#I DIDN’T KNOW YOU HAD TO DREAMNAIL THEM

[latteandjacks]

This fucking meme

[ahntherootvessel]

I’m glad you asked @hello-universe-lovers

I wanted to wait until I finish Ahn’s comic Flowerborn, but seeing the pace and how life is going, it ain’t gonna be anytime soon. So imma spill. Buckle up cuz this is a long one.

Ahn is a child who followed a voice into the world unknown. They crawled and climbed, until they saw someone, or something, that looked like themself. They thought it was a friend. And so they followed again, into a different darkness than what they’re used to. And so, Nosk found a new prey. I won’t go into details, but Ahn wasn’t traumatized by the pain that Nosk toyed upon them. But rather the many, many vessels that laid lifeless in the lair before them. Just like back in the abyss. But it wasn’t the fall or the void that killed them, but a hunter who played with its victims. It was long and grueling, but eventually another vessel came, and it was Lost Kin.

Lost Kin managed to get Ahn out of there, but not without sustaining injuries. They returned back to Lost Kin’s camp, where another vessel sat impatiently waiting: Greenpath Vessel. Greenpath Vessel immediately took Ahn under their wings and nursed Lost Kin back to health, as healthy as a partially-infected vessel could be. The trio stayed together, with the “older” vessels coaxing Ahn to open up. One night, Ahn woke up, and saw something strange. Lost Kin was asleep, but Greenpath vessel was wide awake and they were using their focus on the sleeping vessel. They were focusing the Lost Kin’s infection into them. When they realized Ahn was watching, they winked and asked them to keep it a secret. Ahn agreed, why wouldn’t they? They didn’t know what the infection was. The two vessels decided it was better to keep Ahn in the dark about the seriousness of the matter.

It was just a little secret between two naive children.

You could imagine the guilt, trauma, and shame when Ahn realized what Greenpath was really doing right after they succumbed to the infection and died under Lost Kin’s blade.

Ahn then decided they will do everything to protect Lost Kin, as this was what Greenpath died to do.

Ahn and Lost Kin grew as thick as thieves during their quest: to free their siblings from the abyss. But Ahn, a vessel who didn’t have full comprehension of their abilities, couldn’t stop the infection from growing within Lost Kin. They were so close to the door, they were just a floor away when Lost Kin fully succumbed. Ahn didn’t know what to do. When Lost Kin still had their mind, they begged Ahn to kill them and not let them be a pawn of the angered goddess. Their roots raised in instinctual self-defense, and Lost Kin perished. Ahn did everything to bring them back, but their flowers, as powerful as they are, can’t bring the dead back from death. And so, freshly stained with orange, they stumbled to the door of the abyss.

They could only stare from their knees when the white of the King’s Brand sealed their siblings away. Greenpath Vessel and Lost Kin’s deaths were for nothing.

Ahn wandered Hallownest, fully alone since Nosk. Then, they met Ghost. Ahn saw the will in Ghost’s eyes, and the utter grief was killing them, so they accompanied the vessel through their adventures.

It was all fine and dandy until they stumbled into the Ancient Basin. Ahn was frozen stiff, but had to follow their new sibling. Then, the fight with Broken Vessel commenced. And Broken Vessel was no more.

Then the quest to find the Kingsoul started. With dreamnail in hand, the two ventured off into Hallownest. Ghost killed every warrior, and every boss, that is, but one.

Lost Kin.

Ahn didn’t kill Lost Kin once. They killed their beloved sibling three times, all to grant them the peace that they begged for.

Ahn is a child who had to do things not even grown bugs would do. And they had to live with it.

[helga-grinduil]

i adore the white palace from the storytelling perspective (i suck at platforming, so from the gameplay perspective this place is hell 💀). there's so much going on in that place - the fact that the pale king hid the castle in the first place (i do believe that he didn't do it because of cowardice, i think that removing himself and the castle was his last desperate attempt at trying to placate the radiance), the only apparent guards at the palace being void constructs, the same void constructs all being dead near the throne room, the fact that the throne room is the so dark ghost has to take out their lantern, void particles in the air of the throne room. 

the white palace also has some of the coolest secret rooms.

the nursery. and it really sucks so much that people almost always miss this room on their first run, because this room, holy fuck. the fucking music box lullaby. the way you enter this room and hear it and you don’t understand at first why it sounds so familiar until it hits you that it’s the same song that you can always hear near your shade, only this time it’s not distorted. ghost’s shade knowing the song that was played for the hollow knight... the white lady’s figure burned into the chair next to the crib...

