#rambled eggs

[mewguca]

I'll put this here too I guess. this primarily concerns Vanilla

Something I feel like I don't see discussed very often in this fandom is how moon being a woman is integral to her character. The way she conducts herself, the way she speaks... it all screams "female social conditioning" and especially "eldest daughter syndrome" to me. Don't be rude, always be nurturing and kind, be patient, be supportive, be selfless, don't express aggression or negative opinions...

...None of us really miss the times when their cities were populated. Imagine having skin parasites that also ask for advice and have opinions...

I'm sorry, that was disrespectful. They were our parents after all.

- Pale Green Exterior Pearl

I've seen some people take her "skin parasites" comment as uncharacteristic and unfounded hatred instead of something extremely telling about how her "parents" have treated and conditioned her. The use of "parents" is very purposeful here, I feel. Her immediate retraction and apology evoke the image of a daughter who had a poor relationship / was mistreated by her parents and is left with conflicting and complicated emotions she can't process. She resents them, but she also feels indebted to them, and perhaps her acknowledgement of them as "parents" may imply affection, as well. Regardless, since she cannot process these emotions (and feels it is wrong of her to hold them to begin with), she represses them. She retracts her comment and apologizes for being disrespectful.

That's probably all she's ever known how to do. All she's ever been allowed to do. Moon seems very conscientious about behaving "politely." Don't get me wrong, Moon clearly values kindness and hope; those are core to her character. She doesn't like being angry, and it doesn't usually benefit her or help anyone.

...It's useless to be angry at an animal following its instincts. Once, a single neuron meant nothing to me...

...I'm still angry at you, but it is good to have someone to talk to after all this time. The scavengers aren't exactly good listeners. They do bring me things though, occasionally...

- Returning to LTTM who has 4 Neurons left

She displays emotional maturity here by acknowledging and communicating her anger whilst not letting it cloud her judgment. Instead of holding things against the slugcat, she continues talking to them, because she understands that staying mad at them won't help anybody.

I don't think being angrier would help her, and her willingness to forgive and let go of it is a strength. But I believe her emotional repression takes that maturity and strength of character and creates something a little more complicated — a woman who struggles to fully process her negative emotions, especially surrounding people and concepts she is meant to respect. Her core values ride the line between virtue and vice (being willing to forgive and caring for others vs being too passive and repressing her own needs), and her actions are layered and nuanced, just like a real person.

This isn't to say she is against expressions of anger or negative emotions wholesale.

...I could read a bit of Five Pebbles in this neuron before formatting it. His condition has severely deteriorated since last I heard of him. The frustration he feels is profound, and that angst has seeped into every part of him, every neuron.I could read a bit of Five Pebbles in this neuron before formatting it. His condition has severely deteriorated since last I heard of him. The frustration he feels is profound, and that angst has seeped into every part of him, every neuron.

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...

even back when we were all more or less connected there were those who reacted to their task with anger. I can only imagine they are angrier now, alone in their cans, left only with their insatiable drive.

- bringing one of FP's neurons to LTTM

She empathizes with the frustration that FP feels in a very literal sense; she's processing his emotions from the neuron. She doesn't judge or rebuke him for this; rather, she explains why he might be frustrated, and that he is likely not alone in feeling this way.

So, it's fine when others express that anger. Just not for Moon. Ironically, the fandom sometimes reinforces this. Moon can get mad at you and refuse to speak to you if you treat her in ways she doesn't want to be treated. (setting and enforcing boundaries) I've seen (some) people say she's being mean or unreasonable here. You're not trying to hurt her, and your actions are quite tame. But these actions cause Moon great distress and make her feel disregarded. Holding her neurons likely inhibits their function, jumping around likely overstimulates her, and interrupting her while she's speaking to you is just plain rude.

But some people still seem shocked by this; they're not used to NPCs setting boundaries with them like they're actual people. And Moon is usually very nice to you! So when she enforces these boundaries, some people get frustrated and confused.

