Demian's speech about stolen chips makes me think about the fucked up descriptions on some of the level up items that describe how using them does an incredible amount of damage to the multiverse.
No, let's get to what's important - I got some pushback about calling Outis Sunshower mid earlier in the thread and it's time to explain why I'm objectively correct. Yes, it rolls a very very high number for cheap. It only costs 1 sin resource and 10 SP more than To Pathos Mathos in order to throw out a floor of 26 and a ceiling of 33. That's pretty crazy, I'm not denying that. It's just that to me 'big number to automatically win clash' is... basically every EGO. Like, that's not special. That's the default. It's only much more recently that we've started getting EGO that are much weaker at clashing, or even worse than a base skill would be, in exchange for far greater damage or some other kind of utility. When I look at an EGO I look first and foremost at its actual affixes, and Sunshower Outis is an absolute fucking dog's breakfast. Oh yes, just let me run my fucking Poise Sinking Tremor team, the most synergistic there is! Wait no I can't, it only Tremor Bursts on fucking crit, and Outis' only Poise ID is Blade Lineage Outis who isn't a real ID and will be shot in the face by Yi Sang Fell Bullet for morale purposes.
Sometimes, you just need to roll a guaranteed 26 no matter what. There are only two other EGO with min-rolls of 26, and they're both Persuance. As you said, you'd think that "clashes really well" wouldn't be enough to make Sunshower Outis stand out in a crowd of attacks that by their very nature clash very well, but I can tell you from shockingly frequent experience that sometimes that 26 minroll really is enough to make a difference when you're going up against a boss's super attacks.
There is one specific attack I'm thinking of when I'm saying that...But I'll talk about that in greater detail when it comes up in the LP.
It helps that the only competition it has for Outis's TETH slot is genuinely dogshit so there's no reason not to take it with you on every ID, meaning that when you really, really need to win a clash and whether due to low sanity or paralysis or the RNG just hating you that day you cannot rely on rolling heads against it, it's right there for you.
AEDD, now here's an easy one. Shock Centipede's themes are quite overtly about torture and experimentation, in that the Abnormality is subjected to agony and torturous conditions in order to extract the optimal output from its lightning capacitors. Gregor is himself a product of inhumane experimentation, Hermann seeking to draw out the true potential of his cockroach arm, and Heathcliff? If you've so much as heard of Wuthering Heights you'll probably guess why he's synchronising with the lightning Abnormality that gets abused all the time. The connection only becomes clearer when you factor in his battlepass ego from last season, Telepole, which is a big angry purple lightning dog. While both variants are Charge EGO, the strange part is that Gregor's AEDD inflicts Spark Discharge which is a Rupture support status (and the passive expends his own Charge in order to pass it to the ally with the lowest Charge) whereas Heathcliff's is a more generally useful Paralyse and Gloom Fragility with a passive that improves his self-sustain by causing him to drain Charge Count in exchange for healing when struck. Given their usual themes I'd sooner have expected Gregor to have the passive of Heathcliff's variant, but hey I won't complain.
Heathcliff AEDD is the fuckin' GOAT, man. It's Better Legerdemain (meaning that it's a playmaker EGO - with a good speed roll you can use that AoE 3 paralysis to let Heath's slower teammates win clashes they have absolutely no business winning, potentially turning a disastrous turn into a complete sweep) with a side effect of making Heathcliff fucking immortal.
Well, not quite, but it's still got an absolutely insane defensive passive.
Tempramental Discharge said:
When hit, spend 1 Charge Count to heal 2.5% of Max HP.
At less than 40% HP, gain 1 Charge Count before activating the healing effect. (Can gain up to 10 Charge Count per turn)
Look at this. Look at it. This doesn't even need a Charge ID to work, in fact it's better if you're not using a Charge ID since it supplies its own Charge. What this means is, for any given ID at level 50, you'll heal somewhere from 5-7 HP every time you're hit. Normally this is just some really, really nice damage mitigation (assuming an incoming 3-coin attack with neutral effectiveness rolls a 10+15+20 for a total of 45 damage, AEDD's passive will knock off 15 HP from that minimum - a full third of the incoming damage has just been wiped away!), but if you can play around with damage resistances hard enough to reduce incoming damage below that healing threshold (if that example attack is resisted by Heathcliff with even just an 0.5x mult then it'll do 5+7+10 damage, reduced to 0+2+5=7! Or -2+0+3=1 on a tankier ID with more HP!) then Heathcliff literally cannot die. Getting hit will just heal him instead. It's nuts.
...Well, as long as he's not taking more than 10 hits per turn, anyway. But that's a nearly-full complement of 5 2-coin attacks, which is basically everything a given boss can throw at you per turn.
And not only that but it's got some absolutely insane synergy with one of Heathcliff's launch EGOs, Ya Śūnyatā Tad Rūpam, which has a passive that lets Heathcliff increase his max HP by 15% (and heal by that amount to boot) whenever he recovers from stagger three times per battle. That's potentially an extra 45% max HP on IDs that have three stagger bars. By the time you're at the 40% HP threshold for AEDD's passive to kick in you're practically guaranteed to have gone through at least one or two stagger bars, meaning you're rolling with an extra 15%-30% HP to boost both the heal and the damage threshold.
For context, an ID with three stagger bars and 200 HP (meaning they'll get boosted to 290 HP - better than most tanks!) will go from triggering AEDD's passive at 80 HP to triggering it at a much more comfortable 116 HP, and go from healing 5 HP per hit to 7.25 HP per hit.
The combination of these two passives turns any Heathcliff ID into a mini K-Corp Hong Lu - not only being shockingly resistant to damage but also getting more added to his life bar whenever he gets hit hard enough.
NOOOO!! POTENTIAL MAN!!!
It is my genuine and correct belief that Sunshower Heath is not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. Although I won't deny that he is weird and more complicated than most IDs, what with his sanity needing management.
Not only does he do good damage, but he's also pretty good at tanking hits, due to his passive giving him insane damage reduction, as well as having a two coin counter. That's twice as many coins as most counters!
And the sanity management isn't that difficult either, just get his sanity low by losing a clash with his S1 on turn one, and then do unopposed attacks or counters instead of clashing until you need more san instead of less.
Ishmael: "Seriously, why am I the only one forced to wear this? Can't I put on one of those outfits with... the talisman things?" Rodion: "Shoulda picked faster, gal~ There were only three sets left, so what can we do about it?"
Now that I think about it, Rodion would have been a much better match for Sloshing EGO than Ishy. I remember hearing a theory that Sloshing Ishmael is bad on purpose for lore reasons, because her compatibility with the Fairy Gentleman is so low she can't even access any of its gimmicks.
Meanwhile Meursault rolls in at HE rank with a full suite of personal buffs, even more Burn, plenty of Tremor, and twice the coin power for good measure.
Uptie 4 gives Capote Meursault another 10 coin power, making it roll a whopping 45, one of the highest rolls in the game. One of the very few EGO that are worth the expense, imo
Since they are both Season 0 generic EGO, I wanna take a second to shout out Heathcliff's counterpart for the dogshit in question, because his version is so much better it's a war crime, and they DO both share the trait of insanely cool animations with raw-ass (/pos) presentation.
The source abnormality was the final boss of the original Refraction Railway, which I forget if it has been discussed in the thread previously. It is content that predates Canto IV though, so I feel like it's fair game to discuss: My Form Empties, a very cutting critique of the ideals of emptiness espoused in Buddhism (specifically the forms practiced in the region), a critique that I agree with strongly but am HELLA not going to get into right now. TL;DR the boss itself is a stone 'Buddha Mūrti', a vessel-statue that in this case is full of Mr Pibb and Red Vines miscellaneous ichor and muscle / loose veins, instead of the presence of divinity.
Outis' version is a TETH, and in the running for the game's single-worst TETH at that. It has 1 attack weight until Uptie Four (and that gives it ONE extra attack weight, and literally no other buffs), which is to say it's single-target. Already a bad start: Single-target EGO usually need to be real fun and fancy in other ways to stand out. Roll? Bad, 19+4. Damage? Bad, Lust Slash, single most common combo in the entire game, with -2 offense level on top. Effects? Two random allies get one same-turn Attack Power Up (and yes this can hit allies who already acted earlier in the turn) and the victim gets 2 same-turn Lust Fragility... along with the EGO's one function. You get 18 SP back after use. It only costs 15 SP. It is one of the few EGO in the game that reliably consistently gains you more SP than it cost, no conditional. But only for Outis, as opposed to much better SP restoration EGO that benefits allies (HINT HINT). The passive is a very small and narrow damage-up. Whoopie.
Heathcliff's version is a HE, and might unironically be my favorite Heathcliff EGO. This is the one Gilliam mentioned above that gives Heathcliff his banger +15% Filled Max HP passive! Great start. What wasn't mentioned were the initial benefits of using it, which are MANIFOLD. Roll? Better but still not anything to write home about, 18+8. THREE attack weight base, with +1 conditional extra target (+2 extra at Uptie 4). The damage? Lust Blunt, way less common combo, a lot of Heathcliffs care about Blunt Damage, and 3-5 targets instead of 1-2 means WAY more bang for your buck. The debuff? The enemies hit all take 2 Attack Power Down NEXT TURN. This makes Outis' two doses of 1 same-turn APU for allies look like an insult, for those not playing along at home. And finally, the icing on the cake?
After Attack, the four allies with the least SP gain 17 SP (25 at UT 4).
Outis barely gives herself back 3 more SP than she spent with for her version. Heathcliff spends 25 to spread up to 100 to the neediest folks on your team. It's like Night and friggin' Day! And instead of a minor damage up for one Sin color, he gets the second-strongest survival EGO passive in the whole entire video game. All for 10 more initial SP (which, again, he more than rebates) and 2 more Sin resources.
So yeah, even when two EGO are sourced from the same Abnormality and are just one slot / tier separated, the difference can be astronomical.
Remember how I said it was uncommon for two Sinners to get EGO from the same Abnormality simultaneously? Turns out I was full of shit and it happens all the time.
