#exploring deepnest the first time….

[mailperson]

Wishing I could play Hollow Knight for the first time again

[irishplaguedoctor]

Pale King and Hornet Excerpt

This was an idea based on @progenycursed characterization of the Pale King. (Go check out their stuff it's really awesome!)

I've been working on something off and on for a while now. They're bits and pieces of how a more alien/eldritch-like Pale King would interact with his family and citizens before the kingdom's fall. Nothing is concrete as of yet but I still wanted to show off a piece of it.

This excerpt focuses on Hornet's perspective when she was still very young.

Father’s a wierdo.

He acts really weird compared to all the other bugs I’ve seen.

He moves weird, he watches weird, and he talks weird too. Even godmother acts more normal than he does.

Even mom says he’s a weirdo, sometimes.

I asked her why she got with him in the first place but she said it was something that I would understand when I’m “older.” Am I not old enough now?

When I’m at his big, bright home he’s usually the one escorting me around. I love to climb and use my silk to get away when no one’s looking—it’s the best time to explore—but mom and the deepnest maids always chastise me and put me back on the ground.

Father’s different…in his weird way.

It takes my mom a minute or two to notice I’m not right behind her anymore—so at least I have a little bit of fun before she ruins it!—but father notices it right away. The minute my claws leave the floor he always stops walking and looks at me. He doesn’t yell at me to get down, or try to pry me from the walls, or even cut my silk down! He just looks at me and tilts his sharp head and then keeps walking!

At least he lets me have fun.

It isn’t just that either.

Sometimes he takes me into his workshop and lets me help him tinker with stuff. He also tries to teach me a bunch of lessons about math and science and bunch of other boring stuff so I kind of zone out. Other times he lets me run around and play with some of the small junk lying around (mom got real fussy when I told her that). Though, there were a couple of times that I swore he just appeared right behind me to snatch something sharp away or grab me before I could trip and fall.

One time, I was playing with what looked to be a broken piece of glass. This time, I looked directly at dad to see what he would do and I saw eyes on the back of his head! They disappeared so quickly too and before I knew it, dad took the piece of glass away from me.

“You have eyes…on the back of your head!” I exclaimed.

“Oh?” He put his claw to the back of his head, as if there was something to feel, “Are you sure my child? I do not feel anything.”

“I saw! I saw!”

He chuckled and threw the piece of glass in the trash. “Such a vivid imagination!”

Ever since I’ve tried to see those eyes again, purposefully trying to find more sharp stuff to mess with, but he doesn’t do it anymore (though he still takes it away immediately)!

[cassrima]

After an hour of misadventures within Deepnest (which is the only horror movie ever) for fanfiction purposes, (this is why I have opened the game for the first time in months. fanfiction.) I have finally found the Weavers' Den. And once I'm done re-exploring it, I have to wander the outside full of little weavers and devouts that just menacingly stand there all so that I can describe the exterior. Fun!

[richardazer]

Anyway no one except Ravi wanted to talk to me about what kind of bugs the boys would be

So tumblr gets this because I sad

Brainworms with HK lore for nerds like me below + a silly ship sketch

So a bit of lore, technically the setting is in the middle of HK playthru yk?? But it's also on its own kinda?

The hive is opened after many years, there's a lot of commotion and infection and obviously the king is no more sooooo

3 pretty pale siblings come through the world searching for followers, all three are wyrms but they take on forms of different bugs

Ianite is a mantis

Mianite is a wyrm (kings mold kinda build?)

Dianite is a moth (Grimm type heho)

Sparklez the mighty ant

Born and raised in the city of tears (don't ask me where the rest of the ants are, we're all waiting for silksong lol)

He wanted to become a city guard but did not make the cut because of his size and species, seeking to become worthy he travels outside the city later to train with the nail masters and meeting Ianite and the Mantis Lords.

His charms are Nailmaster's Glory (for obvious reasons) and Mark of Pride given by the Mantis Lords. + unbreakable strength

He spends most of his time in the Colosseum of Fools and has become a valuable champion

The deepnest pretty boy aka Peter 'za' hhutt

He's the Midwife's precious son, he gets his hunger from her. Pete found the Wayward Compass charm and quickly became an expert in the maze that is Deepnest making him the most dangerous predator. He has never left the nest, didn't need to. Bugs would come wandering in, traitors and weaklings would be thrown in by the Mantis Lords. Plenty of delicious food keeping him fed and sane.

The other charms he's given by Sparklez when they meet. Sparklez loves exploring, taking on any battle he can. Pete puts up a great fight. The spider isn't used to pray fighting back so vigorously so he lets Sparklez go. Meeting a worthy opponent Sparklez offers companionship since the deepnest is a tough place to traverse.

Quick Slash and Dashmaster made Pete more of a beast but he's no longer fueled by hunger because Sparklez consistently brings him dead bugs from the coliseum fights to feed Pete.

Fuzzy bee X33n

He's just a Hivelink, some of them patrol outside the hive but Xeen never been outside. After the hive was forced to interact with an outsider X33n musters up the courage to go explore. He missed his exit at the Ancient Basin because the infected bugs there scared him. But the first time he goes to explore he ends up in Deepnest.

Poor bee gets chased by a hungry spider and ends up running into an armored ant hehoo

Sparklez saves X33n from hungry Pete and they sit down to talk about the hive and how a bee got lost so far away from home

X33n's charms are Hiveblood (obviously, he's a bee it comes with the Xbox!) Thorns of Agony and Heavy Blow to help him against the infected bugs

The ship silly for anyone who is nerd enough to read through all this

"fed a stray cat now he loves me" VS "how can I NOT want to eat him he's so plump and fuzzy!!"

[quirrelfan]

what is the reason you love quirrel so much? i do know that sudden and unexplainable attachments to characters happen (for me it’s revali from breath of the wild. idk why but i love him so much (yes i realize he’s kind of a terrible person)). but i’m just wondering if there’s any specific reason you love him so much?

Yipee, my first ask!!!

It's hard to keep this brief so...:)

When I started Hollow Knight, Hornet was my favourite. I never went to Black Egg Temple so i never saw Quirrel until Lake of Unn.

When I first met him, I didn't think much, but thought he was neat (like all of the characters I've interacted with up to this point).

I missed him in Queens Station because I went to the bench first, then went to interact only to find that he was gone. However, I did not recognize him, so I pretty sad to miss the interaction.

City of Tears rolls around. And oh boy I was so excited to sit with a friendly bug! I sat with him for a while, enjoying the atmosphere, then realised that he is the same guy from Lake of Unn, and that Lake of Unn guy is the same guy as the Queens Station guy. I immediately liked him so much more when I realised this. I loved that he was also exploring! The bench also gave him bonus points, and it became my favourite bench.

Now I became *VERY* excited to explore, to find him in the next area, hunting him down so I can talk with him more. But I never saw him in Deepnest, nor did I see him in Crystal Peak. The next time I saw him was outside of Teacher's Archive. I was SO happy!

And what sealed his place as my favourite character in Hollow Knight (and soon to be overall favourite character alongside Hawks) was the Uumuu fight. I did not see him when he shows up in the fight, but I heard his voice and immediately got hyped. And saw that he was helping me. HELPING ME!!! I did not care how much i died, I never raged at Uumuu at all. I was having a blast. The moment I heard him in the fight, he became my favourite in HK.

Afterwards, I then decided to explore Resting Grounds. My memory of it was foggy, and I wanted to see what was up with that.

I accidentally walked into blue lake.. and there is my friend! Quirrel!

After talking, i sat with him. For a while, but just too short. I left and said aloud (because I was on call with my friend), that i'd come back to him later. I exited the area and decided I wanted to sit with him a little longer.

And his nail. I realised what it meant.

My friend was gone.

His entire storyline (i watched the rest of the interactions on yt), his love for exploring, his appearance (friend shaped) his aid in the battle against Uumuu, his bench, the foreshadowing, the detail of the subtle change in his voice after he removed Monomon's mask.

Everything. Everything about this bug made me love him so much. Yet it is also like one of those "no particular reason" situations. It's everything and nothing in particular at the same time.

Seeing him makes me happy. He makes me smile. His voice in the Hallownest Vocalized mod always makes me smile so fucking much. The Quirrel comic, and when it got voiced over by the Hallownest Vocalized actors. That makes me so incredibly happy as well. (This reminded me to buy the collectors edition of HK so I can get the physical comic and whatever other cool stuff it has).

I have a save file where I'm just at the Quirrel bench. It makes me happy.

I am happy to show my love for Quirrel, whether it's my ita bag, or my rambles about him, or that Quirrel Location written series I made.

I am so happy my friend got Hollow Knight. He didn't try convincing me to play it, I just ended up buying it on the switch. I knew of it beforehand, but my friend is why I got the game. I have him to thank for my love for my now favourite game and for Quirrel.

