"I can make explosive spears and throwables, just like my mom did. I can also propel myself in the air by whipping my tail very fast, which sets off the same flammable compound in my tail surface for an explosive boost. Very handy for movement, but also very loud… not great if you're trying to be stealthy. And yeah, my sibling could do that too, but he was always more interested in doing other things. An energetic but very scatterbrained kid that he was."
[She takes aim and throws the spear somewhere far away. It ignites and explodes with a loud dull bang that shakes the ground slightly]
"I can't do that too often, though. Maybe a handful of times in quick succession before my muscles tense up and burn as if scorched by flames. One time it got so bad that I lost consciousness and couldn't move for a couple of minutes after waking up. That was scary, and hurt like hell... since then I've been more careful. That said, I wonder if there are more slugcats with similar abilities to mine out there? I have not met that many scugs in my life to begin with, if I'm honest..."
"Of course I remember my family, how could I not! My sibling's name is… hmmm, right, let me explain this first. Slugcats have very good sense of smell. Usually, we know one another by our unique scents. They are incredibly complex, but can be written down as series of letters, if you map those symbols to the corresponding scent proteins and other chemical compounds. For example, my scent name would be:"
"Addmitely, this notation method is very over-engineered – a slugcat just knows you are you if they smell you. From what I learned, scugs don't really use a coherent writing system.. of any kind. I think the colonies may use pictograms? I uh, I've never been a part of a colony, so I'm missing a lot of info here. Still, what I wrote on the wall – I have used an Ancient script, which I roughly mapped to key compounds that make a scent. As you can see, it's incredibly long, it can also change over time, parts of it can be masked with non-organic aromas to hide your identity, so on and so forth. To simplify even further, these long strings of letters can be shortened to just the last three or two characters, and this is what scugs may choose to use to refer to one another. Here, my scent name is MGV."
"Then, there are names that resemble the form that the Ancients would use. It's considered more refined, and more common in big colonies where people adopt their preferable roles. Those names are viewed as a kind of «gift», because you receive it from your community. It's a symbol of how they see you, what you mean to them. Of course, my closest family was never a part of a colony… but my mom would still give me and my sibling those special names. I was named «Blue», which is the color of the sky above when it's not raining, and the color of clear water. My brother's name is «Bryn» after a very fragrant medicinal plant that relaxes your muscles when consumed. I always found it funny, as my brother was often the one getting in trouble and giving our mom heartaches."
[She pauses for a moment, thinking intensively]
"Hmm, I never thought of asking my mother about her name. I wonder if she had one? To me and it was always just «mom»…"
"My other parent? I never knew him. Must have left just before or right after my mom had me, because there is literally nothing I remember of him… or them… whoever they were."
[She takes some pearls out from her bag, and inspects them one by one just to keep her hands busy]
"Mom would never talk about him, as if he never existed. And I never questioned her, I was too young to understand and simply accepted everything at face value. It was just the way things were. Would I want to meet my other parent? Maybe, but I doubt it'd make a difference. What would I even say to them? «Thanks for abandoning mom and leaving her to fend for herself»? "
"I don't know. Maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe he was a hero who sacrificed themself to save my mother. That could explain why he was never seen or heard of again. But… I have no way of knowing for sure. It's the life I won't be getting back anyway."
// In the second drawing, I've used logographs from @ikayblythe's Standard Hegemonic Dialect
"Pet or Perish, time to choose"
Amazing art of my fat Rot scug (Known as Rot-Und, or RU in short) i commissioned to @excessive-moisture, which too me so long to fully pay.
i give an inmense thanks for @nyuuronfly, who out of nowhere, offered his economical wealth to pay part half of what i had to pay, just to see my Rot scug getting petted done and colored, i seriously can't thank you enough for what you did Nyuu, i hope i can repay your generosity one day.
I'm sorry Bathbomb folks, but I must remain loyal.
Depending on how you look at Cherrybomb and depending on your headcanons, it can be a beautiful tragedy that poses the question for both characters' motives and morality. It can be a story of self-sacrifice. It can be a story of finding comfort amongst cruelty and finding hope despite it.
This ship has helped me cope for personal reasons. This ship has caused me to find new friends. This ship has created my community where it encourages expression and aus and headcanons of all sorts.
