#their design gives me Hollow Knight vibes

[pikolswonderland]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 6!!

I HAVE NO CLUE WHO THEY ARE BUT I LOVE THEM 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

[prophecyoflunarflame]

Things I found out today:

They do in fact address that Eternatus has poison in the pokemon manga

Apparently if you don't just kneel over and die from it, you instead become a jackass

Context:

[ruinandrue]

Introducing Inkwarren: A dark fantasy TTRPG of woodland adventures!

Hi all! I'm Matt, and I am an Atlanta-based indie ttrpg designer currently developing Inkwarren, a dark woodland fantasy TTRPG of swashbuckling tactics and storybook intrigue. Today, I'm going to talk to you about what Inkwarren is, what inspired it, and the design goals I have for the game. Inkwarren is already in preliminary playtests, and I hope to have public playtests sometime in the near future.

What is Inkwarren?

In Inkwarren, players take on the role of woodlanders- animal wanderers of the massive Woodland, who use magick, wits, and weapons to take down foes supernatural and mundane. Your woodlanders' wandering band may be a band of mercenary adventurers, a band of high-spirited rebels, or even a band of scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells just looking for their next score.

One player takes on the role of the Voice in the Dark, a guiding force behind the story that presents challenges, describes consequences, and narrates the actions of the woodlander's foes.

Inkwarren aims to merge modern-style deep narrative rules with exciting, flashy, swashbuckling battles that emphasizes teamwork, movement, and positioning. Character creation is a deep and choice-driven process, that fully contextualizes a woodlander within the world and sets them on a path to a truly memorable story.

Inspirations

Mechanically, Inkwarren borrows from and is inspired by games like Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, Modiphius's Dishonored, ICON, Blades in the Dark, and City of Mist, mixing design trends of modern tactical fantasy games with deep narrative based trends found in other systems. Inkwarren's combat also shares inspiration with the Hades series of games, aiming to emulate the fast-paced action where movement and positioning are just as important as the attacks you use.

Narratively, Inkwarren is inspired by The Secret of NIMH, Dishonored, Redwall, Root, and Hollow Knight. When designing Inkwarren's eponymous setting, I want to evoke the gravitas and melancholy somberness of Hallownest from Hollow Knight, with magic as eldritch and strange as the Outsider's gifts in Dishonored. With this, Inkwarren is still a game about hope, and aims to capture the optimism-despite-adversity and little-heroes-against-great-foes vibes of stories like Redwall or The Secret of NIMH. I have to credit Root for originally giving me the idea to shift my game concept to one where the PCs are little woodland creatures.

Choice, Sacrifice, and Hope

Inkwarren's core mechanic emphasizes choice, intent, and narrative weight. The base 2d10 roll is modified by the woodlander's own Virtues (core strengths like Brawn, Nimbleness, or Insight), combined with a Style to define how they're using that Virtue (such as performing an action Cunningly, Quickly, or Sneakily). Difficulty is measured by Risk and Effect, that assign narrative weight to the severity of consequences a woodlander faces, and how effective they will be if they Prevail.

When woodlanders just don't roll high enough, they don't simply fail- they Falter. Faltering grants Hope, a resource that can be used to Persevere and succeed despite consequences on future challenges. With Hope, failure is never the end- it simply closes one door, and opens another.

Swashbuckling Battles

Inkwarren's Battle system emphasizes movement, positioning, and teamwork. Woodlanders interact with the battlefield through exploits, combat disciplines that have a variety of different effects to use on the field. Exploits have an at-will root effect that can be used as a woodlander's bread and butter, but more powerful effects are always within reach. By using root effects, meeting battle objectives (such as defeating enemies or reaching escape points), and continuing the fight (by ending rounds), woodlanders build Momentum, a shared resource pool by the entire band that can be used to power a woodlander's most powerful abilities. Woodlanders can spend Momentum to use an exploit's powerful bloom effect, or power a duo effect that they can use to combine their abilities with those of another ally. Momentum doesn't deplete until the Battle is over-- use it for quick bursts, or build up to unleash more powerful attacks against your foes!

Other rulesets like charging attacks, staggering mechanics for bosses, climbing on top of larger foes, environments, high ground, and ally turns (that don't clog up combat) also add gravitas, pace, and exciting tactical decisions to make Inkwarren's Battles so engaging.

Sweeping Narrative

Inkwarren's narrative mechanics work to ensure that solving problems outside of Battle carry just as much weight as Battle itself. Inkwarren's narrative ruleset includes:

The Doubt system allows woodlanders to call upon the Voice in the Dark for aid, but at a cost: as the woodlanders build Doubt, the Voice can spend it to increase the danger of the surroundings, unlock new abilities for foes, or act as a mastermind behind the antagonistic forces of the narrative.

Narrative abilities called flourishes that woodlanders can use to interact with the world.

A special character-based tour de force that a woodlander may use to do something truly legendary, although infrequently.

Rest Activities woodlanders may use to Cook Meals, Spar, Entertain, or Pray to give themselves bonuses and restorations for use later.

Wounds to carry over how trials in-combat affect a woodlander after the Battle ends.

