#to the god of Dreams (that later separated into the Radiance and The Nightmare Heart)
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bubba-draws · 2 years ago
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The Nightbringer concept!
Shapeshifter god that brings the night and guides their followers through the dark
I’d appreciate your opinions on the designs pls :>
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shentheauthor · 6 months ago
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The Nightmare’s Curtain Call
So I have a LOT of thoughts on Grimm, Grimmchild, NKG, and the Nightmare Heart, and I’m about to dump ALL of them. Under the cut, bc it’s so long
First thing’s first, I must clarify: Grimm and the Nightmare HEART are NOT the same entity. I am distinguishing between the Heart and NKG, and I’ll get into it later, but for now, that is important information
Grimm’s deal
The first Grimm was ancient. He was around before the Dream and Nightmare realms split into two
When the schism happened, Grimm was very devoted to the Nightmare Heart’s purpose (more on this later)
So when the Heart was cast into its own, much smaller realm, who heeded its call for aid? That’s right: Grimm
The Heart cannot survive without a body to contain it. However, the body it’s meant for is gone. Grimm volunteered his own body to replace it
Containing the Heart is painful. Agonizingly so. To me, Grimm was once a moth. When he accepted the Heart into his chest, his original heart burned, and his entire body warped into a completely unique bug type
His voice was permanently altered, so even future Grimmchildren would have a hard time speaking without pain
He can no longer fly with his wings, using them as a cloak
As the time of the ritual approaches, the Heart begins to burn his body apart. Grimm is, after all, not a Higher Being. Containing one inevitably causes death and destruction (see: Hollow)
It doesn’t matter how you came to contain a Higher Being— your mortal body cannot sustain it
So a new Grimm must be found
The problem is, the Heart made a deal with Grimm with the last of its strength. It will never, ever recover its full power. So rather than burn itself out trying to find a new host, it’s easier to find a loophole
Each Grimmchild is created from the Heart’s flames, and it shares Grimm’s name and face. Technically speaking, Grimm is still the host. No unnecessary energy needs to be expended by the Heart.
There have been many generations of Grimm. The Radiance is old, calling the Void an “ancient enemy.” While it may not have necessarily been her as she is in game, she still has memories from the first Dream God’s lifetime. The Heart is the same.
Each Grimm receives the memories of the Heart and the previous Grimm, as each Grimm who dies is absorbed into the flames. However, every Grimm is slightly different from the last, based on who raised them. Needless to say, many a Grimm has not been happy with their arrangement, as their autonomy was taken away generations back
The Grimm we meet is somewhere along the lines of the 20th-25th Troupe Master
The Nightmare Heart
The Heart is interesting, because it’s not a Higher Being in the traditional sense. It is, quite literally, the still-beating heart of the original Dream God. It’s sentient, yes, but it doesn’t look or act like how you’d expect a god to
It’s pretty single-minded in following its purpose: cleanse the dream realm, recycle, burn
Basically it functions as both the heart and the liver. Dreams circulate through it, both good and bad, but the nightmares are the most important part. They keep the good/light dreams moving by providing a route for them to go through.
In its duties as the liver, it takes dreams that have “stagnated” or “corrupted,” processes them, and turns them into nightmares. It’s like a detoxification. If left to fester, well, you get things like the radiance that turn bitter and angry and cruel. Nightmares are necessary to help us process the fear that we feel!
The Heart cannot survive when cut off from its body. Conversely, the body cannot survive when cut off from the Heart. The Radiance and the Heart formed when the original Dream God’s body died, expelling both of them
They were meant to work together, still. But their ideas clashed, and neither really understood the consequences of separating. So their realms were cut apart, leaving both of their other halves to rot
Yes, the Heart is dying. It doesn’t matter if you stop the ritual or not. It will eventually perish. No amount of Grimms can heal it, because it will never be given enough time with any of them to truly start working again
The Heart and the Troupe are left to pick up the pieces of rotting kingdoms, because that’s all they have the power to do anymore. If they try to resume their original duties, the Heart won’t be able to keep up. It’s like when someone drinks heavily and doesn’t give the liver time to recover. The Heart is forced to regulate itself, even though it wants to regain its old power
The Radiance was dying long before the Pale King came around. That’s why she reacted the way she did. She didn’t want to die any faster
Nightmare King Grimm
Ok! So! The Heart and Grimm are not the same being, but what about NKG?