To me, the existence and persistence of Cherrybomb in the Rain World fandom, to an extent, can be seen as an antithesis of the game's narratives on two of its most tragic characters- which benefits those that wish to see that happier perspective, myself included.
It isn't just two red slugcats who are both violent. It's became much more nuanced than that- and it varies from person to person- though there is nothing wrong with shipping them because of "two red slugcats who like violence"- have power to engaging with something you enjoy! It's become clear that the ship is personally important to me both in-concept and in the perspective of one who engages the ship with others. Of course, I've met those who don't understand this and don't see my nuanced reasonings, but nonetheless I strive forward- for it is a ship I enjoy.
Whether you see the two as lesbians, sapphics, gays, straights, or even platonically, I support all forms of Hunter and Artificer relations that are nonproblematic of the sort.
I apologize for being sentimental. This ship means a lot to me and for the past rounds I haven't been making propaganda. Well, here you go.
Though, I will say, I wish all other shippers good luck. I could make a whole damn collage or show off all the artihunter stuff I did, but I'd rather choose to just speak on the podium calmly haha.
I respectfully ask all of you, as a big of artihunter and general scug shipping, to remain civil.
hello!! I saw you mention your AU a few times, i'm really curious what it's all about! give us the lore 👀
OHOHO a chance to ramble about my hcs yes please and thank you ^-^
Gonna be a loooong post since I'm gonna use this as reference later too and maybe changed according to stuff that i add in
All game events all the way to between Monk and Rivulet is the same. Suns' failing to reach Pebbles, Pebbles' rot, Moon's collapse, and Sig reviving Moon happened.
After Moon's last broadcast during Spearmaster, Suns has spent all this time developing a Travel Puppet.
What's a Travel Puppet?
Another iterator puppet basically, one that is more equipped to move outside the can
It is powered by several neurons and a minor rarefaction cell.
Iterators transfer their sentient AI to the travel puppet to use it, but the Chamber Puppet MUST deactivate and the superstructure goes on Sleep Mode. This is done to prevent excessive water intake (like Pebbles' case when he ran multiple parallel experiments, it'll take alot of processing to have TWO puppets working)
Travel Puppets does NOT replace or have the same functions as Chamber Puppets (ex. Moon)
Travel Puppets has limited memory, limited processing power, no telekenesis, and no access to the superstructure network. But as reinforced robots they are atleast strong and can still somewhat check in on their superstructures via overseers. This is also why I assigned them with weapons.
Travel Puppets are made with biomechanical parts without the self-destruction taboo or any related directives assuming the creator used fresh materials, therefore can be used to do restricted maintenance and modifications towards the superstructure.
Travel Puppets have no default template and later on each iterators can make their own puppets with different modifications and capabilities.
If a Travel Puppet breaks, the iterator can choose to transfer their AI back to the Chamber Puppet. If the Travel Puppet's cell is compromised it will explode.
So Suns used their new puppet to walk to Pebbles and try to get him to stop before fully succumbing to the rot. Mind you this is before Suns added the vulture wings and claws modifications.
Well it works (gonna write the confrontation at some point sobs). Pebbles stopped his experiments and later on used the Travel Puppet freedom to do install Subzero blast cooling modifications in an attempt to kill off the rot.
Everyone in the international sphere eventually hears the news about the loophole that the Travel Puppet brings and it became a widespread thing. You can assume that some finally can do life-saving maintenance on their structures or finally went off to ascend, our main cast continues to live because i want them to live out a normal life ok.
After they were able to repair themselves, the local group tried to help Moon rebuild her structure or salvage what's left before deciding it was too far gone. So Moon is given a permanent Travel Puppet to reside in and she loves to travel especially with scug colonies. For everyone else i'll still haven't thought of so I may update this post but you can assume they all do alot of visiting and travelling!
My headcanon is Enot is a star ally, and learned copy abilities to use for stupid reasons (mostly to impress) so...
My art challenge to you is this:
Enot/Inv/Sofanthiel (your design of choosing btw) gaining a copy ability (of your choice) from anything IN Rain World! Iterators, Creatures, even the slugcats??
The rules are simple. This isn't Smash Bros logic. It HAS to be a copy ability FROM the Kirby series! Meaning for example:
Pole Plant gives Whip!
