#note: i'm not going to be on here often

[peridots-pixiwolf]

[Start ID. A redraw of the official icons of the ten named slugcats from Rain World, arranged in two rows: Survivor, Monk, Hunter, Nightcat, and Gourmand in the first, Artificer, Rivulet, Spearmaster, Saint and Enot/Inv in the second. Each is drawn in roughly the same pose as in the original art and fitted with speculative interpretations of their biology, and the second image is a “dead” version of this. For example, all ten have slug-like rhinophores in place of ears, cuttlefish-like colorful eyes with strangely-shaped pupils, cephalopod-like beak "teeth", expressive barbels or oral tentacles at the corners of mouths, spiny radulas, and the frilly mantle fringes of sea slugs, though otherwise their faces are squishy, simple and mammalian-shaped.

Cream-colored Survivor and yellow Monk both share triangular, bicolored spots matching their eyes (which are tan and brown, and two shades of blue, respectively), small, bumpy fringes, and relatively neutral looks on their faces. Defensive-looking Hunter is mostly a dull orange-pink, though their blobby fringe is a more violent red and their back is purple and marred with lumps. Nightcat is navy blue and flecked with dots of yellow and teal, their rolled rhinophores are a lighter blue, and their shading fractures into stars in some places. Gourmand is almost uniformly tan, their wide, very ruffly white mantle fringe bordered by a spray of white spots, and their beak sticks out from either corner of their smile. Primarily red Artificer, snarling, has yellow markings of multiple sorts, a prominent yellow dewlap and their characteristic dark scar taking out a chunk of its face. Rivulet is a darker blue than usual, with long barbels, red gills and rings, countershading, and a cheerful expression, sticking out their radula. Spearmaster is purple with orange accents, eyes and spots, a large fringe and spines down their back. Saint’s green caryophyllidia are marked by small, yellow diamonds, and their long, thin radula extends far below them. Enot is decorated with mottled red stripes, blue patches, yellow stars, and an uneven and almost cartoonish imitation of blush, though generally the same deep blue as Nightcat, a passive or almost slightly smug look on their face and their rolled rhinophores out to either side.

In the second image, nine of the slugcats’ eyes are crossed out, indicating that these are death icons. They look fairly the same, with mostly expression differences. Survivor is caught in the beginning of a threat display, a karma flower sprouts from Monk’s side, Hunter is burdened with overgrowing, purple and blue rot, Nightcat’s rhinophores are pinned back, and Gourmand looks mildly disheartened. For the final row, Artificer bites its radula between small plumes of smoke, Rivulet drops their expression, Spearmaster looks very startled, Saint looks almost entirely the same besides half-open eyes and their markings greater in number, and Enot grins confusedly. End ID]

If you'll excuse the unusually lengthy ID: the arena meme introduced by @pansear-doodles at long last after a nearly year-long wip status (or, rather, finished a month ago today to honor my own first time playing it!)

Design notes and shout-outs under cut! :]

The following people are some of those who’ve inspired my designs most since I started this eight months ago (or just inspired me to get a little weirder with slugcat biology), among many others for sure, and I thank them for it–but this is simply to bring attention to artists I find cool, and in no way an obligation to interact or anything :]

> @saturncoyote , @carpsoup , @charseraph , @gallusgalluss , @bitsbug , @dopscratch , and @0hmanit (and a special mention to dddeerbo and hunterlonglegs, who’ve since deactivated)!

Survivor: Surprisingly the hardest to pin down the colors for, since nothing with its sibling's palette seemed to match up right (I did have to add in a little blue somewhere for Monk, the beginning of making it clear how much I’m simply going based off of vibes for the colors of scug innards). I consider them, Monk and Gourmand to be part of the same gene pool of slugcats, and even possibly the same colony even if the latter isn't really related, so took a bit of Gourmand's coloring and fit them in with their inspiration: Goniobranchus verrieri. They serve as a bit of an introduction to my ideas of scug traits (i find it really fun how many people have thought to add so many silly sluglike fixtures of biology completely independent of me, buuut here I’m mostly talking about species variation), and like in-game they’re pretty average! They, Monk and Hunter have a couple scars sourced from a piece of Joar's concept art that I'm failing to find, those across the bridge of the nose, under the eyes, and across the rhinophores, respectively, and my Survivor interpretation features many on the back of the neck, as a result of survived lizard bites.

