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nexus-nebulae · 1 year

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whenever i see hollow knight theorists talk about the grubs i almost never see anyone mention certain things that i always think about so i'm just gonna infodump and see if these theories make any sense? I'm going to be such a nerd about taxonomy and real-life bugs. also note that i haven't genuinely studied this shit in school, i am running purely on wikipedia and Autism™

First things first: they're grubs. They're larvae. They're not finished growing, and as we see from the charm they give, they metamorphose into some form of flying being. It's not clear what, but if the Elegy charm in any way resembles what a Grubberfly actually looks like, then they would seem to have multiple wings and a thick, tapered body (with no apparent legs). We also know that the process of being eaten by the Grubfather involves some form of metamorphosis- either of the Grubs, or even the Grubfather itself. You can even hear them making noise within Grubfather, meaning they're not dead (yet. we don't know if they Will Be Eventually).

most of the time "grub" refers to beetle larvae, but... moth larvae can look pretty similar. grubs and caterpillars are often mistaken for one another. the main thing that gets me is the legs- the legs of the caterpillar are typically a lot thicker and better for movement. whereas most grubs have thinner, typically segmented legs and often can barely even move around with them. We see the grubs in hallownest with relatively thick legs- most other bugs in hallownest just get black lines for legs- and they're able to move incredibly freely.

Now- there's a lot of types of bugs in hallownest, which means a large variety of larval stages. We've got moths, obviously, which are caterpillars. We've got mantises, which have no larval stage and instead hatch directly into nymphs (So, the Mantis Youth enemy is likely a nymph). Baldurs are like woodlice, or isopods, meaning intstead of larvae they have manca, which essentially look just like tiny versions of the adult (e.g., the regular Baldur compared to the Elder Baldur). Bee larvae are simple white grubs, which are typically sealed inside of the surrounding honeycomb until they metamorphose. Spiders hatch as spiderlings, which we see plenty of in-game (and, before the Lifeblood update, Deeplings would even actually pop out of eggs when broken).

We have flukes, which seem to moreso resemble maggots, or fly larvae. The tiny flukes we see at the entrance to Flukemarm are clearly the youngest of the larvae (despite the Flukefey being labeled as such in the Hunter's Journal- the larvae in the walls aren't considered an enemy type in the Journal, however, so were likely not considered). Despite the fact that the Flukes more often resemble worms, we know they are not, as some varieties have legs or wings. Annelids (true worms, like earthworms, leeches, etc) never have legs, much less wings. Meaning the flukes are most likely arthropods, and thus most likely are something close to flies.

And then we have creatures that are in completely different phylums to arthropods, such as the jellyfish (cniderians), snails and slugs (molluscs), and mushrooms (fungi. not even in the animalia kingdom).

But by far the most common type of bug in Hallownest are beetles. Beetles are some of the most diverse insects on the planet even in real life, and in Hallownest it's no exception. We see plenty of beetles based on real life- Dung Defender being a dung beetle, the Nailsmith being a rhinoceros beetle, Willoh being a giraffe weevil. Most other insects in hallownest mostly resemble beetles than other insects, with hard, plated shells and often visible elytra (the hard shell casing that covers the wings). Because beetles are so abundant, and because most other insect species in the game tend to keep within their own separated groups, "grub" most likely became the colloquial form of "baby" within Hallownest. Therefore, these Grubs might not even be grubs at all, but another form of insect larvae that was labeled as grub due to its similarity to beetle young.

We never see any direct inclusions of the young of the Moth Tribe nor the various beetles found around hallownest. There is only a single known caterpillar seen in-game, and that is Marmu. It is not known if she is connected to the Moth Tribe or not, however Marmu's design was based on a Puss Moth caterpillar, of which the real-world equivalent grow up to be similarly fluffy moths to the ones seen in the Moth Tribe. The visual similarity between Marmu and the Grubs is striking- and they even sound remarkably similar, meaning they could be of related species.

