Oh Yes!

Has anyone ever had a Pokemon deck where they clearly promote ONE Pokemon card to the best in the deck, but in reality it is the mostly unlikely Pokemon to be OP? I'll go first.

My Flaming Charizard deck my brothers gave me. The box is Charizard, the mat is Charizard, the engeries are fire so Charizard can use his awesome ability; the coin that decides my fate? Charizard.

Which card causes my brothers to tremble in fear?

The Queen. Specifically, Niodoqueen who was put in there SOLELY to counter any water types poor Charizard can't take out.

Wonder how she EARNED her title as Queen? Check out the card and do the math.

Guess how many evolution Pokemon are in my deck? Guess how many are in the field by the time Nidoqueen shows up? Hehe...

Okay, okay, doubt the ability to get Nidoqueen powered up right away? Her base form has "Call for Family" which allows me to call for ONE basic Pokemon and put it on my bench, which is supposed to be used to set up Charamander to Charizard. It proceeds to build up an entire team from which I find the evolutions to evolve (Somehow Charizard doesn't show up till LATER!) which often result in Nidoqueen having FOUR evolved Pokemon on the bench. 50 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 10 = 210 damage.

In other words, thanks bros for giving me the power to take out your Dragonites!!!!

I mean, I want to protect the precious smol bean because she is so kind and gentle...but at the same time this IS the ONE girl who utterly defeated Lance.

Anyways, if anyone wants to portray Yellow, I think people should just compare her manga arc to the Epic Conventions. You will be very surprised how much Yellow's story lines up... including the part where Yellow went to HELL and BACK!

If you all need help with the comparison, send an ask for me to post my Pokemon fanfic involving Yellow and Lysndre. Guess who ends up crying? Hint: it's not Yellow.

I've seen a few posts talking about the mischaracterization of pokespe characters recently (agreed 100%) so I'm here to jump in with a friendly reminder of my own: Yellow is not a shy, clumsy, uwu smol bean idiot. She's kind and gentle but she's also an intelligent badass in her own right. I love her and I get irritated when I see works portraying her as a little baby that needs to be protected 24/7.

I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD.  If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?

Well...that's a surprise.

What would you do in this situation?

No words for the script, but that's because no words are said. Also, I hate clouds. How to draw colors that are orange. Ugh!!

Below is a link to the original idea: Here

Link to Follow-Up Page: Here

What is with the Dreamers' Houses?!?! Part 3.7 Lurien's Spire - WHAT is WRONG with Lurien's Office?!?!

Welcome back! Do you remember the last part where I was talking about how Patriotic Lurien was with all the Hallownestian crests?

I was about to leave it off here, until I realized something strange. There are no King’s Idols in Lurien’s Spire. Mr.-Certified-Pale-King-Fanboy has no King’s Idol from which he would worship the Pale King. What kind of fan would not have an idol or picture of his king? Especially in his bedroom!

Again, I was going to leave it even after checking the Hollow Knight wiki. Tumblr/Ao3 artist Aspidike already wrote a whole comic on it after all, so why should I spend time on it?

Looking back on it, I really should have spent more time wondering why Lurien has no King’s Idols to worship the Pale King when HERRAH is shown to be more religious than him. The Spider Queen has a Shrine inside her den while Lurien doesn’t even have a single idol or a chapel!

I only began to look deeper at the lack of King’s Idols in Lurien’s Spire when I realized there is something else missing in the Watcher’s Spire. Take a look at the carpet in Lurien’s Office.

Why does Lurien have purple carpet that completely covers the floor? Even wrapping around the pillars leading up to his Office?  Why when everywhere else in his Spire has RED flooring and Hallownestian seals…

And that’s when it hit me. Not only are there no King’s Idols in Lurien’s Spire, but there is also nothing of the Pale King in Lurien’s Office a.k.a where he lays slumbering.

Look at Lurien’s Office again.

No painting of the Pale King, only that of the City. No massive window of the Hallownest Seal, only open windows.  There are Hallownest Seals on the banners…but no Monarach Wings.

Please, allow me to explain the importance of the lack of Monarch Wings. Take a look down below at the kinds of Hallownest Seals seen across Hallownest.

The above photo is a drawing as I suck at photoshop.

Design 1 or the Seal design is most reminiscent of the Pale King with his Monarch Wings, hence why it will be often referred to as the Monarch’s Seal in this essay.