I know I talked a lot, but it's difficult to explain without going through every little bit, because everything about him makes me love him.

I like that this was my first ask I've recieved. As Quirrel would say:

"I like that. I like that very much."

[blue-mosaic-tiles]

Rest

This piece was a joy to work on. It's the first time I've had a background so well done, and it just makes me feel a sense of calm to look at it. It captures my favourite part of Hollow knight. Those small moments of calm and rest among the endless battels, exploration and fights. This one in particular is supposed to be the hot springs in Deepnest. Finding it in the first place was such a huge relief for my anxiety addled brain ready for another awful fight in that hellscape.

[moonsinkfoxgirl]

multiples of 5 <3

5. Most memorable gaming moment?

that moment in Momodora 2 when Momo finally defeats Dora turned demon queen and jumphugs her to save her is the first thing that comes to mind which definitionally fulfills the question I imagine

10. Game you’ve replayed the most?

hmmm SM64 probably? Celeste on second place perhaps... Helen's Mysterious Castle might also take 2nd place though, it's quite short and I have 30 hours on it on steam

15. Hardest game you’ve ever played?

Touhou Koumakyou ~The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil~

20. A game that made you cry.

if we count visual novels then a whole bunch of Key VNs, like Rewrite and Little Busters! and Clannad had me absolutely sobbing, as for a game game, Shinyomawari/Yomawari Midnight Shadows

25. Favorite environment in a game?

whenever there's an area that sucks super hard if you don't know your way around, like Deepnest in Hollow Knight, or Blighttown in Dark Souls, but then you come back the second time and you know the ins and outs and it feels weirdly at home and somehow more relaxing than a less fucked up level would be? the entire map of the first Yomawari was like that once I had finished the game and was just searching for collectibles, there is something so good about feeling at home and safe in a place that is horrific

30. Favorite aspect of a game (e.g. exploration, combat, fashion/customization, environments, graphics, bosses, roleplaying, etc.)

exploration wins that contest by a mile, the environments/aesthetics do need to be up to par to facilitate that so they probably take second place?

35. Do you own any gaming themed memorabilia? (e.g. collector’s editions, posters, prop replicas, statues, clothing, etc.)

got a Celeste Strawberry pinned to my handbag, a Hornet pin that I don't have anything I could attach it to and I have a Celeste mug in my room, oh and I am literally wearing my Hornet shirt rn; but you would know all that you bought most of them for me <3

40. Best game cover art.

judging from my steam library and my various emulators:

[featherlouise]

I FINALLY FUCKING BEAT SOUL MASTER. hate that motherfucker to bits but im lucky i explored deepnest first and grabbed weaversong bc those little spiders helped a LOT. anyway please tell me soul master gets his ass kicked in the early infection variants its cathartic - 👹

YOOO CONGRATS!!!!!!

I struggled enough with the mantis lords my first time playing that I just went straight for SM lmao

And dw he gets his shit rocked FOR SURE

I've not thought about the specifics but soul master getting an ass kicking is a universal constant, at least in every early infection variant

[avariceaside]

Finally beat the mantis lords after too many fucking attempts. It was very fun though, I liked the repetitiveness (methodicalness? Idk the right word) of it. I got into a flow very easily, which was nice

I did not however go into deepnest because I am a coward. I instead went to greenpath and tried to make it deeper than I gad before, and I got to the sign saying that a being of light was ahead, but couldn't make it further. I also died about a million times to those stupid bug pogos over the acid. Fuck those things. Idk how to get into the queens garden yet (I think that's what's over there) but that's on my list

I then went back to explore the soul sanctum in the city because when I first went there the magic guy blocking the entrance scared the shit out of me and I noped out. I explored most of it, then got to the boss fight, died in about 5 seconds, and noped out of that too.

After that I decided to explore the city waterways, but I've only partially gotten through it so far. I've made it to Cornifer and opened the gate into the fungal wastes and that's about it. I ran into those weird mealworm looking things and I hate them. Its mostly the noise, but it splitting in two also scared the shit out of me the first time.

I should get a heartrate monitor when I play this game, I get scared way too easily...

I'm not too sure what I'm going to do next. Probably explore the rest of the waterways, maybe the crystal caverns. Ideally try and find some more shade abilities or spells but I'm not too sure where to get them. I'd like to go back to that soul sanctum boss fight and maybe try and beat it this week too.

[bluegekk0]

what sort of things would vyrm and Hornet do together? way back in the palace and present time :D

He was basically raising her by himself, The White Lady wasn't very involved (and besides, she left the palace not long after Hornet moved there). Which means he was doing what you'd expect a parent do. He was trying his best to dedicate a lot of time to Hornet, and considering his own struggles, be was doing a fairly good job.

But from more specific things, I think she'd really enjoy walking around the palace with him and hearing him tell her about its creation, his royal duties and other things. She was a lil fighter even back then, so I do like the idea of him giving her wooden nails so she could pretend she's fighting all sorts of monstrous bests. Maybe he'd even be her sparring partner, using his powers to act as as someone he could practice fighting with, in a very playful manner of course.

He wasn't much of a reader for a lot of his life, most of the books he read were about engineering and that kind of stuff, very technical (he'd get into fiction, especially romantic, later down the line as he was exploring his feelings towards Grimm). But he would always read her stories to sleep if she wanted to, and tuck her in after she dozed off.

He would also let her join him whenever he left the palace to do business, usually in the City of Tears, though understandably he stopped after the Xero incident (since it happened during one of those trips). And back in the palace, she'd frequently visit his workshop whenever he was working there. She wasn't particularly interested in his tinkering, but she enjoyed the workshop since it was a lot darker and more cozy, which reminded her of Deepnest. Plus she could always talk to her dad while playing there. What she did love, was all the toys he made for her, things she could not get anywhere else, such as little wind up creatures with much more intricate movements.

It's safe to say that she had a very good childhood with him, he tried to include her wherever possible. She didn't have anyone to play with, and while the Great Knights were always nice to her, she wanted to spend time with her father (and Grimm whenever he visited).

Of course, like I said before, things weren't so happy at first post-infection. They didn't do a lot of things together since it would usually end up in a one-sided argument. Bur eventually things started to calm down a bit, and they began spending more time with each other to mend their relationship. Usually what it comes down to is going on walks together, sometimes on hunts as well. She often joins him whenever he decides to sell stuff at the market, they have their own lil stand (Holly also likes to participate and sell some trinkets they made). Most of the time she doesn't get very involved in the things they do together, usually she just hangs out in the same spot and maybe talks to him from time to time.

The closest interactions they have started happening shortly before Lewk was born. With Grimm's state, a lot of the house responsibilities fell on Vyrm's shoulders, and his anxiety made things even worse. So even though her first reaction to the news was somewhat negative, it didn't take her long to decide to help them whenever they needed it during that time, which included also relieving Vyrm of a lot of his work. Then, after Lewk (and later Asta and Milo) were born, she'd often join him in looking after them.

Aside from that, she reluctantly joins Vyrm and the others whenever they're playing board games or having a campfire in the lil spot behind the house. She does enjoy spending time with them, but sometimes she just feels like staying in her room all day, so she has to hype herself up to join them.

And very rarely, if Vyrm gets the idea to make food for Grimm, she decides to keep a watch on him. He's not the best at cooking and his forgetfulness often means he ends up burning it, so Hornet's help makes that a bit less likely. In turn, he often tries to help if she's making food for everyone, but again, he's not very good at it so she usually gives him something easy to do on the side so he doesn't get in the way.

There's definitely other stuff I could mention but I think this gives a good idea of their activities together. It's definitely a far cry from how close they were in her childhood, but they still find some time to spend time together and improve their relationship. Hornet may seem like she's annoyed with it at times, but she also really wants to repair the damage. It has a bit of awkwardness to it as you'd expect, but I think it's still very wholesome.

[funderberker-thefrog]

It's almost 3am and I can't sleep so I have decided to give y'all an update of my Hollow Knight playthrough (please don't spoil anything to me or anything I'll cry). I've advanced a lot since the last time I posted (I think I was barely on False Knight/Hornet back then) but I still feel like there's a lot more to go oof.

I've got the dream nail and I am close to the first 100 essence the guy told me to collect! yay!

Myla is infected:( She didn't attack me last time I checked up on her, but I'll just leave her be. I hope you're better soon my friend.

I love the Mantis Lords. As in, I had a hard time (even though I didn't try them right after getting the mantis claw bc I couldn't get through the platforming – which i got quite easily later), specially when they threw the blade thingy at me with the lower pattern, but i like the guys a lot. Their theme was neat and idk i think they're pretty cool guys and I love that they've accepted me. I wish I could dream nail them, like I guess I technically could've done that during the fight but I was busy, uh, trying to not get killed and stuff.

