Frog Zone

She/Her - 27 - Bi

[hotcrossedfangs]

[shounenchild]

my favorite part of this whole thing tbh

[nikonikonek000]

[frogfiend8]

Run rabbit Run rabbit

[rowlfthedog]

[mebis-silksong-corner]

Some lore of every tool: needle phial and plasmium phial

Half of this may need to be split into a reblog

These two tools are essentially one and the same, only the type of phial and application is changed: a hollow steel needle designed to act like a syringe to either fill or empty the attached phial

In fact, this needle seems to be the same or at least remarkably similar to the steel spines needed for infestation operation

Your tool certainly looks sharp enough to pierce my shell, sir, but why should I want to do so?

This is what Hornet says about the plasmium phial

It's Steel Spines I need. A full bundle of them, forged hard and sharp. Tougher than I've ever had. Tough enough to crack stone! And to pierce your thick shell, bzzt!

And this is what Yarnaby has to say

the steel spines even have that same compression and release motion in the cutscene, although repeated in a motorized cycle

Now, Zylotol's master discovered lifeblood Plasmium in the salty waters of Pharloom's Bay, to the right of Bilewater, to the right of Sinner's Road, while Yarnaby is to the left; Benjin and Crull are quite the providers of medical and research equipment huh, who would've thought

Just in case: Yarnaby is not Zylotol's master, she doesn't seem to have ever moved beyond Bellhart or her current location, outside of maybe visiting Crull and Benjin in Sinner's Road; she's also not really interested on the stuff or really seems to know about it

(Hornet) Madam, my shell has been overcome by a foreign force. Plasmium, it has been called in your land. (Hornet) Though the substance provides some regenerative aid, I feel my mind at dangerous risk of being overtaken. Bzzt! Maybe overtaken is good? Better even? Why go thinking yours is a mind so precious? The great Yarnaby treats the sick! Not those that benefit from their afflictions. Enjoy its advantage and leave me in peace!

Her dialogue might go one way or another but she's merely responding to the info Hornet gives on plasmium

Remember my assessment that at least some "glass" vessels in Pharloom were made out of treated glands or eggs? well, the plasmium phial visibly deflates when expended, implying it is made out of a flexible material

The shading of the empty sprite, of course, is quite similar to an empty flea brew bottle (I'll cover the poison interaction when I get to the pollip pouch)

"Spear-phial" as a descriptor for the plasmium phial reminds me strongly of voltvessels, which is a tool created in Memorium's Materium section, notable for its multiple phials; I think it is likely the spear form of the vessels didn't just work as a lightning rod, but also as a needle to extract the pink, charged fluids from the volt worms

Btw it annoys me greatly that the plasmium phial is obviously designed to look like two lifeblood masks, and the very first trailer even reflects this (although the second mask barely starts forming before it cuts off, was very hard to get a screenshot, and it is a pretty shitty one), yet the tool only gives one mask at a time now! I'm sure it was because of game balance, but damn

Funny that the tool icon was updated but the animation wasn't

Understandable though

Now, let's look at the rest of Zylotol's equipment

We can see multiple bottles and phials, multiple bone scrolls, the characteristic pumpkin shape on the larger vessels, all above a cart

I wonder if the constant boiling and bubbling coupled with the similarity to the flea brew bottle is a reference to the alchemic process of fermentation

You'll notice I included the vessels used by weavers in the Abyss to research void, this is because both sets have interesting similarities in the way they seem to have a modular aspect to them, being able to dock into each other to move the fluids around or be separated to test samples differently, as well as the use of needles and tubes

I'm not saying the two are directly related, but once I see the similarities I can only think "of course weaver research implements inspired later equipment"

Now, I'm left wondering how many of those spiky tops so often seen in bottles are really just decorations or if more of then than I thought are actually hollow needles; the use of glassy phials to extract and study void also reminds me of a certain asset by the void mould in the Pale King's workshop

Maybe these bottles in PK's workshop were actually syringes used to inject void into the mould, through the tube/notch/path at the top of it

Now, before I jump into the elephant in the room that is the Infection parallels, I want to get into lifeblood itself and establish some stuff

First off, the name: lifeblood is just straight up a word in english, an expression, and plasmium is a play on plasm, which is a word used in many things, but here seems primarily referencing blood, with maybe cytoplasm as a secondary reference for the lifeseeds

Blue blood as a panacea is likely also a reference to horseshoe crab blood (don't worry, they are alive, they aren't killed for this)

The blood of a horseshoe crab contains cells known as amebocytes.[63] These play a similar role to the white blood cells of vertebrates in defending the organism against pathogens.[64] Amebocytes from the blood of Limulus polyphemus are used to make Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), which is used for the detection of bacterial endotoxins in medical applications.[64] There is a high demand for blood, the harvest of which involves collecting the animals, bleeding them, and then releasing them back into the sea.[65] Most of the animals survive the process; mortality is correlated with both the amount of blood extracted from an individual animal and the stress experienced during handling and transportation.[65]

Horseshoe crab - Wikipedia

In its natural state, lifeblood manifests as plant-like blue vines with bright leaves, grass and flowers(?) resembling butterflies

In Hallownest's Abyss, within a great lifeblood cave that is seamlessly connected to both dream and waking, exists a massive creature that may or may not be connected to and may or may not have command over all of lifeblood