Monk: Their coloring is primarily based off the fact that I associate them with blue fruits, honestly, a bit because I was compelled to establish a familiarity with Rivulet, and lastly inspired by the spots of Goniobranchus kuniei (and geminus, less important to me as one of my characters is a kuniei instead, but more fitting). Between the yellow + blue and the circular marking in the center of their face, they’re meant to bear a little resemblance to an iterator that shares similarities with the characterization I’ve given them, and similar coding of her sibling can be seen on Survivor’s markings around the eyes. As both a “default” slugcat and one whose campaign I haven’t played, though, I can’t say I have much more to point out about em.

Hunter: The whole rot thing made for a really fun time drawing them, and while the color change on their back is a result of this, it’s also an excuse to relate them to Babakina festiva, arguably my favorite sea slug (mostly for sentimental purposes). And to Spearmaster, a fellow messenger slugcat, and it serves as a gradient between Hunter’s pink and the “traditional” color of Rot seen in the DLLs. Aside from their affliction, they’d actually be the plainest in terms of design, as they don’t have any patterns or quirks of body type, just the red + purple and strange lumps + possible malnutrition. I can’t remember if NSH had created them in particular or just...caught + released or something, but it probably wouldn’t be strange for a lab-grown slugcat to be simple like that.

Gourmand: Like the two above, they’re rather plain in terms of coloring and adaptation, and like the two above, I find that fun. I decided it would be nice to avert the “all slugcats being of the same body type, and Gourmand’s out of place as the exception” thing by just...adding more fat to all of them, really. I did want to emphasize their sheer bulk even so, both fat and muscular (not like I couldn’t have still gone further with it, of course, but slugcat anatomy can be a little obfuscating sometimes, and they were intended to look rather plush considering personal size headcanons and therefore the lack of proper gravity), and the thick and flounced mantle looked like a good addition, as per their sea slug Glossodoris hikuerensis. Unlike Survivor and Monk, I didn’t attempt to hold their resemblance to any particular other character (which means a little less to balance out the “default gene pool” thing), so those are all the design notes I have for em.

Artificer: The second slugcat I’ve ever played, or finished the campaign of, my favorite for at least a long time, and the first thing I did was give them yellow accents, the shape of which have troubled me slightly (not quite like the spots or stripes of the others). They’re both a little more appealing and more explosive-looking to me, and considering how early on I played Arti, actually present in some of my older art. It does give them a little resemblance to Saint (completely intentional, two slugcats with strange relations to karma), as well as the fact that its radula is green for familiarity with one of its children (at some point it was going to have all-green markings, even!). I’m generous with their scars, partly because it was fun to overemphasize the one on their face and partly because it does seem like a reckless slugcat, on top of the dangers of its explosive abilities–I’ll probably just keep adding more forever. Mostly-red sea slugs aren’t too common, but Hexabranchus sanguineus works for sure. The ridged, yellow dewlap can expand for combustion purposes, or something along those lines. Arti’s where I began experimenting with a lot of the mildly-offkilter features seen in my interpretation of slugcats, as they’ve once again been a favorite from the start.