did she look after them, when they were brought to the castle? was she the one putting them into their crib? was she the one playing this song for the child that was hers but would never be allowed to be? how long did it take before she had to start telling herself that they were empty, despite being the one to raise them, despite being the one to play them lullabies to help them fall asleep? when did she start actually believing it? was it because facing the truth was too hard? 

the path of pain being a seal that is used to contain something powerful or preserve something important. the fact that the name ‘path of pain’ has a double meaning and might be called this way not just because it’s a literal platforming hell to go through, but also because it hides away something the pale king considered painful.

the pale king’s last thoughts when you dreamnail him... ‘no cost too great’, but then also ‘...’. maybe he didn’t quite believe his own words. maybe the cost was too great after all.

[writing-frenzy]

I am having emotions about snails. Just...

Like, in Hollow knight, all these corpses are walking around willy nilly, reanimated or something with the Old Light... But not the Snails. Oh no, not them.

And since they can be dreamnail, can even notice it, I would think they can dream (maybe?) But still, they are still. Unmoving. No sign of life unless you dreamnail them, besides the one who had been experimented on, and they literally just scream in agony at you, suffering until the spell is taken finally... Like, it honestly feels like the stasis Hallownest was in was more of a curse for the Snails, or that could just be me (honestly a curse for everything.).

But the fact remains; the Old Light couldn't seem to do anything to them? The place where we see the Snail Shaman? Sure, there are infected there, but you notice none of them are fucking with him? None of them are even going towards, when he is so close and a seemingly easy target? That cage door is not closed when we leave if I remember right, and from what we heard, he goes and wanders his temple regularly, despite all the infected; the Baldur was just a little much for him (or maybe he just didn't want to have to kill an old companion himself). There is way more to this guy then meets the eye.

Not to mention, just where the Ancestral Mound is; the Crossroads, a place so obviously touched by PK, and yet it is still sitting all cosy, untouched? Hidden in fact, and we know how the Pale King likes to hide his shames and vulnerabilities.

Well, when he can't just destroy or convince them other wise.

But the Mound still stands... And that says a lot honestly.

I could probably go on, but I feel like this is a good place to stop my ramble.

[hk-plus-you]

I suddenly remembered there’s that one dead husk (leaking void) that’s holding the Love Key when dreamnailed might be referring to the Collector and implying a relationship between them. What if void itself is also infectious? Maybe an angst scenario where Reader suddenly understands THK without having to communicate via sign and is happy about it but doesn’t realize she’s infected with the void and THK is despairing and tries to push her away? Ignore if it doesn’t make sense 🤦‍♀️

I uh... suck at endings so I hope it’s okay.

