Sludge-cat - What Kind Of Animal Is This

i know this post is fairly old, but. it wasn't. it's five pebbles. i did consider it being moon because i have never seen an overseer in pebbles to my recollection, but i noticed there were rot spots on the background wall, and just for confirmation i checked the interactive map. and it lines up exactly with SS_LAB8

(this is also not the only image of that specific room in the projections, there's another one of the left side. i dont know why or how iggy has those images, but then again it also has a of nineteen spades endless reflection and voidspawn and whatever the golden stick in drainage is. that thing has seen some shit it was not supposed to see)

the 'fuses' spaz out and rapidly flicker red whenever they sense processing traffic, so im thinking this is something to do with moon's forced broadcast. or the rot in general this also probably did happen to moon. but this isnt a photo of it

I wonder if this iggy projection was taken from Looks to the Moon

imagine, as she is about to collapse, fuses blowing up and bleeding out from the heat the lack of water and the slag buildup

SHAPE HELL

Yup.

says ascension = die forever

calls every precedent civilisation "the ancients" (not that bad but it's very confusing. it's like calling someone who lived in egypt 10 years ago an "ancient egyptian")

says the big problem was meant to find a way to ascend via means other than void fluid, to prevent echohood (when 1. there *were* implied to be means of ascension other than void fluid and 2. echoes were a ghost story and 3. multiple pieces of dialogue very clearly state that the big problem was to help the world ascend)

says only intelligent life is affected by the cycle when pebbles explicitly makes the point upon your first meeting with him that everything from microbes to iterators experiences it

he gets some things correct but he gets most things wrong

Does anyone else struggle to keep up/remember the lore of RainWorld?

I mean two years ago I was obsessed with this game and remember alot but now since I been getting into RW again, I have seem to forgotten a lot of the lore and I don't want Fanon to skewer my view of Canon. Does anyone else have this similar problem?

Did You Know? Computer programs can be lesbians!

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.

Within rain world's visual motifs, there's chains

Chains are present throughout the whole game as old remnants and possibly as part of machinery

However, there's places where they show to have a deeper meaning

Shaded "The True Anoited" Citadel, Holy Ground where memories are cherished, has an unique style of column that incorporates a chain motif

it can be better appreciated on the ruins immediately around the shoreline gate, where they're better iluminated

This pattern is also present on the cabinets

This motif runs older though, much much older

to the time of the Depths

A statue of a humanoid, in the classic stance of an echo, chest binded in chains

A head wrapped in chains, to the point of covering all features

...but with an X breaking the pattern, cutting through the chains

In a way, the progression of the higher levels of karma look more like cutting through a knot or a ring, a visual of breaking the cycle

this already gives in the meaning behind this motif: the chains are the cycle, binding the self to the carnal, ascension being the severing of the cycle to move freely above and beyond

Its entire memory is filled with a mantra repeated... 5061 times - and then a termination verse. It was worn as an amulet, probably together with many identical others forming a pattern on some garment. The repeating mantra is important because it symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and death, and the termination verse is a symbol for ascension above and beyond it. I don't know how familiar you are with the nature of life and death, but I imagine like all living creatures you have some intuitive knowledge? Then you know that death isn't the end - birth and death are connected to each other like a ring, or some say a spiral. Some say a spiral that in turn forms a ring. Some ramble in agonizing longevity. But the basis is agreed upon: like sleep like death, you wake up again - whether you want to or not. This is true for all living things, but some actually break the cycle. That doesn't apply to you or me though, you are too entangled in your animal struggles, and for me not breaking that cycle is an integral part of the design. Our mantras keep repeating.

"(...) and then a termination verse"

What is a chain if not a number of interlocked rings? The Shaded Citadel pattern even looks more like a double spiral, a double helix

The urges are also described as "binding"

fun fact one of the elements in an echo's design is called chains

it's the row of golden flakes bound to the legs

considering the depths statues, maybe part of the rituals in preparation for ascension included binding the body in chains, as a metaphor for the binding nature of the cycle, meant to dissolve in the void alongside the body as signifier of the liberation of the mind

Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings

forgor to post this here. 5 pebbles A4 intaglio prints