#random-tree

[ruthlesslistener]

I can't actually delve much into pharloom and Deepnest yet since we don't know much about them, which is why I cut the "essay" in the OG post short.

But if I were to say anything I'd say that Pharloom feels very Christian to me, while Deepnest is very much not, though I can't say which culture they're coded as. Which is fascinating because pharloom clearly accepts immigrants, or pilgrims as we saw in the trailer. It suggests to me that Pharloom is only accepting immigration from nations they deem "civilised", aka bug Christian, or at least willing to assimilate.

However the weavers are not willing to assimilate, and even if they were they look so different to the average bug, which means they cannot. I may be projecting but it's like how if you're a brown middle Eastern guy you can't exactly assimilate into western culture even if you wanted to cause you're not white.

Because of this pharloom keeps the weavers only for their labour and away from the eyes of tourists and pilgrims, to continue this facade of a "civilized" nation, afraid that the "barbaric" (aka not bug Christian) reputation of the Deepnest immigrants would taint that.

It's similar to how if you were to be hired into a factory job here in Europe or any major labor intensive job that is away from the eyes of the public it's filled with immigrants, as if the company knows that they'll accept harsher conditions. No I'm not speaking from personal experience whatever gave you that idea, heh, but seriously it's fucked I hope hornet tears pharloom into shreds.

op i am SO sorry that i didn't answer this in over a month. I did not expect to be as busy as I was when I got back from winter break and this was one of those asks where I really wanted to sit down and just read through it and have time to think of an eloquent reply to add more to the conversation, but then I got smacked with the requirement to read a dry 500-page book on why some biochemist thinks that the mitochondria is the key to everything we do in our lives

But! Now that I (kinda) have the time!! Hard agree with you!!! Pharloom is indeed very Christian-coded, what with the rosaries and all, and even though we know very little about it rn, there does seem to be a strong form of hierarchy going on that wasn't present in Hallownest- at least, not as a whole. While the caverns of Hallownest were formed by separate native tribes that each had their own culture, god, and internal hierarchy, Pharloom was said to be a land that you had to work your way through 'from the ground up' to reach the gilded capital, which is...quite a familiar phrase to anyone who is an immigrant or child of an immigrant family that came to America seeking some form of wealth or freedom that their original country couldn't offer. Similarly, Pharloom seems much more densely-packed and messy compared to Hallownest, where again, each tribe had their own territory that they defended and cultivated to their own liking. Pharloom, on the other hand, feels like a city where there's floods of new immigrants and pilgrims coming in seeking something that it's offering to them, but only the most desirable of the bunch will get what they want. And if you're not, then, well...good luck with that. You can try working your way up the ladder, but you won't get very far. You never will. It's all a sham, and those who notice it will get nothing out of it.

(the fact that they captured Hornet in a cage gives me a very uneasy feeling about the potential of slave labour, but at the same time, that seems hardly out of the ordinary for Pharloom. I'm also kinda creeped out by the implication that the Weavers were originally from Pharloom but fled to Hallownest, then were forced to go back to their homeland come the Infection, because that's not really something we've seen yet so far. Even the Moths seem to have simply assimilated into the City of Tears when the Pale King and White Lady uprooted the Radiance, and by Seer's words, they did so willingly. That the Weavers had no choice is...sinister, to say the least)

Also big agree on hoping that Hornet tears Pharloom a new one. She got to be princess protector over a dying kingdom for so long, now she deserves to tear the guts out of a rotting cesspit on the verge of death.

[rose-reads-visualnovels]

See, this is why we need gay media analysts, cause if this live blog was made by someone straight they'd think that man love wife is an obvious conclusion and not even consider interrogating the idea.

But with a gay liveblog you can have that dramatic moment after paragraphs of doubt going 'does man love wife!?'

Anyways, Natsuhi <3

We’re introduced to the Adult Pairings as this:

Rudolf/Kyrie - Rudolf cheated on his ex wife with Kyrie and immediately married her the moment his other wife died. Kyrie makes sex jokes about torturing his dick and balls. They’re having sex.

Eva/Hideyoshi - They’re a power couple enjoying the fact their handsome and mature son is entering adulthood and the business world. They’re focused on the family unit and their legacy while still affectionate with each other.

Krauss/Natsuhi - Jessica is the one to bring up how cold and boring her parents are. They nag her all the time and she’s sick of it. Natsuhi is introduced alone fighting off Eva’s poisoned dagger with a blunt butter knife and stressing over managing the servants all by herself. Krauss is also introduced alone, begging a Father he knows doesn’t care about him to please show his face. They live in an isolated island all year long but it never seems like they’re ever in the same room together.

The fact they’ve managed to find love, even if small and hidden away by formalities is kind of super cute actually. Krauss loving his wife is like finding a wildflower blooming from a crack in a concrete sidewalk.