Easiest (took me the least tries) bosses so far: Gruzzmother (fun fact, I actually beat her before the false knight! i as super lost since i didn't have the compass and ended up there by chance), Dung defender (funny guy. also, why does dung need to be defended? maybe I'll never know), Broken Vessel and the Fluke thingy.

I have rescued a little over half of the grubs! I love the happy noise they make when they see me coming to the rescue and also when I go visit them! My precious little things. Also, I have lots of charms now, according to Salubra there's only 15 more to go and I'll have her blessing. Additionally, I've upgraded my nail twice already:)

The deepnest was wild lmao. As in, I love creepy stuff so I loved it but like it also made my skin crawl i guess, specially the noises the bugs do when they "come back" to life thanks to the parasite stuff (I have the Hunter's diary btw!!). Really an interesting place and I saved Zote down there, too:D Oh and I met the Midwife?, except I never actually talked to her bc I reflex hit her and later had to google "hollow mask deepnest masked character from the walls".

As another fun fact, I found Nosk earlier today. Like, technically I just got to Kindom's Edge recently, but I went back bc I wanted to review certain areas and things I had marked on my map bc I found them funny (to see if I could investigate now that I have more abilities).

So, I find the breakable wall and I try to explore as much of the area. Eventually I reach the part in which I start seeing myself and I just kept going. It was definitely eerie (which I love) but as I was trying to find my way around, I was a bit afraid thinking something along the notes of "This other me scares me a little, I feel like at some point I will actually run into him and he's going to absolutely fucking wreck me". And I swear I had no idea if that was really where the whole thing was going (I've just played enough videogames to distrust shadow/clone selves) but yeah. that's exactly what happened😭 I didn't really try to beat him, though. I decided to just keep him in mind for later.

And, oh, I found the Godhome, too? But I just looked around a little (there where things marking the bosses I have defeated) and decided to go back bc I had a big big feeling I'm not supposed to be there yet.

At last, I finally rescued Bretta!! I had seen her from afar before but i didn't have the means to reach her yet. After some battling with the later section of the platforming, I finally got to meet her and I love her!!! And she's??? got a crush on me????? I'm. She's so cute. If I sit on the bench beside her at dirtmouth she blushes. blushes¡!!!!! And I read her thoughts and she's like oh my saviour besides me. And I go to her room and there's a plushie of me and and the written story. She's adorable I wanna hug her so bad:(

And I feel like that's all, perhaps? I woke up a dreamer at the distant village and the crossroad is infected now but that's it. anyways. I feel like i might be able to finally sleep after this:)

[lightrises]

"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

[mrslittletall]

Title: Off Balance (Chapter 20) Fandom: Hollow Knight Characters: The Pale King/The White Lady, The Pure Vessel, Grimmchild, Herrah the Beast Word Count: 6.482 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805333/chapters/84282538 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/658509458618613760/title-off-balance-chapter-19-fandom-hollow

Summary: Pendry takes a small break before he leaves for Deepnest with Hollow, eager to see what Herrah wants to show him.

(Author's note: This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I always like to get into Herrah's head and call Pendry's bullshit out directly and let him react to it. This chapter also got written a lot faster than I thought, lately I am on a roll when it comes to this fic.

I am not too sure if this chapter needs warnings outside of the usual self-hatred and self-loathing Pendry goes through. Also there is kinda self-harm, but not really? You will see once you are there.)

Pendry sighed as he sank deeper into the water of his own personal hot spring. Today had been harsh. First he had found out that definitely at least one of his children was still alive, said child had some personal vendetta with Hollow, then he had to face Ogrim and Isma about his crimes, went to face his inner turmoil by visiting the Abyss and on top of that now Herrah wanted to see him.

All of this stress resulted in him nursing a headache and developing a stiff tension in his neck and shoulder area. He loosely rubbed over the affected area with one of his arms to no avail, all it did was intensifying the pain. He hissed as he felt his headache throb. Hopefully the spring water would help loosen all his stiff muscles and joints up.

“It wasn't the easiest day for you, hmm, my Wyrm?”, Rydellia said, suddenly emerging behind him from the water, several of her vines exploring his body. Pendry wasn't even astounded about it anymore. She had a tendency to hide in the bathtub to surprise him. As a plant based higher being, it was easy for her to not need any air for a long time.

“It was.”, he confirmed and leaned against her bark. It was wet and shiny, but still sturdy, emanating a light glow. Not as harsh as his kingslight, his queen had always been a bit more subtle about her glow. She also could control it better, much unlike him, who started to grow as bright as a cluster of lumaflies when upset and dimmed when sad or exhausted.

At least he wouldn't have to take a lumafly lantern with him when he had to get up in the night, Monomon had joked about it once. Little did she know how right she was about this joke. Right at this moment, Pendry didn't have any reason to glow harder though, so his own light just intermingled with that of his wife.

“You are all tense, Pendry.”, Rydellia said, her vines having finished the exploration of his body. He was just glad that the hot spring already had healed the minor cuts he had gotten from clenching his fists too hard in the Abyss. Rydellia wouldn't have liked to see him hurting himself like that.

“Who can blame me?”, he replied. “A lot happened today. And tomorrow it will just continue.” He leaned into Rydellia's embrace with a sigh. He hoped that whatever Herrah wanted to show him wasn't too bad. It wouldn't even surprise him if she had only asked him over to show him that Hornet had learned to make silk or something. That would be very much like Herrah. He doubted it though, the letter looked too serious to be a prank or something.

Maybe Herrah had found something that would help battling the infection? It was a possibility...

“I am not blaming you.”, Rydellia said and her vines laid down on his shoulders and neck. “But you tried to shoulder everything on your own again. No wonder that you are so tense. Let me take care of that.”

Right after Rydellia had stopped talking, her vines started to massage the cramped areas, a back and forth enriched with some soul. While Pendry just wanted to melt away in his wife's care, his tension was so bad that he couldn't suppress several pained noises and hisses.

“You haven't been this tense in a long while.”, Rydellia said, all while continuing her care, rubbing along his upper back, which had its fair share of tension too. Pendry even spread his wings of his own accord to allow her easier access. “The last time I have seen you so tense was when the infection first sprung up. And then, it got a little better when we decided on the plan and then...”

She fell silent while she massaged out tension and popped joints back into place. There had been a time they barely talked with each other. Shortly after the ascension of the Pure Vessel. It had been too painful for them to think about the children that had died, too painful to treat the one that had remained as an animate object.

At least these times were over and a solution for the infection was almost found. If only Pendry would be able to find another vessel that was alive and willing and able to help...

Rydellia didn't initiate conversation again. She knew about his feelings at this exact moment anyway. He hadn't closed their connection through the kingssoul. That probably was also the reason why she had waited for him in the bathroom.

After a good while she retracted her vines, leaving Pendry with much more loose shoulders and a much less throbbing headache. It would only go away after a good night's sleep though.

“How are you feeling?”, she asked, a pointless question really.

“You know.”, he answered.

“Yes, but I want to hear it from you.”, Rydellia embraced him with three of her branches, making it impossible for him to escape her, building a cage of wood around him. One that felt very loving and nurturing though.

“Fine.”, he huffed, “I am exhausted, confused and... afraid. I fear what Herrah might show me. I fear that we won't manage to get rid of the infection. I fear that I'll rely on my foresight again and take all the wrong paths to the future I saw.”

“Doesn't it feel better to admit to your worries?”, Rydellia gave him a little kiss on his prongs and then released him from her embrace. “I will watch over Thorn with the knights tomorrow, you will go to Herrah and show her that you are a Higher Being. I mean, you already tamed her in a very different way...” Rydellia ended her sentence with a chuckle, all while Pendry's face flushed in a bright blue colour.

“Root! That was for a bargain!”

“It still happened.”, she said and lifted Pendry out of the bathtub, wrapping him into a towel. Pendry just did let it happen, if Rydellia decided to baby him, then there was no use in resisting. “Now get some rest. You will need a clear head tomorrow.”

Pendry had to agree with Rydellia. After she had dried him and he had put on some fresh robes, he left the bathroom, but didn't go to his chambers right away. His feet carried him toward Hollow's room. They also didn't have the best day and they were supposed to accompany him tomorrow. He wanted to make sure that they were alright.

“Hollow, I am coming in.”, he announced with the usual knock and was already in the process of opening the door without waiting for their sign, he didn't expect for them to do anything other than sleeping or loafing around in their bed with a book, so he was kind of surprised to see that he entered into a scene where they just had attached the charm of Grimm to themselves, freezing and standing rigid when they noticed him in the doorway.

Pendry just watched with a sigh, feeling his headache intensify again when the Grimmchild formed from a ball of fire, a little worm-like creature with wings that couldn't even talk yet, just flying around and being a nuisance.

