#farewell rayashki

[julyforest0o]

To the better Future!

I slept too much so I had to draw all at the end. I don’t think I like it, but I really wanted to do something.. Even though all my plans crushed out because of ✨life✨

[vingler-mirror]

Farewell Rayashki text post meme because I'm not immune to the Russian yuri and their adopted son

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

[takiminada]

COME HOME

[akihaza-kenji]

Avgust, he's such a cutie patootie GOD I LOVE HIM

[fruityfroggy]

Some sillies of my favorite Rayashki girlies I love them so much<333

And some extra panicked versions of the Windsong silly:]c

[larxii]

I love them

[heeruh]

For someone who has gone through life mostly unacknowledged—this scene hits hard. To finally be recognized, and believed in. To be thanked for your efforts and to be seen. These kiddos are precious.

[maryallen138]

(„• ֊ •„)

[stari-hun]

The writers of Reverse 1999 need both a love letter and a cease and desist cause what is this peak level writing. The fact that in 19 chapters they got you so attached to a town and with the way the timeline is so unreliable in the series they HAVE you think that oh this is after the Storm and Rayashki is like Pei City where they just happened to be immune but they’re so isolated that they don’t know about the storm. Then Vila’s story hits and you realize oh, [Farewell, Rayashki]. They tell you their story is ending with Rayashki welcoming the world to their town again and being on their own. Then the telegram comes and you realize at the same time Vila learns of the Storm itself.

It’s after 1999.

[tsatsked]

Lore details I've noticed: Farewell Rayashki event

As always that's mostly Russian/USSR/Slavic stuff and some translations, feel free to add anything. I've also made a post about Silver Knot lore details

Obviosly, spoiler warning

Alenka - a USSR chocolate type produced since 1965, they are quite soft and sweet and still popular among kids and adults

The playground is quite typical for the time period. The drawings and sunflowers might be Vila’s and kids’ work. It’s not very clear if the graffiti is made by someone inspired by hip-hop culture or is August’s failed attempt at scribbling out his name, judging by “А” and “Г” as 1st and 3rd letters. The only thing I’d add here is more scraped parts recycled into playground constructions

Ijirak, Kikituk, Qiqirn - creatures from Inuit folklore (as far as I know they are not known in native Siberian folklore). I haven’t found information about Hoituk

The Russian word for “most” means “best” in the phrase “the most “most”” (“самый-самый”)

“It was only by luck that we found the runium. For over 60 years, people here have worked together to make it what it is now” - Vila. If the events happen in 60s-80s (judging by the overall vibe), than the last time reverse was at 1977 and Rayashki started to grow from a village to a town at 1917 or later. It means the town exported runium for all the Soviet years.

⬆️ EDIT: Silver Knot (Windsong's story) confirms it actually happens in 80s-90s

Most of the sighs say “For Better Future”, “Welcome to Rayashki” and “Welcome Zeno’s Military Institute”

The room in which Windsong stays is Soviet af. There are an old TV with a lens, cool bookshelf and tiles that surprised me. They’re common for public and liminal spaces but not so much for the living ones. Maybe they’re chosen because they endure harsh Artic climate better that wood or linoleum

EDIT: the TV looks like KVN-49 model, produced in 1949—1962

“It must be Kikituk! But their closest habitat should be Kong Kalrs Land, hundreds of kilometres away”. Kong Karls Land - a group of island of Svalbard archipelago, Norway. As @vingler-mirror point out in their post, Rayashki is likely based on Pyramiden town owned by USSR on the same archipelago

Природа это числа и черты - “Nature is numbers and lines” Природа это мозаика цветов - “Nature is a mosaic of colours”

“Mutant Kikituk from Olga area! You should be at the Olga Strait, hunting for migrating salmon and whales, not here!” - excuse me OLGA STRAIT!? THE ONE NEAR JAPAN!?

Poneva/ponyova - an element of Russian (Eastern Slavic?) female clothing worn on top of the main skirt of the dress. I believe there was either a mistranslation in Needles and Loaves message where Raisa said “poneva dress”, either she meant the whole outfit

Samodiva - Their name is feminine and can be roughly translated as “self-wonder”, but that’s another word for vila the creature from Western and Southern Slavic mythology similar to Eastern Slavic rusalka/mavka

Other stuff I’ve noticed:

The town seems to have a big arcanist population, if not most of them are arcanists. An arcanist right is applicable to them and all Vila’s known students are arcanists (if the kids are arcanists, their parents and grandparents are arcanists too)