And as Zerban pointed out, they CONSTANTLY drop 2 comparable EGO from the same Abno onto Sinners at the same time: Literally every Bus Pass since Launch has been centered around this premise, even the notoriously weird Season 1 pass that had 3 Fourth Match Flames, 2 Roseate Desires, and 2 Fluid Sacks among other one-offs or pairs to EGO from the gacha pool (every Pass since has had exactly 6 EGO on it in three matching pairs). Hell's Chicken also came with its two precious Lifetime Stews, etc. There's a lot of fun comparisons to be made, and an interesting throughline TheLordOfMango brought up in terms of how compatible the Abnormality and the Sinner are to take into account.
Now that I think about it, Rodion would have been a much better match for Sloshing EGO than Ishy. I remember hearing a theory that Sloshing Ishmael is bad on purpose for lore reasons, because her compatibility with the Fairy Gentleman is so low she can't even access any of its gimmicks.
As stated above, that has always been my stance on the matter personally: Ishmael doesn't jibe with this suit and so even at its fullest performance in her hands... the 'in her hands' is the operative word and it just flops around being a huge well of bulk and not much else.
Speaking of bulk, Sunshower Heathcliff is capable of quite a fair bit, but using him takes a LOT of setup... Or you can point him face first at a particular Thread Luxcavation and let him solo it in 3-4 turns via shenanigans.
It really is wild how much of a difference in quality there is between Outis's version and Heathcliff's version.
Heath's has an amazing passive, it makes your next turn objectively better, the +2 attack weight conditional is piss-easy (have 15 sanity before using it, easiest thing in the god damn world), and it has the important half of Fluid Sac attached to it to boot. Party-wide (or close to it) sanity restoration is one of if not the most important effect in the game to have on at least one of your EGOs, and between that and the attack power down a single use of YSTR can turn a losing fight around completely.
You can then follow it up with AEDD next turn to both nerf your opponents into oblivion and get the passive combo going.
I don't understand what they were thinking with Outis's version. Its biggest claim to fame in my eyes is the Corrosion, which actually accomplishes something by applying 2 fragile and 2 lust fragility to a target...but it's all same-turn, you can't control who it hits because of the random target tag and it still has a shit roll.
Meanwhile, Uptie 4 Forest for the Flames (Ryoshu's excellent base EGO) applies 2 next-turn Fragile, which is always way easier to work with, with a way better roll (18+10=28 vs 19+4=23). A Corrosion being outclassed by a base EGO that's 2 resources cheaper is kind of hilarious.
I think it's pretty important to note that Heathcliff's version of Ya Śūnyatā Tad Rūpam wasn't actually available on launch, it came out about 8 months after launch. So Outis's version kind of suffered from the same wonky balancing that a lot of the other launch content had, while they had somewhat of a better idea on how the game actually played by the time Heathcliff's came out.
Also, it specifically doesn't heal his *own* SP, so you either tank his SP at the start of the fight or don't restore anyone's SP later. That first one's more than worth it, though, with all the benefits.
Another Canto down, another sprite post! As usual, posting sprites and judging fits.
First up: Rosespanners
Why, of all possible factions, is this the one to get three members? You know, those iconic 'Rosespanners', who were so very pivotal in Canto 4? Oh well.
First up, Rodya actually looks rather good to me. The pink on the coat is a much appreciated pop of colour among an otherwise subdued palette. It is always a coin flip whether wearing a coat as a cape is cool or silly, but this time at least I believe it to be cool. The weapon is incredibly odd though, in a way that is hard to describe for me. It doesn't quite click, though, that I can say. I'll give it 6/10, more than her subordinates will get.
Gregor and Meusault share an uniform, and without the cape, or the light-pink shirt, it's just kinda dull? Neither of their weapons are interesting; in Meursaults case, it's pretty much a hammer. I have no clue what all the gears and doohickeys do, because the sprite appears to remain the same. In Gregors case, chainsaw arms are cool. That is however the most boring chainsaw arm I've ever seen. It's just a rectangular slab with teeth. They bot get 4/10s, since I like Gregor covering his mouth in the way he does, and Meursault's hollowed cheeks and sleep-deprived eyes cannot be found anywere else, and is thusly somewhat interesting. Let's quickly move on to something more interesting.
Second: Technology Liberation Alliance
Our first instances of Lobotomy E.G.O, and unfortunately I find them to be the more underwhelming version of E.G.O. These all keep to the style of Lobotomy Corporation, in where every piece of gear has to include that shirt and tie, even when the design would be better without. With that out of the way:
Sloshing Ishmael is certainly a thing. I do not hate the design, and like how the liquid slime can redistribute itself to where it is needed, but the pieces of armor, the tiny wings, especially the suit and tie... I don't like any of those things. I'm not sure what detailing would've been good, but something else, please. 3/10.
I should like Red Sheet Sinclair more then I do. I like the talisman monk aesthetic, but something (besides the IDs gameplay, which I also loathe) irks me. I can't put my finger on it, but I think I would've liked it more if the style it emulated was Marile's rather then the nameless mooks. Perhaps. Who knows? 4/10.
Sunshower Heathcliff I like though. I like umbrellas as a weapon, I like the simple raincoat, and I believe the shirt and tie to work in this case! The muted colours bring the correct mood to mind, it's just all around good! The only real complaint that I have to make is that the twin umbrellas stabbed into the back is a bit much. I much prefer the subdued design it would've been without it. It's a single complaint, but it brings the score down significantly. 7/10.
Spicebush Yi Sang is neat. The twin weapons of a branch spear and flower fan works for the most part, even though both are almost never used at the same time in the sprite. Effloresced E.G.O being able to materialize and dematerialize at will would not be surprising, so I'm not really bothered by storage logistics in this case. Otherwise, it's a beautiful ID. Great color palette, the golden yellow wonderfully contrasting with the dull grey of the underlying outfit. Once again though, the branches poking out from his back irks me a little. Not nearly to the same degree that Sunshower Heathcliffs umbrellas do, but it keeps it out from a 10 for me. 9/10.
Third: K. Corp
If you remember last time, I then complained how N. Corp Meursault dissapointed me by not being able to put on/take off the mask. The existence of IDs such as this, is why I was so disappointed. I really like this one, the K. Corp aesthetic and neon green are lovely, but the helmet having a hole for Hong Lu's hair feels slightly off. It's still an 8/10, though. Makes me wish we got some of the lower K. Corp employees instead of 3 rosespanners, though.
Before we move on to the E.G.Os, we have 2 more sets of ID's, namely the Dieci and Cinq that Zerban used during combat, even if the Cinq were only for a brief time. So...
Fourt: Dieci Association
The Dieci IDs wear their inspiration on the sleeves, what with the habit and stoles. It's simple, but yellow works very good on black. I can't really find any specific faults the general design, though.
So with that, let's go to Meursault. Meursault being the director is visible through the additions to his uniform, the golden cuffs and accents along the clothings edge. Additionally, glasses are great and Meursault should wear them more often. 8/10
Yi Sang has nothing really notable to him, and his animations are on the dull side of punching. I've nothing to really say about him. 6/10, for the base outfit, I guess.
Hong Lu differs from the other by not punching, and instead swinging around a size-changing key. Now, I'm not that big of a fan of keys as weapons, but Hong Lu's mannerisms sell the ID for me. It's good, 7/10.
Fifth: Cinq Association
Man, I love the musketeer aesthetics, and it's hard to go wrong with rapiers. Add in the cape, and you've got a top tier uniform. A personal favorite when it comes to associations.
First up, Sinclair, like Meursault, is the director, and gets something extra added to the outfit. In this case, it's the literal feather in the cap, which really looks great. I've got no notes, and no complaints, so 10/10, I guess?
Outis doesn't differ much from Sinclair, so I suppose it's just how much that feather is worth. Half a point? I'll go for that. 9.5/10.
And with that over, let's get into the Season 2 E.G.Os
The outfit is great, no real notes, but I can't help and be slightly dissapointed by the Corrosions. I mean, It's better than the corrosions that are just Abnormality + Sinners Hair, but I just feel that more could've been done here. The animations are still good though, so I'm not too mad.
7/10 for both.
In the case for AEDD, I have much the same problem as I have with Capote, although to a greater degree in regards to specifically Heathcliff. the differences are not really clear and obvious when viewed in motion. However, I love the detail that the name badge is crossed out in both corrosions.
Gregor gets a nice 7.5/10, the centipede-arms are neat. Heathcliff gets a 6/10. It's just the base ID with a blue coat, and some nails, and without great corrosion variance.
This is a great aesthetic. The subdued earthy colours, umbrellas are wonderful weapons, and I'm very fond of both animations. Great E.G.Os, no notes. Yi sang gets a 9/10, the corrosion irks me slightly. Outis gets a 9.5/10, as I prefer her raincoat to Yi Sangs poncho.
One last thing to do. After the conclusion of season 1, I made a post about the abnormalities that appeared outside of the story, such as in the Mirror Dungeon and Refreaction Railway. Most of these abnormalities have E.G.Os of their own (the one from My Form Empties were discussed recently in thread, even) so why not include those as well.
These are neat, but out of the two of them, Sinclair is the stand-out. I love the little sad face in the middle of his armor making a face with the shoulder eyes. The head ornaments are a little odd to me, though. Sidenote: Sinclairs Corrosion exploding and showing his ribcage is really metal for such an otherwise cute ego and abno. 8/10 for Sinclair. 6/10 for Hong Lu. It isn't bad, just not to my tastes.
Got nothing big to say about this one. The suit in and of itself is good, but I cannot claim to be a fan of the weapon just having the entirety of Headless Ichthys cradling it. I just bothers me. Gonna say 6/10.
Not Pictured: The giant blood bag at the end of Fausts weapon.
I like Don's version better, even with the weird weapon, just because of the weird hand coat. It really bothers me. Furthermore, this is one of the earlies E.G.Os made for the game, and it shows in its stilted animation (it will not be the worst in this regard today, though). It may be considered gamebreakingly overpowered, but it will have to settle for a 4/10 for this category.
This is the E.G.O with the worst animation in the game (in my opinion, of course). At least for its corrosion. It's pretty much just the same still sprite dashing across the field. But disregarding that, this E.G.O still has a clarity issue. At least for its corrosion. I just dislike this one. 2/10.