...This ties into the parentification of LTTM, a phenomenon that greatly upsets me.

People expect her to be unconditionally and endlessly loving and patient and supportive, and then when she acts like a normal human being, they get mad. Because they expect her to be their mom.

And yes, she is very caring, supportive, and patient! She's also eloquent and enthusiastic, emotionally repressed, hopeful and kind, someone who struggles to assert herself, someone who enjoys sharing knowledge with others, someone who's careful about the way she conducts herself, someone who speaks fondly of sky-sails in flight during big festivals, etc...

She's very caring towards others. Like a Big Sister. She is Big Sister-coded. Her name is Broadcasts is Big Sis / Big Sister Moon. It could not be more obvious, and yet some people force her into the role of "mother" because on an unconscious level, they can only conceive of women as mothers and wives.

Perhaps that is too biting, but I believe it is true. It does not help that her Counterpart (Five Pebbles) is often infantilized in tandem, but that is a conversation for another time. I should also specify that forcing / expecting eldest daughters to take on a motherly role is a phenomenon widespread across various cultures and not something exclusive to the Rain World Fandom. ((it's a widespread societal issue!))

Regardless, this view of Moon as a mother plays into this idea that she must be unfailingly kind, unconditionally patient, and unfathomably supportive. Moon likely even expects these things of herself. The expectations of a Big Sister are not so different, after all.

And she is trying very, very hard. She is exhausted and irritable, she hardly functions, and she has very few resources to help her. Don't get me wrong, I do think she is an exceptionally kind person, but that is because she wants to be. Her kindness is not the default; it is not owed to you or to be expected of everyone you meet. Looks To The Moon remains kind and hopeful because she is fighting every moment of her life for it to be so.

Unfortunately, her efforts often go unacknowledged and her radical empathy (influenced by her unique circumstances) taken for granted.

People often focus on how it feels to be someone's "Little Brother", to live in their shadow...

But what about how Moon feels? What about the struggles of being responsible for another person? Of being an example for them and held to higher standards? Of unfailingly devoting your support to them? How she struggled to assert herself, to go against her sibling... How she may feel guilt over both her inaction and her subsequent action... Maybe she should've acted sooner. Maybe she shouldn't have acted at all. Maybe, if she had just been a better Big Sister, none of this would've happened to begin with.

We don't really know how she feels about all that, though. (She probably doesn't, either, haha) It's all just speculation at the end of the day. And I don't want to make it seem like her "Big Sister" role is an entirely negative or oppressive thing. Again, she is kind! She likes teaching others! She's very understanding and caring, and she has a lot of patience and maturity! I just think it's fun to point out these subtler details.

I think viewing Moon as someone who has been socialized as a woman and as a big sister specifically gives a lot of meaningful insight into her character. And it's not something I see discussed a ton in general.

Other Notes I didn't know where to put:

Eldest Daughter Syndrome I cannot re-iterate this enough

I feel like sometimes people make moon assertive or more aggressive to compensate for her suffering. Like, because she's FP Local Group Senior, she has to be authoritative. I think these people focus too much on the "Big" and not enough on the "Sister" aspect. Moon isn't a girlboss, and that's okay! It's okay for her to struggle with things. (But, being fair, you're not hurting anyone by doing this, so do what makes you happy etc etc. I just think it can potentially come from a place of devaluing "weakness" often associated with traditionally feminine traits, and it's good to examine that.)

Furthering the aggression point, I think some people see that Five Pebbles hurt her and think that there needs to be some sort of retribution. That Moon should hate him, resent him, and want to hurt him back. But I feel like forgiveness makes much more sense for Rain World. Moon isn't being unrealistically kind or too much of a pushover by forgiving Pebbles and not holding resentment towards him; she's at peace. She doesn't want to hurt him or hate him, and doing so wouldn't bring her any catharsis. (And he doesn't want to hurt her, either! i could make an entirely different ramble about why I think the Vanilla siblings could and should reconcile but I'll save that for another time ig) uhhhh this isn't entirely gendered something something Care Ethics

LTTM and FP serve as foils in a lot of ways. I think there is an enlightening conversation to be had about how FP explores / presents traditionally masculine traits or a masculine socialization.