The people of Rayashki seem to come from different places, and it makes sense with Pyramiden's history (EDIT: the workers were mostly from a western region of Ukraine). Pasono’s first name seems to be obscure and I’ve found only a surname mostly known in America. Patrik’s name is more popular name in other countries, and it make me to believe his ancestors might be foreigners. Bogina’s name comes from Southern Slavic languages

Rayashki is very communistic compared to the rest of USSR. Maybe it’s the town’s history, citizens’ temperament, small town’s size, seclusion and big self sufficiency combined. EDIT: the town's athmosphere conctasts with the period of USSR where people start feel more positive about the world around and capitalism with it

[taniahylian]

Zeno wouldn't have saved Rayashki

This post contains spoilers for the main event and Vila and Windsong's anecdote, so this is your warning to not keep reading if you haven't finished those.

So, one thing I don't understand is people saying that if Rayashki had cooperated with Zeno they wouldn't have been consumed by the storm, which imo is only partially correct. Firstly, although Zeno's main base is probably storm-proof, it's doubtful all of their bases are, as Bertolt himself says they've suffered many loses, including some of their academies. Taking this into account, I doubt the refugee station where they'd take some of the townsfolk would be storm-proof, which basically means they'd only save those from Rayashki that they deemed most "useful" to Zeno.

This is indeed essentially what ends up happening in the story... Except it's the Foundation, not Zeno, who gets to cherry pick who to save, of course deeming the children the most useful, as they get to shove them in SPDM (and brainwash them). Vila, being half Rusalka is of course very appealing to them as well because of her versatility underwater, unmatched by any other arcanist. Meanwhile Windsong's study of leylines seems also very useful to Laplace in the coming storm, as said by Lucy herself.

So yeah, imo no matter what, there was no way to save all of Rayashki. At least now, if time ever returns to its normal course, Rayaski will be free from Zeno and prospering with the mining of coal.

[vingler-mirror]

So we know from her character story that Windsong's real name is Ekaterina, but we never get to know where the name "Windsong" came from.

Someone on discord got a big brain idea that it might be a smart gay reference to the Little Mermaid, where Windsong is the wind spirit Vila meets at the end of her story!

As we all know, the Little Mermaid is fated to die and dissolve into sea foam, but her good deed spares her life and transforms her into a Sylph, a daughter of the air. She goes to live her new life with the other wind spirits, where they strive to do good deeds for 300 years to get the eternal soul.

This parallels SO well to Vila, a "mermaid" who survives her fate of "dissolving" to the Storm, marking the end of her old life in Rayashki and the start of a new one in the Foundation with her "wind spirit", aka Windsong! They also look after the Rayashki kids together, whom Vila refers to as the true "eternal soul" in her story.

In the fairy tale, the wind spirits can also shorten their 300 years of service by meeting good children (probably to encourage the kids you read this story with to behave), which ties another connection to Vila and Windsong teaching and caring for the kids throughout the story.

[ihaveforgortoomany]

Its so devastating you realise after Vila's story why the event is called "Farewell Rayashki" and its the best event story so far to hammer home the devastation of the Storm and why it is vital for the world of Reverse 1999 to stop it. You spend enough time to properly get invested in a community against all odds create a town built on unity, community and family only for Vila's story to remind us that no substantial progress can be made with the presence of the Storm.

It is also important in Vila's story that it hammers home that even if we say farewell to Rayashki, its ideals lives on in characters like Vila, Windsong and the kids. What Rayashki stood for and everything everyone had fought for is not lost but continues through characters like Vila (here again R1999 reinforcing this reoccurring time of not dwelling on the past, but instead using it as a point to move forward and progress to the future)

[actualarcanist]

Name Day: SPDM is the safest place in the world!

Jessica: Oh yes I went there and no one stopped me when I fought the critters in the classroom for dominance, 10/5 will enroll again!

Vila: .

Vertin: I went there with 5 of my mates and graduated with only 3 of them, 3/5 will not enroll again, but +1 for having lots of hot babes.

Vila: . .

SPDM: We're always ready to send armed officers after our students to protect them from themselves and their harmful ideologies.

Vila: . . .

Vila: Is - is it too late to sign my little comrades up for home school

[jorgyjuice]

doodles while i finished up playing the event

[ID: drawings of characters from reverse 1999, windsong and nina, mostly uncolored on white backgrounds. they're both signed @/jorgyjuice.

image 1: to the left windsong is drawn standing holding a notepad, looking to the side with her face shadowed. to the right she is drawn in bust with an upset expression.

image 2: nina is tugging one of her braids with one hand and holding a book over her stomach with the other, with a worried expression. a small doodle of her smiling face is drawn to the left. /end ID]

[larxii]

GULP