As I've pointed out before, this creature seems to be made entirely out of lifeblood, with a shell made out of hardened vines and several plasmid eyes

Where it flourishes, it often forms a fruiting body known as a "cocoon", also described by Zylotol as a "bud" that "ripens", further emphasizing the bug-plant nature of lifeblood

These buds appear as a shell holding a sack filled with lifeblood and seeds, very reminiscent of pale oil glands, and shellwood growths to an extend

Many of you said I "predicted the conjoined heart" in this work of mine, but in reality I just based it off of the lifeblood heart and core charms

Btw, "saviavida", the ingame spanish translation of lifeblood, means "lifesap" as in plant sap + life

Similarly, Zylotol refers to the liquid lifeblood within young buds as "nectar"; nectar here could be referring to the drink of gods, ambrosia, but in this context I think it refers to plant nectar as well

Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, which in turn provide herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and bats. Nectar is an economically important substance as it is the sugar source for honey.

Nectar is derived from Greek νέκταρ, the fabled drink of eternal life.[3] Some derive the word from νε- or νη- "not" plus κτα- or κτεν- "kill", meaning "unkillable", thus "immortal". The common use of the word "nectar" to refer to the "sweet liquid in flowers", is first recorded in AD 1600.[3]

Going back at the Abyss lifeblood cave, its entrance is locked behind several small lifeblood buds that glow in response to the presence of lifeblood, specifically above 14 or 15 lifeblood masks, more than enough for a bug to already be plasmified

These buds are specifically called "fruits" in the wanderer's journal, just like Isma's tear, with which they share the same shape, that of a magatama or perhaps the cashew's true fruit (or a wonky tear, I guess)

Perhaps those fruits are the living core of the lifeblood heart charms

(Here's what I interpret that coat of lifeblood to look like)

I also wonder if those fruits lie dormant and darkened because of being so close to the void, like trying not to disturb it or trying to preserve energy in so stagnant and barren place

Now, I don't think I have enough space left on the post to talk about the elephant in the room, so I'll be writting that in a reblog

[mebis-silksong-corner]

Ok so, "lifeblood and infection are related" has been a theory since a loooong time, with visual similarities and opposing/complementing color schemes, both giving some superficial strength (at least at first), both having little "seed" critters, and both having some sort of tie to the dream realm

However, there are cracks in this idea:

Cocoons are essentially large eggsacks, while the infection is rot and bloating (it is even described as having a sickly sweet smell and taste, characteristic of rotting meat); you wouldn't compare the yolk of an egg to the mush of a corpse

lifeblood is clearly plant-like, so vines aren't out of the ordinary, but infection's are vein-like, of unclear origin or purpose; void also forms veins

lifeseeds are truly seeds of lifeblood, born from it and merely part of its lifecycle; the lightseeds are described like they are already existing unicelular organisms that have been bloated into a larger size because of infection: despite this bloating (which indicates they were once even smaller), lightseeds are still much smaller than lifeseeds, about half their size; their design is also different in the details (lifeseed has an actual head/thorax)

lifeblood does visibly have healthy properties, while the infection seems to be causing the bugs to lose their natural limits which would prevent them from tearing their body apart, and then rising them in undeath

Radiance and lifeblood aren't the only ones with presence in the dream realm, pretty much all Higher Beings seen in Hallownest do; besides, we don't know if the lifeblood dream influence is specific to the Lifeblood Beast or the substance itself; furthermore, lifeblood spreads physically while infection begins in dreams

Because of this, and the game not really doing anything with it, this connection was thought to be shallow, superficial, a red herring

Then silksong's Wormways happened

There is an echo also of other infections I have witnessed. I wonder at the meaning of it all... or if I am perhaps imagining similarities where there are none.

It would seem that Team Cherry is establishing that yes, there was a connection all along, but this is not without issues

At first, one would be inclined to believe that this isn't the substance's natural disposition, and rather a result of the alchemists reckless experimentation, but Hornet goes out of her way to point out in the hunter's journal that she has seen such lifeblood mutations before, in Hallownest, despite no such thing ever being shown in the first game

Closest thing is the Abyss lifeblood chamber and maybe Joni's Repose, a grotto blooming with lifeblood and swarmed by bright blue butterflies, but there aren't any mutants in sight, and although the way roots grow out of the dais imply they grew out of Joni's blood, they don't really seem to be growing out of Joni proper, and this could all easily be explained by Joni's Blessing rather than by an inherent property of lifeblood

There's also no lifeblood cocoons in either location, which is curious, unusual even

Perhaps all the cocoons there hatched already

I will admit though, Joni do be looking like if a lifeseed had a bugsona

Her dialogue id also interesting, lack of memory before laying to rest

The only stuff that even had the implication of lifeblood not being perfectly fine was Blue Child Joni being called a heretic, and the substance itself being called "a bit of a taboo"; these could easily be explained away by social customs related to religion, rather than a hard regulation of a biohazardous substance that could end entire ecosystems or perhaps even kingdoms if left unchecked

Every other source of info on the substance prior to silksong just treats it as a curious but tasty and invigorating natural snack

