BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

It was Christmas Eve when Sinclair planned to confess what he had done wrong to his family: he had stolen the key to the basement. With the merry blessing of Christmas Eve, he tried to make use of this holy night to hopefully be forgiven for his sin. The time he had spent in this 'world of darkness' was agonizing and painful and he desperately wanted to return to that 'world of light'.

I believe that this is in reference to Sinclair's classmates. Sinclair was due to receive a procedure and receive prosthetic parts despite the fact that he didn't truly want the procedure. This line laments the fact that his classmates never really saw him for who he is, how they never truly paid any attention to the reluctance he showed in his expression.

I feel like this could be in reference to either Kromer or Demian. Kromer, in a sick and twisted way, saved him from getting his procedure by killing his family. On the other hand Demian saved Sinclair from Kromer (both in the game and the novel). Honestly it's up to how you see it.

The world of light is one of peace and purity, one of happiness and comfort. This world that Sinclair is in gets burned away, first by his family becoming prosthetic users and again when Kromer slaughters his family. Painless futures might refer specifically to prosthetic bodies, as if one were to replace their flesh and blood for machinery then you wouldn't feel the pain of a wound, though that might be a reach. In general, Sinclair longs to return to his peaceful days where he was "naive and pure".

Sinclair knows deep down that he can't go back to those peaceful days. In my eyes, I think that it's here he begins to gather the courage to face his past.

I think there might be a blurry line between corroding and outright distorting. I'm honestly surprised that Sinclair himself didn't distort when everything happened. But that's just me. Anyways I love when Carmen haunts the narrative and this line is almost certainly in reference to her speaking.

Another reference to the source novel. In Demian (1919) Emil Sinclair has nightmares about Kromer tormenting him. However after meeting Demian his night terror changes (or should I say distorts?) from Kromer to Demian. Demian kneels on his chest instead, offering a respite from the nightmares for about two nights. Also, Emil Sinclair and Demian kiss at the end of the book.

Another reference to Carmen. Not really much to connect here for Sinclair.

Religion is an important part in Demian (1919). I've seen people refer to 'a holy mother' referring to Frau Eva, Demian's mother, but I don't think that's the case for Limbus Sinclair. If anything, it's a nice callback to her. In my opinion this is moreso another callback to Carmen!

While he isn't actually infected by something, Sinclair's world was invaded by both prosthetics and Kromer. Re-Created could reference how he had to face his sins and rebuild his inner world after it got shattered.

When Kromer murdered Sinclair's family, he was spared due to how he had helped her make this all happen. She stepped past him, leaving him to be dumped in the alleyway.

When Sinclair woke up he found himself in an alleyway in the middle of the day. The spot where he lay was heated by the sun. He stayed there for a moment before Demian approached him.

In the novel, Sinclair looks up to Demian, wanting to be like him. Something about him is ideal. When he paints a portrait of the woman he loves, it ends up being one of Demian before finally shifting to one of his inner self or inner daemon. For Limbus Sinclair, he takes note that before he had befriended Demian, he was surrounded by a crowd whenever he saw him. Sinclair himself wanted to be paid attention to in previous chapters. Perhaps he was envious?

Sinclair can't go back to those peaceful days. He can't undo his past mistakes. However, he lost everything. He has nothing left to lose at this point, and he can face Kromer head-on.

Sinclair's world is split in two, however he doesn't take a side. He falls through the crack inbetween. In a way, there's a balance here. A balance between the world of light and world of darkness. This inbetween is where Sinclair finds himself now.

This one is pretty obvious, even without the context of the novel it's easy to understand how this points to Sinclair breaking out of a shell, ready to soar. In terms of the novel, here's a quote from the book that I think ties in pretty well! “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God.”

In Sinclair's Branch of Knowledge EGO he's situated in a prison cell with a window to his past, where you can see his family. I like to think that he's rotting in the cell, seeing the faces of his loved ones reduced to ashes every night. Of course cell could be in terms of membrane cells but hey that's just my interpretation.

Sinclair has a bad habit of biting his nails when he's anxious. When he had told his class about his fathers contract he was eventually hit with a wave of guilt and anxiety, which causes him to fall to this habit. Eventually he bites into the skin of his thumb, causing it to bleed. Kromer, a fanatic of human flesh and wholeness takes notice of his wound.

There's a theory floating around that Demian is actually a living manifestation that Sinclair created and honestly? I really like that theory. This lyric seems to encourage my delusion in that. The idea that Demian is a creation that Sinclair had made that took physical form, and just knows everything there is to know about Sinclair is just.. really cool to me. It also ties into the novel, with Demian being Sinclair's daemon and such.

Another pretty clear reference to Sinclair breaking away from his old world and stuff.

Demian in both the novel and Limbus are a sort of guiding force that wants Sinclair to develop and to break free from the shell. I've seen people also tie this to Frau Eva which is also a good interpretation. Anyways, Sinclair looks to Demian for guidance and for help, to which Demian responds..

Sinclair learns to embrace all facets and aspects of his inner self, looking back on his life here. Sort of coming to terms with his mistakes.