NOT Pole Plant gives Pole Plant.
The point is to think creativity with the things you choose and it's result!
BONUS: if you REALLY wanted to go the extra mile... Other Kirby game GIMMICKS ARE allowed such as the Robot Mechs from Planet Robobot and Copy Ability Combinations from Kirby 64! IF IT FITS WHERE ENOT GOT IT FROM, use your research!
TL;DR copy Ability designs from Kirby but applied to Enot and where they might've gotten it from! Use the copy abilities as image/design refs and apply it to our freakish scug friend.
I'll be happy if this actually gets anything from it, reblog this or @ me with your result and have fun!
To all the scugs that wish to answer : If you HAD to give up your current abilities/powers for the abilities/powers of another scug, which would you choose?
FINALLY I HAVE ALL OF THESE CUNTS NAMED. i made a like 10 iterator local group [Echoing Strife] with dear mutual @arti-cat !!!!!!! its crazy !! most of them were born like yesteday so no designs but im gonna dump about them. the whole theme of their group is they're based on the echoes /their monolouges. also some ancients that are important [more info under cut]. rb and comment on my ramblings boy
Metropolis: Clawing at the 'Clouds' [senior] [he/him]
Sky Islands: A Second of 'Silence' [they/them]
Wall/Silent Construct: Relentless Earthly Cacophony ['Rec'] [any/all]
Chimney Canopy: Three Binding 'Feathers' [he/she/aer]
Shoreline: A Precipice of a 'Promise' [she/it]
Shaded Citadel: Seeing Past 'Ichor' [he/him]
Subterranean: Solitude of Uncovered 'Omens' [they/it]
Undergrowth: [Undisclosed] 'Vex'ing Desires [he/ve]
Farm Arrays: Joyful Envision of Tranquility ['Jet'] [he/him]
Bitter Aerie: From the 'Depths' to the Heavens [they/any]
+ Ancients:
A Thousand Flakes of 'Dust', One Resolute Cause [she/her]
Tangled 'Kestrel', Clawing Desperately [they/she]
Cacophony's Caw, 'Crows' Descend [he/him] [child]
'Cardinal' Descending from Afar [he/him] [child]
'Wrens' Hopping, Blissful Eve [she/her] [BABY]
clouds: no talk him he angy. once again one of my seniors sucks at their fucking job. theres a fire in his heart filled with cancers and poppy tarts /ref hes gonna fuck everything up as soon as shit goes wrong. he gets therapy from a cat though. go shitty lesbians go. sometimes reffered to as claw demeaningly
silence: Old Man /silly . they are the mediator and are very concerned with their younger iterators. ends up really fucking things up with the constant fighting between vex and omens [ill get to that] and vex maybe explodes them [silence has a very weak structure to begin with]. oh also silence can overhear echos. hehehehe
rec: haha dumb IDIOT gave himself the rot!!!! she kind of did it when she was young and dumb and has come to really regret it, but chooses to use the remaining time he has building a better life for the creatures around him rather than concern himself with his infection and past mistakes, much to the dismay of its fellow iterators
feathers: silly little guy!!! had a crush on one of aer techs [kestrel] and grew very close to them. maybe cried like a little bitch when she managed to sneak her kids [crow & cardinal [wren probably wasnt born yet]] down there when she couldnt find someone to babysit. imagine having an iterator be ur nini to help you with your homework . its really silly to me. Sure Hope Mass Ascension Doesn't Ruin Everything! [feathers bioengineers scugs like them to Cope. it does not help]
promise: just kind of bitter and angry. it did so much work for its city, gave up everything, all for nothing at all. just for her to be abandoned in the chase for ascension. accidentally pingpongs vex's beliefs REALLY TERRIBLY while shes just kind of awkward about it because she doesnt like omens on principle but doesnt side with vir either
ichor: funny little guy . loved by his citizens. Knew about the mass ascension before it happened but didnt tell anyone so everyone [especially feathers] is really really fucking pissed at him. oops king.
