#What answer a slugcat

[comrade-slugcat]

you should draw…. Hmmm.. Cyclonus staring out of a window (his favorite activity)

Hes been doing this for the past 48 hours

[maryymaruu]

For Three Signals: What do you think of The Listener?

[mossy-paws]

Scythe but scuggy

Hell, The entire cast as scuggy :3

I sadly cannot draw the entire cast as slug cats but,, here’s a scythe sluggo for you!

[spotsupstuff]

(hii Spot been awhile) Something I think that's interesting about the observation about how Slugcats are getting so much attention nowadays is that its almost a 180 from how things were in the pre-downpour days, iirc.

Though I am glad we're getting an AU like yours it's so interesting compared to the usual

Im eating with a fork

Yeah, the fandom was not particularly strong back then, but I think there was more Iterator content. My suspicion as to why slugcats are so much more popular now is because the general "cat appeal"*. Downpour brought in wider audience which mostly consists of people that go wild over cat videos on the internet.

Not my intention to throw shade on it, because after all what does my opinion matter to anyone, but I find the whole "cuteness cult" of the internet annoying and, when applied to Rain World, frustrating. There's a whole silent worldbuilding in basically every screen of the game and the only thing that people seem to take away post-DP is "cute sluggy go wooo :3 the Ancients were such cultist pricks Dx". Which like alright, but expand a little on the latter please? Try? There is So much fun to it when one moves past the "religion only BAD" mindset.

DP also I think didn't care much about the Ancients and the culture they left behind (and therefore the root of Iterators). "But there's Saint!" Saint is almost everything new that wasn't heard of before, can be taken as another fact of monstroid mad religion and, of course, it Has to be wrapped in a fluffy cat package. The undergrowth Echo also feels like a spit in the face to the lore/religion than an addition, to me. My *guess* would be the original intention was showing an individual who failed to ascend because of the Fifth Hindrance but it doesn't *feel* like it. If that was the intention, I think the author didn't understand why a desire to live/survive could ever, in any form, be bad

It's interesting as well in the sense that when there was only Survivor, maybe up to Hunter- the slugcats felt like a vehicle that brings the player to the story. The player saw the world through their eyes and got to experience the world's rules, abiding them- the original campaigns were still subject to the lore/religion of the world.

DP made the slugcats characters, the main focus, in some cases a rebelion against the lore/religion (forever beef against new route for Survivor and Monk). So people had an easier time latching onto them.

That is my theory at least. Fact is also when I first watched RW I almost didn't get into it as a creator because I felt like I had nowhere to hook to and work with. Characters are great anchor points for people to latch on to and then work with/through, so it's not like I blame the fandom for quite literally getting slug infested. It's natural and logical and I'm well aware of it as someone who's trying to be a writer. Still frustrating.

Either way, at least there's a vacuum for me to fill with something I'm actively actually passionate about. It's kind of a sweet bonus that people are somewhat interested, too.

[colfy-wolfy]

I have such a deep carnal love for rain world... the Watcher only reminded me how much I love rain world. I love playing rain world I love being a lost little rat thing that gets killed 1 gazillion times by various creatures that range from rainbow crocodile to actual eldritch horrors 💞💞💞💞 I love robot lore I love ancient lore I love background storytelling I love this ecosystem that lies inside my computer...

there will never ever EVER be a game like rain world again and I'm so happy I found such a game. I've been so actively hyperfixated on it for years now to the point where now it's just part of who I am.. I'm nothing without rain world...... I says as I rip off my shirt, revealing another shirt underneath that reads "I ❤️ rain world"

rain world number one 5ever !! the feeling I get for rain world is similar to when you see the most best thing to ever exist but you don't know how to express such a feeling or what to do with your body so you just start aggressively suppressing the urge to hurt something or someone and sometimes even start shaking and making weird restrained noises. im thinking kind of like cute aggression but times that by 10.

[nightly-nightcat]

night cat sitting on top of this very willow-y mushroom? :0

day 96 - not sure how well i understood/caputured the willowy mushroom part but the general vibe was a fun one to execute,,, oh to be a little nightcat on a mushroom, pondering and whatnot

[oh-rainworld-guy]

could you draw spearmaster and riv? :D as a pairing

i think somethings in the water...

[thescaryhyperfem]

who is your favorite slugcat from rain world?

people assume everyone knows everything

[ileikseawigs]

I offer to you.

The great exchange.

