The Home of Outshine

A side blog dedicated to the Hollow Knight Outshine AU Created and run by @Sevilai

[emperors-spark]

When the Radiance threatens the lives of Hallownest's citizens, their king devises a plan; An army of godling spawn trained to prime form. Vessels of his holy light. They would lead their kingdom to victory over the Old Light and usher in a new era.

If only they knew it would all be in vain.

Welcome to the home of Outshine; A Hollow Knight AU written and illustrated by @sevilai!

This AU follows a young Hornet as she travels with Ghost; a vessel who's lost both their prime form and memory. As they try to survive the brutal reality of a ruined Hallownest, Hornet must make a terrible choice. Her kingdom... Or her family?

On asks:

Every vessel is to be referred to with they/them or it/its pronouns. I will not answer asks that misgender them.

Please don’t ask anything overtly NSFW!

This is not an RP blog. Asks won’t be answered in character outside of specific story events.

The answer to most questions about story events directly before or after the fall of Hallownest is, "We're going to cover this in a comic/art/post later." You're still free to ask, of course! Just don't be too disappointed if that's the answer you get is "wait and see!"

It may take me anywhere from a few days to several weeks to answer your ask, especially if I feel the need to draw something for it. Please be patient with me!

Note: Outshine may touch on and depict uncomfortable subject matter such as child neglect/endangerment, violence and gore, grief, and frankly just- gratuitous death. Nothing you wouldn’t have seen in Hollow Knight already, but viewer discretion is advised.

We are currently in:

Tag List

All posts will be tagged with #outshine au. All characters will be tagged with all possible variations of their name. Gore, violence, death, etc will be tagged with all appropriate trigger warnings. Feel free to reach out if you need something specific tagged!

#outshine act 1 - All asks, art or other media about life in the White Palace before the fall of Hallownest

#text - Text posts about the lore or the world of the AU

#art - Drawings, sketches, or comics

#reference - References and bios of important characters

#guest character - Characters that aren't part of the official canon that belong to me or a friend, usually vessel OCs redesigned to be part of the AU

#asks - Self explanatory

#fanart - Self explanatory

#updates - Sevilai updates on the state of things(if asks are closing/opening, hiatuses, etc)

#outshine+mtae - Crossover with @hk-mtae. Prince Oren, betrothed to Hallownest's princet, now wanders the ruins with Hornet and Ghost as their guardian

#outshine+faaf - Crossover with @dairyfreenugget 's Fragile as a Flower AU. Flower meets Worthy and they hit it off quite well!

Character References

Ghost/Lucent(old)

Worthy | (old version)

Story Illustrations/Comics (In AU Chronological order)

Eggs

Assorted

AU Inception | Lore Dump

[emperors-spark]

Hello all, hope everyone is doing well!

I'm here to inform you all that due to circumstances in my personal life I will be extending my hiatus indefinitely. I'm not well, but I promise I am safe, and I intend to continue with Outshine as soon as I feel able to again. I hope it doesn't come as a disappointment to have to wait for me a little longer.

Thank you again for your continued interest in my silly little thing, it means a lot to me that there's anyone around to wait for it at all.

I will be back as soon as possible!

[emperors-spark]

Winter Break

Hey all, @sevilai here!

All the love I've been getting for Outshine has been overwhelming, it genuinely makes me emotional to get so many nice tags and comments and that there's so many people interested in how this little au world works. Thank you all so much for deciding to come by and even stick around ;w;

It's a busy month for me so I just wanted to give the heads up that I've gotten everyone's asks and I'll return to answering them in the new year! You can still send them in of course, it miiiight just be a while till they get answered is all. The last thing I want to do is burn my self out before I get to finish telling the story

Happy holidays to everyone!!! Outshine will return in 2026 :)

[emperors-spark]

Tbh even if they are doomed I don't blame the king for doting on the vessels when they were young because, like, just look at them, how can you not hug those little guys

Oh sure they were very cute! But then they grew into individual people with unique thoughts and feelings that still needed functional parents!

He didn't stay doting when it came to most of his children. He blamed it on his lack of free time as the king. He blamed it on wyrm instincts and how they're only supposed to have 1-2 offspring at most. He blamed it on anything he could really, but once the vessels started growing up? He got real emotionally absent real quick.

Did he love them all? Sure! But isn't it so much easier to focus all your time and attention on the one you want to think is most likely to make it? That's why the time he spent with Worthy was so disproportionate. Then he could still pretend to be a father without facing the reality of sending his children to their deaths. Deaths that, frankly, were an inevitability. An inevitability that he understood, but could never bring himself to fully accept. Worthy just happened to be the first little face that he had to look at and comprehend what he had done. So they were going to make it. They had to.

And, y'know, he never got around to naming more than three vessels, but he still remembered the names they gave themselves or each other. He knew all their interests, even if he never had more than a surface level conversation with any of them. He knew what they all wanted to do with their lives when they won the fight. He even prepared those opportunities for them. He certainly tried. In his own way. To her credit, the queen did start having a change of heart near their final few molts.

Not too much credit, though. Doomed or not these bugs really could've done with an actual parent or two

[emperors-spark]

How involved were the pale king and white lady in the raising of the vessels? Did they offload all the training to the warriors, or were they personally monitoring every vessel's development?

Pretty involved! The king, at least. And, well, mostly in the beginning.

The retinue handled a lot of the general care, but the king actually spent a lot of time with his children when they were young beyond just training. Though notably, he spent a disproportionate amount of it with his first born over the others, a problem that became worse over time. The queen? Eh, not so much. She never bought that whole "overpowering the Radiance" business and had no interest in becoming attached to offspring she considered marked for death.

... They didn't see eye to eye on the other's choices.

As for combat training, the Five Great Knights were primarily in charge of it, supervised closely by the king. By the end of their adolescence, Worthy themself took over leading the routine. You never know what to expect in battle, so it was ensured that the vessels would face plenty of variety. The Great Five would continue to challenge them in every way possible

As the vessels grew in age and strength, warriors of all kinds were invited to test their mettle against them. There were many bugs eager to claim the bragging rights of besting a higher being. Some even managed to claim those rights.

The king watched over their progress less and less as he trusted Worthy's judgement of theirs and their siblings' abilities. Although, very rarely, he'd step up to gauge their abilities himself.

I'd love to get more into the relationships between the vessels and their parents because there is a LOT to say, but I think that's a bit outside the scope of this ask. We can definitely talk about it later :]

[emperors-spark]

hello, is this the peak department???? Because this is amazing????

ooufghfd gosh well thank you for thinking so!!! I never imagined so many people would be interested in my silly little story, it genuinely makes me tear up a bit(in a good way, of course!) ;w;

Outshine means a lot to me and is very self indulgent to the story themes and aesthetics I like. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as it goes! <3

[emperors-spark]

So how did Worthwhile even meet they're partner?

How did Hornets steal Lucient's egg?

Ah you must mean Prince Oren!

Oren is @frolicinq's character and he and Worthy are drawn together as a crossover between his fanfic and my AU! Just like in his story, Oren was brought to Hallownest for an arranged marriage to prevent war between the kingdoms and the two grew up together. We wanted to explore what the same story would look like in the world of Outshine ✨

This is effectively an AU of an AU. Oren's presence in Outshine and his relationship with Worthy is NOT canon! It's just us smashing our toys together :) You're greatly encouraged to check out @hk-mtae and read Oren's story! It's still in progress and watching the relationship between Oren and Hollow develop has been very sweet!! <3

As for your second question... You're gunna have to wait to find out!

[emperors-spark]

Worthwhile

If you've seen any of my older posts, you may have already been introduced to this world's version of the Hollow Knight. It's been a minute though, so why don't we get reacquainted with them!

Worthwhile, otherwise known as Worthy, is first born of the vessel army and serves as their commander. Worthy is skilled, confident, and fiercely determined to shape themself and their siblings into perfect warriors.

They're known for being a bit of a stick in the mud(or as their siblings affectionately put it, a hardass), even amongst palace staff. When not barking at other vessels to shape up or dragging them into duels, Worthy can be found... In the training grounds. They'll skip meals, stay up late, forgo any and all down time in service of further honing their fighting prowess. What do such comforts matter when the entire kingdom is at stake?

Most of the vessels would say their relationship with Worthy is, strained. They're cold, distant, aggressive, and not to mention, subject of some very blatant favoritism within the family. Worthy would rather they view them this way than know the truth; That they are horribly, terribly afraid of failing at their singular purpose. Even if it means countless late nights. Even if it means their family hates them for their endless scolding.

They will save their kingdom, and they will save their family.

[emperors-spark]

Wyrm and Root are species with fairly obvious differences. One difference lesser considered is the size of their clutches. Wyrms are quite large predatory animals, often the apex in their territories, so they don't reproduce frequently or in large numbers. A wyrm will typically lay a single egg, maybe two, and put much effort into raising their offspring. Root, however, put quantity over quality. They can produce seeds by the thousands, hoping that a handful of their rather precocial young will make it into adulthood.

The union of these higher beings resulted in several hundred eggs. Some were destined never to hatch. Others were to fall victim to unknowable consequences of their hybridization. Such is the will of nature. All in all, a hundred and seventy or so vessels will survive to see their adult years.

A sizable army of young gods.

[emperors-spark]

OK, question on hornet I just might be dumb but how is she alive with no dreamers? Was she like an affair child in secret or something

Oh no, it's a reasonable question! And the answer is simple in that, well, there ARE dreamers!

Bear with me for this explanation, I hope it'll make sense;

To my knowledge of the canon, it's not super clear where the Radiance was before she was sealed away. She's clearly very powerful when you confront her head on, so why was she spreading an infection instead of showing up and wrecking house herself? I personally think it's because she was so long forgotten of a god that she only persists within the Dream Realm, so for the sake of this AU, that's where she stays.

It's part of what makes dealing with her so tricky. How do you fight an enemy who's spreading her influence from a different plane of existence? Well, if you aren't going to lure her out, you kind of have to send your warrior(s) to her. And that's part of the king's plan; Raise an army, send them there to fight her, win. Simple. Well, the queen didn't think it would be so simple. She pushed for there to be some kind of countermeasure if something were to go wrong. That's where the dreamers come in! Their job was to be on standby, juuuust in case. If something did go wrong, they'd be there to seal access to the room where the ritual to send the vessels to the Dream Realm was taking place, trapping the Radiance within were she to escape to the material plane. Yes, it would trap the vessels inside as well, but hey, no cost too great for the safety of Hallownest and all.

Herrah's agreement with the Pale King remains the same. Hornet is born around the time the vessels enter their adolescent years, and she gets to grow up with an entire army of older siblings to keep her entertained who adore her very much!

... That was the plan at least.

[emperors-spark]

Act 1 begins!

Here we explore life in the White Palace, from the birth of the army of godling soldiers up until the destined confrontation with the Radiance.

This act will be the set up to the AU proper. Though I'll be covering a lot on my own, feel free to ask anything about the setting, the characters, or anything you'd like to know more about!

It could take me anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks to answer your ask, especially I feel the need to draw something for it, so thank you in advance for your patience!

[emperors-spark]

Hey there, Sevilai here!

Just wanted to say a blanket thank you to anyone who's taken any interest in my little AU! I'm admittedly very shy about putting any of my things out there, especially anything story based so it means a lot to know that anyone's interested or even thinks a thing I'm making is cool!

I've come here to talk a bit about plans for this blog and Outshine as a whole! Outshine is not a very complicated story, but it DOES have a lot of background content to it I've been writing since it's genesis and I've struggled to find a good way to present it all. I'm not really a fanfic writer or a comic artist. This AU is more of an art project for me, where I'd like to tell parts of it in different forms! Some of it will be text posts under illustrations, some of it will be short or even long comics, some of it may even be writing if I'm ever up to the task!

Do I just put up out of context art of story snippets and let people piece it together? Do I force myself to tell the whole story in perfect order and hope I don't burn out on it? I have so much I want to make for it; I already have the entire plot worked out after all!

So I think I've come up with a pretty good plan; Inspired by Silksong, Outshine will be presented in a 3 Act structure!

Each act will focus on a different part of Outshine's story, but it wont necessarily be told in perfect order. I'm hoping this will help me tell the story I want without having to worry about presenting it perfectly. I'll also have the ask box open where I can answer questions about the setting, characters, and story with art. I even have some events and special art planned for some parts of the story!

I'll be making the announcement for the beginning of Act 1 soon! Thank you so much for reading through this post. I'm a tired old man(gender neutral) with a lot of art I want to make and not a lot of motivation or free time, but I really want to see this little project through to it's end, even if it's slow going. I hope you'll have patience enough to make it there with me!

[sevilai]

No better time to post than in celebration of opening my HK AU blog @emperors-spark!

This was a birthday gift for @frolicinq of his wonderful Prince Oren and how his story plays out through the world of Outshine! I haven't gotten much into the main plot yet, but know that Oren being there significantly changes canon events for the better like, him being there is basically just the good AU lmao

[stagbells]

Message: Tfw you're trying to keep a low profile but your baby sibling is a literal star

I took a bit of creative liberties here, hope you like it!! :D

From: @nerdflowo

To: @sevilai

[bug-abortion]

A few more HK based attacks!

On @sevilai and @/vintage_frog

[sevilai]

Attacks on @frolicinq ! I really need to stop friendly firing but like. ALLLL of my friends are on the same team! lol

[sevilai]

Oh look! It's the AU I never actually talk about lmao

I am planning to talk about it more soon. I'm not sure where to start explaining things but note that despite drawing almost nothing but this AU's version of the Hollow Knight, these two are technically the main characters

How does she sleep at night? That question pertains to more than just the light.