Rules for Tongues that establish a woodlander's knowledge of a language with several levels of fluency.

Ties, which are narrative bonds with NPCs woodlanders may use to increase their effect against them, or burn them to ask for a favor.

And So Much More!

Deep character customization for woodlanders, including a Coat mechanic that allows you to play as any little animal your heart desires, unique and evocative traditions like the ghostly historian Folklorist or the passionate Warrior-Poet, rules for mysterious and magical artifacts called esoterica, an in-depth crafting system, and more!

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading! I'm so excited about this game, and I hope to share more with everyone soon!

Tìoraidh!

[chaotixdragon]

So i saw somebody make art of Starscream as a moth and something was awoken inside of me. I present Hollow Knight X Transformers BUGFORMERS!!!! (Or Hollowformers???) Sorry for the shitty sketches, i'll translate my handwriting lmao

Starscream: A Red-Underwing Moth I decided to make all the seekers different moths, have fun with that Megatron: A Black Stag Beetle His armor can be removed, I'll draw it eventually, but under his helmet are small (very sensitive!!!) antennae!!!

Optimus: A Rain Beetle I wanted to make him a dung beetle at first, cause I love the shape of scarab-like beetles but I wanted Bulkhead to be a dung beetle, so I picked my personal favorite type of beetle, the Rain Beetle! Bumblebee: A Bumble bee I think this is obvious.

Arcee: A Blue Dasher Dragonfly She's small, fierce, and fast. I knew a Dragonfly would fit her. Bulkhead: A Rainbow Dung Beetle Bulkhead is a strong, bulky guy, so a strong bulky bug fits him. But I didn't want him to be a plain dung beetle, so I went with the more beautiful, and intimidating type of dung beetle! And its sort of an iridescent green, like our bulky boi. (He also has a second pair of arms he keeps tucked between his armor plating for his safety, but he uses 'em when he needs extra leverage)

Ratchet: A Man-Faced Bug My friend insisted he'd be this kind of bug, and after looking it up, I agree. You can see his face in this bug and I love it. The runner up was a ladybug if you want to do anything with that. Drift: An Idolo mantis I wanted Drift to keep his sort of "intimidating with dexterity" vibes but add a bit more beauty to give that sweetness to his design you see in his character. An Idolo Mantis is that lovely mix of floral beauty and intimidating that I thought would fit perfectly for Drift.

Cyclonus: Spiky Flower Mantis Same deal with Cyclonus but more intimidating. I wanted him to look scary and powerful, but beautiful in an intimidating way, like how he is in the comics. Tailgate: Pill bug (Isopod) Round, sweet, adorable, and one of my favorite bugs. Very useful for the environment and durable, as well as huggable. I think it fits Tailgate pretty well.

ANNNNd finally...some doobles of Starscream cause im an addict.

[devdirt]

Hollow Knight vs. Vivziepop character design language

I know it's kind of a wildcard comparison but Vivziepop is a fan of Hollow Knight and its designs. I wanted to explore how shape language, color usage and storytelling in design are used in both properties.

NPC designs do a great job at telling you the character's personality or occupation without being overly detailed. One well placed trait does wonders, like Cornifer with his bundles of maps or Tuk and her hoarding, scrap salvaging hobbies. Paired with the world it tells two people doing their best to survive their dying realm, one by mapping out the twists and turns and the other by scraping up whatever she can find from abandoned civilization.

Now when we look at visual storytelling in Hazbin there are some good details! Alastor's outfit design and trademark microphone give you old timey host vibes right away. Niffty (my angel) sports a poodle skirt, kerchief around her neck and apron, also telling you her occupation and time period she's likely from. Everyone in this show has a big toothy grin but hers plays well into her hyperactive and always happy personality.

But there are also really poor moments of character storytelling. Everything about Beelzebub has already been said. She doesn't read as gluttony, she doesn't read as a bee, and she doesn't read as an animal tamer. When I look at her I see every other wolf character Viv has ever done. If Jayjay is party wolf and Loona is goth wolf then Beelzebub is lava lamp wolf.

The sins are mostly misses for me. They don't read as their sins or their circus related occupations. Asmodeus has fire powers but doesn't read as fire spinner. Mammon doesn't give off greed at ALL but the jester look works (which is also wrong because he's a CLOWN apparently, not a jester.) And don't get me started on this one.

This is not Lucifer.

Nothing about this reads angel, devil or even pride. This design goes all in on the ringmaster design, which is great for the circus theme! But the apple on the hat is the closest we get to this being Lucifer. I didn't even notice the snake on his hat because it looks like a worm for the apple, and they both cover the crown.

Add a second apple on the cane. Okay, so we know for sure this is supposed to be Lucifer but...why? It's another Beelzebub moment where you're left wondering why the design went in this direction. "Apple" shouldn't be the only giveaway here for the most important man in the world these stories are being told in.

Now let's see the celestial leader of Hollow Knight.

That is a god.

Removing all story context, this is incredibly quick to read. Large wings, all white, glowing yellow eyes and a crown. It looks celestial and it doesn't even need color, which is the point!

Now lets view them both within their stories. Is there visual storytelling when compared to other characters and the world around then?

