#quirrel's been through a lot

[queruloustea]

queen's station is very very close to fog canyon. i wonder if any jellies wander in from time to time. maybe quirrel saw one.

[stuffedsand]

h. hm

Funny little prompt: draw your favorite hollow knight bug (character or enemy) with your eyes closed

I'll start-

[siriusremusblack]

The Harry Potter Series only exists because of Severus Snape

Yes. I know Harry Potter is the main character and the series revolves around him. However- I ask that you all sit tight and hear me out.

I understand that he would not exist without the series, but likewise the series itself would not exist without him. Severus Snape is one of if not the most relevant characters throughout the series. His actions have a direct effect on the narrative more so than any of the other characters. Harry himself included. Now, now- before any of you people get riled up about my post (which I know some will anyways) settle down and at least let me explain my thoughts on the matter first.

The prophecy. Severus is the one that overheard a portion of the prophecy and told Voldemort. If he had not been there Harry wouldn’t have been the confirmed chosen one as it was Voldemort who determined through what he learned by Severus, that it was Harry Potter that would defeat him. Clearly. Voldemort would not have known who the chosen one was without Severus, meaning Neville and Harry would’ve been his targets and probably a lot more children as well.

His Love. Severus’ love (which I believe was platonic but it’s up to your own interpretation I suppose) for Lily is what caused him to go to Albus Dumbledore and ask for him to protect the Potters. Severus was the one to inform Albus that the Potters were being targeted. If he did not do that, the potters wouldn’t have had that heads up to prepare a safe space. They would’ve been caught complaining off guard of Voldemort’s arrival and likely wouldn’t have had their wands on them (like James in canon left it somewhere else when he was killed…) as they weren’t anticipating an attack. Leaving little Harry completely defenseless.

His Spying. Severus was a spy for a very long time. He joined the order at 20, became a teacher at 21, and lived until 38. That is 18 almost 20 years of spying. Without Severus spying for those 18 years the order would not have been able to be 1-2 steps ahead of Voldemort. They wouldn’t have had that insider information that let Albus plan their next moves.

Harry would’ve died in the first book if Severus wasn’t around. Hermione and Ron only saw Severus mumbling some spells/curses not Quirinus Quirrel. If Severus hadn’t been there Harry would’ve fallen to his death because of Quirinus as he was very inconspicuous, no one suspected him. Not Harry, not Hermione, not Ron, not even the readers. Quirinus was just a stuttering, kind, silly man before any of us found out he had Voldemort literally living in/on the back of his head. Severus was the only one that seemed to know. If Albus knew he obviously didn’t care as he HIRED the man himself…

That is just a few instances where Severus was needed and pulled through. Without him, the series would’ve ended before it began.

You guys may add onto this because I’m too lazy to include everything…

[nettedtangible]

Been having a lot of Tom Riddle thoughts lately.

The way he doesn’t even really subscribe to blood purism, but just uses it as a tool to get what he wants.

The way he comes from an orphan background from Muggle London in the lead up and during WWII and grew up around non-stop death and slipped through the cracks

The way he killed one muggleborn student by accident and then immediately regretted it and uno reverse carded Hagrid when he found out they were gonna shut the school.

The way he only wanted one thing, immortality. Literally just hand this kid a philosophers stone and he probably would’ve never killed anyone.

The way he doesn’t even seem to relish torture or killing. I don’t think it bothers him at all, I think it’s a mix of apathy and fascination. He enjoys studying it up close because he’s so scared of it, enjoys the feeling of it not being him, and I think he doesn’t care about having to do it but I also don’t think he derives much joy from it.

The fact that the only people he seems to enjoy hurting are his own pureblood followers.

The way that he picked Harry as the chosen one, and as Dumbledore says, it’s because of some kind of self-identification, but also because he recognised that as a half-blood, Harry would be oppressed under his regime and would be a greater threat to him, would likely be some kind of freedom fighter, whereas Neville, the pureblood, would grow up favoured by the status quo.

The way that if he was say, a pureblood Black who had access to ancient magic and wealth, would probably have just been a hermit who tinkered away to make himself immortal, and only really started killing in the service of this goal (horcruxes).

The fact that he has no appetite for politics, never inserts himself when the ministry is being run by his death eaters in Hallows. He’s not particularly Machiavellian, or even cunning. He has Snape, Barty, Bellatrix, Quirrell and Peter for that. Most of his plans are either someone else’s idea or total crap.

The way he could’ve been any other house more so than slytherin. He’s power hungry but not in a slytherin way, more in a gryffindor, self aggrandising way (Dumbledores the real Machiavellian cunning ambitious slytherin but let’s not go there) he’s also very brute strength will solve the problem like a gryffindor, values bravery and disdains the weak and cowardly (wormtail) He’s super into magical experimentation and thirsty for knowledge like a ravenclaw, again very smart but not cunning. And he values loyalty and hard work (again look at the way he treats wormtail) and is very single-minded like a hufflepuff. He doesn’t really line up with the slytherin traits other than ambition (although I’d argue he wasn’t ambitious, just extremely motivated to meet one specific goal - be immortal) after all he could’ve gone into the ministry and chose not to, because he has a problem with authority and the system- like a gryffindor. But he’s evil and he talks to snakes so he HAS to be a slytherin.

He literally wanted to be a professor

Bonus: the fact that he would’ve probably stopped trying to kill Harry if he found out he was a horcrux, since the destruction of his horcruxes is one of his biggest fears. So if Dumbledore had leaked that information to him through snape Harry would’ve probably been spared, but Dumbledore fully sacrificed him in service of killing Voldemort.

He’s just so interesting.

[awyeahitssam]

My Writing Masterlist

Since I post on here far more consistently then on ao3 for reasons, I figured I would compile a list of my writing for those who don't like sifting through fandoms they could care less about to get to the good stuff. 

Separated by fandom, and somewhat by trope. 

Harry Potter:

Harry eats a God. 