I like this better, but I still do not have much to say about it. It's pretty middle of the road, 5.5/10.
And this is the best one. I particularly like the smoke coming from the corrosions charred body, but still, this one doesn't really speak to me. 6.5/10.
I really do like this aesthetic, The buddhist monk attire, the stone hiding flesh. I loved it with My Form Empties, and I love it here as well. My one complain, really, is that the animations are either a little too long for my tastes(Outis) or a little stilted (Heathcliff, Corrosion). But these are nitpicks. 9.5/10 all around.
As always, less to say the further down I get. Probably because I get too tired to write this up. Not gonna do anything about it, the main purpose is to post some sprites, after all.
SPOILER WARNING: This is your last chance to stop and play Library of Ruina without spoilers. This Intervallo may not spoil every detail or provide all context, but it is impossible to dance around the fact that the nature of the canon ending will be revealed by this update. If you are at all interested in Project Moon's games and the world of the City based on this thread I highly, highly encourage you to stop and play Library of Ruina for yourself because I adore it(s story, the gameplay could use more tuning in the back third). You are not to freely discuss any other part of Library of Ruina beyond the precise information revealed in this intervallo however, I'm sorry but I've seen people get sidetracked and end up playing grab-ass in the weeds far from home too many times to be permissive about this. Each new spoiler flag we pass will release a certain amount of information for discussion where it strictly relates to That Specific Thing and when in doubt always err on the side of caution. Thank you for your cooperation, and let's try to be mindful of those without a PhD in Project Moon already.
Author's Note: Apologies for the delays getting this up, Intervallos are honestly the biggest hurdle for this LP because they're that magic length that's too long for a single update but too short for two, weirdly Hell's Chicken was itself more draining to cover than Canto IV because the latter was more easily divisible segments. This, uh... makes me worried for the future, where we start having two Intervallos per Canto gap, but we'll get to it when we get to it. I was much more aggressive with summarising, skimming and streamlining parts of scenes here, so let me know how it reads.
Narration: It's been about two weeks since we took care of the job at K Corp. And the immense dullness of travelling through a Nest by car was just starting to sink in.
Check it out, Dante's talksprite has updated. The minute hand advanced past the 9-o'clock point just like it did in the CG last time.
Faust: "The way roads are built in the Nests and Backstreets is rather dissimilar. If we were navigating the Backstreets, we would have been able to find a shortcut through the alleyways and corners... but navigating a Nest in an automobile means driving through this absolutely abominable traffic congestion." Rodion: "I guess that's why people with cash to spare spend it on W Corp's WARP trains and such~" Don Quixote: "The WARP trains, they are..."
Sinclair: "I-I think I prefer riding the bus..." Meursault: "D'accord."
Funny story - while W Corp Cleanup Crew IDs are hardly a guaranteed drop, the game made the wise decision to simply assume that you'd pulled one of them by this point, and the knowledge contained within its relevant uptie story disseminated amongst the bus crew. What's wrong with WARP Trains?
... don't worry about it! We'll get the chance to talk about that muuuuuuch later.
Days of boredom and uneventful travel pass, and as the bus finds a long underground tunnel they finally break free of traffic and hit a straightaway out of K Corp's district, towards their next destination. Dante, annoyed about Vergilius leaving pertinent details about the job and their destination as usual, gets Faust to ask where they're going again.
Rodion: "Mmmh... What was that, Ishy? You up? Ya spooked me." Ishmael: "Oh... sorry."
Sinclair: "That's...!" Narration: I looked to the window, which had suddenly turned bright... Narration: ... and the cleanest sandy beach and the most turquoise blue ocean I had ever seen graced my eyes.
The Sinners are roused by Don Quixote's excited squeal, whether dozing or in a daze, and chatter excitedly amongst themselves about the sea. Rodion excitedly questions Gregor about having seen the sea once before, a luxury she's never had the opportunity to experience, yet...
One among them is not so thrilled by the sight of the sea.
I appreciate the characters continuing to show basic pattern recognition, it's a relatively unique quality.
Dante: <Ishmael... you good?> Ishmael: "N-no. Uh... give me a moment... I need some time to think..." Narration: While I was still worried about Ishmael's sudden gloominess, I had faith that she would be okay. She was always on top of things, after all.
Ough, Dante, you're taking steps but you have a long way to go yet you big nonbinary bitch. They're falling into the classic trap of assuming the person who outwardly has their shit together will continue to have their shit together always and in perpetuity (which is a silly belief because we've already seen hints of Ishmael acting a lot more worldly and knowledgeable than she really is and getting pulled into calling Heathcliff 'gayboy' so, so easily), thus missing obvious warning signs that the dependable one could probably use someone to depend on for a change right now. Even so it's hard to really hold that against Dante since they're relearning all of social interaction from zero, on hard mode.
They also have another 11 psychopaths to wrangle at the same time, as seen here where the commotion of the other Sinners' excitement pulls their attention away from Ishmael's quiet freakout.
Sinclair: "I've only heard of the Great Lake but never saw it myself... So this is what it looks like, huh..." Don Quixote: "Ooh... Perhaps our trying journey shall finally be rewarded with a seaside picnic!" Hong Lu: "Aha~ I suppose spending a nice vacation here could be a fun experience!"
Look at him smile...
Rodion: "I could use some nice tanning on a long beach~" Don Quixote: "I wish to try the game of beach volleyball! With everyone, that is!"
Pause. It's so crucial to me that you know Kim Yea-lim said 'BEACH BORRYBURR'. Okay continue.
This is a surprisingly rare Heathcliff talksprite so enjoy it while you're able, just like the Sinners are enjoying the idea of getting a Fun Beach Vacation while they're able to delude themselves about the fact Vergilius never actually said they were stopping here, at the beach. That is until at last, belatedly, Gregor (because of course he'd be the first to think of the alternative) asks Vergilius if they're really stopping at the beach.
He thinks he's sooooo funny, what an asshole (compliment)
Vergilius: "Charon." Charon: "Gonna hitch wheels in a ditch. Screech."
And then everyone on the bus except him and Charon GMOD ragdolls around the interior again. This is the only enrichment his job description allows and by god Vergilius is milking every last drop of it.
Don Quixote: "Owowow... What treachery is this? An ambush?" Vergilius: "No. This is our stop." Rodion: "W-what the..."
I wish I could post the original teaser for Magic Hellbus right now, but all I could find is the full-length PV which unfortunately spoils a bit too much of what we're about to see to link here. Go search it up for yourselves later if you like! Instead I'll make note of the fact that this is so far the only Intervallo in the whole game (out of 6 so far) where the Intervallo itself and the Event which ran concurrently with its release don't have the same name. This chapter is technically named 'S.E.A.' hence the name of this update, but... dude, The Magic Hellbus is so much better (obviously it is, I named the thread after it), and I don't know what the fuck 'SEA' is meant to stand for.
Don't worry, she said 'vacashion' in English too.
Gregor: "This may come as a surprise to you, Don Quixote... but Vergilius never mentioned that we're here on a vacation." Ryoshu: "Well... it is rather quaint. N.B."
Ryoshu shut the fuck up you don't even believe that, you're just saying it to be contrarian. Rodion laments that they had to see the beach on the way in, with Sinclair in particular opining that he wishes he hadn't seen it because then he wouldn't be so disappointed, a throwaway line that nonetheless amuses me as that idea of 'is it better to be ignorant that a better life is possible if it means making your current circumstances easier to bear' comes up relatively prominently at a later date. Make note of it in your exercise books, it will be on the test at the end of the year!
Don Quixote: "Wherefore art we not journeying in that direction?! Its air appears pristine, its skies clear!" Faust: "Because that's not our destination."
Don Quixote falls to her knees in anguish and despair at this revelation, shaking the camera with the impact. She is flawless and beyond reproach.
Dante, having sacrificed getting a clue about Ishmael's current emotional state in exchange for attuning to the bullshit that has currently befallen the bus, notes that they had a hunch there wouldn't be a fun beach vacation lined up and tries to get the team back on track. Ishmael supplies that they've reached District 21, the Backstreets of U Corp, completely T-boning Faust as she attempts to give the same exposition with a mutter that they're not ready for this. Hongler remarks on the obvious, that the contrast between this Mordor-esque polluted slime-pit and the sparkling blue sea and white sand of the adjacent beach is so sharp as to be wholly unnatural.
Outis: "I see. A boundary, as though hewn by a blade. Those are telltale signs of the place's nature..." Faust: "Indeed, this is-" Ishmael: "The Great Lake. That's just how it has always been. You can assume that a well-maintained vacation spot like that... is usually Nest territory." Faust: "My explanations keep getting hijacked."
I don't know what amuses me more, the fact that Ishmael's baseline has been so abrasive that the characters can't actually tell she's starting to freak out, or that Faust is just heavy coping about losing Exposition Professor status. I can't profess to great familiarity with OCD (slim possibility my Dad has it but I wouldn't know for sure), but Ishmael does canonically have it in some form, and the way she rapidly blurts out information about U Corp here certainly reminds me of how she started verbally reiterating the immigration process (to the point of aggroing Ryoshu) out of stress during the K Corp checkpoint crossing back in Canto III. Dante, used to the dense urban environs of Districts 4 and 10, asks how a wide open beach can count as 'Backstreets' and winds up getting a similar rundown from Faust as I gave the rest of you about the Backstreets being more of a colloquial term for the boroughs of the City that lack the gentrified security measures of the Nests.
Heathcliff and Don appear to be rummaging around in the piles of garbage while this conversation takes place, the former because he knows damn well from experience what a Backstreets is when he sees it and the latter because as a gremlin this is her natural habitat.
Don Quixote: "Oho! Behold, hither is a rather useful-" Don Quixote: "..." Heathcliff: "What? Finish your sentence!"
Heathcliff: "What?" Don Quixote: "This radio... it moved! Do the radios of District 21 scamper about?" Heathcliff: "Wha... What are you on abou- Whoah!?"