Hollownest is a dark world where every character is dully colored. The Radiance and her power stick out with a glow, juxtaposing themselves with the dark as the light.

Lucifer does not look any different than most of the Hazbin cast. He has all the red, the same sharp toothed grin, the same body type as 90% of the cast of both Hazbin and Helluva Boss. If you lined him up with everyone else somebody like Asmodeus would be chosen as the obvious leader of Hell with his stature and power in the design alone.

Simplicity can tell an entire story while overextending your designs can muddy it.

Hollow Knight relies on few details and minimal storytelling yet it weaves a tale of an usurped kingdom and a god fighting for revenge. You are void, the world is dull, and god is bright and beautiful and terrifying to your way of life.

Vivziepop wants to weave a complex tale but utterly fails to do so with her designs. I purposely did not bring up Cherri Bomb, Sir Pentious or Stolas' designs since they have elements that were taken from other people and properties. I wanted to focus on what she made with her own hands, and when I narrow it down I do not see the story being told or even what side some characters are supposed to be on. Adam and the exterminators look the same as any demon. The leaders of Hell mostly sink into the ocean of overdone details. When everybody is trying so hard to stand out nobody stands out.

[karen360-x3]

...Yeah this was inevitable since I absolutely love those 2 games....

Sooo here's my attempt at a Hollow Knight x Ultrakill crossover

But instead of giving you all the design and calling it a day like I usually do, imma go ahead and do a section below to explain my design choices cuz why not :

Starting with V1's design:

-Since we know that V1's a robot, it was the logical thing to do to give them a similar design to Steel Soul Jinn, considering she has the same speech patern and design as a robot (also there's a type of enemy in silksong who is similar but i'm not gonna show pics of them cuz spoilers and stuff). Plus I tried adding elements that would make V1's recognizable

-Since there's no firearms in Hollow knight (...yet), I just went with "V1 has different types of magics."

-Also, bug's blood (or soul idk) is white in the game, so they can harnest it with the gems on their chest (gem that is seen on Jinn too)

Next our fav babygirl, Gabriel: (gotta admit, it wasn't easy)

-So again with light spoilers for silksong: there a boss at the top of the citadelle that more or less has the same vibes as gabriel in terms of design (they have 2 sword, they're mainly golden, black and white, they're some sort of skilled guardian according to speculations), so I decided to inspire myself from this one abit (mainly for the bodyshape)

-Also, something I wanted to avoid was just slaping Gabriels armor on the base and call it a day...So I decided to give him fur to give this idea of a godly power (cuz Radiance's fluffy and moth are linked to some mystic powers)

-Modified his wings to be more fitting for a bug (like I did with V1 haha) and tried to write alphabet to replace the letters on gabe's halo and wings.

-And finally, modified his weapons too so they fit better ^^

Oh and if you made it this far, you can drop a request in my inbox and tell me which Ultrakill character should I turn into a hollow knight character next (I mean, there's gonna be Minos and Sisyphus first, but I can still see witch one should I do next)

Anyways, I think that's it!

See y'all later <3

[cricketsintheaudience]

Dan Mora’s Knight Terrors designs for batman, superman, and wonder woman came out and I have Thoughts as to what that might tell us for their individual stories !!!!!!!! if I’m right I am owed one billion dollar and to be president of dc thanks

wonder woman: okay admittedly this one is easiest. judging by the several Greek mythological aspects of her design (medusa hair, ares/battle helmet, harpy or other bird of prey appendages, etc.) and excessive weaponry, I’d combine those two to expect her fear will be becoming a machination of war and a tool manipulated to fulfill the myth that is her life and themyscira’s existence. her extensive training as a warrior could easily be used to slot her into the place of the next great hero of myth, slaughtering the gods’ enemies until she herself completes her purpose and dies a warrior’s death. the fear stems from the fact that despite that, she is an individual. her choices to mingle with man’s world and extend her horizon beyond the world of the gods, along with the conscious decision to become the humans’ champion rather than just the gods’, is proof of this. To lose this and be used by the powers that granted her incredible talents against the new life she’s fought to protect could likely be her greatest fear.

superman: death. the grim reaper aspects of the design (skull face, hooded cloak, withered and near skeletal limbs, halo-like spikes) scream that to me (see also: angel of death). specifically, the fact that he can so easily escape death while nearly everyone around him can’t. it could also potentially be the fear of what dying would even look like for clark—alone, in a world unrecognizable from the one he landed in, etc. as a rebuttal for his seeming lack of fear regarding it—but this is less likely to me. the fact that humans are so fragile, so short-lived, and yet so wildly and passionately important to him is an easy target for clark, hence why this character is giving “ghosts of christmas future” vibes that will force him to confront a world without those he loves. (think, mark!!! what will you have in 500 years????)

batman: this was harder than I thought, in part due to my bias against doing his parents’ deaths for the millionth time. though, the detail of the bat crawling out of bruce’s mouth gives me hope for something a little different, as weird as that sounds: I think a distinct fear of bruce’s is letting the identity of the bat consume him. the fact that the amorphous bat-monster-thing crawling out of him alludes to the alternate identity that’s been dormant inside of him finally emerging, leaving bruce behind as a hollow skin along with his humanity and ties to the dredges of his former life. he has fully become the bat—there’s no longer any room for bruce wayne within him anymore. It might as well be the incarnation of his fear and anger leaving the rest of him behind to gain a life of its own.

so yeah!! I’d absolutely love to hear some other takes, I may very well be wrong but I had so much fun trying to decode these designs and I’m super excited for knight terrors regardless!

[sevenrs]

okay so first of all our lord and savior raindb legacy mods https://www.raindb.net/legacy.html so first installing 1.5: you can have 1.5 and 1.9 versions completely separately and that's what I recommend. Go into your steam games folder, rename rw to anything else, the go to steam library -> properties -> betas -> choose 1.51 and it'll create a separate folder and install it there, leaving 1.9 files intact. When its done downloading, rename the 1.5 folder to anything else again (personally i have it as "Rain World 1.5"), rename the original 1.9 folder back to just rw and once again go to properties -> betas and choose none, it'll verify 1.9 files and leave 1.5 alone. BOOM! You have both of them installed.

now that you have that figured out, 1.5 mods: you need bepinex - extract the contents into 1.5 folder and BOI mod manager - extract it anywhere, run it and and choose the path to your 1.5 game. It will create a "Mods" folder in your game's root folder, this is where you're gonna have to put all the .dll mod files. AND NOW ! Custom region support - you will be able to download and install regions in an in-game mods menu. (feel free to contact me if you need help!) OKAY NOW TO ACTUAL REGION MODS all that i can remember rn and my rating Old New Horizons - one of my absolute favourite. But I do recommend playing it with dev tools otherwise it can be very frustrating. It's a collection of scrapped custom regions so some parts are not very well designed but overall it's a delight that offers A LOT and has some of the most unique level designs and mechanics. There's a portal reference region. And a build-a-ladder room. If you even care.

Arid barrens - a very solid mod. It adds a desert region thats very fun to explore, has an above dround and below ground routes which are pretty cool to explore. Drowned Pantheon - really loved that one. Has a nice vibe and there are bells :'] Aether Ridge - mixed feeling. It's pretty cool but very brutal. And MASSIVE. One hell of a skill check, also has manyt one way routes and dead ends. Personally was not a fan. The Mast - I ! LOVE ! CLIMBING ! UP ! Very cool solid region, similar vibe to atop the tallest tower in downpour. Would recommend. The Root - didn't like it. It's the leg but more. As an underhang hater would not recommend. Hanging Gardens - very pretty and chill I especially loved the design of the upper levels. Also Hollow Knight fans will see a lot of familiar architechture. Also it only connects to two custom regions which is interesting. Coral Caves - has a lot of frustrating water mechanics and one way paths. Except you don't realize that until the cycle is already wasted. But the vibe is cool. Would still not recommend honestly. One of requirements for Hanging Garden. Badlands - similar vibe to Arid Barrens, liked this one! Also has an above ground and below ground routes and overall is a nice enjoyable experience, it's also not a very big region, so I'd say give it a shot. Undersea - was not a fan, has some very cool moments but all also has some very frustrating moments. unsure about this one. Tainted overpass - played just a bit but from I saw there was nothing of note particularly. No cool mechanics or level design. Scorched District - UM. YES ?? IT'S VERY GOOD ??? METROPOLIS BEFORE METROPOLIS. Pilgrims Ascent - the leg but green. Side House - very different from other regions I mentioned, it's a collection of unused vanilla rooms, they aren't particularly good or flow together in one region, but it's a very curios thing to see and has some slightly different familiar rooms! Aqueducts - a challenge region, meant to be played by hunter, has a nice feel to it, some rooms are very interesting, but overall. Was not a fan, call it a skill issue. Underbelly - did not like it. Also kinda reminds me of the exterior (minus the wall) and superstructure, do you see a pattern? I certainly do. Anyway when playing I got stuck repeatedly dying in an area where you're supposed to wall jump. between those five pebbsi zap thingies in recursive transform arrays. Howling Rift - it's a very cool a well made region, I'm sure it's many people's fav and I recommend checking it out. Personally did not care for it tho. Grand Reservoir - recaptures that feel or going into shaded for the first time, has some frustrating platforming, but I loved it nonetheless, the tight pathways and spider enemies bring just the right level of unsetteling. Swamplands - I remember playing it for sure, but I don't even remember what was there. Also have a feeling I didn't like it ? Don't take my word for it tho. Pyramid Wall - what it says on the tin. The wall, but its a pyramid. Drainage System + - I like it :'] you will like it too if you like drainage and hate it if you don't.

Wet World - it's funne, Outskirts but more water, I liked it, but also some parts are very bullshit. Would you like a BLL in your outskirts sir ? Floating Isles - all the worst parts of sky islands. No thank you. ANDDD that's all, I'm sure there are more region mods, but I was only looking through the ones on Raindb and besides floating isles I couldn't remember more. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

damn you can have two rain worlds?

would they automatically have separate launches or do they need to be shoved into steam through the add a game button?

regardless. very cool. thank you lots pipa!

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

1, 8, and 15 for the ask thingie?

1- my favorite song is a hard one I love the whole soundtrack to pieces, but I have particular fond memories of hearing Greenpath, the dung defender and especially sealed vessel for the first time.

When I entered Greenpath my first playthrough, was when I think I really fell in love with the game. And the music played big part in that. It gives big studio Ghibli vibes and it feels cozy but adventurous all at once. I will never forget that moment.

Dung defender I heard first actually while watching my sister play, and it was the first boss fight I remember where the music immediately stuck out to me. It captures knighthood and honor so well. and it's one (big) aspect of that fight that makes it so much fun. That and Ogrim's cheerful, playful demeanor.

Sealed vessel though! Sealed vessel was actually the very first song I heard, and I had saved it to a playlist of mine. (To help inspire my writing.) Years before I even got into hollow knight. So my brother actually bought the game the year it came out for his birthday and he and my little sister were obsessed with it for a while, I had no interest. (Didn't really play video games at all back then.) but I always really loved the art style and the vibes of the game, and I would listen as they told me about whatever bits of lore they could figure out. Anyway at one point my brother was showing me some video that had the sealed vessel soundtrack in the background and I went to look it up and save it later because THAT. SONG.

Especially the build up near the end, I get goosebumps every time. TO. THIS. DAY.

It always deeply impressed me, but now, after playing the game, and having the context for it, it makes it hurt so much worse. I will quite literally tear up if I am listening to it without distracting myself. (And the first time I heard it in game, was also while watching my sister play. At the time I did not have all the context and this was before I became obsessed, I still was tearing up though, you have no idea how distressed I was watching that fight.)

Moving on to question,

8- My favorite enemy probably lore and character design-wise, I'd have to say the mantises. I actually struggled so much in both the mantis tribe and queens garden because of them. (I was terrible my first playthrough tbh I've gotten so much better but it was fun) but I love them so much. (I'm obsessed with mantis tribe lore actually. I don't ever talk about it here, but my sisters and I have tons of headcanons and theories anyway) The traitors were annoying but they make the queens garden area so interesting and I've gotten a ton better at dodging their attacks. and walking through the mantis village after defeating the mantis lords and gaining the respect of the tribe, it's so cool. I love bowing back to them. I love them.

Also really love like, all of the mosskin. The mosscreeps are adorable and the one moss knight standing by the lake of Unn, love that guy especially.

15- Least favorite boss? Honestly, I really don't like fighting any of the dream warrior bosses. At least not after beating them once. I play in the godhome a lot and they are some of the few bosses I just, don't ever replay. Not because they are really that hard for me, actually the bosses that have taken me the most tries to beat (watcher knights, sentinel Hornet, PV, NKG ect.) are some of my favorites in the game. They're just the most.. tedious? The most annoying? I guess. And they aren't even really bad, just in comparison to other bosses in the game you know? And the characters themselves and the character designs and whatnot I find really interesting, but the boss fights themselves, Not the most enjoyable.

Wow, those are some long replies XD thanks for the ask! I love any and all excuses to talk about this game.

[thehappiestgolucky]

May. May I ask for more pokemon merm tidbits?

May I also ask what the crew back home is doing?

I just. Merms. Good.

Yeehaw sure thing lets go pokemer time!

All Hisui Mers (and pokemers in general) are based on aquatic pokemon instead of normal marine animals like in Mermbugs. Also note - the Pokemers are proportionally smaller than the Hollow Knight Mermbugs (Gaeric, one of larger mers for example, is roughly a similar size to MerXero. Adaman is still fairly big but most of that is his tail.)

Here’s designs of our favourite bickering legendaries - redesigned a lil to be more of an underwater vibe. These Leviathans live deep deep underwater - not even Deep Sea Mers have ever sighted these glowing giants. They almost swim silently through the ocean, despite their size, yet recently they seem…on edge

And two character specific ones! Palina has a very… complicated relationship with water - her home. Being the Warden of land mammals was all fine, until Lord Arcanine’s incident. Since then she’s both extremely protective of young of all kinds (she bickers with Gaerics treatment of Dawn and Odessa all the time) and timid of the water, spending a lot of time in air as possible before her lungs and skin threaten to crash and she has to go back in.

Volo…. has a thing going on. Not entirely sure, but I think I’m making it so that his ancestors in some capacity were forced to the land by Arceus (whether its from trying to protect them or banishing them for crimes idk. Both seem interesting paths to me) and Volo feels robbed of this heritage and conspires with Giratina to get at Arceus and take his ‘true form’. Man once again manipulating (and attempting murder) on a bunch of teens again.

And lastly, to answer how all their fam back home is feeling uh-

Can we get an F for MerXero who had been ill from infection, your own husband kidnapped and then returned, your son going and rescuing the local gods and only just recovered from being infected - only to have your husband go missing AGAIN-

please give them their families back. This is a cry for help-

[bobbinbugs]

HII so what do you mean about vessel OCs being thematically relevant? Did you mean specific OCs or the concept of making a vessel OC in general? either way i would love to read your thoughts

An ask! Anon, may you be blessed evermore. Thank you!

