox ultimately doesn’t care about stopping its suffering once and for all. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t know better, or because it finds comfort in the pain; there’s no way for us to know. Even so, it keeps on crying out loud for people as it refuses to move on from the circumstances in which it as abandoned, as seen with its RR2 exclusive passive “Vain Heart”, the source of the Protection Umbrella status and that which allows it to summon Old Umbrellas through its defense skill—through Waiting.

This unwillingness to change and simply move on is the last thing that characterizes Drifting Fox, as seen with Lobotomy EGO Heathcliff’s third skill and Sunshower Yi Sang, with their Sloth affinity. Naturally, it’s also reflected on the remaining skills of the Abnormality, all of them being Sloth-based except for the (RR2 exclusive) Gloom skill, “Pleading Cries”, though the name does fit with the Fox’s “vanity”… or better said, its pity-inducing nature.

That��s why all the Sloth skills inflict Sinking, for they are representations of the dangerous notion that one day the Fox is going to receive what it truly wants if it remains on such poor conditions, instead of more unwanted attention. Its last passive, “Ragged Umbrella”, lends the most on such “tactic”, allowing it to inflict more Sinking once the umbrella in its mouth (i.e., its head) is broken and rendered “useless”.

However, nothing really suggests that Drifting Fox is deliberately manipulating people. By definition it can’t due to its fully animalistic nature. If there’s someone to blame, it would be the people that are unable to stand the sight of ugly and miserable things tainting their day, just like when it rains during sunny days. Nevertheless, such events happen, and the solution isn’t simply to lash out against that ugliness without forethought (likely explaining its Wrath resistance), but to simply celebrate it—to share the love during the “wedding of the fox”.

“Its growl recedes. You stroke it once more, and it closes its eyes, pleased. You stroke it once more, and it settles on the ground, comforted. You stroke it once more, and it shrinks to become a statue.” - Abnormality Encounter.

When it finally finds what it wants, the Fox can rest in peace knowing it’s in good hands. That’s the reason behind the Lust advantage of the “pet the fox” option, with the Sloth advantage being its total opposite—utter apathy and indifference for its surroundings and appearance, lacking any judgment or reaction. The Pride advantage is similar to the Lust one, though much more self-centered for obvious reasons; less sensual and warm, but more confident in a way.

Now, beyond trying to comfort it, there’s also another method to confront the Abnormality, shown with the mid-combat Event, where the chosen Sinner is sent to approach the Fox and its Umbrellas. Since it has Gloom advantage, it’s easy to see how the identities who are most familiar with despair and pain are able to reach the epiphany the Fox lacks easier than any other: that its cries and thus the umbrellas are ultimately unneeded. That revelation is so shocking that it even causes the Old Umbrellas to lose 30% of their HP, representing their loss of meaning.

“The umbrellas look like they've been standing there for Wings know how long trying to protect the fox, but it certainly doesn't seem like they're doing a good job at it.” - Mid-Combat Event.

Although, things are a little more complicated than just “waiting for the rain to stop”, since the Fox is already waiting, isn't it? In fact, that mentality is its main problem, and what led Yi Sang to not do anything when Dongrang began to doubt himself.

“Some considered the assemblage to be mere noise… While some considered the commotion to be growth. As for me… I saw it slantwise as always. As heavy rain might pour for days after a spell of clear skies… I saw no meaning in attempting to fathom the caprices of the weather. Yi Sang: I would simply wait for things to calm, looking out for the day’s arrival.” - Rowdy League of Nine Littérateurs, Canto IV.

And we can’t forget K Corp. eagerly “awaiting” for the Tearful Thing to cry, nor the bitter conclusion of Dongrang right before the Fox’s battle, about how there was no need for him to do anything thanks to K Corp.’s ampules.

Waiting for the end of things you can’t change is good and all, but sometimes doing nothing can actively worsen things. So even if you can’t do much, you still must stand up and brace yourself to fight against misery, unless you want it to consume and rust you like it does with the “little world” that surrounds you.

“I ran off and roamed the Backstreets like a thrown away umbrella until they took me in…” - Heathcliff, Lobotomy EGO Uptie Story.

“We know, however, that the umbrellas piercing its body are not there for the rain. For the fox has not once opened them for itself.” - Dante, Station #3: Rainfall, Refraction Railway Line 2.

And naturally, what better way to confront the rain than through sharing an umbrella~?

Devouring Lives

“The fairy's smile stretches into an eerie grin. The strangeness didn't need to be pointed out for everyone to share the same sentiment. Even though we knew we shouldn't trust things by the looks, we still fell for it. We'll have to pay the price for it.” - Abnormality Encounter.

Everyone should know what kind of being are fairies within the British Isles’ folklore by now. It’s one of “curiosities you must know” repeated ad nauseam in every article, video or media that deals with them in any capacity, no matter how bare-bones the actual explanation is. Thus, there’s no need for me to explain in-depth those aspects, especially when you consider all the other fairy-related Abnormalities that Project Moon has created.

So to begin, Faelatern isn’t really that connected to Midsummer Night’s Dream beyond its tricky behavior, despite what the name of its first EGO gift, “Midwinter Nightmare”, may suggest. There’s a complete lack of commentaries regarding the play’s main theme, the fickleness and irony of love (or Lust, in Limbus), which seems to have been replaced by the predatoriness of the “fairy” itself, cunningly acting upon its gluttony instead of… any other goal, really.

However, a parallel with a certain character of the story can still be drawn: Puck, the servant of the fairy king Oberon. This is not solely due to his role as the one who charms and tricks the human characters of the play and queen Titania herself, but also thanks to one of his folkloric sources, the celtic púca/pwca/pooka.