Now, back to actual Hollow Knight Lore™:

We know that the Collector is definitely related to the Kingsmoulds, as they are both made of void and have the same body template. All Moulds were made as servants to the king, and do not seem to have their own motivations or interests. The Collector, however, definitely has a personality, ranting and raving about how much it loves the Grubs.

The corpse holding the Love Key in Queen's Gardens is a Husk Dandy, or one of the high elite of Hallownest. It was clearly a high-ranking member of society, and may have had some connections with Lurien, or even the Pale King himself. The Tower of Love was most likely this Dandy's tower, and it was likely the one who began the collection of grubs, with the Collector as some form of assistant (thank you mossbag for this one).

Now, the Dandy's Dream Nail dialogue says "Too long spent together... we become as one...". This, paired with the black streaks around the Dandy's eyes as well as the Void particles seen around the corpse, leads most people to assume that the Collector being made of Void somehow started to physically affect the Dandy, leading to its death. But what if it weren't simply one-way? What if, somehow, the Collector started to mirror the Dandy- if the Dandy was enthusiastic enough about its work, then the Collector may have become obsessed as well due to this.

We also know that the Pale King was attempting to snuff out almost everything he could about the Radiance. The Moth Tribe were apparently born from the Radiance, either metaphorically or literally. While the Moth Tribe did reject the Radiance and follow the Pale King, some moths still chose to remember their old god, until, according to the seer, "all of Hallownest began to dream of that forgotten light". Somehow, this hushed worship of the Radiance could have led to the infection taking hold in the world.

From what I could find, it was not entirely clear if any of the Void experiments began before or after the beginning of the Infection. The Collector could have been created any time in between the creation of Hallownest to its fall- it could be an early, perhaps unfinished form of a Kingsmould- it could be a typical Kingsmould that was altered in some way- it could be a late, more adavnced form of Kingsmould with traits unlike the other more typical Kingsmoulds (for example, it has a voice, where seemingly no other Void being does whatsoever).

Another thing to note- it's not made clear what kind of power exactly the Elegy charm draws from. Because of the Grubsong charm's connection to Soul, one might assume it is also Soul energy, however the slash doesn't draw from the Knight's Soul meter and any charms that directly affect spells or Soul use (other than Grubsong) don't have any sort of affect on the Elegy charm when equipped together.

So, my theory:

The Grubs are actually caterpillars, created by the Radiance in her return to Hallownest. The Pale King, or someone underneath him, noticed the appearance of these bugs and decided to study them- that, or they already knew of the bugs' connection to the moths and thus decided to trap them. The Dandy was the one in charge of this, the head researcher who collected and researched them. The Collector was a Kingsmould gifted to the Dandy by Lurien (or even the Pale King himself) to help with research- and perhaps, if they knew about the Radiance connection, also as a form of extra security (The vessels were Void beings created to contain the Radiance. The Collector is a Void being who obsessively contains Grubs. There's a reflection there). The Collector may have even specifically been granted a voice in order to be able to communicate with the Dandy.

Over time, the Dandy and the Collector being around each other so much caused them to start to become one. Not just in the Dandy becoming somehow infected with Void, but also in the Collector's obsession with the Grubs. This ultimately led to the Dandy locking the Collector in the Tower of Love and attempting to run away with the key before succumbing to the Void in the Queen's Gardens.

Being an experiment specifically created by the Pale King and his court, the Collector likely had some form of "programming" by the court to complete its intended tasks. Unlike the Kingsmoulds' simple programming to Defend the Pale King, instead the Collector's would have been to collect or trap bugs. It could have even been the case that the Collector was the Dandy's field agent- going to collect the Grubs itself so as to not put the Dandy in danger. We can even see this in its attacks- it doesn't necessarily slash at you, but instead makes a grabbing motion. Perhaps the Collector was programmed to Contain and Protect, with protect applying both to the Dandy and the collected specimens (a dead grub is no use for research, now is it?). However, now there seems to be some sort of bug in the programming (pun not intended) where the Collector doesn't seem to distinguish between what it should or shouldn't collect- we see bottles of Vengeflies and Aspids and Baldurs, and even the player's Shade, but these are only ever found within the Tower of Love where the Collector is locked away. It's likely it was the Dandy's orders that told the Collector exactly what to collect, and without those it simply overdoes its programmed task.