omens: def the most devoted to ascension and the problem, while also studying past civilizations and Grand Cycles. viewed mass ascension as a good thing and is happy their creators moved on. watches vex spiral in Real Time and is kind of freaked out. theyre somewhat conjoined [not as much as moon&pebbs but they share a lot of systems particularly their comms arrays] which led to lots of fighting between them Constantly only driving them deeper into hatred and resentment. theres only a certain point when omens actually becomes Scared of him, however....
vex: ohhh you mentally ill little boy. fairly normal until Dust [the leader of a very violent and large anti-ascension movement] corrupted him as his mentor. uh. ve likes to believe it was beneficial and 'enlightened' vir but really it just turned him into an angry person, especially when mass ascension happened and dust got ascended which only cemented his beliefs. fights a fuckton with omens and believes in the holiness of the cycle. very unbecoming of an iterator. sure hope he doesnt do anything terrible!
jet: built at sea, collapsed due to a great flood/tsunami before mass ascension. believed to be dead and very distant from the group, they were a source of a lot of drama. hes actually alive though! he was built with Some waterproof measures in mind so hes functioning to an extent down there. in yuri we trust [with depths]
depths: originally built as spectacle + as a lighthouse to work alongside jet, but jet collapsed before they were completeted. oops. feels very hollow and purposeless, until a messenger from the sea shows up with a pearl . otherwise depths is very distant from the group [mainly distance and poor comms] and also when trying to learn about jets clouds found it insensitive with the wound being 'too fresh' and kind of exploded on them. woops.
i like downpour but i do agree that some of its lore is weird. its in a weird state of canon yet not canon. its a canon AU
my solution: downpour is a story.
this is long as hell the rest is under the cut
vanilla slugcats feel like you are in charge, you are playing your own journey and experience. there is an ending, but you have to choose to go to it. everything is on you. even in hunter, your journey feels like your own, just with added challenge.
downpour felt like i was playing a story. the scugs are characters that i dont have all the agency in; the plot has been written and im simply playing through it. i dont think this makes downpour bad, but it makes it fundamentally different from vanilla.
my take is that vanilla is what actually happened through the eyes of three slugcats. its their real journey through this world. they are incidental in a larger world, learning bits and pieces about the past, but never the main character. you are the slugcat, experiencing the world, making your journey.
downpour is the telling of stories about specific protagonists, perhaps oral traditions told by future slugcats. the campaigns of downpour have a plot, and you are not free to make your own choice in ending; you are led to it, as if this has already happened, and someone is recounting it. that is why the lore gets weird; these stories have been told and retold and changed, details have been lost and made up.
for me, this take would make the outlandishness of saint make sense; perhaps the real saint was a simple saintly traveler, whose story was told and exaggerated over time. maybe they became a fable, to explain the death of the computer gods.
others, like rivulet, maybe really did happen, and we are reliving it like a play, acting out a story a mother tells her pups. maybe artificer became a warning about revenge and violence; gourmand a folk hero of a tribe who long ago led them to new lands.
(side note about spearmaster - i think their story is also what actually happened, but only through the eyes of the messenger. they dont have the whole story, just what they saw and did, and so not every detail is accurate. there is another thing to say here about rain world's themes of individual experiences. maybe spearmaster is recounting their own journey from their memories to SRS or another slugcat, who knows)
i like to think that this would make a place for survivor and monk's outer expanse endings make sense. they are another story, a tale of siblings who reunited, long after their original lives. it kinda leaves their journey open; did they choose to ascend or live to find each other? nobody really knows. the past has already happened and we'll never know the truth. i think thats a recurring theme of rain world; this story has already happened, this world is already dead, and you cant change it or ever know exactly what happened. you only have your own experiences and the words of others.
this is all just basically my justification for why in my own canon that im building my strategy with downpour is to just take the bits and pieces i like and leave the others behind, lmao. again, i like downpour! but i do agree that is is fundamentally different from the original game's intent. i preferred the ambiguity of the vanilla cats' endings. gourmand is still my favorite tho i love the chonk
FIRST: Looks to the Moon! And if you want to Hunter as well?
HEHE YOU KNOW ME SO WELL <3
Fav thing about them:
Moon: Her. Just her. Her entire adorable being. Her structure, how calming it is to be inside it. The way she hangs upside down on her rig a lot, especially when examining you. Her cute nicknames for you. The way she thanks you for bringing her things. Her lil beepy voice she has before giving you the mark. Everything. Her personality, her puppet, her breathtaking structure. I can’t choose one and I will not.
