#Rain world spoiler

[ask-the-pioneer]

Will we ever get to see more of the other slugpups Hunter raised? Or more of Hunter?

(OOC: Hunter is best father)

// You will see more of both in Act 2! Although, it's going to be a while. Marbles haven't even met her mother yet, and Hunter... well... he's not doing too well at the moment.

[cubicpeebles]

in pursuit of perfection

[thebadguyswinhere]

Little creatures in my brain

[socks-wizard-money-gang]

Me when I send a supercomputer to hell(he was dying from robot cancer anyway)

[saywhatworldme]

I think the guardians (also called boxheads in the code) from Rain World are pretty neat.

[placeholderurluntildeletionidk69]

was it worth it?

[anumberofcatschilling]

Alright, time to explain my thoughts on "The Cycle" from Rain World:

It's the reverse of "Pictures of the Past" (as noted by a prominent Rain World YouTube channel, Daszombes, in the comments of this video), and it's at 75% speed as well, which I guessed at by comparing the starting/ending pitches and then confirmed in audacity, which is cool as I could make not one, but two different mashups of "Pictures of the Past" and "The Cycle"

That's all well and cool, but what's interesting is the relationship "The Cycle" has with "Pictures of the Past" in the context of the game. "Pictures of the Past" is present in the introductory cutscenes of both Survivor and Monk, the two slugcat campaigns the player will be able to play first:

(using the Survivor intro, which is very similar to the Monk intro except for the last few pictures, both still use the same song)

Meanwhile, "The Cycle" is present when Saint, the final slugcat to be unlocked, whose campaign takes place at the end of the timeline long after the rest of the slugcats, plays in the last area explored by Saint, Rubicon (particularly before meeting with any iterators ascended before going to Rubicon (if any) and while swimming up through the Void before confronting a Void Worm):

(the music segments that are relevant here are in the first four seconds and then from 0:31 to 4:43)

This little piece, starting at the end and going back to the beginning (both in the music and in the nod to the beginning of the game) reflects the theme of the cycle that's prevalent in the game's lore but especially in Saint's campaign, as Saint is the only slugcat that can't escape the cycle (all of the slugcats can ascend with two exceptions, Saint and Artificer, the latter of the two able to at least see their slugpups in the Void Sea before becoming something that might be outside of the cycle). The campaign puts this into focus by giving the player the goal of getting max karma (the opening cutscene, lack of things that can be done with 5P and Moon until max karma) and then introduces the Rubicon (a point of no return, which Saint comes back from), the dialogue with the ascended iterators, and then Saint's transformation into an Echo undone (maybe, the echo form of Saint is the painting at the end of the campaign, which can't be continued after the ending) by a flash of light at the very end, leaving the slugcat in the starting room of the campaign. All of this theming around the cycle in Saint's campaign and "The Cycle" pointing back to the beginning of itself like it's a cycle and like Saint's campaign is like a cycle is just..... :D

And that's why "The Cycle" is definitely a piece for me and why it's included as an extra on a list of five songs I actually listen to (tagged by @thephantomwolfi3, her post and my reblog can be found here)

[pencakesstuff]

GET OUT

[kalivasquezart]

(banners for @ask-the-pioneer)

[nemcat7]

i honestly feel like it's a shame that Artificer's backstory was told through gameplay cutscenes rather than artwork. i mean the gameplay scenes weren't bad or anything, but the intro cutscene and dream sequences that Survivor/Monk got had such pretty art and were really impactful! so i tried to do it myself :D

(i wish every slugcat got illustrated dreams - imagine if we got to see Hunter and Spearmaster have dreams about NSH and Suns. or if we got to see Rivulet's dreams where they're just swimming or eating bubble fruit XD. and Saint could have lore cool lore stuff! it could really help characterize each scug)

[keziasorro]

🤣😆😂

[ask-the-pioneer]

(OOC) Hey, do you know of any other cool rainworld ask blogs you could recommend to check?

I sure do!

@thunder-wolf64 is working on an AU in which one of Arti's pups (the green one, here named Sizzling Waters) gets adopted by scavs, and later reunites with his, erm, mentally unstable mom. If you are a reader who wants to see an AU with evil Arti, you will certainly enjoy Thunder's creations.

@threestarsaboveclouds is an iterator ask-blog that belongs to @delta-orionis, their posts are LONG and full of lore and I am honestly in awe people like Delta give so much to the RW fandom - it's free, high quality entertainment done purely for hobby. I have a lot of respect for their work. Besides, TSAC's color palette is very striking, which is what has initially drawn me to this AU.

@ask-the-colony-tree-siblings is @mushroominaforest's ask blog, and in this AU Arti and Hunter are siblings! Also, Mushroom's art style is a treat and immediately recognizable and I'm happy when i see it pop up in RW tag.

@firecracker-pup is run by @batnip; in a way it's a sibling-askblog to mine because both of our AUs center around the reinterpretation of Artificer's blue pup.

Honorable mentions:

@spotsupstuff's takes on RW lore and all their work surrounding iterators (my biggest blind spot) had my jaw drop to the ground and roll off into the seas - it's brilliant. I kid you not when I say I have +20 tabs open right now waiting there so I can binge-read Spot's posts once I get a free evening. There's so much of it... and I am ready to feast.

@opashoo has been working on a conlang for slugcats that I am 100% going to use in my AU. If you want to see amazing RW animations, art, and lore discussions, please follow her!

I'll admit, I feel like a lot of ask-blogs have died in the last 6 months? A handful of artists that were considered big - left the fandom. I'm not quite sure why that happened, but I'm hoping that the Watcher DLC brings some of them back (maybe).

-- Kali

[cubicpeebles]

[thebadguyswinhere]

Did you know neurons are vegan!

[iknowicanbutwhy]

Gives Siffrin a cat. We love doing that around these parts.

[randomgods]

umm um for the rw doodles - how about SRS having a chat with spearmaster using the language they made for them :D

The Spearmaster describing creatures they met while on their adventures! Of course SRS saw everything through the overseer but they’re just happy to chat with Spearmaster :)

I adore the fact that SRS developed a sign language for the two to talk to each other.

Disclaimer: These signs are based off of ASL signs but I am not very knowledgeable on the language.