#the great cycle

[grunckle]

My view on the cycle.

Cycles are probably the most mysterious part of Rain World lore, and a common consensus I see on them is things involving multiple, branching timelines. However recently I've heard a theory that I believe fits in much better with the narrative and lore.

The main base of the theory is the karma flower dialogue from Moon,

"This is a hallucinogenic plant. They used to call it a 'Wheel Flower'. It became the symbol for enlightenment as it momentarily enables a creature to let go of its carnal self, and to contact the selves of other planes - dreams, memories, imagined worlds."

The theory summarized is that when we sleep, we can have possibly countless dreams of death. These are our, "cycles" in game. But eventually we wake up into a true reality, which is revealed to us when we progress and rest again. In this way the player and all other creatures act as a sort of seer to other terrifyingly realistic subconscious probabilities, (dreams and imagined worlds) until actually experiencing one true reality. If death is your reality, then you simply reincarnate, which is what happens in hunter's campaign via cancer death.

Karma fits into this by being the one thing that "remembers" these dreams. Even if your death wasn't real, your karma is still affected by it and is tied to you in reality.

I prefer this theory to the timeline theories because of the aforementioned karma flower dialogue, but also because timeline theories have a whole lot of complications when it comes to how ancients tracked time and objectivity. I just believe this theory is a good bit simpler and fits better into what we're already told.

But of course it poses one problem, with this theory it implies that all the slugcats we play as (except Hunter as I mentioned) would have never actually "died" in real life. But, if you've ever played Dark Souls and heard of hollowing then you might know what I'm getting at. By giving up, you do die. And the vast, vast majority of Rain World players give up. Very few make it to the end, the ones that did are skilled enough to have never died outside of these subconscious worlds.

#rain world lore #rain world #rain world spoilers #the great cycle

[reliquiaen]

Okay, a few years back I made this graphic to explain the Great Cycle. Now that I've mulled over DD2 for a few days, I'm updating it. Some of the same assumptions as before remain: The Dragonforged fought the dragon, his weapon broke, he tried punching it (lmao), but he did survive without killing the dragon, possibly there was a second Bargain offered in the face of his determination. So you don't have to kill your dragon to survive it. Also still assuming that different classes become different types of drakes because I just like that detail, even though we see nothing to confirm it in DD2 (except maybe for the wyrms in the post-game, I hope that's what those are, just a bit redesigned).

But this time, I'm making some NEW assumptions: A Great Dragon can be manifested directly by the Seneschal's will (I'm guessing this is why our DD2 dragon doesn't have a name, I suspect this dragon was created after Rothais defeated his - he didn't become a dragon OR Seneschal so it had to come from somewhere). The challenge a Seneschal poses to the Arisen can be anything; Savan gave us the opening of the Everfall and unleashed a ton of powerful monsters upon the world; but Pathfinder gave us what the world would look like without a Seneschal to oversee things. My assumption is that the Colossal Dragon that appears out of that final red pillar of light IS the Pathfinder (possibly using his will to force order back upon the world) and when we kill it, our Arisen becomes Seneschal (because Pathfinder says he won't be there to see the new world that's forming). So the challenge can be anything, not just the Everfall. I'm curious what happens to our pawn after that fight, though. And it's a much better Seneschal fight than the one against Savan, sorry Savan.

I'm also assuming that (given we see the Pathfinder rewind time and rewrite the world) the Seneschal can simply will the world into a state of being that suits them. This includes wiping memories of events. Though I like to imagine that our Arisen-turned-Seneschal didn't wipe memories of themselves or of the apocalypse-world. There was an entire plotline going through this game with Rothais and Phaesus where mortals are trying to get rid of the Seneschal and so it makes sense that they need to remember what would happen without the Seneschal's presence.

Anyway, thanks. I'll probably have more thoughts later, but this is the part that gets me most. I like to know how things work so I wanted to sort the Cycle out.

#dragon's dogma #dragon's dogma 2 #dragons dogma #reliviews #the great cycle #personal #i wonder where a ng+ will put me #i really am excited to play ng+ #but i need a break to rotisserie chicken what i've got so far #i'll come back to it with a fresh pov after a few weeks i think #there are of course still things i wanna know #what's the deal with the dragonsplague #it's not just a mechanic they added to troll us #but what is its significance #what happens to our pawn after we defeat the colossal dragon #they flat out state we infused them with will of their own #so do they become human after that #or does the plague kill them #and there are always timeline questions #what happens to lamond and this new dragonforged #how long ago were they arisen #what about rothais #he's not even really alive anymore but does he finally get to die #is the brinepocalypse something that HAS to happen periodically #to like clean slate the world #to remind people of the importance of the seneschal and maintain peace for a time afterwards #what happened to religion #there was a maker and faith-church in the first game #where's that now have people just forgotten to worship the seneschal #anyway

[bubblesbinxs]

it’s currently 2am where i am so technically 4th of april.. Happy 2 Years ISWM !!!!!!!