Rivulet: I've obviously given other slugcats spots, deeply enjoy the bubbly-soda markings of other peoples' slugcats, and thought seal riv would be cute. Despite not too closely resembling it, they've been government-assigned Hypselodoris bennetti, for color reasons and for a couple sentimental ones. Originally, the colors of every scug were meant to match up with the custom colors I gave them at the beginning of their campaigns, (though Arti, Gourm and Spearmy are the only three who actually apply here, since I've only played through half the slugcats: I gave arti the yellow as mentioned above, gourm brown eyes and spearmy light pink spears, furthered by the outskirts pearl accompanying me and that palette all the way to moon. Tolerance training for eternity in hell cause I already knew about the maroon pearl quest). I initially gave them the colors of the bi flag for fun... but with the limited palette of this image, I was left without pink for a while and decided to see how they'd look in red. I then realized how they now wonderfully matched Moon, and besides, red's a sort of camouflage in deep water! As a side-note, the difference between their eyes and those of others always bothered me a little for anatomical purposes, and the cephalopod eyes were probably influenced by this!

Spearmaster: Inspired as much as possible by @notyourfunnyman ’s wonderful spearmy: designed in a way that helps it fit in with scavengers, at least between the long sensory tentacles, big ruff, back spines and slightly thin/distended anatomy, a form of defensive mimicry. I always had annulate rhinophores in mind, for a little diversity sure, but mostly because the shape reminds me of radio antennae and communication towers (seems fitting for the comms array and being a messenger slugcat)! I started searching for a real-life slug to give them just by looking up their rhinophore shape...and was met immediately and coincidentally with annulate-topped nudibranchs that fit them more perfectly than I could've imagined: Flabellina and surrounding clades, I think Paraflabellina ischitana works very nicely. The orange was completely unplanned, but there wasn’t a place for light pink among the other slugcats’ palettes, and importantly it likens them to both Hunter and Seven Red Suns a little more.

Saint: I am very much a non-furred slugcat enjoyer, with respect to those who aren’t, so figuring out the only visibly furred slugcat was an interesting challenge. I’ve decided that they likely have other, milder adaptations for help in the cold, mainly just more efficient fat storage, and what looks vaguely like fur is instead a bunch of tubercles (called caryophillia, for the second reminder out of three). Their inspiration doesn’t have these, however, Miamira sinuata’s numerous yellow and blue spots (not to mention...whatever’s going on with that shape) and general effect of being the only really green nudibranch I could find were probably perfect for a strange green echo. Not pictured, but their beak-teeth are tiny and flat to make a surface for grinding soft food against with the lack of a functioning radula, which is tipped with a specialized spiny “grapple-hook” for better traction/grip (not to mention the numerous little teeth running down the whole thing).

(Best part of hiding this under a readmore means edits will be seen by all reblogs, I'm mostly sure, because I completely forgot to mention! The spots on their forehead are simple eyes. Their camera eyes appear closed in-game, I like to believe their complex eyesight is rather poor anyways or otherwise reason that they aren't seeing out of those, and while this was far from her REASON for attunement with the world, it does help compensate for mainly viewing it through a canvas of simple light and dark. This, and the fact that their swapped-out "fur" is not only to commit to a lack of hairs but contributes to sensory input!)

Nightcat/Enot: I guess you could say I found the “these two are technically the same person” compelling. (E.g. similar colors, both very strange and enigmatic, and Enot/Inv/Sofanthiel’s remark during the dating sim about getting removed from Arena Mode.) I doubt they’re the only two slugcats in their body, considering humans with DID tend to have more than a few (and I find it very funny that a slugcat bearing resemblance to Nightcat appears in Gourmand’s ending. They’re allowed in the colony and Enot isn’t </3), and I have to credit @faelingdraws ’s art for being what convinced me on it! Their design inspirations come down to trying to balance a few different ideas: making the patterns and palettes of both look oddly similar (special mention to the stars, since those are fun to draw), basing them off of Felimare sechurana and juliae respectively, using blocks of color with the same placement as in Enot’s official art, and specifically making Enot look...biologically reasonable and imperfect, whilst also clearly trying to imitate human displays of emotion (what with...the eyes and blush on that one piece of official art).

