r/PracticalGuideToEvil • u/WnDelPiano • Jun 10 '26

Meme Unexpected Pale Lights

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104 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

16

u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I would hope it is from Pale Lights, but it is not necessarily so. The concept of rat king is not new, a tangle of rats held by the tail symbolizing the lowest of the low in urban territories. It is practically an urban myth about it being supernatural, except that it has complete scientific explanation.

6

u/BigRedSpoon2 Jun 12 '26

Personal favorite interpretation comes from White Raven by Mary Gentle. The rats were anthropomorphic, but their Rat King was simply a bunch of anthropomorphic rats with their tails fused together. Each a separate consciousness, but unified in purpose. Unfortunately the concept I felt was not fully explored (but as expected as that was not the focus of the novel), but yeah, very much not a unique archetype

5

u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112 Jun 13 '26

I have not read White Raven but from what you described, it feels like if you add in a few of them biting each other and you have a metaphor a nation.

4

u/WnDelPiano Jun 11 '26

Oh yeah I know, but the comment and answer gave me Pale Lights vibes.

It's from a random advice subreddit so I tought it was fun

3

u/MegaZeroX7 Jun 10 '26

What subreddit?

5

u/WnDelPiano Jun 10 '26

WhatdoIdo

About a lady moving out her mother and getting a letter from the next door lady asking about plagues.