#If I don't fuck it up.

[illmoraineakoi]

Hollow Knight Plush Stuff

So, I decided I'm going to give this a shot, at least until I hit some sort of big snag that makes the end result not worth the effort.

Read More because this post got loooong

As per my last post trying to resist doing this, I've begun by trying to figure out some basic measurements for Hollow. The objective is to be as sprite accurate as possible, which I don't really foresee as being an issue, given the simple design.

And doing the measurements has really put into perspective on how utterly insane this venture might be.

The plan is that the plush will be 7 1/2 feet tall, from feet (if you could call those points 'feet') to the dip between their horns. I've determined this to be a really good body pillow/huggable buddy scale. In addition, if I ever develop a pattern for Ghost with this scale, they'll be 20 inches tall (without horns) and that's also a really nice huggable size.

Hugability is very important to me, you see.

Anyway, Measurements.

You want to know the measurements I've come up with?

Shin - 29 1/4 in Knee Ball - 2 5/8 in Thigh - 23 1/4 in Torso - 25 1/2 in Bicept - 18 1/2 in Forearm - 16 1/4 in Neck - ~8 - 9 in Head - - 14 in Horns - 41 in

If those numbers don't mean anything to you, get a yard stick, and look them up.

These are only the basic length measurements, I still have to work on width/thickness, and the more in detail stuff. Like the hands, which I just....chose to ignore for now lmao.

But now I want to throw some ideas around for how I want this thing to be put together, and some issues I foresee.

Stuffing Options-

there are benefits to Hollow being so thin, but I don't think their limbs stuffing will be one of them. Stuffing their limbs with normal fluff might not hold up longterm. Stuffing, unless densely packed, will move around and shift, and long narrow things are the worst at this. The amount of dragon tails I've made that have empty crease spaced because of this (and because i never learned my lesson) is at least a dozen by now. If I want to really make this, I don't want this to happen, and I especially don't want to have to try to open it back up to fix it a year or two down the line.

So, normal fluff for limbs is out. That leaves me with two options: foam or batting.

Both would negate the empty spaces issue, and both has their pros and cons. But ultimately, I think it comes down to how much I want the limbs to hold their form. Batting would be easier to work with, and cheaper, but it'd likely cause the final limbs to be floppier than using foam would. Foam would make them stiffer (perhaps even too stiff, depending on the type of foam available to me) and keep the actual shape of the limbs better. Pretty much just gotta figure out how cuddleable I want to go, I think.

For the torso, shifting fluff won't be such an issue, as there's more space to move side to side, which in turn means there's less chances for empty pockets to form. Main issue I foresee would be the waist, which will likely be the area it would bend the most. I think for the torso, I need to think about how much I want it to be able to support itself, which would be nice.

But now we get to the two major things that I KNOW will be a mess of problems on problems and be a bitch to deal with: the head and the neck.

Necks are the bane of my existence, and I know why most plushes don't have them: that moving stuffing empty space causing the necks to loose support and flop about. The bigger/heavier the head, the worse it'll be.

And Hollow's head is fucking MASSIVE.

The entire thing is 55 inches long, most of which is horn.

If I want the neck to have any sort of support, I will have to use dense foam, and even then I might have to put some sort of plastic tubing/metal armature within it. I would prefer to not have to do that, but It'll all come down to how heavy the head will be.

Which means that the head will have to be as light as possible. normal fluff is out, stuffing it to as firm as I tend to like my plushes will make it too heavy. I sort of want to try foam, at least for the horns. I feel like foam would be really nice to keep the shape of the horns, which is an important thing to me.

the more and more I type, the more I think that this plush will be mostly foam-stuffed. Which is actually kind of neat, I've never worked with foam as a stuffing material that much before. Mostly as a core to hold shapes. We'll see, this is mostly just spitballing ideas.

Fabric-

I want to see if I have enough fabric already, which will go a big way into factoring if I actually do this. But I also want to use minky for this, and I don't think I have any black minky left.

Minky is my go-to fabric for my plushes, because it's my favorite and because it's very soft. the specific type of minky I use, Shannon Cuddle 3, also has a short pile (fur) compared to other minkys, while being no less soft. Minky is also somewhat stretchy due to being a knit-like fabric, which makes rounded parts nice and smooth. I love working with Minky, and the idea of having a big minky-fluffy Hollow is one that I cannot pass up, that would be sooooo nice.

But I'm not sure if I'd want their head to be minky as well. I feel like having it be a different fabric, a different texture, would be really nice, both tactically and visually. Probably still a knit, so it's still soft, but one without a pile. Or I could just do what I sometimes do and just....use minky inside out lmao. bit of a waste of minky for such large parts, i usually only do that for smaller parts. I think I might actually have a white fabric that might work really well, though with how large the head will be, I'm not sure I'll have enough. Which will suck, because I haven't been able to find this fabric ever since RIP ME

I might check out the Amish fabric shop I sometimes shop at, I can't remember for the life of me if it sells minky. It'll be a good place to look for potential mask fabrics regardless.

As a side note: a cursed part of my brain briefly though about how the plush might look like if I used velvet for the body. It'd probably look really cool, but I'm someone who doesn't like the feel of velvet. it's like...prickly, to me, not soft at all. So while it might LOOK really nice, it's definitely not worth doing. I want to be able to cuddle this plush.

[Also side note: my favorite fabric site has apparently shut down WTF WHY THAT SITE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD?! IT HAD ALL THE MINKY COLORS NOOOO]

Eyes-

Eyes are always a part I pay extra attention to in plushes, because I feel like they can make or break a plush's face.

I've done some googling, and it seems like everyone who's made HK plushes of Vessels just do black circles. Which makes sense, that's literally the easiest thing you can do to make their eyes.

That's probably what I'll ed up doing as well (or, well, eggy ovals instead of circles) but I still wonder what it might look like if I tried to make a sort of indent or carve out for eyes, so they're more like eye holes. I think that'd be a really cool idea, and could potentially look really neat, really look like head shell has some depth from the 'underlying' blackness. The issue would be doing it with fabric, which could prove difficult.

If I do use foam for the head, that would make it a bit more possible. The foam would hold the shape of the eye socket.

Perhaps gluing black fabric directly onto the foam 'skull', then layering a doubled layer of fabric over top (or even fabric over thin foam over the skull?) would work? That calls into question how to keep the fabric over top secured in it's proper place. even if fit snugly over the foam, it would still be able to move a little bit...This would require some testing, to see if it's even an idea that may work.

Another idea would be to carve out the eye sockets, line that socket with white fabric, then shove a piece of black-covered foam into it, gluing it in place. That seems like it'd be easier, and might look better. I'll test it.

Side note: it'd also be interesting to see if I can make the mask cracks indented too, but those are probably too thin to even try.

Pure Vessel vs Hollow Knight-

Gonna be real, I dunno which one I want to make. Pure Vessel would be easier, despite taking a little more material. I also wouldn't have to deal with the crack.

But at the same time, THK would be more challenging, and I kind of want that challenge.

If I do THK, I kind of want to add some infection 'scars' to their torso, make it less symmetrical than the other side. I've never really tried to do something like that.

I also kinda don't want to have to make two hands lamo

This thing will be so big that I'll only be able to make one. And also only have the space to keep one.

Ending Thoughts-

When I first had the idea for this, I was sure that once I really thought things through, really put thought into all the things I'd have to do to actually make it, that I'd become so daunted that I'd trash it. And for all intents and purposes, this idea is utterly INSANE. I should not be thinking of doing this. It's a huge amount of effort, and time, and money, for something that will ultimately be completely useless. For an oversized plush. that serves no purpose besides being cuddled.

But rather than daunting, I think this could be fun. that I might enjoy the challenge, and enjoy expanding my sewing skills, learning new things. Broken down, it doesn't really seem so bad.

Would it be a waste of time? Potentially. Would I be better off working on other, more productive things? Probably. Would it be a waste of money? Absolutely.

Am I still going to do it?

Yes. Yes I am.

Tomorrow I'll tackle doing some pattern sketches. For the rest of tonight, I'll do some research into fabrics and foams and other potential materials. Maybe some more measurements. Should really do the hand.

Man, this is gonna be one hell of a wild ride.

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

in the hour or so it took me to draw this op turned reblogs off

EDIT: reblogs are STAYING OFF. op was right and correct and i have never regretted making a post as much as this one. if you want to reblog my art you can reblog something else from my blog. or commission me, lord knows i deserve financial compensation for the nightmare this post has put me through

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[nouverx]

"I want to eat you" is their love language and you can't change my mind

[spyglassrealms]

had a fucking hilarious dream that tumblr replaced the "block" function with the far funnier "glock" function, which did the exact same thing except whenever anyone blocked you a random bullet hole, like a png of a bullet hole, would appear on your blog. discourse blogs were unreadable bc you'd go to the page and the sheer amount of bullet hole pngs stacked over the blogs obscured everything. I woke myself up laughing

[maeamian]

If you saw me agreeing with being annoyed about wasted helium in a fictional context and were like "I bet she has some more helium based anger in her life" good news LAPD fucked up a raid on a medical facility they thought was a pot farm and flat out ruined thousands of gallons of the stuff.

[krysmcscience]

I have some questions about karaoke night, Alex Hirsch. Very Important Questions. Which I will happily scream at a poor hapless baby triangle who can have no answers for me, and possibly also does not have object permanence yet.

Follow-up that is I guess suggestive, but let's be real here, Bill's a fucking triangle:

Dude slipped right into his birthday suit, lmao

this is so stupid :D

Anyway, I don't care what anyone says, this brilliant individual knows what's up - Bill is absolutely way more of a monsterfucker than Ford could or ever will be, full stop.

[artkaninchenbau]

A h-heartfelt reunion..?

Bonus

[dapper-lil-arts]

Can we talk about the kind of woman Applejack attracts.

[egophiliac]

bring back zooterkins, the best 17th-century swear word

I don't normally do Just Characters Swearing, but. ...this kind of wrote itself and then wouldn't leave my head. it comes from both a piece of character-writing advice that has always stuck with me, and also my conviction that Leona is 1000% funnier as a character if his dialogue has to stay G-rated. let Kalim say fuck, but don't let Leona say bastard.

(I'm sorry)

[lotus-pear]

he's so crazy we can't take him anywhere 😭🤣

[samble-moved]

post itself

false flags

trans/adjacent tags

accessibility features

tumblr live post (thanks for the link, @problemnyatic)

flashing / strobing / lights

unblockable flashing ad

buying ad free

staff @/macmanx guilt trip

list of staff + more issues

[chaoticfvckingdisaster]

Something I think about a lot is how Rick Riordan very rarely uses "girlfriend/boyfriend" to refer to Percy and Annabeth within their perspectives. They're so intertwined, even Annabeth says in hoh that the word boyfriend isn't strong enough, because Percy was a part of her. They are a singular soul, too wrapped around each others' fates that regular labels are far too weak for them. But, Rick Riordan uses "boyfriend" a lot in Nico and Wills perspectives, not because they love each other less than percabeth, but to show how much the word means to them. Nico uses it any chance he gets- "his boyfriend," "he actually had a boyfriend," because Nico has never been able to say that before. Their struggle with their queer identities mixed with Nico's catholic guilt and chronic everyone-hates-me disease makes the fact that he has someone to call his actual boyfriend so much more important to his character development.

[inkskinned]

the tradwife movement is the same as it has always been - back in the kitchen, back to breeding - it just has better branding.

when i was younger, i hated pink. i was not like other girls. this is now something i'm embarrassed of - this was not me being a "girl's girl."

but it was expressing something many of us felt at the time: i literally wasn't what girlhood was supposed to be. this is a hard thing to explain, but you know when you're not performing girlhood correctly. it isn't as easy as "i liked x when girls liked y" - because there were other girls that liked x, too - but i never figured out exactly the correct way to like x, or to be interested in y.

now there is the divine feminine. this is the same rhetoric it has always been: women are biologically driven to like pink and ribbons and submitting to our husbands.

the problem is that the patriarchy found a better PR team. because yes, actually, i want every woman to have the choice to be a homemaker. i also want her taken seriously for her legitimate home-making labor. i want her to be recognized as also having a job, just unpaid. i want men to have this opportunity, too.

but it is no longer "i made this choice and I love it." instead it is a sixteen-paragraph rant about how selfish it is that my generation isn't having kids. instead it's long videos about how if you feed your children processed foods, you're going to kill them. instead it is "this is what womanhood is supposed to be. i feel bad for any other choices you're making."

the shame spiral is just prettier. it is large houses devoid of personality. it is the implication: if you don't have this, you aren't happy. the solid, everlasting assurance: women are actually supposed to be submitting. this is the default. this is the natural state of things. all other attempts inflict suffering.

but you can no longer say i'm not like other girls. you can no longer reject this image completely. you cannot find it revolting, even if you know that the underbelly is toxic and festering. sure, it is the same repackaged patriarchy. but the internet does not have shades of grey. you should support and reward other women! your disgust is actually internalized misogyny. not because you are seeing a vision of yourself the way they're trying to train you to be. not because you feel her ghost pass within an inch of your earlobe. not because your father will eventually ask you - why can't you be like her?

because they figured out how to make it beautiful: women will sell other women on this idea, and we will find the singular loophole in feminism. sure, she's shaming you in most of her videos. sure, she implies that a different life is obscene. but she just wants you to be happy! you'd be happier if you were listening!

and the whole time you're sitting there thinking: i'd actually just be happier if i had that kind of money.

[excali8ur]

When you meet your past lives but they're all ignoring you and freaking out over this one guy?

I've seen a few versions of this floating around with the different Leos and I wanted to have a go at doing one for Mikey. They're all collectively realising what a bus sized bullet they dodged by not ending up as messed up as Ronin

[clownowo]

been replaying the Portal series I think this is where its heading