Mess with the crabbo, get the stabbo. Trash Crabs come in three basic types; Hard (shell made of rock and a tire like the top crab), Pointy (shell made of sharp driftwood and barbed wire like the bottom crab) and Sharp (shell made of discarded cleaver and axe blades, some of the dead sprites strewn about). This really only affects their max health and the physical affinity of the skill Shell Tackle, they're always primarily Pierce offensively, with minor resistances to Gluttony and Lust (their own skill affinities) and slashing damage while weak to Sloth and Fatal to Gloom and Pierce. This is doubtless because the banner ID for the event was a mono-Pierce ID with a Sloth s2 and a Gloom s3 but sadly I use her in my Sinking team so she's far, far too powerful to bring out right now - even so, that affinity spread suits this team just fine.
More noteworthy is this passive, where the crabbos just start flagrantly teamkilling once they drop below 70%. The crabbos themselves are weak enough (having negative Offence Level modifiers and lacklustre skill ceilings) that you can sort of just ignore this behaviour and beat them to death, not that you really have a choice in the matter in a normal encounter. Instead I'll note the one other unique thing I forgor - hey all have the guard skill Hermit Crab, which deals 4 physical retaliation damage of the affinity matching the crabbo's shell type when they are struck with shield HP remaining. Technically this means a Sinner can take the retaliation multiple times during a single skill if they can't bust through fast enough, but even so it's such a small amount of damage and only a 4+6 guard that you can still pretty much ignore it.
The Sinners beat back the crabbo advance, startled but unscathed.
Heathcliff: "I wasn't even gawking at you! You're paranoid, that's what! Can't even talk about bugs around this guy..." Gregor: "Ugh..."
rip Gregor, set up by all the bug-talk in Canto IV then zigged when he should've zagged.
Ishmael, of course, has all the answers. She identifies the trash crabs immediately, explaining how they collect garbage and scrap to use as their shells in a manner similar to hermit crabs, a common pest in U Corp's district that often ambush people by the sea in search of more materials, breeding faster than they can be killed.
Dante: <I-Ishmael?>
Dante finally realises there's something wrong, and has every intention to get to the bottom of this - but horrid timing and luck, the locals choose this very moment to show up.
??? (Other Mechanic): "Mika, Mika! They're our valued customers. Watch your manners..." Mika: "Oh... Okay, I guess?" Ryoshu: "What're those R&Ts?" Sinclair: "I think she's calling them Rags and Tags..." Mika: "Rain, they're calling us ragtags... Do I really have to watch my manners?" Rain: "Shh, shh..." Outis: "They could be enemies. You two! Identify yourselves!" Rain: "Have you not been informed about us at all...?"
Mika: "I'm sorry, wouldn't real spies come up with a more structured approach...?" Faust: "Indeed. Outis, they are our cooperators who will be assisting us this time."
FACT: 90% of royal viziers quit right before winning their liege's trust with a jackpot bluff.
Faust clears up the misunderstanding, as it seems LCCB beat us to the site as usual to arrange for Rain and Mika's services. Mika remarks that 'that person' said to expect a bunch of psychopaths in a bus - curiously Faust thinks to ask for clarification as to who the 'that person' Mika referred to is, but Rain misunderstands her and simply doublechecks the business card he has to confirm that it was a representative of LCCB after all. Whatever her reasons Faust chooses not to pursue it further, letting Rain and Mika return to their workshop to prepare it for Mephi's arrival. Why?
U Corp's district is almost entirely The Fucking Ocean. What, you thought we'd get to the Canto of the girl drawn from Moby Dick and not have to Get In The Water ft Steven Rodriguez?
Ishmael fr spends half this intervallo using this sprite or some variation of it, muttering something significant while mentally Witnessing The Horrors.
Vergilius: "That's right. Which is why we sought out a contract with an adequate shop to modify the bus." Gregor: "Huh... Adequate, you say?"
God look at him, his eyes are glowing slightly, he's mad as hell.
Rodion: "Umm... did our last staff dinner really hit the budget that hard? I thought we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted." Narration: Like Rodya said, looking at the somewhat dilapidated shop made me curious about the company's finances... but nothing good could ever come out of this conversation, so I decided to table the thought."
Throwing this insane shade at the workshop for looking crummy and Limbus Company for hiring them is especially funny considering that Saude having a gun at all (emphasised in the uptie story of LCCB Ishmael which I skipped to focus the postscript on N Corp but includes her yelling at other members to stop conserving ammunition because the company's good for it) bespeaks to significant funding somewhere behind the scenes.
Rain: "... okay." Outis: "Hm. It seems to me that this workshop is capable of making more sophisticated modifications than it initially appeared." Rain: "Ah, you recognise these?" Outis: "During the war, it was of the utmost importance to have a general understand of arms and gear workshops."
Rain appears to become uncomfortable upon realising Outis is a veteran of the Smoke War, trailing off entirely for lack of anything to say on the matter. It's nonetheless a tantalising hint as to the nature of her role in the historic conflict, one that must sadly wait as the atmosphere is suddenly pierced by the caterwauling of a warning siren (or "Mephistopheles' scream" as Faust initially describes it in a Sus fashion). Mika took a look at Mephi's internals offscreen and immediately fucked something up.
And brought more trash crabs to the party besides.
Sinclair: "Look, outside!" Meursault: "They appear to be of the same species as the one we encountered earlier." Sinclair: "T-they do look pretty similar." Meursault: "Hm, they are not 'pretty similar', they are indeed of the same species."
Gotta love Meursault taking the time during a crisis to mansplain crabs to the child, we love a man with uncompromising dedication to facts and logic. Dante hustles everybody outside to repel the threat, but the oncoming crabbo attack is not quite as simple as more standard waves.
MEGA CRABBO (EDIT: 'a giant enemy crab' you people should be PUT IN JAIL)
Outis: "Men, spread out!" Heathcliff: "Where do we have to get crackin' this time!?" ???: "Its noggin, of course."
King Trash Crab: "Screeeech!" ???: "Sit still... Quit strugglin'!"
The King Trash Crab lets out an earsplitting roar of pain, and promptly fucks off across the bay as the group's wetsuited saviour leaps down from its back to greet them.
And Olga makes the full set, all three former Molar Office Fixers from Library of Ruina. The gang retire to the workshop with Olga now that the danger has passed, to discuss the terms of the job and to let her get changed out of her diving gear.
Yes you are and I'm skipping Faust's version to do it, she can suffer for her crimes. Also holy bazongas, Project Moon character designs trend so androgynous the exceptions really jump out at you.
Rain: "Big Sis, they're still our dear customers! We should watch our..." Olga: "Aw, come on! I didn't do nothing wrong, did I? Bugger, I didn't even do anything yet!" Rain: "Sigh... 'Yet' being the keyword here... Our business just opened, so there's nothing wrong with being a little careful." Vergilius: "... I'd imagine the sudden switch in your career path couldn't have been easy. Was it manageable... Olga, Grade 5 Fixer?"
oh no vergilius you fool you said the f-word she's coming-
Olga: "W-wha?"
I Ain't Transcribing All'a That.jpg
Don Quixote: "Fine, yes I understand...!" Vergilius: "I apologise, Olga. Soon there will be peace and quiet."
Don Quixote beats a hasty retreat, and Olga is left to deal with the fact a Colour is talking to her.
Olga: "The Red Gaze..." Olga: "Gree... tings? I guess? Blimey, it's been so long since I had to be so polite!" Vergilius: "Well, that's polite enough."
See? He can be nice! It's just the Sinners who provoke the Cain Instinct in him-
Vergilius: "It seems that people have been returning one by one from the books since the incident at the 'Library'. How was it for you?" Olga: "Same story here~ One moment I was like 'Huhn? Am I dead?' And next, I'm suddenly waking up somewhere around here! No Mika, no Rain, stomach hankerin', thought I should grab myself a nosh, so~" Olga: "... and, uh... how'd it go again?" Rain: "A trash crab appeared, you fashioned a few things around you into a weapon, smashed its head in, turned it into a barbecue, Bob's your uncle."
Normalise killing and eating the first thing you see if you get put in a situation.
Rodion: "Hm~ That Olga lady's got a pretty flippant personality, huh?" Dante: <Yeah Rodya. Like someone else I know.> Rodion: "Uhuhu, I have no idea who you're talking about~"
An exchange that is either very funny or a torturous tease depending how invested you are in what IDs Rodion gets - for you see, despite Dante outright calling out how similar Rodion is to Olga, it's Ishmael who got the Molar Boatworks ID for this event and Outis who got the special pre-Library Molar Office Fixer ID patterned off her. Both are pretty good, I still use them to this day, but best not let ourselves be sidetracked - the same way Olga, sidetracked by overhearing Rodion's half of the conversation, starts asking after Dante's prosthetic head.
This is where the game breaks to skim over the backstory, so I'll do the same: in the previous game, Library of Ruina, the titular Library would lure guests from all walks of life in the City with the promise of a grand prize if they could overcome the patron librarians in a Reception battle on one of its nine floors. The Molar Office was one such group lured by an invitation (which had the ability to fold space and teleport the guests directly to the Library's foyer upon signing their names), and when the trio were defeated they were reduced to books and added to the shelves just like everyone else. Then, all of a sudden, everyone who had been booked was let go.
Limbus Company reveals that this process wasn't a swift binary toggle at all. Olga, Mika and Rain were fortunate enough to land in roughly the same area but they did so at completely different times and far from their old stomping grounds, forcing them to start over from scratch by rebranding to Molar Boatworks and hunting trash crabs to sell the bounty of scrap on their shells while sustaining themselves on the meat.
Vergilius himself takes note of the fact that there was no particular rhyme or reason to the order or manner in which former guests were released from their books, lamenting that "the patterns" have yet to reveal themselves to him. He and Faust share a significant look, but lacking the context to fathom its meaning Dante swiftly loses interest in the exchange.
Ishmael has only been getting worse. In fact she seems to have fully stopped paying attention to the conversation around her. Dante decides to try and get on top of it now that they finally have a moment to try.
Dante: <I-Ishmael, so you've been here before? It looked like you recognised those crabs from earlier.> Ishmael: "... Yes. Is that a problem?" Dante: <Huh? No... not really.> Dante: <I'm just wondering how they taste. It sounds like people eat those crabs.>
Ishmael: "I'll entertain it anyway. Yes. I've had it more than a few times as crab chowder. It was a pretty digestible flavour, once I got past the vomit traveling back up my esophagus. Does that answer your question?"
