no no no put me back in the loop I almost did it perfect please put me back just a few more tries and I think I could really nail it please put me back
it had too many images to fit in just one. again, spoilers for every canto under the cut.
part 1
Trojan Horse
at the beginning of the game, we are advised to not let outis use her intellect for anything other than the company's causes. outis' demeanour does not make her easy to trust. immediately she flips from derisive to bootlicking the moment dante becomes the LCB's leader.
this continues even despite the offputting comments outis makes and her looking down upon every other member of the LCB. though over time she tones down her behaviour to be less obscenely exaggerated, outis makes it clear that she cannot be trusted to be honest about her motivations.
however, when dante's lack of social aptitude makes them suspect she might be defecting...
outis is understandably upset; not only does this put her at risk, but it means that she has not established herself well enough. i struggle to believe she would be a traitor to the LCB, especially after her comment in canto 8,
we are warned, however, not to let her use her intellect for anything but the company's cause. outis is amazing at sniffing out deception, and in the LCA udjat ID she prevents the pre-planned deaths of her unit by checking their equipment again. i'd wager limbus company knows about this and seeks to use her by both leveraging her commitment to her contract and by prohibiting her access to means of opposition. after all, limbus company is funded by dias - someone who is by no means trustworthy, nor does she have noble goals.
in this segment i feel it's worth mentioning i'll go fer scissors. how 'bout you? (what a mouthful)
as this E.G.O. is from an abnormality who wants you to trust it implicitly and play by its rules (that seem dangerous to you initially). it rewards you, essentially, for handing it victory. it's also rather focused on the concept of playtime continuing forever, which makes me think back to outis' need to make herself useful and necessary.
i do also need to bring up outthias here.
i doubt anyone was surprised when outis got this ID.
Eugh.
the nursefather IDs are the type that provide exposure on the character they're based on rather than the sinner, but outis getting the nursefather who betrayed one of their own for their own benefit - who is confident they won't be punished without sufficient evidence - reeks of suspicion based on how little we know about outis' past, the fact that she's committed terrible war crimes, and the fact she got i'll go fer scissors in the same season.
carving a direct path through the enemies to move forward is also rather magic-bullet-esque, but i'm not going to complicate things now.
it would also be a crime not to include an image of the conspicuous smoke war trojan horse in this section. Hey Outis. What is that.
Hermes
present in her E.G.O. artwork from the start, outis has been tied to the caduceus. though often mistaken for the rod of asclepius - a medical symbol - it is instead the symbol of hermes, the messenger-god of greek myth... and of the index. canto 9's reveal of rien's beeper set it in stone, but it was further confirmed by outis' slip-up in twining threads, referring to the gods of the city.
with this context, a certain comment of hers becomes suspect; in timekilling time, she claims that their time's worth of debt is "more than enough time to finish weaving on the loom."
in the odyssey, this is penelope's plan to avoid marriage to any of her suitors; she spends four years weaving a burial shroud for odysseus' elderly father laertes, undoing her work by night.
as we learn from moirai, however, the index's prescripts are woven on a loom. hypothetically, this would indicate that penelope is instead a weaver of the index.
as a side note, outis blinds polyphemus, and the index are all about "blind faith." hm.
Ithaca
though we don't really know which corp outis would originate from, i'd place my bets on M corp. first of all, it's a straight shot from N corp to L corp through there, just in time for faust's canto. more importantly, though, M corp is responsible for moonlight stones which shield the bearer from mental attacks, and they have rehab facilities.
this is a focus on mental rather than physical health, but as far as i'm aware all the "hospital" themed abnormalities are named after greek monsters in the files,
this one, for example, being named cyclops.
i suppose she could also be from I corp. they did take part in the smoke war and it would be really funny. I corp was one of the nests not to let veterans in after the war, which outis "..."s at.
wherever she's from, her talking to dongrang in canto 4 implies that she has somebody or something waiting at home for her. she is also, more than once, compared to somebody's mother - the first time when she cooks a dish for papa bongy (and reminds him of how his mother yelled at him), the second when she yells at don quixote. I'm noticing a pattern.
as a side note, i do have to mention barber outis here; i haven't quite looked into IDs as deeply as i have E.G.O., but barber outis serves two purposes. first, nicolina plotted with dulcinea against don quixote, and this sort of deception fits the cunning outis... but second, her idle line...
is a desperate bid at convincing herself that this is where she belongs. bloodfiends naturally gravitate towards their new family, and yet outis cannot shake the feeling that she is not where she is supposed to be. because she was going home.
