Rat king question if you don’t mind: is it possible to “befriend” the rat king? What I mean is if it “likes your vibe”, and you treat it nicely, will it remember that? Will it behave differently? Also, what is a more positive interaction with the rat king like?
Oh I absolutely dont mind! I love talking about Rat King's whole deal, even if its kinda all over the place
So one thing I will say is that how you actually, personally, treat Rat King isn't too important to it's actual opinion of you. Even in the case where someone is expressly behaving hostile towards it, its actual opinion and response is more about how it interprets you as a person over your plain actions.
If someone is acting out in a way that it could perceive as a threat, but is someone who it would feel kinship with, its reaction to that is more likely to be control vs. elimination. Someone attempting to harm it who it 'likes' might still provoke it to violence, but violence without intention to kill. Just to stop them from doing it.
(Tumblr did not like this ask... It did not want me replying)
In terms of what its actually looking for, its more of a soul-read situation. It goes a bit deeper than just a surface level and more into the person's inclination or ability to be moved towards that action, so even people who might feel social pressure for their own safety or people who have psychological reasons for struggling with that would still be analyzed with a degree of 'what kind of person do you really want to be? do you want things to be better? to be fair?'
It's hard to word exactly why it has a particularly strong interest in Liar, but the gist of it is that she is someone aware of 'the problem' and unhappy with it but also wants to passively occupy the low rung because its the path of least resistance. The depression, the lack of motivation, the willingness to accept a place of clear inequality simply because going against that is too much... someone like that is someone Rat King wants to save, to drive to action. The cogs in the machine are something to be pulled out and repurposed into a siege weapon.
The way abnormalities actually work (within the lore of Lobotomy Corporation) is that they, at their core, are aspects of humanities collective traumas and fears made manifest in unique form, and reflect those concepts in very rigid ways.
This is why you can't kill them (you can't really kill an idea) and why you can contain and control them- because unlike a person who can grow and learn and change and get better an abnormality is stuck in instinctual response- so you can learn what triggers it, calms it, etc and use that to control it with a degree of success (but they are, by their nature, volatile and emotional. An abnormality might be shaped like a person, speak clear English and seem to learn, but when its nature breaks it response will always be simplistic and patterned)
Which is to say that Rat King's personal growth with any individual person can be overwritten by its instinct to sort people into Good and Bad, for equality to be maintained, to eliminate the 'bad'. There is a very big difference between a calm Rat King and an angry one, and its prone to outbursts which make it destructive in a way that is dangerous to even people it would sort into 'do not harm'- because a large part of its being is dedicated strictly to the concept of violent retribution, and when that emotional aspect of it is provoked the part of Rat King that feels more logical and human collapses.
Rat King itself is basically based on every single 'I hope karma gets you' thought all of humanity has ever had about their shitty boss, their abusive boyfriend, every sleepless night dedicated to job searching for the option that was least likely to kill or disable you, the condensed hate anyone's ever felt about a situation they couldn't do anything about. It's 'story' and perception of itself is of a storybook fable where the evil king does something evil to people because it had the divine right to be evil to those people, and then was murdered for it. Because it deserved it.
So that is the Rat King's reason for existing- to be the combined force of every pain-filled wish for karmic justice against someone who hurt you just because they were in a position where they could. (That is also why the Rat King conceptualizes itself as victim, because it is ultimately manifested from the side of the person hurt- it isn't just the idea of revenge, but the concept of turning the tables itself)
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As for the second part here about what counts as a positive interaction. Abnormalities are inherently big scary things with the capability to hurt relatively squishy humans without much intention to. Even if Rat King doesn't want to harm you, its mere existence as a giant psychological monster is stressful and upsetting to be around, and even if it puts significantly more care into not hurting you it is still very much capable of physical harm on accident, or as a byproduct of being annoyed or upset. LC itself has four main types of work- with the abnormalities having preferences, the gist of those is as follows:
Instinct: Basic instinctual needs. Feeding, contact or satisfying instinctual behaviors and desires. A lot of these aren't actually physical needs an abnormality needs to fill, but can desire to fill. Second favorite.
Insight: Environmental and psychological needs- cleaning the environment, adding elements to it that are pleasing, etc. Covers a lot of things technically. Third Favorite.
Attachment: Social needs. Talking and interaction. Maybe even things like play. This is Rat King's preferred work type overall. It likes interacting with its subjects! Unless those subjects have Very Bad Vibes, in which case it would like to kill them very much. Another reason why Rat King's bond with employees is so complicated, the best way to work with it in terms of not pissing it off is the kind of interaction that is most likely to cause long term issues.