Seeing this, it's not weird to come to the conclusion that either Team Cherry saw all the fan-speculation on a possible connection and decided to make it canon with complete disregard for the larger implications or potential plotholes, or simply failed to convey the hidden dangers of the substance in the first game and overcorrected

A similar thing happens with the Grimm Troupe, which are made out to be sinister gravediggers representing the same kind of perpetual stagnation that the king and radiance sook out for themselves, but in practice all the text ever makes them out to be is scavengers cleaning up the last remaining bad memories of a dead place, something that sounds rather harmless, good even

In fact, this harmful aspect of lifeblood was so not-present in the first game that the majority of the speculation on its possible connection to infection was through the lens of them being opposites, lifeblood being potentially a cure or remedy even, a way to override the infection's degradation, a way to fix broken vessel without it becoming part of a hivemind, there were even jokes about anti-infection lifeblood vaccines; it was overall seen as benevolent

Y'know what, let's look at the ways in which they're different, and maybe deeper similarities, starting with the globules: Radiance's infection formed cysts in bugs because of bloating, tissue about to burst with gas and burning liquid, but the "cysts" in plasmified worms seem to be fruit/buds instead: they're blooming, like how slugs have their glands protuding out of their backs

Infection only ever made bugs swollen and rot, it never outright transformed or melted bugs like this (and of course, infection never offered this level of regeneration, only puppeteering the dead)

But, mmm

Fused to roofs, unable to move...mmm..

Let's see what Eva has to say

Curious that she reacts this way about these two in particular (btw really cool that this shield seems to have the sylphsong rune on it)

Come no closer! I sense the forbidden blood coursing through you, that which grows and reshapes the world in its own vulgar image. Whether it was imbibed willingly or not, none shall be allowed into this chamber while so afflicted. Begone!

Interesting, isn't it

(wait how does Eva know about lifeblood)

I have pointed this out time ago, before the release of silksong, but lifeblood reminds me of this dialogue by the White Lady

Do I seem prisoner here? If so, it's not by any choice but my own. These bindings about me, I've chosen to erect. There is some shame I feel from my own part in the deed and this method guarantees it cease. I still feel that urge you see. I always will. A voracious desire to spread seeds upon the land, to propagate myself, to breed.

Let's talk about this reshaping

In the first game, lifeblood simply did not interact with soul

Lifeseeds do not give soul, only lifeblood, and this is true of winged ones too

Under the effects of Joni's Blessing, the knight's vital fluids are transfigured (it still has some? somehow?? it isn't transfiguring its shade), which results in all masks turning into lifeblood, unable to be restored through focus

It does however interact with Hiveblood, which is odd enough on its own, being called nectar as well, having similar regenerating properties to Hornet's plasmified state, working even on an undead vessel no less (and there's the fact that the change of rule from vespa to the infection was "same business as usual" so to speak); even paired with hiveblood, focusing doesn't heal

In Silksong, this gets contextualized into plasmification, an overdose state that seems to override a body's natural ability to regenerate through soul (seen in the poor healing of normal binding, with witch and beast being unaffected) and replacing it instead with the plasmium's regeneration factor

This is an idea I already had before Silksong, but it now seems even clearer: lifeblood is an alternative to soul altogether, "false life" because it is "false soul", vital fluid that replaces vital fluid, a different type of lifeform, similar to how vessels are powered by void

There are no black threads in the infested parts of Wormways, and the plasmified worms are not haunted; they still give off soul, but that's probably because they still hold to some of it in their blood and flesh (and because TC didn't think of doing a druid's eye-like mechanic where hitting plasmified enemies slowly fill up a lifeblood mask instead of giving you soul, imagine if you could get plasmified this way)

In a similar but still different way, the orange miasma of the infection seems to actually be soul distorted by the strain of the infection, caused by the forcing and breaking of minds: pale ferns, which normally seem to be tinted white with soul, turn orange, the spells of the soul scholars contain a tint of infection within, the blood of the uninfected is white while the infected are orange

And here we find a big difference between infection and lifeblood: lifeblood does not come in gaseous form, there's no lifeblood miasma as far as I'm aware; in fact, there's quite a lot of emphasis on its liquidity

Bring the Pure Plasmium. It must be tested… ingested. Ready the Needle Phial to full charge… Strike deep the ripened buds. Return that precious liquid life to me… Assistant.

Now. Share the discovery… Take this Plasmium Phial… Plunge it deep. Feel its vigour soak your shell… If more is needed… If the Plasmium runs dry… return. Visit me again… That you may live, long… my loyal assistant.

These lands have taken the Plasmium well… the soil has drunk it deep, and the creatures bloom so beautifully… have you seen them?

There… more. Let it seep deep into your shell… do not begrudge the pain…

For you… dear assistant… drink deep my liquid life…

Through consumption of the blood… we shall at last attain enlightenment…

All this consumption talk is reminding me of Hunter's comment on lifeseeds

I wonder how my own innards taste… would it be a heinous thing to try and drink some?