The legends of the púca, as most stories, are varied, but they mostly focus on the fairy’s penchant to trick (mostly drunk) people during the night, shapeshifting into diverse animals to offer them a ride to their homes… just to lead them anywhere but there. Still, there’s a particular version I think is important to the Abnormality, the one that came from “British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions” by Wirt Sikes:

“Pwca, or Pooka, is but another name for the Ellylldan, as our Puck is another name for the Will-o’-wisp; but in both cases the shorter term has a more poetic flavour and a wider latitude. [...] This form presents a peasant who is returning home from his work, or from a fair, when he sees a light travelling before him. Looking closer he perceives that it is carried by a dusky little figure, holding a lantern candle at arm’s length over its head. He follows it for several miles, and suddenly finds himself on the brink of a frightful precipice. From far down below there rises to his ears to his ears the sound of a foaming torrent. At the same time the little goblin with the lantern springs across the chasm, alighting on the opposite side; raises the light again high over its head, utters a loud and malicious laugh, blows out its candle and disappears up the opposite hill, leaving the awestruck peasant to get home as best he can.”

As far as I know, the equalization between the púca and the will-o’-wisp isn’t common, but it kinda fits at the end: both entities (commonly) lead astray people that decide to accept their help/follow them. One can even say the play supports this, with Puck claiming that he can appear like “fire” as he leads people through “bogs, bushes, brakes, and briers” during the third act, despite the more well-known domestic nature of the hobgoblin—an aspect that is present at some level in Faelatern’s illusion.

In more than one sense the Abnormality is a distorted mirror of the three fairies: while the púca, the will-o’-wisp and the puck/hobgoblin act during the night, either through helping people or causing (relatively speaking) harmless scares, Faelantern presents itself during the day as a homely and mysterious light that promises rest to people, with its true nature as a voracious abyss lying underneath the “fairy fire”.

If the púca/puck causes all sorts of pranks and tricks that, as the literary Puck said, are no different from dreams, then Faelatern is a nightmare that begins with a hypnotizing beauty whose true nature will soon be learned and never forgotten.

… And yeah, that’s the possible inspiration behind this Abnormality, and the hard part to analyze. The rest of it, like its skills and game mechanic, are quite self-explanatory:

“Snagged Lure”, “Burrowing Roots” and “Encroaching Stems” are all Gluttony skills to represent how survival-driven Faelantern is.

“Expanding Roots” is Sloth-based thanks to its Modus Operandi, resting and waiting in a single place until a prey appears.

The “Leading Lure”, “Evolving Lure” and “Charmed” passives explain how it works, continuously trying to “improve” its Fairy Lure to catch more people.

The “Broken Stump” reinforces the Gluttony affinity, with the Abnormality focusing on stealing the nutrients so it can (apparently) restore its broken body.

Lastly, and as curiosity, the “Fairy Dust” passive is an obvious reference to another fairy, Tinker Bell. But where her dust allows people to fly, Faelantern’s dust only makes them faster and more agile (i.e., Poise).

The only part of its kit that requires a higher level of interpretation is the passive and Pride skill that share the name, “Uncovered Abyss”. In tandem, the two elements likely point that, whatever higher thinking the Abnormality has, it’s more preoccupied with a self-absorbed appreciation of itself as an “abyss” that devours everything in the forest than with meaningfully improving its hunting tactics.

Another element that requires further analysis is, obviously, its weaknesses. While Faelantern’s resistances to Gluttony and Gloom should be obvious, being a monster that fully accepts its hunger and that genuinely doesn’t care about anything else, it being weak to Pride and Lust likely derive from how those dispositions can interfere with the Abnormality’s behavior: a pride that sees the Fairy’s “gift” as useless or irrelevant from the get-go, or maybe messing with its (lack of) love in a no so dissimilar way to Midsummer’s Puck.

And finally, there’s the mid-combat Event with Sloth advantage, implying that one needs to be “guided” by the Lure without question or care to destroy it along with the question given: Who will answer the bait?

I like to think that part shows the underlying meaning of the Abnormality, how it’s a symbol for an all-devouring thing that conceals itself through charm and light. It may be a person, an organization, or even an ideology; it doesn’t matter, because all it smokes and mirrors, a trick, a sick and twisted hoax. Faelantern doesn’t care about anything else but to satisfy the gaping hole of its “stomach”, unlike, say, Siltcurrent and Skin Prophet, who completely believe their own delusions.

You should always take care when you walk the (dark) forest of life, for no matter how bright it may be, disguised predators are bound to appear.

Note: Following the pattern I mentioned in Steam Machine’s section, Faelantern’s buff corresponds to “Inhaling”. The symbol likely represents the Abnormality’s stump/branches forming into a mouth to “steal nutrients”, which is also seen in its EGOs’ healing (beyond its own passives, of course).

Post-Commentary

This time I bring the first four Abnormalities of RR2. I began to write about them a couple of weeks after I finished the RR3 post, before RR4. However, since I only have one of the Abnormalities for the next part done (Shock Centipede), the second post will take some more time. Not much though, considering Wayward Passenger and Sign of Roses are on the easier side to analyze.

Anyway, in regards to some other thoughts I had while writing… I already commented how Steam Machine and Portrait of a Certain Day are similar on how they represent the weight of the past. The difference falls, I suppose, in that one is born out of love and nostalgia, while the other out of fear—Steam Machina lives to work, unable and fearful to imagine any other life beyond what it has done from its birth.

