#me: i love the hollow knight from hollow knight!

[monsoon-of-art]

What are some of your favorite mythical creatures?

tbh I love Dragons, theyve been a lifelong favorite of mine! I blame spyro especially for that, lol

Mermaids are very near and dear to me, but I actually...dont know why, lol? Like the little mermaid was just fine, and I actually never watched any live action stuff.......mystery :0 I guess its just from my fascination with the ocean?

Those who used to follow me for my hollow knight stuff know that I'm a massive fan of the Fae. Not the little fairies with wings, but the strange, otherworldly creatures that live in a world just beyond ours

[kelocitta]

In honor of the @rw-ship-showdown I wanted to write about Artihunter as someone who jokingly slapped them together pre-downpour and still thinks they are actually very compelling. Just not in the super soft love wins kinda way (Although I get why people like that more) And the only way I know how to do that is talking too much so heres a far too long slug essay-

Obviously the slugcats don't offer a ton of characterization but theres not nothing to work with. Their stories, whether by their roles in it or the overarching themes do provide a backbone to work with. Even gameplay itself can provide a bit. (for some more than others) Hunter, to me, is ultimately a story about selflessness. The goal is to revive Moon, which is very much an act of kindness from both Hunter and NSH. But the weight of that action is much more significant for Hunter- Hunter is deeply sick. They're on the clock, and for all their skill in combat none of that will ultimately help them to survive longer than their body can hold out. Moon is a close friend of NSH but that means little Hunter- Hunter really gets next to nothing out of helping them, and ultimately pays quiet a bit spending their limited time alive fighting to deliver that neuron so that someone else can live.

To spend ones limited days on helping another, in a game that very much stresses the unwavering cruelty of the world and nature- is pretty notable. (And you could even say that Hunter being the Hardmode of Rain World adds another layer to this)

And then we have Artificer. A storyline that very much stands out to people as more… villainous (so to speak) than the other slugcats. Artificer's story covers a lot of things. Trauma, violence, revenge, etc. Revenge is a bit of a selfish desire- That need to see someone hurt as they have hurt you. A punishment that ultimately does not fix whatever harm was done- but feels good to see because you were hurt and now those responsible share that pain.

Artificer's actions are founded in that need for revenge, their pups killed for overstepping boundaries they didn't know existed. Is it not fair for them to be angry at that, to punish the scavengers for their violence with their own? Why should the scavengers ever be forgiven when they and their pups were not? And that's how you get that loop- Harm for harm over and over.

The original action has been lost in a spiral of violence for violence. And here stands Artificer- their very spirit scarred. Not just because they sought revenge, but because they never ceased trying to scratch that itch for violence as an answer. Artificer only has two paths for their story- killing the scavenger king (Someone who, really, has little to do with the original 'crime' of the scavengers, but represents an important individual to them- as did the slugpups to Artificer), locking themselves as karma one for good and spending the rest of their life chasing creatures that no longer even fight back in a warped sense of closure- or to dissolve themselves in the acids of the void sea because they're too far gone to find any real peace.

They can't meaningfully recover from that state, not alone, twisting in on themselves. Even if they halt their actions, they've been using violence as a feeble defense against their own pain- violence that no longer has any real direction or basis. Artificer gets no real closure from killing the scavenger king. All they can do is continue the cycle, or try to scrub it away. No real peace in a prison of their own making. So you have a creature, who even with a strict timer on their life- a body that will crumble to disease, spends its last bit of time on saving another. And another who was so caught up in the pain of loss that were eaten alive by their own anger, poisoned their own soul on such a deep level even self-proclaimed gods have no solution for them. What peace can they offer each other? For Hunter, its only a fleeting moment of happiness- of selfish love, before their own body fails them. A bit of indulgence in something for themself. For Artificer, its a single, comforting thread to ground them again, something tangible to protect and care about again. But thats a thread that will ultimately be snapped under the cruel indifference of the world. Hunters timer will tick down regardless of if it takes another with it. Its a tragedy- its doomed to end badly. Whatever good it offers to either of them to find each other will only provide the fleeting comfort of a band-aid that will be ripped away too early. But all that can be worth indulging in anyway, if only for the moment. It doesn't change the ending, but the ending was never going to be happy. Its can so yuri