As for thematically relevant vessels, well… that’s kind of two separate questions! I’ll go with the general question for now, because that’s way easier to answer, but frankly I’m going to devolve into rambling and start talking about my little guys. You’ve been warned!

A lot of people just want to make A Guy and give them a story, with the backstory of the vessels as a base. And that’s all well and good! It’s lovely and compelling, and I support that. But hollow knight has a strong theme of family. You can connect a lot of the themes from there: duty in the name of your parents, having to unfairly fill a sibling’s shoes, the idea you’re one of many, the desire to reconnect despite everything: it all comes down to the fact that the 3 main characters are related.

All the vessels are a part of a family, and all save one are very young children at that. Either by luck or sheer solemn brutality, ghost managed to rough it on their own. But all of hollow knight is the story of those three siblings trying to connect with each other, and never fully bridging the gap: often, people design vessels in isolation, but I find it most interesting if they come in droves. Ghost, Hornet, and THK are an emotionally-estranged set. How would they react to a set of vessels who work together?

(I’ve seen this idea explored by @talos-the-mourning-vessel, which is probably why they’re my favorite vessel oc to date!)

In turn, I’m using this segue as an excuse to talk about my little guys.

I have two little guys, basically intended as self-inserts of myself and @two-children-in-a-trenchcoat (hi buddy!) and intended for a multiplayer true end let’s play that probably isn’t going to happen. Welp. Regardless… these two sealed their fates in the abyss/birthplace, where they helped each other up instead of killing each other. Canonically they went up the wall closest to the door (not the middle platforms) and pk was facing the wrong way and didn’t notice. Pk moment

They then decide “this entire kingdom sucks we need to leave NOW” and do exactly that, returning when they hear hollow scream, same as ghost. They then show up 15 min late to hallownest with Starbucks.* Their asses are not saving hallownest ‼️‼️

They don’t have the guts, resolve, or skill that Ghost does. Their main survival skill is being quick to retreat and having the other’s back.

I really love these guys because of how they interact with ghost: or, should I say, ghost hates them. Hollow knight, as is always worth reiterating, is the story of 3 siblings trying to reach for each other and never quite bridging the gap. Seeing their family actually act like family: always willing to help the other up & totally ride or die would be such a gut punch to Ghost.

There’s also hungry knight, which is the story of hk in extreme miniature, but missed the central emotional core and implied story behind “I carried a fallen companion to a resurrection altar (because they’re so fundamental to me I can’t continue without them)” that didn’t fully make it into hk. (that implied story was the only compelling part about hungry knight tbh. I love to see extreme hk beta but let’s be real. It’s not good.) I like the idea, and these two continue that dropped thread in a way that doesn’t undo ghost’s whole “lone warrior” vibe. Not even a vibe, it’s a theme: they were refused a helping hand from the very start. They crawled out alone, they returned alone, they take on the burden alone. These two won’t save the world, but they have each other, which rubs everyone in hallownest the wrong way, probably.

These are all my miscellaneous thoughts on the matter, really! Thank you for asking. I ought to draw my little guys sometime.

*I think they have their reasons. Partly fear, partly arguing, partly distance. They have no more memories than ghost, but know they wanted to leave the call’s origin so badly it sent them running blindly into the wastes. They finally came ‘round from the appeal/duty of there being another like them, but they were very avoidant to return.

[hooskathebot]

How long have you been into Hollow Knight and who is your favorite NPC/boss in said game?

ive been playing for just about 4 years now but i got into the game waayy before i bought it!!

as for a fav character, i cant decide between mask maker and broken vessel. they both just give off a super sinister macabre vibe to me and i love it. also this reminded me i need to make a design for mask maker :0

[valferzita]

About me

♡ I am Valeria (Ella/she/hers) ✧ 28 ✧ high femme trans lesbian 🇲🇽.

♡ Single. 

♡ Introvert.

♡ My hobbies include photography, video games, playing the piano, graphic design, illustration, and animation.

♡ Although it’s not the main focus of this blog, I will post/reblog my other interests (NSFW obviously), So be aware, minors stay away!.

♡ I am an artist, but none of the art/photography is mine unless stated in the tags. 

♡ Video games that i like: Dead by Daylight, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Lost in random, Mad Father, Corpse Party, …~

♡ Asks are open but please respect my boundaries and don’t send unsolicited pics or horny messages. Just because I post/reblog nsfw content doesn't mean it's an open invitation. 

♡ My Tags as they suggest are:

My rants/thoughts: #journal entry

My photos: #valferzitaPhotos

My art: #valferzitaIlust

My videos: #valferzitaVideo

♡ My other socials are:

Twitter

Instagram

♡ DNI: minors, racist, ableist, terf, swerfs, radfems, transmed, transphobic, sissy, lgbtqphobic, bi lesbians.  I block anyone that gives me bad vibes.

