Some people turn sad awfully young. No special reason, it seems, but they seem almost to be born that way. They bruise easier, tire faster, cry quicker, remember longer and, as I say, get sadder younger than anyone else in the world. I know, for I'm one of them.
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Script for Ch10 has been drafted. Time to start editing...
In the meanwhile, anybody got recommendations for other HK comics? I'm mostly aware of what's on this site, but even there haven't been watching closely for anything new.
The apocalypse has come and gone, and against all odds, Pharloom remains standing. The time has come for Hornet to return to Hallownest, accompanied by friends and allies: Shakra hopes to explore the mythical land beyond the wastes, and properly lay to rest a member of her own tribe; Lace fears unraveling without the aid of a Weaver, while contending with the immensity of a future free of her mother’s threads; and the Green Prince lives only only to spite the Citadel, passively seeking a more honorable end than might be found in the rubble of his homeland.
Meanwhile, Hornet returns from Pharloom with magic and knowledge that might aid in the slow recovery of Hallownest and Deepnest–and perhaps offer the chance to call home the sibling she once thought lost to her forever.
Chapter 9: Trust Treads the Line Between Wisdom and Folly
[<<Prev] [Chapter 9] [Next>>]
We're just gonna... detour away from whatever conversation the Green Prince is having with the Mantis Lord. Don't worry, it's a secret tool that'll help us later. Instead, we get a conversation between Hornet and Vise about the distance between gods and mortals.
My beta readers were MVPs this chapter (and every chapter). I just wholesale cribbed how @sandflakedraws portrays playing a harp in their webcomic, The Touch of Sunlight. And if you're wondering what's going on with Hollow's cloak in the flashback sequences, snowleopardferret made a diagram over on Bluesky about proper vessel care and husbandry.
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Hollow Knight Fanart Masterpost
Transcript:
Page 1
Vise: ...Auntie? Do you think me a fool?
Hornet: At times. But I consider it one of your better qualities.
Hornet: .... *sigh*
Hornet: You wish to know why I did not speak for myself against the Prince's accusations. Had you witnessed the devastation wrought upon his lands, I doubt you would be so quick to come to my defense.
Vise: ...but you--
Hornet: Your personal affection for I and my kin blinds you to our imminence.
Hornet: You think us benign... benevolent even.. you may even be correct.
Hornet: However.
Page 2
Hornet: As a prospective leader of this tribe, it is imperative you never forget--
Vise: !?
Vise: !!!
Hornet: A god's blessing is oft indistinguishable from its curse.
Vise: !!!
SFX: snap snap snap
Vise: ....
Vise: ...though a fool in full I may seem, I have met with ill intent throughout my life, and know well the tenor of spite...
Page 3
Vise: My confidence is not so easily won.
Vise: I give my trust not to some great and mighty god...
Vise: But to the warrior who willingly sacrificed body and mind to stay a plague...
Vise: ...and to the sister who wept...
Vise: ...and toiled...
Vise: ...to see them whole.
Vise: You proffered kindness to an orphaned traitor's child...
Vise: Do you deny it now?
Hornet: ...no.
Vise: Then I shall gladly risk playing the fool, to keep your wisdom and council, Auntie.
Vise: A final question, if I may be so bold--
Page 4
Vise: The Lady... Is she truly so terrible?
Hornet: ....
Hornet: ...she is a being both ancient and alien, whose survival oft necessitates indifference or cruelty.
Hornet: But in equal parts has sure sought to reject that nature. Imperfectly... Tragically... Time and time again... she chooses to love.
Page 5
Lace: To what do I owe this audience, your majesty?
The White Lady: There is no occasion...
The White Lady: ...merely surprise to find you apart from your friends.
Lace: My companion is skilled in song and scrivening, but unlike some... I find no entertainment watching ink dry... so I sought to create my own.
Lace: I fear this serenity will leave dull both I and my pin.
The White Lady: It would be a shame to blunt such keenness, when for so long my Gardens have felt the loss of their protector.
Lace: There were none to assume the mantle of Hollow the Knight?
The White Lady: No.
The White Lady: ....
The White Lady: they were never mine.
Page 6
The White Lady: I speak of Dryya of the Five... one of the Great Knights of that Kingdom Gone.
The White Lady: Fierce and wise was she... though with your skill, I could see you her apprentice, if not her peer.
The White Lady: ....
The White Lady: ...you intend to accompany the Gendered Child to Deepnest, do you not?
The White Lady: I would urge caution. Danger lurks beyond my verge--
Lace: Please. Spare me your condescension.
Lace: Do you issue the spider such inane warnings? Or is this concern exclusive to one such as I?
Lace: I was spun to life in the Weavers' Cradle-- I will not shrink from whatever poor imitation exists in these lands.
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I've noted before that my favorite punchline on Tumblr is "hang on, gotta look something up/okay that's funny."
Let me explain why:
It is a way to say "I don't get it" without blaming the joke or the teller.
It is a tacit admission of ignorance without shame or judgement.
It assumes responsibility for acquiring the knowledge the respondent doesn't already have.
It cues other people who Don't Get It to do the look-up themselves, allowing them to get that full impact of Getting It without derailing the post with explanations.
It gives subsequent readers, whether or not THEY got the joke, a little frisson of good feelings when they realize that someone else is now In On The Joke.
