I post art, artist is I, I do the arting. // Even though I put 'Bloodborne' down as something I like, I'm gonna put a CW here for blood and gore just in case, since that will show up on this blog. // Call me Astel or Void or both ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Creature of the void who arts periodically, so you can refer to me as Astel or Void. No matter how long I'll been here, I will still be confused, in a constant state of being unable to comprehend ✨
Things I like (will vary, subject to change, order doesn't matter):
Hollow Knight
Silksong
Rain World
Bloodborne
Pretty much all modern Fromsoftware games (Demon's Souls and onwards)
Cult of the Lamb
Balatro
Tags (this list might get long and some are self explanatory)(will add more/edit, probably):
#void art/Astel☆art -- all art I've made
#void reblog/Astel☆reblogs -- all reblogs I've made
#void talks/Astel☆talks -- all text posts I've made
#void answers/Astel☆answers -- responses to asks I've received
#void oc/Astel☆oc -- my little skrunklies
(More info below!)
(Hollow Knight Tag and Sub-tags):
#hollow knight -- all related to HK
#celestial twins -- all to do with Grimm and Radiance (I will die for this headcanon)
#pale siblings -- children of Pale King
#mantis siblings -- Mantis Lords and Traitor Lord
#[insert character] hk -- about a specific HK character
#hollowborne AU -- Hollow Knight Bloodborne crossover AU
#yharnam bugs -- also used for the crossover AU
#Pyromaniac Parents -- anything that contains both Artificer and Grimm (not a ship)
(Rain World Tag and Sub-tags):
#rain world -- all related to RW
#iterators -- all about the Iterators
#scugs -- all about the Slugcats
#[insert character] rw -- about a specific RW character
#rain world oc -- my Rain World skrunklies
#Pyromaniac Parents -- anything that contains both Artificer and Grimm (not a ship)
#raindrops of ichor AU -- mini rain world × bloodborne crossover
(Fromsoftware Tags):
#fromsoftware -- all related to Fromsoftware
#software siblings -- AU-headcanon-thingy where all the protags of each game are siblings (starting from Demon's Souls and going onward)
#[insert game] -- about a specific game
#[insert character][insert game] -- specific character from specific game
#hollowborne AU -- Hollow Knight Bloodborne crossover AU
#yharnam bugs -- also used for the crossover AU
#raindrops of ichor AU -- mini rain world × bloodborne crossover
The Nightmare King and the Absolute Nightmares that are Non-visible Disabilities.
(Click images for higher quality please, there are quite a few of 'em, so do it for best viewing)
I realised something about Grimm and how people overall treat non-visible disabilities. My writing, some art and screenshots below cut:
I was talking with a friend about July, pride month for those with disabilities, and how I was going to include Grimm in this series of art pieces I wanted to make.
I thought at the time that I couldn't actually include Grimm because "Those are all headcanons.", which is partly true, to be completely honest. I headcanon Grimm as having chronic pain but then I realised that he was actually disabled, I just forgot, mostly due to the fact that the community at large doesn't recognize that.
Just do me a quick favor and think about Grimm, his quest and his story for a bit. Notice how at its simplest it can be boiled down to:
"Someone who has their entire life consumed by trying to keep this part of themselves okay/functional just so they can stay alive, despite how damaged that part is."
That sounds awfully similar to what many people with disabilities have to do.
(Grimm's heart/The Nightmare Heart ^ the stitching is visible, showing signs of damage/healing)
Even if you see Grimm/Nightmare King/The Nightmare Heart differently from how I do, this can still be applied. I see Grimm and Nightmare King as the same creature with the heart being his own heart, which creates the situation of someone with a severely damaged heart. If you see Grimm as being a vessel for the heart then it's someone who's entire lively hood still depends on this piece that needs to stay intact.
What I'm saying here is that he's still disabled no matter which way you slice it.
I also want to be clear, I'm saying that the community at large doesn't recognize how disabled he is, not that they complete ignore how debilitating his situation is to him. I just think that they don't make the connection from what his deal is to just being a straight up disability.
I rarely see any content if Grimm being disabled let alone mentioned in a conversation where the other visibly disabled characters appear, like Hollow.
