it means Lamplighter in Spanish

From what Cedric tells us, it seems like the end of the world was something that could be roughly estimated, and we DO see scientists in the Refuge studying the use of phosphor to predict how long they have left after the sun went out.

I also wonder whether, before this, they had any idea that the sun could "go out" like this. In our world astronomical bodies have kind of regular paths and we can estimate a lot about a stars' life but... could they? Could it be precise enough to know it would happen within their lifetime? I believe it was likely a very sudden event, and they were hardly prepared for it. Which... means their expectations weren't great. The very day this went down sounds like chaos.

Another thing I personally like to consider when thinking about the first world, is that their society likely had problems, for instance, in their use of resources like phosphor trees, the Barrens mines, the state of water in the Refuge... While some of them can be partially be attributed to the sun's absence, I don't think all of them make sense from that point of view. This means that perhaps there were other signs folks were looking into to foresee this end of the world.

Then you hvae another aspects, which is spiritual beliefs. Have you seen how full the Glen is with Sun imagery? What about the fact they had at least one late great prophet with something relevant to add to this conversation? How much of her words were true predictions or not? But more importantly, the prophecy isn't just about the end of the world, but about its savior. It creates a mythical person capable of fixing this, and then puts this person out of reach of this world. If the world could be saved by this one factor, then their one goal is to make it come true. Except we know that could not happen. Or at the very least not in a satisfying way.

I'm not entirely sure when during the timeline was it that they got definite "proof" (in the forms of predictions, no less), that the messiah would not arrive on time. If it's not in any of the citizens' control... why bother? Which I think is what led to many people, upon seeing a definite sign of a point of no return for their world's life, decided to give up on it. This made them a bit less reflexive on what they did as a society, most likely. Maybe it also made potential rivalries between different groups of the world to quiet down. Why bother. Why bother living, anyways? Amd so a few decided to end their life before the world ended it for them.

I imagine there was a lot of hopelessness, at least at the start. I imagine maybe wiser people looked into how to make these years easier to cope, like some kind of end of life care but for the world. I would say there was likely also some isolation, but a sense of community grief as well. I remember playing through the Glen and just being a bit in shock that Calamus had been looking for Alula for days in the narrative, but at best most villagers knew of some kids who maybe kind of lived in the Ruins, which they could help but also they didn't. That was to me a sign of abandon of the youth, maybe distance in community connections. Hell we could go on a huge tangent about what this could have been like for different age groups. It's not the same to make sense of your life if you're a young child, a teen, an adult, or elderly.

What we know for sure is that people's priorities shifted, but in some regards they preserved some of their bullshit system. Lamplighter lives in poverty despite being an essential worker. The highly educated workers are burnt out. The Refuge represents the wealthiest area by virtue of their access to technology and comfort, and the way in systematically leaves out folks who cannot read, which is the majority in the Glen. There are kids being cared for their robots, who turn to them for connection. There is bureaucracy that needs to be loopholed to achieve things.

By the time we see the world, I believe we were seeing them on their last months, and so the reflection people have has to do with whether they want a quick death, a delay, or if they truly believe in salvation.

To summarize all of this:

Maize: Optimistic until the very end, she was too duty driven to her people in an earnest way. If she had the means, she'd ensure they lived if just for another day. Even when the lack of light most directly affected her as a plant spirit. The description of her WME card talking about her hunger sitll hurts.

Kip: generally tried to keep herself optimistic, willing to cooperate with the Author on some of the key projects started after the sun went out, but able to balance it with finding ways to improve the life of people in the Refuge with her knowledge.

Silver: pessimistic, she resigned quickly to the futility of their actions. It's the logical way to think, but it's still kind of world shattering for a being who is created for a reason to know there's an expiration date. Especially someone with a purpose as vast as Being a Person while also being Other. Fucked up.

Lamplighter: he's so work oriented, he probably focused on how his job would be affected. He sounds defeated not to be smart enough to do more, but ironically he's a key member of his community and that amounts to a lot.

Ling: probably the biggest representant of trying to live out his final years with a chill work and not thinking too hard about it. He was probably fairly young when it happened as well.

Watcher: probably was worried before, now she's just... an observant. Her situation is her own, she does not impose, though.

Mason: Probably one of those people who did try to prepare to preserve as much as possible, but by the time we meet him he's just holding onto his plants out of sentimentality, it seems.

Magpie: His life as a trader was rough even without the Sun going out, he is open to change though, he seems to focus on what's within his reach for sure.

Rachis: Supported the Author and the Great Prophet, definitely a believer of there being some future and held onto it.

Calamus: Young, most likely very confused about the sun going out. He seems more concerned about his growing responsibilities.

Alula: baby :)

George: idk man, probably all of these at some point.

The Author: Important to note that he initially held onto the Prophecy and seemed to hope for salvation, or at least to prove it could happen. When that didn't work out, he shifted into attempts at preserving the world and giving it a narrative. He knows it's not the real deal. He knows it's limited. He seemed to care about legacy and what would be of them after the end of their world.

The Solstice trio: All supportive of what the Author tried to do, while still going through their own grief. Rue seems nostalgic of what's being lost, Cedric seems disconnected, and like a shadow taking over his father's roles, and Prototype's existence is intrinsically tied to the hopelessness of the world. To me their support is their way of giving their lives some meaning and direction.