Another thing I wish to note is about Faelantern, since while I’m pretty sure about its meaning, it’s not so in the folkloric inspiration. In the first place I searched about the Will-o’-Wisp since the Lure acted like one in a way, and I found (in wikipedia, naturally) that the púca may be related to it. I lost a couple of days watching videos about it xD I wonder if Fairy Gentleman and Long-Legs will have a similar inspiration…

And since we are speaking about a “fairy”, I think it is funny that Drifting Fox is a trauma-related Abnormality and not a fairy-tale one, despite its EGO name’s origin. So instead of focusing on any folkloric element, I tried to see the meaning behind the colloquial names of sunshowers: the devil beating his wife (or doing anything undevil), or an animal’s wedding. I ultimately reached the conclusion it was because, just like animals or the devil don’t actually get wedded, there shouldn’t be a rain during a sunny day. It’s something that doesn't make sense.

[titoist]

i attribute the unusual style of the below writing to my tiredness & a sense of compulsion

~12:30pm. it is sufficiently hot outside in relative to the cold flowing from my A/C that, when the window is timidly cracked open, the air feels like it begins pushing inwards like a torrent -- an invasion of aggressive warmth that crawls along the walls before spreading in all directions. it almost feels like the A/C, blowing below & behind me, is counteracted by a separate mechanism blowing opposite of it. the heat feels industrial & direct. it was the warmth of placing one's hand a cautious distance above the stove, close enough to feel heat but not enough to be burnt. for those few seconds when the window was cracked open, i felt it cover my entire upper body.

something about the heat inexplicably reminded me of the walk home from my first day of high school. at the very least, it reminded me of the mental timbre of said memory. i don't exactly know why, and there was no preceding thought which served to introduce the memory or acclimate it or anything. it simply appeared, & i felt that it was summoned by the heat.

my first day of high-school went like this:

my elementary & middle-school experience was defined by long, long periods of absence pockmarked with brief streaks of attendance & grading by teachers who seemed uncomfortable in my presence, which i went through with a kind of nervous, quiet hyperarousal. it was during this period that i acquired my habit of speedwalking to reduce the chances of possibly being confronted, approached, or scolded. i had not yet developed a conceptual framework for living, as life until this point -- and for long after -- would be iterations of a central, subjective, intuitive escapism through internet usage. this is probably true for many people. but for me, it feels fundamental. it feels like the seed that the rest of my being has sprouted from. because of this, i did not have very good grades. personally, i would say that i achieved exceptional grades in sheer relative to the total lack of studying i had cumulatively done throughout my first 15 years, or the lack of formal education i had really been put through. but regardless, on the whole, they weren't very good. that being said, they were good enough for me to be accepted to a gymnasium an entire town over -- 17 miles from my city.

aside from being my first day of high school, it was also my first day doing any notable amount of traveling -- or even, really, just standalone exploration & activity -- without supervision. i remember watching the fields & hills from the second-floor of my bus. but i don't remember feeling much about it. this was still when i was a kind of fleshy vessel that had yet to develop many real opinions, perspectives, or beliefs. or, at the very least, if i held some embryonic perspectives, i felt comparatively empty.

the gymnasium weren't really as notable to me as the feeling i got from the gymnasium, refracted through my memory into a dense, thick sweetness, which i will now attempt to recount. it was profoundly strange & foreign -- i felt an at-homeliness. i didn't recognize that i felt at home, and i rationalized my feelings toward it as recognition of a kind of quaint novelty. the entire town struck me as a living organism. warmth permeated through the walls. the morning sun bore down through the ceiling-windows of the gymnasium's main hall and made everything shine. this was a place in which i could very conceivably imagine myself being alive. for the first time in a very long time, i felt awake. i don't know what it was. it was like, for a brief moment, life had opened up & shown all it's colors. i was in love with everything. utterly safe & content

this feeling of awakeness & possibility percolated in me. it drove me crazy. next to my home, there's this large, towering rusted railway bridge which i had previously only viewed with a kind of cautious fear. when i was walked home, i was gripped by this spontaneous desire, need, to run across it. my fearful laughter reverberated in tandem with my footsteps on rusted steel. & it made me laugh harder.

when i got home, walking through a little narrow path behind the local homeworking store with overgrown flora on both sides, i typed out a message to someone that i truly think did not amount to much more than just "finished my first day". i existed & listened to the song Bug Art by Sweet Joey Vermouth for around 30 minutes.

7 days later, on the 8th of september, the world would end. after that, i never attended the gymnasium again. but the world hadn't ended yet, so i slept.

the heat reminded me of this -- at the very least, it reminded me of the idea of it. the air smelled so nice & it made me feel so comfortable to be stuck between two natural forces.

[amunching-potato]

Had an absolutely wonderful experience fighting the slithering Inquisitor in the refraction railway today.

It took several turns for me to get rid of the beasts just to solo and finally kill the snake armed bastard without anyone dying (although in terrible condition).

Only for my Shi-Ishmael, who was holding on for dear life with 9 HP, to die from poison in the victory screen.

And if that wasn't enough, the moment that I won the fight I got kicked out because maintenance was happening.

[dlamp-dictator]

Okay, finished up my run of Railway with that bleed team I was talking about and... boy do I have some thoughts on it. Overall the experience was... a good one, more or less. I think I learned a lot about Limbus Company in terms of gameplay and mechanics, and I have a deeper appreciation for how this game is played, how certain boss mechanics, and how to play around certain team compositions. This bleed team made for probably some of the most big brain moments I've had while playing this game and was also some of the most torturous fights I've ever had to suffer. Personally, I don't recommend centering your team on bleed as the main source of damage. This only really works in about two or three fights and it is definitely not the optimal way of winning. That said, it was funny to watch the umbrellas and flowers accidentally kill themselves and make my job a lot easier.