Rosa unfortunately got no bitches

— Rose, the Revolutionary Witch

[voidsiblings]

Putting my two cents in the size debate: the bugs in HK are small because I don't see the point of them being human sized. Because humanity is irrelevant in the world of HK. Thinking about the bugs of hk as bug sized is not demeaning them it's just because they're bugs and they're small in the context of their world. This is a story about small people who are at the whims of beings much larger than they are (the higher being) and I happen to enjoy stories about small people, especially when that smallness is emphasized. A lot of my personal stories are about people being dwarfed by their surroundings.

I'm not being very coherent but I don't want bug furries I want little critters, because I enjoy little critters. When I think of the bugs of hk as small I do not think of myself as large, because I am not part of their world. It's because in my own world I am small and I enjoy stories that reflect this existence of mine. To try to make them "big" like us feels like to have our respect they must be big.

I really hope I don't sound too combative or rude, but tldr I like them small because I am small. And it's fine to be small.

That's a very valid point! Forgive me if I don't have much more to say on the matter, though, because I came up with the poll while I was falling asleep the other night and never expected it to get this widespread—or this serious. I personally enjoy imagining them large, but there's a definitely a point to be made that without an absolute point of reference, size doesn't really matter. And any personal headcanon I have is just that—personal! There's no one right answer for everybody, and canon is flexible enough to accommodate whatever interpretation you please (and it's also perfectly fine to ignore canon if you prefer to.) All my talk of a "wrong answer" was meant to be playful, so I'm sorry if it didn't come across that way. I've enjoyed reading the theory on both sides of the divide but I do hope I haven't caused any actual arguments or legitimate distress with my silly bug poll.

[goodmode]

Oh speaking of crossdressing in anime, there's this show when I was little called Alien Planet Survive, and there's this haughty rich boy as part of the crew of stranded teenagers and I don't remember why because it was like a decade ago I watched this but he dressed up as a girl for a few episodes, something about him learning to be humble and also as an effort to cheer up one of the characters, and I remember little kid me being really disappointed when he stopped because I was under the impression that he'd stay that way for the rest of the series, and I remember writing this entire fanfic in my head (before I knew what fanfiction was ) about what the series would be like that way if he became a girl.

i'll have you know i just went on a half-hour search engine spree looking for info on this and not only do i now know who howard is but i've also just experienced his whole character arc in wikipedia plot synopses. i like this guy

ANYWAY i couldn't find the episode you're talking about, alas. (if you find it or remember the title lmk! i'm interested now) but it hammers home what i was saying to a friend earlier - i really like when fans take a piece of media that's disingenuously like "ha ha crossdressing" and they go Hmm. Actually. What If We Examine This Through The Gender Lens, For Serious

honestly being young and not knowing about this stuff and still deciding "actually what if this was a good thing/happy turn of events for the character instead of being a throwaway plot device" is such a mood. i was exactly the same and still am!

media writers can get silly as they like about Dude In Girl Clothes Subplot but honestly how many people just took the writing at face value and went "huh. that's interesting actually. what if?" - i bet a lot.

fan content about this stuff is positive and cool and if you ask my humble onion i think we should all go off and write the fics our younger selves wanted to

[pochapal]

I read umineko before Higurashi and honestly I don't feel the experience of reading Higurashi deepened my understanding of umineko, I think you should be fine, the two stories feel pretty separate

yeah that seems to be the general consensus - this thing won't affect my understanding of either story, but will possibly shed light on a shared concept/feature between the two of them. but from what i've heard higurashi and umineko kind of operate in a very similar way so even if everyone was coy at the end of chapter 1 i'd probably eventually figure most of this stuff out in due time anyway merely as a result of continuing to read and understand umineko. it is reassuring to know this isn't too big a deal!

[steampoweredwerehog]

Property of hate has been completed?? I haven't read it in years

Nope, it’s still going! It’s just reached a really important character moment ;)

[llocket]

✧ 　green pngs

f2u! reblogs very appreciated! ↳ self indulgent!!

green pngs for you guys (no graphics today since i'm tired)

[linka-from-captain-planet]

most important ship in the game

[bluerosefox]

Fenton Ethics and Test Tube Babies

In order to get the funding they need for their Ghost stuff, Jack and Maddie Fenton had to do some... rather illegal things when they left college.

One of them was testing alien DNA and seeing if it was compatible with human DNA.

However getting their hands on Superman's DNA or any of the main Leaguers would be far to hard for two up coming scientists and would run the risk of them being caught. Instead they set their sights on some of the younger aliens.

Such as Starfire, or rather Koriand'r.

They manage to get their hands on her DNA, and also her boyfriend (Nightwing) at the time and began to test it. They felt unsure with what they're doing but they needed the funding and in order to make themself feel better with what they're doing they decided if they were test her DNA with someone she was seeing it would be... better for their own conscience (it doesn't make what they're doing okay but they think so)

Eventually they succeeded in the testing! A baby can be made between a human and a alien.