While I'd like to believe this is just his regular freak, I can't help but wonder if this thought is the influence of lifeblood

This liquidity aspect, and the fact that plasmium was found deep within salty waters, reminds me of how coconut water has the right salinity to serve as an emergency intravenous transfusion

It also reminds me of how Zango's attack looks like he's crying (and let's remember the lifeblood fruits in the abyss resemble Isma's tears)

Going back at the infection's miasma, while the infection spreads through dreams, it seems that the noxious gases and liquids also serve as a secondary vector

There are several references to this both ingame and in the wanderer's journal, and while each individual instance can be waved off as mortals not knowing how the infection truly works, we must remember that this is a conscious writting decision, and the fact that it keeps repeating makes me think there is truth to it

this isn't actually following a pathogen pattern, mind you, infection doesn't actually spread physically like lifeblood, I think this is closer to the sing and shine of crystal peak luring the thought of Radiance into the mind of miners, but in smell and taste form

There are also references both ingame and the journal to this miasma pooling and forming liquid then flesh then simple lifeforms (infected balloons) (odly enough, these balloons have normal beast dreamnail dialogue...I hope this is as much of an oversight as the fact that they drop geo despite visibly forming from thin air); while it is unclear how much of this is accurate to what's actually happening (Hunter says similar things about the mushrooms, which is demonstrably not the case), I can't deny this is somewhat similar to the seeds forming from the liquid within the cocoons, and through the lens of the gas being twisted soul, I'm reminded of the archaic and outdated model of spontaneous generation; perhaps this could in a way be a window into the origins of life in this world? a beginning where only soul existed and it slowly pooled and condensed into living beings?

The way the shell of the plasmified bugs is made softer, like melting, makes it seem like the lifeblood is preparing them to act as soil and seedbed for further growth; sweet substance that eventually consumes its host, to then bloom from it, this is basically Pollip again

There is an echo also of other infections I have witnessed. I wonder at the meaning of it all... or if I am perhaps imagining similarities where there are none.

Going back at this line of dialogue, notice how it says infections, plural; while wormways is obviously paralleling Radiance's infection, Hornet is talking about more than one: Isma is described by the Herald tablet as "the source of acid blight", and fungified husks are described as being infected by mushrooms; it's unclear what acid blight means and she's unlikley to be the source of all acid in Hallownest (Unn's lake is the most likely candidate), but it's a curious thing to call her, and my point is that Hornet witnessed many plagues anyways

And that last bit, it would seem a wink and a nudge directed towards the fans doing all these connections on the first place

Y'know, lets concede a little bit and see how much is lifeblood described as a light before Silksong

Have you ever drunk that bright blue liquid, 'lifeblood'? It's a bit of a taboo, but it makes you feel much healthier doesn't it? This charm seeps lifeblood and will certainly improve your constitution!

Bright here could mean the tone of the blue, but this is a start

The bright liquid inside of these little fellows is delicious, and drinking it will make you feel stronger.

Hunter also calls it a bright liquid, this can only be referring to glow

That's about it in the game proper, on top of lifeblood growths visibly emiting faint light, with Joni's Repose being notably bright, specially after the dark caves outside of it

The Wanderer's Journal has more to say though:

this room glows with a warm, blue light

There's also the description of the Abyss lifeblood door earlier

So yeah, lifeblood gives off a warm light; this had me raising eyebrows for a while, but dismissed it as probably just some form of bioluminiscence

I no longer think there's such thing as "normal" bioluminiscence in this world

Time to check in silksong

Oh? Those who hesitate learn nothing, you know! The wondrous bright glow of Plasmium makes all things clear!

Oho? You linger here still? Perhaps, like myself, you have been bewitched by the Plasmium's beautiful glow?

This blood you have collected… sparkles… I see it! A glorious form… a glorious future, shimmering back at us…

Yep, going stronger, and that last one has interesting implications in tandem with other lines, but before analysing that let's look at another type of light present in his dialogue

Ah ha! That careless buffoon. No surprises then. That lump never shone with the talent of true discovery.

Oh? Those who hesitate learn nothing, you know! The wondrous bright glow of Plasmium makes all things clear!

Are you so enchanted by the Plasmium that you will not part with it? You are more like that dolt Zango than I first thought! Its enlightenings are beyond your meagre mind! Give me the phial, assistant, or the deeper secrets of this substance will never be revealed!

And in act 3

Assistant, ahhh… you grow more inquisitive… We both seek deeper insight…

There's a couple about deeper insight and uncovering secrets, but felt like only this one needed highlight

Do you fear the Plasmium, even now? Ahhh… Assistant… open your mind to the possibilities…

mm

You must use the Needle Phial and extract this precious nectar… only by scrutinising it… can we attain higher knowledge…

Once we have it… we can peer deeper… learn more… enlighten ourselves fully…

Quite the pattern here; this could just be lifeblood doing custom made false promises like Radiance (yet another thing that wasn't implied to happen in the first game), but I think there's more to this

This shell shall become what you need it to be… Plasmium can cure all.

No… No… Assistant… you are confused. A wonderful thing, we become. The Plasmium, our great research… We have progressed. The research must continue. Soon… I shall become a source.

The effect of your Plasmium on the beasts here is all too evident. Great change has been inflicted upon them.