The moment the child had been fully formed, it laid its eyes on him and let out a high pitched scream, diving at him, having a fireball ready to spit at him. Of course, as a soon to be higher being, there would be a rivalry going on between them. With a sigh, Pendry erected a shield around him and said: “Hollow, couldn't that have waited for a day longer?”. Hollow's shoulder drooped and they signed a quick “Sorry.” In the meantime, the Grimmchild continued to attack Pendry's shield. In its current state, it wasn't very strong, so Pendry only held the shield up loosely.

“Well, this is what Grimm calls the Grimmchild.”, Pendry said. “It will be nurtured with the flames that you should be able to feel now and turn into the next Grimm once the ritual is complete. Just be aware that-” He interrupted himself and gasped when the Grimmchild suddenly succeeded to find a hole in his shield and dashed towards him, gnawing at one of his horns, being far too close for Pendry's comfort.

“Hollow, get this nuisance off me in an instant!”, he said, eye twitching and claw shaking in suppressed annoyance. It wasn't Hollow's fault that this child was such a little pest. No, he only had to blame Grimm for it.

Hollow, moving a bit panicked, came closer and tried to grab the child, only for it to fly out of their reach. Hollow jumped up in an attempt to catch it, but before they could reach it, their horns pulled them downwards and they landed on the ground. The Grimmchild shrieked when Hollow was on their feet again and gracefully dodged another attempt of them catching it. This continued for a minute or so until the Grimmchild spit out a fireball to stop Hollow, Hollow dodged it and instead a shelf caught on fire.

Hollow just stared from the fire to Father and signed a frantic: “What do we do?!”

Pendry sighed and flew over, stifling the fire with a blanket he had grabbed from Hollow's bed. “You have existed for maybe five minutes and already you set something on fire.”, he scolded the Grimmchild. The Grimmchild responded by snickering at him, which only fuelled Pendry's anger. “Now there, child, you might be the next god of nightmares, but that doesn't mean that you can just do whatever you want, you little pest. Come here so that I can contain you!” Pendry attempted to grab the child, but after his outburst, it suddenly did a 180 degree and fled into Hollow's arms, chirping as if they had done nothing wrong and hiding in their robes. Hollow held them away from their body, unsure what to do with them.

“Oh that little.”, Pendry balled his fists and then took a deep breath, trying to unclench. He had just been massaged by Rydellia, he couldn't crawl back to her and ask for the same treatment right away. He would just worry her about what he was now stressing about.

Hollow looked at the Grimmchild with a stern look (well, they always looked stern) and then they released it and signed to it. “I will take care of you, but you have to behave around Father.”, they signed. “Or otherwise I have to restrain you.”

Pendry considered translating, but to his surprise, the Grimmchild nodded to Hollow and then sat itself on their shoulder, chirping a little bit. He guessed that Grimm made sure that the Grimmchild would understand as many languages as possible.

“Everything's fine now.”, Hollow signed and sat down on their bed. Pendry joined them.

“So, before we got so rudely interrupted.”, he said. “Completing the ritual also means that you have to fight against Grimm and the Nightmare King. Both of them are formidable foes. I should train you for it...”

“Oh, are we doing it in the dream realm?”, Hollow asked. “Lately I tried to fight the knights in their dreams, but they are really strong. Even stronger than here.”

“You sure are fond of wandering around late at night lately.”, Pendry scolded Hollow which made them fold in itself. “Yes, training in the dream realm would be the best, but not today. We have to see what Herrah wants first. Oh and also... don't bring the Grimmchild to Herrah please. Leave the charm here.”

The Grimmchild chirped in protest but Pendry ignored it. “But what if a flame is at Deepnest?”, Hollow asked.

“Well, you should be able to feel them. Where does it draw you?”

Hollow cocked their head and then pointed up.

“Like I thought... they are not down below, they are up. I will come with you once you collect the flames. For now, let's concentrate on our trip to Deepnest tomorrow and nothing else.”

“I look forward to seeing my sister again.”, Hollow signed and then looked at him. “Why have you come here though, Father? Do you need to talk?”

“I, um, actually wanted to see if you were doing alright.”, Pendry sat himself down on Hollow's bed and curled his tail loosely around his feet. “But it seems like I don't have to worry about you. You seem to be fine.”

Hollow looked at him for a few seconds and then signed: “I have to be. For the kingdom. I can't mope forever. I still have a task to fulfil.”

“Oh Hollow.”, Pendry gave his child a firm hug at their words. “I am very glad to hear how much you care, but Rydellia said it to me earlier. That I try to solve everything on my own. Don't become like me. Please ask for help if you must.”

Hollow reciprocated the hug and then nodded, and Pendry knew that they would ask for help. They wouldn't let themselves fall back into the dependency they once had exhibited. It was amazing how much they had grown in these few weeks. Or months. Pendry hadn't really counted the time that had passed since the faithful day.

“Now go to sleep, we will have a long day tomorrow.”, Pendry said, giving their horns a rub.

“You too.”, Hollow signed. “You need your rest as well. Don't stay awake the whole night.”

“That's what I get for letting you be around when I worked the whole night in my workshop...”, Pendry sighed and stood up. “Good night, Hollow.”

“Good night, Father.”, Hollow signed and made themselves ready for bed once Pendry had left the room.

The next day Pendry and Hollow said their goodbye to Rydellia and left for Deepnest right away. The tram ride there was quiet as usual. Pendry thought for a brief moment about maybe sparing Hollow traversing Deepnest again, but his stomach revolted at the mere thought of riding on one of the stags and before he knew it, Hollow already had dragged him towards the tram station.

The tram was empty as usual. It was just very rare for bugs to ride to or from Deepnest to the Palace. If only the second tram would have been able to be finished, but Herrah had made it clear that she wasn't fine with the arrangement, which cost Pendry quite a few workers. He knew better than to send replacements, he would just send more workers into a senseless death.

Maybe after the infection was gone and with Herrah and him now having a bond by sharing a daughter, he could convince her to build the tram anyway? Probably not, it had been hard enough to convince her about the stag station. Also, whatever it was that Herrah wanted to show him, Pendry was sure that today wasn't the right day talking about methods of transport from and to Deepnest.

It just distracted him wonderfully from the fact that he was anxious about what Herrah wanted to show him. The ride with the tram was over far too soon and he stepped out, waiting for Hollow who followed him after they made sure to attach a lumafly lantern to their nail.

The moment they had stepped out and looked at Deepnest, they came closer to him and searched for his claw. Pendry embraced their ice cold hand in his own, warm one, feeling a tiny bit glad that his child still did depend on him a tiny little bit.

Luckily, this time the trip through Deepnest was much more smooth. Hollow was lot more confident with their balance and their training with the knights really had paid off, because they fought any predator dumb enough trying to assault them with ease. Pendry didn't even have to channel a drip of soul. They made their position as one of his knights nothing but honour, even though they returned to take his hand after each fight. He would make sure to reward them once they were back in the palace.

Far too soon they stood in front of Herrah's den. While Pendry was kind of relieved that Deepnest was behind them and that he finally would know just what Herrah wanted to show him, the familiar anxiety crept into him as well as his tail crept up his leg. He took a deep breath before he could bruise himself again, forcing his tail to release his leg and swish on the ground instead.

“Alright, let's get this over with.”, Pendry said as Hollow stored the Lumafly lantern somewhere in their robe. It was bright enough in Herrah's den to not need it and Pendry himself surely was bright enough as well. In fact, he knew they only had used the lantern in case they got separated again.

“Herrah, show yourself.”, Pendry shouted in front of her den, which still wasn't loud, he just couldn't talk very loud. “We have come as soon as possible as you requested.”

Soon, the tall and imposing form of Herrah appeared in the doorway, but before she could even say a single word, a red little bundle zoomed past her and headed towards Hollow, all while squealing: “Holly!”

Hollow awaited their sister with open arms and swirled her around once she had jumped into them, letting the toddler giggle in delight. Behind the scene, Herrah came into view.

“It's good to see that little Hornet is as chipper as ever.”, Pendry said in an attempt at a greeting. In response, Herrah folded her top legs.

“You could come see her more often, Wyrm. Her conception might have been political, but you are still her father.”

Pendry deflated a bit at her scolding. It was true that he wanted to invite Hornet into the White Palace more often, but with everything going on the opportunity hadn't arisen.

“We were busy.”, he started an attempt to defend himself, but got interrupted by Herrah right away.

“Busy abandoning your children?”

Pendry's blood turned cold into his veins, his wings flared and his light flickered while his tail squeezed his leg to the point of pain. “How do you know?”, he gasped, emotion overturning logic in his mind. Herrah wasn't supposed to know about the Abyss. None of the dreamers knew about it. Lurien and Monomon knew parts about it, but about the pit in which a majority of his dead children laid, outside of him, only Rydellia and Hollow knew. Rydellia because she had been a part of the plan and Hollow because they had hatched there.