#it’s not the Smoothest running cycle by all means but!!!! wanted to do a little something to celebrate:> #i don’t think i was there to celebrate its first year so here i am not messing it up this time>:) #what is college hw when you want to make an hommage to one of the biggest person who’s inspired you overall amarite fellas? #thank you mark for all the great stuff you put… it pushes me to want to tell my stories too #:) #drawing #my art #digital art #markiplier #fanart #animation #wilford warfstache #wilford motherloving warfstache #murderiplier #actor mark #engineer mark #iswm #in space with markiplier

[lucabyte]

i feel like people are sleeping on the occam's razor situation of how buckwild it is to outright accuse a guy of being a clone of your friend even if you DO have a lot of circumstantial evidence. there's other options is what im saying. they could just be like. a guy. that's a sensible deduction. you should explore that deduction. ignore my shirt that reads I <3 RED HERRINGS.

i still think odile has the correct theory on lock but she's smart enough to know it needs like... a real smoking gun to be able to bring it up without sounding insane.

anyway. (mirabelle voice) i know its rude to speculate but has anyone else noticed the grieving? they seem to be grieving. does anyone have any thoughts on the grieving? i have some thoughts on the grieving.

#[isabeau voice] am i insane or does sometimes loop talk like they might have killed their whole family. is that just me? just checking. #nille design highly inspired by @kiwibrain's since its the one that imprinted in my mind. liberties taken since i didnt look @ reference #anyway i have a lot more thoughts on this? i guess ill hide them in the tags...? scroll down i suppose. #isat #in stars and time #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers #isat act 6 spoilers #isat loop #isat siffrin #isat bonnie #isat nille #isat fanart #in stars and time fanart #doodlebyte #---------------------------------------------------------------------- #anyway the extra thoughts. are literally just my general thoughts on postcanon. (and thus are the context for all of my postcanon doodles!) #which is i think nille joins the party before loop reappears for a start (either from a period of nonexistence or just wandering around) #and that like. i think the party should be able to integrate loop as a completely new person. because they are! the secrecy isn't great but #They and Siffrin shuffle into different ecological niches in the party (eg. i think sif is more squeamish after it all but loop isnt) #and while it's not *exactly* what Loop wanted they get that beggars can't be choosers. and its pretty good #(i am glossing over how i think loop's reappearence drags both them and siffrin into a massive behavioural backslide and is likely a bit #distressing to watch go down. cycle of argument -> lovebombing -> normalcy -> repeat. etc etc. but since they are no longer literally #stewing in the worst pressure cooker of all time they do resolve it via productive conversation on their own time. its fine) #the party well-meaningly tries to deduce things from loop's vagueries and are able to pin down the DEAD FAMILY vibe pretty quickly. #but eventually the question of their prior identity falls by the wayside because well! they're just their friend loop! (also change belief) #as for how The Truth Come Out... this is what i mean by The Isabeau Torment Nexus(tm). which is that i think... isiloop should almost occur #BEFORE isabeau knows who loop is. he's just genuinely charmed by them eventually and tries to close the open end of the polycule #which FREAKS LOOP THE FUCK OUT because thats just too genuinely sick and wrong. and obviously w emotions high its not a great confrontation #ANYWAY told u i had more thoughts. if i were normal itd be a text post but.

[squash1]

i think we’re all wrong. the problem isn’t that the raven cycle doesn’t have a comprehensible plot, it’s that it causes short term amnesia. while i am actively reading the books i understand the plot. i could probably maybe sorta describe what has happened. but as soon as i close that fucker. it’s all gone. i don’t remember anything except vibes. i can recall random dialogue and situations but not what happened.

#and i’m fine with it #i think it’s great #trc #ronan lynch #adam parrish #the raven cycle #blue sargent #richard campbell gansey iii #pynch #adam and ronan #the raven boys #blue lily lily blue #the gangsey #gangsey #maggie steifvater #mine

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

there is something so so so Appealing about angry/irritated Barnaby. it scratches an itch in my brain. somethin somethin comic relief characters getting to break their mold and be outwardly unhappy

#plus it just looks... Nice on him yk yk #i sat down to do a lil character study and Next Thing I Knew barns was ready to Throw Down #still tweaking how i draw him... still not fully satisfied #except for the center scribble #theres a reason its on its own. its my fav of the bunch #and also the happiest ive been with a scribble in a While! #everybody hold on im shifting into barnaby mode #kidding kidding. maybe. we'll see how i feel tomorrow #scribble salad #welcome home #welcome home puppet show #welcome home fanart #barnaby b beagle #i like how i keep cycling through which neighbor im Focusing on #lately its been howdy but all this laughingstock is making me 👀 @ barnaby #still patiently waiting for my brain to seize poppy in its white-knuckle grip #please. please. i do not control the Motivation but god i wish i did #still. anyway. angy barnaby. fuck yeah. hes great. #i think i saw that one uhhhh drawing of clown's of barns looking mildly annoyed #and thats probably what made me go Oh I Love This. This Is Incredible. I Think About This Every Day. #he deserves to be upset. as a Treat #all comic relief characters should have a free 'choose violence' ticket

[ashayam]

Little doodle in class before this presentation, i was compelled to draw the local wife guy and his wife

#Who the wife guy and the wife is.... that's up to the studio audience #trc #the raven cycle #ronan lynch #adam parrish #Very pleased with the adam black eye this brush is great #pynch #my art

[winnter-xia]

#hot male #male body #male beauty #great butt #Male nudity #Cycling

[fairweathermyth]

Listen to me. I don't think it happened. I lay down, and when I looked back up, nothing. Just icy lake. Beautiful icy lake. Grigor, I think we imagined it.