The bugs below… who have imbibed the substance… and evolved… their bodies are full with Plasmified Blood…

What fear arrests you…? This must be done… or we will never learn the deeper truth… Never become what is needed…

Have faith, dear assistant… After all this I understand… the greatest knowledge comes only from faith… faith in Plasmium.This blood you have collected… sparkles… I see it! A glorious form… a glorious future, shimmering back at us…Through consumption of the blood… we shall at last attain enlightenment…

A friend of mine pointed out that the way plasmified bugs melt and mutate might be in reference to the liquidification that happens within a chrysalis as it metamorphoses

And metamorphosis is definetively a strong thematic in lifeblood since the first game, with butterflies and cocoons; this thematic simply got amplified here

Metamorphosis and cocoons in general have apparent meaning for death and rebirth in this world, but what meaning could it be having here? and why is lifeblood being brought under this destructive light?

Then I read this line, and it strook me

The White Wyrm, the Pale King, even though it sook out perpetuity in the form of an eternal Kingdom, he also represents transformation, evolution, enlightenment; this is why the Moth Tribe preferred him over Radiance: to an extent, he used to represent the future, literally having the ability to foresee it

Warily shall we accept the will of the Wyrm. Its prescience shields us. Fate and Future we shall entwine.

The Wyrm becomes beacon, minds expanded, to yield, to devote.

This ashen place is grave of Wyrm. Once told, it came to die. But what is death for that ancient being? More transformation methinks.

However, in his desire to maintain perpetuity, and despite his best efforts, he failed to fully embody change, he failed to defeat Radiance and her desire to return to primal past, he could not find further evolution to overcome time itself, as stagnation leads to decay

...For diversity, a Seal... ...A world forever unchanging... ...the Seals, must break... ...Forever... ...Better, an end...

Only when the knight achieves metamorphosis beyond even him, to embody the end of things, does it gain strength enough to defeat Radiance and allow the future to come again, and does so as it casts away its old shell

Tiny thing... Oh hmm... The mark of Wyrm you bear. Is it change you seek? Or to save this ruin? That choice is yours. Always the smallest creatures that attempts the largest things.

Ohhhmmmm… Tiny thing… It evolves beyond that Wyrm. Such union in a single being. A strength before unseen. Would it too challenge nature? It could perhaps defeat it.

This is also why the final area is the Black Egg: it cracks and opens as change is about to come, as Radiance is close to being "reborn", released of her chains; it seals again as the stasis is maintained and the future fails to be born; and finally, it breaks fully when the Lord of Shades properly hatches and the old era dies (technically the Lord of Shades is born as soon as the voidheart is revealed, but we're talking thematically here so shhh)

So, in the context of Hollow Knight, where the antagonistic force represents regression in a stagnant world, the best outcome is that in which the knight embodies change, metamorphosis, and as such, lifeblood's role is little more than a little help, a welcome contrast to the pestilence of this rotting world

But in Silksong? well, I'm still not sure about Grand Mother Silk herself, but one of the "bad endings", Weaver Queen, has Hornet evolve, transform into something new, grander, disregarding the state of the world and its inhabitants

The plasmification of Wormways is then another example of this reckles pursue of the future, of evolution

Both echo aspects of the Pale King taken to their absolute extreme, "what if PK simply didn't give up? what if he just kept evolving, if he was even capable of it? what if he forced his union further into his people, forced further evolution, with disregard for their free will?"

Enthralled silk also parallels the King's efforts in a way, but in the same way Weaver Queen parallels the knight's apotheosis, this "ending" that marks the beginning of Act 3 also represents what the knight brought alongside its transformation: the greatest form of change, death

Note that Radiance's infection, Pale King's beacon, and the Lord of Shades' voidheart, all are called a form of union, same for the haunting, and while not so outwardly described as such, mosskin talking about "Unn's dream" and "sharing our dream" also indicates they shared an union; even the mushroom, spawn of the Herald, talk of their union through shared mind

Every Higher Being has their own kind of union, Godseekers even seemed to be in the search for a Higher Being specifically because of this, so it's not outrageous that lifeblood has its own as well

For quiet retreat did I climb up here, away from spitting creatures. Ormmph... Yes. High up. Away from simple minds, lost to light. Theirs is a different kind of unity. Rejection of the Wyrm's attempt at order. I resist the light's allure. Union it may offer, but also a mind bereft of thought... To instinct alone a bug is reduced...Hrrm...

At the end of his journey in Pharloom, Mr Mushroom has this to say:

Hornet: As one who has seen so much, tell me simply, do you believe my efforts in vain? Me? Certainly you can ask, but I cannot provide good answer. I've no mind for outcomes. Always my vision is too clouded by the present. Only the journey... the now. For myself, that is the purpose, and as far as my sight can see. If any other could come to understand that state, Wyrm child, I suspect it may be you...Though maybe not yet, not this present, hmmm? Maybe in a future far, when your actions might hail me so again? Alas, from these quaking caves it is past time I made my swift exit. Ours each may be long and winding roads, but I hope you too come to know the many joys upon the path...

It is balance, what Hornet must strike

Not perpetuity in stagnation, not being stuck on the past

Not reckless pursue of the future, of change at all costs

Future must be sought after, and memory must be held in full, but the present is where you live, and some things are worth preserving and fighting for

You dont have to change that which you like of you, you dont have to preserve that which binds you either, you don't have to obligue with expectations of those before you if they weight you down

Don't get lost in either of these three axis basically

TLDR:

Infection represents stagnation leading to decay, regresssion of life

Lifeblood represents the liquidification of a being within a cocoon in preparation for metamorphosis, growth and evolution and new life, to its absolute extreme

[kendrixtermina]

don't agree with every detail but great ponderings & lampshading of the visual juxtapositions.