HOWEVER because we know how the Fenton's get, they kind of go ahead of what they were only meant to do, which was just to TEST the compatibility of the DNA. Basically the paper's before the test phase.

With them getting tunnel vision on this project... They create said baby.

Then before they could show off that creating a new baby via test tubes actually works, they were told that the paperwork they were working on were going to be given to a new team, thank you for your work, here is the money for your ghost stuff, and have a good day.

The people who hired them then just leave.... Without knowing about the newly made baby.

Jack and Maddie name the baby Jasmine.

A few years later when little Jazz asks for a sibling... Well they bring out the old test tubes and papers.

And even though Starfire is no longer dating Nightwing, her new partner Red Hood would make a wonderful male donor for their future kid.

[ruthlesslistener]

No listen, hornet was designed to mirror my trauma perfectly.

She's from two different places, both of which she doesn't feel like she belongs to, now suddenly stuck in a foreign land so so far away from anything resembling "home" that is exploiting the people of one side of her heritage, that of deepnest.

And the only reason she's they haven't caught her is due to the other side of her heritage, that of hallownest, that of the pale king, a side of her heritage that completly rejected the other, feeling like the other was beneath them. And that is the side allowing her special treatment, just enough to allow her to escape pharloom's grasp.

Do you think hornet feels guilt that the wyrm blood she carries, knowing that it is the only reason she isn't farm stock. Knowing that she owes the Deepnest side of her heritage.

Do you think she's tired? She thought she repented for the wyrm blood she carries by protecting the seals, for overlooking the land (her land?) In her father's stead. But now the one side of her heritage that she thought safe, the people she thought escaped are trapped and she must take the vigil again.

But she's so tired.

She thought she was done seeing people like her being mistreated, growing up alongside the pure vessel knowing that neither of them would have existed if not for this Plauge, feeling like their father sees the pair of them as nothing but a bitter debt. But now seeing the way pharloom treats the Deepnest immigrants she's reminded yet again that the world around her sees her as lesser.

Yet like with the pure vessel that she is still in a position of privilege, that she has it so much better.

This lack of singular heritage protects her.

Had she's been purely the pale king's child she'd have been tossed in the abyss like all the others

Had she been purely Herrah's child she'd have been farmed for silk by pharloom or consumed by the Plauge.

She's like a pet bird, yes caged, but not slaughtered like a chicken would, that must fuck with her.

God she must be so tired. But she won't say so, because she doesn't believe herself deserving of exhaustion.

I can't actually delve much into pharloom and Deepnest yet since we don't know much about them, which is why I cut the "essay" in the OG post short.

But if I were to say anything I'd say that Pharloom feels very Christian to me, while Deepnest is very much not, though I can't say which culture they're coded as. Which is fascinating because pharloom clearly accepts immigrants, or pilgrims as we saw in the trailer. It suggests to me that Pharloom is only accepting immigration from nations they deem "civilised", aka bug Christian, or at least willing to assimilate.

However the weavers are not willing to assimilate, and even if they were they look so different to the average bug, which means they cannot. I may be projecting but it's like how if you're a brown middle Eastern guy you can't exactly assimilate into western culture even if you wanted to cause you're not white.

Because of this pharloom keeps the weavers only for their labour and away from the eyes of tourists and pilgrims, to continue this facade of a "civilized" nation, afraid that the "barbaric" (aka not bug Christian) reputation of the Deepnest immigrants would taint that.

It's similar to how if you were to be hired into a factory job here in Europe or any major labor intensive job that is away from the eyes of the public it's filled with immigrants, as if the company knows that they'll accept harsher conditions. No I'm not speaking from personal experience whatever gave you that idea, heh, but seriously it's fucked I hope hornet tears pharloom into shreds.

...

OP I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH THANK YOU FOR THIS MEAL. I think the only thing I disagree on is Hornet's reaction to the burden of her heritage- I think she would be deeply, bitterly angry about it, a sort of ice-cold anger that mingles with the exhaustion yet overwhelms all else- but mmmmm YES this is so good. Hornet being a person stuck between worlds is something that is both her greatest strength, and yet also incredibly isolating for her. She was Deepnest's strongest heir because she was born of Wyrm and Beast, and yet she is still half-mortal compared to her siblings, formed of God and Void. She is the heir to Deepnest, but she is known as the Daughter of Hallownest, and ends up being its protector in the entirety when the Radiance massacred all who were not strong enough to resist her. She's got so much strength, but that strength led to more burdens placed on her shoulders, and now she's trapped in a foreign land far from home, captured like the rest of her tribe, yet tasked with freeing them because her divine blood gives her that edge over the people of Pharloom that her Weavers do not. It must be exhausting, being Hornet, but I'm hoping that some of that lonlieness will be dispelled by meeting fellow outcasts. I sure as fuck can relate to her, as the son of an immigrant and someone disconnected from their family/culture- it's part of why she's one of my favorite characters. Even if she's beloved by one or the other, she'll never fully fit in to either