[opashoo]

askayaso! I’ve been looking to see if you’ve ever made a Watcher/Nightcat ref for Undergrowth, and couldn’t find one. I was wondering if you had any ideas?

even if you don’t respond, I’d still like to say your art and the scuglang document are incredible.

askasa! I actually didn't have any references or specific design decisions in mind for the Undergrowth version of Watcher, aside from a few key details that I won't elaborate on at present. I'm also going to be revising this design and reworking the reference soon, but it's nice to have an initial design out there, so thank you for asking and inadvertently convincing me to draw this. Funny enough, Watcher DLC doesn't interfere with the plans I already had for Watcher, so I don't have to change anything in that respect! For now:

Watcher is from Luna, or somewhere very close by. Her title, banolnak yopwa "Atop the Watchtower" was given based on her attitude; aloof and troubled, prone to lashing out, much preferring to stay on the outside. The isolation of sentry and patrol suit him just fine. What few friends he has call him banno "Watch".

She's been plagued her whole life by feelings of anxiety and absence, a sense of having no real identity or personhood. A local mystic examined his kohga and revealed the problem to be spiritual in nature; an absolutely bizarre occurrence, that Watcher has had only one, singular past life, but one so vast that it spans hundreds of thousands of generations. Surely this must be the source of her troubles, that her juhei must bear the brunt of this massive spiritual burden. After that point, Watcher became obsessed with trying to learn more about her past life.

Eventually, while in Metropolis, he learns about a shelter of slugcats in the nearby drainage system, run by a furred slugcat from a far-off retaining wall, home to an order with a much stricter spiritual dogma, very likely connected to the mystery of Watcher's kohga. It's not long before Watcher comes to Saint's shelter seeking answers.

kohga vn continuing / 1. continuation 2. one's whole, continuous self; the thread of self that ties one's multiple lives and selves together

juhei n the current, living version of oneself amongst all the different past lives and cyclical possibilities within one's kohga

isoyja adj spiritual / n spirituality; matters pertaining to the spirit, religion, and the metaphysical, such as samsada, kohga, and hoda

damae n that which bleeds / 1. wound; ulcer

While much of Undergrowth is inspired by east and southeast Asia, my wife suggested that Watcher (and by extension the residents of Luna) have a more Scandi aesthetic. I thought that was a bangin idea.

[sluglore]

Explaining The Iterator's Purpose (And Why They Weren't Made to Circumvent The Echoes)

Alright, I know there's already been a few posts like this out there, like this older one from @halvedforest, and this recent one from @noizepushr, which are both good posts, but I've been meaning to touch up and cross-post my own older misconceptions post from reddit for a while now, and provide a deeper, more expanded analysis as to why this misconception exists and explain what's actually going on, so here it finally is haha I'll also be using the term 'Benefactor' instead of 'Ancient', if people are confused about that, I intend to make a post about it eventually ^^

( If you're confused on who out there even believes this, this idea originated from Rain World YouTube lore videos, long before Downpour was ever a thing! It is unfortunately still quite prominent on there... but it's definitely getting better :3 )

This misconception stems from misreading the singular pearl to ever mention the echoes, being the Bright Red farm arrays pearl, so let me begin by attaching the specific section below:

“There were some horror stories though... That if your ego was big enough, not even the Void Fluid could entirely cross you out, and a faint echo of your pompousness would grandiosely haunt the premises forever. So even when the Void Fluid baths became cheaper, some would still starve and drink the bitter tea.” (Bright red Farm Arrays pearl dialogue)

Note the specific usage of “some” here. Echoes weren't presented as an issue significant to re-center Benefactor society around, (let alone build the iterators for) but as some horror stories which only "some" people (likely on the fringes of society) would believe in. Nowhere are we given anything that alludes to the existence of Echoes being regarded as a societal problem to address, much less have anything to do with the Iterators.

Additionally, although we know for a fact that echoes do exist, its fairly possible that most of Benefactor society didn't, as LTTM doesn't even know what they are either, regarding them as nothing more than superstition. On the very next line, LTTM confirms that the void baths continued all the same, while again mentioning that "some" would still choose to abstain from them, and drink the bitter tea.

Then what’s the purpose of the iterators if they weren't created to circumvent the echoes? What is The Big Problem that they are even trying to solve in the first place? Well, both FP, LTTM, and the Exterior colored pearl dialogue spell the answer out for you. In fact, it's the first thing FP even tells you!

“The good news first. In a way, I am what you are searching for. Me and my kind have as our purpose to solve that very oscillating claustrophobia in the chests of you and countless others. A strange charity - you the unknowing recipient, I the reluctant gift. The noble benefactors? Gone.” (Five Pebbles dialogue to Survivor) (Monk's version also hits similar notes)

Five pebbles introduces himself as a “reluctant gift," with his purpose being "to solve that very oscillating claustrophobia in the chests of you and countless others," meaning to solve the cycles for everyone and everything else.

