#My lore

[kc-rising]

Speaking of fests something that's kind of neat to think about is the fact that Brightshine is basically Sornieth's new year

Brightshine is the start of the new set of fest fams/apparel every year, which is why I think of it this way.

This is also how my dragons view the world; their year starts with Summer and ends with Spring. Fall and Winter are mid-year and Brightshine is viewed and bringing the new year into the light while Greenskeeper is seen as planting the old year to grow anew

[sluglore]

Explaining The Iterator's Purpose (And Why They Weren't Made to Circumvent The Echoes)

Alright, I know there's already been a few posts like this out there, like this older one from @halvedforest, and this recent one from @noizepushr, which are both good posts, but I've been meaning to touch up and cross-post my own older misconceptions post from reddit for a while now, and provide a deeper, more expanded analysis as to why this misconception exists and explain what's actually going on, so here it finally is haha I'll also be using the term 'Benefactor' instead of 'Ancient', if people are confused about that, I intend to make a post about it eventually ^^

( If you're confused on who out there even believes this, this idea originated from Rain World YouTube lore videos, long before Downpour was ever a thing! It is unfortunately still quite prominent on there... but it's definitely getting better :3 )

This misconception stems from misreading the singular pearl to ever mention the echoes, being the Bright Red farm arrays pearl, so let me begin by attaching the specific section below:

“There were some horror stories though... That if your ego was big enough, not even the Void Fluid could entirely cross you out, and a faint echo of your pompousness would grandiosely haunt the premises forever. So even when the Void Fluid baths became cheaper, some would still starve and drink the bitter tea.” (Bright red Farm Arrays pearl dialogue)

Note the specific usage of “some” here. Echoes weren't presented as an issue significant to re-center Benefactor society around, (let alone build the iterators for) but as some horror stories which only "some" people (likely on the fringes of society) would believe in. Nowhere are we given anything that alludes to the existence of Echoes being regarded as a societal problem to address, much less have anything to do with the Iterators.

Additionally, although we know for a fact that echoes do exist, its fairly possible that most of Benefactor society didn't, as LTTM doesn't even know what they are either, regarding them as nothing more than superstition. On the very next line, LTTM confirms that the void baths continued all the same, while again mentioning that "some" would still choose to abstain from them, and drink the bitter tea.

Then what’s the purpose of the iterators if they weren't created to circumvent the echoes? What is The Big Problem that they are even trying to solve in the first place? Well, both FP, LTTM, and the Exterior colored pearl dialogue spell the answer out for you. In fact, it's the first thing FP even tells you!

“The good news first. In a way, I am what you are searching for. Me and my kind have as our purpose to solve that very oscillating claustrophobia in the chests of you and countless others. A strange charity - you the unknowing recipient, I the reluctant gift. The noble benefactors? Gone.” (Five Pebbles dialogue to Survivor) (Monk's version also hits similar notes)

Five pebbles introduces himself as a “reluctant gift," with his purpose being "to solve that very oscillating claustrophobia in the chests of you and countless others," meaning to solve the cycles for everyone and everything else.

If you bring Looks to the Moon a neuron, she has the chance to repeat the same exact explanation to you.

"We were supposed to help everyone, you know. Everything. That was our purpose: a great gift to the lesser beings of the world. When facing our inability to do so, we all reacted differently. Many with madness.”

FP, LTTM, and the rest of their kind were created to serve the rest of the world in finding a method of total mass ascension, of ending the cycle entirely for everyone.... and everything. Not only including the fauna of the world, like the slugcat, but the bedrock, microbes and even gases, as explicitly stated in this snippet from the Exterior pearl dialogue below:

“The Moral Argument: Five Pebbles is our Creation, and we have Parental Obligations towards him. As an Iterator, he is also a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes - and towards which We thus have Obligations)” (Pale Green Exterior pearl dialogue)

Here we have the Benefactors define it very clearly, that as an iterator, Five Pebbles is a "Gift of Charity from Us to The World." It's important to note that many misinterpret the next section in parentheses as being about FP himself, but if it were, it would be the only time FP is ever referred to as “it”. What's really being described is the world, “unable to reach enlightenment by itself, being composed mostly of rock, gas, dull witted bugs and microbes” The world is unable to reach Enlightenment on it's own and therefore, that's why the iterators were created. (Also- when you think about it, the description of "being composed of rock, gas, and dull witted microbes" doesn't even really fit FP's description lol)

Quick but necessary tangent, the concept of non-living things being apart of the cycle is a little confusing, and tricky to quickly answer without going deep into cycle lore discussion, (I have an entire post in drafts dedicated to clearing this up) but it's actually incredibly important for understanding what The Great Problem is! To shed some light, it's not that non-living matter are able to somehow comprehend the cycles, but that the entire physical world itself is actually an intrinsic part of the cycles.