IMHO I don't think they retconned anything they were clearly trying to tell/imply some kind of breadcrumbs story in the 1st game and merely added new data points.

(the acid thing is another one of these that ppl never quite deciphred anD i don't think I have, either)

My takeaway was mostly that Lifeblood is a similar "type" of higher being as the Radiance & doing a similar thing (trying to manifest physically despite not being corporeal - or its corporeal form being stuck in abyss)

Good catch here on your part that i didn't notice before is how the glow of lifeblood is described as warm (like the Radance - though it goes further with her, shes burning hot cause shes the sun)

The Pale Beings for example & the magical materials related to them (like the ore) are said to exude a "cold" light, by contrast.

If you go by the theory that the burning bugs are worshipping the Nightmare King, the wisps could be his counterpart to lifeseeds or lightseeds. (with different properties more thematically appropriate to his gimmick.)

[kendrixtermina]

[Analysis] What Silksong tells us about the Larger Setting

act 3 spoilers

So in the first game we only really saw one place in the larger world, and its so remote and isolated that the ppl there thought they are the only big civilization, so one of the main things we got from Silksong is a general idea of what the larger setting is like, especially since much of what we're told is relayed by unreliable narrators.

At some point they're going to have to name the continent/planet/world or whatever.

Of course with the 1st game they didn't know there was going to be another, but at this point they're setting up a larger myth arc with recurring elements like the Everbloom, the abyss civilization, lifeblood, the "steel assasins" all of which might be explored further in future games. etc.

What we can clearly say is that Hallownest is not the only large civilization - rather, its simply at the ass of the world. It's probably the only civilization in a large radius, but there are tons of them alluded to in all the Weaver cages in the cradle.

The "city of Steel" sounds like where Steel Soul Jinn and the steel assasins might me from.

I don't think it was deception or arrogance, just ignorance - Hallownest is just at the ass of the world. The memory wipe plains might be the edge of the world in the same way that Abyss is its bottom. And the King came from the memory wipe plains as a Wyrm.

My HC is that he has the same-ish backstory as the actual Demiurge myth hes vaguely based on in that he has no clue where he came from & thus assumed he was the first & only thing ever just cause it would be neat & add some nice irony (He built his Kingdom to shelter ppl but his actions lead to Ghost clawing their way through the memory wipe plains as a child, unwittingly repeating history)

I'd like to add that he wasn't too invested in maintaining such a fiction, however, given that he had an outsider like Ze'Mer in a high position, he was more accepting of outsiders than the mantisses.

But either way there is actually a lot of little pockets of civilization. In the Cradle you can see evidence that the citadel captured surviving weavers from tons of different places - in one case someone was napped for being one 8th(!) weaver.

However they DO seem to be super-duper scattered, and the surface is mostly a wasteland with tiny populations - I would assume that characters such as Zote, Cornifer, Cloth and Tiso come from places a lot like Dirtmouth or the the small surface village atop Pharloom.

For all the capitalism jokes none of the societies we see are actually capitalistic in the sense of being organized around private companies.

Hallownest itself is feudalist (the upper class are aristocrats, oaths, concepts of honor etc) and mercantilist (the rulers decide trade - the Silk trade happened not because some enterprising weaver came & sold it, but because Herrah struck a deal with the Pale King) - similar to real life medieval countries.

The semi-independent territories around Hallownest seem to be organized as tribal societies, the Mantises and Deepnest. They have titles like "Queen" and "lords" (probably to sound equal to their mighty neighbors) but they function more like chieftains.

Some, like he Hive & the Mushrooms are too "phantastic" to have real life equivalents - they're sentient eusocial insects and a Hive Mind, respectively.

Pharloom is very centralized & functions as one single country with an unified culture, architecture style & leadership. It has multiple large cities whereas in Hallownest there is only really the capital and everything else is a village. (Also, Pharloom's centralization was very much not a peaceful process, as we find a lot of evidence that it once had a lot of unique quirky biomes, groups of people, smaller sub-cultures etc. that Grand Mother and her hench-bugs made desolate ruins of.)

Organization wise, it's a command economy, like most Bronze Age societies - think Ancient Egypt or Summeria etc. . Everything is decided from up to to the smallest detail by a priest caste up top that tells the workers exactly what to do & what to deliver, & it's all justified by religious authority.

but whatever its organization form, the place sucks.

Hallownest was not without its flaws (there was clearly some inequality - guady nobles, disadvantages ppl like the maggots, border tensions, concerns of tech making jobs obsolete) etc. but for the most part is was a prosperous society with many advancements & amenities, considered a "land of wonders" - although this is probably in part owed to its remote location at the edge of nowhere, surrounded by wastelands or small villages. Its inhabitants thought it the fanciest civilization ever but it was just the fanciest civilization in that area. Very much a "big fish in a small pond" situation.

It came & went like a short blip compared to Pharloom.

Pharloom, however, is a hellhole. The upper half of the map is just one war crime scene after another. You could say that Hallownest is a failed/Fallen/imperfect Utopia while Pharloom is a very sucessful dystopia. It's hell because the system is working exactly as intended.