Harry just can't seem to stay dead. TW: Suicide, character death, frequent character death, torture, murder, disjointed snippets, discontinued + Harry dissociates. Connected, same warnings may apply. 

First Encounters: Time loop, Voldemort-as-Quirrell visits the Dursleys and is less than pleased. 

First Encounters: The first time Harry meets Voldemort, the man he's been trained to kill all his life, he's nineteen, and Voldemort recognizes him. 

Prisoner Harry tells Voldemort about the Dursleys like it's a bedtime story. 

Except for the incident, Harry really doesn't tend to talk a lot when he has a concussion. Stream of thought narrative, character injury.

Literally just Empath!Harry spoilers. Harry, at his trial, allowing himself be petty to an extent. 

Harry gets drunk, pulled into Voldemort's mind, and decides he wants to share his good mood.

Tea shop AU.  + more  Tea Shop (weather) AU. + something actually Tea-based under the cut

Four of a Kind AU: Learning to kiss split-scene. Harry/Harry, referenced Harry/Horcrux + They meet. They kiss. What if. Voldemort/Harry + In the aftermath Voldemort/Harry

Kid Fic: Harry ‘dies’ as a child. Mentor!Voldemort, absolutely not a pairing ficlet. 

Kid Fic: Harry and Voldemort’s kid lands in the past during a duel at the Ministry. Pre-Harrymort, Micah, not quite the kiss you'd expect.

Female Harry, world-jumping, rationally angry. Tom/Harry intended, if Harry will chill out on the murder. 

Harry likes to feel pretty. Horcrux/Harry, Harry wears makeup, etc. 

Tom and Harry jump through time to each other. Tomarry, growing up, fluff, brief kissing, Harry’s older

Dragon AU, I have a lot more of this one written, I should dump that some day. Harry/Horcruxes

Harry/Tom: pillow forts, soft angst, unresolved, broken promises

Harry's really fucking sick and tired of being told what the fuck to do. 

Tom-after-Voldemort is the first person Harry has ever spoken to. Isolation, lighthearted, odd, old and forgotten. 

Harry never imagines the effect getting a boyfriend would have on Riddle. Jealous Tom. 

Harry messes with Diary!Tom

Harry and Voldemort have to complete a task based on the colour of the others' robes, for some reason?

Harry is kidnapped and wakes up in an incredibly comfortable bed. Voldemorts knows Harry is his horcrux.

Harry ruthlessly defends Hogwarts against encroaching Death Eaters. Sixth Year.

It's one paragraph guys.

Prompt-based: Tom possesses Harry when he's afraid. Hermione POV.

Prompt-based: Santa forgot about Harry, again.

Prompt-based: Tom watches Harry draw dirty, dirty things at church.

Teen Wolf, all at least peripherally intended as Stiles/Peter

Kid Fic + Genderbend + Time Travel: Stiles is in the past and nobody is raising Malia, so she sure as shit will.

Stiles has known about werewolves since he was nine, and now that he's off the college it seems his dad has gottten involved. No Hale Fire, Protective Stiles

The first thing Kate does when she comes back to Beacon Hills is kidnap Peter. Human!Alpha Stiles, eventual Steter, pre-slash

Stiles has the curse of obedience. Stiles/Peter

Flower shop AU! Ft. Petty Peter and insulting bouquets.

Peter says he hates Stiles. Stiles begs to differ. 

Werewolf Stiles wakes up in the middle of Beacon Hills woods naked, and tries to keep it low key from there. Bakery AU, kinda. Peter/Stiles

First Encounters: The Hale pack summons Stiles to the past. 

First Encounters: The first time Stiles meets Peter he is drunk. Stiles is a rude, very straight-forward drunk who steps all over issues like dead family and psychosis. It’s like he had a minefield map and is intentionally stepping on every trigger. 

Stiles meets Peter in the hospital.

Stiles pulls back because he doesn't want Peter to mess up his dress shirt, not because he doesn't want the bite. 

Stiles crochets magic shit. Fluff. 

Negotiations go well. 

Peter being the literal worst, holy hell, this hurts to read. Have some angst. Past-Stiles/Peter

Okay, my bad for that last one. Have some comfort. Crying, comfort, Stiles & Peter

Dragon Stiles is constantly underestimated. 

Stiles beats Peter, sore loser extraordinaire. 

Me acting like Stiles has shame for some reason.

Female Stiles gets forcibly genderbent and is not putting up with anybody's shit. Body dysmorphia, shitty friends, anger issues, sexism. Peter/Stiles

Female Stiles and Peter. Shower, soft.

Stiles writes smutty fanfic, as he should. 

Stiles being a bad influence on his little self, ft Knowing Himself Too Fucking Well. Time travel AU, torture

Peter walks away. 

Peter/Stiles, marking, one of the sexiest things I've ever written imo 

Peter is dumb, stupid, silly villain. 

Peter’s timing is about as good as Stiles’ filter. Dumb, stupid villain antics. 

Stiles threatens Peter, /lh

Stiles is justifiably sad after a movie. 

Tony Stark-centric:

Gen: Tony takes after Maria. Few people recognize a predator wrapped up in such Tony packaging. 

Gen: Tony bantering with, and teasing, Peter. 

Tony Stark uses the infinity stones. 

Tony survives the stones. 

Tony proposes. In public. In a way that undeniably affirms his feelings. Loki/Tony

Loki meets Morgan for the first time. Loki/Tony, kid fic

Hair Kink—I mean braiding! Aha, ha, ha… Loki/Tony

Female Toni doesn't take well to her children being threatened. 

Soulmates? Tony/Loki

Rhodey gives Loki the shovel talk ft. Parks & Rec

Tony saves the day…?

Bleach / Time travel: Ichigo isn't supposed to be here. 

The 100: Cage Wallace stages a coup before the forty-eight arrive. (Or: Dante Wallace dies before his time.) This changes everything.