If you leave a stone on the ground, and come back some time later, it's covered in dust. This happens everywhere, and over several lifetimes of creatures such as you, the ground slowly builds upwards. So why doesn't the ground collide with the sky? Because far down, under the very very old layers of the earth, the rock is being dissolved or removed. The entity which does this is known as the Void Sea. If you drill far enough into the earth you begin encountering a substance called Void Fluid. The deeper you go, the less rock and more Void Fluid. It's believed that there is a point where the rock completely gives way - below that would be the Void Sea. When that stone you placed on the ground has finally done its time in the sediments, it meets the Void Fluid and is dissolved, leaving the physical world. (Teal Subterranean pearl dialogue)

There's a reason that 'Cycles' is always plural in Rain World, because there's multiple of them! Organic life is in cycles, the physical bedrock of the world is in cycles, even the very concept of civilization is in cycles. In order to ascend everything, that means ascending not only all living things, but the entire physical universe itself! That's what the Great Problem really is :D (Also technicallyyy it's only ever referred to as "the big problem" and not "the great problem", the latter term stems entirely from the community but it's whatever i just wanted to quickly mention that. great problem definitely sounds cooler LOL)

In conclusion, Iterators are described as "Gifts to the World" not once, not twice, but three entire times throughout base game Rain World's dialogue, one from FP, one from LTTM, and one from the Benefactors. Rain World lore holds many unanswered, purposefully ambiguous questions, but the Iterator's purpose is not one of them!

If you're confused/interested in analysis of the Benefactor's motivations and perspectives on Ascension, I made a post a little while back containing my thoughts right here :)

[beware-the-water]

really gets me pissed when men see my frustration as amusement. thinking abt how i would get genuinely angry about something w my ex (unrelated to him in these cases, like getting cut off in traffic, etc) and he would look at me w this little smile on his face and say something along the lines of “youre so cute when youre mad” shut the fuck up i will rip ur fucking face apart

[timewizard-oldman]

haha bro we r just like troy barnes and abed nadir from the hit 2009 sitcom community (i love you so so so much)

[comingyourlugubriousness]

"Like a shooting star, I will go the distance I will search the world, I will face its harms I don't care how far, I can go the distance 'Til I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms" Lore and extras under the cut!

I finally caught up and finished the ENG chapter 7 in my game! Yippie!

It's part of me and @bunnwich canon that Yume and their brothers end up being in Lilia's dream for what feels like a loooong time. Time in dreams is percived differently, than the actually two days that passed in real time. So to Yume, the Ramshackle gang, and Sebek and Silver, could have very well spent what felt like a month in Lilia's war flashback. So at the end when they finally end up in Idia's dream their so happy to see him! And well you can't be in war flashback without learning new things. I imagine Yume and their brothers really hone into their skill sets and learn new ones. Yume learning more tacticians skills, learning survival skils, and I just think learning how to shoot a crossbow would be sick. Enhancing it with a few simple tips they had learned from Idia making bean day weapons, like adding a scope. They scrounge armour from fallen Silver Owls and broken armour donated from the fae soldiers. Meanwhile, I imagine Yuuta gets super good at making potions and poisons as well as shooting a longbow; coating their arrows with magics and poisions to fight dream soilders. Yuuhi learns more defense tactics and how to use melee weapons. I actually did a little sketch of how I imagine Yume's armour would look.

