The Rot Consumes (rot Headcanons)

the rot consumes (rot headcanons)

headcanon dump incoming. reposting from discord messages so it might be a bit messy to read! (( TW FOR CREATURE DEATH / GENERAL ICKY DESCRIPTIONS / ACID MENTION !! also slight spoilers i think ! )) i know its a popular hc that the rot changes colour based on what its feeding on/what blood it intakes! and other stuff. but i have my own thoughts on how the rot works the rot is made up of mostly muscular tissues, nervous systems, and an acidic-sticky liquid that it excretes from its 'skin'/tissues. the acidic liquid glows brightly, usually in concentrated pockets (such as the glowing blue sections on the rots tendrils and the cyst head itself). the rot is incredibly sticky because of this, hence why it's able to climb up walls and travel around with ease! the tendrils excrete the liquid when pressed against something / squeezed, so struggling when grabbed actually makes it even harder to escape. the acid there isn't strong enough to kill its' prey but definitely burns to the touch! what kills the creature is when they're like. slurped up into the main cyst which has a much stronger concentration of said acid, which can quickly and efficiently absorb the creature. this also includes any objects or items it finds! melts. the rot walls r sticky and dangerous for the same reasons listed above! it's just that it takes a little longer to kill, but the creature is still touching the cysts themselves and not just weakened tendrils it's also why the rot is such a problem for iterators! i like to think it needs a mix of metallic nutrients like iron and some organic, like neuron flies, so iterators are built perfectly for it to spread around in. though because of its acidic nature, the liquid naturally eats through the structure (even if the rot isn't actively consuming) and weakens the whole thing until collapse, like in pebbles case. the strings of rot across rooms (that the slugcat can grab onto) are sticky and slightly acidic, they aren't enough to actually cause real harm (also why my pebbles design has those as like necklaces. he cant get them off!) as for colouration, it depends on the strength of said acid. mother long legs / purple rot is freshly developed and at its strongest, daddy long legs / blue rot is your average cyst that either develops from mother long legs or just the general infectious spread of the rot, while brother long legs / yellow(?) rot is old and has become weaker or contaminated over time. i like to think when an iterator first discovers the rot, if it's purple, then it means they have a chance of flushing it out and hoping for the best. if they detect blue, they're definitely infected already. idk how well this fits with canon but it's how i imagine it :] the rot kinda has a 'brain' but its more of a weird nervous system throughout. idk how to describe that bit very well but it's how it 'knows' to follow the vibrations it feels in the ground ? and the basic survival instincts and tendrils to defend itself. it's a weird thing, alive but also not