#stag beetles and broken legs fanart

[autumn-applepie]

Go read Stag Beetlee and Broken Legs 💥💥 /nf

Hey gays have you heard of the best Hollow Knight fanfic of all time?

Nah joking there are plenty of awesome fanfics but THIS SPECIFICALLY, awesome 💥‼️/pos

Made a silly video of Chapter 1 if jk jk

[artistlara]

"...Someone I know," says the Teacher.

Based on this part specifically in the fic:

Link to the fic is above :) just click the caption (it'll redirect you to the chapter the art is based off of)

[chillisreal]

The final chapter for Stay And Be Safe came out recently and I was so scared, but lost pulled through!

In all truth, if you're a Stag Beetles and Broken Legs enjoyer in terms of how the story moved along and how the interactions went, then I recommend reading this as well! There's angst, wholesomeness, comedy, confusion, and various other feelings that I just can't identify at the moment. That's how good this is!!!

@ hollowknightnerd is the author of Stay and be safe by the way! They're super cool :)

[vampireteeth016]

Some Stag Beetles and Broken Legs fanart bc I love that fanfic it’s amazingly written and just fun to read. And I also just drew Hornet and The Hollow Knight

[cawareyoudoin]

Oh, oh, one of my FAVOURITE fics!

Gijinka of some scenes from Stag Beetles and Broken Legs

I haven’t read a lot of HK fanfics in my life, but this was one of the best. Kind of sad that it ended, but it was a good ending.

[bobbinbugs]

Quirrel was not suicidal

As a 3-year hollow knight fan, I see "Stag Beetles and Broken Legs" get recommended a lot. A lot a lot. Considered by many to be the definitive Hollow Knight fanfiction, it generates fanart and gushing recommendations every time it's mentioned.

But there's one glaring issue of interpretation I've gathered: It frames Quirrel at the Blue Lake as suicidal.

And I don't think that's correct at all.

Once you get down to it, everything in Hallownest is about death and avoiding it. The Pale King's eternal kingdom, the Soulmaster's shaping of soul, the Radiance's aimless reanimated vengeance... in clinging to life, they strip themselves of dignity, and cause unfathomable suffering for naught. Characters who think they will never die, like Tiso, meet their unceremonious end, unburied and unmourned. "All things must accept an end," in the words of Vespa's ghost.

A minor character reiterating one of the central themes of the game: hold that thought.

Few characters have immortality aside from gods. Even with gods, immortality is highly conditional: but that's a different essay. In otherwise "mortal" characters who lasted too long, they seem ghostlike themselves: the pale mourner evokes the classic white lady archetype, and dissipates into thin air once her business is finished. The seer appears to have a conditional immortality as well: once the maximum essence is collected, she, too, dissipates, having finally assured a new Wielder has come.

Quirrel seems to operate on this conditional immortality as well. Considering he left long enough ago for the plan to be put into action, the fail of it, and for the fallen kingdom of Hallownest to become "ancient". Like the Mourner and Seer, he probably should have reached the end of his natural lifespan long, long ago: and, as we see Monomon's mask protect him from killing blows in the prequel comic, it's fairly logical to conclude it's also extending his lifespan. No point in creating a back-up plan if the back-up isn't protected, right?

And what happens if you remove the lifesource?

Well... let's put it this way. "I begin to feel my age" takes on more weight than a quip about how much time has passed, or the burden of memory. Without Monomon's protection, his statement metamorphoses into an admission: Quirrel is starting to feel, body and mind, that his artificially-extended lifespan is catching up with him.

So that's the first half: accepting death. The second half is fulfilling your purpose for living: Let's talk about the Nailsmith.

The Nailsmith is a character who lives to forge nails. That's his art and purpose: to forge a Pure Nail. Once his purpose is completed, he loses his will to live: after all, it's completed. The way the ghosts pass on, and how Ghost too disappears when their purpose (defeat the radiance) is completed, the Nailsmith asks the player to kill him. Even his thoughts revolve around his worthlessness. His dream nail dialogue reads "My life's work achieved… What more is left…?" To the Nailsmith - and the oligarchs of the game - completing your purpose means you have outlived your usefulness. But there is a key difference between the Nailsmith's final* thoughts and Quirrel's final thoughts. For comparison:

"All tragedy erased. I see only wonders..."

This is not the dialogue of a suicidal person. Quirrel is not self loathing. He doesn't feel worthless. He's grateful for the long life he's lived, and the blessing that he gets to experience it twice over. And this is his dream nail dialogue: it's objective truth he's not putting on a brave face but harboring darker thoughts. Genuinely, I would not call these the thoughts of someone who wants to die: this is the thought process of someone who wants to live. You may extrapolate or choose to ignore, but I don't think it's founded to interpret Quirrel as suicidal.

And that establishes difference between the Nailsmith and Quirrel: Quirrel doesn't seem burdened by his lack of purpose. In fact, I don't even think he considered Monomon his purpose to begin with. We know from the Nailsmith that fulfilling your purpose means you've outlived your usefulness; you die, or you find a new purpose. But the Nailsmith's purpose was smithing nails, and he devoted himself to it. Quirrel is called back to Hallownest, but spends 90% of his time in it just... fucking about, to put it crassly. He does want to solve the mystery of his being called, but he takes his time. He doesn't consider his purpose is to serve Monomon; he's not overtaken by a passion or skill; Quirrel is a traveler. He's just after the wonders.

At the end, he does exactly that. He lived a long, full life for himself and no other, seeking out wonders and taking his time. He finished what he was called to do, but it's telling even his final goal - seeing the Blue Lake - is a goal for himself, and not something he was told to do. He spent most of that long life not knowing he had a purpose someone else set, and doing what he wanted.