Lastly, here’s just a lineup with notes on body shape and size. Most of the nicknames (existing to give a little more space, that’s all) are obvious, and while I can’t remember why I shortened Nightcat to Nox, it is in honor of my friend by the same nickname :]

[artinandwritin]

I forgot to post this haha (that's what being too busy with animation brings you oops) but anyway!! Older gussiri designs bc I think they deserved that (they did have designs in my mind but I had never made a reference for them haha)

Plus some notes on what they're up to at that age! They're so silly <333

[sincerely-sofie]

*skitters up to you on all fours with a bunch of drawings in my mouth* *drops them at your feet* *skitters away*

enjoy some schizophrenia / psychosis / mental health-based humor.

[originalartblog]

Do you mind if people write fics inspired by your art? Like goosamu or the tinies?

I have the same philosophy towards the sharing of ideas in fandom spaces no matter the medium or craft, which is yes!! go!! and it's so much nicer when you cite your source or inspiration. It's like a nod. A handshake. We are playing with the same dolls and I liked your idea enough I want to play with it too. I love having friends to play in the sandbox with. Makes me happy to see them enjoying it :D (so if you post something please think of me. tag me. send it to me. please.)

[localwebslingers]

I've seen several people on my dash lately apologizing for excitedly talking/yelling/yapping(whatever word you wanna use for it) and flailing at the collective community about their chosen chaos child(because let's be honest, muses are chaos children) and look, I get it. I do, a lot of us are extra squishy and awkward, myself included, and don't want to feel like they're bothering anyone with it.

So I just wanna say, if I'm following you? I'm here for the whole package. Not just the threads, not just the character, I'm here for the passionate "guys no listen" moments too. You have a thirteen paragraph deep dive about this one tiny detail? I'm reading it. Several short posts about you just kicking your feet over a character, canon or not? I wanna sit next to you and share snacks and hear about it. You suddenly had a thought and want to throw it into the void talking about it? I'm on the other side listening because hell yeah that's cool.

We aren't here doing this fun little hobby if we weren't deeply attached to these characters and emotional about them already. Of course we all want to be excited about them, or the interactions we have, the hypotheticals and world building, or verse building, the whole deal. That's what part of the fun is. So if you are one of those people who worry about filling up the dash with various forms of energetic chatter, I want you to know that it is never going to bother me. I love seeing how different people get excited and passionate about their chaos children, and I know I'm not the only one. I'M the one thinking I'll annoy you by liking all the posts. If I have liked any post from you yelling about your muse, assume you can basically burst through my door, full of emotions at 3am, needing someone to talk to about it. Because you can.

And if I haven't liked one yet? It's not because I like you less, or don't care, or am annoyed. Ever. It's 1000% because I'm in my own nervous little hovel not sure if we've written enough for it to not be weird that I'm standing here clapping and cheering you on about this fun little sandbox we all like playing in so much.

[hopeinthebox]

tagged by the tastemaker @cordiallyfuturedwight for the january receipts and would you believe it i'm actually on time

tagging a few favs: @aprylynn @jiminsproof @thvinyl @jimin-gaon @visionsofgideontheninth @btscontentenjoyer @kimchokejin @jihopesjoint @eoieopda @monismochi <333 and you too if you fancy it

[simgerale]

WIFE (One Shot for Regal)

The stars were out, and she could finally rest.

Magdalena let out a breath as she clicked the door shut, closing her eyes in relief. She did not foresee that the celebrations would last all day, but once her people found out about the marriage, many who were close by traveled to the castle. Not only did Volais gain an Emperor, but a peace without limits and the benefits that come with it. Trade will be bountiful, magic can finally find its way back into the lands, and war… War will slumber once more.

“Magdalena?” A gravely voice interrupts her thoughts, making her skin prickle at the sound of her name.

Right. These are not solely my chambers anymore.

Turning her body around to lean against the door, Magdalena spots the culprit sitting in soapy waters with a tired smile on his face.