The bennies / ancients / whatever seem to place a lot of importance on Obligations. I think Roles were probably important to them. Being a Big Sister likely had a lot of Obligations that came with it.

I get that LTTM and FP are not like explicitly specifically siblings in Vanilla. I do think it is implied, though. They have a unique physical connection and live in very close proximity to one another. There's no flashing "THESE TWO ARE SIBLINGS!!" sign, but the subtext is there, and I prefer to interpret them as such. alternative readings could instead be "all local group iterators are related" or "none of these people are related". do what you want ig

Was any of this even intentional? I'm probably reading a liiiittle too much into things, but I do think this was intentional. She's "Big Sister Moon" in the broadcasts. She could've just had her normal name, but they decided to make her "Big Sister Moon." Vanilla is subtle and largely up to interpretation, but it is very purposeful, I feel. I don't think they named her BSM just for fun, lol. (But maybe I'm wrong!)

I do not want to undermine FP's struggles and equally fascinating character-writing here. There's a whole host of issues I have with how people see FP, but I feel like many people have spoken about this at-length, and most are aware of the common complaints that tend to arise. With LTTM, I feel like people generally really like her, but they don't appreciate / talk about the finer nuances of her character as much. People like her because she's really nice, but there's more to her than that. ((also because it's fun to talk about that's kinda the main reason I made this))

I do actually have some thoughts about DP canon and the relationship between LTTM and FP and her role as Big Sister within that canon ((like how people misinterpret FP's construction as being for LTTM rather than primarily to serve her Citizens with LTTM being alleviated as a bonus)) but to be honest there's so much to read with DP that I don't really want to try and tackle it. Furthermore, DP canon will on multiple occasions either contradict itself or muddy the concepts it's trying to communicate and this makes it a lot harder to work with when it comes to interpretations and readings aha.

im just a random person on the internet so please don't take my word as gospel. feel free to disagree with me or provide your own insights, etc.

thanks for reading. sorry if this is hard to read on light mode

[eggsinthewind]

i ship them in the way that they are divorced

[lotsa-cats-in-a-trenchcoat]

Obligatory 4 am (it's 2 am but whatever) Outer Wilds ramble

The thing about this game is that it suddenly makes life worth living without explanation. Every time I play it I'm suddenly filled with curiosity about the world around me.

After I finished the base game I went out to long walks through the woods, I picked up an interest in the plants I find and the birds I hear.

It really gives you this extraordinary feeling you've never felt before. It makes you feel so small but not in a negative way, but rather in a "The world around me is so vast and huge and intricate, and I'm experiencing all of it!" kinda way.

I dunno, I just love it. I love this game. And I hope that other people get to experience the same feeling with their own favourite games and movies and books :)

[yigasaurospinax]

Just… let me be single. Stop trying to match make me. I’m not broken.

I'M DOING AN EXPERIMENT

To prove something to a friend, please

REBLOG IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

LIKE IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS DON’T BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

[cnsys]

bouncing between interests like pinball. trolls then look outside and then how about.......... checks notes...... Muppets

[yigasaurospinax]

… I just dreamt that I was explaining to my mom why the phrase “Do you like the color of the sky?” was almost a threat.

My dream specifically used the word “threat”.

My subconscious is intimidated by the Super Long Picture. And that makes me laugh.

[fluo-skeletons]

DELTARUNE EGG MAN + some guy who is refusing to show up

hmmm

hmm

Note the lack of asterisk and the all caps. "but fluo, the other characters in this world also spoke the same way" YEAh that's why it's the perfect way to conceal someone who often speaks in this same manner!!! jk jk but WHAT IF

(in ch4's egg room, the secretary speaks in all caps but has an asterisk)

does any of this make sense

So, where is he?

wait.

