Thank you so much for this blog it makes me so happy. I do have a question! How 'smart' do you think slugcats are? I've always debated this for a while but I can't settle on an answer.
I'm glad!! It makes me very happy to know people are interested haha
As for how smart I think slugcats are, I personally abide by what the original Videocult Devlog had to say about them- being that they are "somewhere on the edge between animal and human thinking," and "slightly below human intelligence". Basically, smart enough to understand that there is meaning to the symbols and structures of the world, but not smart enough to understand what that meaning behind them is.
I also think this perfectly falls in line with how we, as the players, experience the game for the first time, and that this is especially clear the very first time we meet Moon. Regardless of how you went about it your first time, about half of new players always end up eating her neurons, but not out of any kind of malicious intent, but genuine, pure misunderstanding. We know there is meaning to the interaction, yet we can't understand what it is! But what we are able to understand, is that we still need more food in order to hibernate :)
In a way, Rain World perfectly manipulates traditional "gamer brain" mentality to expose our own sort of "animalistic nature". It also highlights the narrative significance of the mark of communication, and the massive difference it makes. The slugcat finally gains the ability to understand the meaning behind everything, and with that, you no longer fit into the carnal ecosystem from which you came from. Where you once searched for food and survival, you now search for answers to your own existence, the underlying secrets of the universe. The void is already calling you.
I attached a few more interesting screenshots from the Devlog talking about slugcat intelligence underneath the cut-off, if anyone wants to read a bit more :)