THE GREAT 3.06 Ice

#previously oscarspoe #tvedit #thegreatedit #perioddramaedit #the great #the great spoilers #empress catherine #grigor dymov #made by carolyn #ELLE FANNING GOOD ACTOR #SHOW ME THOSE CYCLES OF GRIEF

[macchitea]

turned my sona into a slugged cat :D

behold, a beast

#rain world #sona #it uses it/its pronouns :) #whenever this thing is observed it becomes the most cringefail pathetic creature known to slugkind #fails a jump and sobs on the floor #tries to eat a fruit too fast and throws up #stands still and stares into space 50% of the time when the rain comes #gets lost in a region its stayed at for 109432 cycles #still somehow manages to survive and navigate an iterator's can #an overseer swears its seen this thing kill a vulture before #truly an iterator's most complex riddle #maybe even moreso than the Great Problem itself #macchiart

[leveragehunters]

I was going through my great grandfather's memoirs (born 3 March 1880) and came across this part, which feels eerily similar to our current times:

Our biggest handicap was the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. With men off sick we were lucky to have 50 staff. Some would come back and more would go off. I was off two weeks myself. There were many deaths in the city.   The war was over and the men were returning from France. We were working a fifty hour week. With the men returning, the trend was to repress wages and frown on a reduction of working hours. My responsibility had been increased so as I was next to the superintendent. This was fine, except my wages were the same as the day I started. They said, "You are doing a good job, but with the men returning that is all we can pay you." There was general upset. The returned men were dissatisfied with the wages offered, not only with our company and the warehouse business, but with what was being offered in general.

He then goes on to explain how they met with the Trade and Labour Council to form a union and present their demands (which were union recognition, basic wage of $180.00 a month, an eight hour day in a year's time, and a two year contract), but it all went to hell because of spies reporting back to the bosses and scabs who refused to honour the strike.

After the second day they flooded back like sheep. At Ashdown the travellers and buyers worked the warehouse without interruption of service. The strike was a washout. I was out of a job!

The night before the strike was scheduled to start the bosses even resorted to the closest they had to social media 105 years ago.

The Evening paper carried an advertisement, by all companies concerned, advising that all employees absent from work for three days, would be discharged.

(The memoirs are 180 typed pages, so I may post more bits as they catch my eye)

#Canadian history #strike #solidarity #history is an ever repeating cycle #personal #memoirs #Great grandpa was an awesome dude #absolute badass #unrelated but his grandfather - so my great great great grandfather? #was a WEAVER in the New England States woolen mills before they moved to Canada in the 'early part of the nineteenth century'

[spezzaru]

twisted karma and his last bow

#NOT baroaso 🤓 #I just think that by Kazuma being in this cycle he's also trapping Van Zieks with him #also the psychological damage kazuma caused in those last two cases LIKE DUDE #the great ace attorney #dai gyakuten saiban #dgs #tgaa #the great ace attorney resolve #dgs2 spoilers #dgs2 #barok van zieks #kazuma asogi #asogi kazuma

[pipedreil]

part 4

1 2 3

#read a great pynch fic and now i’m back on my trc bullshit #incorrect trc #the raven cycle #adam parrish #ronan lynch #richard gansey #blue sargent #noah czerny #henry cheng #pynch #bluesey

[pearlwingdraws]

I thought I’d posted this before but I can’t find it so here’s a meme that is so obscure

#my art #uhhh idk it’s jsut so I can find it idk if I consider a shitty meme I made art akkdkd #great comet #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #Moby dick #Moby dick a musical reckoning #Dave Malloy #malloysicals #such strange gravity #idk man I don’t think ANYONE knows abt that song cycle #like most of these songs have under 300 views and I’m pretty confident that I’m half of them no joke #Manik Choksi #Nick Choksi

[fjordfolk]

being part of dog health fb groups is great because it really broadens your horizons and gives a lot of context across breeds and teaches a lot of nuance in interpretation

and sometimes it lets you go 'holy heck im not in your breed but if i were i wouldnt touch ur programme w a 10 foot pole and a kite'

#hear me out bitch born in jan 21 #1t litter in dec 22 and another in aug 23 - so back to back cycles totalling 8 puppies #THEN at age 3 xrays hips and the balls not in the gd socket and theres pronounced calcification and deterioration #like great job ma'am. if your dog had a chance at a normal qol you took it away. #population wide screening for HD is important for the sake of your lines future but maybe even more pertinently #breeding a female with moderate+ hips is NOT UNLIKELY to cause irreversible damage to those joints #you se a LOT of bitches suddenly get hip screened after their 1st or 2nd litter because #the added weight and physicall toll from having puppies (including muscle loss) suddenly makes them symptomatic #and then you can't take that back. the puppies may or may not be better off than their mother - hips are complicates - but the die is cast