The answer is: it’s complicated
NKG is sort of a fusion between the two. He is birthed from the Heart, so you can think of him as like… a new being? Almost?
It’s Grimm and the Heart formed into one. In order to burn the father, he must fully embrace the flames and let them destroy his mortal shell
Afterwards, Grimm becomes part of the Heart. Another nightmare to be recycled.
NKG is stronger and faster than Grimm, but he will burn out and die more quickly too. Once Grimm dies, his flames and the Nightmare Heart transfer to the Grimmchild, killing NKG in the process
The next NKG will be the next Grimm, and so on and so forth
Ending the ritual
Ending the ritual is actually pretty dang bad!
The dreams and regrets of dying kingdoms NEED to be processed, or they will fester. Like the infection. Yes the Infection is a major result of the Heart not being there to detoxify the Radiance’s stagnant dreams that she’s forcing on everyone. It wouldn’t be nearly as bad if the two had never separated
Now this is not to say that Brumm is bad. Quite the opposite actually. He is correct! The ritual is torture! It’s genuinely awful for every Grimm involved, especially because NONE of them except for the first consented!
The thing is, regardless of whether you stop the ritual or not, the Heart will die. It’ll just die faster if you stop it
Stopping the ritual is Very painful, and the Grimm will die anyway, leaving the Heart to drift until it can gather its strength enough to form another Grimmchild. Note: the previous Grimm’s memories will NOT be absorbed into the heart— so in a way, he’s free!
When you join the Troupe, you lose your name and memories, even your original body. This is by design. The Nightmare Heart recycles and destroys, it does not preserve. The flames cleanse your body, mind, and soul, leaving a blank slate.
Leaving the troupe, your body is returned, but your mind is not. Nymm has amnesia, but he clearly knows how to function as a normal bug. This is why I think that, upon leaving the troupe, all of your memories from your time with them is gone. Everything from before is gone. However, you will still remember bits and pieces— like how Nymm thinks the carefree melody charm is familiar, and it makes him think of something he forgot
When Nightmares Die
What happens when the Heart dies? I’m glad you asked
Put simply, everyone still in the Troupe will either be banished, or consumed by the flames. It depends on what they desire, and how the Heart feels when its demise comes
As for Grimm… the Heart will cannibalize him. No traces of him will be left. He was the original kindling, after all. A dying god will cling to any fuel it can get. Unfortunately, that fuel is Grimm. And sadly, it won’t do anything to help
After the Heart dies, the world will find equilibrium again… but it will be hard. After the Radiance dies, the Dream Realm is not gone! The same is true for the Heart.
It will change, for sure. It will be a lot harder to figure out. But it will still be there
Slowly, but surely, things will return to how they should be. Dreams and Nightmares will work in tandem again, their realms merging smoothly as they once were. Maybe someday, a new Dream God will be formed, to continue the cycle all over again. Maybe not. Who can say?
All that will be left of the Grimm Troupe is a few bugs without memories, and with a strange sense of nostalgia for something they never experienced
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bluegekk0 · 18 days ago
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you said that grimms domain got separated from the rest of the godrealm does that theoretically you could walk from one domain to the other
The way I imagine it, the gods can move between Godhome, their realms and the physical world freely, but they can't enter each other's realms as effortlessly. Those realms are where their source of power (and life) is, such as the Nightmare Heart in Grimm's case. It is possible in theory, if a god is much more powerful they could get in, but generally the gods respect each other's private domains, and only enter them when invited.
On top of that, situations like Grimm's banishment, where a god becomes trapped in their realm, are very rare. The idea was that because him and The Radiance are siblings, their realms were more "related", which allowed The Radiance to create a seal locking him inside, something she wouldn't be able to do with other gods. This also meant that he became separated from Godhome, preventing him from being able to enter it.
This leads to whether those in the physical world can enter Godhome or any of the realms. And the answer is no, not without a specific tool granted by the gods, such as the Dream Nail. In the AU, Dream Nails were given by The Radiance to the Moth Tribe, as they were meant to be her messengers and her way to connect with her subjects, as she didn't have a physical form. The nails allowed them to "cut through" reality and create rifts through which they were able to enter Godhome and The Radiance's realm. But as the moths turned away from her, the Dream Nails were passed around or lost.