Yume's hair gets longer and their glasses frame breaks, so they have to convert them to goggles. Yume isn't strong so they have to rely on tricks, hiding, and sneak attacks to defeat Silver Owl soilders. Their future sight gives them an edge to in planning in prep. They also rely on a ghillie suit/cloak they make with Yuuta to stay hidden. Those are the suits that help you blend in with your enviornment. Example:

For comradery they based the hood of their cloak to look like a bear, helping them almost be a part of the more animal themed fae soilders. I imagine inbetween the canon events and stuff their theorizing about Malleus's dream magic and what to do to fix it; they are also making notes like crazy and occasionally drawing their beautiful boyfriened Idia to cope and acting like their actually in war writing letters lol. (Their so dramatic ) I imagine one day one the soilders see it and says something to them in their fae language. Sebek translates an its. "He says the drawing of your wife is beautiful." And Yume thinks its so fucking funny, but also its one of their first nice things the soldiers have said to them so they just role with it. Anyway its just this meme:

[maryflorlovyblog]

"Although ephemeral, forbidden loves make up for the short time with intensity."

—Luiz Roberto Bodstein

Mary ...with …‿ℒℴνℯ⁀❣

[hateno-house]

[raysock]

Some of my OCs as polos just to.. you know.. attract the auditory and tell a bit of lore from my universe

So basically rejected world is something like a purgatory mixed with void that is being watched by the Highests (smth like Gods)

People don't age here and can do whatever they like until the Gods decide where should they go afterwards, but there are also the ones who stay in rejected group forever

Entities from other worlds can also temporarily visit rejected and interact with it in any way (even destroy everything), that's why Denis got a team and gave them part of his powers to protect the world of rejected

I won't tell about each character because I'm too lazy, but, for example, Lera has a rich story with a lot of details

[raphaeltheseraphim]

Why must hedgehogs be so cute?

I especially love when they are on their back and you can see their tummies.

[goldencheese-cookie]

morp -> goldencheese-cookie

[kc-rising]

could you tell me about crow ? her bio mentions that she is very strict ; does she have a soft spot for anyone or anything ?

Crow is the Sanctum's treasurer and is in charge of the clan's community hoard. Because she is strict and meticulous about everything, she comes off to most people as very intimidating and unapproachable. However, she does have a softer side, though very few have seen it.

That softer side of her comes out most often around Mathias, who regularly visits her when they're back home from their various courier missions. On the outside, their personalities seem like they would clash, but they both have vital roles in the clan and are very passionate and careful about their jobs. They've bonded over this shared interest and the fact that their work overlaps regularly (if, for example, the clan is paying for something from another region, Mathias would be in charge of collecting the money from Crow and delivering it/coming back with the purchase). She knows he's trustworthy and has a lot of respect for them because of that.

Mathias tends to bring her gifts in the form of baked goods from around Sornieth as well, which is always a good pick-me-up on stressful days.

[sluglore]

Thank you so much for this blog it makes me so happy. I do have a question! How 'smart' do you think slugcats are? I've always debated this for a while but I can't settle on an answer.

I'm glad!! It makes me very happy to know people are interested haha

As for how smart I think slugcats are, I personally abide by what the original Videocult Devlog had to say about them- being that they are "somewhere on the edge between animal and human thinking," and "slightly below human intelligence". Basically, smart enough to understand that there is meaning to the symbols and structures of the world, but not smart enough to understand what that meaning behind them is.

I also think this perfectly falls in line with how we, as the players, experience the game for the first time, and that this is especially clear the very first time we meet Moon. Regardless of how you went about it your first time, about half of new players always end up eating her neurons, but not out of any kind of malicious intent, but genuine, pure misunderstanding. We know there is meaning to the interaction, yet we can't understand what it is! But what we are able to understand, is that we still need more food in order to hibernate :)

In a way, Rain World perfectly manipulates traditional "gamer brain" mentality to expose our own sort of "animalistic nature". It also highlights the narrative significance of the mark of communication, and the massive difference it makes. The slugcat finally gains the ability to understand the meaning behind everything, and with that, you no longer fit into the carnal ecosystem from which you came from. Where you once searched for food and survival, you now search for answers to your own existence, the underlying secrets of the universe. The void is already calling you.

I attached a few more interesting screenshots from the Devlog talking about slugcat intelligence underneath the cut-off, if anyone wants to read a bit more :)

[themosthatedbeingg]

DONT LET PEOPLE (certain angels ) ON TUMBLR MAKE YOU THINK THAT:

• Monty is not a real friend

•Monty is "just a fat eldritch agent snake"

• its okay to SOUP Monty (it's

REALLY NOT)

• its okay Capture Monty

[keiser-loves]

Keiser

[sordidmorbid]

🍇🦠🥝