#rw writing

[sycamorality]

imagine waking up after suddenly feeling yourself thrust from the world itself and disconnected from the cycle. you were lost in a vast void for what felt like forever. you couldn't quite move despite freeing yourself a few mere cycles earlier, and yet there you were, stuck in the void, unmoving - and now you're here - where is here, exactly?

you look down. blood. thre's blood. on your hands, on your face….. it's coming from your head and chest. it was coming from your head and chest. it's run its course already. you've run your course already. that's you. that's your blood splattered on your body. but you're watching like a bystander. one of your overseers - the one you named, the one that has one hell of its own personality, is staring in disbelief. it's looking at your corpse. you're dead.

gods weren't meant to die.

were you ever a god? are your kin gods? they're like you, yet you died, can they die too? do they bleed as well? why do you bleed? why did you bleed? that's not you anymore. it's your corpse. lying dead and cold, disconnected from the rest of itself - you'd cut your connection with so much of yourself for your own freedom and you'd suffered through it. you were almost there. you could almost go out. you could almost see the sun and feel it on your own body.

but there was a flash of gold.

then, you'd found yourself in the void. now? you're almost ethereal. it's almost as if you're not of this world. almost as if you're not there -- your overeer perks up. it notices you. whatever you are now. you hadn't noticed until now.

an echo.

of what once was, or what will be?

[cosmikazie]

I AM CRINGE BUT I AM FREE!

Ever since the Cherrybush propaganda started its work on me I’ve been working on this one-shot thing for an AU based on this theoretical I had bouncing around in my head: what if Hunter ended up helplessly immortal too? Just like Saint?

So I thought I’d give this whole “fanned fictions” thing a try. And after a little more thought, I was like hey, why not share it on the gay gay homosexual gay website? They love this shit here.

So yeah. Enjoy some Cherrybush.

(oh and CWs for Character Death and themes of certain Ideations:tm:)

[youwillwakeupagain]

Flesh and Blood - Cycle 19

Whew! So uh. Empty Words (our main AU) is definitely still ongoing, but we realized the initial chapters were headed for a continuity snarl. Those are going to be underway for a little.

Meanwhile, we decided to start a smaller scale thing totally outside of that (with less characters) to practice a few things while we sort that out.

And so, presenting the start of: Flesh and Blood, an Artihunter/Cherrybomb fic!

We've already got this thing plotted out start to finish, though it'll take a bit to get there. It's also... probably going to be pretty slow burn, and potentially heavy, so be warned.

Anyway, here's hoping you enjoy if you check it out!

[colfy-wolfy]

If I wrote a fic about the aftermath of Surv and Monk's family losing two pups at the same moment, would you guys read it?

it'll be filled with a bunch of my headcanons about them and I promise I'll make it interesting story-wise.

happy ending? depends on how generous i am. it'll probably only be a few chaps long. simply for fun!!

[bee-sidebranch]

How i acquired my second child

These two are my travel companions on the monk campaign i use for pearl hunting,

Pearl and Pond Scum

I'll show them off properly in another post but basically Pond is a scrawny tiny baby who needs all the love and Pearl would probaly kill lizards on her own if i wasn't dragging her where i wanna go

(This is exactly how i found her btw, bullying a lantern mouse on my way to shoreline)

[opashoo]

An Exchange

Pioneer is showing Rook her system of notating slugcat scents by their scent proteins and other chemical compounds, while Rook is showing off a system of writing developed by slugcats from the far north, who were apparently tutored under a late iterator (one who was quite legendary….)

Artfight revenge on @kalivasquezart!! This gets to do double duty as fanart and thanks for that honestly amazing attack you did with Rook.

Pioneer's writing, I just pulled directly from the askblog from this post here. Kali made it using logographs from @ikayblythe's Standard Hegemonic Dialect!

Rook's writing is an ongoing project of mine trying to adapt the symbols of Rain World to a working conlang I'm developing for the colony slugcats in my setting. Each block represents a syllable, and most characters represent consonants, each of which natively have an 'a' attached. A line above changes that 'a' to an 'i' while a line below changes it to an 'o'. Stacks of two characters represent a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable block, with the vowel decided by the top character. Sometimes the Monk symbol (circle) is used to represent the absence of a consonant (such as the third block). A syllable block encompassed within another character (such as the second syllable block) represents a long vowel.

Rook's writing reads "pajmūy ag sayong da". Grammer and lexicon are still very heavily in development, but 'pajmūy' means "One who is often convinced".

