I Like Fluffy Bugs Lmao

Hello!!! I’m Valiah! (Main blog: @valiah-posts) and this is my Hollow knight blog!!! I basically just discovered I can put the hk things here instead of flooding my main blog, so here it is! I’m still developing some ocs, I’m not ready to show them yet, but I will… in some future.

[joe1707]

[strugglescug]

the evil mirror that turns you gay(er)

(caption shamelessly stolen from @shiroselia who hasn't played silksong but still summed it up beautifully)

[haemosexuality]

hornet thinks that by refusing ascension and living with mortal bugs she is refusing the divinity her father represented but she doesn't realize that he too shed his larger form to be closer to the ground

[its-a-me-kaio]

She just has to receive 10 more of these before she makes the connection

[flecks-of-stardust]

Would you like a Zote plush

Yes, because I like Zote and would cherish him

Yes, so I can torment him/dunk him in milk/throw him against the wall/etc

No, because I don't like Zote (or similar reasoning)

I don't care/see results

Voting ended onJun 12

asking for... research purposes

[valiah-the-moth]

@glacias-hollow-knight-blog

[hitboxesonstockimages]

[hitboxesonstockimages]

Everyone keep doing this please

[hitboxesonstockimages]

Take a quick moment to scroll through the reblogs. Every version of his lyrics is both delightful and correct.

[hitboxesonstockimages]

Post your favorite tags on this I think these are mine

[prokopetz]

I enjoy how most sidequests in Silksong consist of Hornet being genuinely helpful while insisting she's doing it for self-interested reasons, and then the whole Plasmium/Lifeblood thing is just "okay, this guy is 100% going to die if I keep enabling him, but let's see where he's going with this."

[prokopetz]

If Hornet has one vaguely consistent moral principle, it's the staunch belief in every bug's right of self-determination, and that includes the right to blow yourself the fuck up.

[runerage]

honestly i used to be lightly critical of herrah. like i never thought she was terrible or anything, indeed she was always like. one of my favorite side characters which is part of why i wanted to think about the implications of her actions

and though i was always generally in the camp of "she loved hornet and tried to be a good mother while she could," i guess i was just thinking like. well it's still not good to have a child for a specific purpose, really. this fit into the overall themes of the game of course: herrah chose to have hornet for a purpose which would become impossible and, though herrah truly cared for hornet, hornet was ultimately still the one who had to deal with the consequences of that.

at the time, i thought that purpose was just to be heir of deepnest. but we now have some idea of what the full scope of the weavers' plan for her likely was. and we know herrah outright told hornet that she did not need to follow that plan!

while i still think herrah had the weavers' purpose in mind in having hornet, as their queen, she was also able to pass along her own true wishes to her daughter. and we get a real sense of the impact that has on hornet.

honestly i still think it's interesting to consider those questions of like. motherhood/parenthood and purpose and what mothers leave to their daughters, good and bad. i think the game is interested in that. herrah was a good mother in what she expressed and prepared actively for hornet (mentorship with vespa), but that also doesn't erase. well. the circumstance's of hornet's birth, which she could not be fully shielded from in spite of herrah's (or anyone's) best efforts.

i think the most relevant conclusion here comes back to hornet, though (it always comes back to hornet i personally am incapable of doing otherwise). herrah is gone, and hornet has what was left to her. so it's about how hornet processes this legacy and her grief and the love she received.

[btpolistes]

Looking back, you know what should’ve tipped me off to the Caretaker being a Snail Shaman? He talks about his cousin and his uncle. 

Family ties are incredibly important in Hollow Knight, but it’s almost always siblings or parent and child. Those connections are absolutely everywhere, from the main characters to minor NPCs, and both games explore them on an emotional and thematic level. But no one mentions the siblings of their parents, save the snails.

Perhaps most bugs don’t keep up with their extended family, or simply don't need unique terms for them. The broad culture of bugs in Pharloom and Hallownest seems to recognize parenthood and siblings, but doesn’t give much weight to family beyond that.

But not the snails! The snails are the only characters in all of Hollow Knight and Silksong to use terms like aunt, uncle, and cousin. And they value these connections; the Caretaker and Chapel Maid kept in touch with their uncle and cousin, while the Snail Shamans of Hallownest remained aware of each other even as the kingdom grew into a deadly ruin.