Both Kromer and Demian have a sort of control or hold over Sinclair, which I think is referenced in these lines. The betrayal might be in reference to Demian, seeing as he predicted and knew what would happen to Sinclair, yet did nothing to stop or warn him. This could easily be seen as a betrayal since Sinclair regarded Demian as a friend. The last two words could be in reference to Kromer letting go of Sinclair after Demian kills her.

The Golden Bough resonated with Sinclair, showing everyone his memories.

Coming to terms with his past, Sinclair has lamented all there is to lament. That past, that world of light that protected him and kept him from soaring is burned away and gone. That incomplete holy land is left in the past, and all there is now is the present.

After facing his past again, Sinclair has been partially 'reborn'. He's come to terms with his mistakes and past and is ready to deal with what's left. In my opinion, that vagitus song is a sort of battle cry as he takes on Kromer. WOO YEAH SKEWER THAT BITCH

Did you know Limbus Company was supposed to release around Christmas time? This is reflected when Kromer is introduced in Canto Ill! However due to the delay Limbus was released in early 2023. My speculation is that they threw in a few lines to make it seem like Kromer is delusional about it being Christmas time! Anyways, Christmas is important to Kromer for a similar reason that it is for Sinclair, although Kromer seems to have a much more fond outlook on it.

Kromer has a negative opinion on prosthetic users, and it disgusts her to see how people don't seem to care about the heretical behavior of replacing ones flesh and blood with machinery!

After Sinclair shows her his basement, Kromer refers to Sinclair as her hero and as her savior.

Kromer views those with prosthetics as filthy heretics and those without them as pure. Basically, Kromer's ideal future and world is one without these heretics.

Go read Leviathan if you haven't already, it's really good. Anyways N Corp and The Ring work closely together to try and get their own brand flavor of mirror technology. It's implied (if not outright confirmed?) that at one point Kromer had access to this and was able to look at the mirror worlds. She saw one where Sinclair became The One Who Grips and I feel like that set her on another downward spiral of obsession to try and indoctrinate him. She could have killed him on that Christmas Eve but she chose not to, because she became obsessed with that future. This was where she "chose to stay fallen" and in the end it caused her downfall by sparing him.

Carmen speaks to Kromer here, opening the door of possibility to distortion.

The distorted dream to become wholly human in every twisted sense of the word is cooking inside Kromer here as Carmen entices her more.

MORE CARMEN!! Carmen encourages Kromer to take a bite into the forbidden fruit, to lay bare her desires and distort fully.

She's inside Kromer's mind, recreating her from the inside-out. Infected with a seed of light that will cause her to undergo a metamorphasis.

In her brief appearances in Lobotomy Corporation, Carmen is described as a sunny person. In one cutscene she lays in a sunny spot with A. I see these lines as Carmen leading Kromer to a sunny spot to talk with her, to lay her down and nurture this dream within her.

Kromer's second phase has many references to butterflies, from her Protoplast's Wings attack to Innocent Flutters. When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly it must first make a cocoon for itself so it can turn into goop and reform as a butterfly. Kromer is the caterpillar. Interestingly, Dreamer of Human Wholeness looks.. incomplete. She has her wings but is still a sort of larvae. Who did Kromer dream to be like? Carmen? Sinclair? Who knows.

Kromer resonated with the Golden Boughs and distorted. At the time we had no idea if humans could come back from distorting so with that context in mind distorting was seen as a sort of 'no going back' kind of deal. Kromer, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, take hold of this golden oppurtunity to become "Human Wholeness".

Falling to the enticing offer Carmen has offered Kromer, she falls into her delusions and distortions, reborne as the Dreamer of Human Wholeness.

What is Protoplast? It refers to the cell, excluding the protective cell wall. Kromer has left her cocoon, but it's rotten and incomplete. She has her protoplast wings, but they're vulnerable. She's burned away parts of herself to become the fleshy caterpillar that she is now, but at what cost?

This part is me musing but I think that N Corp sees human experience as an art form. Pain, pleasure, everything inbetween.. this ideal is taken to the extreme with the inquisition. When Kromer noticed Sinclair's bleeding thumb she saw art. She saw Sinclair, a sentient canvas brimming with potential and oppurtunity.

In Sinclair's N Corp identity uptie story it's shown that Faust broke open Sinclair's shell all too early. From this, we can infer that Kromer likely wanted to do something similar. I feel like both she and Demian are similar in this regard, wanting Sinclair out of his shell. It's just that Kromer does it in a forced, rushed sort of way while Demian is patient and is willing to wait it out. The obsession with wanting to control Sinclair is here as well. I see these lyrics here are a taunt or jab at Sinclair, as if she's saying "Come on, break out already! I showed you how, so just do it!"

Here I think Kromer is reflecting on the events that led up to this moment. She's embracing every part of this, the good and the bad as she distorts. The incomplete holy land is in reference to the current world where heretics exist. It's filthy, something to lament. It only exists in the past, for if Kromer emerges victorious she will likely purge the world of heretics in the future.

Kromer, fully reborn and distorted into the Dreamer of Human Wholeness faces off against Sinclair. Her total liberation from an ordinary human form to one of completion and wholeness, this fleshy amalgam is fully operational and it's time to face Sinclair.