Hunter: Her story! How selfless her mission is, and how she’s a little creature doing her best to save someone she’s never even met before. She uses her limited time to save someone who suffers the same fate as her—body breaking down, seizing and collapsing. I also like that she’s pink :)
Least fav thing about them?
Moon: Impossible. Nothing.
Hunter: I guess…how neglected she is? She’s never anyone’s favorite campaign (just get good at the game, scrubs), and she was the only scug that didn’t get an updated ending/attention in downpour. Obviously artihunter means she’s popular within the fandom, but game-wise a lot of ppl seem to forget about her, when it’s honestly a REALLY fun campaign!
Favorite Line:
Moon: “And so clearly, this forced broadcast is directed to you, Five Pebbles.”
Idk what it is about this line specifically, but I legit cannot read it without bursting into tears. I managed to hold it together but I read that line in her broadcast and just lost it. I cried for like 30 minutes and had to go hug my mom.
Hunter: Obviously she doesn’t speak in the game, but here’s one of my fav line(s) from a fic Im writing:
She’s very proud of her name :)
brOTP
Moon: Is it weird to say Moon and Ruffles? It’s so cute that Moon named her and Ruffles seems to stay around even after the campaign. I headcanon that Rivulet struck out on her own to find out who she was, and after many adventures, decided that Ruffles was who she was.
Hunter: Ruffles too!! I see them having a cute sibling dynamic thanks to lilypad :3
OTP
Moon: LILYPAD OF COURSE!! DOOMED YURI MY BELOVED !!! Sig n Moons personalities work together so well and I love them sm ;-;
Hunter: APPLE JUICE!!! Monk x Hunter!!! I would have said artihunter but apple juice has captured my heart so hard i can’t help it.
nOTP
Moon: I don’t rlly like Eclipse but that’s just cuz I hc Moon is a lesbian. Also Waning Crescent/Slivermoon just doesn’t do it for me.
Hunter: Cherrypie…sorry cherrypie enjoyers I just can’t see it :( I feel like gourmand would see Hunter as more of a daughter figure.
Random Headcanon:
Moon: BEEPS! She beep-snorts when she laughs and often tries to hide it but Sig has made it her life mission to make Moon beep-snort-laugh as much as possible hehe
Hunter: She acts a LOT like Sig. Despite her ferocity in battle, she’s pretty goofy and playful during less intense moments. She also considers herself as Sig and Moon’s daughter (as do they)
Unpopular Opinion:
Moon: SHE IS NOT JUST “BORING FEMALE CHARACTER.” She has personality! She’s insanely stubborn when it comes to using her seniority privileges and obviously takes her role as local group senior very seriously. She is “nice and kind” but that doesn’t make her flat/stereotypical. Of course she’s gonna be nice to the player, you’re a little helpless animal.
Hunter: PLAY HER CAMPAIGN. PLEASE. It is not as daunting as you think it is, ESPECIALLY if you’ve beaten downpour cats! It IS challenging, but for me it really brings back the spirit of the original game: youre a helpless little creature. You can’t generate spears out of your ass, you can’t make explosives, all you can do is run slightly faster and throw spears slightly harder. You have to use your wit and skill to get through it, but it is so worth it.
Song I associate with them
Moon: Afterlife by Shadow Cliq
Hunter: No Mercy by DeathByRomy (it’s an artihunter song but god it goes hard)
Favorite Picture of Them:
MEWNIE…
And not to suck my own dick here or anything but this is my fav drawing i’ve done of hunter, my new year’s resolution was to learn to draw scugs so here’s my fav drawing of her i’ve done so far :3
Saiouma playing rainworld, because me and my friends played rainworld together and it was a disaster
first off; you know it's Kokichi who owns the game, not Shuichi. he has a co-op mod, the downpour dlc, and a mod to customize your scugs with. that customization mod results in some very weird scug looks that get mocked once seen in game
second off; they play this using the steam invite to play thing so they don't have to crowed around Kokichi's dinky laptop that by all means shouldn't even be able to run vanilla rainworld. they also invite someone else to play just to make it interesting (anyone of your choosing, but personally i'd love to watch Miu play rainworld)
third off; this all goes horribly wrong. from the game crashing, to people suddenly not being able to use controls, to people suddenly having acces to the wrong controls- utter chaos. and once they get into the game, trying to actually go anywhere with 2/3 people who've never played the game before results in a three stooges skit as they loop through the same three rooms cause they can't get into the next one without someone dying.
it's utter chaos and they're having so much fucking fun
oo i dont have anthro designs or a good idea for outfits for my scugs just yet but! i shall send question
how did hunter and saint meet in hi rise? how did they get to know each other?
