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
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truly not sorry but once again thinking abt miranda/mc/mia in RL. i need them SO bad. like, 2 of the most morally unsound persons (Mia & Miranda) + their little meow meow. Knowing both are so possessive and destructive (TO OTHERS) when they love and instead of running, fully embracing the chaos of it. Loving them despite their delusions of grandeur, the crimes, the secrets, and the deaths (+ undeaths) caused (or ordered!) by their hands. Acknowledging this is fucked up but you can't help it. Lovingly bitching abt their fights but fully done and gone to do anything else but to soothe and continue loving them, because after all those years of waiting and doing and redoing everything to be perfect was worth it for this.
also did i mention being their little meow meow. sorry Miranda, MC was the original gremlin in the relationship and Mia being the fucked up feral racoon she is now is not solely by her doing, MC was and IS the enabler in both relationships that it bled over sm and OUGHJJJJJHHHHhhhh im being so emo abt three (3) women being utter menaces frfr
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NOOOO
My dad bought the first volume of dungeon meshi (for himself to read) and it arrived today… but it’s entirely in German 😭😭
Luckily he’s pretty good at German but still it’s so funny to me
German Marcille is real…..
It might be a good excuse for me to learn more German, in addition to learning Starlight Express Bochum songs & also generally trying to learn German to impress my crush. I don’t think that would work but a girl can dream. Also in the spirit of Marcille, does anyone know any other cool ways to impress girls…?
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invited to a sleepover at the bride's place tomorrow as her husband is going on a work trip for the weekend, girls' night and all that stuff.
first time he leaves for the night in the year they've been living together and it's very puzzling to me that she doesn't want to enjoy some alone time - but I'm not complaining, it's nice to be invited. even if she ends up falling asleep by midnight, as she always does
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*kicks door down* WHOS READY FOR SEARI BEING GAY
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A WOMAN MORE GORGEOUS?!?!?! SASODNASFKLX SHES SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL SHES SO PRETTY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
SHES MY WIFE, SHE LOVES ME, SHE ADORES ME JUST AS MUCH AS I LOVE AND ADORE HER!!! LOOK EVEN THE BESTIE KNOWS!!!
HER SMILE!! HER FUCKING SMILE!!! IS SO FUCKING PRETTY!!! SO FUCKING IFJDSAOJBFDNOS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *punches desk* IVE NEVER SEEN A WOMAN SO FUCKING PRETTY!!!
HER SMILE HER FACE LOOKS SO GENTLE SO KIND SO BEAUTIFUL!!! THIS IS THE WAY SHE LOOKS AT ME AND SMILES AT ME BY THE WAY!!! THATS HER LOOKING AT ME, IM WAVING BEHIND THE CAMERA AND THEY TOOK THE PICTURE THE EXACT MOMENT OUR EYES MET!!!!
AND GOD THE WAY SHE LOOKS IN THAT SUIT!!! FUCK SHES SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!!!! I COULD JUST LOOK AT HER ALL DAY AND SIGH HAPPILY, I LOVE HER
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BESTIE can you tell me more about your lovely lady Jo I like her a lot....
IM SOOOOOO FUCKING GLAD YOU ASKED so she’s like technically an SCP OC tho we’re not suuuper connected to that universe it’s more of a vessel to tell our story but she’s this middle aged lesbian who is PAST her prime. She never had a prime. This is a cringe woman. She’s like on the millennial gen x cusp and it’s like painfully obvious. She is not a cool woman. She hasn’t even really talked to a girl other than her sister since high school. She’s got no friends. She works a minimum wage job and then goes home to her little house she took from her elderly mom after her mom got moved to 24/7 care (Jo doesn’t visit her btw)
And then one day she wakes up with a ton of weird symptoms. They persist for weeks. She goes to a doctor. They have her take a pregnancy test even though she tries to explain to them she can’t Possibly be pregnant. It comes back positive. She takes several more. She is super pregnant. She panics. She assumes the worst. She cannot fathom how this could have happened. More tests are done. She gets an ultrasound done. There’s no baby. Every pregnancy test comes back positive. She experiences every symptom of pregnancy. Her body is reacting as if there is a baby. But there’s just no baby. Her womb is empty.
For a really long time she tries to find an answer. Doctors don’t take her seriously. They assume she has an extreme case of Pseudocyesis. They blame it on her parental problems. She sees therapists. Nothing helps, and she continues to appear more and more pregnant until her body stops at around the 7th month mark.
Eventually she gives up and for Four Years she exists in a body that is 7 months pregnant until eventually her case gets brought to a doctor who has ties to the SCP foundation and they immediately clock her as something anomalous. The foundation gets involved.
The SCP foundation sends in Agent Ainsley ( @ericka-the-worm ‘s character, If you were wondering) to pick her up. He’s a high level agent in the foundation. He’s well trusted to do an easy job like this. Except Ainsely has just come back from forced leave after his spouse, another agent at the foundation, was killed by an SCP. He’s freshly traumatized and his grief has made him angry. The sound of a lamp crashing on the ground when he breaks into her home sends him into a full on PTSD induced panic attack which he believes was not just a sign that he wasn’t ready to come back to work, but instead a mental attack from Jo, who he believes is a far more dangerous SCP than she’s letting on and able to manipulate his mind.
The foundation believes Ainsley and puts Jo in maximum containment. She’s left unattended for days. The isolation drives her crazy. She has been abducted from her home with no explanation and now sits in a silent white room every second of the day. She tries her best to stay sane but it’s near impossible. She deals with constant hallucinations and delusions. That’s when a scientist is assigned to her case. Doctor Zephyr Salem ( @kennydennys )
Dr Salem is driven by only one thing: knowledge. They learn very quickly that Ainsley’s report of Jo wasn’t accurate. And they are very easily attached to Jo for how interesting she is, both as an SCP, and as a human woman who has been driven out of her mind.
Jo IMMEDIATELY attaches to Salem as the only person who she’s in contact with. Finally being able to talk to another person and have a connection to the outside world, she relies on them, and believes them completely when they say they want to help her with her condition and eventually free her from containment.
Jo feels that she’s already been saved by Salem, because she finally has someone to talk to after being in isolation for so long. But the SCP foundation is Salem’s place of work, and Salem has to clock out eventually. They can’t stay with her all the time, and she still spends most of her time completely alone. She continues to get worse. Salem tells Jo that things won’t be like this forever, and she’ll get to leave some day. But in reality Salem has no real intention of ever letting their most interesting case yet leave them.
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