It not only makes the original joke funnier, it gets funnier the more often it's used.
To add 1 more, it’s also a great subversion of usual expectations, since it’s commonly held that if you need to take time to explain the joke it’s ruined because the comedic moment has passed. Finding the joke funny post-explanation turns this around and also affirms that, with context, the joke fucking slaps, whether or not the timing is consistent. Plus it’s got the joy of learning in there!!!
This has been my main argument against "AI" from the very beginning.
OpenAI scraped the entire web. All of which had been a labor of love from humans. Wikipedia is the backbone of a lot of LLMs, and that was volunteer human labor. They stole it and now they're selling it back to us.
And worse, they're trying to destroy the free sources that they stole from. It's destruction of human knowledge on an unprecedented scale. The burning of the library of Alexandria has nothing on this.
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The apocalypse has come and gone, and against all odds, Pharloom remains standing. The time has come for Hornet to return to Hallownest, accompanied by friends and allies: Shakra hopes to explore the mythical land beyond the wastes, and properly lay to rest a member of her own tribe; Lace fears unraveling without the aid of a Weaver, while contending with the immensity of a future free of her mother’s threads; and the Green Prince lives only only to spite the Citadel, passively seeking a more honorable end than might be found in the rubble of his homeland.
Meanwhile, Hornet returns from Pharloom with magic and knowledge that might aid in the slow recovery of Hallownest and Deepnest–and perhaps offer the chance to call home the sibling she once thought lost to her forever.
Chapter 8: Is It The Light You Fear, Or What It Might Illuminate
[<<Prev] [Chapter 8] [Next>>]
Lace, Hollow, and Shakra are chilling together in the Queen's Gardens; meanwhile, it's time for more Mantis Politics! A look at what's happening with Deepnest, Hornet's immediate future plans, and Vise's leadership ability.
Also, the Green Prince has a bit of a crash out! It was probably a bit overdue...
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Hollow Knight Fanart Masterpost
Transcript:
Page 1
Lace: So... why are we shilly-shallying about?
Shakra: Hornet-Wielding-Needle--
Lace: Yes, yes... I know what the spider would do. But why wait?
Lace: You never hesitated in ransacking my kingdom. Surely for so savvy a wayfinder, the fungal expanse poses no more threat than Bilewater's detritus.
Shakra: Dondakku! Even if such conduct would not jeopardize my friend's alliance, this is no cursed land whose denizens attack with mindless abandon.
Shakra: It is no burden, child-wielding-pin, to rest... to reflect. It is a gift.
Lace: ....finding your "wisdom" dull does not mark me a child. In fact... I suspect I am very much your senior. You really ought to show me proper respect.
Hollow (signing): Okay!
Lace: No.
Page 2
Vise: Entrances to the Fungal Uplands have been secured, with minor activity reported at the gates of the Weeping City. However, Deepnest remains our primary concern.
Hornet: Apprise me of the current situation.
Vise: Ten or so cycles past, a routine patrol was ambushed without warning by a dirtcarver swarm. We hoped the incident isolated... but attacks persist, crawling ever closer to our core.
Hornet: Do you believe these coordinated strikes?
Vise: No. Though they demonstrate a viciousness not seen since the days of the infection, they overwhelm by sheer numbers rather than strategy.
Hornet: Ah! That is... concerning.
Hornet: But it seems unlikely a new power has emerged to claim the region. Something else has slunk from the shadows to disturb their nests. But what, I cannot say.
Page 3
Vise: The Gardens are not similarly besieged?
Hornet: They make a poor target, so steeped in godlight. However, I go soon to tend my mother's shrine; I will inform you, should answers present themselves.
Vise: In the interim, can nothing more be done? Perhaps the Lady might lend aid--
The Green Prince: Pah.
The Green Prince: I had feared you a dullard, but in truth you are a fool.
Helter: That's out of line!
Vise: Peace, Helter. Our new friend has been naught but courteous 'til now.
Vise: Insult or no, I would learn what provoked him so. Tell, then. What earned me so grand a title as fool?
The Green Prince: Mere disappointment that you so readily forsake your own tradition to chase pale grace.
Page 4
Vise: ...the Lady is an ally, one I thought we shared.
The Green Prince: Ally or no, she is a god. No good ever comes of drawing their gaze.
The Green Prince: Did you mistake me a wanderer? An adventurer? I am neither. Because of them, I am a prince without a people, orphan of a land lost to all memory but my own. Because of them, I am nothing.
The Green Prince: So ally with them if you must-- But know this: They will take everything, and they will not ask.
Page 5
Vise: ....
The Green Prince: ....
The Green Prince: I... I don't...
The Green Prince: Forgive my forwardness.
Vise: ...no, you honored my ask... now I will honor your answer and think on your words. for now, prior orders hold. Attend the borders...
The Mantis Lord: ....
Vise: I and my guard will take the lead investigating matters in Deepnest.
Vise: The meeting is adjourned.
The Mantis Lord: Foreign Lord, named kin.
The Mantis Lord: I would have us speak.
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Preview for Chapter 8 of my Silksong Fancomic: A quick check-in with the rest of the Squad before segueing back to Mantis Politics.
The little moments of down time are important breaks to the larger Drama that is unfolding, methinks. And also, I really love Shakra (even though I always forget how to draw her).
To Bind Our Echoes That We May Be Whole: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [ Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]