But first, before I go on, a synopsis.

For my followers that aren't familiar with Limbus Company, just know that Refraction Railway is the equivalent to Arknight's Contingency Contract, a series of difficult fights with varying amounts of addition points of difficult that you can opt into for higher rewards. This is endgame content that tends to play around or even circumvent meta units and team compositions, really wanting the player to think ahead before making a move. Unless you're a Charge Team. This is the pinnacle of high-tier play and a true test of your skills as a player.

"But Allen, you didn't go through all 5 Cycles an-"

First of all, fuck you. This team already guaranteed most of my fights would be endurance runs as I stacked on +40 bleed potency on bosses with only 3 coins at most, assuming the boss would even allow for me to stack on that much bleed due to some of them outright rejecting bleed after a certain level of potency and count. I was already at +150 turns and I was fucking tired, my man (and I assure you, you are probably not just a guy, but that guy if you're getting up my ass about this). I've got a little more than a week to put together a good charge/rupture team with Warp and Seven units, and most of those units just need Uptie 4, so piss off otherwise. I'll play this mode for realies later before Season 2 ends.

Anywho, with that out the way, here's the big summary of what happened before I go through the deep break down.

Bleed is a slow killer that needs time and bleed buffs to stack potency and count enough to matter.

Steam Machine was a hellish fight that shouldn't exist.

Centipede was surprisingly easy with this team.

There was no real "nuke button" on this team, making fights drag.

Sinking was a nice side ailment to focus on when I couldn't stack bleed.

This being a pierce team was both a surprise and made it easy to choose the pierce buff.

This team made Rabbit Heathcliff useless almost by design outside of his support passive.

Fucking Yi Sang was my top damage dealer in this team, with fucking Hook Hong Lu taking second place by degrees.

And with that all out of the way, let's talk about this run in full.

A Slow Killer

For those not familiar with Limbus Company still reading on here's a quick summary of how Bleed as a status ailment works. Bleed (and most status ailments) have two numbers to them: potency and count. For Bleed, potency is the amount of damage that unit will take every time it either clashes or attacks, count is the number of times that unit will need to attack or clash before they stop taking Bleed damage. For a quick example, a unit with 5 Bleed potency and 5 Bleed count will take 25 HP damage after five attacks or clashes. There's some more miscellaneous info as well, but those are the basics for now.

With that said, Bleed overall isn't something you should really build around in Railway. This is a mode that wants you to move and move fast through boss fights. I'd say the game expect you're first two cycles to take around 5-8 turns with all repeating boss fights afterwards taking about half the time. And if I wasn't running a team that relies on trading as many hits as possible to tick off 20 HP at a time on average that'd be very doable. However, even when I can stack as high as 40 Bleed Potency at a Bleed count of 20 that means nothing when I can only clash with the enemy two or three times per round, and despite having two tanks and a healer on the active team I couldn't afford to take too much damage.

Not to mention that Bleed, by it's very nature, turns most fights into wars of attrition. Steam Machine was insufferable due to it only being able to take so much Bleed potency and count before it capped out, and I frankly killed Talisman Doll/STNOWC too fast for the Bleed to really be a huge factor after the third go at it.

That said, Bleed did have a handful of good moments. For things like T Corp and the Fox it's great since I can comfortable build it up and on rare occasions the Umbrellas killed themselves on the second turn if they were still around, and the roses killing themselves was almost hilarious. These were ultimately small moments, but the small moments that this team shined, it really shined.

Faust

The damage stats might say otherwise, but Faust was definitely the MVP of this run. Her ability to reliably fuel her own Fluid Sac had been keeping my team above half health for the most part and kept me deathless until Sign of Roses. Even if Ryoshu (for some godforsaken reason) "tank" as much as Faust, Faust made sure the team stayed strong and health with her sanity and health heals on her EGOs. Speaking of EGO use...

Wow, that's A LOT of Lust and Gluttony

It wasn't until the start of Cycle 2 I realized I had enough Gluttony, Lust, and Pride to just spam the shit out of Don's base EGO and apply even more bleed with ease, along with letting Don essential be self sufficient thanks to her EGO's passive healing her. I'm not kidding. I was so preoccupied spamming Fluid Sac so no one died in Cycle 1 that I barely realized how Gluttony-heavy my team was in terms of Skill 1s and 2s. It was until Cycle 3 that I took advantage and started spamming Faust and Don's base EGOs left and right.

Apparently, this is a Pierce Team Too

Yeah... I realized once I hit the second cycle this team was really pierce-heavy. I think the only non-pierce damage-dealers I've got is Meursault and Yi Sang on his skill 2. Now, this mostly meant Yi Sang could do consist damage that the other units couldn't, but it also made it easier to figure out what second buff I'd use for this team after Cycle 2. Along with putting Rabbit Heathcliff on the sidelines for his passive all the more obvious to me.

Sanic Speed

This team has the potential to be insanely fast. A good majority of them can give themselves haste via passives or skills, and their max speed potential can get crazy high. Not to mention half of them get bonus coin power for being fast or having haste on them. Seriously, the max speed buff for enemies almost meant nothing once I use Crow's Eye View for cheap and let Don and Hong Lu rip the enemies in half. Though with that said, there wasn't really a lot of big damage numbers for this team since, well...

