#i know many people think that pk didn't regret what he had done and never cared but. there's like literal evidence of the opposite

[helga-grinduil]

i adore the white palace from the storytelling perspective (i suck at platforming, so from the gameplay perspective this place is hell 💀). there's so much going on in that place - the fact that the pale king hid the castle in the first place (i do believe that he didn't do it because of cowardice, i think that removing himself and the castle was his last desperate attempt at trying to placate the radiance), the only apparent guards at the palace being void constructs, the same void constructs all being dead near the throne room, the fact that the throne room is the so dark ghost has to take out their lantern, void particles in the air of the throne room. 

the white palace also has some of the coolest secret rooms.

the nursery. and it really sucks so much that people almost always miss this room on their first run, because this room, holy fuck. the fucking music box lullaby. the way you enter this room and hear it and you don’t understand at first why it sounds so familiar until it hits you that it’s the same song that you can always hear near your shade, only this time it’s not distorted. ghost’s shade knowing the song that was played for the hollow knight... the white lady’s figure burned into the chair next to the crib...

did she look after them, when they were brought to the castle? was she the one putting them into their crib? was she the one playing this song for the child that was hers but would never be allowed to be? how long did it take before she had to start telling herself that they were empty, despite being the one to raise them, despite being the one to play them lullabies to help them fall asleep? when did she start actually believing it? was it because facing the truth was too hard? 

the path of pain being a seal that is used to contain something powerful or preserve something important. the fact that the name ‘path of pain’ has a double meaning and might be called this way not just because it’s a literal platforming hell to go through, but also because it hides away something the pale king considered painful.

the pale king’s last thoughts when you dreamnail him... ‘no cost too great’, but then also ‘...’. maybe he didn’t quite believe his own words. maybe the cost was too great after all.

#hollow knight #the pale king #the white lady #the hollow knight #white lady: 'the vessel was tarnished by an idea instilled' #MA'AM YOU WERE THE ONE PLAYING LULLABIES FOR THEM AND SITTING NEXT TO THEM AT NIGHTS #i know many people think that pk didn't regret what he had done and never cared but. there's like literal evidence of the opposite #they still both suck but at least they're not heartless monsters i guess #i think both of them knew that the hollow knight wasn't hollow but they just. continued to convince themselves that they were #(the pale king failing miserably while the white lady went even deeper into all the lies she told herself) #because acknowledging that the vessel wasn't empty would mean acknowledging that none of them were #and here's the difference between the pale king and the white lady lies i think #he accepted it and took the guilt #(maybe the fact that he was working with void so much helped a bit - he had to have at least some thoughts about void having a mind) #while the white lady convinced herself that the vessel was 'tarnished' by their love for them #and that another vessel would be truly empty

[akirameta84]

thinking about it, was there anything stopping kusuo from re-petrifying akechi over and over until he figured things out?

sorry for spelling mistakes haha. if its not major I'm too lazy to reread and catch em all(™)

it never says he has a limit on this ability like that, so if he had been extremely determined to not let akechi find out, he could've kept trying different future outcomes over and over

but would a person petrified experience hunger and thirst while in that state? if so, this would only be possible a day or two without serious negative effects. but from what we've seen, im fairly certain everything about the individual is frozen like that, so I doubt so

of course there was people and noticing akechi's disappearance, and akechi himself nothing the missed time. but if he got the timeline right, then akechi would've never been even entered the room in this instance, as seen by the failed timeline where hes closer with his friends group. thus its a moot point, and making the idea of keeping him frozen longer plausible

considering how the other two espers came to know about his powers, it really makes you wonder why he gave in so easily. kusuo had almost told aiura because he believed its be inevitable, but when he realized his aura was too large to be seen up close, he forfeited, only having to confess in order to save chiyo's life.

toritsuka had found out completely on his own, and by the time he approached saiki, there would have been too many memories to erase them all with his memory alteration, as its stated he can do a minute at a time.

and, interestingly, in the manga there's a whole day between saiki receiving toritsukas letter and him arriving, while in the anime its the same day. saiki is even able to complete his psychometry on the letter. it actually makes more sense in the anime, though, as surely he'd have noticed his glove was missing before a whole day had passed?

anyways, point stands that family is the only people kusuo has completely willingly told about his powers were family members. and yet he gave in so easily to akechi.

something that's striking me as odd is when akechi revealed himself to be someone from kusuo's past, and someone who suspected him of having powers...he did nothing.

as seen on aren's first day, he could've easily had akechi transfer out or just make him stop attending.

sure it might've been suspicious, but a combo of forcing him to transfer out and some memory alteration making him forget kusuo was at PK, that he attended PK, or that he was transferred out strangely, any may have possibly worked.

or better yet, petrify and perform the time leap stunts much earlier, before akechi had such concrete evidence. akechi likely would've responded readily to an invitation over to kusuo's house, and he could've attempted to deal with the problem then.

sure its possible he didn't think about that, but with how covered everyone of kusuo's bases have been throughout the series, I heavily heavily doubt it. and besides, I think there's more to it.

one thing kusuo mentions being happy to have fixed at the end of akechi's time travel arc is erasing the fact his younger self told akechi about his powers.

he regrets this truly as a teenager, but his younger self was a lot more complacent about telling him, up until akechi spilled the secret himself in order to hope for kusuo's protection, but even kusuo acknowledges its normal for people to reach out to those who they know can help

he smiles like this after his confused face fades, and tells akechi about his powers. his younger self didn't have much of a reason to keep his powers from someone he viewed as a friend, and even showed MUCH less emotional repression imo.

but there was one striking reason.

look at how the smile on his face fades each time he recalls what his mother said. he actively wanted to show them his powers, not just akechi either.

his older self acknowledges that akechi felt like a friend to him, which is kusuo speak for he felt they were pretty close friends, considering that the main cast is still mostly classmate or aquintence level at the end of the series according to him.

considering how easily kusuo gives in to telling akechi after his admittedly extensive process trying to prevent this outcome...I'd say, honestly, kusuo still feels the same way about akechi.

he certainly tolerates akechi referring to him by his first name, and even though aiura does as well, im not convinced she'd listen if he even told her off. (tbh, his whole friend group has issues with listening to him, and his mom forcing him on outings isn't helping. but thats a rant for another time)

the day akechi invites himself over, its done merely to hang out, and kusuo is slightly surprised by this.

of course, even akechi has to cheat his way into staying, but kusuo is like that to everyone.

kusuo isn't used to people coming over just to hang out, as whenever the rest of his friends bug him, they need something most of the time. and when the two of them get into betting on the horse races over cake, as frustrated as kusuo gets, id say he enjoys himself. one of the last panels says as much

I hit the image limit, but near the end of chapter 266 his eyes have the sparkle effect they do when he's actually feeling emotions. its so sweet. and during the end of the showdown arc, kusuo repeats to kuusuke the the same phrase akechi said to him after taking the power remover. "I can still be your playmate"

overall, coupled with how easily kusuo gave in to telling about his powers, without even a single death threat to keep akechi silent...yeah, he definitely thinks of akechi as a good, maybe even close friend. even if he doesn't believe or admit it to himself, its true.

thank you for reading i got this in my mind after rewatching the time travel arc, hence the random anime images instead of panels which I can grab more easily as examples lol

#saiki k #saiki kusuo no psi nan #the disastrous life of saiki k. #saiki kusuo #manga #anime #akechi touma #rant