Pendry looked to Hollow who hadn't heard what Herrah had said, too busy playing with little Hornet. Pendry cleared his throat and did his best to regain his composure. “Elaborate on this, Herrah. We are not here to take your claims without reason.”

“You already admitted to it, Wyrm.”, Herrah said, voice a dangerously low growl. “But I will play at your rules and tell you the story from the beginning. Come inside.”

Even as the being which gave mind to others and could pull them into his thrall simply by existing, Pendry couldn't resist Herrah and he felt himself automatically walking inside of her den. It was clear for him that this was her realm and she wouldn't give it up without dying fighting. She surely had been one of the best positions for a dreamer, with willpower beyond belief.

Herrah led Pendry to a small table and sat down at the opposite end of it. Pendry noticed a pillow on the ground and sat himself on it, folding his hands, trying desperately not to fidget with his claws. He knew he could win a fight against Herrah should it come to it, but the political balance was much more important, so he couldn't slip up here.

He regretted that he hadn't asked Rydellia to come along.

“Get us some brew, please.”, Herrah said to a weaver and then simply loafed around until it arrived. Pendry always had asked himself what was in the Deepnest brew. It was warm and tasted hearty, but also like prey. It probably was made out of meat, if he thought about it. Deepnest was full of predators.

He took a sip from his mug and then locked his gaze on Herrah. “You have let us wait long enough.”, he said. “It's time that you finally tell us why we had to come here as soon as possible.”

“Let's start at the beginning.”, Herrah said, “You remember that you have slain the Nosk, one of the apex predators of Deepnest?”

“That was Hollow, not us.”, Pendry replied instantly, “We have to admit in shame that we nearly have left the creature impale us.”

“That your child is more competent as you isn't exactly a secret.”, Herrah murmured, making Pendry choke on his brew, but he was too anxious to find a quip for Herrah's insult. Luckily, she continued with her story right away. “Well, recently I found some time to venture to the den of the Nosk and clean up there. It's always a possibility that an apex predator gets replaced by another or that they left offspring. As a queen it is my duty to see that my position doesn't get challenged.”

Herrah talked about it so casually as if she would just polish her needle. Pendry got it though, as Higher Being he had to make sure that nobody challenged his reign. In a sense, it was rather rare that he and Rydellia had formed a bond in marriage and decided to share the reign.

“So I went there and do you know what I have found?”, Herrah's eyes started to glow as her voice dropped to a dangerous level.

“No?”, Pendry asked, unsure if she wanted him to answer or not.

“I found...”, Herrah bent down and picked something up from beneath the table, “this.”

Pendry's breath hitched in his throat when he saw what Herrah was carrying. These were vessels. Two of them! Not the size of Thorn or Hollow, more the size of the newly hatched ones. Both of them had short curved horns, one of them had them curved upwards, the other downwards.

“Now did you swallow your tongue, Wyrm? These two look far too similar to Hollow for it to be a coincidence. They even feel the same with their ice cold body and none of them can talk. Tell me, Wyrm.”, Herrah put the two vessels down on the ground, where they scurried away and hid behind her. “How many 'Pure Vessels' did you create?”

“I...”, Pendry dropped the royal pronouns, knowing that it was of no use. Herrah had found out. In the worst way possible. “Most of them died...”

“This doesn't make your case sound remotely better.”, Herrah hissed. “Wasn't it bad enough that you tortured one of them, traumatized them even? How many more are there, Wyrm? How many more little children do I find wandering around, alone, scared, barely surviving on the leftover prey in the Nosk Den? There was a third one there, already killed, having strung up as decoration. If I hadn't found these two, they probably would have died here in Deepnest!”

“I have no excuse.”, Pendry said, defeated, each word of Herrah like a stab in his shell. “I was desperate and convinced that I had to do anything to fight the infection...”

“There is something like a line that shouldn't be crossed, Wyrm.”, Herrah said and if not for her mask, Pendry was sure that at least two or three of her eyes would twitch.

“Do what you must.”, Pendry sighed. He knew that Herrah needed to take these emotions somewhere and he had to admit himself... he felt that he deserved it.

“Not in front of the children.”, Herrah said and turned around. “Nox, Lux, leave the room for a moment would you? I'll call you later.”

Names.. they had names... that was all what Pendry thought as he looked how the vessels, no, the children, tapped away, holding their little paws together. It was all he could think before pain exploded into his body when Herrah gave him the hit of the century and he found himself slammed into the wall, lying down on the ground in defeat.

“Come on, Wyrm, I know a hit like this can't kill you.”, Herrah said, pulling him up. Pendry felt himself bleeding from a few lacerations and was sure that quite a few bruises formed on his shell already. “You just heal yourself with your neat little spells.”

“Are you satisfied already?”, Pendry asked, sputtering out a bit of blood, he must have bitten his tongue, which, with teeth as sharp as his, was rather painful.

“Oh? Didn't think you were so much for pain.”, Herrah grinned and she gave him a second hit, though this one was a lot milder. She then dropped him to the ground. “There, now I am satisfied.”

Pendry himself didn't feel satisfied though. He felt that he deserved a hundred more of this and even then he wouldn't have atoned for his crimes. He slowly pulled himself up, starting to channel the soul to heal his wounds, when Hollow entered the den with a squirmy Hornet in their arms.

Hollow was at Pendry's side in an instant while Herrah was taking the squirming toddler. “Seems like you are in need of a diaper change, sweetie.”, Herrah said as she left the room to tend to her daughter.

“I am fine, Hollow.”, Pendry said as his child attempted to help him up. “I will heal myself in a second.” Why did they have to come in exactly at that moment? Pendry didn't want Hollow to see him like this. Especially not after he had encouraged Herrah to harm him even more and would have gladly stayed on the ground while she stomped on him again and again.

“What happened, Father?”, Hollow signed, their signs frantic and wide, clearly they were a bit afraid and of course worried.

“Let's just say I said something to Herrah that I shouldn't have.”, Pendry decided on the lie in an instant. He finally focused some soul and felt how all the lacerations and bruises closed or vanished. The pain still lingered on though. Good, Pendry didn't want to have it any other way.

“What have you and Herrah talked about?”, Hollow asked once Pendry sat himself down on the pillow and sipped on the brew to replenish the lost soul. They didn't sit down but stood next to the table, one hand on their nail, the other one on their robe, ready to get rid of it for more mobility at any time.

“Hm, how do I put this...”, Pendry searched for words when Herrah returned with a freshly changed and giggling Hornet. The moment the toddler laid her eyes on Hollow, she pretty much hopped out of Herrah's arms and zoomed over to them. Hollow relaxed their stance a tiny bit and allowed their sister to climb on their head, where Hornet stayed with wide eyes, looking at the world from a new angle.

“It's perfect that you are here now, child, because there is someone here that you should meet.”, Herrah clapped a few of her legs together, “Several someones to be precise. But first, have a seat and have some brew and some treats.”

Hollow shook their head, careful so that Hornet wouldn't slide down. Then they signed to Herrah, because she couldn't know what they just had denied. “They won't sit down.”, Pendry translated. “They would like something to drink though.”

“You heard that?”, Herrah looked at her servants and they scurried away only to return shortly with a new cup of brew and a plate with treats, both being put down on the table in front of Hollow. Pendry studied the treats shortly, of course it was dried meat, some of them coated with honey. Deepnest and the Hive always did have a good relationship.

Hollow picked up one of the treats and snapped it in half, giving one of the halves to Hornet who started to munch on it right away, leaving crumbs all over Hollow's head and then slowly eating their own, making sure to not show their method of eating too clearly.

In the meantime, Pendry finished his own brew, not only because he needed to replenish soul, but also because he had become nervous. He still hadn't worked through the fact that some more vessels had been picked up by Herrah. He didn't even know yet how they would react to him. Or Hollow.

“Are you comfortable, dear?”, Herrah asked Hollow. They stopped eating and gave her a slight nod, holding Hornet with their left hand because the toddler was far too engrossed in eating her snack to hold onto their horns. “Good.”, Herrah said, “Lux. Nox. You can come in now.”

Pendry heard the tiny pitter-patter of the vessel's feet as they returned into the room. He didn't get the best look on them earlier, so now he looked closer. The first thing he again noticed were their similar small horns, just that one of them had them curved upwards and the other curved downwards. They were as small as Hollow as a hatchling, so they hadn't undergone any transformation growth yet. The both of them also held their hands, moving more as a unit than individuals.

The moment Hollow saw them, they dropped their snack to the ground. Then they removed Hornet from their head and handed her to Pendry. Hornet, still far too interested in devouring the snack, didn't mind at all and Pendry balanced her on his lap while Hollow went towards their siblings with shaking steps.

They stopped in front of them, looking back at Pendry, then shortly at Herrah. They fidgeted with their hands, a common sign of anxiety that Pendry knew of himself. After their first meeting with Thorn, Pendry could understand that they were unsure.

Luckily, the vessels with the names of Lux and Nox made the first move. They walked up to Hollow and pretty much hugged their legs, both of them. Hollow let themselves be dragged to the ground and sat in front of them, with Lux and Nox sitting down opposite of them. Pendry got up, cradling Hornet in his arms and moved closer.

“Can they communicate?”, he asked Herrah. Hollow had told him they couldn't talk with Thorn through some kind of void speech or anything, but he also knew that they kinda felt like one. Maybe sitting like this was enough for them to communicate with each other.

“We taught them weaving.”, Herrah replied, “They latched onto it surprisingly well for beings that don't produce their own silk. They can communicate by weaving symbols.”

“How long ago have you found them?”, Pendry asked.

“Two weeks ago.”, Herrah replied in an instant.

“And you only told us to come here – OW!”, Pendry's question got interrupted by Hornet having finished her snack and while searching for more gnawing on Pendry's arm. “Hornet please, your venom can't hurt me, but that hurts...”, Pendry pleaded with the toddler, only to be met with silence.

“You are as bad with children as ever.”, Herrah said and simply plucked Hornet from Pendry's arm, which hurt quite a bit when her little fangs got yanked out from his arm, muttering to her child and rocking her back and forth a bit.

“I first needed them to settle in, Wyrm.”, Herrah said as if the interruption had never happened at all. “These two were scared out of their minds when I found them. Not that you ever thought about them having a mind anyway... at first they only were hiding. I needed three days for them to come out and even then those two never want to get separated. They do everything together. Eating, sleeping, bathing, training, playing... If you try to separate them, the other one will throw a heavy fit. Believe me, I have learned the hard way.”

Herrah sighed as Hornet, blissfully unaware of the situation, giggled about being rocked. Pendry's gaze fell on Hollow and the other two, who have sat in silence for a few minutes now. As Hollow noticed, they turned to him and signed: “Siblings! Not dead!”

“I have noticed, Hollow...”, Pendry said. “Do you want for Herrah to tell you where they came from?”

“No need. They showed me.”, Hollow said, confirming Pendry's theory that the vessels could share memories somehow. Not that Thorn had done that with Hollow, they probably were far too uncomfortable with letting anyone else share their head after the whole infection disaster.

“They have names.”, Pendry said after a short amount of silence. “Did you name them?” The question was of course directed at Herrah. Hollow and the twins, Pendry thought that described them the best, had stopped sitting in silence and were playfully sparring with each other. It didn't surprise Pendry that they wielded nails. The vessels all had been programmed to pick up nails and fight.

“They have chosen their own names as is Deepnest tradition.”, Herrah said and when Pendry gave a questioning look towards Hornet, she continued, “Royalty is an exception. They receive a name upon birth, but it can be more called a nickname. Once she is of age, little Hornet will be allowed to choose her own name as well as her preferred pronouns. Of course if she is comfortable with either, she can choose to go by her birth name.”

“Why do I have the feeling that you don't go by your birth name...”, Pendry said, dropping his royal pronouns again, feeling like it was no use around Herrah.

“Oh, Wyrm, it seems you have some brain in that fork of your head after all.”, Herrah snickered. “Nox and Lux... the dark and the light. Old words of ancient Deepnest. The one with the upwards horns is Lux. The one with the downward horns is Nox.”

Pendry looked at both of them, currently in the process of parrying a nail strike of Hollow, both of them at once. He watched the scene a little longer, impressed by how well the twins worked together. It was as if they read each other's thoughts.

Maybe that really was the case, when he thought about it.

At the same time, he had to think about how they were clearly not good candidates for a pure vessel. They relied too much on each other. The Radiance would have used their care for each other against them in an instant.

What a good thing this plan was behind him.

The three children finished their sparring session and all of them bowed to honour their opponent, Hollow in the way of the palace, the twins in the way of Deepnest. Hollow then came back to Pendry and signed: “Father... do you think they might help us?”

“Oh, you are right!”, Pendry hadn't even thought about their problem of needing at least one vessel for their plan to work. Herrah was right, his child was more competent than him. “Herrah, is there a chance that we could take them with us for a while?”

Before he even had finished his sentence, Herrah had stepped in front of the children. “No way, Wyrm. You are not taking these children ANYWHERE. I have found them in my realm and they are my responsibility now and there is NO WAY that I give them into your care for even a single SECOND.”

Pendry lowered his head in defeat. It was clear that Herrah wouldn't want to listen to him. “If not for our sake, then for Hollow's.”, he said. “They thought that all of their siblings had died. Besides, they could help us fight off the infection.”

“Hollow can visit them here anytime they want.”, Herrah said, still in front of the twins, so both of them were hugging a leg and peeking out from behind it. “But letting you using them again, after they clearly were not good again the first time? No, Wyrm, not in a million years and I know you can live that long. Besides, they are far too sensitive to light now. Removing them from Deepnest would only harm them. The children stay here and this is the last thing I will have to say about this matter.”

“We... understand.”, Pendry said, letting out a sigh, “Please take good care of them, because we failed them as their father.” The twins hadn't even acknowledged him. Maybe they hadn't recognized him. Not every of the vessels had gotten a good look at him. He was just glad that they were on good terms with Hollow.

“Do we have to leave now?”, Hollow signed, looking from Hornet to the twins, then to Herrah and Pendry.

“Oh, you can feel free to play a bit more.”, Herrah was quick to reassure them. “Your father, on the other hand, probably should go outside and think about his actions.”

“There isn't a single night where I don't.”, Pendry murmured, but left, knowing that his presence wasn't wished for anymore. He sat himself at one of the cliffs and let the events of the past days pass anew in his head. It had been a lot. He felt ripe for a vacation. He should see if he could manage a day or two off once he returned to the palace.

After a good while had passed, Hollow came and sat down next to him. “Did you have fun?”, Pendry asked and stroked their horns. They nodded and then stood up right away.

“Let's go home.”, they signed.

“Alright.”, Pendry got up as well, “Just one question... were Nox or Lux the vessel you have seen?”

Hollow shook their head and then pointed at their horns again. “Different.”, they signed. “Similar to mine, but not quite.”

“Well... thanks, Hollow.”, Pendry said as Hollow took his hand, ready to venture through Deepnest on their way back. “Let's just hope we find them somewhere...”

Without a vessel their plan would fail... and then they also needed to fulfil the ritual for Grimm or he wouldn't help.

Pendry groaned internally. He really really needed this day off. (Author's note: Oh look at this, it isn't a cliffhanger for once!

This chapter was a lot of fun to write! I don't have much to say about it though, just that my favourite parts were Rydellia massaging Pendry and Herrah giving Pendry the hit of the century.

I can hardly believe that this fic will soon be over. There aren't many plot points to explore anymore. Thanks so much to everyone who supported it so far. Please continue to tell me your thoughts in the comments ^^ ) Next chapter: N/A

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Hey *Slides 20 dollars* can you do headcanons for A hollow knight/MTMTE crossover idea of hallownest Bugs mainly ghost ending up in the lost light

Let’s imagine that the bugs in Hollow Knight is the same size as humans, because if they were actually bug sized then the bots wouldn’t be able to see them. In this case Ghost (the player character/the Knight) is about the size of a toddler. Still tiny compared to a cybertronian but at least visible.

Ghost is fucking off exploring when the shock of how big everything is dies. They are gonna find all the hidden nooks and crannies and make a map of the Lost Light. Since they are so small and look so nonthreatening some bots try to push them around but then Ghost beats their ass and now no one messes with them anymore. Thanks to this the crew now respect them. Both chaotic and wholesome at the same time. Yes, they are tiny and cute and helpful but when they have decided to do something, they do it. Which means that sometimes one of the crew will wake up in the middle of the night with Ghost just staring at them. It’s very unnerving. Somehow becomes best friends with Whirl.

The Hollow Knight doesn’t know what to do. They were supposed to be dead after having failed his duty as the vessel for the Radiance. Now they are somewhere they have never been before, surrounded by titans made out of metal. There’s no Pale King to guide them, so they remain motionless, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. They won’t just listen to anyone though, no they have to be... special. In what way they don’t know. Until Rung approaches them, that is. He's not emitting light the same way as the Pale King but there’s light coming from his chest piece and oh, the aura is so familiar. The Hollow Knight recognizes a Higher Being when they see them.

Now the Hollow Knight won’t stop following Rung around. Wherever he goes, they follow. First by walking behind them but even though they are tall for a bug and Rung is quite short for a non-minibot cybertronian, the difference in their steps are too big. When Rung notices this he lets the Hollow Knight sit on his shoulder instead. Also, Rung is doing his best to encourage free will and individuality to the Hollow Knight.