If you bring Looks to the Moon a neuron, she has the chance to repeat the same exact explanation to you.

"We were supposed to help everyone, you know. Everything. That was our purpose: a great gift to the lesser beings of the world. When facing our inability to do so, we all reacted differently. Many with madness.”

FP, LTTM, and the rest of their kind were created to serve the rest of the world in finding a method of total mass ascension, of ending the cycle entirely for everyone.... and everything. Not only including the fauna of the world, like the slugcat, but the bedrock, microbes and even gases, as explicitly stated in this snippet from the Exterior pearl dialogue below:

“The Moral Argument: Five Pebbles is our Creation, and we have Parental Obligations towards him. As an Iterator, he is also a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes - and towards which We thus have Obligations)” (Pale Green Exterior pearl dialogue)

Here we have the Benefactors define it very clearly, that as an iterator, Five Pebbles is a "Gift of Charity from Us to The World." It's important to note that many misinterpret the next section in parentheses as being about FP himself, but if it were, it would be the only time FP is ever referred to as “it”. What's really being described is the world, “unable to reach enlightenment by itself, being composed mostly of rock, gas, dull witted bugs and microbes” The world is unable to reach Enlightenment on it's own and therefore, that's why the iterators were created. (Also- when you think about it, the description of "being composed of rock, gas, and dull witted microbes" doesn't even really fit FP's description lol)

Quick but necessary tangent, the concept of non-living things being apart of the cycle is a little confusing, and tricky to quickly answer without going deep into cycle lore discussion, (I have an entire post in drafts dedicated to clearing this up) but it's actually incredibly important for understanding what The Great Problem is! To shed some light, it's not that non-living matter are able to somehow comprehend the cycles, but that the entire physical world itself is actually an intrinsic part of the cycles.

If you leave a stone on the ground, and come back some time later, it's covered in dust. This happens everywhere, and over several lifetimes of creatures such as you, the ground slowly builds upwards. So why doesn't the ground collide with the sky? Because far down, under the very very old layers of the earth, the rock is being dissolved or removed. The entity which does this is known as the Void Sea. If you drill far enough into the earth you begin encountering a substance called Void Fluid. The deeper you go, the less rock and more Void Fluid. It's believed that there is a point where the rock completely gives way - below that would be the Void Sea. When that stone you placed on the ground has finally done its time in the sediments, it meets the Void Fluid and is dissolved, leaving the physical world. (Teal Subterranean pearl dialogue)

There's a reason that 'Cycles' is always plural in Rain World, because there's multiple of them! Organic life is in cycles, the physical bedrock of the world is in cycles, even the very concept of civilization is in cycles. In order to ascend everything, that means ascending not only all living things, but the entire physical universe itself! That's what the Great Problem really is :D (Also technicallyyy it's only ever referred to as "the big problem" and not "the great problem", the latter term stems entirely from the community but it's whatever i just wanted to quickly mention that. great problem definitely sounds cooler LOL)

In conclusion, Iterators are described as "Gifts to the World" not once, not twice, but three entire times throughout base game Rain World's dialogue, one from FP, one from LTTM, and one from the Benefactors. Rain World lore holds many unanswered, purposefully ambiguous questions, but the Iterator's purpose is not one of them!

If you're confused/interested in analysis of the Benefactor's motivations and perspectives on Ascension, I made a post a little while back containing my thoughts right here :)

[comrade-slugcat]

Draw an axolotl perhaps?? They're cute little goobers

Little guy

[priintiisor]

Can we please see what a baby Saint would look like? I’d imagine they’d be incredibly small and fluffy. Also I wanted to say that I adore the way you draw the Slugcats and iterators they’re all so cute!

hehehe this creature

they d also have a lot of whiskers i think. also ty :D

alternatively,

the fur grew later

i m so sorry i took forever to answer this, i wanted to draw digitally and i didn t have the time or patience :')

[ask-the-pioneer]

(@golden-threads-local-group)

[A Fleeting Moment Has Connected.]

AFM: OMV HIIII

AFM: OH MY VOIDSS AHH YOU’RE SO CUTE!!!

AFM: you live with a colony with NSH, right???

AFM: ooohhhmy VOIDS you’ve GOT to tell me the gossip!!! the good juice!!! tell meeeeeeee

AFM: i’ll tell you about the colony that lives in my city if you do 👀 listen it’s important!! it’s for science!!!