I also agree on Pharloom having very Christian vibes, what with the rosaries and rigid religious structure and all. It's an interesting contrast from the Radiance, actually, who also gives me strong Christian vibes, but more in the sense of the old testament, wrathful sort of divinity. Pharloom, on the other hand, reminds me more of the corruption wrought by the church; the bounds placed upon others seem to be institutional, and the system of exploitation also seems to be baked into the social power dynamic rather than what we saw in Hollow Knight, where two divine beings that could not comprehend the lives of mortals ended up killing everyone in the nuclear blast radius of squabbling over their worship. It was not institutional; it was animalistic. The fact that Pharloom has a gilded citadel with which immigrants or pilgrims must struggle from the bottom up feels like a metaphor for climing the social ladder, where each rung you jump to demands more of your previous life lost. Those who conform easily and/or are native to Pharloom get to navigate comfortably up the ladder, while those who stick to their own cultural traditions (like the Weavers) are enslaved and exploited. We've yet to see the God of Pharloom, if there even is one, but so far Pharloom really does give me 'extremely strong and corrupt religious political power' vibes from the brief glimpses we see of it. Maybe that's just bc its actually alive instead of the gods being the only ones kind of clinging on, but still. Pretty sure rosaries are a Catholic thing?? Which pairs pretty nicely lots of gilded extravagance and exploitation, lmfao

Either way though, its vibes are absolutely rancid. I sure as fuck hope we see Hornet tearing out its bloated underbelly in Silksong, or at least personally beating back whatever caused the problem. After who knows how many centuries guarding the corpse of a kingdom felled by the folly of gods, she deserves a little regicide. As a treat

[rose-reads-visualnovels]

Natsuhi!!! I mentioned ages ago that battler was my fav but so is Natsuhi.

I dunno what it is about the two of them, their honest nature even in moments which it is to the detriment of them, the fact they're both outsiders to this mess, the fact they both get bullied by Eva's side of the family, lack of social grace, they're both very silly and I love them.

Also you got me to appreciate Rudolf more, I never noticed how much he shields Natsuhi from his siblings, his comments about her headaches felt very dismissive to me on first read-through, but now I realise it's his way of redirecting attention.

Yeah! I really feel the Battler/Natsuhi parallels. I can totally understand why you’d be drawn to both.

Also I assume you’re talking about Krauss and not Rudolf. I’m translating his feelings from aloof catboy speech and I think it’s going well. “Wants you in the same room as him when he’s hunting mice/siblings for breakfast while you stand there and look pretty = I love you”

- Rose, the Revolutionary Witch

[voidsiblings]

Once silksong comes out, even though I know it's unlikely, I hope someone mods in Ghost into the game as playable character, cause Pharmloom is going to be so big traversing it as ghost would be so cool

Honestly I think a Ghost skin is gonna be available .6 seconds after Silksong's release

[meamiiikiii]

happy siffrin day / loop plush drop day / loop day!!! :D

[undercoverossifrage]

I love the little group of misfits we got to see at the beginning of book ten!

[anghraine]

While I'm on my disruptive Tolkien opinions kick:

Yes, obviously, he was a conservative Catholic and this was really important to his understanding of the world and pervades his work and so on and so forth.

But I'm a bit "..." about reducing everything he thought and felt about the world to that. Like, yeah, there's a tradition of conservative pastoralism that meant the context of his environmental opinions was not inherently progressive in the way it can mistakenly seem in 2024. Do I think he was Like That about trees because of conservative pastoralism, or his Catholicism, or that the particular form taken by his TREES TREES TREES #OLDMANWILLOWDIDNOTHINGWRONG TREEEEEEEEES ethos much resembles most of his contemporaries' feelings?

Not really.

I mean, he would never have said it, but I kind of doubt whether his very sincere and deeply felt veneration of the actual figures of his religion was truly comparable to how he felt about things like That One Oak on the Corner That I Liked Got Chopped Down by Evildoers. I've read other conservative British writers of this era who have their own forms of pastoralism and most of them are way less intense about it. I truly don't think Tolkien loved trees the way he did Because Catholicism or whatnot. I genuinely think he just really loved trees.

Basically, I can imagine some alternate universe in which alternate Tolkien ends up with really different beliefs about religion, about politics, about all sorts of things. But I can absolutely not imagine a universe in which any version of Tolkien did not take the part of trees against all their enemies.

[kenichijouji]

ODAIBA MEMORIAL DAY 08/01 (2024) — iphone wallpapers (1/?)