“Who said that you could use my bath, your majesty?”

“My own conscious, once I realized that you had not escaped nearly as quickly as I did. You would not want your new husband to reek of politicians, would you?”

The empress quirks a brow, only for it to immediately lower in response to her eyes finding his bare… everything. With burning cheeks, she grasps her hands in front of her middle and makes a beeline for the vanity. She was exhausted when she entered the room, but now her heart cannot seem to stop hammering her ribcage.

It is just Luca. This is not your nightmares. He will be kind.

With shaky hands, Magdalena starts to take off her jewelry. She is almost regretful that she dismissed her handmaids, even if it is supposed to be her wedding night. This will take her an eternity.

The sounds of splashing water fill the room as her husband leaves his bath, causing her throat to tighten. He dresses painfully slow, the anticipation rising in Magdalena’s stomach until she cannot take it anymore and drops an earring.

Suddenly there is a hand to her left, offering her the pearl. When she looks back to the mirror, she finds Luca’s handsome face wearing a caring expression. “Need assistance?”

“…If you do not mind.”

“I will never mind,” he mutters, smiling as he starts to unclasp her necklace. “It gives me an excuse to be close to you, after all.”

Her whole body seems to retract into itself as his fingers brush the nape of her neck. Goosebumps form on her skin.

“We do not have to do anything tonight. In fact, I am fully prepared to not do anything for quite a long time,” Luca reassures his wife, placing a gentle kiss on her hair before moving away.

What? Magdalena asks herself. He… does not want to? She was surprisingly disappointed, regardless of her previous anxiety.

“Are you certain?”

Her husband chuckles, crossing his legs in the arm chair he found himself in. “Yes…? I thought you did not wish for us to advance so quickly.”

She purses her lips, turning away from the mirror so that she can look at her husband face-on. “I-It is not that I did not wish for us to advance… but it is expected of us. I am expected to bear a child now that I am married.”

Luca stares at Magdalena with his mouth slightly ajar, brows furrowing as if he is trying to decipher a code written on her face. “Surely you do not believe that we always have to do what is expected of us, Magdalena. Especially when it concerns our private affairs.” He stands slowly, his tunic shifting to reveal a chest his new wife is trying her hardest not to focus on. “Especially when we have already determined that this marriage was for us and not for them.”

“I understand, but—“

“No, you apparently do not,” Luca cuts her off, walking towards her with waves of concern radiating off of him. Taking both hands in his, he says, “We had our first kiss yesterday, Magdalena. And your nerves were unhinged the moment you saw me bathing. Did you think I would not notice?”

The empress gulps. She is unused to someone knowing her this well. Even her sister is not this good at picking her apart.

“I may be bold, but I am not that bold to assume you would want to lay with me after one day of being mine,” he jokes, a wet curl falling onto his forehead. “I will even sleep in my old room if you are not ready for my hairy legs in your bed.”

A laugh bubbles out of Magdalena, the tension releasing from her body as suddenly as it appeared. He is the only one that has gotten her to relax so easily in years, and she is sure that no one else will ever be able to achieve the same feat.

A few nights later, after days full of meeting with important people and drawing up official documents, after constant moments of catching the other staring across the room, after a vulnerable minute in the stairwell when they finally got alone and kissed like they had been deprived of air… Magdalena no longer had any fears left.

That is why Luca retired that night to find his new wife, clad in her nightgown, standing by their bed with a certain glint in her eye.

“Was my Empress waiting for me all this time?”

“No,” she said quietly. “Your wife was.”