[thetrueressii]

after arti naturally, hunter was next tho i don't have as much lore for them this time around compared to arti

i think next would be either gourmand + monk + survivor + nightcat or spearmaster, anyways lore belong cut

despite nsh already having established colonies near his facility grounds, he created hunter to assert some control over the delivery of the green neuron fly rather than entrusting it with a regular slugcat or scavenger

due to an array of possible reasons, hunter was afflicted with rot from birth but resources were low so they would have to do and was introduced to the nearest colony to help socialize and train them for the delivery

though they were an outcast due to their artificial birth and affliction and over time their rot only grew worse and worse, but despite this, they always went on hunts/expeditions, whether it be in a group or alone, to train themself and acceptance

amputations, surgeries, and prosthetics could only slow its growth and eventually nsh had decided it was time for hunter to go as any later might've been too late

hunter crossed path with spearmaster and even gourmand's colony (at least when it was much smaller) along their journey and eventually makes it to five pebbles to receive possible treatment, remembering that five pebbles was afflicted with a similar disease

they were met with the unfortunate news that not even five pebbles could cure them, but five pebbles requested a task on top of their delivery task, which was to kill arti, or at least make her leave

taking pity or empathizing with the only other person afflicted, they accepted and well, yknow how that goes if you read the arti post

afterward, they make their delivery to moon and, after she adjusts from being well dead for so long and inquiring about hunter's journey, she suggests that hunter should spend what little time they have left with the closest colony, gourmand's

and thats about it for what i have rn for hunter really, if i were to do a comic or something like that for this au, it would take place either gourmand's colony has moved into metropolis/five pebbles facility grounds or right before

i have more plans for hunter so dw they arent doomed (yet), but for now they just chill in gourmands colony as a hunter/expeditioner i guess lol

[kinselu]

they have him pinned, but at least they're warm!

fanart for @tsunochizu 's backwards through the snow fic! im SO normal about this story (still emotionally recovering from chapter 15) i love this fic so much <3

they are the STINKIEST of family...

(for those who haven't read this fic, first of all, go read it now. but also pebbles is mostly ok. kinda. hes just dirty and stinky... amongst other things)

[mushroominaforest]

More things from the au!

like I said, this au is cantered around three sets of siblings.

first, we have Saint and Inv. They aren’t biologically related, but they were both made by the same Iterator, which is close enough.

Monk and Survivor are Gourmand’s two kids in this au, and are the only semi normal people in this group.

Hunter and Artificer are twin messengers made by NSH, and are biologically related to each other.

[ask-the-pioneer]

"Yes, I am now heading towards Five Pebbles, the local iterator. I find it funny how I was born and spent my first cycles in the shadow of his superstructure, while being completely oblivious to the existence of this demi-god. And now that I came back here... it feels even more uncanny."

"Though, I really... I really wish Hunter did not abandon me like that. I thought we were meant to go on that mission together? I'm not blind, I know something is wrong with him. We used to go on expeditions in the past, but now that he has a very important payload to deliver and could use some help, he suddenly doesn't need it? I don't understand... I'm more than capable in combat, we make a good team, I thought he was happy with my company?"

"We separated earlier at Farm Arrays. Hunter kept insisting he has to do it alone, despite my pleading. Instead, I was told to head straight to Five Pebbles. I thought we had to visit there anyway? Iterators often use slugcats as messengers, I've learned..."

"Sigh... I feel a little lost all on my own. I miss Hunter already. I hope that, despite everything, he's okay and we will return to NSH soon. But first, I need to pay the local iterator a visit. I'm hoping for some guidance in regards to... ahem... rot, yeah. I heard they've been affected by the disease, too. Maybe they've got an idea on how to manage it? It doesn't hurt to try. Maybe I'll hang around this area for a while to collect as many pearls as possible, then have Five Pebbles read them to me? One of those has to have some kind of instruction on how to treat rot, it has to... I refuse to believe that the disease which plagued iterators for countless cycles is untreatable."

"Uh... the Red One?"

[pmpwbrrs]

Yeah no I'm not done with them yeaah no

I hate them so much these two fudkers they're NOT gonna be happy . No. Right now they are maybe(not really), but later? No

[cosmikazie]

alright here we go. let the floodgates open

[youwillwakeupagain]

Rain World: Empty Words (Chapter 1)

We finally worked up the courage and started to manifest the Rain World AU that's been percolating in our brain for a few weeks now, and so: Welcome to Empty Words!

We begin with a glimpse of Monk and Survivor as they wrap up their latest expedition, along with a peek into their shared past.