But, that's the thing, isn't it? He's not visibly disabled.
Mental disabilities are non-visible disabilities. People tend to forget that, but the Hollow Knight characters also get their fair share of mental issues, like CPTSD, PTSD, general bouts of anxiety or even paranoia. So why does Grimm still not get brought up? Well, sometimes he does but usually only if he happens to also be headcanoned as mentally ill.
(Side note: Now just because I, personally, haven't seen any works that acknowledged the how disabled factor to this doesn't mean it that nobody has. Please point me in the direction of anything (fics, comics, art, etc) if you know of anything good, thanks!)
The thing really is the fact that his type of disability is non-visible that causes this. Especially since it's not explicitly stated that this is a disability in text, though being able to extrapolate from incomplete data is the reason I'm making this to begin with.
Characters in fiction rarely, if ever, get non-visible disabilities like this - a physical non-visible disability as opposed to a mental one. People in real life with non-visible disabilities hardly ever get noticed, and if they do, it's seldom with respect. They're often accused of faking it for attention.
Bringing attention back to Grimm himself since this is about him but also because I can already anticipate some reactions/questions to this, such as:
1) "But, he's a God, how could he be disabled?",
2) "What about his dance?",
And the dreaded,
3) "He doesn't look disabled."
4) "He doesn't act disabled."
These are all things to think about, yes, but that doesn't negate his disability, so let me explain.
1) Grimm is a God, which means that players are already suspending their disbelief. He already is something that cannot exist, trying to add what he can and cannot be seems kinda unnecessary. Why go out of your way to make up rules just to try and make this seem untrue?
He also is confirmed in canon by Brumm that Grimm cannot see deep into certain places, such as Deepnest.
I've seen the community use World Sense to refer to an all-seeing sort of ability (I couldn't find anything on this but that's probably on me whoops) that the Gods can use, which means that Grimm's World Sense is damaged, making its range far smaller than normal. Meaning he'd be considered disabled by mortal and God terms (poor guy).
2) His dance is a dance of desperation, when we meet him is when he needs the ritual to work in order to reform once again. He needs everything to work perfectly or else he dies. I'm not surprised he reacts so negatively to being attacked by Ghost while he's bowing.
He shows you (The Knight/Ghost) respect, you -- who his entire plan depends on, his entire lively hood, the continuation of his Troupe, the reason he might be able to continue on -- decide to be disrespectful and attack him. He's under so much pressure during the ritual that when you decide to treat him and his horrible situation as a joke he lashes out aggressively. He depends on whoever lights the lantern to not flake, at any point but especially near the end, so he can accomplish his goal.
He has to do everything in his power to succeed, he would definitely push passed any limitations he may have in order to ensure that success.
3) Saying a character "doesn't look disabled" is odd, especially when they have an invisible disability, it's kinda in the name. If you did initially think this when seeing my post I encourage you to do some research on invisible disabilities and expanding your understanding of what it means to be disabled. I also encourage you to go through some of the invisible disability tags here -- like the fibromyalgia, autism, PTSD, hEDS ones (these are only a few, there are many more I have not listed) -- since understanding these disabilities is important but I believe that hearing from people who have to deal with this is just as important.
4) This is also similar to the "he doesn't look disabled" point. How exactly is someone meant to act when they have a disability? Let alone an invisible one, the entire point of the classification of invisible/non-visible/hidden disabilities is the fact that you cannot tell the person is disabled immediately based off of what you see. It is not immediately apparent.
Another thing I feel like I might see is:
"Why is this so important?"
Well, I believe that this is important. As I've stated previously, there are rarely (if ever) characters in media with non-visible disabilities. If there are some, I wouldn't be surprised if they're treated like jokes.
Grimm is not treated like a joke, he's a layered and interesting character. I believe that's an incredibly important thing here.
Non-visible disabilities are often forgotten or blatantly ignored. The latter is a result of ableism, pushing away what people consider "unimportant" or "not real", which creates room for the former, people who forget or just don't know about disabilities like these. Any form of non-negative acknowledgement is important here.