Dante is lowkey panicking. The question was a lame-ass dodge, but Ishmael's response was so icy that it completely threw off their groove. In the background Sinclair voices his surprise trash crabs are even edible, looking weird and warped enough to resemble an Abnormality or Distortion, but Dante (perhaps glad to have a question they can easily answer) immediately clarifies that they are neither. Hearkening back to Faust's original insistence that an Abnormality is not a 'monster', while trash crabs look freaky they are merely mutated animals and thus (theoretically) safe for human consumption. This immediately raises questions about what would happen if you tried to eat pieces of an Abnormality but thankfully Hongler sidetracks the conversation by talking airily about his grandmother's own collection of mutant animals.
That aside, this leaves us with the same problem we came in with - we have to sail to reach District 21's L Corp branch facility, but we've got a bus which can't exactly drive on the sea. The Molar Boatworks are too scared to even touch Mephi's engine for obvious reasons, but they're gonna have to switch out practically every other part of it if the Sinners want it seaworthy, and that means they need materials. And to get materials, the Sinners have a new job - crabbo slaughter.
"MANAGER ESQUIRE, I HATH ENTERED MY STRUGGLE ERA"
Meanwhile, the real Struggle Era in the room...
So here's the deal. In Hell's Chicken, you had to grind the intervallo-specific Mirror Dungeon over and over to get currency for the event shop. Everyone hated it. This time around Project Moon said 'alright how about the remix' and nixed the dungeon, instead having players grind these 'repeatable'-marked map nodes for scrap. Everyone hated it again, potentially even moreso than Hell's Chicken because now you really are just playing the exact same fight over and over and over again, not even choosing paths and getting EGO Gifts in events to break up the monotony. It probably didn't help that the free event 00 ID, Molar Boatworks Sinclair (patterned off Rain) was absolute dogshit just like Chef Gregor of Hell's Chicken, and both event EGO were garbage this time around to boot. Molar Ishmael at least was still a legitimately good ID, certainly one I haven't memoryholed entirely like Chef Ryoshu, but... enh, let's save talking about that for another time.
To further underscore just how hellish this Intervallo is for the gang, they farm trash crabs on the mudflats for two entire days before hitting the next beat in the story.
Check out the "BOAT" haphazardly slapped on the sign at the last minute, it's like Olga made it all the way to building, installing and lighting the sign before realising she forgor the workshop's on the seaside. You'll note also that this is the very same background CG where the Sinners started, just that the Molar Boatworks garage is now lit up and housing Mephi.
Rodion: "Phew~ Can we rest now? Listen, I can hear my shoulders creaking with every move~" Sinclair: "Rodion, can you stop that? It looks like you're flexing at them..." Gregor: "Well, it'll take some time to modify the bus, so we'll at least have a few days to enjoy. Though... this place doesn't exactly resemble a tourist attraction."
Unfortunately, Dante starts getting another hunch. A hunchy hunch that there is still grinding yet to be done. That it's too soon for the Sinners to let their grindset turn back into a mindset. And sure enough, Mika chimes in asking what they're expecting to 'enjoy' now.
Mika: "I said it was enough to 'get started'." Gregor: "Which... means...?" Mika: "Which means you'll have to go collect more scrap, of course." Gregor: "How much... more, to be exact?" Mika: "Umm... about... five times the amount you've collected so far?" Rain, offscreen: "Mika, we're going to have to work on the rear wheels too." Mika: "Sorry, seven times."
WOMP WOMP
Meursault: "Considering our current productivity rate, it seems that we will not be provided with adequate rest. Perhaps reducing the time dedicated to sleep would be contributive to our collective effort." Don Quixote: "N-no. This cannot be! We simply cannot!!!"
"THIS TIME I SHALL REALLY DO IT, MANAGER ESQUIRE!"
Here Rodion stops to ask the obvious question that maybe should've been asked before the 48-hour grinding marathon, which is 'wait how does all this random scrap and detritus correlate to building a boat in bus form'. Mika replies of course, bolting random scrap to the bus and hoping that makes it float would be fucking stupid, but we're in a new Wing's territory and it's time to learn about a new Wing's Singularity - the resonance tuning fork. It allows raw materials to be melded together seamlessly as if they had always been constructed as one contiguous whole, allowing even the assortment of Random Bullshit the Sinners are collecting to function like custom-tooled parts for Mephi. Amusingly there's a confused aside from Rodion during this where she says she thought U Corp's Singularity was food preservation - it is, kind of. Rain says (with Faust backing him up) that the same core Singularity can be applied in more than one way, so since food spoilage is broadly speaking all about reacting to contaminants in the environment it makes sense that the tech that could hypercharge the process of 'cross-contamination' could also halt it completely.
Ishmael ain't thinking about canned food and ice cream though.
Ishmael: "Entwined, fused with... things..." Ishmael: "And eventually devour them all... as though they've never even existed..." Dante: <Ishmael... what's the problem?>
Ishmael's voice rises marginally from an obsessive whisper, frantic and pleading.
Ishmael: "Dante, you have you tell Vergilius immediately. Tell him that we have to collect the Golden Boughs of other branches first." Dante: <Give me a moment, Ishmael... Are you okay?> Ishmael: "No, no. We are not ready. We're inexperienced, we don't know enough about the Great Lake, nor about the whale..." Ishmael: "I know, I'll help you out. I'll help you make Vergilius understand. We shouldn't go there, not yet. I'm telling you, that place is...!"
Uh-oh here comes the caesium to the water.
Ishmael: "We all scraped through the same crab guts, but I'm totally fine." Heathcliff: "So what's got you throwing a fit? This ain't the first time we're going in not knowing a nit about what we're doing. We've been dead enough times to get used to it!" Ishmael: "Dying your way through a mission isn't really something to be proud of, Heathcliff. If we were your average Fixers, we would've been dead and gone on our very first mission, our names scraped clean from whatever Association's registry." Heathcliff: "You think me daft? I've had enouggh years toilin' and brushing with death for the Syndicates of the Backstreets to know that I've got but one life! But it's different now! Clockface's here to bring us back every time!"
Heathcliff: "What- what's up with this attitude? If an Abnormality cracks my skull, turn the clock and I'll let it crack my leg next time. We can keep crawlin' back until they're smashed to pieces, no?" Ishmael: "Oh, so you think we've seen everything there is to see at this point? You know that's not true."
Ishmael: "... What if we encounter something we can never come back right from." Ishmael: "Especially that monstrous whale... hah, nevermind."
Heathcliff's voice drops to a furious mutter.
Heathcliff: "Oh, don't do that. Like I won't understand a thing. It narks me when you treat me like a stupid sod."
Yi Sang raising his voice for the first time in the game (hell maybe his whole life) is legit so startling that Heathcliff and Ishmael forget that they were about to kill each other. Even the other nine Sinners are dumbstruck by the sudden swerve.
Yi Sang: "Let us call to mind the various desires of ours that we so enthusiastically proclaimed on our journey here. It is true, there is still significant toil to be had. Yet it can also be said that we have accomplished a certain milestone. Perhaps a momentary respite is warranted." Yi Sang: "Isn't that true, Dante?" Dante: <Yi Sang...!>
Dante emphatically nods their head and latches onto Yi Sang's suggestion that the Sinners take a break from crab-farming for 'team-building activities'. Fortunately Rain and Mika can take a spell to work uninterrupted, and the fun can begin.
Don Quixote yaps for a billion dialogue boxes about how she happened to espy the perfect ball for the game amongst the garbage, stars in her eyes still powerfully twinkling away, and when Sinclair and Gregor (the FOOLS) attempt to assail her with foolish interjections like 'can we even call this slime-blasted muddy hellhole a beach' and 'we aren't on vacation' she slaps them down.
Don Quixote: "I appreciate thine advice, yet I simply do not have it within mine heart to deny such a proposal when an opportunity to bring us together presents itself!"
Yi Sang: "Yes, I am in agreement with Don Quixote."
Lowkey love this. Yi Sang says "I am no longer mentally ill" and Gregor starts shaking like his fight-or-flight instincts just kicked in.
Yi Sang: "Upon reflection, I have no memory of engaging in such a sport with my fellows. I cannot say that I am particularly talented in games of the ball variety... but this appears to be as good a time as any to experience it for once."
I love him I love him I love him I love him I-
Unfortunately the other Sinners aren't quite as thrilled by the prospect of volleyed balls as Yi Sang and Don Quixote. Heathcliff is still absolutely fuming about Ishmael's mood, and Ishmael herself-
-yeah she's not on top of her game rn. Ishmael's Mental Illness Aura grows so dense and potent it's beginning to manifest before Dante's eyes like her anima banner just hit totemic, so they hastily call for the game of volleyed balls to begin.
Don Quixote: "A wise decision! I shall retrieve el balón~!" Gregor: "Oh boy..." Outis: "This is a downtime activity designated by none other than our Executive Manager. Everyone, quit grimacing and accept it with gratitude!" Gregor: "Okay, okay... Haah, I just hope I don't pull my back playing this game."
Gregor you're 35 not 65 dial it down a notch. Also, yet more delicious Outis content, who couldn't love a woman who'll take corporate-mandated R&R as deadly serious as her. In the end all 12 Sinners head for a clear patch of mudflats where Meursault has drawn up an impromptu playing field, a pair of driftwood posts for the 'net', and the game commences.
Look at Ishmael actively undergoing psychic meltdown back there, flawless CG work.
Rodion: "Yup, yup~ Ahaha, you're pretty good!" Ishmael: "Meaningless, all of this..." Sinclair: "Outis, I think that serve would've killed me if I hadn't dodged it in time..." Outis: "Consider this a part of our training." Dante: <Ryoshu, you're not supposed to hit the ball with your sword...!> Don Quixote: "Aha~! Forsooth! I have received thy ball!" Ishmael: "Haah, we're wasting time we could be using to study the whales' characteristics..."
Heathcliff grunts with distaste, and presumably serves the ball to Ishmael hoping to force her out of her reverie.
Ishmael: "Damn it... and that bastard has still got to be alive, somehow..." Heathcliff: "... For fuck's sake, woman!"