So we know he has a thing with not sleeping and all that. right. What does this mean...

there was something else I wanted to add but ironically I have forgotten what that was. Anyway, is Papyrus the egg man? I don't know. Is he in any way connected to him? maybe.

[yigasaurospinax]

BABY

[chronicowboy]

buck's realtor gets so pissed off by his pickiness that she sits him down on the stoop of his newest rejection and tells him to list everything that would make up his perfect house and buck of course describes eddie's house right down to the natural light and squishy corner. and the realtor goes okay so i might have a place for you it's a house but it's still in your price range because well honestly it's got a history that's made it pretty hard to sell. and buck like heaves a sigh and says i'll see it anyway because atp he just needs to find a place and maddie and chim live in a very nice murder house there's no reason he couldn't too. anyway she drives him over there but the neighbourhood is getting very familiar and suddenly they're turning onto south bedford street and for a moment buck's terrified eddie's selling his place and moving back to el paso but then the realtor is stopping outside of meth lab jim's and buck is tripping out of the car and the realtor is stammering her way through an explanation of the history until buck goes oh it's okay i know about the methlab fire my station was the one to put it out and he sees the dollar signs flashing in her eyes before he has a real look around and it's perfect really if he ignores the jim of it all. looks just like eddie's place and if he can't have eddie's place, which he can't because it was never his to begin with, surely something this close is the next best thing. so he puts in an application and gets accepted worryingly fast and tells eddie all about it and gets really shifty with the details and absolutely does not let eddie help him move in. and then he's spending his first night there eating takeout in the middle of the living room floor and it's not. it's not home. and he's realising that maybe it was never really the house at all. and of course he can't fall asleep there keeps thinking about any of jim's methlab buddies sneaking in looking for a fix and so he runs down the street and lets himself into eddie's and passes out on the couch. he'll deal with it all in the morning. he's home now.

[mewguca]

do you ever think about how moon is one of the few Iterators to ever be "born"? (having her umbilical severed)

I wonder if that was intentional symbolism; Moon has a renewed perspective that gives her (ironically) more hope and vitality for life itself, despite almost dying.

of course, as death and birth are connected like a ring (or maybe a spiral?) I suppose it makes a ton of sense, actually. Something really fun to think about.

God I love rain world.

I wanted to make this some Full Ramble tm but I'm honestly too exhausted / busy from Job rn so this is just a twitter crosspost. but I hope this can spark some meaningful rumination / discussion. ^^

and in case anyone is confused — the umbilical refers to the puppet's wires, not the armature that supports it. I think it was very purposeful that it was called an umbilical specifically.

This symbolizes iterators as unborn, a trait they seem to share with Echoes, who often assume a somewhat fetal position. Echoes also exist in the Interstice instead of as living beings within the material plane who experience death and rebirth. Iterators do not die easily, and so they are not born easily, either. There are some notable differences of course — Echoes are partway towards ascension; if they can let go of what keeps them from moving on, they can experience the final "death" and final "rebirth" — Ascension. The ultimate change and the culmination of one's thread. Iterators, meanwhile, are designed not to ascend (without finding the Solution first). Of course, entropy shall inevitably claim them, and the Void Sea shall inevitably claim their structures as it eats away at the world beneath them.

So, in the end... everything moves on. but there's plenty to talk about before that end, and I do find the imagery of Iterators as unborn to be quite fascinating. I don't think it's mere coincidence that Moon seems to be accepting and at peace with her place in the world while ALSO having her umbilical severed. Again there's a lot to ramble on about with moon being changed so drastically it is a sort of rebirth in itself but I am. tired. Apologies for any poor / confusing wording.