There was No Nuke Button

So on most teams in Limbus Company you'll usually have a few folks that have a skill that might as well say: do big damage now. For a charge team this is Rip Space, Quick Suppression, and D.D.E.D.R., skills that do insanely high damage that you can plan around and likely end the fight that turn or the next. The Bleed team didn't really have that. Most Skill 3s were there to apply large amounts of Bleed count and not cash in on damage, save for Hook Hong Lu on his Skill 3 and Molar Ishmael on her Skill 3... and Molar Ish is a Sinking unit.

"But Allen, why not just use Rabbit Heathcliff and his Skill 3?"

Yeeeeeeaaaah... about that...

Rabbit Heathcliff is Basically Useless

Due to his ammo gimmick clashing with the nature of Bleed turning fights into endurance runs, Heathcliff can't really handle the drawn out nature of how most of my fights went aside from spamming his evade skill. And these were fights that needed every tick of damage I could get. Not only that, but his skill 2 increased Bleed potency, which I needed as well. The man's gun ran dry after about 6 turns and I couldn't have him in fights any longer. His pierce damage is handy thanks to the pierce buff I got, but he only made Steam Machine a little easier at best. His passive on the other hand was extremely useful on this team, and he found a nice spot on the bench thanks to it.

I should had Made a Sinking Team Instead

If there was anything that told me going Bleed was a sub-optimal move then let it be that despite everything, despite making an entire team around bleed, despite having the intention of having Yi Sang be on the team for Crow's Eye View and little else, despite the fact that I didn't even dip into Sinking buffs, that Spicebush Yi Sang is my top damage dealer, with the two-star Hong Lu only behind by less than a hundred points in damage. If that isn't showing Project Moon's Hong Lu bias I don't know what is. I swear, I thought Yi Sang was just doing okay damage, but it turns out Okay Damage is enough to top the damn charts in this case. I didn't even Uptie 4 that man yet, he's just that stupid strong, almost as brainless as Liu Ish.

If I had to build another team knowing what I know now I would had probably done something like this. Yi Sang and Ish as the main damage dealings with Sinclair and Outis as addition Sinking application. Faust, Meursault, and Hong Lu would be there for adding bleed on the side, with Heathcliff, Ryoshu, Gregor, and Rodion being there for the support passives. Don is mostly there to be a self-sufficient gal like I had her before.

And... that's about everything I got from this run of Railway. I'll probably do another run next week before the season ends with a real team, but this was certainly a learning experience in many way.

Also I wanna' give a special thanks to @movedraptor5913 for giving some addition help and info with the original team I posted. I swapped to Mariachis Sinclair since I didn't realize his passive also worked on Abnos too, and while I probably should had used N Faust to just have a nuke button with her Skill 3 I just didn't have the resources to level her at the time. And Uptie 4-ing Rhino Meursault was probably the smartest advice I took for this game in some time, he really did come in clutch despite everything. Huge thanks to you for that!

Anyway, I'll see you folks later.

[a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats]

some quick observations on refraction railway

paralyze is quite good just in general and refraction railway hasn’t done anything to change that, I think seven section IDs will be good generic supportive units, para just like, randomly winning you rolls is exactly the sort’ve thing you’re looking for

burn comps absolutely Require hong liu to have high SP, his base EGO raises his SP, but you still shouldn’t be clashing him into anything that’s guarenteed to lower his SP; makes the burn thing a little awkward but once it gets going it can chew through single targets at a good clip and hong liu applies an absurd amount of burn count

shi identities are in sort’ve a unique spot because they don’t want to be healed so you can run them in consecutive fights guilt free, and I’ve heard they pop off hard once they hit their threshold; additionally their stagger thresholds all being at the beginning really helps then longevity wise, and shi heathcliff at least isn’t Horrible at clashing even if the single dice make him prone to eating it; though again with the shi gimmick it’s not a strictly bad thing; don’t really know how much there is to this point but it’s a thought I had, I don’t have a load of experience with shi IDs

regarding speedrunning from here on; sitll not sure what the ideal move is (I doubt I’ll be chasing it personally but we’ll see), but I think AoEs, especially ones that line up with physical or sin weaknesses will be key in multiple enemy fights, they can do an absurd amount of damage and ideally even set you up for next turn via staggers too, I saw heathcliff’s do like 206 damage once which makes everything else look like chump change, legerdemain probably MvP as usual

I only got to the frog (kroohoo? I think?) but nothing has really made me balk yet, I’ve noticed there’s a two abno fight later on though so that should make me scream

[sailordaimp]

today I woke up bright and early (noon) and decided I was gonna finish refraction railway. five hours later, and…

IM FREE!!!!!!!

That experience was so long and excruciating I am NOT going to try for under 200 I think I’d explode.

Anyways ty to the people who responded to my cry for help in terms of team building!!!!!! Here’s the total amount of damage that everyone did:

[megiddo-ichi]

This Week's Schedule is brought to you by...updates.

More Limbus Company on Thursday as we experiment along the Refraction Railway.

Followed by World of Horror on Friday to check out the newest update. 

And ending the week with Elden Ring as we figure out how to access the Royal Capital. 

All streams starting at 6PM CST. Hope to see you then. 