[medicinemane]

Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy

You have... very very very very very very very very smart people you know, and they're say something that not only isn't true, but literally is as opposite of the truth as it's possible to be... and you'll... gently inform them "hey, it's actually a bit more like this" and then they just kinda... go on saying literally the exact same thing

I'm not sure if it's just that... I often feel like I must be very bad at communicating, or people must just not notice/ignore a lot of what I say, but... I don't know

Like dearest friend, you've said something as absurd as... I don't know, it's hard to say without saying it, but honest to god about as absurd as saying the United States was a part of the USSR, that level of completely getting it backwards

...and it just doesn't seem to matter when I try to explain it... I legit don't even know if you read what I said

Really end up feeling like I'm going nuts sometimes

[giantkillerjack]

Ya know. I spent most of my life with horrible painful soul-crushing social anxiety.

And after about 25 years of continuous hard work, suddenly, people started pointing out - to my utter bafflement - that I had, in fact, achieved my lifelong dream of being charismatic. I'm 29 now; I feel comfortable in most social situations, and it is a very rare person whom I cannot make laugh.

I am, undoubtedly, finally, charismatic.

But do you know what I found?

I found that now that I have an understanding of which social rules serve which functions -- Now that I have an understanding of just how much damage my awkwardness was doing to people, well,

I found that, actually, my awkwardness never really hurt anyone at all. People were just judgmental dicks to me about it.

Now that I have the skill-level to (most of the time) creatively vocalize what is in my head as soon as I think it and without fear, I can confirm once and for all what I had always suspected:

I was worth talking to when I was quiet.

I was worth talking to when I was awkward, and when the words in my head took time and patience to hear, and when most of my jokes didn't land. I was worth talking to the whole time.

So I just... I hope that if you've ever wondered whether you are worth communicating with, the answer is yes. Absolutely yes. Each of us has a soul worth sharing - and if you and I were talking, I would happily wait for you to speak (or communicate in other ways) without condescending, and I would never shame you for that harmless awkwardness that so many people feel the need to violently stomp out.

You are worth talking to. You just are. And you deserve people who will speak to you with kindness, with patience, and with the basic immutable respect owed to all people.

(I talk about this with some frequency, both on tumblr and in real life. At some point, maybe I'll gather all my thoughts on the matter into one post. At some point, I wrote about my personal experience trying to build my social skill. But I felt the need to say at least a little bit tonight after seeing this other lovely post, and I'm glad I did. It will happen again.)

[kirbytripledeluxe]

God do I wish we weren't scared to exist as a system without judgement. Hi .

[die-tenebris]

FASCINATING.

1. Did I even reblog anything?

2. Want citations for what ways specifically which trans men are awful

3. Marginalized people need to earn support and community? Really? Not a valid or addressable point.

Imagine if this said trans women instead of men. Do me a favor and read it that way real quick and let's take notice of how that might change how one feels about these sentences.

[quatregats]

Finals are nigh I am thinking about the Solomon a Gaenor fic again time is a circle

[the-whispers-of-death]

There will be no joy!

Android reader who is constantly reminded that he's not human

Android reader having a particularly bad day and tearing into his "flesh" in a state of instability

it hurts but only for a second, his nerves are only synthetic skin deep and it only further drives in the truth that he's not human

The liquid that flows in his body isn't blood

It's not red but a mixture of cobalt blue and glowing azure

He's then reminded that his body isn't really a body

It's a machine

Stone brain thinks with chemical markers and hormones

He software runs on code

He can't even cry as an emotional reaction

He can only cry when there is something clouding his vision

So he screams

Quick question anon, are you okay?

Also another question, no judgement here, are you the anon who sent an ask weeks ago about Vampire King!Reader crying over the fact that he'd one day outlive Kali and Stone?

[tenitchyfingers]

still not over the end of Barry

[vargaslovinghours]

In case it was ever a question

[gottagobuycheese]

genuinely truly wholeheartedly cannot fathom people who go running before work. what do you mean you don’t get out of bed 10-15 minutes before you need to be fully dressed, breakfasted, equipped, and out the door? why would you voluntarily wake up SEVERAL hours early and go get sweaty in the dark and cold and then have a shower in the MORNING only to go to work all day?? incomprehensible.