Repression: Suppression of desires. This ones a little more complicated to explain, but you can sort of think of it as curbing undesirable desires and psychological reactions. In-lore these then to be more in line with things like drugging, physical abuse or gaslighting rather than therapy. Dangerous and messy. This one is Rat Kings least favorite because obviously the only reason someone would want to suppress Rat King down is to prevent it from fixing what is obviously broken. Would almost certainly piss it off more. However based on the way Rat King exists I do think this could be a 'high risk, high reward' type work. Maybe the type of work most effective with high-level employees (the kind of employee it likes the least)
LC work types are interesting ways to characterize interaction with the abnormalities but I have admittedly not thought about it much since my early drafts… But since Rat King likes attachment, I guess a good day would be that you have nice a playdate and no one gets bit or has an arm broken. And you leave with a relatively minor headache!
Do you think Liar would struggle with insomnia? Especially with the Rat King’s “you should do something destructive :)” mental effect; I assume that could make sleeping difficult.
For better or for worse, the effect is strongest when in direct, repeated and prolonged exposure and tend to quiet rapidly with downtime, although ruminating on the thoughts is common, it tends to be done with less immediate distress/intrusion. In a sense, the period where people aren't 'in range' tends to be when people can organize their own thoughts more and think of things 'on their own terms'.
Insomnia for something like that probably would be a side effect for many, but in most cases in a 'laying awake in your bed at night overthinking about your life' kind way rather than tossing and turning. The agitation effect comes in more in the immediate recovery or as a side effect of the overall stress that comes from it. Additionally, a lot of people eventually hit a breakpoint (or started there) where they have more or less determined they 'agree' with the rat king and thus the aura has a less distressing nature and immediate effects. That's when you tend to get into the more pre-planned actions.
Impulsive behavior tends to kick in more immediately, whereas the 'planned' destructive behavior tends to occur much later, coming along closer to when people's own thoughts and reasoning have shifted closer to earnestly believing that it's in their best interest to act even without being 'directly' influenced. A lot of people would also be the type to impulsively prepare something and then come to their senses more and not act. (That said, while it shifts closer to being more of the persons actions and thoughts leading long-term plans rather than Rat King, it is worth highlighting that comes after a period of basically having your mental state bombarded with distress signals and passive manipulation)
For Liar (and well, most people who have ever dealt with Rat King) sleepless nights are definitely happening, but maybe not as often as you might think and probably lean closer to 'take a sleep aid and just let yourself knock out' without too much concern that might spark dangerous thoughts. Liar herself was someone who was rather unhealthy and dangerously close to developing a number of bad habits, which she has shockingly as gotten closer to curbing with Rat King because shes weird since, while not... healthy, Rat King does instill a certain drive in a person who would otherwise be completely disinterested or unable to bring themselves to act.
Aaand on the other hand you have the paradox of the Rat King: Maybe it wants to be good in some way, maybe it does care for the little guys. Maybe it wants to hurt people who are bullies and rally people for work with it to make things equal and good and fair
But at the end of the day, its Rat King and maybe some people see its point of view naturally and would gladly go this thing has a point and is helpful. But most of them are being subjugated by its effect regardless of it intends to or not. It works best on a certain type of person, and that certain type of person fits right into the kingdom.
I know most people are not all that concerned with artist output, but one of the reasons I haven't been drawing much (besides the normal brain stuff, lol) is that my wrist situation has gotten a bit worse! I've been trying to lift small weights with it lately, because its progressed to the point of not being able to bare my own weight on my dominant hand (like you would if you were pushing yourself up into a sitting position)
Dont know if the weight lifting will help much, but I'm hoping it does ? something. But yeah I really have to take it easy with the hand-hobbies
What kind of mental influence exactly does rat king has on people he likes?
It's not just people it likes, it's more that people it likes tend to be those who are already in a mindset vulnerable to the kind of aura it puts out. The kind of person it doesn't like is someone who wouldn't really entertain the thoughts it evokes, since its not actually a mental manipulation/mind control but close to a mental itch or intrusive thought.
Specifically though it causes mental agitation with the faults in ones life, specifically social unfairness such as abusive work conditions or exploitative situations. It makes you very aware of the types of abuse you've accepted as normal or necessary, and 'encourages' corrective action in the form of intrusive thoughts or impulses. it tends to have an increasingly severe effect with proximity and exposure, and for people already vulnerable to that kind of aura it tends to cause a degree of sympathy or 'feeling of understanding' with the Rat King itself- at its most extreme manifesting as feeling like its actively speaking to/guiding you, and is something that connects with and understands you.
In the LC work environment, this usually translates towards sabotage that is company destructive and abnormality-friendly, such as opening containment units or breaking gear. In the actual game there is a mental breakdown state specifically attuned to the 'Justice' stat that causes employees to break containment units open with a crowbar, which is why Liar gets drawn with one all the time. Breakdowns associated with Rat King are always 'justice'.