It seems to indicate a culture with a different understanding of family, one which is broad and systematized. They not only remain in touch with their parents’ siblings, but they have specific terms for those connections and use them regularly. And it fits well with their family’s interest in SOUL. Their power is carefully cultivated across generations, and places like the Ancestral Mound and Chapel of the Shaman reflect the importance of ancestors and the knowledge they pass on. It makes sense that their concept of family would center around defined relations and lines of descent, something close-knit and organized

[cynthiaandsamus]

(Someone brought up why Hornet's name is Hornet when she wasn't raised by Vespa until she was old enough to fight and Hera probably wouldn't name her Hornet and I'm just realizing to the best of my knowledge, Hera always calls Hornet 'child' and doesn't address her by name so I'm just picturing Hornet not having a name until she goes to train with Vespa and Vespa's just like "Okay spider kid, what's your name?" and Hornet's like "Name? They always just call me Child or You." and Vespa's just like "Okay that's not gonna fucking work for me, your name is Hornet.")

[theinfiknight]

Dyou think Hornet ever returned to the Hive after the infection and was immediately met with her big fluffy childhood friends trying to kill her. Do you think she tried to make it to Vespa's chamber but was confronted with the infected Hive Knight. And maybe she just. Walked away. Instead of having to kill a companion of her youth. Left them there to buzz mindlessly forever in their burning dreams instead of having to color her needle with the blood of the ones that gifted it to her.

How often do you think she loitered by Herrah's plinth. Surrounded by mindless husks of her family. Watching them kill and rage indiscriminately when once they used to be brilliant and intelligent craftswomen. Dyou think she spoke to her mother's body, not knowing if her words reached her at all, but speaking anyway because who else was there to listen. Do you think she remembered enough of the before to feel the loss of the after. Dyou think she knows that midwife still waits for her, down there in the darkness.

Do you think she knows the White Lady can't see anymore. That she decays, alone, in her tiny little prison barely bigger than herself. That her existence is nothing but the torture of denial. Do you think she ever searched for the last person she thought of as a mother, fought her way through the hordes of mindless mantises and came upon Dryya's corpse outside the chamber. A memory of the old days chanced upon after all this time, and it's just another ruin when she finally found it. And maybe she just stared long and hard at the dead body of a warrior as fierce as herself, and walked away from that chamber without going in. Without caring to look upon a dead mother a third time.

Idk. Just. The angst of having been raised with care and dedication and attention and maybe even affection. And then watching the people that raised you lose their minds slowly, or be lost forever. One by one by one. People who were smarter and more skilled than you and they're less and less themselves until one day they aren't in there anymore and it's just an animal trying to kill you.

Until one day it's just you. It's just you and it's always been just you and there isn't any end in sight and it will always be just you because nothing changes in this frozen place. And you don't leave. You stay. Because they were all here. It's a ruin now. Filled with nothing but living corpses. But they were all here. No one remains now. No one you cared about back then.

But they were here once. This hell was a home once.

So you stay. Sentinel of rubble. Protector of nothing. And all you have are memories and a vigil that never ends

[the-final-sif]

I do think the funniest Hornet character trait that silksong kept consistent from Hollow Knight is that Hornet is really really bad at remembering to introduce herself to new people. She never actually tells the Knight her name in the game. She just forgot.

In keeping with this theme, Hornet completely forgets to introduce herself to a number of people even after growing close to them. This includes, Shakra (who has to learn Hornet's name from OTHER PEOPLE), Nuu, Pinstress, Sherma, Seamstress, the caretaker, Second Sentinel, Lace (in fairness, Lace also never tells Hornet her name), Plinney, Forge Daughter, Twelfth Architect, and both Garmond and Zaza!! Like 90% of the characters Hornet has a substantial relationship with either do not know her name, or in Shakra's case literally only know it because they learned it from someone else.

The Caretaker helps Hornet kill a god. She still did not remember to share her name with him. Nuu is running around after Hornet looking at bodies the entire game, and calling her Miss Grown Up. Hornet openly declares Second Sentinel her friend, to them, despite having not even remembered to introduce herself on their first meeting.

Literally every instance I can find of Hornet telling someone her name, is when she's specifically prompted to do so. Seth tells his name on their first meeting and Hornet's like "oh neat" and then Does Not Introduce Herself until their second meeting when Seth is like "uh by the way what's your name?".

Hornet tells Kratt "I am Hornet, sir. Address me by that name or not at all." Which is such a funny line and so specifically targeted at him because Hornet has 20+ different nicknames and she responds to literally all of them without any problem. Shakra starts calling her "Child Wielding Needle" and for literally the entire game Hornet's like "yeah I'll answer to that".

HORNET LITERALLY TELLS STYX "Do not call me mistress" AND THEN DOES NOT TELL HIM HER NAME. IT'S REALLY REALLY FUNNY OF HER. STYX NEVER LEARNS HER NAME EITHER. My girl is so bad at introductions, post-game she is gonna have to reintroduce herself like 20 times, and I hope Lace is there to make fun of her each and every time.

[the-final-sif]

nicknames hornet will not tolerate: any nickname from a man with romantic or sexual connotations

Nicknames hornet will tolerate: literally anything else anyone calls her

[the-final-sif]

#to be fair the knight doesn't have a name either so maybe it's a family thing from the Pale King#but the kight was not supposed to be a person. giving it a name would damage it's ability to be hollow#Hornet has no excuse via @curoopeez

Fun fact! The Knight in Hollow Knight, despite not having a name and being unable to speak, has way less nicknames than Hornet does.

A completely list of their nicknames from the wiki + my own additions, counting everything you could count as a nickname:

Empty one (Radiance)

Nailmaster (Sly)

Ghost/Little Ghost (Hornet).

Pale thing/Pale one (Tiso)

Lord of Shades (Shade Beast)

Little one (Last Stag)

Little shadow (Dreamers, Snail Shaman)

Little squib (The Hunter)

Tiny thing (Bardoon)

Traveller (several)

Wanderer (several)

Warrior (Little Fool)

Wielder (Seer)

Compared to Hornet's list:

Assistant (Zylotol)

Bug not flea (Vog)

Bug-red (Twelfth Architect)

Child Wielding Needle/Hornet Wielding Needle (Shakra)

Daughter of a Distant Land (Weavers)

Friend spider (Zaza)

Hunter (Chapel Maiden [who does know Hornet's name but still calls her hunter instead of it])

Hunter in Red (Second Sentinel)

Half-spawn of a distant land (First Sinner)

Gendered Child (white lady, Midwife)

Miss grown-up (Nuu)

Miss traveller (Pavo)

Traveller (Plinney)

Miss saving (Tipp)

Miss courier (Pipp)

Needle Bug (Pinstress)

Nimble bug (Sprintmaster swift)

Red Maiden (Sherma)

Red cloak (Grey root)

Old One (Mask Maker, Snail Shamans)

Pointy bug (Forge Daughter)

Pale beast (Skarrsinger Karmelita)

Pale It (Steel Seer Zi)

Specimen (Yarnaby)

Stray one (Seamstress)

Spider/Little Spider (Lace)

Spider/Spider's child (White Lady)

Stranger (Fleamaster Mooshka, which he calls hornet for ages before finally directly asking her name, she does not mention it prior to him asking)

Sister (Garmond, Pavo)

Warrior (Green Prince)

Weaver-spawn (Vaultkeeper Cardinius)

Wyrm child (Mister Mushroom).

I'm fairly sure I missed some too. Now, Hornet does talk to more people, but she also both has a name, and can speak, so her only excuse is she's really bad at introducing herself.

[minart-was-taken]

Robo cute

[songue85]

[camilioup]

All done on Procreate cuz I like suffering

[spectroacha]

so i found out that pinstress sings her boss theme, strive, when you play the needolin around her, and (sound on!)

[i-moved-accounts-sorryyyyyyyy]

I loveeeeee Herrah I looooove that she dgaf about the weavers’s future after she gets sealed forever I loooooooove that she wanted Hornet to be born not because she wanted her to become queen in her place but because she just wanted a daughter I looooveeeeee that she gave up so much for a child she could never even see grow up

[ganymedesclock]

There's something simultaneously surprisingly heartwarming and sad about how Hornet, through the Hunter's Journal, suggests she actually had a pretty happy childhood- playing games, loving fluffy things, etc. and how this ties in with how honestly pretty chill and sociable she is throughout Silksong.

The sad part comes in when you look at her entry on entities like the Skarr hunters. No wonder she was so deeply cynical in the first game- she had enough of a taste of 'normal life' to watch it decay around her. By the time we see her accosting Quirrel in the comic or confronting Ghost, she's spent so much time watching people turn out to be lost causes that she's happy to be proven wrong... but doesn't count on it.

[ratatosk777]

you know, I like giving pavo heart attacks