Please Let This Be True!!! Thrushpelt Needs More Appreciation!

Whenever I think about the dark side and how Star Wars talks about it, it's never as small as having a temper or being prideful

It's those character flaws to an extreme

It's the loss of control. The loss of stability. The loss of who you really wanted to be. It's everything you would be if you sacrificed any kind of restraint

No one's turn to the dark side has ever been treated as a freeing experience because that's not what it is. Most dark side users have been broken down and twisted by even worse characters into following them. In most cases, it takes years of pain and suffering to be fully corrupted. It takes direct brainwashing to turn someone quickly. The very few who seemingly turned to the dark side completely by their own choice were just inherently drawn to the worst aspects of a person's nature

Many jedi have their own flaws and struggles. Quite a few lose their way and need time to rediscover themselves and who they are as jedi, but many of them never fall to the dark side because the dark side is more severe than having negative traits

The light side represents who a person is when they are at peace with themselves. It's who they are when they accept their vices as part of them, and then refuse to let those same vices dominate them. Keeping your worst traits under control is not a form of repression

The dark side is the full rejection of all of your positive traits. It's embracing your vices to the point that compassion and kindness no longer exist. It's expressing every negative emotion without thought or restraint

Light represents freedom. You're free to decide for yourself what kind of person you want to be. You're free to choose your way forward. You're free to change and grow as you please

Darkness is the one that represents being trapped. It's the side that chains you to your hatred and refuses to let go. It's what blinds you to the goodness in the world and lose sight of everything you hoped to be

That's why there's no such thing as positive corruption in Star Wars

My goodness, I never thought of the parallels...

Also, lovely poem.

Two kindly bugs

Lie resting in grottos of their own

Their blessings, an aid

They ease passage

To the hiding place

Of Great Beings

And their boons

I don't think I can ever unsee this now.

was i supposed to just find this out myself while designing knight helmets or did you people know this all along

This looks so cool! There are only so many human designs for Pokemon that feel like they fit the original Pokemon. This evolution line is one of them!

Pokemon Humanization Project

Fuecoco

Crocalor

Skeledirge

WatcherDadAU! - Violet_Dawn_001 - Hollow Knight (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own]

Link Above to Read my Watcher Dad AU!

How much chaos (or cuteness) will ensue once Lurien the Watcher finds and adopts Ghost?

Thank you so much OP for doing all this work. It makes attempting to draw Hollow Knight a lot easier.

you've probably seen this before, or made the connection yourself (ignore bottom right corner)

but there's also this:

The flowers of the Queen, the crown of the King, and the Hollow Knight

What is with the Dreamers' Houses?!?! Part 3.0 Lurien's Spire

Okay, we can all agree that Team Cherry put a LOT of thought into crafting the backgrounds and environments of Hollow Knight. But why is nobody talking about the designs for the Dreamers' houses?! Especially compared with their base forms?  Well, let's start talking about it!

The Last Dreamer, Lurien the Watcher! A.K.A. The guy who is responsible for this whole essay.

His design is the simplest among the three Dreamers.

Taken from Hollow Knight - Lurien the Watcher

A design so simple that it leaves the fans in relentless debate on what species of bug he is.

So tell me, why is HIS HOUSE the one with the most freaking complicated design!?!?!?! It's as if Lurien is living in a cathedral here!

Okay, Lurien living in a cathedral might be an exaggeration, but take a look at complicated his Spire is! Look at the floors! Notice the window designs! The hanging banners! The lanterns! And goodness gracious, the dude has wallpaper throughout his whole Spire!

Did I forget to mention the wallpaper?!?!!

The insane amount of detail!!!

And we haven't even gotten to the fact Team Cherry went out of their way to incorporate 3D into a 2D POV! You can clearly see it in this window here.

As we start the walk here…

We can't help but notice…

How the pillars framing the window "move" as we do.

Could you believe that a team of four people made all of this? Team Cherry truly wasted no detail in the Watcher's Spire, from the simplest wallpaper to the famous Telescope.

And here is the Telescope! In all its very-difficult-to-draw glory! Speaking of it, the design clearly costed tons of geo. The cost paid off, however, as the Telescope still works despite the lack of maintenance due to the Infection.

Of course, that can be easily seen by anyone who played the game in a rush. In terms of Lurien's character, the fan can see how he earned his namesake, Watcher.

Yet...has anyone stopped to consider how Lurien set up his office? In particular, how Lurien can position his Telescope anywhere in his main office?  Check out all the windows!

Did you all notice it? Every single window is open, yet each window is nicely framed with the glass plane. And before you all comment, “what about this window? It's closed!”