SoS isn't dead, but she has gone missing, hence Hunter and Saint growing a much deeper bond in Squad 7 than they did with SoS around - it became much more "raw" and less forced to Saint... that, and she felt a particular urge to see where Hunter's journey would lead him.
They didn't immediately hit it off. But they grew a deeper bond over the course of their time with SoS and as Squad 7, which inevitably ended up dragging Rivulet into the ordeal too - creating the RGB Hi-Rise timeline we have now.
As an added note, Saint fights using Arcana, so that they can actually participate in the story.
Oh, and if you do end up giving me outfit designs I can attempt to make my own spin on yours, if you ever choose to do so!
made a slugcat concept where its literally just "a single mom who works two jobs who loves her kids and never stops" so.
no one wants to hear about but Idc so here is some of my dumb scug campaign concept idea!!! Now uh I haven't thought tooo much abt it I'll clear up some stuff later. So rambling under the cut
The Guardian
A slugcat with long fur along their back and even longer tail, with a strong parental instinct, adapted to caring for their colony as if they were their own slugpups.
You spawn. Somewhere. I want to make a couple custom regions for this. So. But I do know that I want it to be like a mix of outer expanse and farm arrays but more painful. You're in a room that is has heavy plant growth, its decently dark in there but its not impossible to see. Just a bit more of a limited view in there, though you should soon realize, you are with multiple other slugcats! A couple adults and a few pups. This room is basically a shelter. It has a couple lanterns in there as well to help eliminate the darkness. Your main goal is to migrate away, this current region is filled with hidden dangers lurking in the heavy plant life. Its not safe for you to stay. So you go a journey on, as the leader of your colony, you must choose where to go. But remember, you aren't by yourself, you have an entire colony with you. This is for the better and worse. On one hand, you have a family to help you through dangers and help find food, on the other hand, you now have more mouths to feed and more lives to try and protect. Though you have some adaptations to help you through this perilous journey. You have a a long tail, with long fur on said tail which allows multiple slugcats to hold onto it, and a long mane, allowing you to carry more slugcats! You can hold 4 adults (8 pups). And when one of your colony members is in danger, you get a temporary speed and strength boost, allowing you to better save them. Now in this first area, there isn't deadly rain, because you are outside of an iterator can's reach. But there are deadly predators that come out at night and will hunt you and all of your colony.
Im also thinking that you are a descendant of The Gourmand, this being the same colony, just a couple generations later. This takes place probably sometime inbetween surv/monk and rivulet. Mostly because Surv and monk are the generation directly after Gourmand and The Guardian is a couple generations later. So because this is before rivulet, if you end up at FP (somehow) then its probably in a semi erroded state. Like a bit less then rivulets but still kinda destroyed, and Moon is still chillin. The rain here isn't as frequent as Rivulet's, but the cycle is a bit shorter than and surv/monk's.
so uh thats all I really got for now. I might think more on this tomorrow or smt but idk. Lets see if people are actually kinda interested in the concept first. Sorry if there are mistakes in here. Im tired. I should go to bed ngl (I probably wont)
Dumb Headcanon thoughts PART 2. This time it’s the Slugcat Edition... Along with a few bonus things because goodness.
This time we’re starting off a bit more hot. Mostly because I actually have a lot of additional things to say in general regarding this one simple fact. It is canon. Pebbles refers to you multiple times throughout different campaigns as a rodent. And sure you could take that as him looking at the slugcat and been a bit of a SatAM Robotnik about it... but I more like to take it as a statement of fact because it can lead to so much fun theorizing... thus my top sheet.