Thank you for reading, have a lovely day and take care of yourself!💜

[malwarechips]

Tiso, and obligatory pk ask because he never leaves my brain

ok ok putting these under a cut bcz since theres two it'll probably b quite long

TISO . THE MOST CRINGEFAIL MAN . MY BELOVED

favorite thing about them - he's just sooo pathetic . i love him . why is he like that /complimentary

least favorite thing about them - he's dead :(

favorite line - HMM im gonna look at a list of his quotes here bcz i remember like NO dialogue from ANY characters . ok, ive returned from the hk wiki and the conclusion is: probably his dialogue at blue lake !!! "Garrgh. What a calm place. It's action I want, vicious and deadly battle. This serenity is a bore. So peaceful. So dull."

brOTP - him and cloth 100% . i used to think theyd hate each other but then i was like . no actually i think theyd be friends and totally encourage each other to do the most dangerous shit. quirrel has to stop them.

OTP - speaking of quirrel: him and quirrel <3 its so weird bcz w/ like any other characters w/ those two personalities id be like . no they hate each other. but i think they'd like . balance each other out if that makes sense. also honorable mention to him and god tamer bcz i think its funny. not personally smthn i ship tho bcz i myself think theyre both very gay and have 0 interest in each other's gender

nOTP - uhhhmm im not sure actually ? id say "any of the vessels" but that's kinda a blanket that applies to basically everyone by default for me.

random headcanon - hmmm... ok so the headcanon that he is an ant is pretty popular i think but: so his original concept art by the kickstarter backer who designed him mentions that his hood covers a horn on his head. and i wanted to include that while also still having him be an ant bcz i love ants sooo much. so. i took some creative liberties bcz i dont think there are any ants with spikes on their head BUT . there is streblognathus peetersi . which has a very prominent spike between it's thorax and its abdomen !! so i just kinda moved it to his head and called it a day. so i technically have a very specific species headcanon for him. ok short ramble abt spiky ants over

unpopular opinion - not sure i have one rlly?

song i associate with them - UHMMMM ... god im trying to think of one now . i SWEAR ive had some but i always forget song titles. probably this cover of Hit the Road Jack . im not entirely sure why but! it gives me tiso vibes

favorite picture of them - probably the little pose he pulls in the pantheon of hallownest. he looks so cool only to get crushed </3 utter cringefail man i love him

OK . PK . as a note i may not have all that much for him since i only recently started actually rthinking abt him more .

favorite thing about them - hmmm. id say his design is a big thing that i rlly enjoy !!!

least favorite thing about them - I HAVE NO IDEA . possibly the fact that he has so little dialogue but he's kinda dead so thats probably why.

favorite line - as said before he doesnt rlly have much dialogue but i'd have to say the iconic abyss dialogue. "No cost too great. No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering. Born of God and Void. You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams. You are the Vessel. You are the Hollow Knight." like cmon . its very cool i think

brOTP - im not sure !! i personally dont really see him being close friends with basically anyone in hallownest or anything.

OTP - id probably have to say him and white lady. i think they really did care about each other, but i dont really have much to say outside of that since as i said before i only recently started actually thinking about pk more.

nOTP - once again i dont really have one outside of "any of the vessels". also including hornet this time bcz like . he's her dad. but yeah outside of the usuals like that i dont really have one

random headcanon - constant eyebags . he always looks like he hasnt slept in 5 weeks (and he probably hasnt) . sleep? never heard of her . whos that .

unpopular opinion - once again im not sure i have one really? i dont really know what would apply with the term unpopular when it comes to my headcanons

song i associate with them - GOODBYE MR A BY THE HOOSIERS. ABSOLUTELY. VIBRATES. i . dont think it fits fully but i am a master of editing songs in my brain to make them fit characters . so it does to me, OKAY ??? /silly

favorite picture of them - probably his silhouette for white defender's arena . idk what it is abt it but i enjoy it greatly i think its the wings.

actually either that or the statue/wishing well of him in ancient basin, if that counts? that statue look sooo cool

[purplefnafpasta]

Introduction

Aka, I finally realized that i didn't make an intro yet, so I'll make one now. (Below the cut because I dunno how long this will get)

Gonna put the DNI above the cut though:

Anyone under 16 DNI thanks.

(Also, here is my ToS with an extrended DNI, as well as any other thing you may possibly need to know about usage of my art, designs or fanart, etc)

A little about me:

Hello! My name is Sam. However, I also commonly go by Wolf or Purple online. I am 19 years old, and I am a hobby artist. I don't really do art with the thought in mind to get big and popular with it. I would rather just make art for myself and then post it online for anyone who is willing to look at it.

I am mostly active on Toyhou.se or Discord. However, if you don't have either of those, then I am most likely to be reached on Tumblr. Here are my other socials, though, for anyone interested.

Username origin:

I came up with my username at around 2020.

Purple = one of my fave colors (i have 3 fave colors, purple, brown, and black. However, purple was the one that sounded the best when trying to pronounce my whole username)

FNaF = fave game at the time (still fave franchise, though I prefer Hollow Knight as of right now)

Pasta = my favorite dish at the time (by now, it's ramen)

Nickname Origins:

Sam = is my name, not a nickname lmao

Purple = because people commonly use that for a short version of my user (who tf would wanna say/write my whole username, anytime I am mentioned in a convo, lmao)

Wolf = I can't actually remember where that nickname comes from. I just know that at some point, I always got called Wolf (mostly on Discord), so I just ran with it, i suppose. My best guess is that it happened because my fursona is a wolf.

