#Elderbug: “Guess I'll die��

[lilybug-02]

In short- the bugs of Hallownest did not take it well. Lots of screaming about "The end of the world" and "past sins coming back to haunt them". Elderbug almost had his second heart attack and basically every bug, other than the Pale King children and Quirrel, hid for several hours. (Zote likes to claim he was the first to make contact)

As for why Dewi's Dad is in Dirtmouth? Well, he wasn't very happy when his 11 year old son told him about going into a 'mysterious cave' to see his bug friends. Adult supervision and all that.

[valdotpng]

elderbug's age makes me lose my mind sometimes because i'll just be here like "oh yeah, he's an Elder" because y'know it's in his name but then i remember: sly and the nailmasters are older than him, the stag is older than him, quirrel is older than him, hornet is older than him, and GHOST IS OLDER THAN HIM EVEN THOUGH WE'RE/THEY'RE INTRODUCED TO HIM AS "ELDERBUG"???

YEAH IKR?? thats Exactly what im talking abt. the thing that fucks me up though is the fact that only Some of the characters actually age????

like. okay, so we dont rlly know if higher beings can die of old age (there is proof that it affects them though: WL says that "time has clouded [her] eyes and [she] cannot see much"), but i think its safe to assume that the white lady, unn, and the radiance have been around for this long bc they are that - higher beings. this would also explain why hornet looks young yet is actually older than elderbug: shes half higher being, so she most likely doesnt age the same way simple bugs do. nor do her half-siblings for that matter, although the vessels are an especially mysterious case: we still have no fucking clue how they work since theyre dead children of 2 gods with Void mixed into everything. we dont know how thk was 'trained and raised to prime form' either, but it seems like ghost and their kin simply werent allowed to grow up, thus remaining Baby??

heres where things get truly infuriating though: nobody else has familial ties to any higher beings, as far as i can tell (unless you count the seer since she was created by the radiance I Guess??), yet we still have, ahem...

ogrim, ze'mer, quirrel, the old stag, the mantis lords, eternal emilitia, the midwife, etc etc ETC, FARTING AROUND IN HALLOWNEST FOR 100+ YEARS. one very compelling theory that i have is that time works differently in hallownest: the kingdom is in stasis, so perhaps it would make sense that its inhabitants would be, too. that would explain why most of them are older than elderbug, who lives on the surface, yet remain alive. what does NOT make sense is how.... like... just compare the old stag and eternal emilitia and see what i mean. why is one of these people dealing with old man leg problems and the horror of knowing ones mortality, while the other one is laughing her ass off in her room while looking relatively young and energetic. and then theres QUIRREL, whose age doesnt catch up to him until he fulfills his duties and gives monomon her mask back, and then SUPPOSEDLY goes 'oh right. im old as fuck' and then turns into dust or whatever. none of this makes sense, it just does not i hjhsghgdhjKGDJJDDK