Twitch | Twitter | VOD Channel | Discord

[sootythwack]

refraction railway was quite the experience mostly because of unreasonably tanky enemies, the fights aren't that hard by themselves it's that they're long. but hey at least i got w corp don :D

chapter 3 spoilers

KROMER DOESN'T HAVE HER PASSIVE IN RR GRAHHHHH

[sleepyminty]

STNOWC: your teammates will burn bc of y-

Nclair: SHUT UP, DIDNT CARES, GET CHOP DOWN WOOD

[digitalsonam]

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.9 (before 1950)

536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital. 730 – Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami. 1432 – The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War. 1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. 1636 – The Qing dynasty of China, led by Emperor Hong Taiji, invades Joseon. 1688 – Glorious Revolution: Williamite forces defeat Jacobites at Battle of Reading, forcing James II to flee England. (Date is Old Style; the date in the New Style modern calendar is 19 December.) 1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia. 1822 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a memoir read to the Academy of Sciences, coins the terms linear polarization, circular polarization, and elliptical polarization, and reports a direct refraction experiment verifying his theory that optical rotation is a form of birefringence. 1824 – Patriot forces led by General Antonio José de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence. 1835 – Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio following the Siege of Béxar. 1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal. 1856 – The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces. 1861 – American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress. 1868 – The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps. 1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of Henry C. Warmoth. 1905 – In France, a law separating church and state is passed. 1911 – A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines. 1917 – World War I: Field Marshal Allenby captures Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire. 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland. 1931 – The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic. 1935 – Student protests occur in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and are subsequently dispersed by government authorities. 1935 – Walter Liggett, an American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder. 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Yasuhiko Asaka launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanking. 1940 – World War II: Operation Compass: British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt. 1941 – World War II: China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Germany and Japan. 1941 – World War II: The American 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon. 1946 – The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia. 1946 – The Constituent Assembly of India meets for the first time to write the Constitution of India. 1948 – The Genocide Convention is adopted.

[kingoffiends]

Refraction Railway experience is like "I NEED GLOOM SKILLS I NEED TO HEAL YALL" "WHEN DID HEATHCLIFF REACH 4 HP" "SINCLAIR IF YOU DONT WIN CLASHES IM MAKING HONG LU MY NEW TOP SINNER HE'S FLIPPING HEADS WHY CANT YOU?" "I wish Demian was a sinner." "Welp Heath died that's enough RR for tonight."

[historybehindassassinscreed]

In Game:

Sir David Brewster was a Scottish Templar and scientist known for his contributions to the field of optics, being well-recognized as the inventor of the kaleidoscope.

At some point, Brewster joined the British Rite of the Templar Order and was tasked with researching an Apple of Eden that had been unearthed at the construction site of London's first underground railway in 1862. He and Reynolds, his assistant, subsequently set up a secret laboratory beneath a train yard in Croydon and began their studies. Brewster also had local workers kidnapped to experiment on them.

However, the Templars gradually grew dissatisfied with Brewster's slow progress. In February 1868, Lucy Thorne, the Order's resident expert on the Pieces of Eden and Crawford Starrick's second-in-command, visited Brewster and pressured him to work faster, claiming he had received more than enough time. She also pointed out that the amount of missing laborers was starting to draw unwanted attention.

After Thorne departed, two guards brought forth a trespasser, whom they believed to be working for Henry Green. Brewster ordered them to interrogate the man and then send him to the laboratory. The scientist subsequently returned to the lab himself and continued his experiments on the Apple, exposing it to high voltages of electricity in an effort to activate it.

At this, Reynolds expressed his concern, but Brewster dismissed him, claiming they needed results as quickly as possible. As the experiment continued, the scientist entertained the idea of displaying the Apple in public and using it to destroy Darwin's reputation, to which Reynolds objected. Brewster laughed it off as a "wee joke", claiming that the Templars' grip on London would become absolute once they unlocked the artifact's secrets; both the Assassins and Darwin would be vanquished.

However, as Brewster conducted his research, the Assassin Evie Frye leaped upon him and assassinated him. In his final moments, the scientist revealed Thorne had already discovered another Piece of Eden. When Evie claimed that she would take that one from the Templars as well, Brewster lamented how humanity inherently focused on the material, which they would inevitably lose upon death. After he breathed his last, Evie hurriedly made her escape, as the Apple detonated from all the electricity that it had been exposed to, completely destroying the underground laboratory.

In Real Life:  

David Brewster was born at the Canongate in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, to Margaret Key and James Brewster, the rector of Jedburgh Grammar School and a teacher of high reputation. David was the third of six children, two daughters and four sons.

At the age of 12, David was sent to the University of Edinburgh (graduating MA in 1800), being intended for the clergy. He was licensed a minister of the Church of Scotland, but only preached from the pulpit on one occasion. He had already shown a strong inclination for natural science, and this had been fostered by his intimacy with a "self-taught philosopher, astronomer and mathematician", as Sir Walter Scott called him, of great local fame, James Veitch of Inchbonny, a man who was particularly skillful in making telescopes.

Though Brewster duly finished his theological studies and was licensed to preach, his other interests distracted him from the duties of his profession. In 1799 fellow-student Henry Brougham persuaded him to study the diffraction of light. The results of his investigations were communicated from time to time in papers to the Philosophical Transactions of London and other scientific journals. The fact that other scientists – notably Étienne-Louis Malus and Augustin Fresnel – were pursuing the same investigations contemporaneously in France does not invalidate Brewster's claim to independent discovery, even though in one or two cases the priority must be assigned to others.

The most important subjects of his inquiries were the laws of light polarization by reflection and refraction, and other quantitative laws of phenomena, the discovery of the polarizing structure induced by heat and pressure, the discovery of crystals with two axes of double refraction, and many of the laws of their phenomena, including the connection between optical structure and crystalline forms, the laws of metallic reflection, and experiments on the absorption of light. In this line of investigation, the prime importance belongs to the discovery of the connection between the refractive index and the polarizing angle. biaxial crystals, and the production of double refraction by irregular heating.