What kind of art I'll post:

I am by heart an OC artist, meaning I draw and post mostly my own OCs, or art I made of someone else's OC(s). I rarely ever draw fanart, but who knows, maybe ya'll will catch me do some fanart (on rare occasions).

I usually draw animals (anthro and feral). However, recently, i have been attempting to draw more human/oids to better my art skilly for those as well.

I may also draw my spin on what the Warrior Cats look like. Because why not, I love the book series. (meaning i won't stick to drawing realistic cats, since i just design em what i vibe with, but i'd explain that in detail in my first warrior cats design that i'd post)

I may attempt drawing some more complex/detailed chars (like robots or smth). However, i also aren't too great with that, so please bear with me and my (slow) learning progress. (Yes, I am a slow learner)

What can you DM/PM me for?:

Commissions (if they are open, however I prefer taking that to discord after the initial DM where you ask to commission me!)

Trades (if they are open)

Asking for toyhou.se invite codes (if i still have some left, which I do currently btw. please use the codes i send you within 48 hours, or i'll give it to the next person who asks, i don't wanna have to wait months for someone to just make an account- i can see when a code is used and when not btw!)

Asking me about my art or my ocs (be aware that I easily drift off and start to rant though, lmao)

What should you not DM/PM me for?:

Touhou.se coding issues. I give away invite codes. I have absolutely 0 clue how to code, so I can't help with that, you can check in Toyhou.se forums for help though, I am sure there are quite a few who are willing to help you!

Asking me to message someone who had blocked you for you. (I am sure the person who had blocked you had their reason, and I do not feel comfortable acting as an extension for you to message someone who blocked you.)

Venting/ ranting about something. Just do not, please. The only exception is, if I know you already.

Can I send you an ask?

Yeah, go for it. I just can't promise when I'll see it.

How can we find your art easier between all of the reblogs you make?

I will try to implement the "PurpleFNaFpasta's art" tag to all of my art pieces, so if you wanna find my art between the reblogs, you should be able to find them with that (hopefully).

[Edit from March 18th 2024]: i have also implemented a new tag as well, if you are looking for random funfacts about my oc's, this tag is where you will find them: "Purple's Random OC Funfacts" [Edit from September 16th 2024]: Changed my age from 18 to 19 in my intro lol. Birthday moment xd

[dumbfinntales]

Alrighty then, I just beat Lone Fungus. A fun little metroidvania with some ambition. I’d say overall my experience with Lone Fungus was a fun one, but the game never truly wowed me and I grew tired of the games challenges towards the end. Not that they were bad, but I came to the conclusion it wasn’t my thing.

Lone Fungus takes a lot of inspiration from Hollow Knight from the combat, to how you can bounce by hitting down, to how you heal/use spells, to the platforming and bosses. Although to me it felt like the roles were reversed. Hollow Knight had some platforming on the side (and white palace) it focused more on combat and tough as nail bosses. Lone Fungus certainly has bosses, although simple, but has tons more platforming challenges and mechanics. The game is more of a hardcore platforming metroidvania. But it was this big focus on platforming that ultimately made me lose interest. While I explored everything and found as much as I could find, I gave up on 100% completion.

Let’s talk about some things that I did vibe with. For one I love the main character, they’re so innocent yet always ready to throw hands with whatever they come across. I loved the variety of areas and the overall atmosphere of it all. And I loved exploring the world. It is one of those wonderfully designed metroidvanias where exploration always feels rewarding and new skills open up so many new and exciting pathways.

The bosses were fairly simple and a bit unimaginative. I did enjoy the added charm whenever the main character would talk a little with a boss before the fight. But my main issue is that the bosses are all just big versions of the various enemies you find around the map. It’s not a problem per se, but I just find it a little bit unimaginative. I don’t mind a few bosses like that, but every single one of them? The boss versions of the enemies were fairly simple, but there were a couple stand out ones that I enjoyed. The final boss for example was fun, but with bloated HP pool.

Then there’s the platforming, the games biggest focus. Almost feels like this game started its life as a hardcore platformer like super meat boy or celeste, but got turned into a metroidvania. Platforming comes in form of challenges and I did complete many of them. At first the platforming wasn’t too bad and I saw the difficulty started to ramp up. But then the game kept giving me new abilities and movement options, and the platforming became and absolute clusterfuck. Having to jump between 3 - 4 buttons in precise platforming was too much for me. There’s the jump, the attack, the spin, the wall bounce and the dash. And some challenges utilize all of these. Not to mention some jumps are pixel perfect and for some you need to keep your momentum up at all times.

I admit it, I suffer from a severe case of skill issue. I’m not used to a platformer with so many mechanics and buttons to take into consideration. In the end I didn’t feel like completing all the astral gates or getting the ladybug collectibles. Lone Fungus is a fun metroidvania, and if you’re hardcore platforming freak you’ll probably get a kick out of this one. I’m still glad the game had plenty of fun times to offer beyond the platforming! You can actually ignore the platforming completely, which is a bit odd.