Miscellaneous
these are random things that didn't fit in any of the other sections and are not in any sort of order.
project moon characters tend to underreact rather than overreact, and when they have an emotional reaction to something specific, it is significant more often then not. which is why it's so intriguing to me that in one of the railway minis outis immediately panics upon seeing the envy peccatula and warns dante that clones cannot exist long without a taboo being broken so they must immediately die.
i can't properly connect this to anything we know about outis in a concrete manner, which is a shame, but it's interesting to take note of nonetheless.
i also don't... know... what this E.G.O. is trying to say...? it seems to play on a similar idea of rudolta, especially the final observation being jealous and angry because of others getting gifts from santa when they didn't get one themselves. that everyone deserves these presents. i'm not... sure what equality outis is touting here. what, that everyone dies the same in the war? that somebody else was chosen for something over her? give me something to work with please, at least heathcliff has a reason to be shoving people in sacks...
nothing to add here, really, but i like the implication that outis regularly kept going out in her military uniform after the war ended; after all, it's not over to her, so why would she have stopped? it also explains why her uniform is directly modified to look more "military" in the LCB, with boots and a jacket distinctly different from any other sinner's outfit.
it wasn't exactly relevant to any other section, either, but i'm glad that our resident war criminal's classes are torture. you know, just in case you thought she regretted her actions a little too much.
outis with a roach on her head clearly means that she secretly fought for g corp and is hiding her insect parts. /j
in canto 4, outis is cast in the role of sang-heo, who finds league of nine tech being made a profit of in t corp's backstreets. sang-heo also reprimands dongbaek for speaking poorly of their leader, and reminds the league of their cause rather than possible corruption. though thinking about this at all always reminds me that, according to yi sang's fathoms, the perfect role for don quixote was gubo.
i think giving the greek character a line about prophets is cute.
i have no idea why she felt the need to comment on this. (fullstop mini)
i figured since canto 10 is coming up and outis has occupied way too much space in my brain, i might as well get my theories out while i still have space to manoeuvre, because i have nothing for meursault. genuinely. what follows will be spoilers for every canto thus far.
part 2
Odyssey
(image source: https://youtu.be/TzgPykFfQ5c)
what we know of outis is both little and a lot. we know of her past involvement in the smoke war as some sort of commander, then a sort of journey culminating in her joining the LCB. though "records of her past" are forbidden to access,
we get to know of her as dedicated to whatever past it is she'd had. besides this, the engraving on her sinner icon's watch reads "i have my family. they had theirs." every identity of hers also possesses the same broken watch that she specifies is not a fashion statement (who would have thought?), and it follows the pattern of each sinner's icon reflecting that element that stays in all their IDs. except yi sang's dagger i guess.
her attitude is abrasive at best, and her callousness towards others doesn't paint a pretty picture, but outis quickly demonstrates both a propensity for sycophancy and true strategic prowess. she knows she is fit to lead, whether others think so or not.
outis is both a skilled sailor and mechanic, judging by her pointing out integrity issues with the busboat in S.E.A. and her behaviour in canto 5. it is also then she states herself as a "leader of men" and sympathising with dante.
in canto 7, she makes a vague comment about amnesia making things difficult, coupled with her admission of having killed "tens of thousands of innocents."
this, among other things, already brings up some worrying thoughts. but no, really, who is she?
Nobody, Nothing At All
Οὖτις means nobody in greek. both her name and the engraving of her weapon tell us this: that outis is nobody. she often prefaces statements (of her own proficiency, mind you) with "i, outis," as though to reaffirm this name as fact; to show that she is nobody, and there is nobody else there.
for odysseus, this name is taken on temporarily to fool polyphemus the cyclops. the moment that he and his crew are safe, he reveals his name, leading polyphemus to curse him out and incite poseidon's wrath. for outis, however, this name has become her identity; it's what she has tied herself to.
here, ya sunyata tad rupam becomes relevant; i am no expert, but it refers to the buddhist concept of emptiness. emptying one's self in this context could be reinterpreted to outis' pseudonym: there is nobody left. besides that, ya sunyata emphasises karma, and outis is more than aware of the impact her actions have had.
to me, this is a sign of shifting responsibility; outis knows that she has done terrible things. but if she is nobody, then the consequences cannot catch up with her; if you cry out that nobody has killed the ones you love, then nobody can be held responsible.
after all, nobody's family is important.
mao outis is also a clear example of this; the heishou are irrelevant individually, only hired soldiers. here, she is nobody; one of many lost in an army is not a loss at all.