Unfortunately, the Knight eventually comes along and destroys the entire operation before we can find out the real truths regarding the Grubs. Hopefully the Grubberflies aren't actually tiny Radiances.

#hollow knight #hollow knight theory #if you have 'shorten long posts' turned off i am so so sorry for this #that moment when you initially go to make a two-sentence post and accidentally write a multi-page essay instead-#i wanted to just post my little theory but then i actually thought about putting Research and Effort into it (something i rarely do lmao)#hollow knight and minecraft are the only two games that make me so autistic i research real-world science related to them #they are my favourite games in existence and i love them so much #side note i know this is probably a Very Very Wrong theory #i know game devs never put as much time or thought into game lore as an autistic guy with special interests who tears that lore apart lmao #but it's fun to come up with ideas especially when those ideas make the puzzle seem to fit together just a little more neatly #i don't have any confidence I'm right I just like to come up with ideas #feel free to comment theories and ideas too theorizing is nothing without discussion and debate #greatest hits

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goldendoodlerlockerlove · 3 months

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4 for the wip asks :)

Thank you so much!! :D

Sincerely, Me is a very rough WIP name for this WIP fic. It takes place in the universe of the musical Dear Evan Hansen, and it came about because I had the biggest desire in the world to write something Kleinsen-related (Evan Hansen x Jared Kleinman). It actually technically takes place in the movie universe, and I don't even particularly like the movie (I have thoughts). I don't hate it or anything, but it could've been done so much better. Anyway, I made it part of the movie universe so some good content could come from there. So, I guess I'd have to call it Kalsen (Evan Hansen x Jared Kalwani) because they changed his last name for the movie.

It's mainly centered around their daughter, Paige, and her best friend, Tyrone. Paige is Cis and Panromantic, and Tyrone is Trans Masc and Straight. They were definitely a fun duo to write, even though I didn't write that much for this fic. I was actually planning on it being a big, multi-chapter fic, but I might just try to make it a Oneshot so I can just finish it and post it. I'm not sure I can make it a big, multi-chapter fic with this concept, anyway.

Here's a little excerpt for you:

She didn’t answer, opting instead to glance at the trees. “I’m surprised you didn’t mention Jared being Indian first.”

She was well aware of his distaste for her calling her dads by their first names. In her opinion, it was entertaining watching his mouth become agape whenever she did this, so sometimes she’d do it on purpose. It never mattered to her--it was sometimes necessary, to distinguish them, and the two of them weren’t fretful of this habit. However, Tyrone always suggested she call Evan “Dad” and Jared “Pitā” instead, which is the Hindi word for Father.

She never listened to this advice.

Tyrone began chasing a pebble with his shoe, “Well, he mentions being Jewish a lot more than he does being Indian.”

She sighed, crossing her arms as a sudden, harsh breeze cut through them, “I guess you’re not wrong.”

He didn’t stop harassing the pebble even when they approached her house. It was pretty average, as far as regular houses in suburbia went, being all beige and harsh corners, as well as a roof sharp enough to poke Santa on his journey every Christmas (she stole that joke from Jared).

Annnnd here's another excerpt that comes a little later!

“Paige?” She heard an all-too familiar voice float from the kitchen. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, Dad.” She began striding towards the source as Tyrone shot her a look. “It’s not as if I call them by their first names all the time.”

Jared was perched over the stove, nursing a bottle of water as he continued frying something on a pan. He enjoyed nursing a bottle of alcohol instead on some late nights, but he was trying to consume less for Bri’s sake. “Sorry about your sister. I thought she was going to be napping around now, but I guess it was my mistake assuming she would do anything I expect.”

Paige let out a snicker, “It’s fine, you know Ty loves her anyway.”

She leaned closer, trying to sneak a peek at his latest concoction, “I thought you wouldn’t be home. What is that?”

“I took the day off. It’s Rosh Hashanah, remember? This is chicken breast with leeks and potatoes. Your dad should be coming home soon from the park.”

