#hollow ramblings

[mohgreal]

I looked into a few spoilers and watched a fight with Radahn/Miquella and I gotta say that Mohg didn't deserved to be used as a husk for any of this

Like all of this doesn't make sense to me lore wise, story wise and the final fight itself looks like a reused asset...

I may be wrong of course, because there is not enough information about Miquella's plan fully, but for now I'm just extremely confused

Gonna go cope now by drawing Mohg's and Malenia's fanarts where everything is well and fine😔

Anyway sorry about the rambling, just wanted to talk about the dlc thing with someone and since we are mutuals I thought you wouldn't mind

U can ignore and delete this ask if you want, sorry for bothering, hope you have a good day!!

First of all, never apologise for yapping to me thats the entire point of my account sdiwbfjx

And yeah, the so called so called "plot twist" being a popular theory sucks. Like what did Mohg do ?? Have a cool outfit?? Honestly I would rather suffer through the "mohglester" and slander then this. It does make him more sympathetic, but also kinda boring.

The fight really does feel like it was made a day before, someone on reddit thats a game dev made a whole long ass reply of how theyre certain thats what happened.

Anyway I dont really have the *full* scoop of lore info since I havent played the DLC yet because my laptop broke, I do still think it's a shitty way to end both Miquella's arc, Mohg's arc, Radahn's arc that was supposed to be finished, and as well as a shitty way to end the dlc. I know fromsoftware simps will just tell me to cope but like, its so bad. Im not sorry because it makes zero sense, looks bad, and the fight feels reused and boring.

I do think we should all collectively cope, (mostly me and the pre dlc miquella enjoyers) which i plan to do by writing whatever. I want to play something else to get my mind off all the sote issues but im too hyperfixated and once again I don't have the laptop to play anything on whoops

conclusion always ramble to mohgreal

[devilcatdarling]

There is truly no greater love than taking your most adored fictional character and throwing them into the emotionally-devastating angst fueled trash compactor and pressing every single button on the machine just to see what will happen

[the-great-kraken]

if you see a male character kiss a male character, you assume they are gay.

if you see a female character kiss a female character, you assume they are a lesbian.

if you hear a character say they don't feel like their gender, you assume they are trans.

so why do a-spec characters have to jump through so many loops?

a character saying they've never had a crush or don't want a relationship or that they don't understand romantic love is so often ignored or used as fodder for other queer or autistic headcanons (reinforcing stereotypes that aroace people are secretly gay or always autistic)

why is it that our stories are always "up to interpretation"? why do we have to wait for the words aromantic or asexual to be said to be taken seriously? why is it that even when characters say they don't want relationships, fans will scream and cry about sex/romance favourable aspecs and qprs?

when it comes to gay and trans characters, even the likes of bisexual lighting is often treated as though it canonises their sexuality. for aroace characters, even the most explicit coding possible is swept under the rug in favour of other "interpretations"

i'm so tired of fighting for representation just to have it ignored and minimised by fans. let characters be aroace. please.

[becauseplot]

qPhilza perching on people because bird

qFit: Mans is built like a brick shithouse—he can totally balance Phil’s additional weight. The first attempt is a bit shaky, sure, but nowadays Phil swoops down or hops up onto Fit’s shoulder and all Fit really has to do is jut out his elbow to give his friend a little more space for his talons to work with. Bam, he’s perched. Works out about 9.9 times out of 10, though Phil delights in trying to catch him off guard.

qEtoiles: He doesn’t have Fit’s bulk on his side, so he’s not as sturdy, but he is strong. The landing is usually a little rough since Etoiles has to work a bit harder to counterbalance the additional weight, but he always finds that center of gravity in no time flat. Phil usually perches with one talon on each of Etoiles’ shoulders since he’s not as w i d e, just so Phil can have a little extra grip. At some point, Etoiles tries fighting a mob while Phil is perched on him, and that goes exactly as well as you would expect.

qForever: Honestly, with all of the hard labor Forever does for his big builds, Phil was expecting him to do better, but the first (several) attempts end up with Forever stumbling over and knocking Phil off of him from his wild arm-pinwheeling. They eventually figure out it’s more doable if Forever himself has something to lean on (a wall, a chair, the butt of his pickaxe) and Phil puts one talon evenly spaced on each shoulder. Phil learns some new swears in Portuguese in the process.

qMissa: Flattened. Full-on face in the floor, mouth full of grass, wind knocked out of his lungs at Mach 5 the first time Phil tries. Phil apologizes profusely, but Missa—once he can breathe again—just rolls over onto his back and asks Phil if they can give it another try. It takes a long, LONG time, but they figure out that if Phil plants his talons on Missa’s shoulder pads and leans forward while Missa leans back, they have a small little window of time where they achieve balance. The best part? Phil gets a perfect view of Missa’s goofy little grin every single time.

[sp1resong]

guy who's only played rain world hollow knight and nine sols playing any other video game: so when do the massive cysts of corrupting disease show up

[ratpoizonz]

the fuck this priest so got damn fruity for

[threadcountart]

I love how the Hollow in Scavengers Reign is a physical force that literally imprisons Kamen within his mind, but it also serves as a symbol for Kamen’s unwillingness to step outside his “safe space” of self-loathing and confront his mistakes.

Because sometimes it does feel easier to just hate yourself and accept “I’m a bad person” than it is to really reflect on what you did and what to do next. That stagnant, bubble of misery can feel as secure and comforting as it feels awful, and I think the people behind Scavengers Reign did a great job of portraying that with the Hollow’s stomach.

There’s also something to be said about how Kamen and the Hollow fed each other, but only one of them grew bigger and stronger.

And then finally, finally, what defeats the Hollow and frees Kamen, forcing him to literally live in the consequences of his actions is Levi—a creation of Fiona, the woman Kamen loved and failed.

(And when the Hollow is stripped of Kamen, see how small it is without him. When confronted with the vastness and teeming life of the world, it could not stay as it was and was immediately rendered just another animal, something that is still scary and not without potential to feed off of someone again, but still just a thing among other things

That self-loathing guilt is real and frightening, but once you’re outside of it looking in, it is so much smaller than the world around you and what consequences you have wrought, but it is also so much smaller than what you can choose to do next)

[shentheauthor]

Thoughts on vessel communication

Handwriting translation/ID:

Void telepathy!

No voice to cry suffering, but void beings can communicate!

[picture of Hornet and Ghost with a red X between them]

Hornet isn’t void, so she can’t “hear” the Vessels

[picture of Ghost and the Hollow Knight with a green check mark between them]

Ghost and THK are void, so they can “talk” to each other!

Things void beings can communicate:

- feelings

- images (takes concentration)

Things they can’t:

- actual words

[picture of Ghost and Broken Vessel as shades. There is a thought bubble that reads “hello” to ghost’s right. Underneath in red text, it says “doesn’t work” while pointing to the thought bubble. Underneath the picture is another picture of Ghost and Broken Vessel, this time with a thought bubble with a happy face indicating excitement. Underneath the bubble in green text, it says “yes!” With an arrow pointing toward the bubble.]

Page 2:

[image of the hollow knight with a thought bubble next to them. In orange text, the Radiance is screaming]

Thk let this [indicating the orange text] through their Void link (opening cutscene)

[there is a small doodle of Ghost saying “tf is goin’ on over there”]

(It was a call for help)

- every vessel got a lot of feelings blasted into their heads. [in orange text] anger, fear, hope, desperation, grief, hatred. Poor thk.

Void telepathy does work on other void beings

[picture of Ghost saying “wtf” to the Collector, who is sending their laughter and images of grubs through the void link]

[hollowgears]

SHOWDOWN!

"If you're ever in the desert of the underground you better watch out! In the wild east lies a city full of criminals and outcasts who bow down to no one!"

Their sheriff is just as insane as the rest of them, always itching for a fight, the spotlight hog of the wild east, North star! If there's one person the scoundrels of the city listen to it's him, after all no monster can argue against a gun pointed at their face

Still- rumors say that the cruel sheriff actually has a heart behind his act, the monsters working under him act with a lot of respect, many rebels say that he gave them a home safe from the royal guard when no one else would...maybe there's still a heart of gold behind that rude exterior? Who knows!

Thoughts and extras:

Woah! I can't believe I finally got this done!

Starlo was a challenge to design for sure, his canon look is already so good! It was hard to make it different while still looking like something starlo could wear

My art has definitely improved quite a bit since starting this au (god I already feel like I need to redraw martlet!) and I wanted starlo to feel special as he was the first design that really...clicked y'know? I look at it and go: that's my boy!

Working on the au has also been a blast, and I can't thank you guys enough for the support, every reblog or fanart makes my days so much better

But enough about that! Let's talk of the star boy!

As you can see I struggled quite a bit with his outfit (this is not by far the first attempt I made at him) in the beginning I almost took his poncho away! The blasphemy!

Well I guess even now it doesn't exactly qualify as a poncho...but hey close enough

Starlo uses three guns, although only two of them are seen most of the time, in this au starlo actually gets a proper genocide fight, and that's when he pulls out the big guns! (Haha get it-)

He would also have a special type of attack, yellow bullets that cause bleeding (think like karma damage) however the number of these types of bullets he fires is completely dependent on your LV

I'll answer any questions y'all have about him on asks- trust me I'm always itching to talk about these silly guys...

Perhaps ceroba would be next? Although she will take a while, god my wrist needs a break! (And the pile of studying I have to do keeps growing larger...)

[de-sterren-nacht]

RIDER USES THREE IN ONE SHAMPOO AND HER HAIR LOOKS LIKE THAT??? IM GOING TO KILL HER

[phantomgrape]

Thing I noticed while I was chatting with some pals about Hollow Knight

Crystal peaks being the ONLY part of the game where you actively ASCEND to progress is fucking genius.

Crystal Peaks was the place the place where the moths resided, as did The Radiance presumably. The Radiance in her presence and boss fight have a heavy emphasis on flight and ascending upwards (look no further than the final part of the fight, where Ghost LITERALLY climbs up to her to land the final blow).

In retrospect, Crystal Peaks in its fundamental design almost FORESHADOWS this moment and its association to The Radiance and her moths.

[roadkill-punk]

siblings :3

Misc. headcanons below the cut

This is all post black egg and fall of Hallownest, I'm just bad at remembering to draw Hollie's scars.

The stack! Hollie does that when they're bored and want to bother Hornet, like how some dogs will rest their head on you when they want attention.

The ideal outcome to being a pest is chin scratches, riight where their mask ends and their void-body begins. That's the best spot.

Hollie is absolutely purring anytime they get affection, Hornet does too sometimes, but she's a little self conscious about it.

That vessel is a fucking menace. Their favorite activities include making Hornet's day just slightly more irritating. This ranges from moving her things just a few inches to the side of where she left them to demanding attention while she's busy to 'accidentally' knocking her into various bodies of water.

These two have been through a lot together at this point, and given how starved for security and affection the both of them were as children among other things like being born into a death and chaos and given immense responsibility that neither of them had any control over that eventually led to the downfall of everything they knew and loved- they both were quick to open up to each other and seek out comforts that they previously were denied.

That's not to say it didn't take them a damn long time to approach each other and directly ask for things, both of them have their own reasons for being unsure about that sort of thing.

Their recovery was a process but they got there in the end, and now they have each other without the constant fear of not living up to the egregious standards of royal parents or being an impure, vile, worthless stain on the world :3

Their relationship is so sweet honestly they deserve to be happy and healthy and with family that loves them

Even if sometimes Hornet wants to rip Hollie's head off.

[luxmoogle]

Let me introduce you guys to another ancient hyperfixation of mine, the stained glass on the ceiling of the Castle Chapel in Hollow Bastion, right above the altar.

[xx-j4nu5-c4t5-xx]

"An ideal Sims game would have Sims 2's gameplay mechanics, Sims 3's open world, and Sims 4's graphics!"

I absolutely despise this take, and I want to explain why. This is a very long rant and it is full of piss and vinegar directed at everything in the Sims 4. I'm gonna try to keep everything kinda professional as much as I can but I can't guarantee an unbiased opinion.

If you'll let me talk your ears off for a moment, I'd like to explain, from my own experience as an artist and a casual player, my issues with the art style and direction of The Sims 4 compared to The Sims 2. (I'm not really going to comment on 3 because I've never played it.)

I want to start off by explaining the difference between better graphics and higher resolution. The Sims 4 absolutely blows Sims 2 out of the water when it comes to textures and polygon counts on sims, no contest. But I'd argue that the graphics themselves... aren't better. They're worse, even, so much fucking worse. The biggest problems come from the stylization and the animations, in my opinion, so I'll explain what I mean.

Have you ever felt like the Sims in 4 just look... weird? Not quirky, not kinda strange, but off. Distressing. Uncanny. Whatever the fuck the kids call it nowadays. When you strip away the packs and the CC and the shaders, the sims in the base game look bad. They're very close to being human; they walk like us, talk like us, have families like us, but they don't look like us, not exactly. There's always something off about them, no matter how close you try to get. Proportions will be a bit off, or your eyelashes will be like three polygons for some fucking reason, and the jig is up. The illusion is gone.

This is one of the instances where a higher resolution and more detailed models and meshes work against you. You aren't making believe. You are beyond the point of pretending that the pixelated shapes are real clothes and bodies and faces, because at this point, they're close enough that you don't need to. There's no gap to bridge. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they're lifelike, at least, not enough to be completely human. In some ways, they're still tethered to being cartoony and plasticky and fake. Just enough to frighten you. Enough to put you off. They're not using it to their advantage anymore, and instead, it's holding them back.

When the Sims 2 came out in 2004, the developers knew that they weren't going to make a perfectly accurate life simulator. They physically couldn't render every wrinkle in the face or fold in the clothing. In some animations, things clip strangely or the facial expressions are sort of janky or there's just some form of roughness around the edges. But that's okay; your brain doesn't need a perfectly accurate representation this time. That's not what you're here for, anyway.

The Sims 4 is basically Icarus-ing itself into disaster. The entire game sacrifices style for complete realism, a goal that was unachievable ten years ago, and is unachievable now.

The Sims 2 never thought of itself as a completely realistic life sim, though. It has cartoony, low poly meshes and exaggerated proportions and wild, raunchy storylines that would never occur in real life. BECAUSE IT ISN'T REAL LIFE. And it isn't like real life, not because it's failing to be, but because it doesn't want to be!

The Sims 4 is not ever going to completely replicate human looks or interactions or dynamics. And if it's trying to, it's doing a shit job of it. That shouldn't be the goal in the first place. If I wanted to watch a lonely college student talk to himself in the mirror to try and get better at interacting with people, I'd close the computer and go look at myself. It somehow highlights the most mundane parts of life without any of the whimsy and goofiness that the earlier installments had. It takes itself too fucking seriously for its own good, and it's killing both the gameplay and the art style.

The other point I'd like to bring up is the animation. The Sims 4 allows for much more customization of both sim and environments, but at the cost of dynamic animations. How many times is that grab animation reused? How many times is the same set of animations used for sims with wildly different personalities? Your sims barely feel alive with how little they express themselves.

Now, look, I'm a digital artist. I've dabbled in animation, but only briefly, and only in 2D. I've got no clue how 3D animation works, much less how it worked 20 years ago, but I can see the passion in every single animation in the Sims 2. The more niche interactions allowed for more expressive animations than in 4. They could afford to have a distinct animation for mean sims throwing the football extra hard to be assholes, rather than every sim using the same generic football-throwing animation to save time and money. I get where they're coming from. I get the idea. But in one move, you've both made the art style stiffer and less expressive, and you've made the personalities of the sims seem meaningless. Everyone acts the same, regardless of what their moodlets or their traits say. It's hollow. It's stifled. It's a waste of potential.

But for what Sims 2 lacks in polygons, it makes up for in smaller animated details. Quality over quantity. The sims have hair physics, they open the door before they get in the car, they take utensils out of the counters when they cook, they jump on the couch and the cushions smush under their weight. When they dance, the weight is realistic, and when they smile, it tugs at every one of the few dozen shapes that make up their faces. The sims are lively. They dance and sing and love and hate just like humans, and rather than being some strange attempt at mimicry, it's almost a tribute. They were made with love. You can tell that they were drawn up and rigged and animated by a bunch of people working together, studying each other and making faces in the mirror for reference and watching their kids and neighbors and dogs and hands for reference. The sims are not human, and not trying to be, but they're taking the most human parts of us and making them their own.

You could never have a game with the Sims 4's graphics and the Sims 2's gameplay. The gameplay and graphics are inexorably connected, and the Sims 2 just has so much glorious detail baked into it, that you could never really make it work underneath the limitations of the later games. The developers of 2 knew what their limits were, and they worked tirelessly to make the game as full and complex as they could within those limits. The developers for the Sims 4 just did not have those guidelines, and thus, the drive to bend the rules was no longer there. They didn't go wild in rebellion because they were never told they couldn't in the first place. They spent the entire time chasing a goal they couldn't meet, and lost sight of what made the series fun to begin with.

It wasn't the realism you came for; you had realism already surrounding you. It was the caricature of it that made it interesting.

[sp1resong]

i am so tired . anyways . they should be friends i think

[ratpoizonz]

what. breed of cat is this.