... and in his anger manages to launch the ball straight into the dividing line between the polluted slime pit and the beautiful resort beach beside them.
Faust: "It most certainly has. There appears to be a field of plasma invisible to our eyes." Dante: <A field of plasma...? Who puts a field of plasma on a beach...?!> Faust: "A barrier of sorts, installed to separate the Nest from the Backstreets. Along the borders of every Nest are installations that serve the same function, though their specific methods vary." Rodion: "Of course. There are always fences and whatnot to stop Backstreets residents from crawling into their precious Nests. But with that technology, they could've simply made the ball disappear without a trace, instead of leaving the torn mess. Which gotta mean..." Rodion: "They want to enjoy watching clueless souls be ripped to pieces, I bet. Huh, glad the rich folk are having so much 'fun' with our lives." Faust: "... I have no comment to make regarding the device's particular purpose or its sadistic nature." Don Quixote: "I-it took me a whole hour of my time to procure us the ball..."
The sound of the ball's rather dramatic destruction draws more trash crabs to the field, spoiling the game yet further. Heathcliff is still openly seething, promising that they'll have Words when the fight is done, but Ishmael appears to be miles away. The game did less than nothing to shock her out of this spiral.
Gregor: "Isn't it about time you got used to this, manager bud? Come on, let's first take care of business."
There's another crab battle but we'll skip over that for now as there's nothing new to talk about. Instead we return to find Dante flagging down Ishmael in front of the Boatworks garage.
Ishmael: "Yeah. Whatever." Dante: <It looks to me that you've been preoccupied with something ever since we got here... You know, you're not really participating in group activities and things like that.> Ishmael: "Isn't it obvious? There's something more important at hand, but they're all busy enjoying themselves, playing this stupid game."
Momentary pause - 'they're all busy enjoying themselves' is an objectively insane thing to say considering how maybe two Sinners, three at most, were at all enthusiastic about the game, but that's not the point. Ishmael is spiralling and catastrophising and what she's doing here specifically is unconsciously setting herself apart from the rest of the Sinners. It's really what she's been doing the entire game so far with her constant belligerence and snide comments. By separating the other 11 Sinners off into one big blob and making a wild assumption about how they're doing she can finesse her worldview any which way she pleases that allows her to continue disengaging from them to focus on the source of her anxiety. 'They're all having fun with their stupid game so they won't even notice or care that I'm emitting mental illness rays like a shelled microwave, only I know how I'm feeling, only I can get through this'. I'm saying it's textbook catastrophising and I can see it from space because it was like 90% of my childhood, 85% of my pubescent years and now like 70-80% of my adult years.
Dante: <Something more important... is this about the Great Lake?> Ishmael: "Yes." Dante: <That we, in our current state, shouldn't go there?> Ishmael: "No." Dante: <Right... So, why do you think that we don't have a chance against whatever is there?> Ishmael: "I told you. We're not ready."
We're seeing it again, she knows damn well exactly what is causing this extreme mood shift and generating so much anxiety, but she pings off it on the approach every time like dropping a penny on the wrong pole of a magnet, so she can blurt out words that are tangentially related to it but can't bring herself to give the deep-dive on exactly why. Instead she pivots and deflects, as she does right now, ranting breathlessly about a potential crisis plan she clearly came up with on the spot to try and bargain away setting sail.
Ishmael: "We're going to need at least half a year to acclimate to the Great Lake and the things that are there. Or we could try to gain more experience, enough to overwhelm our disadvantages. And that goes the same for you, Dante. You need to be strong enough to at least take care of yourself. Which I can help with. And Outis... I'm sure she can help with your training too." Dante: <W-wait. Wait. Half a year, Ishmael...? We just don't have that much time to spare.>
She says like she didn't spend the 15 minutes that game lasted standing in the corner of the field violently dissociating.
Ishmael: "And... it's not like I'm saying that we should just sit on our butts and do nothing for half a year. I'm saying that we should visit other destinations first before coming back here." Faust: "That is impossible. Not every location of Golden Boughs in the Nests has been identified, and the Before Team hasn't completed their preliminary surveys yet." Ishmael: "Excuses." Ishmael: "I've known for a while that you've had some fancy ulterior motive... and whatever that is, this is a mistake you won't ever forget." Faust: "Perhaps."
Ishmael is utterly terrified of returning to the Great Lake. That much is plain to see. More to the point she in no way sees anybody at LCB as someone she can genuinely confide in, so every time that vulnerability slips and shows she goes on the attack. Alternately castigating and pleading with those in her path, she's trying to bargain or bully her way into doing literally anything that isn't setting sail no matter how much she has to just start Saying Shit.
Ishmael: "In that case, we should at least map a detailed sailing route and plan out a combat strategy-" Heathcliff: "Prattling on and on and on..."
Unfortunately she's in the same company as a guy whose trauma response is also to go on the offensive to cover for being perceived as weak, and she just aggroed him again.
Ishmael: "What's your problem?" Heathcliff: "Shut your gob. Think you're the only one struggling here? We've all died more times than we can count. Every single one of us!" Heathcliff: "So I'm telling you that it'll work out again, somehow!" Ishmael: "And I'm telling you that the Great Lake is different. What if the manager drowns? What if that thing eats us and our bodies can't be recovered?" Ishmael: "Do you understand? This isn't anything like we've been through so far! This could be the end of us!" Ishmael: "Then I... won't have the chance to kill that bastard..." Heathcliff: "... okay. Let's say that you're right. If we go now, we're all going to bite it and I won't be able to get Cath... I mean, get back up."
Bro really said "we aren't in Skyrim lass, the draugr ain't training"
Heathcliff: "You've been mucking up the mood ever since we got here, so how about you use some bloody common sense to not bring everyone else down with you!" Ishmael: "That's rich coming from you, Heathcliff. What 'common sense' do you have of the Great Lake? Have you even seen a whale? Since when were you such a know-it-all?"
Classic Heathcliff threat response. Yelling at you is how he talks. Quietly muttering 'stop that' is what he does when he's actualising your homicide in his head already.
Ishmael: "It's kill or be killed, by everything from the depths of the waters to the heights of the skies crawling and falling onto the deck. Innumerable disasters like acid typhoons, tuna tsunamis, cerebra storms, and a multitude of other terrors of the lake I can't even recall the names of! And from the storms, high-waves as tall as mountains! Following that, those fucking monsters that wash up on the deck!"
Sis was on a couple dozen atmospheres of internal pressure, Heathcliff cracked the valve, and now it's all just gushing out.
Ishmael: "It's something that a pathetic lovey-dovey tenderfoot like you... won't ever understand, not after dying a hundred deaths." Heathcliff: "I told you to quit it!"
Heathcliff: "You don't know shite about me, a prick like you!" Yi Sang: "F-fellows..." Narration: The tussle was such a blitz that no one could even attempt to intervene; Yi Sang almost looked pitiful as he stood there bewildered.
Heathcliff rings Ishmael's bell with a punch to the jaw, seemingly seizing the upper hand, but Ishmael retaliates with a feint into a leg-sweep that sends him sprawling. Dante yells out for her to stop, but in her fury Ishmael won't listen.
Heathcliff: "... yeah, what'll you do? Bash my head in? Like I did you before? Fine, kill me. No matter. I'll be right as rain in a minute." Heathcliff: "... I was a fool to think you'd be any different from me." Heathcliff: "Hah, everyone's the same, after all."
Ishmael drops her mace. It wasn't Dante that made her stop. Was it Heathcliff's words, hitting home in some way he didn't anticipate? Or did she see her own reflection in that muddy puddle at the centre of frame, jarred out of her fury just by seeing it from the outside? Either way, she's not talking about it any time soon.
Yi Sang: "I wished that I would not have to again be witness to such beligerency amongst friends... yet, such quarrels among fellows is but an ineluctability, perhaps..."
Olga begins to reminisce about similar inter-office tussles in the past, but Rain wisely hisses at her to shut the fuck up in front of the clients.
Faust: "Dante, I neglected to mention this to you since we have not had a dispute like this since our first mission..."
Narration: What the hell was I supposed to do about this? Outis: "How does the fault lie with the Executive Manager, Faust? It's those two fools who got into this senseless altercation." Faust: "Preventing senseless altercations between coworkers is a job of a manager." Outis: "You..." Sinclair: "S-stop it, everyone..." Don Quixote: "Indeed, such behaviour ill fits the heroic nature of Limbus Company."
The entire peanut gallery beginning to get involved on top of the stress of seeing another situation go barelling beyond their control becomes too much, and Dante puts their foot down after a fashion.
Banishing the other 8 accumulated talksprites to the Shadow Realm in a cut is I think a pretty nifty visual metaphor for Dante taking control of the situation and making the hangers-on fuck off before they reignite something.
Dante: <Ishmael, Heathcliff.> Heathcliff: "... what." Ishmael: "..." Dante: <The two of you, stop working together for a while. Distance yourselves. At least... at least until I can think of a way to deal with you two.> Heathcliff: "It's not like I enjoy looking at her mug."
Nobody leaves the situation happy. Yi Sang saw his attempt to be proactive and constructive blow up in his face, Dante hardcore fumbled a part of their job description again, Heathcliff seems to have lost every shred of respect for Ishmael he was secretly harbouring, and Ishmael herself has just been hollowed out by her outburst. Nothing left to do but focus on the work, and hope there's a light at the end eventually.
Because she found another project at another workplace she can just steal command of by being loud and confident, god I love her.
Mika: "What do we do, then? That's like three separate wires." Outis: "Amateurish. Allow me to demonstrate." Outis: "Hmph, this is nothing compared to what I had to do back in the day, when I worked with the engineering corps..."
Faust: "... we do not keep records of such details. Yi Sang, as I have informed you repeatedly, it is best policy as a Sinner to leave the decisions to the manager's-" Olga: "Oiiyi~ There's nothing like booze and gettin' right sloshed to bend a broken friendship! What, maybe you could try my secret weapon?" Rain: "No way... you mean the king trash crab brain wine that you've been talking about?" Rodion: "Ooh... colour me interested, actually." Yi Sang: "N-no... no, I don't think I will. I shall inquire them myself. Thank you still."