Hornet is... a menace. While not reckless, she will fight anyone that messes with her. Say goodbye to your kneecaps, asshole! She’s the princess of Deepnest and Hallownest and you will respect her! When she’s not defending her honor she prefers to spend her time in the medbay. She gets surprisingly well along with Ratchet and he doesn’t really mind her presence since she’s usually quite serious and not making a ruckus.

[flecks-of-stardust]

I Ramble About My Video Game Experiences. Please Don’t Kill Me

i am starkly aware i am swinging a bat at a hornet’s nest here but i need to get the thoughts out okay

anyway tldr this is me rating the video games that ive played and left a lasting impression on me. the scale is from 0 to 10, with 0 being ‘how did this game even get the funding to be produced’ and 10 being ‘this game is amazing and i cannot critique anything in it.’ so neither of those numbers are going to appear, but youll know what my rating mechanic is lmao. without further ado:

Hollow Knight

starting with the bug game that started this blog. probably a solid 9/10 or 8.5/10. yes im biased, shut up. hollow knight’s a really solid game in a lot of aspects: the lore is really well fleshed out and links up well, the gameplay is a delight, the progression is smooth and pretty friendly to players new to the genre (hi), and i like that you kind of have a parallel of the player choosing their own path in tandem with what the knight is doing. its a lovely experience, and how the lore is structured gives the fans Tons of avenues to explore, which is Great.

however. because i overthink everything, the little inconsistencies in lore do bother me (the light shafts?? in greenpath???? what is up with the dirt carvers and the carver hatchers. why do the devouts have scythes for masks. actually, why do deepnest things have masks. because as far as im aware deepnest isnt actually part of hallownest??), and i do wish we’d gotten a Little more confirmation about some lore, but that’s just me. my biggest issue is how deepnest is depicted; im not too happy about how it’s talked about. which, like. i might just be nitpicking, but im rather wary of anything that depicts an external civilization that is also described as ‘brutal’ or beastlike, and being otherwise uncivilized and/or primitive. there Is nuance here, it’s entirely possible a lot of the structures in deepnest broke down over time and the distant village is all that survived, but im still on guard when it comes to this. its no secret that i resent how hallownest/the mantises evidently treated the citizens of deepnest, so im aware im a little biased here as well. but yeah, thats my main issue here.

Bug Fables

the other bug game! 8/10. lovely story, great gameplay, stunning writing of the characters, very interesting premise. i definitely found the gameplay in bug fables a lot easier to pick up than that of hollow knight, but that’s kind of a given with how the combat is structured in bug fables. there’s a lot of complexity that i was not aware was going to be in a game that looks the way bug fables does, which i adore. i also Really like the meta details scattered throughout the game, but im just a sucker for those asdkfgkjs

i have similar complaints for bug fables as i do for hollow knight, but its even worse in bug fables. i resent the way the devs handled the leafbug tribe, and i do not understand the way the lore about them was set up. there was frankly no reason for them to ambush team maki and team snakemouth when yin was emerging from her pupa, and as a result that mission just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. the whole thing reeks of barely veiled racism and anti-indigenous sentiment. i really wish the devs had taken more of a ‘they dont understand what’s going on, particularly with the language barrier’ route instead of just. ooga booga fight these random bugs that showed up for no reason other than the fact theyre convenient antagonists. :/

the lore of bug fables is also a little... odd. it works out well enough, but when you poke at it a little too much it crumbles a little. mainly the timeline of things seems. off? but, whatever. that’s more nitpick territory. i still love the game (even if i highly distrust the devs)

Ori and the Blind Forest

my first platformer! blind forest holds a very special spot in my heart because of that. id never played anything like this before blind forest, and honestly im very glad this was my first platformer; it probably would have gone Really differently if it had been hollow knight instead lmfao. id pin this as 9/10, for all the lovely things about it: the smooth gameplay, the graphics, the story, and. fuck man. ori’s cute FDKGJSKJ for a game with limited dialogue, the story ties together really well, and the lore doesn’t have many loose ends that i can think of. the concept of the spirit tree is really interesting too.

the major thing id complain about would be the combat, something i think basically everyone has bitched about at this point. you wanna fight something? button mash until your finger falls off. and then sein kinda zaps whatever it is. thats it. you can also attack with stomp and i think charge dash, but you dont get stomp until pretty far in and charge dash is... clunky. dash isnt even a required ability. blind forest does focus heavily on platforming though, so i cant complain too hard. i also have to specially mention sorrow’s pass, because wow i fucking Hated that area! i died so many times!!!!! playing on keyboard in sorrow’s pass Sucks! but the love i have for the ginso tree escape sequence makes up for it sfkjgjks

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

i was reluctant to start will of the wisps after blind forest but holy Fuck am i glad i did. its... i have to say its a better game than blind forest in a lot of ways. moon studios really improved on a Ton of things that blind forest lacked in. id probably pin this as 9/10 as well, but i have to rave about the combat. i mean at least compared to blind forest, the combat is an absolute fucking Delight. slashing with spirit edge really feels like you have a sword, and the heft that spirit smash has when ori swings it is just,,,,,, mwah. so good. and those are just the two weapons im most fond of; the spike, while not the best in terms of energy cost, is really fucking cool as well.

special mention to the various glitches people have discovered for this game >:3 or more like exploits, its not all glitches (though there was a whole thing people dedicated to glitches a while back and it was Amazing. wotw is horribly easy to glitch and its Hilarious), and sentry jump is more of an exploit. like who needs launch when you can sentry jump?? you get more height than launch too in some cases i think, and you can get it Really early on. hell yeah. ori go YEET

its 9/10 because of a few gripes i have with the story. i do wish that shriek had gotten a happier ending; i do understand the message that was woven into the story, but still. baur paints it as like... he almost says its impossible for her to change? which. bleh. that’s not true, and its a little icky with the background i have. id have loved to be able to show shriek the love and care she so clearly craved, even if she outright rejected it. i dont think stopping seir from fucking blasting her into cooked owl counts, really, though i guess that could be argued about.

the other gripe is ku’s wing. i cannot find the words to describe the sheer delight i felt at the clear depiction of ku as disabled. her wing is busted, and she can’t fly. and she wants to, so so desperately, but she can’t. that sort of narrative is,,, disgustingly rare? and i was so excited about it. but then in the end they had ori do a magic tada! wing fixed! on her and :| i just wish it had been something like. ku learning to accept that loss, while also working to find some sort of accommodation that would allow her to fly for short periods. i mean if the feather worked well enough to let them fly to niwen then damn, im sure gumo could figure something out with a leaf or some shit. but no, just. magic away the disability. :/

i still adore the game though. the story that will of the wisps tells is a little cemented in, and the gameplay is pretty linear (though a little less so than that of blind forest). so i guess these two things wouldnt have fit in too well, but idk. i just wish, yknow.

Oriverse (both games as a whole)

not gonna say much here, but i did want to put this in. still 9/10 for the franchise in its entirety. there Is the weird,, protag gets amnesia and loses all their abilities that sequels to games like these have, but eh. its fine. ori just got a concussion /s the story connects pretty well across the two games, even if the worldbuilding is pretty different. the deal with seir is a liiiiiittle odd, but it works well enough. the graphics are just,,,,, holy god will of the wisps is so beautiful. but blind forest isnt far behind!

just. idk. i love this franchise so much. and its my first ever, so im biased. i highly recommend playing them both, but uh. wotw might fry your computer if its not strong enough. the graphics are just that powerful asfkjdgkjkjs

Rain World

this is where im probably gonna have people breathing down my neck but. 7/10. and i have very specific reasons why.

gameplay wise? wonderful! rain world really drives home that feeling of being hunted and being small and weak and defenseless. it advertised that and it fucking delivered it, and its great. theres also a lot of complexity to what you can actually do in the game; turtle toad’s videos have me in constant awe and slight fear. the design for slugcat is pretty unique, and honestly i really love that we’re canonically crawling through pipes. it adds a lot of realism and i guess staying power to the world, which is already fascinating and nicely fleshed out. the combat is very interesting too tbh. lots you can do with just a rock and a spear. its just... it sure is a survival sim. it sure fucking is, and i love it for that

however i have Big issues with the way the difficulties are structured. im not gonna comment on hunter, especially since ive never even finished hunter, but i will complain endlessly about monk. it’s supposed to be the easy mode, and its definitely much more of a breeze than survivor. but i resent that the lore pearls get their data wiped. the canonical explanation for that is that too much time has passed between survivor and monk for the data to remain, but then couldnt the same be said of hunter and survivor? unless those two did their journeys back to back, which i kind of doubt considering how much more aggressive the creatures in hunter are. it just feels like theyre punishing people for playing on easy, and im not a fan of that.