If you decide to check it out: Thank you, and we hope you enjoy!

We're newbies to pretty much everything along the way here. This is the first time we've written a fanwork, first time we've created an AU, and... the first time we've shared a creative work in any form on tumblr, I think.

That's exciting! (It's also terrifying!) (Tagging this means we're going to be perceived!) (Also please forgive us if we barely know what we're doing with tags here or there.)

We'll be trying to get a chapter of this out every week or two, ideally the former. We'll also be posting a bit more of the worldbuilding, headcanons, and slugcats holding the thing together on this tumblr soon enough!

[colfy-wolfy]

you're welcome

@gazingabovetenstars

[aipurjopa]

It’s still that same festival and it’s still you. Except now you’re here after doing something great, right?

Congrats Akito

+ related Ena comic under the cut

[kelocitta]

In honor of the @rw-ship-showdown I wanted to write about Artihunter as someone who jokingly slapped them together pre-downpour and still thinks they are actually very compelling. Just not in the super soft love wins kinda way (Although I get why people like that more) And the only way I know how to do that is talking too much so heres a far too long slug essay-

Obviously the slugcats don't offer a ton of characterization but theres not nothing to work with. Their stories, whether by their roles in it or the overarching themes do provide a backbone to work with. Even gameplay itself can provide a bit. (for some more than others) Hunter, to me, is ultimately a story about selflessness. The goal is to revive Moon, which is very much an act of kindness from both Hunter and NSH. But the weight of that action is much more significant for Hunter- Hunter is deeply sick. They're on the clock, and for all their skill in combat none of that will ultimately help them to survive longer than their body can hold out. Moon is a close friend of NSH but that means little Hunter- Hunter really gets next to nothing out of helping them, and ultimately pays quiet a bit spending their limited time alive fighting to deliver that neuron so that someone else can live.

To spend ones limited days on helping another, in a game that very much stresses the unwavering cruelty of the world and nature- is pretty notable. (And you could even say that Hunter being the Hardmode of Rain World adds another layer to this)

And then we have Artificer. A storyline that very much stands out to people as more… villainous (so to speak) than the other slugcats. Artificer's story covers a lot of things. Trauma, violence, revenge, etc. Revenge is a bit of a selfish desire- That need to see someone hurt as they have hurt you. A punishment that ultimately does not fix whatever harm was done- but feels good to see because you were hurt and now those responsible share that pain.

Artificer's actions are founded in that need for revenge, their pups killed for overstepping boundaries they didn't know existed. Is it not fair for them to be angry at that, to punish the scavengers for their violence with their own? Why should the scavengers ever be forgiven when they and their pups were not? And that's how you get that loop- Harm for harm over and over.

The original action has been lost in a spiral of violence for violence. And here stands Artificer- their very spirit scarred. Not just because they sought revenge, but because they never ceased trying to scratch that itch for violence as an answer. Artificer only has two paths for their story- killing the scavenger king (Someone who, really, has little to do with the original 'crime' of the scavengers, but represents an important individual to them- as did the slugpups to Artificer), locking themselves as karma one for good and spending the rest of their life chasing creatures that no longer even fight back in a warped sense of closure- or to dissolve themselves in the acids of the void sea because they're too far gone to find any real peace.

They can't meaningfully recover from that state, not alone, twisting in on themselves. Even if they halt their actions, they've been using violence as a feeble defense against their own pain- violence that no longer has any real direction or basis. Artificer gets no real closure from killing the scavenger king. All they can do is continue the cycle, or try to scrub it away. No real peace in a prison of their own making. So you have a creature, who even with a strict timer on their life- a body that will crumble to disease, spends its last bit of time on saving another. And another who was so caught up in the pain of loss that were eaten alive by their own anger, poisoned their own soul on such a deep level even self-proclaimed gods have no solution for them. What peace can they offer each other? For Hunter, its only a fleeting moment of happiness- of selfish love, before their own body fails them. A bit of indulgence in something for themself. For Artificer, its a single, comforting thread to ground them again, something tangible to protect and care about again. But thats a thread that will ultimately be snapped under the cruel indifference of the world. Hunters timer will tick down regardless of if it takes another with it. Its a tragedy- its doomed to end badly. Whatever good it offers to either of them to find each other will only provide the fleeting comfort of a band-aid that will be ripped away too early. But all that can be worth indulging in anyway, if only for the moment. It doesn't change the ending, but the ending was never going to be happy. Its can so yuri