Tagged: 10 Characters, 10 Fandoms, 10 Shorts

[iamnmbr3]

I would love to hear your snily thoughts 🤍

Idk. I just think they're neat you know? I think they should both be rough and angry with jagged edges and ferocity and power and creativity that often gets overlooked and underestimated. I think this would make them very interesting together but also make them clash in interesting ways. We see how flawed their friendship is and I think they'd have to overcome a lot to be together, while at the same time being incredibly similar and compatible in many ways. I also think they have a lot more in common than they get credit for.

Snape is tremendously intelligent and creative and likes to play around with the nature of magic to the point that he is already inventing spells in school, which is extremely impressive. And I think this is something he would also have in common with Lily.

I subscribe to the theory that it was more than just her sacrifice that saved Harry that night in 1981. I think she did...something. My money's on some type of blood magic ritual with herself and potentially James as sacrifices. I mean Voldemort's spell doesn't just rebound. He's ripped apart - at a metaphysical level. Not only is his body (and the house) destroyed but also his very soul is also shattered. Something that never happens again despite the fact that he later makes more Horcruxes and kills more innocent people. Not only that but the spell later burns Quirrel alive when Voldemort possesses him and tries to hurt Harry. Only by taking Lily's blood is he partly able to circumvent this, so I think a blood magic ritual makes the most sense.

So yeah I kinda like the idea of Lily and Snape both being kinda scarily inventive and creative and holing up together somewhere to experiment and play with magic and just being utterly fascinated by it and maybe a little scarily risk tolerant (after all, Luna's mom died experimenting with magic so we know it can go very wrong). Also I like to think that they both shared a passion for potions. Slughorn mentions Lily having been really good at the subject so I love to imagine them both being genuinely enthusiastic about obscure potions topics and debating them and mutually admiring each other's skills and building off of each other. Not to mention they are both fiercely devoted to their love ones and willing to die for those they love.

Also consider the fact that they were both probably called mudblood by some of the same people (because remember while Lily would certainly have had it way worse, "mudblood" is also an insult for halfbloods). And consider also the bitter areas of disagreement. Snape's resentment of muggles and his muggle heritage driven by his relationship with his father versus Lily feeling much more positively about that side of her heritage (despite her deteriorating relationship with her sister) because of her supportive parents. Snape's resentment over Lily accepting Slug Club party invitations (because as a muggleborn she lacks connections in wizarding society) and Lily being horrified when Snape rubs shoulders with some of the very same people in his House.

They both have sharp tongues. Consider them enjoying each other's wit but also both being vicious in their arguments. Consider them being the only ones to really see each other when they are both caricatures to so many people. They both see each other's isolation and anger and daring and intellect and creativity and sense of never quite belonging in either world and need to prove themselves.

Imagine them slowly weaving the messy bits of themselves together, learning to build something functional, learning to compliment rather than undermine each other. Imagine them standing together to face a world that discounted them. Imagine what they could create and invent.

Imagine a soft world in which Snape turns away from Voldemort and Lily tells James that he will not be getting the idealized fantasy version of her (or indeed any version of her) in the end. Imagine them going through life judging everyone together, with a fierce loyalty only to each other, perhaps becoming Unspeakables or perhaps striking out on their own and continuing to invent and discover. Imagine them having a child and Lily immersing herself fully in that - because so often I see characterizations that try to make her "more badass" by trying to minimize how important motherhood was to her, which I personally really dislike.

Or imagine the alternative. In which something happens between them. But it can't last. Because they still end up pulled to opposite sides of the war. Imagine Lily marrying Snape's worst enemy partly out of spite. Imagine their affection turning to bitterness and no one even noticing that even though they aren't together so much of what they do is still a private battle between them. Because even if they look at each other with bitterness now they still see each other in a way no one else does. Imagine them both compromising their loyalty to their respective sides to spare the other, even while still feeling angry.

Imagine them both being petty and vindictive and deeply flawed and deeply human, both extremely different and so, so similar. And imagine all the ways that a relationship between them, whether or not it works out, could help explore and illuminate the facets of their characters.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

how did voldemort make that snake baby body thing that he used before he got his real body back? did they use bertha to birth it or something?

Well, Bertha birthing the malformed babymort is definitely an... image, so thank you for that...

But I don't think that's what happened.

In Alchemy the concept of a homunculus: a miniature human created through Alchemy, existed for a long time. This concept is thought to be one of the main inspirations for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in which the creature is brought to life with Alchemy (she never explains the process but Victor Frankenstein is mocked by the university professors for reading Paracelsus — a pioneer in Alchemy and medicine in the 1500s). So, the idea of creating a miniature living form is one that people have been theorizing about for a while (even before Paracelsus).

The documented recipes we have for a Humonculus are not that far off from what you suggested, being made by "impregnating" a female animal (cow, monkey, or horse in the ones I've read) with human semen and animal blood and then feeding the pregnant animal more animal blood during the pregnancy until it births a homunculus. There are some variations on this recipe but I don't think that's what Voldemort and Wormtail did in Harry Potter (if they did, this would be more disturbing than how you make a Horcrux, which I don't think is the case).

The main reason I don't think the homunculus was "birthed" is because of how birth works. To create a living body you need three things:

Body

Spirit

Soul

Now, when a body is born, including in these homunculus recipes, it is born with all three. It has a body, a soul, and a spirit that binds them. This works for what alchemists are usually after when creating a homunculus because they are creating a whole new life form, but this doesn't work for Voldemort. Voldemort as the wraith already has a soul, so he doesn't need a soul. Having the body "born" with a soul of its own would only make it harder for Voldemort to possess and use. So I believe he created the body by other means, to make sure it was empty and only his.

So what did he do to create the homunculus?

When it comes to ingredients, the only confirmed ones we have for Voldemrot's homunculus-making potion are:

Unicron Blood

Nagini's venom

Let's approach this by the three components of life described above:

The Unicron blood is a spirit component which is representative of the elements water and air. Something that makes sense for a pure liquid that brings someone to life from the brink of death. This is to mak the body alive and allow Voldemort's soul to stay in it without killing it (like with Quirrell).

