spoilers ahead

So I'm one of those people who likes to leave things unspoiled, especially horror media. Rusty Lake doesn't have a lot of plot twists per se, but it still does have story elements that I think are more fun to experience organically. This is because it is by nature surreal horror, which means many elements are highly allegorical or symbolic, and I want you (yes, you) to form your own opinions on them.

This page, therefore, is meant for three groups of people:

  1. Those of us who have already played most of the Rusty Lake games.
  2. Those who are thinking about it, but don't care about spoilers.
  3. Those who are simply ravenously curious.

Got all that? Good. Let's get started.

mika's thoughts on things

Opinionating

Mr. Owl and Mr. Crow are a chronically divorced old gay couple. Yes I know Aldous has a wife(?), no I don't care. I know everything shut up

As long as we're on the topic of LGBT headcanons, I think Laura is a trans woman, either metaphorically or literally. Like... she is very much the purposeful and deliberate reincarnation of William. Her family likely has all those expectations of her, but she's still her own person trying to escape a doomed cycle. Tell me that ain't transgender as hell.

If Underground Blossom isn't good or has another stupid gimmick we riot btw

Theorizing

I should probably put a disclaimer here that I think taking all the imagery of Rusty Lake literally is a fool's errand. The puzzles and things are weird, confusing, and sometimes outright silly for a reason. That being said...

Can we all just agree that Emma Vanderboom's baby daddy isn't a literal flower? That it was meant to be, like, either a miraculous virgin birth or some guy we never meet? Because if it was an actual flower then that makes the use of flowers on Emma's little shrine for Frank kinda weird.

Also what is the connection between Albert and Mr. Deer. I have to know. I need to know. I still don't understand and Rusty Lake dot com will be hearing from my lawyers shortly.

Oh, about that ARG. What do all those puzzles MEAN. WHAT DO THEY MEAN. Is this another project by Mr. Owl? Is this the result of Rose's endeavors? Did Dale actually... No. No, it can't be. I'll be too upset.

Layout based on this tutorial by REPTH, backgrounds by Fool Lovers

Oh, and click on Albert to go back.