(Image source)

Among the non-scientific public, his fame spread more effectually by his invention in about 1815 of the kaleidoscope, for which there was a great demand in both the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. As a reflection of this fame, Brewster portrait was later printed in some cigar boxes. Brewster chose renowned achromatic lens developer Philip Carpenter as the sole manufacturer of the kaleidoscope in 1817. Although Brewster patented the kaleidoscope in 1817 (GB 4136), a copy of the prototype was shown to London opticians and copied before the patent was granted. As a consequence, the kaleidoscope became produced in large numbers, but yielded no direct financial benefits to Brewster. It proved to be a massive success with two hundred thousand kaleidoscopes sold in London and Paris in just three months.

Brewster died on February 10th, 1868 at age 86, in Melrose, Scotland after a long and successful career.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brewster

https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Brewster

https://brewstersociety.com/kaleidoscope-university/sir-david-brewster/

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It’s Japan!!!! Definitely one of the dream places that I’ve always wanted to visit and non of anybody had any bad comments about it after returning from their trip there. So yeah a day before my birthday, I flew to Japan!! 😛

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This was also my first time taking the Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA) that provides so far the best service I’ve ever had onboard. Surprisingly the price for ANA this time was comparable with our local budget airline Airasia so ANA it is!

Only if I can get this view from the plane!!!

Nah this is the actual photo. Was just playing with a bit of photoshop on the previous photo 😛

So once we touched down, we took the Narita Express that took up to 90 minutes ride from Narita Airport to Shinjuku station. It would be great if you get a return tickets for the Narita Express cause it’s cheaper than buying separately. So it was a very chill experience along the way and by the time we landed it was almost 4pm in Japan time so sunset was just in time (sunset in Winter is earlier).

We checked into Ibis Hotel Shinjuku and it was already dark and we were soo soo hungry!!!

The first night in Japan and I already fell in love! Look at the street and the lights!

Not to mention it was colddddddddd.

The flow of my blog will be according to the timeline that I was in Japan so if you happen to see any place you’d like to visit or interested, please jot it down and feel free to ask me more about it!!!

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Classic fact about the metro that everyone’s so so quiet and they stood so still in their own position. The fact that it was so safe being there, I didn’t mind being cramped tightly in the crowd.

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The next morning we visited the famous Blue Bottle Coffee at Aoyama. Talking about Aoyama, ohh it’s just an indulgence just to walk around the streets with beautiful architectures around all the small alleys.

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Checklist list ticked: to have that blue bottle paper cup 😛

The doughnut balls on the left was so so so good you must try!!! and we tried the lemon poppy seed cake too.

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Then we continued strolling around the streets and kept being amazed by everything we’ve seen.

Another fact about Japan is that the light and shadow are coordinating perfectly with each other.

#ootd with the architecture of Prada Aoyama is a must as the structure was designed in diamond-honeycomb like and the light refraction makes it shine perfectly.

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We then took metro to Ginza and came upon this street.

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Japanese pop culture never dies ❤

Second day was basically exploring the city’s interesting corners and feeling the cold.

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It was my birthday!!! So this was my birthday dinner (Happy Birthday to me!!!) and it was one of the best! This was at Izuei Honten, which is an unagi specialist that serve really really good unagi with reasonable price.

Waking up super early the next day for the exciting experience at Sensō-ji. It is an ancient Buddhist temple located at Asakusa.

It was already super packed around 9am in the morning.

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You can find a lot of interesting Japanese street food and cute souvenirs along the street towards the main temple.

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And for the girls, you can rent Kimono and walk around the streets to have a closer experience of being a Japanese.

Never skipped the Japanese Strawberry Mochi aka Ichigo Daifuku when you’re in Japan cause their strawberries are super huge and sweet!

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The temple itself was so magnificent and you can follow the Japanese traditional prayer and have your blessings there.

Ok continued exploring the streets 😛

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  Next destination was the Tokyo Skytree and you can check on the tickets here.

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We only went up to the 350th floor and this was already the view!!!!

Hi Skytree, I see you.

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There are stores selling merchandise and souvenirs as well as skytree cafe that has their signature softserve!

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Look at this!! I was and am speechless….

Next morning we took a super early 6am train to Hakone then Fuji for 3 days. Make sure you get your Hakone-Fuji 3 days express pass at Odakyu Station for only less than RM400 and it includes the return ticket Odakyu-Hakone-Fuji-Odakyu, ropeway pass. pirate cruise tour and almost all the bus accessible around Hakone and Fuji unlimitedly within 3 days.

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Hehe bento is unavoidable in the train!!

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After we arrived at Hakone Station, we had to transit to another train to Gora which is where our hotel located.

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Look at this cute red vending machine hiding by the railway.

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So yeah this happened when we got out from the wrong side of the train going to our hotel and there’s no route for us to walk over, so we had to wait for the next train lollllll.

Hoorayyyyyy we’ve finally arrived at Laforet Club Hakone Gora.

I got so excited to be trying out Yukata for the first time in my life. It was super comfortable as you know, nothing inside :))))) Hahahahah It was also my first time trying onsen!!! It felt so so so good especially during Winter! This is the private onsen in the room and they do have the public pool too.

This is also the first hotel I’ve ever stayed that I did not have to wear my shoes at any part of the hotel including lobby. We were given the complimentary Japanese traditional socks so that we were to wear around in the hotel.

It’s interesting that everyone is wearing the same yukata at the breakfast lounge.

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The next day, instead of taking the train back to Hakone station, we chose to walk a lil and there are so many traditional architecture worth seeing.