Paige felt her hand connecting hard with her face, “Oh God. Oh no. I can’t believe I forgot!”

A strength she always prided herself on was her ability to remember dates more so than everyone else in her family. The fact this one slipped by her was frustrating, to say the least--not to mention Rosh Hashanah was always her favorite Jewish holiday to celebrate. Perhaps Grace was making her more distracted than she first thought.

She turned towards Tyrone, “I’m sorry, I still can’t believe I forgot about this. I was hoping we’d be able to hang out tonight.”

“Well, I can’t see why he can’t stay for dinner.”

Her mouth agape, she turned on her heel to face Jared again, “Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

When he gave her a questioning look, she continued, “You’ve never let anyone stay over for Rosh Hashanah. It’s family time.”

Tyrone gasped, bouncing on the toes of his feet, “Does this mean… you consider me family?”

Paige grit her teeth and elbowed her friend, a fruitless attempt to calm him. One of the things that annoyed Jared the most was people who weren’t part of the family trying to insert themselves into their tight-knight dynamic. Sure, it seemed for a while Tyrone was the exception, but it was still thin ice to tread. A reason why was because someone else, someone older, tried doing the same some time back, and ended up uprooting all of their lives once it was revealed they were a no-good scam-artist. And, for irony’s sake, that person ended up being Grace’s current foster father.

Just for some context, Bri is Paige's little sister (So Evan and Jared have two daughters) and Grace is Paige and Tyrone's bully (mostly Paige's). And I was planning on having it be revealed to Paige the first time all of the events of the musical (Connor's death, The Connor Project, Evan's speech, etc.), which was never mentioned to her before because Evan and Jared were too embarrassed by it all. They kind of wanted to sweep it under the rug, which evidently wasn't the best way to handle the situation.

#ask game #dear evan hansen #this is actually so fun to do #sorry for it not being bob's burgers related but this fic still holds a bit of a place in my heart #i actually kind of miss it and do want to finish it one day. if i recall correctly there aren't any kleinsen parent fics #so i really wanted to get on that. and making grace tyrone paige and bri to flesh out the world here was fun #i think part of me headcanons that tyrone used to have a bit of a crush on paige but got over pretty quick (they're just besties)#i like to think paige and grace might have something going on later because i was planning on making grace a complicated character #and giving her a whole redemption arc

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mothheart · 11 months

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So glad they fixed the arrow problem that botw had because at best you could either run to every stable every so often and buy out all of beedle's arrows or use the three-five shot bow cheese to farm them and neither was ideal. I never even once found myself hurting for arrows in totk

#you get soooo many in the world constantly #and shops feel like they restock much more generously #i <3 quality of life improvements #the game is overall just such a smoother experience i never found myself struggling in terms of weapons or materials #i do spend a lot of time raking every area i go to but also. theres so much i think it would be difficult to actually get to a point #where you feel stuck #or short on supplies #i dont think i ever had more than maybe 400 arrows in botw at any given time as a best case scenario #and when you use your bow a lot its so annoying bc you cant just seamlessly explore and fight enemies you have to take breaks purely #to collect or farm arrows #anyway. just some thoughts on the Not story related aspects #they did this game so well im very satisfied #tears of the kingdom #miles rambles

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doctorbrown · 6 months

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DOCTOBER '23 ⸺ 「 27 / 31 * THUNDERSTORM 」

April 6, 1986

Rain slams against the windowpane of the living room of the Brown estate and Marty can't help the way his head snaps to the window to make sure it hasn't been knocked clear off. Once, the rain pelting the earth might have been an easy to ignore white noise in the background, however after all their trips across time and far-too-close-for-comfort encounters with lightning, the storm feels like a great beast coming to collect what it's owed after being slighted.

They've cheated death and tempted fate far too many times, and it must be soon that their luck runs out.

With the way the wind howls and screams and roars around the house and the way the building shakes with each clap of thunder that sounds like he's right up there in the heavens, three feet away from the creature parting the clouds, it isn't hard to imagine something straight out of a comic book descending upon them.