It's a problematic abnormality to manage since in most cases people are aware and in control of themselves enough to mask behavioral tells or actions, and its already a high-stress environment so people being a bit agitated and antisocial isn't too weird. Too pair with it, Carrion Queen actually has a similar effect but she makes people hyper-competitive, essentially encouraging a breakdown of social bonds until infighting breaks out from people trying to maximize their own personal profit.
How much does the rat king tolerate mild/moderate harassment? Like poking and prodding it, pushing it, or just generally being a bit of a jerk? Will it be provoked eventually or respond at all?
It's very, very dependent on Rat King's current state and 'opinion' of the person/thing bothering. It's never totally safe to interact with it, as with most abnormalities- but Rat King is also uniquely very proactive when it comes to not doing harm to people it shares kinship with, or sees as victims. But its going out of it's way to be 'nice' in that sense
It's by no means a pushover, but for someone who it doesn't view as much of a threat 'bothering' it will likely be met more with passive annoyance rather than hostility. So if you're trying to provoke it (very brave, and stupid!) and it 'likes' you, it might outright ignore you or otherwise just brush you off. If you're really being a bother (aka, actually doing something that has enough impact to hurt the abnormality) that might advanced it to more direct forms of harm/threat (yanking you around, rat biting or even crushing a bone or two) without intention to actually kill. (Also worth noting that the specific way Rat King works, in terms of mental effects, means that most people who it 'likes' end up developing their own psychological bond with it)
If it doesn't like your vibe, its much more common to be met with immediate hostility. It's inherently more dangerous than not, and most employees who are directed to work with it are done so with the expectation that it won't like them too much, but won't be extremely aggressive. Some degree of harm or danger is expected as default, because the trade off for risk of harm is better than the risk of influence from the Rat King- mostly sense 'influence' tends to manifest specifically as sabotage and intelligent forms of company harm rather than something easily spotted and dispatched.
For a bit from the game setting, there is a collection of generic jobber employees called clerks who serve mostly to provide a very small passive boon for their departments while mechanically serving as bait/fodder for breaching abnormalities or mechanics related to death. They have basically no real means to defend themselves. Rat King's personal affinity for that kind of person means that it actively avoids causing harm to these types in most situations. In contrast, most proper employees (even low level ones) are considered high enough up on the rung or at least enough of a threat to respond aggressively towards, although it may be less likely to hunt someone down who seems to be actively avoiding engaging it (again, very vibes based judgement).
It does also slip into berserk states where these personal 'rules' don't really apply, and its strictly a very dangerous and aggressive entity. In the art from the other day, Rat King very much isn't scared of Carrion Queen. It hates it, its simply mutual aggression where Rat King tends to lose the fight; and Carrion queen is something that gets a thrill from the fact that in many ways Rat King represents it's perfect victim. Its very much a creature that slips into blind unchecked rage at the right provocations.
alsoooo extra note that in terms of LC lore, abnormalities maintained in the facility are under the effects of Qliphoth Deterrence, which is basically a pacification/sedation effect for abnormalities. And even with that, a sedated abnormality is still strong enough to kill a person in specialized gear with very little effort or even intention to kill.
Are the rats that are part of the Rat King physical or more like little ghosts? what would happen if i grabbed one and took it away?
They are physical things! They're not really 'normal rats' (they have atrophied and non-functional organs, no reproductive organs at all, they have blood veins that are shriveled up and are dry, etc) but also very much can suffer physical harm and die. Somewhat similar to a zombie, but without the active rotting/wasting.
(small warning for animal death, particularly description of physical harm)
As for 'taking it away' they actually highly, highly detest separation. While not bound together physically (no actual tails tied together like a real world rat king) and individual rats might disconnect from the mass for very short distances temporary- actually trying to 'take' one from the pile will actually result in violent enough resistance to cause severe physical to outright lethal harm (even assuming this is just, something you could do). Additionally, if one were to actually pull a rat away from it, they become unresponsive rapidly if separated anyway. A rat king breach can be messy because you very much can end up with body piles of rodents strewn everywhere, but you don't actually have risk of say, infestation because they can not live separated from main body at all
And additionally, while severe enough damage to the rat king might resemble a reduction of the mass, there is also no way to reach 'the end' of the pile. Rats can be pulled out of the mass and die, and there will always be more rats in the pile. Unless the rat king as a full entity is killed and reverts to egg (If you're unfamiliar with LC abnormalities, this is how you can kill a monster; but not have it full die- They enter a stasis period before being 'reborn') somewhere there will always be more to the horde
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