You had been with them for a while now, sharing a house in Dirtmouth and spending most of your time close with them. Relationships were still new to them, and they were still very much getting used to not having to hide their feelings or thoughts. Oftentimes they were still too afraid to talk about how they felt about something. That was okay though, you were patient with them, always reassuring them if you noticed something was off and took things slowly to give them plenty of time to adjust. They were your sweet darling knight and you’d do nearly anything to make sure they were happy and comfortable. You often reminisce about your old family, giving examples of your parents and siblings to try and explain something. You also learned decently quickly that Hollow's own family was a tricky subject. They were never able to get close to their mother and their relationship with their father was a complicated knot of emotions you wouldn't try to force them to untie all at once for you. Then their siblings were… somewhere else, a place they were incredibly hesitant to talk about. Hollow's signs were always shaky, often stopping and starting suddenly, movement smaller and much softer than usual when they were brought up. You just let the topic go their siblings all together, never really asking about them. When they approached you, asking if you could come while they visited the place of their birth to see their siblings again you knew it would be something messy. You would never have been able to imagine a place like The Abyss. Not in a thousand years in your worst nightmares would you have imagined someone having to be born in a place like this. You knew somewhat of the void, not quite by the right name, but you knew of the dark substance that seemed to only take form to hurt and kill things that weren’t also made of it. It was something that was inside Hollow, something they’d never be able to get rid of. Seeing the Abyss, seeing the piles of masks from what must be hundreds of thousands of children that practically made the walls and floor, having the bug you loved pointing at creatures practically made of shadow that attacked you two and them signing ‘sibling’? You did all you could to not gape at them in horror at what they had to endure. You came back out feeling cold and on the verge of tears. It was weird, you were more upset about it than they were. And with that came guilt. They tried to comfort you as you stood outside the entrance trying not to shake. Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? The next few days were practically spent recuperating from the visit. You went about your business as usual with them by your side but you just felt… Heavy and tired all the time. They could easily tell something was off, now doting on you at every turn. Making tea and breakfast in the morning to wake you up, helping clean up after dinner, even leaving little notes to try and brighten your day. “I’m really worried about you.” The thought shattered through your head, startling you out from your previous focus on washing a cup. Didn’t come from you, the voice was distant and quiet, spoken like a whisper that echoed in your mind. You looked around for a moment but nothing was amiss. You were just cleaning up after lunch. You would wash the dishes and Hollow would put them away. At your confusion though, they paused, eyes full of concern as they watched you. “What happened?” that same voice whispered. “Is something wrong?” Hollow signed. “I… I’m not sure. I don't know how to explain…” They leaned close, bumping their head against yours. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you to the abyss. You’ve been acting odd since then. I shouldn’t ha-” “Is that you?” You jumped back slightly, voice louder and higher pitched than you intended. They tilted their head, “Is what me?” “The-the voice! I can hear someone in my head. It… Do you feel guilty for taking me to see where you were born?” Their eyes were wide in an instant, “Can you hear my thoughts?” “I think so? Who or what else would it be?” They shook their head vigorously at that, stepping backward as they did so, “Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!” They broke out in a run through the house and out the door. “Wait!” You tried to chase them, following them down out the door and through Dirtmouth. You barely saw the tip of their horns disappearing down the well as you passed the stage station. When you made your way down the chain they were just gone. There was no trail to follow, no way to find them again. You searched for them for several days. Was this so awful? Did you really lose them forever? The house felt empty without them there anymore. It had been the largest house in Dirtmouth, you even worked to modify it and raise the ceiling even higher so their horns wouldn’t graze it. The bed was huge to accommodate them. Each room built for larger bugs that just took up more space. Now the rooms felt empty, most of the furniture so big, something you had found almost adorable in how it made you feel small, now was intimidating and cold. You had to go back to your old house, even then it still felt lonely and miserable. Sly’s prying wasn’t helping, and Elderbug’s attempts to comfort you felt anything but helpful. Worst of all, no matter how hard you tried, how much you wanted to, you couldn’t cry. Not a single little tear, no matter how much you needed that release. You ventured down the well again. Part of you still trying to find them, the other part just wanting to get lost. You made it into the city of tears, the rain cold against your shell. The guards were long gone and dead, many of their bodies impaled against the spikes that were on every roof. Others simply fell over, weapons held in vice grip in cold hands. All of its inhabitants were dead, and with them, so was the city. Well… All of them except for one relic seeker. The little shop was surprisingly warm for being in the city. Each shelf stuffed with trinkets and artifacts you had never seen, thick stacks of papers were piled in boxes behind the counter. What really caught your attention was the large window that made the entire far wall. It had a beautiful view of the city’s heart. There was a statue of Hollow in the center, surrounded by three cloaked figures. In front of it stood Hollow, staring at the stone version of themself. You left the shop immediately, making a mad dash for that statue. The words ‘please don’t leave’ repeated through your head like a mantra. They turned to you before you even reached them. They were soaked through, leaning on their old nail for support. Their head hung low as they watch you approach. “Please-I-Why did you-” Your words jumbled together, thoughts coming out in an impossible to understand slurry. “Please…” They stared at you, signing nothing as you looked up at them. “What did I do? Please just talk to me! What happened?” You looked down, tears finally welling in your eyes. “You’re sick. Sick because of me,” their voice rang in your head again. “What?” “The void. It infects everything it touches. It’s in you now. You shouldn’t be able to hear me. You shouldn’t be able to hear this. It could get worse because of me,” They shifted, their mask coming into view as they kneel before you. “So? Isn’t that a good thing? We don't have to worry about things being lost in translation anymore.” They let out a small huff. “But it’ll get worse. It always starts with hearing the void it gets so much worse.” “How do you know it’ll get worse?” “People in the abyss always got sick. No longer able to resist the call they turned the light off. The void would get stronger and consume their mind.” “But we aren’t in the abyss!” You threw your arms out in frustration. Tears falling fast with the rain. “I only got ‘sick’ when we went there. I’ve been living with you for several years and nothing happened. If I just stay away from there it won’t get worse.” “But what if it does?” They looked away from you, back at the ground. “But what if it doesn’t?” “We don’t know if it won’t. I couldn’t do that to you.” You put your head at the side of their mask, lightly pulling their gaze back, “I’ve been miserable with you gone. Please, don’t leave me alone.” You pressed your head against theirs. Eyes closed as you sobbed, “I’ve missed you so much,” Their nail clattered to the ground as they wrapped an arm around you, pulling you close to their chest. “I’ve missed you too.”

[the-world-of-enterra]

Aloka’s Fight with Grimm - Lore Splap

With Grimm and Azmodeus’s natures for Enterra, I am sure some of you are wondering about the boss fight; Little Ghost vs Grimm, and then Little Ghost vs the Nightmare King. Aloka is one of the Touched. (For lore about the Touched, see this post) Aloka, however, didn't know about this power at that time, nor did they know how to harness it on their own. For the events of the game, Aloka was literally a little nymph; which makes their feats even more impressive. Grimm tried other ways to get them to unleash their power.  Grimm wasn’t powerful enough by himself to help Azmodeus bring a new Dreameater into the world. They could create the new child, but the past rituals had failed to imbue it with life and strength and the child failed to survive. Aloka was the answer to their question, one of the most powerful Touched Grimm had encountered in quite a while, possibly even ever, along with the ability to walk in Dreams, given by the Dreamnail. That was the missing piece they needed.  First, he tried helping Aloka gather their power, but Aloka couldn’t and then he realized that combat was when Aloka’s abilities truly came out. Ffirst, was a dance, then a fierce and powerful fight. It worked. It brought out that power and allowed more strength to be poured into the little Dreameater child. Helping it to grow.  The final key was working with Azmodeus - in the fiercest fight yet, which allowed Aloka’s strength to allow Az to give the new Dreameater nymph his Fiery blessing. Without that, Vhearin would not have made it or had a much lower chance of making it. Helping pour that strength into the Dreameater nymph exhausted Grimm so much he ended up going into a deep hibernation, which he remained in for years. In blog time, he only awakened recently and was not around while Vhearin was growing up for that reason. Otherwise, he would have probably full on adopted Aloka and raised them together.  But, instead, Aloka and Vhearin ended up running all over Hallownest, not raised by anybody. Some could compare them to the neighborhood alley cat that visits all the houses and belongs to nobody.

[circusmothman]

Whoop, new character time again, and luckily it's a couple more Troupe members! Honestly the fact you only meet like four people from Grimm's Troupe in canon has always been strange to me, there just gotta be more. So I'm slowly working toward filling out the ranks.For a few days now I've had glimpses of a really tall lanky boi with very sharp features, though I didn't really know much about him until today. Then also came the realization of "oh crap that's another dude, I am still officially at only one female HK character rip", and as soon as that thought passed I saw this lil lady appear. And I might have only known Miette for a day but if anything happened to her I would kill everyone in this room and then myself pffff. I've also drawn them together because they just came to me at about the same time, otherwise they aren't particularly close, though there is this fun contrast of Sirocco being the tallest and most angular of the Troupe while Miette is the shortest and softest. As usual these are only concepts and some things might change by the time I actually get to their refs, potentially color adjustments and such. But in the meantime have some info under the cut.

Sirocco: - Mud dauber. - Tallest of the Troupe. - Has a friendly rivalry with Karkana. - Second in command of security, in charge when Karkana isn't around. - His acts involve knife throwing, juggling and acrobatics/parkour, and other combat related things, whatever is needed for the night and isn't filled by another member. - Tends to share acts with Karkana and Aliessia. - Smokes. - Suffers from heavy case of resting bitchface. - Generally cold and unfriendly seeming by nature even though he doesn't always mean to sound so harsh. If you're willing to put up with the rough edges though he makes for decent enough company. - Used to be an assassin before joining the Troupe. Grimm found him dying after a regicide mission gone wrong. - Besides security, essentially functions as the Troupe's secret service and hitman. Unmatched when it comes to scoping out new areas and digging up information from the dark underbelly of the kingdoms they visit. - Also in charge of discretely taking care of bugs that might prove a threat to the Troupe. - Stinger contains a very powerful paralyzing venom. - Incredibly stealthy for someone his height, good at squeezing himself into tight fits. - Was not present during the Troupe's stay in Hallownest, dealing with some business in another kingdom. - Sharp fangs, similar to Karkana's. - Has a taste for spider flesh. - If you spite him you might find your room/house door blocked by a thick layer of mud. (Do not mess with a bug who can reenact the Cask of Amontillado without trouble). - Honestly doesn't care much about the circus business, but he doesn't mind it either since most of the time he still gets to do his old job. - All of the pink fluff he wears is costume, he doesn't grow any fluff naturally. Miette: - Of a bug species not native to earth, retaining a caterpillar-like form throughout their whole life. - Potentially oldest (in appearance and age pre joining) member of the Troupe, being in her fifties when joining. - Shortest of the Troupe. - Mostly speaks in third person. - Fortune teller. - One of the most dramatic members, could almost rival Grimm in that. - Best friends with Divine. - Smoll but fierce, has been known to intimidate much bigger bugs. - If she feels threatened and intimidation fails, she can and will throw that crystal ball in your face, and it will hurt, a lot. - The ball is part of her Troupe powers, as such incredibly hard to break and she can teleport it back into her hands after throwing, she can also summon more, thus having an infinite amount of projectiles. - Knows when she's been dreamnailed. - Surprisingly nimble for her age and shape, dodges by quickly rolling out of the way. - Kind of the aunt/grandma type. - Plays the zither. - Had children before joining the Troupe, uncertain what became of them though. In fact her past is still unclear to me, as is her reason for joining the Troupe. But I'm beginning to think it might have simply been loneliness.

[lost-kinn]

some observations about the pure vessel fight

some meta thoughts below

- the pure vessels does the “screaming” position that they have as their hall of gods statue, plus the infamous pose they have when they scream in the black egg temple, but no sound comes out--and YET, imo, there’s such an emphasis on the moment that i cant help but feel like although they don’t have a voice, there is a method of self-expression that’s happening here, particularly with the fact that the armored cape is so obviously meant to chain them up and hold them in place, even the fact that it seems to hold them into a “proper” posture when it turns out that the hollow knight doesn’t slouch/hunch because of the radiance, but just because they apparently really like to hunch. you fight the pure vessel in their prime, and they’re still bent over like they’re looking for pennies. every single time you fight the pure vessel, you see that same animation run over and over and over, and i get this STRONG feeling that even if their dreamnail dialogue is “do not speak” and “do not think” and “do not hope,” their actions are speaking a heck of a lot louder than their words, and their actions are to throw off their mantle and participate in a fight that, ultimately, was not ordered by the pale king and doesn’t serve hallownest and doesn’t seal away the radiance; if the protag knight is in godhome fighting these gods on their own free will, it would seem that so is the pure vessel, and the pure vessel, apparently, prefers to slouch, and have a raggedy old cloak that doesn’t fit them, and hold their sword in the WEIRDEST fucking position

- when i fought the hollow knight in the black egg temple i too was feeling: hey this is a pretty climactic fight, but it seems to have gotten hijacked by the radiance? what if i actually genuinely wanted to have a climactic fight with my long-lost sibling, not this weirdo who i’ve barely heard anything about? this fight feels like the fight that we didn’t get to have but we wanted, and in a better context: because there’s no repercussions, nobody dies from this event, the radiance and hallownest isn’t on the line, these two can really go at it with everything they’ve got just for the sheer sake of fighting

- “fighting for the sake of fighting” i think is also important to note because insofar as the protag knight knows when they’re in godhome, they’re literally doing this entire thing just for fun. they aren’t guaranteed a reward for doing any of this. it’s me, as a player, who’s looked up the dlc ending. the player knight is just doing this because sometimes you just wanna achieve glory for the sake of glory

- i still think about rukafais’s post about how fighting is a type of communication for the vessels. to really put everything you have into a fight, to really bare your heart and soul and everything you can manage, is like pulling out your true self on a string, and that’s what the pure vessel and the protag knight are doing to each other--but it’s not true communication unless the fight is really fucking ungodly hard; if it doesn’t push you to the absolute brink of your ability, it’s not making you honestly reveal yourself

- the entire thing about “attunement” is just fucking incredible imo because i really do feel like i get to know a boss entirely through their moveset. i personally really feel that not only with pure vessel but with a bunch of the bosses: the way lost kin has a moveset that’s so similar to you, how the pure vessel parries almost identically to hornet, how one of the things i had to learn with the failed champion is that it matters how close to him you stand--if you back away, he’ll fuck you up; if you stand close enough to him, he’ll back away--the programming of the fight feels like you’re fighting a coward who’ll always back down if you get too close to him.

- just in general the entire theme of finding yourself by finding people who look like you--other vessels, the pure vessel, the lost kin, hornet, etc--i’m just. so about it. it’s so clever for an artistic medium, where all you really have are visuals

- (there’s something in there about the masculine-coding of the giant armored shoulderplates and how the pure vessel purposefully breaks it off and surprise!!! they’re a genderless stringbean underneath with zero secondary sex characteristics!!! it’s SUPER FUNNY every single time actually like HOW tiny/lanky the pure vessel is under that huge big-ass armor)

- sometimes it just blows my mind that the pure vessel has hands and i dont know why. quirrel does a thing where he’ll flex his hands while he’s idle and pure vessel does it too; it’s just mesmerizing every time

- i wiki’d the attack where the pure vessel makes a giant light sphere and apparently it’s called Focus--no idea if that’s canon or not--but the parallel to the player knight’s focus is pretty clear just from the pose they make that it’s a parallel to the player knight’s focus where they heal themselves. makes sense, considering that the player knight also uses soul to perform spells

- from that, i’m going to guess that most of the pure vessel’s magic attacks are using soul, which makes sense because that’s the pale king’s domain--particularly makes sense because all the pure vessel’s attacks seem to involve blades or white light; if i was going to guess, the blades are a soul made temporarily physically manifest

- the interesting bit is when their HP hits 25%, which is when the void tentacles start coming out--and this one i think is interesting because the pale king, i presume, would have taught the pure vessel to use soul magic, and his influence on the pure vessel’s usage of blades is pretty clear whatwith the razorblade-fetish that the pale king seems to have. the thing about the void tentacles is that they wouldn’t have been taught that--i dont think the pale king would have even approved of such a thing--it’d be a thing that would just come naturally to them, but because a “pure” vessel doesn’t have anything come “naturally” or “innately” to them (they’re supposed to be entirely empty!!!), any usage of void magic probably would have had to be hidden from the pale king in order to continue to appear “pure.” and the pure vessel is still using it when they get to the end of the fight. they’re on their last legs, and they pull out what’s essentially a last resort--see above the point about fighting pulling everything you have to give out of you, and the only way to really pull everything out of a person to have the most honest communication is to make the fight as hard as fucking possible, and it’s only when the protag knight can really push the pure vessel to the absolute edge that they bring out what i’m going to guess is probably proof that you can take a vessel out of the abyss, but you can’t take the abyss out of the vessel--not even if the pale king says so--not even if the pure vessel themselves desperately, DESPERATELY wants to be “pure” and “empty” and abandon their connection to the abyss and their fallen siblings altogether. 

- anyway i have a lot of feelings about the ways that the pure vessel manages to both aspire to fulfilling their purpose for the kingdom while simultaneously only able to embrace their scraps of identity in the safety of godhome and the pantheons

[publiccmenace]

Based on this post by @death-loodle and this comic by @rukafais​ (sorry for the @ from a total rando btw, hope i’ve done the links right) 

(I’m using ‘you’ in reference to Ghost because the game is experienced through them and their eyes and I want to draw attention to that I’m sorry if it’s confusing at all!)

Hornet isn’t Mean and Also the Greenpath Vessel is a Fucking Mastery of Foreshadowing: The Really Random Essay From Nowhere

              Like it’s already been laid out, the whole issue of Hornet maybe possibly killing the Greenpath Vessel always sat wrong with me. It just like? Didn’t make sense? Like death-loodle said, the way the body of the vessel is displayed doesn’t feel like Hornet. Even if she had killed them (which really doesn’t make sense for her character? At all? Hornet is very noble and upfront, she’s not going to murder something for existing. Even her dreamnail dialogue is “only pity for your cursed kind” and that doesn’t sound super murderous to me tbh) it wouldn’t make sense for her to display the body at all. She wouldn’t believe that vessels could be intimidated, with the whole mindless thing, and also… she’s a stealth hunter. Warning your prey that you’re about to kill them… feels off. (thank u very much for that awesome post death-loodle you really got me thinking!!).

              rukafais and radioactivesupersonic’s idea of the Greenpath Vessel being infected and stabbing themselves like The Hollow Knight makes much more sense, especially with the fact that their own nail is buried in their chest. It just doesn’t make sense for Hornet to use anything other than her needle, especially for a weapon that’s really really not made for her fighting style. (like seriously can you see Hornet fighting with a nail? That image is a little bit ridiculous tbh).