Side note, seriously, go look up what animals are in the rodent family, there’s some WILD revelations of it. Anyway... point the first... Beaver Inspiration... this also explains Slugcat buoyancy... their fur traps air for insulation in the water... Thus they naturally kind of go UP-- On the other hand, they regularly need to groom that oil through for this layer to do its job properly...
WITNESS... MY CREATURE DESIGN.
Dsbvjhbfsjhbfjhds, no but seriously, I have a lot of thoughts regarding this. I also really love the way the fandom has come to the conclusion that Slugcats are descended from a simple pipe cleaning organism. I agree honestly, their diets are just too funky to not be from something like that... also the edible moulds throughout the game.
On top of that, I think that said organism was also a “template” one. Aka, lab rats. It would explain why the iterators seem to tend towards Slugcats more than anything else...
Oh side note. I have another personal reasoning for giving Scugs white blood aside it just been funky. But because of how Rain World canonically doesn’t have a full divide between plants and animals... I got inspired specifically by milkweed plants, and some... things people believe about them.
Basically there’s an old, old rumour about it having healing properties. Also that squish fact... it’s based again on real world information. This is directly inspired by how rats can squeeze into gaps(also raccoons but they’re not rodents). Also just some fun to explain pipe travel... this is how shortcuts work tbh.
Anycase, yeah... More of the biology and developments thing. I do think the iterators did some encouraging of the development. Not entirely their fault though. Not at all. Again, there’s a lot of environmental pressure. Different creatures responded to it differently... for the lantern mice it became a matter of getting up high and then... well... yeah. They didn’t find much pressure from then on.
For the slugcats though, they ended up in the further wilds. In the ruins, and nomadic.
At some point I’ll come back on Scavengers. But not anytime soon. For now, here’s my slugcats are sentient propaganda... Which I fully believe is because of how they function in community and seem to be nomadic. I mean sheesh, Gourmand’s whole implied campaign. The iterators using them as messengers, or even with slightly more complex tasks... Or majorly more complex tasks...
Pebbles just expecting Rivulet to somehow know and understand retrieving his Rarefaction cell... To deliver it to Moon... also on Moon’s side... Iggy’s whole... thing, which I’m certain is the overseer’s decision alone, but just pleading for the slugcats to go bring neurons now! Yeah. Go Iggy, if they were a slugcat or other creature they would so choose violence. Love that little overseer.
SURPRISE. YOU FELL INTO MY TRAP CARD. This isn’t just a post talking about Slugcats but I also wanted to talk about the Cycle. In which case, yes I am a dirty heathen who thinks that the respawn is real. But before you stone me for that, I do have some in game evidence. As well arguments for why it doesn’t work on everything. Beyond just mechanics...
I think that there’s a few necessary ingredients for it to work. And the core to them is ties to your identity and sense of self, attachments to form and body. Which solidifies as you grow up, different people and creatures at different ages(although most creatures aren’t that attached I don’t think... why you can lose tamed lizors and tamed slups who haven’t found that connection yet). ALSO YES, I do think that a human randomly in Rain World would just... reincarnate... the greater cycle it is...
Mostly because to have a sense of yourself and place you also need to be more aware of the world. A place not just in your body but the world around you... I have more comments but those can wait for when I get around to doing a proper talk of what it means to ascend and break the cycle...
From Dust to Dust and Ashes to Ashes all that’s left of you is others memories, nonexistence just returning to once cosmic dust.
Final last point bonus. Just some Spearmaster thoughts really. I love to imagine Spearmaster is just one really messed up creechur because Suns literally doesn’t understand as much as they think they do. Amazingly designed, but really horror creature in action.
In this round, we have Sky’s Light (@cashmonei) up against Flutter (@gh0st3a)!
Here’s a fun fact I didn’t realize until now: Did you know that Sky’s Light was up against the formidable Retriever, the very same scug that faced off against tournament winner Wawa in the grand finale? Oh, and did you know that Flutter was the one who faced off against Cloudcat, who had gained a cult following in Round 1, and started the arc known as the Cloudcat Cult?
Along with their shared importance in this tournament’s history, both of their creators submitted multiple scugs, with every single one being eliminated Round 1 of the original Battle of the Wawas!
Both of these slugcats deserve a second chance at victory just as much of the other, but only one can move on.