#which is also probably why we don't see any canonical butterflies other than marissa undergound

[ruthlesslistener]

(I know youre in your ER mood but this is just a random thought I figured youd be interested in) So y'know how if humans don't see the sun/have regularly sunlight they start to get irritable and wonky and have a bad sense of time? Like even tho we don't need sun for food or anything like that, we still need it to regulate our sleep and what not. I'm starting to think there are bugs like that, and how that might cause problems for them. Obviously bugs species who live their entire lives in the dirt/dark don't have that problem. But bugs who typically do have that di/nocturnal sleep schedule might have a difficult time underground. It's why I think the moths have their settlement on top of the peak, they needed the sun and moon to have their natural sleep schedule. It would also explain why Dirtmouth has a bit of settlement, for bugs who wanted/needed that normal day/night cycle. All this to say, do you think some bugs (say butterflies like Lurien and Marissa, cuz I think theyre diurnal.) have a couple of sleep/energy issues because of being underground all the time? Sure vitamin D supplements could help offset some of it like we do, but do you think there will still be issues?

Oh dw, even though I'm in my Elden Ring phase rn, Hollow Knight is pretty much a special interest for me. I'm always down for some bug thoughts, even though rn my brain is currently chanting 'nihil! nihil! NIHIL!' over and over again (thanks for that Mohg).

But yeah, I totally agree with you there! That actually might be one of the reasons why the Moth Tribe dissapeared after the fall of the Radiance- while there's no canon evidence pointing to what wrecked their numbers, it could be that the loss of a day/night cycle was something that bothered them to the point of either needing to forcefully adapt to it, or leave their homelands. I don't think that PK did anything to them outright, because it would have been a waste of followers to have done so (and he's just not the sort to actively deal with any issues, anyways- he didn't true-kill Radi, for example, and we all know how that bit him in the ass), but the loss of the sun for a tribe that worshiped a source of warmth and light would certainly have a drastic effect on their wellbeing, and made them less able to compete with underground insects like the beetle tribe, who were naturally accustomed to the dark.

As for Luri and Mari, the answer is most certainly yes. Lurien might not be aware of it at all, since I hc that he's an immigrant child who never knew anything other than Hallownest, but Marissa might, and it could be why both of them have a sort of melancholy air to them- which, yeah, Marissa's fuckin dead, but most spirits don't seem to realize that fact, so I think it's safe to say that her sad vibe might be due to the fact that butterflies are just not naturally suited for Hallownest. She probably regulated that with crystal lamps and dietary supplements to keep her going through the eternal night, but Lurien himself would not have known about such deficits, which dovetails neatly into my hc for his depression/anxiety/general sleep issues

#demonicintegrity #reply #hollow knight #lurien the watcher #marissa #honestly man that makes a hell of a lot of sense as to why some bugs might have issues without the Radiance #vs PK who is arguably a lunar god #ofc naturally underground tribes would not care but diurnal species like lepidoptera would struggle #which is also probably why we don't see any canonical butterflies other than marissa undergound #and the moths are all either up on the surface or very close to it