              “ok so so far you’ve taken other people’s points and paraphrased them skye when are you going to start doing your own shit and drawing your own conclusions I didn’t come here to read a summary” I hear you saying.

              We’ll get there when we get there ok??

              So why does this mean the Greenpath Vessel is a mastery of foreshadowing?

              Basically, the whole process of thinking about this can really be overlaid into how you (or at least I did maybe I’m particularly bad at putting two and two together we’ll never know) perceived Hornet as you played through the game.

              At first, with Hornet, you come to an immediate conclusion: “She’s trying to kill me, so she’s probably not nice. She’s also clearly killed this other thing that looks kind of like me pretty horribly so she’s doubly not nice.“ Hornet sticks in your mind for a number of reasons: she’s the first bug who’s not zombified to be initially hostile. Maybe because she’s the most vibrantly colored bug you’ve run into up to this point, even with how colorful Greenpath is, or maybe it’s that she has a really cool weapon (look im simple lesbian I see sword girl I remember sword girl).

              Whatever it is, it sticks in your mind, much the same as the Greenpath Vessel. The Greenpath Vessel is one of the strongest images of Hollow Knight I have. I really clearly remember finding it for the first time, and kind of having a knee-jerk “oh my god that’s horrible… is that a me?” reaction. I don’t really know why it stuck with me so strongly (perhaps how they’re prominently displayed right in the middle? Maybe because Hornet is right next to them, drawing your eye? I honestly have no clue)

              So of course, when you see Hornet in the City of Tears, and she talks to you, your instant reaction is probably something along the lines of “why isn’t she killing me… is she trying to help me?” It sticks as something is genuinely off. There’s not enough information, and this haunch could be dismissed as just bad or odd writing but, there’s something there.

              Similar to this new information is the way the Greenpath Vessel was displayed. At the time you first find them, you don’t know enough to draw any conclusions, but there’s just something… off with the “Hornet killed the Greenpath Vessel” theory.

              The whole “there’s definitely way more to this” feeling starts to solidify when you fight Hornet for the second time. There are now several problems with the “Hornet just wants to kill me” theory, not the least of which is the fact that she actively saves you when the Wrym’s shell starts to crumble around you.

              This only adds even more wrongness to the “Hornet killed the Greenpath Vessel” theory. The evidence against that theory is mounting, but there’s not really a conclusion being presented. You’re basically being asked “What’s wrong with this picture?”.

              You start to get a hint of what else is wrong with the reveal that Hornet is in fact, your sibling. Her reluctance to kill you and the other vessels suddenly makes a lot more sense. Coupled with how Hornet really and truly mourns her mother, adding more depth to her character and pushing her further from her first impression of “cold and uncaring and perfectly happy to kill willy-nilly”, it is feeling more and more out of character for her to have killed the Greenpath Vessel so brutally.

              Everything really and truly slots into place with the Hollow Knight fight. They start stabbing themself, almost in the exact same place the Greenpath Vessel’s nail is buried. Their mask is cracked, just the same as the Greenpath Vessel, even on the same eye (I’m going with the sprite of them hanging before you break the chains for what side of their face is cracked btw). The “Hornet killed the Greenpath Vessel theory” now not only has a solid amount of evidence against it – there’s an opposing (and much more plausible tbh) theory against it.

This whole process is kind of indicative of Hollow Knight as a whole. It gives you a first impression, a foregone conclusion, and then starts giving you little nuggets of doubt. Eventually, all the little bits pile up, and you can’t ignore reality any longer. Not only how you perceive Hornet follows this pattern – The way you learn about almost everything in the game follows this pattern, which makes for a really cool and interesting story!

But uh yeah the dead vessel you find in greenpath is a foreshadowing masterpiece and this is the hill I will die on I hope I managed to get my point across without mangling it too horribly my brain-to-paper translations aren’t always the best.