If I Had A Nickel Every Time I Fell In Love With A Spectacular Animated Series That Featured:

I finally got a couple of days off so I’m taking the time to revisit old fandoms <3 

I have so many thoughts about Cantos 6-7-8 as a matching trifecta of interweaving themes, and my one friend that's into the series just got back into it and is on canto 5. I can only hold readers in my author's notes hostage for so long, so congrats on this being my first personal post on tumblr in literal years.

Maybe I'll start using this site more than just poking around tags when I'm bored.

Anyways

Been thinking a lot about how 6-7-8 involve sinners that the most likely to be brushed aside due to surface level factors in canon and by the fandom. Now, everyone goes through some degree of being mischaracterized by people, and all the Sinners have Hidden Depths (tm), but I find these three are the most susceptible. Rodya as well but that's a whole different story entirely and she's doing it on purpose anyway. They also have the most jarring pasts to contrast how they are now, so far at least.

Like of course, hindsight 20/20 and there's only so much you can do with characters that don't want to share their past or you know don't remember about their past to share, but it's so fascinating to me. I also find these three to be the most emotionally intelligent out of everyone. I am connecting dots frantically and waving string around if you can't tell.

It was so easy to write Heathcliff off as "just one of those guys" which I can't blame anyone for because he really did not make it easy, (I love him but I'm biased about Wuthering Heights) but then the Sinners are forced with the uncomfortable truth that Heathcliff was abused and looked down on his entire life and that's why he's the way he is. Of course, he's going to snark back and get angry if you start poking at him when you're getting close to parroting the same things as his abusers.

They almost lost Don Quixote and the fact that she had to go "oh now you want to listen to my stories" was such a good moment to me. I don't think everyone brushed her aside before then, but it happened enough to make note of; it effected her. Her feelings were probably hurt! The being basically told "now you start caring when it's dire," makes me wonder if they'll start being more consciences of each other in general. Everyone saying nice things to her at the end felt so campy in a good way but also like "oh man we gotta something nice right now!!" I'm begging everyone to please care about each other. Y'all are giving me secondhand embarrassment.

Hong Lu is a different beast entirely because he doesn't want to talk about his family in depth. He plays into the naive rich kid thing well, at first anyway, so it's easy to brush him off. I can't say much about him in general because no canto yet, but I believe he is also playing a role a he wholeheartedly believes in. He too is tied to a filial piety he cannot escape perhaps (I wanted bloodfiend ID for hong lu so bad they hate me). He will just mention horrific things and go on like it's no big deal, and the conversation has moved on before anyone can call him out on it. Him deciding to be the most candid with Rodya was definitely a choice; I like it. Whoever decides to call him out on his horrific upbringing one day, I wish you luck. I do wonder if that's going to happen in one of the Intervallos because he cannot keep getting away with this; he probably thinks he can because no one has asked him to talk about it. Hit em with the "oh I thought you never cared enough to ask" Hong Lu, I dare you.

Also interesting how we nearly lost Heathcliff and Don Quixote in different ways. Would love if the same happened to Hong Lu. I like the drama.

If Canto 8 ends up dealing with themes of change and memory well, that'd be a win for me.

This got away from me, but thumbs up. I swear I can be coherent.

and it’s all thanks to them

Someday the dream will end.

i keep having thoughts

there has been a high key running theme of dehumanization directly in the group lately and i wonder if it's going to really reach a head at some point. preferably soon??? dante needs to be allowed to get angry about it.

of course it started with gregor and dante. now there have been back to back cantos with heathcliff, don quixote, and hong lu showing how it has deeply effected them to various degrees. and then the check-up intervallo being used to remind the dante and the audience, that under limbus company, the sinners don't have a choice at the end of the day. which honestly thinking about it now, was a clever placement given how hong lu is acting is canto 8. he was just told his choices don't matter when the company needs him to do something, so yeah he's going 'yay, ok!' his way through this even when asked his personal opinions. with this mind, hong lu, in theory should be the perfect employee (tm), but everyone is so fucking unsettled and/or upset because he has been like this for a majority of his life.

i think something can be said about heathcliff and hong lu in particular that even though they are away from the direct source of their abuse, similar things are still getting parroted at them and just reinforces their mindset. until well canto 6 for the most part for heathcliff. canto 8 part 3 must come through for me. i don't think limbus company is making hong lu worse but it definitely isn't making him any better so far.

Artiste: 古陵 https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/15251377/artworks

※Illustration shared with permission from the artist.

mended hearts.

canto 8 part 2 spoilers

my brain keeps forming half thoughts about how hong lu was constantly told there's no point in him trying to save anyone and be kind until he just accepted it as truth. all of his efforts just ended terribly through no fault of his own but as an impressionable child, when the main adult in your life is like that....those witnesses sure are surrendered.

vs don quixote and her goal of being a righteous fixer spreading kindness and protecting the weak and not caring if she fumbles or fails. yes canto 7 happened, but she found herself again. she knows what she wants. she's dreaming that impossible dream.

what does hong lu think when he sees her? brief flashes of jealousy mixed with admiration? intrigue? he was one of her biggest supporters in canto 7; i think he does genuinely respect her ideals. at least someone is trying.

also coming in with the steel chair of thought is dad quixote and his good intentions caused all of that in la manchaland to happen making him feel as though all his efforts were for naught because it fueled the suffering of his family. it made him loop around to going bloodfiends will never be able to change their base nature, etc etc. he too gave up.

something something if anyone was going to have a dad quixote id it would have been hong lu and i've been saying this for months.

canto 7 and 8 have shared themes going on i just can't think of the word or phrase i'm looking for right now. tentatively action vs inaction and perceived futility of effort due to personal beliefs.

this was my final piece for the zine!! 😈😈 super happy with how it came out