Nagini's venom, I think, is there to represent the soul, sort of. Usually, snake venom would not be a soul component, but because Nagini is a Horcrux and binds Voldemort's soul to the world of the living, I think anything that came from her would help bind his soul to the body. It's more like it makes the body capable of being possessed by Voldemort without dying like most of the animals he possessed. Basically it'll make the homunculus fit to hold Voldemort's soul like Nagini can.

What's left is really where the body itself came from?

Now, there are a lot of options for this, from clay or any mix of earth and water (the salt, the body is a mix of earth and water, in terms of the elements it represents) or a corpse or corpse parts, which represents the same.

the description:

It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face — no child alive ever had a face like that — was flat and snake-like, with gleaming red eyes.

(GoF, 640)

From this description, it doesn't look like the homunculus was made from human bones or corpse parts. I think it was made from dirt, water, Nagini's venom, and human blood. I added blood into the mix because of the "dark reddish black" color which sounds like the color of blood or clotted blood (or blood mixed with dirt), so I think it was part of the mix. The scales are due to Nagini's venum being in there and perhaps even snake shedding (which could be part of it, we don't know. I think it's likely as snake shedding represents death and rebirth, which is what Voldemort is going for).

Then the unicorn blood was used to bring it to life and bind Voldmeort's wraith (soul) to it. I don't think Bertha had anything to do with this form.

If I were to guess other likely ingredients, I'd say yew ashes. Yew trees, besides being connected to Voldemort personally (via his wand) and therefore personalizing the body further are symbolic of raising the dead and immortality. Birch ash is another likely ingredient as birch is known as life-giving and to ward against lightning (the killing curse). Now, the reason I mention ashes specifically is because the white fine-grained ash that you get when burning a plant repeatedly and extracting all moisture from it, is the salt of that plant — it's the body. This is therefore the part of the plant you want when using it to sculpt a new body.

So, the ingredients are basically:

Water

Dirt

Nagini's venom

Nagini's shed skin

Human blood

Birch ash

Yew ash

To create the clay of sorts to sculpt a body from. Then you feed the new body the unicorn blood to give it life and allow Voldemort to possess it.

[cloudyswritings]

Just some HK headcanons!!

Beware of spoilers

Elderbug:

This man might actually be one of the youngest characters in game? Like we know little ghost is older, and all of the knights and Quirrel are too. Like maybe only Bretta and Zote are younger? I guess also Cornifer and Iselda could be too.

He genuinely doesn’t dream, like it’s the only reason he doesn’t get infected. This is sorta based on some dialogue from when you give him that damn flower.

Hes very much a neat freak. And also has lots of childhood trauma— being born at the end of the infection will do that to you ig.

really deep sleeper honestly.

Ever since little ghost has rolled into town and befriended him he’s been feeling his age less and less(gee I wonder why that might be?)

Likes growing little succulents and other plants in his house. He cries over them when they die.

sweet lil guy.

Cornifer & Iselda:

Iselda absolutely wears the pants in the relationship, but she lets her silly little nerd husband do his things because it makes him happy.

She used to be an elite guards-bug in the kingdom she and Cornifer originate from.

She and Cornifer were childhood sweethearts. Cornifer may be busy and forgetful, but he’s never once forgotten their anniversary or her birthday.

Speaking of that Cornifer goes all out for her, and I mean like all out. He once derailed a parade so it would pass by her window(he also swapped out the banners to say happy birthday Iselda)

these two are just my favorite cute couple.

Sly:

He’s a fly(obviously)

He can’t really have kids of his own, so he views all of his pupils as his children(Matt gets this from him)

The last member of a truly ancient society of nail masters/sages.

He thought the arts would die out with him before he found his pupils

Sheo is his favorite and most impressive pupil. He’s got mixed feelings about Sheo leaving behind the nails arts for painting, but he’s still supportive and believes Sheo through painting is still improving his nail skill(oddly enough he’s right).

His whole thing about loving geo/money is just a bit he’s committed to, it’s sorta his cover to hide he’s the last nail sage.

really likes fruit juice.

[ruthlesslistener]

do you have any headcanons for anything you've been holding onto, but haven't had a good chance to post about? I love your fics and I wanna peer into your mind palace

Shhdhchs EXCELLENT bc ive had a lot of thoughts but this quarter + anxiety in general has been killin me

-Okay so I'm still hyperfixated on Destiny 2 bc of a DnDestiny game I'm in, but since Hollow Knight is a special interest and I read a couple of frankly stunning crossover fics (one with the Inheritance Cycle, one with Transformers, both are outstanding and I will recc them wholeheartedly if you ask- the TF one especially blew my tits clean off which is saying something bc I have zero TF knowledge, also its 500k words but I'm rambling), my brain has been essentially locked into the concept of a crossover AU where a couple of my D2 OCs get slingshot into the HK world via a fucked-up warpgate through wish-dragon magic, and it's now got me kind of obsessed with the idea of the world of Hollow Knight taking place on an alien planet that had some convergent evolution re: general insect body plans, but went off the fuckin' rails with everything else. So here's some worldbuilding thoughts on that:

-Their planet would be far from Earth and the origin place of the Ahamkara and precursor race to the Worm Gods, who are distant relatives to each other that took to the stars to opportunistically feed off of rifts in reality. They are in turn sister taxa to the Wyrms and Higher Beings from Hollow Knight, who also feed off of the wants, desires, and gulf between what-is-desired-and-what-is-true, but unlike the worms and wish-dragons, the Higher Beings are essentially 'settled' species. They're the farming civilization to the hunter-gatherers of their Destiny-based kindred, and yes, both branches of the family tree fucking despise each other and look down scornfully on the other's lifestyle. The Higher Beings view the Worms and Ahamkara as little more than scavengers, while the Worms and Ahamkara see the Higher Beings as glorified slavedrivers with sticks up their asses- though it should be noted that since the Ahamkara's whole deal so far has been malignant trickery as a hunting style, this doesn't neccessarily carry the same negative connotations that it would in our society. I also don't know enough about the proto-Worms to say how their race would react, but the Worm Gods as they are now certainly are something that Wyrms would look down on

-(Yes that means I have thought extensively about the Pale King's ghost bristling aggressively at a baby ahamkara barely a few hours old. In my defense, it's funny, and also I almost never remember to write him as the cold, prickly, arrogant ass that he is bc his kids make him Big Sad)

-The planet would likely be smaller than Earth with lighter gravity, though how much smaller I can't say because I'm not a fuckin' physicist. I just want an excuse for making fuckoff-huge animals a thing even beyond the inherent space magic thing going on

-Oh, and most life is underground because the atmosphere is thinner than Earth and so the upper surface gets bombarded with deadly amounts of radiation, which causes the mind-wiping effects of the Wastes (where the angle towards their sun is the greatest and thus the strongest). Ngl I did briefly think about potential magnetic field fluxes also being the cause of that effect but like, I cannot overstate how little I know of things outside biology

-HK being set on an alien planet lets me do wack shit with the species there too bc I'm no longer bound by comparing them to Earthbound species. For example, I can make Quirrel an isopod with cricket legs. Who's going to stop me, God? He doesn't exist here

-That also means I can stop being bothered by Herrah's dubious leg placement bc it would kill me forever otherwise

-Also, them being on an alien planet gives me even more of an excuse to never put traditional vertebrate species in there, which is great. I've said it before, but putting Earth vertebrates in the HK setting totally ruins all the fun for me because I love the concept of all the species diversity being made up of invertebrates, and that the 'advanced' bugs we see have filled the niche that vertebrates would have otherwise taken over. Like the carboniferous period but on steroids

General HK thoughts too:

-been toying with the idea of wyrms having a set of evertable inner jaws like polychaete worms, which would be used for keeping dirt out of the mouth and biting off chunks to eat, while the outer jaws (the ones we see) are used for killing, digging, and sparring with other wyrms. The idea is that the outer ring of mandibles bites big circular chunks out of the substrate, which then breaks off into tiny pieces they filter out in between gaps in their mandibles and pack down into tunnel walls as they move forward

-I've also been toying with the idea of them secreting some kind of mucus as they dig that's almost a calcifying substance, but now that I think about it, I can probs just put those glands in their frontal mouth so if they need to reinforce a tunnel (like, say, one burrowed in sand instead of rock), they can mix their saliva in with the substrate to chemically solidify the tunnel walls

-Which btw is a major thing for ecosystems bc the tunnels are used for lots of different things by lots of different species. Wyrms are terraformers baybee!! Kinda the same way wildfires are, but still

-I've also been thinking about maybe making it so that the row of plates I like to draw on their backs act as a secondary pair of belly scutes, which means that wyrms can slither just as easily upside down as they can on their undersides, which helps underground. It's not as efficient as the super-smooth scales on a blind snake, but that's the tradeoff they get for needing to be so heavily armoured

-I'm also leaning towards making marine/freshwater variants that are just straight-up bobbit worms on even more steroids, but since I already have fuckoff huge marine alien bobbit worms in a scifi setting of mine, I'd need to figure out a way to make them unique

-I learned that there's internalized folds of exoskeleton for muscle attatchment in my invertebrate biology course and got really excited about that being a potential basis for the formation of skeletal elements in the world of Hollow Knight- like, maybe bug bones started off as those lil folds (i forgot their technical name which is embaressing bc i literally just took the final this night) becoming stronger and deeper-set into the body to better support the weight of larger and larger bugs, and then it spiraled into a skeleton analogue from there. Being derived from the exoskeleton probably means that it would be less strong than our bones, but it would likely also be lighter

Misc:

-God I really need to write Hornet in Silksong so bad. Fuck. I need need need to write this mildly autistic unsocialized princess running amok in a civilization that isn't ready for her. Also my interpretation of Lace is basically an oc at this point but I don't want to do anything with her just yet bc that shits a lot of work, I just need to write everything down for her so far (and tbh Lurien probs also counts at this point but thats more filling a niche that TC left unfufilled)

-I've also got gijinka thoughts in that I'm leaning towards making Lurien a trans guy who didn't have any gender-affirming surgeries bc a.) I love love love making a variety of trans characters and b.) Hallownest isn't a society where the concept of being transgender is an issue, so there's no need to do it to pass, only to prioritize your own comfort. And since Lurien never expected to be seen in anything but his formalware, he never saw the point of bothering

-(The aformentioned point also applies to normal bug Lurien but this is more of a personal thing here)

-Need to focus more on how the latent magic of the god of a realm changes your eye colour, with the more intense the shade = the more involved you are with their magic. Using Lurien as an example again: his eyes were brown naturally, but after he became Watcher, they slowly shifted to shades of paler and paler blue. I also like the idea of Quirrel's eyes getting more blue the more memories of Hallownest he unlocks, until they're the same shade as the Blue Lake in his final scene

-This can also happen in reverse; for example, my Lace gijinka starts off with gold eyes to signify the church of Pharloom's hold over her, but then slowly revert back to brown as Hornet gives her more and more hope that the institution can be toppled, until they're eventually their natural deep brown with just the faintest flecks of silver in them (signifying Hornet's importance in her life)

-It just occurred to me the other day when I was at work that Striga and Morgana from Castlevania S3 are almost exactly how I imagined my Vespa and Herrah gijinkas to be and now I can't stop thinking about it. The main difference is that my Herrah is a fat spider-orc with tats and Vespa is a fae queen with bee features shimmering through her human veil, but still. Its uncanny

[saintsenara]

Hi, if you're still doing the ask game, may I inquire about your opinion on the following ships ? : Tomarrinny, Bartymort, Quirrellmort, Petermort and Tom Sr/Cecilia/Merope. Also, thoughts on MoD!Voldemort or on how a meeting between Snape and Petunia would have gone ? Thanks !

thank you very much, @take-the-unknow-road-now for this wonderful selection of unhinged things for me to talk about. i am always ready for asks which inspire chaos:

tomarrinny

when she's eleven, harry's twelve, and tom is an immortal shard of soul? no.

when she's thirty, harry's thirty-one, and tom is back from the dead for some reason? absolutely.

after all, why shouldn't ginny be allowed two orphans, as a treat? and why shouldn't tom be allowed two people who are clearly less good-looking than him to pay him attention? plus, two quidditch players will definitely be willing to do all the work, allowing him to achieve his true form: undying pillow princess.

but - in reality - we all know which way the power dynamic actually lies: tom and ginny are both harry's subs.

let's hope that their ability to jointly write a poem has improved since the "his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" days...

bartymort

canon.

there has never been a man with a more flagrant daddy kink than barty crouch jr., and we all know that he threw himself onto lord voldemort's lap the second he arrived in his first death eater meeting.

the dark lord advised him that he'd be physically chastised if this behaviour continued. unfortunately for him, that was exactly what barty wanted to happen.

the reason it burned out hard is because lord voldemort also has towering daddy issues. he is even forced to reveal what his real name and background is in an effort to make barty understand that sometimes he'd like to do something other than put on a double-breasted suit and pretend he's come home on time to attend a birthday party. [for example: "hello son, i've come to pick you up from the orphanage" role-play.)

barty literally couldn't give less of a fuck. lord voldemort isn't sorry when he gets turned into a soulless husk.

quirrellmort

lord voldemort - overcome with joy at being back in a human body after a decade - doesn't think through how awkward the aftermath of this will be, and spends the first night he's attached to quirrell's head directing him in a... let's just say... exploration of his anatomy.

quirrell is so pathetically suggestible that - from that point onwards - he can't get off unless the dark lord is talking dirty to him. but can you imagine how cringe trying to speak sexily to quirrell must be?

[hey baby, what are you wearing? a turban which smells of garlic?]

voldemort simply pretends not to have heard when quirrell brings this up. unfortunately, all this does is make quirrell want to talk about his feelings.

lord voldemort isn't sorry when harry kills him.

petermort

flopping. lord voldemort hates wormtail, because he betrayed a man to whom he would give his affections: james potter.

[seriously, he is a simp for james. there is no other explanation for why he insists that james fought him bravely when he turned up on halloween when we canonically know that what james actually did was run into the hall without his wand and then fall over.]

but don't worry. wormtail is getting some god-tier hate sex out of snape.

tom riddle sr./cecilia/merope gaunt

i'm going to answer this lightly, on the assumption that this triad is consensual.

tom sr. is getting thrown out of the bedroom within seconds. they're lesbians.

[he'll be fine. he goes for a little walk to sulk and ends up making out with frank bryce against a rose trellis. the four of them become bffs.]

and then our not-ship questions:

lord voldemort as the master of death

sounds like a lot of hard work, plus both of his parents keep appearing whenever he touches the resurrection stone to shout at him.

snape versus petunia

snape went round to speak to her about what a dick he thinks harry is [dumbledore told him to speak to her about the blood protection, he didn't want to].

they fucked.

[bluegekk0]

Did Hornet or Grimm ever tell FPK about Ghost? I feel like he would merit some mention from either of them, (I will ask vessel related questions till the day I die or think of something else)

They did tell him! It was one of the first things they told him about since he was curious about the infection stopping. And of course he was, I mean, Grimm told him that he could sense that The Radiance was dead (they were siblings so he would be able to feel her absence), so naturally FPK was really curious as to who succeeded where he failed.

Of course, no one knew what exactly happened, but it was easy to connect the dots and assume that Ghost had something to do with it, so they were seen as the savior. Hornet would have the most to tell him since she met them multiple times, but because at that point she was still angry at him, he didn't want to bother her too much, so he didn't learn the full story until a bit later when Hornet toned down her anger. He did eventually hear from her that they went down into the Abyss and that they were going to face their sibling in the temple but never showed up, suggesting that they found another way to stop the infection.

Grimm didn't know as much about Ghost as Hornet, he only met them once when he gave them the charm that would summon his Grimmchild form, and he never saw them (or the charm) again. But he did notice that they were determined, plus he saw that they had both Kingsoul fragments, so he also suggested that they must have been the one to wake FPK up. So that was another clue that helped FPK piece the story together.

I imagine he also asked around the town, since he heard many mentions of them and the fact that they saved everyone. Elderbug, Cornifer, Iselda, even Bretta and Zote, they all had something to say about them that painted a clearer picture of the vessel. Quirrel eventually visited the town as well, and he also had quite a lot to say about Ghost and their journey, such as confirming that Monomon was in fact dead, as well as some information about where they traveled, since he bumped into them many times.

So while he may never learn everything about the Ghost of Hallownest, he knows enough to feel proud of them. He also found some comfort in knowing that his plan wasn't all a failure. Of course it doesn't excuse the cruelty, but at least it wasn't all for nothing like he thought before. It was, after all, one of the vessels who stopped the terrible infection, just not in the way he anticipated.

There's also the fact that, unintentionally, they allowed him to find his family again and live a happier life. They freed Holly from the temple, they led Hornet to wait there for them, allowing her to meet Holly and take them to Dirtmouth, they summoned Grimm's troupe to Hallownest for a ritual that never finished, and, of course, they woke him up from his slumber. So he visits the shrine made in their name quite often, to apologize for all the suffering he made them and their siblings go through, and to thank them for the second chance he was given. He never met them in person, so this is the best he can do to show that he's proud and grateful.

[queruloustea]

some little gay bug sketches :]

bonus under cut

i like to think quirrel is actually very very bad at cooking. made with love of course but probably a very unique experience. burn the water season the stew with herbal tea forget how to cut a vegetable type situations

(hollow, i think, would likely not mind. they are not the type of critter i’d expect to have a typical idea of what tastes good. they probably make their own Atrocious Soup which is in turn thoroughly enjoyed)

[captainshyguy]

6 bc im curious and 9 bc i wanna see ur hit list /hj

aaa ty belle!!

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

hmmm, not to my knowledge! the closest has been somthing ve been neutral bout/thought was kinda silly like melli and ingo lol, like i didnt hate it, but was neutral, and now i think its hilariousKJDSNGSDJ

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

(if these end up in characters tag i apologise but i aint censoring every single damn name! im not tagging and that should be enough)

oooh im gonna expand this bit beyond my regular fandoms bc there are some little fuckers out there i really hatein othe thinhs gkgjd, lets do regular fandoms first though

hollow knght: tpk, lurien, tiso. tpk for obvious reasons (plus i dont really like a lot of high up characters in general like focusing on tpk in fics kinda makes me eyes roll when the vessels are right there. lurien for reasons :). tiso because people went through a stint where he was just silly himbo and kept shippig him with quirrel nd i fucking hated that lol. his design slaps though

tcw: the bad batch lol fucking HATE them. tech is tolerable, and i dont even count echo one of them, free him!!! but the rest are condesceding assholes sorry idc if they get better in their own show like sorry you sold them to me as 'ooo arent they soooo cool theyre so much better than those Regulr Clones Boooo, look at them!!! like fuck off lol. you will never be captain rex

pokemon: not a big fan of 'hehee im a cutesy quirky little girl!! chracters, like sabi or poppy like. theyre fine i guess but eh. not for me. otherwise swordbert and shieldbert were also annoying kjgskgj

off the top of my head i cant really think of many for mario besides like...idk cranky kong specifically in the mario movie? awful voice perfromace. i guess waluigi too sorry, i m not a fan of like..idk, more basic mario chracters who dont really show up in non mulitplyar games, bc they end up beign sooo known and its like. bro they didnt even put him in wonder or 3d world or anything. like if u want him to be a staple mario character to me then put him in other games too, or i'll just roll my eyes that he's taking up space where someone like cpatain toad or peasley could be taking it lol

undertale/deltarune: detanged one but ice-e. ex went through a period where he as weirdly obsessed with him and thought he'd be super important and it annoyed me :)

ok now outside of my regular fdoms, characters i still loathe include

ralph from the flash- he was this stretchy dude who was awful abt women and like sure he kiiiida got over it but it felt weak and i hated him and the actor ended up being shitty anyway.. in the same universe i didnt like either oliver or barry's daughters from the future, both were very annoying lol

mon el from super girl. i hate him. kill him.annoying boring no chemistry love interest. kill him

eric sparrow from tony hawks underground- though i will concede that like the hollow knight characters, he contrbutes in really important ways to the story. like your'e SUPPOSED to hate him thats the point, they do a very good job with it. like he's written fantastically, and i want to kill him. i alway think of this article i read about him that was like 'eric sparrow is my best friend and he wants to hurt me' like yeah thats it thats the character. like i LIKE WHAT THEY DID, which sets him apart from almost everyone else here, its just what they did makes you hate him lol

ross from friends. miserable, insecure little creep. kill him

there are little charcters i loathe more than peter griffin family guy. kill bite explode

[therealslimscreamer]

Yo it's ya boi again

So I saw the Dreamers are actually alive still in this au and I was wondering how that affects Hornet and Quirrel? I mean, watching your mother / mentor figure die only to find out they're not only not dead but also God now has gotta be a little bit wild right

Also, what are the Dreamers like as deities? Like, what / where do they rule over, what do they do, ect

OOOO really good question!!!

okay, so, starting with quirrel. i’ve thought abt him wayyy more to be totally transparent, and that’s partially because i feel like there’s a lot more nuance to him than with hornet purely because of his amnesia. i’ve always viewed it as something monomon did to protect him, so he wouldn’t come back to hallownest in like the height of the infection and not only get himself killed but also eliminate a layer of protection on her seal. but i don’t think she would have considered how he would feel if… you know… she lived and he remembered it all.

like, pretend with me for a moment, you’re quirrel. you’re an academic and an explorer and you’re full of whimsy, and you decide for mysterious reasons to go to this kingsom that you realize you’ve never been to before. how odd! you go check it out, and wow is it beautiful even in ruins, and even despite of the dark caverns and freaky infected zombie-bugs, and you meet your little vessel friend and help them fight this odd jellyfish creature and even though you’ve never seen it somehow you know what to do, and you go to this place and-

you remember.

and maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t that be sort of terrifying? to learn that you already lived your life once, but you didn’t remember any of it, and now that you do you just feel like… a witness? to remember laughing and smiling and talking with this person but it’s through a lens- because you don’t remember, not really, and to know they did this to you? you devoted your life to them, and they did this to you, because they thought it wouldn’t matter because they would be gone- would you not think of them as selfish? as cruel?

i think quirrel would struggle a lot with that- his current self, as he is, feeling raw and betrayed while simultaneously having to deal with his past self who cared so deeply for monomon. understanding this was the wisest course of action doesn’t make it feel any better.

hornet, conversely, never forgets her mother or anything that comes with her, and thus i feel she may be less guarded. of course, there is still overcoming the grief- of mourning someone you thought dead- and the oddness of that while herrah isnt physically here she is still alive, but would not have nearly as many grudges to hold as quirrel. plus, i think she would want to bond with her mother, and i don’t think hornet would take a second chance like this for granted.

as for what they are deities of!! fortunately i am incredibly obsessed with both hollow knight and mythology and made some rough charts a while ago:

Lurien

Epithets:

The Watcher

Three-Eyed

All-Seeing

Symbols:

Butterflies

Eyes (usually in form of charms or brooches)

Mask w/ one eye

Telescopes

Willow Tree

Patron of: Researchers, Musicians, Astronomers, Lawyers (+ City residents)

God of: Lucid Dreaming, Creativity, Arts, Law/Justice, Foresight

Herrah

Epithets:

The Beast

Noble Queen

Strong-Armed

Motherly

Symbols:

Spiders

Swords/Needles/Spears(?)

Mask w/ six eyes

Oak tree

Webs/Webbing

Patron of: warriors, rulers/monarchs, mothers (+ Deepnest residents)

Goddess of: War, Strategy, Leadership, Motherhood, Reason 

Monomon

Epithets:

The Teacher

Ever-Curious

Ambidexter

Symbols:

Jellyfish (technically Ouma ig)

Books/Papers

Mask w/ four eyes

Acid

Patron of: Scientists, Engineers, Historians, Archivists, Doctors (+ Archives)

Goddess of: Science, Architecture, Logic, Innovation

if you see parallels to greek gods. yeah its because i wrote these while studying for my mythology exam. (parallels are lurien to apollo, athena to herrah, hephaestus to monomon) i may go back and workshop these a bit but for now i’m pretty satisfied with them i think

[novaloo]

@littlebittyhollowbugs

Uh. Hi. Sorry for being annoying.

First of all, HHHHHHHH I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY TYTYTYTY

I know it's been really long but I was making stuff

Okay. Back with the "everyone is alive" au.

↓

I think that after coming back from the dead (waking up) Monomon would want her mask back, so Quirrel asked Mask Maker for a replica. I'm assuming she's alive since one doesn't need to kill the dreamers for the Godhome ending.

Also you said that you'd keep all the ghosts etc dead, and that's fine. BUT.

What if the Shamans were ghosts.

This paper has been through a lot so sorry if some elements look kinda off. Also sorry for the lighting.

Idk, family reunion.

Figuring out how to draw the dream particles was a pain but I did it YIPPEEEE

The text is probably illegible so. I think the snails from Soul Sanctum and Queen's Gardens are actually father and daughter. I mean, I think it'd fit. Similar tempers and all. Like father like daughter, amiright?

I still have no idea who the snail from Resting Grounds could be tho.

Completely unrelated but I like to think that with enough lifeblood even ressurrection is possible. Let's take Markoth for example since we've seen his corpse. With enough lifeblood one could bring him back to the world of the living.

Wow I guess it turned into a headcanon dump huh. Oh well. Sorry for bothering you once again. I'd draw more stuff but this already took long enough.

[iamnmbr3]

Hello!

You’re really cool and I could spend all day going through all your posts where you answer drarry asks :)

I am writing a Drarry fanfic at the moment, my first one actually! So far I’ve written an epilogue and I’m almost done with Chapter 1 Part 1. I’m being really careful with planning too much of the fic too soon, because knowing me I will probably get bored of writing it so easily. But the ending is bugging me, I thought I had solved a massive plot hole but turns out I haven’t :(

So I have a few questions for you, and I’d be so thankful if you could answer at least one or two of them! You don’t have to answer them all if you don’t feel like it (I feel bad for asking so many lol). I’m assuming you have no interest of reading my fanfic XD, so I’m sure you don’t mind any spoilers?

So, the questions (read them all before answering!):

If Voldemort hadn’t gotten his hands on some of Harry’s blood in GOF, and if he hadn’t gotten the blood into his body with that blood ritual thing Wormtail did to bring him back, what consequences do you think it would have had?

If Voldemort accidentally got someone else’s blood into his body, thinking it was Harry’s, what consequences would it have? Would he still come back or would the ritual fail, and what would happen to Voldemort if it failed? What would happen to his soul and his temporary body?

If Voldemort accidentally got some of Draco Malfoy’s blood into his body, thinking it was Harry’s, would it still count? If Draco was a traitor, would he count as Voldemort’s “enemy” and therefore his blood as “the blood of the enemy”? Would this make any difference for Voldemort’s return, and would there form some type of bond between Draco and Voldemort?

Since Wormtail cut off his hand, and the hand + some of his blood was put into the potion, what theories would that leave room for? Could Wormtail have some form of bond between him and Voldemort and/or Harry because of it?

The reason Lily’s love protected Harry was because she got asked to move out of the way three times but refused, before sacrificing herself. Or at least that’s the theory that has stuck with me. What do you think would happen if somebody did that, but after refusing to move out of the way three times they’d get injured badly but not killed? Would it still count as protecting them, and would the person protected have the same type of protection that Harry had until he turned 18? Does the person who protects someone have to be a mother, or could it be somebody else?

That’s all I have for now! Wow, it looks much, but I’m sure you can answer a few of these at the same time XD

Lots of love xx

Thank you so much for your kind words! It always delights me so much to hear that people enjoy my blog and my posts. Also that's awesome that you're writing a drarry fic! You go! Of course, my answers are just my own opinions. It doesn't mean you could make something else happen in your fic.

If Voldemort didn't use Harry's blood he'd probably be unable to touch Harry without burning the way Quirrel did. Also he and Harry might not have been quite as closely linked which potentially means a weaker telepathic connection, possibly Voldemort doesn't get knocked out when Harry dies, and possibly Harry doesn't come back from the dead.

Would depend on if it was an enemy. The ritual would probably still work bc let's be real. Voldemort has a lot of enemies. Potentially it could fail tho or not work as well depending on whose blood it is.

Depends when. By book 7 yeah. But of course Voldemort's return is a big reason why Draco changes his attitudes - because he is confronted with the reality of who Voldemort is and what being part of his cause means. So potentially the blood ritual would fail earlier on.

Possibly. We see no canon evidence of it. The bond between Voldemort and Harry isn't just because of the blood ritual but also because Harry is a Horcrux. I think if they had any type of bond Voldemort would've been more protective of Wormtail (even if he still felt dislike and distain for him) in case Wormtail getting hurt could harm him in any way. Since we don't see that I don't think there's evidence of a bond. But that would be super cool to explore in a fic.

Personally I think the implication is just that it's because she chose to die - rather than the power of 3. And I also headcanon that she did some kind of actual blood magic using herself as a sacrifice. Actually, the whole thing kinda mirrors Voldemort's ritual. Lily the willing sacrifice, Voldemort the sacrifice of the enemy, and James the unknowing sacrifice. But the idea of the power of three is very neat and could add some cool world building to a fic. I think if Lily hadn't died it probably wouldn't have worked. I don't think the person doing the protecting has to be a mother.