#oddworld shitpost

[romaine-arts]

hi can i get some more uuuuhhhh mudokon headcanons

i think the chameleon color change aspect of their skin from exoddus was like. retconned in the soulstorm canon, but regardless of that i do think that they slowly change color as they age and depending on various factors, such as environmental changes, health, stress, ect.

factory scrubs tend to be a uniform greenish hue from sharing a two-inch deep gene pool and experiencing very few changes from their isolated, utilitarian worker's lifestyle. this isn't that dissimilar from native tribes having their own unifying color/range of colors from shared genes and shared environment/experiences; the difference being that tribes develop their distinct looks over generations and can still shift naturally over time; scrubs are made to stay the same color unless ill (mentally or physically) as an indicator of their condition.

while theres actual science and demonstrative proof behind nuances in mudokon pigmentation, industrialists especially in earlier decades turned it into a sort of pseudo-science for 'assessing' the health and well being of slaves without actually having to communicate with them. this pseudo-science includes some grains of truth, such as bluish pigmentation being a depressive trait, and also a lot of jackshit nonsense, such as discerning temperament and affinity for different kinds of work based on benign markings. this has led to green pigmentation being bred into factory scrubs, under the assumption they're more genetically inclined towards manual labor

as blue coloring is a sign of major depression and other longstanding mental issues, its common to see bluish-hued crimps, especially in ornamental or escort roles. this has led to the development of artificial pigment injections intended to blot out or nullify the unwanted coloration, to... middling results. attempts to artificially change a mudokon's color often falls flat due to the shifting nature of their pigment, resulting in unwanted discoloration or 'veiny' markings from an inability to blend the substance into the skin. this has made naturally striking or fashionably colored muds all the more valuable.

[theelderscrotes]

fucked up that this happened

[romaine-arts]

how do scrubs view crimps, and vice versa? do they recognize one another as fellow mudokons or do they think one another are ugly?

i feel like, technically, advertisements and such using crimps - who are often objectified and sexualized despite being devoid of personal sexuality - would be in opposition of the blanket ban on all sexual suggestiveness that keeps scrubs 'undistracted'. however: capitalism (and especially fascist-leaning strains (COUGH america rn COUGH)) looooves putting huge amounts of subconscious sexual suggestiveness in advertising, as advertisement is in itself a fucked up kind of psychological science. so i feel like in some places but Not All places they would be showing ads and such that feature crimp spokesmuds/eye candy. and in that case i think scrubs would mostly idolize and envy the life of a 'domestic' (city-dwelling personal servant within the umbrella of what crimps signify) as a much easier, borderline luxurious life, not understanding yet that it is in some ways Much Worse. a few, however, would have the right idea that being a doll isn't the same as being a person.

crimps themselves however view scrubs as the most pitiful excuses for mudokons they've ever seen. somewhere between pity and contempt, domestic and ornamental muds tend to avoid factory and service worker muds whenever possible. they represent a much bleaker fate than they believe they themselves have.

overall i think all of the different 'kinds' of mudokons under industrial hypercapitalism are encouraged to be horribly racist to each other, simply because keeping them divided prevents them from standing together.

[romaine-arts]

Howler has peak character design. Also she reminds me of Furiosa from Mad Max with her angry incontrol demeanor. Especially the Magog Cartel tat/ brand?

Was wondering, is it makeup she applies herself or a permanent mark? You drew her escaped older version as having grown out feathers and a headband, does she wear the band to cover the mark?

She's Abe if he was a spiritual leader who liked doing terrorism and I respect that.

yeah she does kinda got the furiosa vibes dont she. its been fun watching her deviate from dnd/bg3 verse howler

also the cartel logo is a tattoo; the slave breaking/training ('corrective') facility she belonged to put it in a very obvious and damning place, not only to make it harder to blend in with others if she escapes but to give her a constant reminder of the people that own her. post-revolts shes more likley to cover it up than trying to remove/deface it. she holds a certain pride about surviving the permanent disfigurements her captors inflicted on her.

she's a direct foil to abe in that not only does she love doing terrorism, she wants every glukkon and vykker dead and hopes everything and everyone burns and goes to hell for everything done to her. my beautiful princess with ten billion complexes ❤️

[romaine-arts]

does Howler miss her old tribe? does she ever see them again?

there were only a couple other survivors/captures from the raid on their camp that got her, and she got to watch them all die off one by one in captivity by mistreatment/abuse/general culling practices. if they saw her now, they wouldn't recognize her, and they definitely wouldn't associate with her.

she came from a very small post-industrialism tribe that was still just barely scraping by in the wilderness actively trying to stay ahead of slavehunters. what was burnt to the ground that day was all they had of their own culture and customs, and howler herself was young enough that her memories of her former life are faded and warped.

[theelderscrotes]

one of my favorite and also saddest lore tidbits is that aparently abe's mudokon friends had a slig guard who didn't beat them. was professional. and even shared drinks with them and was chill. sadly got beaten to death by the other sligs for being to nice. sigh... love to have a story about that guy or one of them

every piece of lore is like what if we made the saddest wettest most tragic creatures in existence, it rules