❝Don't worry,❞ Emmett says, setting two mugs of steaming hot cocoa down on the table, ❝the glass will hold. And in case the storm knocks out the power, I've installed a backup generator that's strong enough to power a good portion of the house. I originally installed it as a failsafe for the laboratory, as I've had some unfortunate incidents in the past where I've caused the aptly named brownout across town, much to the chagrin of my neighbours, but with so much of the house relying on electricity, I figured why not?❞

Thunder booms in both their ears and lightning streaks across the sky, drowning the world in blinding white. Emmett settles down in one of the reclining chairs as Marty gingerly reaches for his cocoa.

The silence between them is charged and it takes only a glance to know that Marty is contemplating saying something—likely something personal, what with the way he draws into himself—that he's turning over and over in his head. Emmett doesn't need to remind him that he will never be judged for anything he tells him in confidence, nor does he attempt to pry the information out of him.

Although, he has an inkling of what might be on his best friend's mind.

❝Hey Doc, after all the time-travelling we did, do you ever feel weird about thunderstorms? They never used to bother me, but I... I keep thinking about the Clock Tower and I keep thinking about you in the DeLorean getting struck by lightning and—I thought you died, Doc. That everything I did was for nothing and I just got you killed again in the end.❞

Emmett frowns, watching as Marty's fingers curl around the cup he knows is still too-hot to the touch. This isn't something he's entirely surprised to hear; after everything they've been through, it was only natural that he develop an aversion to thunderstorms.

His own feelings on the natural phenomenon have certainly changed over the years. What started out as scientific interest in the natural phenomenon has since shifted to something he fears he doesn't know how to name. His feelings are gnarled and tangled, a messy web of complex things that cannot be picked apart so easily.

He remembers all too well the way he nearly choked on his own heart when it leapt into his throat after the first near-miss with the lightning.

He remembers the certainty of thinking he was going to die when the second bolt hit, sending him and the DeLorean hurtling through time. The subsequent suffocating guilt upon realising that he'd been thrown a century back in time, the time vehicle rendered inoperable, thus leaving Marty stranded with no way to return home.

He remembers the surprise at seeing the marks twisted and snaking up his arms towards his shoulders. The way the thunder barked its laughter over his head, taunting him as he dangled from the Clock Tower.

❝I think I understand exactly what you mean. It's a perfectly natural reaction to feel that way, Marty, after everything we've been through. Sometimes I think about those nights and the way lightning has become a key player in my inventions.❞

The parallels to Frankenstein are not lost on him.

❝I couldn't explain this to my parents, you know? They just keep asking me if something happened because oh you never used to be scared of storms before, Marty, what's wrong? They'd never understand without the whole picture and I can't exactly tell them about the time machine because then I'd have to bring up that and boy, Doc, if I could just forget that whole thing with my parents, I would.❞

Emmett feels the next sudden clap of thunder rattle around his bones and Marty jumps.

❝This all happened a few short months ago. With a little more time to process it and the events not so fresh in our minds, things will be easier. It will get better, Marty. In time.❞

The overhead lights flicker and Emmett pulls a worn-out deck of cards from his pocket; the very same they'd salvaged from the garage, still without the Ace of Spades and the Seven of Hearts. A smile slowly spreads across Marty's face and he's reaching for the deck the moment the cards are set down.

❝You wanna play—❞

Emmett returns the smile with a knowing one of his own. ❝Deal us in, Marty.❞

#doctober 2023 #&; a great idea can change the world 「 hc 」#i am particularly attached to the idea of some thunderstorm related nervousness stemming from their time travel adventures #on both their ends #and it won't be forever but right now marty's like oh god this all just happened and it makes him think about doc nearly dying #and doc's got some things of his own; he's had the ten years in the past to help with it but also he wasn't exactly addressing any of that #at the time due to other more pressing matters #anyway i love them.#and i hc they definitely played cards for fun back at the lab and marty's stupid good at some games #also doc speaking from some kind of a place of experience with time healing certain wounds

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