Especially when the character isn't defined by it, his personality isn't "someone with a messed up heart", he is much more than that. His disability is still a part of him but he isn't defined by it.
My point about this post is basically that people tend to just outright forget about people with non-visible physically disabilities, to the point where the rare instance for a character like that exists, they don't recognize the fact that they're disabled.
Not apologizing for the long post, I had a lot to say, but I am sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes I've missed lol
OP YOUR POST IS MAKING ME INSANE. genuinely i thought i was like one of two people who acknowledged this, but it's so obvious to me in the canon and i'm so elated there's actually Three people who saw it
also random related thoughts: What disability means to the divine would obviously be different than what it means to a mortal. He might not seem like it because a disabled god is still a god, but he's probably one of the weaker ones because of his condition. Man just look at his heart, how much pain it must be to exist like that and he can't seem to find a way to heal beyond his current state and yet STILL he's obsessed with survival and wants to live more than anything else. that's what I love about him so much. this man loves being alive so much, he loves his passions, that he's created a cycle that causes him to suffer but keeps him alive and he just keeps going despite having no other options because he wants to. i love him so much and wish more people would acknowledge this - the game literally states that the Heart is HIS heart and this just gets ignored by everyone
I don't have any public fics, but these are the central themes of my writing for him. i have so much of it lmao along with not wanting to truly accept what his reality has become so he covers up his grief by living big and burying himself in his work between rituals rather than dealing with the mortal emotions that he doesn't understand (and all the leftover sister drama!!)
The fact that he wants to live and is willing to put himself through such pain just to keep living and doing what he loves, it's a sad song that he cannot stop dancing to because it will result in his death
He just wants to dance, he wants to live, it's so unfair he has to suffer like this
I, personally, like to write him and Radiance having a positive relationship because it makes everything else happening so, so much worse for him :]
I really thought about putting Narinder as the person in the Arctic being in chains but Woolhaven was too perfect and it would match with all the 4 bishops. I’ve been playing cotl recently. Leshy gets a heart instead of a triangle cus I love him.
I genuinely appreciate how obsession doesn't try to frame bear as morally grey but just fully leans into how deplorable he is. a lesser movie would have tried to give him redeeming moments along the way but no, at every single crossroads bear makes the wrong choice. when the customer service rep asks him if he wants to cancel his wish, he says no, and asks to alter it. when nikki, the real one, begs him to kill her, he asks her "if it would be so bad to love him", and right at the end, backs out of killing himself and tries to throw the pills up. he is the villain, not another victim, not a confused, cowardly boy, the villain.
One thing about Obsession (2026) that I enjoyed was that it almost asks you to feel empathy for the entity possessing Nikki as well as the real one. Like, obviously the things she's doing are horrific and fucked up, but I think the scene where Bear is asking her to "just be Nikki!" and she eventually just desperatly screams "I can't be Nikki!" does a really good job of showcasing the entity's inner feelings. She's been created with the sole purpose of loving this guy more than anyone else but no matter how perfect it is or how much he claims to love her, its not her that he loves, its Nikki. And any time she stops pretending to be Nikki, he reacts (albeit rightfully) with disgust and horror. She can't be Nikki because Nikki would never love Bear, and so Bear will never love her.
Just saw the interview where Curry Barker explained that it's totally possible to get a normal wish from the One Wish Willow, and I love the way they did that so much. The reason Obsession happened isn't because it's trying to twist Bear's desires into something evil. It's not even because he phrased his want wrong. Obsession happened because Bear got his hands on a magic item that could do anything in existence, and chose to force someone to fall in love with him, which is an inherently evil thing to do.
there’s very few things that drive me up the wall in fandom as much as this weird new assumption that fandom is primarily a space for younger people that older folks are only accepted into in a trial basis if they promise to centralize and accommodate younger fans, and further, anything else is creepy and predatory. IT’S OKAY FOR ADULTS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR OTHER ADULTS.
if I have to read “women in their 30s” used as an insult one more time I swear I’ll - step away from that user and just hang out with the other grownups who consistently create good content because I’m also an adult and too busy comparing car insurance to fight with teenagers on the internet, but goddAMMIT I’ll be annoyed