The window design is different from the ones behind Lurien's bed…and matches up with the window where the Telescope is currently at. This implies that this window can open up at any time should Lurien wish it. As the Telescope is NOT facing that direction, there is no need to keep that window open. Lovely for us, as that window keeps Lurien's butler in. If you need proof, check out the photo where the Telescope is again.

With this in mind, what does the Telescope and open windows tell us about Lurien's character?

First, Lurien is very dedicated to his duty as the Watcher, so much so that he will spend as much money as needed to craft the best tools he needs.

Second, Lurien favors practicality as seen by how every window is either open or has hinges to open it. The Watcher must watch over the WHOLE City of Tears, not just the left side (or commoner side).

Third, Lurien loves beauty. It is not enough to have the windows open; goodness, Lurien could have not added windows at all! But he insisted on a lovely window design that framed the view into the City. And we're not even talking about the pillars and the curtains which frame it as well. 

Fourth and finally, Lurien was able to get both practicality and beauty in the same window. I cannot stress this enough as Herrah and Monomon choose practicality over beauty. Yes, there are beautiful details here and there, but when push comes to shove, both ladies choose practicality with a dash of beauty on the side. This really makes Lurien stand out amongst the Dreamers.

I hope you enjoyed part 1 of Lurien's Spire. Unfortunately, I must stop here as this is merely 1/4 of Lurien's section of the essay. Please feel free to comment and reblog as much as you would like. It's fun reading your thoughts.

If you wish to read more of the Essay, click one of these links below.

Part 1.0: Herrah's Den : Here

Part 2.0: Monomon's Archives: Here

Part 3.0: Lurien's Spire (You are here.)

Part 3.25: More of Lurien's Spire : Here

Part 3.5: Lurien's Spire: Pillows and Patriotism: Here

Part 3.7 Lurien's Spire: What is wrong with Lurien's Office?! Here

Part 3.8: Even, even More of Lurien's Spire: Secret Room: Click here

Part 3.9 Watcher Knight Boss Room! Here

Link to essay on Ao3: Here

Sometimes...a little Humble Pie like this allows one to create the most beautiful masterpieces.

Now excuse me while I go create. Don't you have something to create too...Artist? Writer? Go while you still have time. I hope to see you again with flushed cheeks and starry eyes as you show me your latest creation.

being an artist is humiliating

I don't think this is talked about enough.

When you put something out in the world, you have to accept the possibility you won't get anything back.

Maybe you laid your heart bare on a one-shot that got zero comments. Maybe it was a painting you spent hours working on that didn't get the engagement you wanted.

I think it might have been the reason I stopped creating, for a little while at least.

I got obsessed with the stupid little numbers and metrics. Got happy when people liked my content, got sad when it resonated with no one. My relationship with what I created was determined by my perception of how many people engaged with it.

I waited day and night for the dopamine rush of notifications. I refresh my inbox, thinking that one of these days, somebody will leave some kind of affirmation, and somehow that recognition will imbue what I created with more significance. More value, writ-large.

If it got crickets, then I've failed somehow. It just wasn't good enough, I say to myself.

For the longest time, I felt like everything I created had to prove it belonged. It all felt like a race, except I didn’t know who I was competing against, only that I always felt left behind and couldn't keep up.

That's my fault. I can't help but measure myself.

But isn’t that the universal tendency? To view our past achievements as a benchmark we have to constantly overcome? Isn’t that why we’re so satisfied to look at old works we made and see how far we’ve come?

I remember what my old teacher used to say. “You’re only as good as your last piece.” As if art exists only to constantly prove itself. As if art is forever doomed to fight for its place in this world.

Well, I'm sick of it.

And so I'm realizing, in real-time, that I don’t want to fight for my place anymore. I don’t want to pander to some stupid algorithm.

I want to create. 

I want to believe that a work of art is good simply because it exists out of necessity. Out of someone’s urgent desire to share a piece of their heart in the world because it would have been devastating to keep to themselves. That’s always been very beautiful to me. It's why there is so much heart in fanworks because of the sheer heart poured into it—a love that is as raw as an exposed nerve.

There are so many stories in your head, numerous in number and nebulous in form, that eventually come to fruition as these delicate, precious things you’ve been brave enough to summon into existence. To materialize in a timeline or dashboard. To somehow take up space in people’s minds if only briefly. 

Maybe that in itself is the miracle. That what you conjured in your head somehow made its way into something real. Whether in tiny strokes or tiny letters on a tiny screen.

Somehow, the numbers next to them don’t seem to matter as much.

“Techniques for drawing beautifully silhouetted hands and nails”

Source: takuya_kakikata