[eggsinthewind]

I’m so obsessed with Never Stop Blowing Up, Brennan is just straight-faced Saying Shit and he refuses to let anyone dwell on it, every serious moment is followed up by players asking to do the WILDEST shit and Brennan just being like “yeah, oh of course” just cause it’s cool and in a way that doesn’t disregard the serious moment it just adds to it. Adds what? I don’t know and I love it. It’s also a series that makes me feel like I’m going absolutely batty.

[mewguca]

I politely disagree with some of this; I don't think moon is "willing to throw hands". She asserts her boundaries when you push her to her absolute limit, but she's not quick to anger, and I don't think her getting "righteously angry" is what she really wants.

Moon's defining traits are her kindness and hope, something she's actively worked to maintain even at her lowest point. She gets angry, yes, but it's not like, empowering? She's cornered and overwhelmed and hurt and has no other options than to withhold conversing with you, a creature who can barely understand her.

Don't get me wrong, I do think it's good for her to express "negative" emotions too, as she's still a person after all! But I think people tend to make Moon into a bit more of an assertive and aggressive person than she actually is because they think she "deserves" it or find some form of catharsis through it.

Personally, I find Moon being able to forgive others, find peace, and be happy more empowering. I agree it's good for her to learn to assert herself better! But I also think it's also meaningful to explore the fact that Moon, especially in DP, might struggle with asserting herself and setting boundaries, and that it might be more difficult for her to overcome that than just having a moment of realization. Setting boundaries is hard, especially when you're struggling to function!

also I apologize if this is rude, I uh, still don't entirely understand tumblr etiquette.

I just get really passionate about this kind of stuff because I really resonate with LTTM, and I'm inspired by her active choice to be kind and optimistic and helpful in spite of everything working against her.

I get why people find comfort in this sort of thing, though, so I don't want anyone to like, feel bad for making that kinda content or stop or anything!! I just like talking about this stuff; I apologize if this is inappropriate!!

we need more angry moon, her realizing that she doesn't have to tolerate anyone's bullshit and can/will throw hands if she is pushed too far

this of course is not mutually exclusive with a moon who empathizes deeply with others, it's just that she doesn't take shit from them. like;

"yes, i'm pissed for what you did to me. but i want to see you do better. so quit your bullshit and go to therapy."

or;

"i don't have to give you the time of day. i speak with you because it is all i have to give, and if you continue to disrespect my requests, i have no qualms with withholding my words. so would you please settle down?"

[lotsa-cats-in-a-trenchcoat]

I'm gonna complain a little about tumblr (yet again!) but I don't think adding the "your followed person liked this is" recommended posts is a good idea. Wasn't the whole reason Twitter users were so stingy with their likes because they appeared publicly? If anything this is gonna drive engagement into the ground instead of bettering it.

People seem to really enjoy the privacy it gives their users (me included!). You can like things and support em without necessarily sharing it with your followers. If I wanted folks to see smth I would probably just reblog it.

I dunno, this seems like a very "let's copy a dying website" move for Dear ol' Tumblie.

[jesncin]

It's "Superman has always been an immigrant" until being an immigrant is too politically charged in the american context and then suddenly it's "no, he's a good all american citizen" and "I don't think he's a part of the cultural moment".

[aingeal98]

The way Orv will dangle the basic premise in front of you like a set of keys and have you going "Ha! So Joonghyuk is the novel's protagonist but Dokja is OUR main character." and you're so busy enjoying that layer of meta text that you don't notice their other hand winding up the Han Sooyoung hammer to whack you with.

[mewguca]

ah I am late but is the second spot for traffic light (srs x nsh) still open?

im sorry i havent drawn them properly in so long sbsihwiwhsjhska. and i dont have proper updated iterator refs either aside from maybe sigs...still though!! I do really like the ship...after all I came up with the silly nickname for it hehe

I understand that it is first come first serve though? So I will just ask and see nod nod

Yeah okay I can do this

gonna update this doc as often as I can

Send me your designs and I will draw them in the blocks

This is all for fun so don't be discouraged if you cant get your ship in

also yeah, no pebbles and moon together because siblings