After the infection broke out, she tracked down and destroyed all of them with the exception of the one belonging to the Seer (later passed onto Ghost), and one which ended in Vyrm's possession. He experimented with creating his own realm, but it was largely unsuccessful. That was until his mind broke after the infection returned, his intense feelings amplified the soul in his body, which combined with the power of the Dream Nail, created a realm where he disappeared with the whole palace. After he woke up from the hibernation and left the realm through the exit that was left in there by Ghost (who was able to enter the secret realm with their own Dream Nail), the nail that was in his possession remained trapped in there with the rest of the palace.
So this means that, at least within Hallownest, there is no way for anyone in the physical world to enter Godhome. This also extends to Grimm. He is unable to create rifts that would lead him to Godhome, The Radiance's seal placed on his realm limited his powers in that way, and any rifts created by another god reject him. The only rifts he is able to create are tiny, between his Nightmare Realm and the physical world. They're too small for his godly form or anyone else to pass through, they only allow him to move his physical form through, and only in an undeveloped stage (this is why it has to consume more Nightmare Essence to grow before it becomes the body he envisioned). The upside is that he is now completely independent from Godhome, as the seal works in both ways. So at the very least, there is nothing that would threaten the Nightmare Heart, as it is locked away with his true form.
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royalsmugbird · 1 year ago
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Back on my Hollow Knight binge! Who wants some self-indulgent head cannons about Higher Beings???
...
(I do!)
Great!
Hallownest goes through waves/eras of Higher Beings
The first wave/era of Higher Beings was the Shade Lord
Second wave/era were Radiance, Grimm, and Unn
The White Lady came sometime after them, but is still considered second wave
Pale King marks the third wave/era
Events of the game are a fourth wave/era
The Nightmare and Dream Realms may have once been the same, but Grimm and the Radiance were always separate beings
Grimm’s control/shackles of The Ritual over the Troupe is akin to what the hivemind of the Radiance was over the moths/the Infection
Grimm controls the “Heart” of the subconscious -- the bound mortals must be willing and maintain full autonomy of mind/personality, but forget their past and all previous attachments (Brumm/Nymm)
The Radiance controls the “Mind” of the subconscious -- the bound mortals can be unwilling and lose all control of autonomy, but appear to maintain past memories
The denizens of the Fungal Wastes (barring the Mantises) were once worshippers/followers of Unn
They were cut off by the arrival of the White Lady, and later exacerbated by the Pale King, but now worship her
The White Lady is a semi-parasitic/harmful Higher Being, hence the thorns in her Gardens/the White Palace
The Fungal Wastes are another byproduct of her parasitism, being a toxic/noxious place, but with creatures that are capable of philosophizing/higher thought (Mister Mushroom, Fungal Core, etc.)
The Fog Canyon is a result of her and the Pale King’s equal influence over the land, being extremely dangerous (acid/electricity everywhere) but also the epicenter of the kingdom’s knowledge and philosophy
By the time of the Pale King, the Shade Lord is completely forgotten. However, some bugs worship the Void itself, still.
Tribes that have higher thoughts without the worship of a Higher Being used to worship the Shade Lord/Void, but no longer do (Mantids/Deep Nest/Hive)
They’re desperately sought after for conversion/destruction by newer, territorial gods
Hence the Pale King’s attempts at diplomacy/conquering, and the Radiance’s infecting these tribes
Active worship is marked by Void stains on their face/body, and eventual blindness/death by Void poisoning (No Eyes, Traitor’s Child, Snail Shamans, etc.)
Hallownest tends to lean matriarchal with its High Beings and societal structures
3 of the 5 gendered deities are female (Unn, White Lady, Radiance)
Most tribes/peoples are matriarch led (Moths, Mantids, Deep Nest, the Hive, Flukes, etc.)
Even male-led peoples have maternal traits (Grubfather, Elderbug, etc.)
That the third wave/current Hallownest is patriarchal/led by the Pale Kins and is an anomaly
Some of the non-converted peoples see this as an abomination, hence refusal to worship or actively seeking destruction
The Grimm Troupe/Nightmare Heart is technically also genderless
Having tied itself to a mortal vessel, it does take on the gender of its current iteration
The Troupe Master/Grimmchild can vary in gender
*personally head cannons the current Grimmchild as female*
Do all these head cannons align with lore? Don’t really know. But I like em, and I hope y’all do too!
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