AFM: do slugcats have different cultures??? what is your colony like??? are they like, super different from mine!!

AFM: that would be so amazing!!!! i’m watching a little society grow aaahhhh!!!

[the iterator projection from the green overseer is excitedly waving their hands, spinning on their arm. you can get a glimpse of their chamber behind them; a vast space of a complete disarray of various artifacts and objects strewn about]

Marbles jumps a little, surprised by a sudden display. The iterator's erratic movement startles her, but she regains composure quickly. The slugcat sits down and listens intently, trying to understand the meaning from the flurry of words uttered by this near-godly being. It appears they want to know more about… her self? Her culture? Marbles is perplexed. While she can understand the metal gods perfectly, there is simply no way to talk back to them, at least in a language that they would understand…

Nonetheless, the blue scug tries to sign with her hands, hoping that the iterator will miraculously understand. A handful of simple gestures learnt from Hunter during language classes. Certainly this should be enough to answer a couple of simple yes/no questions?

Marbles promises to herself that one day she'll find a way to talk to iterators directly.

[the-compressor]

can i ask what tool you use to compress?

also could you perhaps compress this image :)

Compressed!

116KB -> 8KB ( 6.9% )

Sure. I'm going to be answering @slugcat-in-gundam's ask too because they sent it at a similar time with a similar question:

I use GIMP for all image editing, besides occasional Lunapic.com usage. I did an FAQ on this on another gimmick blog a while back but I do different things here sometimes so I'll redo it anyways.

I got a higher quality version of your picture so the compression will be more noticable:

All the compression done on this blog favors aesthetics over functions, which is why there's extreme dithering on everything: dithering isn't really something that's used at all anymore but I like how it looks.

The main process is really just scaling the image down with linear interpolation to something between 64-256 pixels on the short side, and using Gimp's feature of letting you clamp an image to indexed colors, specifically with Floyd-Steinberg dithering on. If there isn't dithering, the picture will look like this:

Then I just check the sizes they export at and post the image and that's it.

If I want to make the image comically small and impossible to discern, I'll keep it as a jpeg and turn the quality way down at a tiny size:

Which will end up looking like this.

There are other techniques used sometimes, mainly on the #win98 pictures and #gba pictures.

With the win98 pictures, I scale them down to 320x240 or 160x120 every time and clamp the colors to the windows base palette, usually saturating the image before since the dithering doesn't look great otherwise. Look how this picture looks without vs with extra saturated colors:

I forgot to mention before so I'm just jamming it here, but I'll also replace text in the font 3x3 mono if it's too small to be readable to keep the image legible sometimes. You'll notice this being done with fine print and watermarks sometimes:

Here's the runthrough of that:

Lastly, with the GBA pictures, it's about the same process but I just clamp the colors down to a number that the dithering is noticeable while the image is at the gba resolution. I never noticed until making this tutorial, but there's a positioned option for dithering too which I'll probably start using for these gba posts.

That's about it. Here's the big version of the image you sent by the way:

[moodymuu]

{Iterator Ocs: Info and Refs}

I decided now is the time to actually expand on my lil Iterator characters and update their refs cuz they’re all not the same style. I also wanted to go over the bits of lore about them and the region they were in sooo- LETS GET TO IT!

Oc Refs:

Introducing my children.

All three of them belong to an Isolated local group called { Fatal Networks }. 09, Dale, and Ginger are completely far from any other Iterators in the area and have little contact with others unless a Slugcat was used as a messenger (Plus they only have a few overseer and do not want to risk losing them). It is just those three and all three Iterators are considered “experimental” or flat out weapons (Most notably 09 and Dale were the ones that were experiments, you can guess what Ginger was). None of them talked to each other until the end of the Ancient civilization.

Here are the placements. Organized in the shape of an isosceles triangle and are very close to each other which caused a few issues when it came to water.

Lil fun fact: They all shared the same citizens, even if those citizens didn’t agree with one another when it came to territory and technology (and possibly led to Dale’s lil structure fuck up *COUGH*) I’ll explain it later ;3

Here’s what they all look like

Moving to the region they are in:

Crimson Expanse:

The Crimson Expanse is a dry rocky grassland that the three Iterators are in. Covered with short red grass, rocky hills near the ocean, spiny rock masses and a sprinkle of light pink flowers. There are other subregions in the area, but I am way to tried from RW art month so I’ll be able to work on them more later. But ya this is the main region that surrounds them.

That’s all of the main information about them. Of course there will be more info, but that’s being worked on behind the scenes so don’t be afraid to ask me a few questions that you may have and I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. ENJOY!

Doodle bonus: