#so i guess technically im drawing LESS than i used to but im just pumping out MORE finished stuff

[duskerot]

😐 hm .... la la la

[ruthlesslistener]

i draw too much from real life (autism go brrr i guess) but how do lurien’s wings fold?? like he usually has them pinned against his back but how does that. work. irl butterflies cannot do that so my brain is like ???? does not compute and im curious to know what you think

Oh big same?? Biology is my special interest so it makes everything even worse for me ksjdhfbgjsdf

The answer lies in specbio! Many of the lepidoptera genus in Hollow Knight appear to be able to fold down their wings/make them go limp in a manner that would be incompatable with irl butterflies and moths, so my hc is that to prevent tear for a bipedal lifestyle, they only pump hemolymph and other fluids into their wings when they're ready to fly, leaving them limp against their back otherwise. This means that being to fly quickly away from danger is nearly impossible, yes, but it also makes their wings harder to tear and less dangerous to them if they are damaged, which is essential when walking upright means that they'd be either folded behind their backs, where they can catch on things (butterflies), or to the sides where others can walk into them (moths). So instead of them pumping out their wings once after pupating and being ready to fly all the time, they are capable of turning them back and forth between being limp and fabriclike to being taught, strong wings for flight. This is either triggered by a conscious desire to fly, or arousal of some sort (fear, anger, etc) that gets their subconscious mind convinced that they either need to fly, flare their markings to one-up another in a dominance contest, or flash their wings to lure in a mate.

(For sanity's sake, and bc Markoth, Seer, and Thistlewind seem perfectly fine letting their own wings drag about, we're going to assume that the wing structure of anthro moths and butters is far stronger than actual insect wings irl, and that their scales function more like the feathers/featherdust of cockatiels vs irl. There's always some scales being rubbed off of the wings, but most of them are firmly fixed into place and can be regenerated if lost, unlike with real butterflies/moths. I'm going to attribute that to anthro bugs having far longer lifespans than irl bugs as well, who are very much 'PUPATE FUCK AND DIE')

For Lurien, his wings are especially crumpled because he never saw any reason to fly, and his position in his spire keeps him from going out and getting freaked out much. Butterflies are distinct from moths in that they fold their wings against their backs instead of laying them out to the sides, so he can't drape them around them with the same ease that the moth tribe does, which means they just kinda get mushed beneath his cape most of the time. The lack of use combined with the fact that he hates being looked at/he's pretty much convinced that PK would never throw a glance his way means that, for the most part, he never pumps out his wings, so they're just kinda. hanging there uselessly unless he gets especially pissed off at something. Think about crinkled clothes in a closet- technically you can iron them and put them in those protective thingies, but they're really more convenient to just stuff into whatever space is available and deal with the crinkles if you don't use them often enough to warrant such a loss of space