From Hakone station, we took the local bus with our freepass to checkout the Hakone Shrine and the famous Torii by lake Ashi.

Taadahhhhh

Then we used the freepass for the pirate cruise that bring us around to witness the magnificent Mt. Fuji!

Look at this!!!!! That little white cap on the peak of Mt. Fuji is so elegant!

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From the cruise, we did not go back to where we boarded but another pit stop so we could take the Hakone Ropeway to Owakudani, where the sulfur craters are located.

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Another view of Mt Fuji from the top of Owakudani.

This is the Chinese name for Hakone.

Then we headed to the Torii and it’s freaking huge and the wind almost blew us away.

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Getting some #ootds after completing all the mandatory destinations.

Just me and my vending machine. Can I have one at home??????

and we found this cute 7-11 by the cliff.

Back to Hakone station. Oh yeah for convenience we dropped our baggage at Hakone station so we did not have to travel back to hotel as we needed to depart to Kawaguchiko station on the same day.

Finally arriving at Kawaguchiko and means we were closer to Mt Fuji! How cute even the car plate number starts with Fujisan.

Our home for another night, Royal Hotel Kawaguchiko.

Morning light shines through the window beautifully

and I have Mt Fuji behind me, this cannot be anymore perfect.

Yukata moments.

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Yes we woke up to this lake right in front of our hotel!

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Hi Mt Fuji, you are everywhere! ❤

So we walked around Kawaguchiko for a bit then took the local bus to Lake Kawaguchiko.

Then we came upon this primary school by the lake and the adorable Japanese kids were doing sports, hmm more too just having fun hahaha.

After that, we headed to Chureito Pagoda, that is located at the hill top overlooking Mt. Fuji.

Unfortunately the weather turned so sunny and the sunlight was too bright that day so couldn’t get a really good photo. Yes this is the view! Basically walking up to this Pagoda is one hell of a workout! Trust me don’t take the stairs, take the curve sloppy route instead, it’s a lot easier though it may no seem so.

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All the residence from the top.

That’s the end of our 3 days in Hakone-Fuji and taking the train back to Shinjuku!

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First thing back to Shinjuku, Food!!!!!! This was at Ichiran Ramen, Yummehhhh

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Ramen ended the previous night pretty well especially after the journey of bus ride from Kawaguchiko back to Shinjuku. The next day we dropped by Fuglen Espressobar and they have pretty decent coffee though, up to my personal favorite.

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Who doesn’t love doughnut right?:P

Since we only had a doughnut in the morning so here we were at Shake Shack Shibuya!!! I’ve been wanting to have it again after my first time at Dubai 4 years ago and finallyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!! It’s definitely one of the best fast food I’ve ever had.

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After feeding our tummies, we walked to Tokyo Plaza and it’s got a pretty amazing view from the rooftop.

Shibuya crossing!!

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Hi traffic light! (I mean the colors of the cabs hehe)

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The next day we woke up super early again, ok not super early but still early hahah, for a trip to Tsukiji Market! Yasss seafood and tamago!!!!!

That was the huge grilled scallop that I had, it was so fresh and juicy. Ignore my sleepy swollen face in the morning pls.

Then you’ve got all kind of seafood being served in different ways along the market. It’s kinda confusing for a first timer like me to walk around as it spreads out to different directions.

She’s so gorgeous wearing the traditional Kimono.

and the not to be missed Tamago!!!!

We’ve tried this humongous crab stick was yummeh too.

Eheh bumped into go kart with costume on the road. Yes you can rent it with the costume and drive in the city.

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Next stop, About Life Coffee, was where I had the best coffee in Tokyo. It’s just a small corner lot with only 2 bench outside the shop and some standing spots besides the coffee machines, tiny but best coffee!!

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Another coffee stop at Saturday Surf NYC at Daikanyama and at the same time we got to shop for their products too.

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The seats are actually at the balcony overlooking the streets of Daikanyama, pretty dope isn’t it?

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Seems like a day full of eating. Next if you’re looking for an affordable and good sashimi restaurant, you should try out Sushino Minori.

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Ooopss doughnut again! This was at Doughnuts & Coffee.

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Pink is obviously the concept of this cafe so they made everything so Instagrammable. However the doughnut was too sweet and coffee was not good though 😦

The Doughnuts & Coffee was en route to visit the Tokyo Tower and here I was!

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Waited for sunset and the tower was lit beautifully.

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That was the last night in Japan and we decided to have Izakaya for our dinner. Was looking for quite a few back at Shinjuku but never seemed to have a decent one until we thought of this street. This was where I took the first picture on the first night when we first landed. It’s called Shosuke. Trust me they serve really really good and comforting food from fried udon to yakitori and paired with Japanese draught beer, BEST!!!!

On the last morning before departing to the airport, we dropped by Shibuya for the last cafe visit called Little Nap Coffee Stand.

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and I fell in love with this quote from them saying ‘I’d rather enjoy a cup of coffee than taking photo’, which cannot be totally true as taking photos is my passion but it’s funny though.

So nah, I took a photo of stranger enjoying his coffee, that’s perfect! 😉

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That wraps up my 10D9N trip to Tokyo, Japan and it’s the best best country that I’ve ever visit so far. I finally understand why so many of my friends make Japan as the annual holiday destination.

ps special thanks to my gears Olympus OMD EM1 Mark 2 and the lenses for all the photos that I’ve captured as my best memories.

Japan, I’ll see you again ❤

      Konichiwa, beautiful land of culture! It's Japan!!!! Definitely one of the dream places that I've always wanted to visit and non of anybody had any bad comments about it after returning from their trip there.