The history of Pharloom can be divided in 3 distinct eras: Before Grand Mother (she defeated previous rulers, erased their societies & destroyed the environments - the snails have been there since that era), the Weaver Era (from which the old weavenests come and which attained a lot of futuristic tech - the weavenests seem an entirely separate set of cities/settlements before the current ones), and then the era after the Weavers' rebellion, and then modern pharloom as we see it.

It seems that during the Weaver's era the non-weavers would have worshipped them, judging by the effigy relics, the reverence of the citadel bugs & First Sinner's assertion that Granny called them "holy", but after their falling out (that one rune harp says the weavers were fleeing "servitude", so the falling out seems down to Granny Silk's controlling tendencies - First Sinner maybe lead the rebellion?) - in any case she went all Noah's flood on that era, and in modern Pharloom, weavers rather seem to be rememberd/seen as scary monsters. ("scary stories for children", Shakra says.)

The citadel seems to already have existed in the first era of Granny Silk's rule - they're still "programmed" to serve weavers, and the citadel is stashed with trophies & zoo exhibits of the fallen kingdoms.

Let's now consider how the timelines for both Kingdoms might line up.

Pharloom is definitely older than Hallownest, since they built downwards to find the weavers already there, having fled & joined with Deepnests's previous lord (his subjects were maybe the shapeshifters? Nosk & those "distant villagers" guarding Herrah's entrance, maybe mask maker, left over from the ancent civ days? Unsure)

Maybe the era of the weavenests would then be roughly concurrent with the Radiance's reign. In any case there used to be this whole second set of settlements that are now empty, save for poor poor Eva.

The survivors who fled came from the weavenests closest to the bottom ("she overlooked down here") - Herrah & co may have come from the moss grotto one or the abyss one.

In any case, what's really interesting is that underneath Pharloom, you find the remains of the same ancient void-worshipping civilization that you find in Hallownest. The ones who used Arcane Eggs.

Meaning that these people once had a giant sprawling empire next to which Pharloom must've looked as puny as Hallownest looks next to Pharloom.

Sort of in keeping with the general motif they have that there was always something bigger, always something older etc. now matter how grand something might seem.

The question of what killed it comes up.

When we thought it was only Hallownest, most assumed that maybe the Radiance got them, since they have beef ("ANCIENT ENEMY"), but offing this whole sprawling empire seems above even her capabilities. Maybe just the Hallownest-specific portion of it?

The empire as a whole though... "destroyed themselves through their hubris" is always a fun candidate. In any case it seems like something to build on in further installments to the series. It might be interesting to get a mortal protagonist next just since we've had a god and a demigod already.

Finally, on the greatest, most "cosmic" scale, we get some first hints at a creation myth for the setting:

When the White Lady pulls out the Delicate Flower/Everbloom ("In Case of Godess Disposal Mishap, Break Glass", lol), she calls it "The First Light".

We know that:

a) The flowers somehow ward off/repell the void

b) They're said to give off a "faint pale light" (similar to how stuff vaguely related to the Pale Beings tend to be described)

One might imagine that in the beginning there was only the void, & then somehow these flowers arose & first made it possible for anything outside the void to exist by parting its sea and that's why they're "the first light" & then the 'Primal Source' gods or at least the first batch of them somehow arose from that & sparked the existence of everything else.

Higher Beings we see can be roughly split in 3 categories - sort of nature-associated ones (Unn, Nyleth, etc.), Essence Based (Grimm & The Radiance - these don't seem to have physical bodies by default / exist in the dream realm. The spooky red thing/Father of Flame thing in the Wisp thicket also seems vaguely related/ essence adjacent, looks rather similar to nightmare realm stuff), and then the Pale Beings - the former being more chaos aligned & the later more order-aligned. (Not necessarily nice order; It's suggested by Hornet that the case of Grand Mother Silk just showing up & subjugating shit is not unusual. Although in context the 'Destruction or Devotion' comment seems a bit of self-hate/frustration tinged where the Big Mishap brought up some insecurities about sharing her father's qualities, toward the end of the flashback scene it doesn't seem like she really sees, say, The White Lady (or even her father, really) as as some intrinsically irredeemable monster. Grand Mother absolutely is a monster with countless attrocities under her belt, even she's not, like, without feelings. Not to mention that plenty of ordinary mortals have pulled similar tyranny without a need for any intrinsic evilness. She's just more easily get away with it due to her godlike power & the fact that she won't just be removed by old age. (also true of typical tyrants, might just have money or connections to let them get away with it) The previous protagonist hasn't shown much of an intrinsic drive to subjugate either - although they're of course a less typical example because void, though that's generally described as an even scarier force. )

There also seem to be other similar powerful beings but with the white variety being extra powerful. (eg there's other Roots, and it's mentioned that there were other Wyrms though we haven't directly seen any yet & they're said to be largely extinct.)

We only have few data points for each so this is extrapolation, but it seems the "nature based ones" usually have regular names, the essence based once use "concept names" ("The Radiance", "The Nightmare Heart") and the Pale Beings don't really use names but descriptive titles. (when you think about, 'The Pure Vessel' might actually be seen as a fairly typical Pale Being name. Had the King not been forced to dip them in the forbidden soy sauce, they'd probably just have been called something like 'White Knight' or 'Pale Prince', or something what they'd have been the god of - which probably wouldn't have been 'Silence' or 'Nothingness' without their connection to the void.)