theres a smattering of other things too. the map is. weird. and kind of difficult to use. also i dislike the bare bones of a tutorial the game gives you (seriously, why are you not told how to switch items from hand to hand or how to use the stomach pouch? i dont understand the reasoning for leaving those to be discovered on your own), but i guess you could argue that it adds to the survival simulator experience, idk. my biggest issue would probably be the lore, actually. this is me nitpicking about writing, but the progression of the story confuses me. you’re presented with a world that is not built for you, and youre just surviving the best you can as a little animal. youre told repeatedly, through the gameplay, that you are not the protagonist. you are barely even a speck of dust in their story. you are irrelevant in every way, and yet. you make your way into five pebbles’ chamber, and he tells you in no uncertain terms to do what he cant: find the void sea and leave this world, with its endless cycles of death and rebirth. and its like. im just. im just an animal. why are you angsting at me?? and now the story takes a weird left turn where youre now suddenly relevant, and its your goal now to find the void sea? like what happened to ‘this world is not built for you?’ and idk its just weird to me. it works well enough, its just. five pebbles you are talking to the equivalent of a rat. what the fuck, dude.

i cant rate rain world Too harshly though, even if theres a bunch of things that i hate about it (cough the part of the community that insists that people just need to ~get good~ at the game. disabled people exist, fuck you <3). its still a lovely game and a very unique experience, its just definitely not for everyone. im glad i got to experience it, anyhow. i just have beef with certain things askdjfgkjs

Celeste

this GAME. MAN. this girl is so plural and trans, you have no idea. 9.5/10, i adore it. im sure others have raved about the accessibility of this game already, but i am So so grateful the devs added it, holy shit. this is honestly what i hope all games have? sure, im not playing the game as the devs intended, and they warn us of that on the assist mode screen. i just really like the agency that we as players are given to adjust the gameplay. so what if i slap invincibility mode on and just play it for the story? is that a bad thing? and also i will say that being given the ability to do that makes me Way way more likely to go back and play the game as intended. what’s easy for other people could be what’s difficult for me, and vice versa, and being able to set the difficulty level gives me way more room to practice and get better. hollow knight kind of does it similarly, with how it teaches you the combat, but its more of an indirect ‘pick your own difficulty’ sort of game. celeste is just... its your choice, in its entirety. and it is so liberating.

and then theres the story, which is Amazing. i got the game for the story only, tbh, and i dont regret it. the depiction of madeline’s anxiety is really nice tbh, and it was all handled really well, particularly with the character development of both madeline and badeline (also again: plural!!!!! holy shit!!!!!!!!!!!!) i know this story was written at least partially from personal experience though, i think? which just makes me appreciate it more honestly, and im glad that people are making this sort of media. im driven by very similar things with my own creations, and its nice to see others getting this sort of success with their work.

theres no real gripe i have with the game tbh. just minorly complaining that its really difficult without assist mode, but like. honestly that’s not really a bad thing, i just suck at platforming LMAO. it Has been a while since ive played through the game though, so idk. celeste is just so good

in any case, highly recommend!!! celeste my beloved <3

Oxygen Not Included

and last but not least, oni, the game that ive sold my soul to at this point. oh shit im nearly at 420 hours NICE

but thats 400+ hours ive sunk into this game, and im never getting them back. and im planning to put More in. it scratches so many of the itches i have: its a very science based game, very logic based one, i get to oversee a little colony of fucking idiots that KEEP TRYING TO FENCE THEIR HEADS INTO BLOCKS, but i love them so its. okay. i guess. and i also get to decorate and design and Create. it keeps me on my toes, but its never always in my face, and its like. infinitely replayable? which is So Good. im a sucker for anything cute, but this is cute and sciency and lets me have free reign over what to do. i love it. i love it So Much

theres honestly nothing i can find to critique it on. i havent even found all the lore yet, which is Wild. theres always stuff to do in this game and probably the only complaint id have is my own damn fault anyway? like if i launch the game and start playing im going to be there for at Least three hours. guaranteed. it just sucks me in so hard sfkghjks

i will say that its probably not for everyone? im just a nerd and i love games like oni, but its by no means an easy game. its a really fucking difficult one, actually, and ive had to look up so many tutorials to even get to where i am now with my abilities. the designs people come up with to do all sorts of shit are amazing, and when i finally figure out how to make my own im gonna feel really accomplished :)

10/10. i honestly cant shit talk anything about this game. it has my entire heart, please check it out askdjfgjkjk

tldr ive spent so much time on video games, oh my god. please someone play these as well so i can scream about them with you

[hk-plus-you]

well gonna do the do. what about headcanons with human reader and tiso. they also know how to fight and do it for fun but they're not aggressive in their approach and more laid back. can be romantic or platonic, both are fine! i love your writing so much, thank you for making this blog ^^

I really love Tiso. He’s such a bastard and I want to kiss him as much as I want to throttle him.

You stumbled upon Hollownest in an old cave system a few months ago. It was an hour long walk to get there since you kind had to go on foot. Still, a whole ancient kingdom with talking bugs and secrets? If curiosity killed the cat, you're a kitten nailed to a cross.

You know a mix and mash of fighting styles. Some fencing here, some karate, there, a dash of boxing, etc. You were kinda the epitome of jack of all trades master of none in that department. You’re a good fighter because of it. It definitely helped navigate through all the dangerous zombie bug critters.

 You met Tiso when you got off a Stag. He made a comment asking why a “squishy thing like you” was in Hollownest. You explain you’re just exploring and in turn ask why he’s here. Tiso talks of an arena for warriors, though you don’t appreciate him saying you’d get killed in seconds. Scoffing, you ask why he thinks that. He mentions your shelless exterior and you riding the stag station. While the first one was kind of understandable, the second is beyond confusing. Riding the stag stations is unwarrior like? What? His reasoning is worse. You’ve met a few people like him in the various classes and clubs you’ve joined but you had a feeling he would be the president of the Arrogant Ass club. You just roll your eyes and leave him to be a warrior on his own.

The next time you meet him it’s at the blue lake. All it takes is you walking up and he starts complaining about how serene the place is. You ask if there is anything else he talks about other than fighting, earning a glare from him. Your further question about if he knows there is more to warriors than fighting has him a bit peeved to say the least. Tiso demands to know how you would know anything about what it means to be a warrior. He certainly doesn’t expect you to say that you trained under many great warriors yourself. An exaggeration of the truth of course but he didn’t need to know that. It makes him sputter a bit and he insists that it’s impossible for you to be a warrior. You brush him off and walk away, feeling him glare daggers into your back.

It’s when you see him sitting and waiting for the arena you know you have to step in. You may not have seen Tiso fight, but you have the suspicion that he isn’t ready for the mess you can hear happening upstairs. Walking up to him seems to make him stiffen. With a stilted tone asked if you’re here to join the arena, and if you were ready to face him. In a split second you come up with an idea. You say that you are ready to face him, just not in the arena. In fact, you don’t think he’s ready for the arena. For a moment Tiso is confused, then he’s just beyond insulted. Before he can speak you say that his rash judgements and overconfidence would get him killed. He begins to argue and you quickly offer a deal. You and him fight, if you win he doesn’t enter the arena, if he wins you’ll never bother him again. With his pride hurt Tiso agrees and you two take it outside.

You won, most likely because unarmed combat isn’t really a thing for bugs so he didn’t exactly know what to expect. It certainly pissed him off to say the least. Still he couldn’t say you were wrong anymore, and after he tired himself out you reminded him of the deal. He couldn’t enter the arena now. He huffed a fine before asking why you even cared.

All you could really do was shrug. The idea of knowing he could get creamed in the arena when you could have done something just didn’t set well. You just wanted to help, though the way you did was rather unconventional. Tiso grumbled something about warriors not needing help and you rolled your eyes at him. With a groan you told him to knock it off with the warrior obsession. 

You see him on your way back home when he’s about to leave. You ask why he’s leaving and he reminds you that the one reason he was here he can’t even do. You remind him that there had to be other stuff. He may not like the serene and peaceful but there had to be other stuff out there with a good challenge. The kingdom was slowly being opened up by other bugs, maybe you two could work together to open up the rest and see who else was out there. The mantis tribe was one example, but you two could also explore Deepnest, or figure out what was with the hive.

He asked why together and you paused. You hadn’t even realized what you suggested, just kinda rambling stuff off. It didn’t have to be with you, though you’d certainly like the company. He could do whatever, you fully expected him to leave. You had to go home anyway since you only came to Hollownest on weekends.

To your surprise he actually took your offer. He’d stay and train while you were gone and give the whole exploration thing a try. It’s not like there was anywhere else he wanted to go anyway.

Maybe he wouldn’t be the president of the Arrogant Ass club for long? Maybe.