#rain world #rw shipping #tagging that just cause this is explicitly about that even though I usually dont do shipping stuff #with that said i dont even think this particular interpretation of a possible dynamic needs to be romantic its just kinda #about companionship in general. companionship thats going to absolutely shred an already unstable slug emotionally but thats #the point. friendship and love in spite of the unavoidable ending #just noticed this is like 80% theme analysis and 20% 'these go together just trust me' #but also theyre both girls because i want them to and also because im channeling hornet from hollow knight #who made me so deeply ill that my rain world tags still havent outcompeted my Hk tags because i drew her so much. so so much. #hunter is hornet coded to me and artificer is like if angela and gebura from lc combined into a deeply fucked up ferret #also i did tag the poll because they kinda inspired this but also. i wasnt gonna put all this out here WITHOUT a readmore thats embarassing #but i guess this is propaganda for a ship already seen as popular but like... idk i think theres something to it even as someone #who did literally slap them together originally because they were both red slugcats i considered girls. predownpour so we didnt have anythi #anyway hi tag readers i have so much work to do im being bad by writing about gay slugs. i need to get myself together #its so late this might just be nonsense bwaaaaaaa

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

It's the 6 month anniversary of this blog! Check out these cool bugs I found.

Part 2 - Part 3

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #hollow knight #mdzs au #way too many characters to tag #'OP why?' Listen... It was either this or a Homestuck crossover. Which is still on the table btw. I've put thought into it. #Speaking of putting thought into things...I have put two full asses of effort into this. So I'm gonna talk about it in the tags. #I mapped all the major sects to hallownest clans and drew *way* more than just the characters shown here #More pertinently not shown are the Nies - Who are beetles! #The mantis clan has a lot of crossover with the Nies given the lore but I Love Mantis Wangji and you cant take him away from me. #wwx was a moth solely for his ties to Baoshen sanren (nearly forgotten sect & nearly forgotten clan) #but (HOLLOW KNIGHT SPOILERS) the ties to her radiance and the infection made for some very fun parallels #YLLZ moth 100% is puppeting husks around #JGS is a pale king expy becuase...you know....lots of children... #it also gives me a great excuse to explain wwx's soul taking mxy's body. #Still have lots and lots to say but I'm already running late! More funny - less specific to a very small population - comics to morrow! #This was more or less a style study and I learned a lot! #Thank you all for an awesome 6 months B*) You guys have pushed my way more out of my shell (pun intented) than I would- #-have ever gone had I just hidden away like I usually do. Thanks for all the support even with silly things like this <3

[ramuelisms]

some hollow knight textposts i made when i was having an autism frenzy

eta; oh hi you should check out my art its cutesies<3 please. this has 1k notes

#i love referring to my special interests as autism frenzies. like yes fear me i know everything about this topic #hollow knight #i am NOT tagging all that #love and light #EDIT: i am SO delighted that ppl love the exploson one #it came to me like a vision from god after the 30 deaths in crystal peaks #and i reference it all the time now. no i dont know where tf the texts came from #but its there and i put the homies on it #edit 2 damn this got 1k notes. crazy. now look at my actual art please #nonart

[ahntherootvessel]

LOOK

WHAT I GOT

FOR MY (early) BDAY

#hollow knight #ahn #I LOVE IT SO MUCH #I've been having a shit week so this was amazing!!! #my throat is scratchy from me yelling when i saw them but i don't care!!!

[farceargon]

A Deepnest Surprise!

No funky gradient below the cut

#messy machinations #hollow knight #hk nosk #hk quirrel #i am INCREDIBLY PROUD of this one #yeah sure its 4am but who cares it was worth it its sick and idk where the shading power came from #BUT ITS HERE NOW! #it was only a matter of time until i decided to draw nosk because god i love me some eldritch stuff