Great Tactician
from the start, outis is insistent that she is the only worthwhile sinner in the LCB. pride clings to her wherever she goes, putting the other sinners down in her own favour. she paints herself as dante's right-hand, always trying to be second-in-command, at times to her own detriment.
she claims herself and dante to be the only ones necessary to carry out the LCB's work.
most often, outis is the one to suggest that the sinners be thrown out or otherwise, whenever they become "problematic" in her eyes.
this further cements her position; pointing out weaknesses and possible threats to the cause, she shows herself as reliable and somebody on dante's side, who cannot be discarded no matter what information comes out regarding her. in canto 7, this is almost explicitly confirmed; initially outraged about don quixote's bloodfiend nature, she asks,
outis is afraid that her position will be jeopardised by the horrible sins she's committed. that her only road to what she needs to accomplish will be taken from her. she is now dependent on dante and limbus company whether she likes it or not, after all. so she strives to show that, despite it all, she is too reliable to be rid of.
what reinforces this, to me, is that in LCB regular checkup she actively backs down and, through gritted teeth, relegates future leadership to ishmael on the basis of not being ranked first - as though she wants to show she can step down and yield to authority when it is truly necessary. (i think it's funny to pair this with this second screenshot from yield my flesh)
drifting fox is initially a strange abnormality for outis, of all people. upset about being abandoned after being given now-worthless affection, it waits in the rain with the false kindness that cannot shield it from its sorrow.
however, if outis was once cast away - perhaps discarded as a soldier after the war - then wanting to ensure a stable position in the LCB makes sense.
King of Ithaca
outis believes that subordinates should be loyal to their superiors. even though she calls out bad leadership when she sees it, and even though she keeps trying to take charge of the sinners.
binds outis' lines are irate at the idea of insubordination, specifically towards her. she advocates for some sort of 'absolute trust' in one's superior, though i assume a lot of that to be a facade to make herself more appealing in dante's eyes.
besides this, she resents deserters and traitors, often being the one to point them out; she has not only a good eye for deception, and a propensity for it herself, but an outright hatred of it. (she also tends to be somewhat hypervigilant, with her insistence in nocturnal sweeping that dante needs to be protected and having ryoshu watch over them)
this both ties into her perception of people as assets to leverage, but also her ebony stem E.G.O.; the abnormality is an apple rotted from numerous pests, now doubtful and distrustful of those around it. there's a good chance that, in outis' past, someone went against the cause she was fighting for.
this same E.G.O.'s lines also reference the idea of victory at all costs, which i touch on more in the next section but is relevant to, uh, her base ID chatter. (and BL outis, though i don't have a screenshot of that here.)
other outis IDs often speak of formerly being leaders, or are in a position of leadership now; blade lineage, g corp., seven assoc., molar, magic bullet, butler, w corp. and LCA outis all lead or are at the head in some way. seven outis and LCA outis also sniff out foul play in their ranks, and BL outis killed her former mentor.
20 Years
from the start, outis is prone to acting like the smoke war is still ongoing. she uses military terminology, refers to the sinners like they're soldiers and treats every place like an active warzone.
her conversation with gregor in sasha's log puts it succinctly - it's not over, you only wish that it was. to outis, it may as well be today that she is on the battlefield, fighting that war.
moses, on the other hand, is highly suspicious of outis and probably recognises her from the war, baiting outis by giving the name of someone from the argos unit - euryalos, apparently one of the argonauts in the posthomerica - that outis responds to mechanically before reality sets in. this is a sign, to me, that moses knows who outis was, and that it's likely something outis would not want her knowing. either way, in twining threads, she goes stiff when she overhears gregor echoing her words that the war is not truly over.
i think it's no coincidence that afterwards she is the one to stand guard instead of watching gregor's attempt to move on.
outis does consider war a horrifying thing, despite how adamant she is to assert it is still ongoing; in canto 8 she gravely states the prospect of war to be something they must avoid at all costs. that war… will crush and grind it into the dirt indiscriminately as it does any life caught under its bootheels.
the odyssey had a purpose, her base E.G.O. states. it's as though she's justifying it all to herself - that during the war, anything goes as long as she is to achieve her goal. that only when it's all over will she have to bear the consequences. ones she is aware of, for that matter-
this E.G.O. says a lot, because it has a lot of lines, but it's very focused on the 'inevitability' of the path outis has taken. sunk cost fallacy - "There's no going back when I've already come this far by firing the bullet." but it will only pierce her heart when she fires the seventh one. she has full control over when it comes crashing down, and it's not now.
this kind of consequence seems to come back in dimension shredder. that outis is lost, without a goal, that her path is shrouded; a direct contrast to the predefined path set by the bullet. perhaps she is torn, or perhaps it's simply the difference between the path she's carved through bloodshed, and the one she has to take when she eventually steps off it.
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