The Pale beings seem to be connected to "primal sources" of things, like Grand Mother is said to be the primal source of silk. (Maybe the Pale King would be the Primal Source of intellect? Or he was, back in his Wyrm form - maybe he would've been a lot more powerful then, he was supposedly near death when he transformed into his smaller form.)

It's also possible that "There was a flower & then we all sprung from it & created everything else" is just the story that the Pale Beings themselves tell and you'd get something different if you asked, say, Grimm about the beginning of the world.

Even so, one definitely gets the sense that a larger Myth Arc is being set up & that more installments in the series might follow.

We really need to call the larger setting something. "Scattered Lands", maybe, like in that line from the Nightmare King? Because it seems to be mostly insular enclaves surrounded by wastelands on the surface.

ADDITION:

I just remembered that the lowest weavenest contains a "depiction of void given form" so it's possible that the height of weaver civilization overlapped with the shadow worshippers, which out them waaay further in the past. Alternatively, the weavers may have excavated the shadow worshippers & turned to some shadow worship of their own.

It's also possible that Weavenest Absolem wasn't a formal part of the weaver civilization but rather a splinter group that escaped underground to run away from Grand Mother.

In any case, Weavers seem to generally be considered "extinct precursors" outside of Hallownest (Pharloom considered Hornet to be "last of that line", but last time we knew there was at least Midwife & that one un-infected Weaver Ghost runs into.

Midwife's dialogue suggests that the population's been on a tailspin (due to infection taking the brood before they can hatch, so that "few have required her services" - indeed a lot of the enemies you fight in Deepnest are described in the hunters journal as infected weaver children - I think the creepyness/sadness of that is generally underappreciated) ) - but it doesn't sound like there's no one at all left, either, more like there was some remnant of ppl still trying to breed relatively recently.

We know that when the infection first returned, a group of weavers from deepnest fled back to Pharloom - we can safely assume they all died horribly, unless some ultimately went elsewhere than Pharloom. I'm surprised there wasn't one of them among the cages in the cradle or some relic referring to the group of returnees, although maybe I missed it?

We also see a lot of dead weavers laying around with last thoughts/ dreamnail dialogues like "For Herrah!" or "For the Princess!" so I wonder if some civil war preceded the exodus or how exactly the settlement collapsed.

The weaversong charm suggests more of a parting on good terms so most likely they just died fighting off their infected brethren (which at least suggests they liked Herrah & Hornet so much they didn't regret choosing to stay. High approval rating there. Herrah just seems to have been pure compacted awesomesauce all around. - though well. MIdwife says her trade "cost the nest dearly" (probably in the sense that he absence of her leadership during the plague's return was direly felt) But it's not really on her that the plan failed. That's on the Pale King being wrong about the way the void worked.

That said, interestingly much of the new shadow worshipper lore we find in Pharloom's Abyss seems to suggest that it would work the way he thought it would. "CLEANSE US VOID", "NO MIND, NO SELF" etc. That might just be what they believed. The ppl who get whacked with it in act 3 don't seem all that mindwiped, but then again, thats not not the 'pure' void but the effect of it mixed with Grand Mother's mind control thread. If he found similar artifacts & texts in hallownest, he might have got his mistaken belief from there. )

Assuming there ARE some survivors, team "remain/ stay & fight" really won out in the long run.

[bugslaststraw]

I sure hope everyone who doesn't want potential Silksong spoilers has the right tags blocked because here is my guesses and theories and so on and so forth on who the weavers are! Like, more specifically who's who, kinda thing. Yeah. Here you go;

[fiftybees]

baby hornet AND baby bell beast

[ladyaldhelm]

HOW TO TURN OFF GOOGLE AI in GMAIL:

Open Gmail in your browser

Click on the Gear Icon ⚙️ in the upper right

In the General Tab, scroll down to "Smart Features" and UNCHECK THE BOX. It is about halfway down.

Then, right below that is Google Workspace smart features. Click on the "Manage Workspace Smart Features" and make sure both toggles are OFF

[gum088]

when did you start being yourself?

[refinedpet]

Reblog if you love Pikmin and hate the USA

[marineflamez]

new animation, this time deltarune!! i love this game so dearly, so this was super fun to make! :]

[the-one-and-only-vic-lociraptor]

PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK

[meltesh28]

Very endeared by how Noelle shares food items with Kris... even if this particular one hasn't happened yet in game

[somnus-sage]

just realised i never actually posted the magnus archives mug i painted on here (the mugnus archives?), so here she is!!! 👁️☁️🌀📼

thank you to @pestopasta626 for reminding me about it because i straight up forgot skdjskjdks

(btw i very sadly can’t sell these since it’s a hand painted piece so it took a long ass time to do :”)) i’ve briefly looked into producing some of these but im not sure how the legality of it works since tma belongs to rusty quill ofc)

[crtghost-deactivated20251116]

the poor children!

[ciderjacks]

Stranger

(Sorry for awkward cropping LOL)

[runicmagitek]

Anyhow I was today years old when I found out what a Labubu actually is and I never related with Tenna so hard

[ratxbones]