[foileadeux]

some angry dream hollow and ghost

#hollow knight #hollow knight gijinka #hk thk #hk pv #hk little ghost #hk knight #their horns merge into their hair in their dream form things in the fight against radiance. bc it looks cool #and hollow keeps their white hair bc once again it looks cool #third img is technically an animatic screenshot but thats ok #this is ooc from how ive been portraying them before but i think they deserve to get Mad #its ok uhh hollows just umm putting contacts into radiances eyes :) #oh and they get pupils #because it looks cool #theyre in a dream ok hollow gets their arm back im sure they can will themselves pupils #also this made me realise that ghost's shade in the radiance fight has longer horns #idk how i didnt realise that before #anyways enjoy #i love drawing anger #get her ass vessels #my art

[seafoam-taide]

so the thing with slay the princess is the shifting mound calls the protagonist a passive player but in essence they are the only one in this little pocket of universe with any agency or ability to act which is in part bc of their role as vessel for the player but also because that is their role. the problem is that the protagonist has no goal. they are an entirely fresh person who does not know any of this? does not have a purpose. they are the long quiet because that is what they were made to be but that isn't an identity that is a role and one that is undefined. and there is the narrator, a fixed, unchanging agent meant to provide this purpose, except the shifting mound has one too, and needs the agency of the protagonist to complete it's purpose. everything depends on the only one in this whole thing that can make the choice to change because the shifting mound calls them passive but it is entirely at their whims and must plead its case in the face of the one person who can do anything about this entire situation and it's nature is reaction, not action, built on impressions molded by the protagonist. everything hinges on them and yet the most they have is echoes of motivation and ideas that are themselves built on the ideas fed to them . and all they know is this recursive loop of information . there is nothing to define the protagonist but the incomplete beings, ideas, that make up their surrounding. the protagonist is made up of the perceptions and thoughts and ideas of the echo that is the narrator and the shifting mound itself and the plan is for this person who's only memories and ideas of existence are of the princess and revolve around the shifting mound's intentions to somehow kill a being that is only what it is perceived? the narrator's origin split a god in half then made it so those two halves would only know each other could only know each other and expected this to result in erasure??? did he not think a practically newly created entire whole person would not be curious and would not grow like a person would.

#tide of consciousness #idk its late i think tooo much abt this game i love themes #if ur wondering abt the pronouns for the protagonist its very simple #i took one look at them and used my mega ultra projection blast which among many things includes queering of the gender #anyway this is just like hollow knight #vessel meant to contain and kill the god trapped within it but is ultimately shaped by the expectations and doomed to fail from the start #the long quiet isnt a person and the god it was part of before is long dead and the protagonist who is the long quiet but doesnt have a nam #like the princess to the shifting mound except not quite that either #im normal. whatever #slay the princess #slay the princess spoilers #me when my favorite character in the video game isnt technically a character and instead is the suggestion of one

[hollowknightinsanity]

hollow knight is so goddamn difficult to play on keyboard + mouse

maybe its just me bc im used to using a controller but. oh my god. this literally hurts my poor wrists

#hk #hollow knight #text #*normal sounds* #finally playing hk on my new gaming pc #but my controller is fucking broken #(wont let me use the stick to move right; thinks im constantly holding down right trigger) #and also the wire probably isnt long enough to reach my little perch from my computer tower #so im forced to play on keyboard #and. one thing abt my new keyboard is that sometimes it doesnt recognise my inputs #so thats lovely. #and my wrists hurt from straining or hold my mouse and press the right keys ✌️ #also look at me finally posting on my hk blog again #wow i didnt know that was possible #anyway time to ask my brother if i can borrow his controller for a bit

[starscreaming666]

I noticed that people were enjoying the plushies so uh *breaks your vessel*

#TUMBLR KEEPS CRASHING WHEN I TRY TO UPLOAD THE OTHER ONE I'M upset :) #I made another plushie that I wanted to post first but tumblr said :) no :) #I did this lil guy from memory so if anyone's wondering about their horns being on the wrong side that's why #I need to get a better camera :) #I know I said this but I saw the reception to Elderbug and I want to like. Reblog with a reaction pic or something because all the love #Made me really happy :'3 #I'm glad so many people appreciated them!! I have a ton of fun making these whenever I have time so seeing that people get joy out of it #Makes me glad! :D #Sorry about the block of tags I just have a lot of feelings #Hollow knight #Broken vessel #Plushies #sewing

[kindledrose]

hollow knight does horror SO well. which i'm gonna be honest is not what i would have expected from it, but there is undeniably a horror aspect to it! i am currently exploring deepnest and fearing for all i hold dear!