(quirrel voice i was put on this earth to accomplish 1 thing but i forgot what it was so thankfully i can do whatever i want)

Despite his final thoughts being of someone who loves living, Quirrel is... almost absolutely dead. The file is called quirrel_death_nail.png. One of his first lines in the game is advising you to loot weapons from corpses, because the dead "shouldn't be burdened with such things," and the last sign of him is his abandoned nail. Furthermore, he abandons his nail at the time Hallownest is most dangerous, with the Radiance so close to being free. Self defense is more important than ever, and a character as wise as Mr. Either-you're-alert-or-you're-dead wouldn't abandon his nail at such a crucial moment! Overall, Hollow Knight is a game that keeps in the classic tragic opera tradition of killing off as much of its cast as possible before the final curtain, and Quirrel is no exception. You can argue that quirrel_death_nail.png is the death of "Quirrel the wanderer," but I'm not going to lie, the signs aren't in looking good.

But I don't think he drowned. Just for fun, let's bring a common fan interpretation into the fray: Quirrel is commonly interpreted as a pillbug. (So do I - it's just too perfect.) Neatly, pillbugs are actually crustaceans, and have gills! Given the general aquatic theme of fog canyon and his final stop at blue lake, the effect is less "giving up" and more "return to homeland/true nature," which is what Quirrel's arc is all about. I wouldn't worry about him drowning.

But if he's dead, and his last stop was at Blue Lake, but he didn't drown, what did happen to him?

Remember the Seer and Pale Mourner, and their conditional immortality? Keeping in line with the other ghosts-that-haven't-died in the resting grounds, I like to think Quirrel, upon completing his task, likewise fades into light. The location, lack of clarity between immortal, alive, or dead, and completion of unfinished business all line up for Quirrel to go the same way. This idea is a bit more of a stretch than all the others, but I believe it suits him. It's fair. It's graceful. It's direct contrast to an unburied corpse or an unmarked grave, like all the Fools at Kingdom's Edge.

So, In conclusion: Quirrel didn't drown himself. He doesn't think he's worthless or that he doesn't want to live. He saw his time is up - and perhaps had been up for a while - and does not scrabble or cling, but bows out with grace. In turn, the wandering scholar earns the rarest jewel in all of Hallownest: a dignified passing.

Rest in peace, Quirrel. You've earned it.

[queruloustea]

HEY

Random question:

What are your thoughts on Stag Beetles and Broken Legs? :)

AAAAAAA GOOD GOOD FIC. VERY VERY GOOD. i will be truthful here i still have terrible brain-rot from it and it still makes me giggle and kick my legs. i meant to do some fanart of it recently, even!

it was gorgeously written and heart-wrenching and i cannot look at spoons in the same light ever again

and the little epilogue thing? extra brain-rot on top. little disaster bugs i think they should hold hands for a prolonged period of time. ggauh

[pocketed-fool]

A tribute to Stag Beetles and Broken Legs, written by @aryashi and @relationshipcrime , i wanted to do for a long time now!

Beware of the spoilers of both HK and the fanfiction itself! If you havent read the fic yet, GO READ IT. GO. PLEASE.

[evielutionevie]

SBABL (I would link the fic but Tumblr said no ❤️) by @aryashi and @lost-kinn is too good for this world 💙 This drawing was suffering, but it was good

Here’s also a quick post-SBABL blurb I wrote to go with this because I wanted to (I was originally gonna do a comic but this piece sucked all of the life out of me LOL)

The two bugs stared up at the intricate statue of the Hollow Knight, reminiscing of that time so long ago when they stood here last. Even after months (maybe even years??) of Lemm tagging along on Quirrel’s adventures, seeking relics and places, the Hollow Knight still felt as familiar and mysterious as always, as if they had never left Hallownest. Though… he couldn’t help but think that there was somehow an aura of peace coming from it.

Lemm looked at Quirrel, who was staring up at the statue as if he was seeing it in a new light. Not new, but… different. Also, unlike the last time the two were here, the other bug was holding the umbrella over the both of them, though it honestly didn’t help much because of how torn it was. So, Lemm cleared his throat and told Quirrel that they should really replace that umbrella because they can’t even use it to keep dry in the rain anymore. It wasn’t even a good weapon! Lemm really had no idea how it’s even survived this long.

Quirrel just laughed. “Well, we’re alive, aren’t we? I think I can get some use out of it yet.”

And Lemm really couldn’t argue with that, now could he?

[weafurry]

These two live in my mind rent free and I am definitely not complaining

Here's the original traditional sketch

[iota404]

“you dare to refuse my call?”

artwork based on Stag Beetles and Broken Legs, ritten by @lost-kinn and @aryashi

[samzircon]

The Beast and her Daughter

The Watcher and his Assistant

The Teacher and her Scholar

[kath-trashh]

This scene is kind of my favorite in SBABL even tho I... have like. A lot of favorites. Kinda just wanted to draw the knight baybee

also I’ve been trying to do my own version of lemm and BOY is he so hard to draw . . . B e a r d

stag beetles and broken legs belongs to @aryashi and @lost-kinn

[hyper-elastagirl]

Once again I am left an emotional mess by @lost-kinn and @aryashi s work. I don’t really have the words to describe my thoughts on this chapter so here’s some art instead.

[cupcakeshakesnake]

That one part in Staglegs just... ever so slightly reminded me of this vine

[opal-owl-flight]

SUUPER LATE TO THIS TRAIN

But I FINALLY READ STAG BEETLES AND BROKEN LEGS (by @lost-kinn and @aryashi ) AND AKKXKDKFRM AAHHHHHHHH

THIS SCENE MADE ME INTERNALLY SCREAM SO LOUDLY AND IM JUST

STILL VERY EMOTIONAL

I AM PROUD OF OUR BOY QUIRRELL,,,,