And Yi Sang is still trying to work out how to mend fences between Heathcliff and Ishmael, hopeless a task as it may seem.
Holy shit the lil hat and headscarf from Hell's Chicken, effervescent.
Meursault: "No, SILO would be preferable here.' Ryoshu: "Tsk... hm? Ah, yes... Perhaps doing so while they're still alive would be a way of pursuing a new direction in art in the vein of an avant-garde spirit." Meursault: "My suggestion was not to inflict them further pain. Simply a more appropriate method of engaging in the culinary arts." Mika: "I'm sorry, but... when's dinner? You've been having this same conversation for the last 30 minutes..."
My last two braincells at 3am trying to figure out if I want to eat and if so what. Upside, Ryoshu and Meursault's culinary tinkering seems to be making some headway, as they've taken the trashcrabs from Hot Ass to "Starting To Resemble Actual Food"! We get a soft confirmation in the process that Dante does not in fact eat, as they profess to be unable to judge the food due to lacking tastebuds or a mouth.
Don Quixote: "A child-" Trash Crabs: "Gwah!" Don Quixote: "-I am not! Now, Young Sinclair! ¡El goipe de gracia!" Sinclair: "Gregor, I'll take its left leg!" Gregor: "Gotcha~ Hup!"
Fortunately all the material grinding hasn't been a total waste, as the Sinners have legitimately been getting better at team coordination due to the sheer reptition of slaughtering crabbos. As for the Problem Twins, well...
Ryoshu: "Insipid. Your flames lack flair." Sinclair: "W-wait! He's just cremating it!" Meursault: "It has been extracted. However, this can no longer serve its function as a proper source of nutrients." Don Quixote, audibly chewing: "G-give it hither! I have consumed naught but 3 legs so far!"
We cut to Gregor absolutely cocking it up at the grill, before his failure is fed to Don Quixote like she's the family dog. Never change, LCB division.
His smile upon realising Heathcliff's rejoined the group...
Heathcliff returns in a quiet mood, and it doesn't take long to find out why - he and Vergilius had a little 'chat'. He looks and sounds about ready to throw up when Rodion asks if it was "really just a chat", stammering that he's back on the job and won't be causing trouble any more. He just asks for some of the crabbo and digs in, eager to sweep the whole situation under the rug.
Ishmael, however, is another matter.
Vergilius: "... a moment, Dante?"
Imagining Dante side-eyeing the camera like they're on The Office so hard rn
Vergilius: "As I'm sure you've already been told in brief... I conducted a little meeting with the two 'problem individuals'. You will see that the 'discipline' has proven effective with Heathcliff." Vergilius: "While Ishmael's case... hasn't quite been resolved." Vergilius: "Or to be more precise, there is no reason to resolve it." Dante: <What are you talking about?> Vergilius: "You must be asking what I'm talking about." Vergilius: "I hope you aren't expecting me to kindly explain everything to you. You will realise it on your own soon enough."
Dante: <I know you're putting in extra work... and I appreciate it.>
Vergilius: "You may consider the 'talk' I voluntarily had with the two a small favour from me for your decent performance recently. Now, I have remaining business with the Fixers of Molar Office."
I mean... come on. Look at that scene. You don't even need me to ring the Fraud Alarm, do you? Vergilius got pissy about needing to play babysitter for the Sinners again, but Dante genuinely thanked him for going out of his way to help and Vergilius immediately calmed down and reframed it as favour done to reward them for doing well as manager. He really wasn't kidding about Dante being the person on the bus he feels like he can talk to.
Still, the fact remains that Ishmael isn't getting any better. She's advanced to sneaking out at night to make nonspecific 'preparations' for the trip to the Great Lake, but even when Dante seeks her out and tries to engage with her...
... she's just not there. Lost in her own world, too deeply fixated on her crisis plan to even entertain the notion that Dante can help. The manager can only wonder to themself what they're supposed to do, what they should've already done, to no avail. Answers elude them, and the bus' transformation approaches completion.
Well I'll be damned it's a boat after all.
Don Quixote: "Ooh! Do I behold with mine eyes the transformed bus?" Yi Sang: "Would one call this a busboat, or a boatbus?" Dante: <I think I'll go with busboat?>
Sinclair chimes in with the hilariously pertinent question of 'hey where did the wheels go, we still need those for after U Corp right?', but Outis claims it's become amphibious rather than a purely waterbound vessel. Greg finds the whole thing rather dubious, Faust insists that Mephistopheles has always been capable of more than just functioning as a bus, but either way there's nothing for it but to start it up and see. The busboat shudders to life, engine spooling up, and...!
Wah-wah.
Turns out there's one part where the Boatworks in fact skimped out. A particular part where they had to "make do" (to Outis' eternal consternation) because the part required is rare as hen's teeth, irreplacable enough that even fusing a bunch of bullshit together couldn't really cover the gap. Even worse, the sound of Mephi's siren is once again drawing trash crabs from all over the beach to attack, including the Big Fuck himself who Olga drove off what's got to be a week ago by now.
In fact...
Mika: "I-it does, I guess..." Rain: "Big Sis, are you really...?" Olga: "I am, really~ It's that one expensive and tricky to manufacture part, isn't it?" Rain: "Don't you remember the way it killed the employees of other boat workshops?" Olga: "Well, that's because it crashed into us, not because we were hunting the bastard for parts. But now~ I have these lads and lassies to help us." Olga: "Besides, it killed the people that helped us start Molar Boatworks from our bum days, didn't it? Looks like this is just the time to give it a right smashing down its noggin." Olga: "And make me some more wine outta its brain juice too..." Rain: "... Big Sis?" Rodion: "C-can we get some too?" Sinclair: "Wha, What do you mean 'we'?"
Anyway Olga, Rain and Mika will now sit on a bench playing with themselves for a few minutes because the game does not have the tech to display NPC allies and it's time for the Sinners to do all the work. Which on the one hand, sure we're the immortal ones, but on the other why bother with the big long speech from Olga if she's not gonna do jack shit? Very strange.
Dante: <Ishmael!?> Rodion: "Gee, Ishy... Where have you been all this time?" Ishmael: "I was making preparations for our survival on the Great Lake, obviously. The least I can do is make an exhaustive guide on whales you can study up on, right?" Rodion: "You know I don't read that kinda stuff..." Ishmael: "Then I'll keep reminding you until you have no choice but to read it." Ishmael: "See, manager? We still need more time. There is so much more to prepare. That king trash crab can be repelled, can't it? Then let's do that and finish modifying the bus later. With more time on our hands..." Dante: <Ishmael... I'm not sure. My lack of memory doesn't help, of course, but...> Ishmael: "..." Dante: <I don't get what you're so scared of, or what we're supposed to be preparing for. As much as I want to respect your opinions and reflect them... I don't think this is the best for all of us. So->
Dante: <... Huh?> Ishmael: "Let's be honest here. Is any one of us devoting themselves for the sake of this 'all of us'? We all signed a contract with Limbus Company for our own goals. I did, Yi Sang did as we saw last time, and all the other Sinners did. Aren't we only in this together to achieve our personal aims?" Ishmael: "And you, too... You're forcing yourself to look for those Golden Boughs, things you've problably never heard of once in your life, just so you can get your memories back. You have a more selfish motive than anyone else here, so why do you pretend like you're doing anything for all of us?" Outis: "How dare you raise your voice against-"
Vergilius: "Ishmael. I believe I made myself clear during our meeting."
Ishmael: "... the contract, huh." Ishmael: "Sure, this is a company I'm working for. Of course it does." Narration: Ishmael glared at me with a face unlike anything she'd shown before. I sensed... clear hostility in her eyes. Ishmael: "Fine, I'll abide by the oh-so honourable contract. Manager. Give me your orders, and I'll follow them." Ishmael: "So if there's anything you want from me from now on, state it. Clearly." Ishmael: "I won't get out of line by providing unsolicited help or explanations any more." Dante: <...> Ishmael: "What are we waiting for? Weren't you going to order us to go kill that giant crustacean? I'll gladly obey as it is stipulated in the contract, Manager Dante." Dante: <... let's go.>
Forced into a corner by some Gentle Persuasion courtesy of Vergilius, Ishmael hits a new low in her relationship with Dante - malicious compliance. Throwing aside any last shred of interpersonal warmth that once existed between them she plays the part of a perfectly obedient robot (almost like a mean impression of Meursault) with a clear intent to unnerve and hurt Dante in the process. Lashing out at them the way she can't lash out at Vergilius over her inability to avoid impending disaster.
And then, in that knife-sharp moment of friction and bleeding emotional wounds...
Narration: Visions of destruction pass before me.
Narration: Perhaps... this could be a clue to Ishmael's perplexing behaviour.
The final battle of Intervallo II commences (technically, there was a further node after this for farming purposes but only during the event period itself) and I am forced to eat my words yet again because it's another 7-man deployment. I dust off LCB Outis and LCB Ryoshu to throw them on the team one last time, and send everybody out to crush some crabs.
There's two new types of crabbo we fight on the way to the king. First the Canoneer Crab, pictured here, with a bunch more hp and the rather bizarre and disgusting skill Delicious Crab Guts. This skill, DCG as Ryoshu might call it, has an ATK Weight of 3 and a somewhat troublesome 5+8 roll, though it consumes 8% of its own health to fire this particular blast of viscera grapeshot. Honestly, more dangerous is its unique three-coin counter GUOH! which inflicts 2 Rupture on heads hit with each coin, and let me tell you that thing can put out some fucking Damage in mirror dungeon after some enemy buffs have had a chance to stack up. Next is its larger, scarier cousin the Bayonet Artillery Crab that showed up to the party with actual munitions to fire that aren't its own fucking internal organs, represented by the Molted Shell Shot status. Firing Molted Shell Shot is a 6+10 skill with an ATK Weight of 5, extremely dangerous for a regular enemy to be throwing around even if it does target indiscriminately (and consumes Molted Shell Shot, so it only works once).