#hollow knight #i love love how the game itself feels like it has a personality! it knows what i'm going to do or what i would expect to happen as a player #-and subverts that entirely! it's comedy but more situational and not outright stated! every time i fall into a well-placed pit i feel like #-the game itself is sitting there behind the screen grinning at me and i have to go 'okay you got me there' #but it's also scary!! #playing with you! #dude i love video games #edit this is from 3 months ago but still so true <3 #terra is rambling

[ladybugboots]

(tw self harm/suicide)

so since u asked for interpretations of the caption on the "let me help you" piece (amazing btw i don't think i'll ever be over it). it's grim but i subscribe to the idea that since u find greenpath vessel seemingly with their own nail in them, they may have been succumbing to infection and tried to end their own life to prevent it, but they may have been too weak/unsteady to do it properly and hornet - herself not seeing any other choice - helped them. so that's how i saw hornet's part of it, w/ thk also being the one to help ghost as you described

SNIFF.. WAH

^ little

#thank you for sharing ur thoughts ^___^ #i love that scene right before her fight when she's standing over their body o(-< like what happened... #gameplay wise i know hornet leads you through greenpath to her fight with her just out of reach appearances #but story wise what was she doing.. #i would speculate or elaborate but im sooo sleepy #anyways it took me 1 million years to answer this but :-DDDDDD tysm #hollow knight #fan art #hk spoilers #id in alt text #i drew greenpath from memory so erm. the colors are not great LOL

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

More MDZS and Hollow Knight! The cool bugs I found in my backyard have started to unionize.

Part 1 - Part 3

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #hollow knight #Once again not tagging all the characters due to sheer volume #Thanks for the warm and lovely reception on the first part of this crossover! #even people who haven't heard of hollow knight were very sweet and excited. #I redrew and redesigned some of the characters that people were asking to see #and while I still think I could play around with them a little more I'm pretty happy with the results B*) #JGY getting kicked down the stairs is part of his personality at this point. Of course I had to introduce him as such #Im pretty sure its not JZX who kicks him the first time but birthday boy on birthday boy violence is too funny to pass up #Madam yu being mosskin-like but distinctly not from the same clan was pretty important to me when designing her. But I was at such a loss! #By *chance* I saw The Hunter's design and thought 'YEAH THATS THE ONE'. Let milfs be terrifying. #Little apple originally was gonna be 'the girl who's backyard this all takes place in' but ....little bug steed.... #In case you are wondering whether the Lan juniors are suspicious of the fact LSZ has twice as many legs: No. He's 'just like that' to them. #Part three will be in less than a week! Time to see the other side of the crossover! #I am so happy that I can draw silly crossovers and have people cheering me on! Yippee!

[ratsoup64]

hornet <3

template

#you don't understand how much i love hornet #she saved me from a cave in (in game) #she my bestie forever :] #blorbo #i love my blorbo #hornet hollow knight #hollow knight

[gray-soul]

The one and only.

Nosk.

#hollow knight nosk #hollow knight #hollow knight fanart #i love this #Nosk #Someone stop me from drawing HK fanart

[farceargon]

Forge Beetles

I’ve wanted to make something like this for ages but never had motivation or something to make it for. Until now! I decided to elaborate and explore more about my OC’s species, more specifically his tribe. Hrelgere is a Forge Beetle. They’re a species I made up that are based on the predaceous diving beetle! These bugs hail from the Wild Land and are easily the most dangerous sapient species there. They’re essentially orcs in bug form.

Very happy with these monstrous freaks of nature. Would like to make more about them in the future! More specifically my dedicated OC.

#eldritch squeaking #messy machinations #hollow knight #hk #hollow knight oc #DIVING BEETLE BEAAAAASTIEEEES #love these guys so so so much #theyre so.. brutal. and savage #but at the same time have such a specific and beautiful honed craft in their weaponry #fun fact they basically just make trick weapons from bloodborne #but yknow. UPSCALED significantly #beloveeeeeds #i hope theyre as interesting to you as they are to me #:]