Next the main event. In Mirror Dungeon (and doubtless the hard difficulty farming node back in the day) it would have a Bayonet Cannoneer backing it up, but here instead it just has three of the basic jobbers. It shares the trash crab species' friendly-fire-for-healing passive as well as a bonus 5% max HP heal upon killing a comrade on top of that. It comes in two parts, Head and Shell: the former has the standard crabbo affinities of Sloth & Gloom weak, Pierce Fatal, while the latter flips it to Blunt and Gloom Fatal. Both parts can guard, inflicting 7 fixed damage and 1 Rupture in retaliation while they have shield HP, a full suite of high ATK Weight skills, insane Rupture Count infliction, and most dangerous of all the 5+11 skill Crab Rave which summons extra-
Crab Rave. Fuck you Project Moon, and fuck me for falling prey to the PM Fan Illiteracy Curse because that's the literal first time I have ever seen and processed the fact that it has a skill to summon replacement adds called Crab Rave. Anyway, this has the potential to be a tough customer if you let its AoE damage potential snowball out of control, see what you have to do is...
... wait did it say it's weak to Sloth and Pierce? Like all the other crabbos?
*loads 10-gauge buckshot shells into fox with malicious intent*
I curse you and your entire bloodline for a thousand generations, Sebastian. Die 1,000 deaths.
(That was a tails hit too, you can tell because Yi Sang's below max SP, holy shit lmao.)
Narration: According to Vergilius... the people at the boatworks have been saving up for a trip back to V Corp's Backstreets where their Fixer Office used to be. After experiencing a WARP Train malfunction, they apparently decided they'd rather take the car. Narration: ... I considered telling them the truth I learned from a number of Identities, but I figured ignorance is bliss and kept my figurative mouth shut. Narration: ... maybe I feared that the things I said could bring bad results again. Narration: Like how Ishmael has fallen out with me.
Olga: "Ohh, we've got 'em now!" Mika: "Phew... Looks like our job's done." Rain: "And... lucky you, the tide is in. You should be able to set off now."
Look at Hongler's tiny fairy claps of approval, I love it.
Mika: "I've got to say, I have great admiration for whoever designed this vehicle. I heard stories of it, but to see it in motion firsthand... if you tried, it could most certainly change into other forms, as long as the core is intact." Mika: "How can such a core be real? I'm just... amazed, for lack of a better term." Faust: "Indeed, Faust is amazing."
Never change, Faust.
Narration: My relationship with Ishmael was still precarious, which was something I still wasn't sure what to do about... but since some of the Sinners were also trying to be supportive towards Ishmael, I decided that it would be best if I tried to come up with a solution in the meantime. Narration: Maybe I'll find out more the further we get from the shores of the Great Lake. Rain: "Mhm. It's sailing, all right." Olga: "Does that mean we can get paid and go out for a meal now?" Rain: "We actually got our money a minute ago. As soon as we fulfilled our end of the contract, a delivery Fixer from the Devyat Association came by and paid us the remainder." Olga: "Oho~ Our contractor turned out to be a pretty big deal, huh? Hot damn, now that's a catch! How about we take a break from trash crabs and splurge for some pork? Pork belly barbecue!" Rain: "Sounds good, Big Sis." Olga: "Hahaha! ... by the way, Mika?" Mika: "Yes?" Olga: "When did we add a submersible mode to the modifications?"
Sinclair: "Buckets! Where are the buckets!?" Yi Sang: "I have found a hole! This must be..." Ryoshu: "T. D." Charon: "We're off, glub glub." Ishmael: "Sigh..." Rain: "... I'll get the lifeboat." Mika: "Guess we should also prepare to pony up penalty fees..." Olga: "Haha... We're so screwed."
I wish I could post the original teaser for Magic Hellbus right now, but all I could find is the full-length PV which unfortunately spoils a bit too much of what we're about to see to link here.
This chapter is technically named 'S.E.A.' hence the name of this update, but... dude, The Magic Hellbus is so much better (obviously it is, I named the thread after it), and I don't know what the fuck 'SEA' is meant to stand for.
I think you gave meru a ish line.? Damn it that bastard, under one of the volleyball pics. As much as i want to hear more out of meru pretty sure thats not him
I do adore that, even though communication and relationships are breaking down dramatically in this update, it doesn't feel like a forced conflict. Everyone behaves true to their character even as thing deteriorate; Ishmael attempts to apply her own logic to any of the myriad solutions she proposes, and even in her funk she's still attempting to be proactive.
This also is a good update to highlight just how toxic Ishmael can be; with both Heathcliff and Dante, she's very quick to identify their stress points and undermine them, whether its to get them too angry to argue on something as 'stupid' as confidence in their abilities (Heathcliff) or to undermine Dante's argument by calling into question their motivation and quickly fracturing the idea of a common goal by pointing out their highly individual goals.
Ishmael is a wonderful character, and with the length of material that a full, post launch canto can give her, this is definitely where the story hit the gas for me.
This is also the first time we've had a Sinner actively refusing to confront their past. Gregor was resigned, Rodya dodged at the last moment, Sinclair was thrown into the deep end and miraculously managed to learn how to swim, and Yi Sang (bless his little emo heart) was too depressed to do anything about it.
And though I doubt any of the Sinners will react in quite this explosive a manner (because hopefully Dante will have gotten better at managing by then), it is a sign that things will likely not be as smooth for Dante to manage our merry band of Murderhobos in the future.
I wish I could post the original teaser for Magic Hellbus right now, but all I could find is the full-length PV which unfortunately spoils a bit too much of what we're about to see to link here. Go search it up for yourselves later if you like! Instead I'll make note of the fact that this is so far the only Intervallo in the whole game (out of 6 so far) where the Intervallo itself and the Event which ran concurrently with its release don't have the same name. This chapter is technically named 'S.E.A.' hence the name of this update, but... dude, The Magic Hellbus is so much better (obviously it is, I named the thread after it), and I don't know what the fuck 'SEA' is meant to stand for.
You rang? That link is to the original teaser, which you might have missed because it's in the Shorts section of PM's channel along with a lot of the smaller ID and EGO previews.
Also the S.E.A. acronym (because it's a word!*) is one of those constructions you see sometimes in anime episode titles and very few other places, where each letter is actually standing in for an entire PHRASE. The full title of this Intervallo is:
S.E.A. (Strange Seas Ahead! Embark on a Pelagic Journey! All Hands on Deck to Remodel the Bus!), or, The Magic Hellbus
Which is a title construction style that itself is mostly seen in... episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
*- This is opposed to initialisms, which is what you call them when the resulting string of letters ISN'T a word itself. E.G.O., S.E.A.? Acronyms. L.C.B.? Initialism. The More You Know!
...And then I realized fellow forums user Birthday beat me to both of these because I was asleep. Tragedy! orz
OK well now I guess I have to actually say new things. Yi Sang's moments throughout this Intervallo are plentiful (SMILES) and adorable (volleyed balls) and I love him a lot (interceding in the conflict even though he does not have to because the mere idea of allies being in conflict with each other tugs on his heartstrings in an agonizing way). It's so nice to see how he's able to carry that spring in his step forward almost immediately after the events of his Canto, whereas the arguably less-complete realizations held by Gregor, Rodion, and Sinclair are clearly all still lingering and giving them grief right now.
Sinclair in particular opining that he wishes he hadn't seen it because then he wouldn't be so disappointed, a throwaway line that nonetheless amuses me as that idea of 'is it better to be ignorant that a better life is possible if it means making your current circumstances easier to bear' comes up relatively prominently at a later date.
It also came up pretty prominently before, because that kind of personal awakening and self-actualization in the process of Learning to Face the World Outside Your Shell is at the heart of the original Demian.
I love that this is a genuine Don Questionote because A.) she'd believe it and B.) it's The City so yeah of course she would, that level of weird would barely even tick the Geiger counter in some Districts.
Ishmael fr spends half this intervallo using this sprite or some variation of it, muttering something significant while mentally Witnessing The Horrors.
Yi Sang raising his voice for the first time in the game (hell maybe his whole life) is legit so startling that Heathcliff and Ishmael forget that they were about to kill each other. Even the other nine Sinners are dumbstruck by the sudden swerve.
-yeah she's not on top of her game rn. Ishmael's Mental Illness Aura grows so dense and potent it's beginning to manifest before Dante's eyes like her anima banner just hit totemic, so they hastily call for the game of volleyed balls to begin.
+1 Limit man now I'm thinking about splats for Exaltmael and there's too many good options. Water-DB is too low scale and too obvious. Western Wyld-touched mermaid Lunar with a human iconic form could be fascinating? The only Solaroid I can see her as is a Zenith in part because of the novel character's strong religious grounding, tbh. GODS, in 3E she'd make for such a fascinating Liminal...
Ishmael: "I've known for a while that you've had some fancy ulterior motive... and whatever that is, this is a mistake you won't ever forget." Faust: "Perhaps."
Never forget, but perhaps also never regret: It feels like Faust is so dedicated to the goals of the company that she fully knows this fact and if anything came in prepared for it.
My favorite aspect is actually Meursault's apron, featuring COOK-edition Kkomi! This little red bear seems to be a sort of Hello Kitty of the City, a Hell-o City if you will: We've seen it once before on the crying child's shirt at the security checkpoint back in Canto III. Just a fun little running detail in the games that I appreciate a lot: My partner has been brainstorming what a theoretical Kkomi And Friends series would look like on City TV. :3
Hmm, here's a question: we've beat multiple distortions, abnormalities, and EGO wielders. Yisang pulled his own EGO out of nowhere a little bit ago, even! And the entire team except Dante is basically immortal.
I know trauma isn't logical, but still. What the hell is a Whale in the City, that Ishmael thinks the entire crew will die in a way that can't be undone, even with what we already know we can do? And how are they connected to the tuning forks?? This upcoming Canto will be interesting, that's for sure.
Something something, reference to PvP in gacha games.
I would suggest maybe not posting a video that spoils the literal ending of Lobotomy Corporation in a thread that's meant to be totally spoiler free for anything that hasn't been discussed in Limbus.
I think you gave meru a ish line.? Damn it that bastard, under one of the volleyball pics. As much as i want to hear more out of meru pretty sure thats not him
Meursault had a line I cut but only after I'd already typed his dialogue tag so somehow my wires got crossed, and I went straight to bed after posting. It's fixed now.