Design 2 or the Crest design is the most often seen crest design across all of Hallownest. It is the center or base that Designs 1 & 3 form their own designs on. I often take it to mean Hallownest itself versus the Monarch’s Seal which brings to mind the Pale King.

Design 3 is the design, which to my knowledge, is only seen in the City of Tears, especially on the noble’s side of the City. Originally, I called it Plumage Design and pondered whether or not this was an allusion to the Pale King, but now I believe it is a homage to the White Lady. See the comparison down below.

Part of the reason why I am making such a big deal out of the different designs is due to the Medieval heritage the game Hollow Knight draws on. If kings, knights, and keeping your oaths to your lords is greatly important to the game, then having a coat of arms and its impact are not a stretch. We already saw this in Monomon’s portion of the essay when we realized that Monomon was the one in charge of the Teacher’s Archives. Due to the lack of Hallownestian crests (or anything of Hallownest) as well as symbols in the benches being Monomon’s mask, we concluded that the Teacher’s Archives was not part of Hallownest proper, but rather natural territory under Monomon’s direct charge.

Having three different Hallownestain crests is vital. While the standard Design 2 or the Crest design allows one to tell that the messenger is from Hallownest versus the Mosskin, Designs 1 and 3 allow us to tell if the message came from the Pale King or White Lady themselves. The common Hallownestian official might only bear the Crest Design while servants in the White Palace bear Designs 1 & 3. Though I bet the Queen’s gardeners only bore the Plumage Design.

With this in mind, let us turn back to Lurien’s Spire to see which crests he bears throughout.

These are all locations through-out the Watcher’s Spire containing different versions of Hallownestian crests. Now please compare these with that of Lurien’s personal Office and Final Resting Place.

Here is the ONLY Place I found the 1st design or Monarch Seal in Lurien’s Office… If you actually can count it since it’s OUTSIDE his office.

The two places where the Monarach Wings appear in Lurien’s Office are in two locations that are OUTSIDE his office. The first is on the Spire’s wall which is just typical City of Tears architecture while the second winged crest is on the elevator.  AKA, a standard design that is easily removed from the room.

What does this mean for Lurien, the fandom’s Pale King fanboy, with nothing of the Pale King inside his office? This is supposed to be Lurien’s personal space where there would be tons of Pale King merch and references. Yet, upon closer examination, not only are there no references to the Pale King, but Lurien went out of his way to hid any references to the White Lady as well! The purple carpet extends all the way down, hiding Design 3 or the White Lady’s crest!

Forget any blacklash from an shocked fandom, the lack of references to the Royal Couple in Lurien’s Office reeks of possible danger for the Watcher. Lurien is the 3rd most powerful bug in Hallownest, right underneath the Pale King and White Lady. Such massive influence needs to be massively watched and carefully checked to ensure that the Watcher doesn’t use that power against the Royal Couple. Yet the Watcher, in his own personal office, does not have any direct reference to either of them.

We do not know how the Royal Couple would feel that Lurien went out of his way to not show any direct alliegance in his private workspace and room. 

Now, I already know what you are thinking. Lurien’s canon dialogue in the Dream Realm. “For King Beloved…to sleep and serve…” It seems as if all of his dialogue is suggesting the exact opposite picture of Lurien’s Office, that he put the Pale King above everything…but the Pale King isn’t the only reason why he became a Dreamer. To quote Lurien’s last journel entry:

“Sleep beckons eternal and these words become my last. Though my gaze shall no longer fall upon this city, I will act forever in its protection. For King, for bug, for Hallownest, I head now to my rest.”

Lurien is a poet. 2)  His actions are for the forever protection of his City. 3) Lurien’s reasons for acting are not solely for the Pale King, but for bug and Hallownest. This is important as it shows Lurien separates Hallownest from the Pale King in his mind.

While Lurien DID say “For King Beloved”, there is nothing of Pale King inside Lurien’s personal Office. It seems like the care Lurien had for the Pale King was like the love Americans have for their flag, unwilling to let the flag touch the ground…but not going so far to have the flag inside their bedrooms…unless the love for the flag goes beyond patriotism to nationalism.

Finally, what does this lack of crests mean for Lurien’s character? I am afraid that I will have to dive into symbolism to explain as a certain Watcher doesn’t have much dialogue.

The lack of Monarch crest on the banners shows how Lurien always put Hallownest first, not the Pale King’s interests.  Lurien could have snuck in one of the bigger banners with the Monarch crests, but chose the smaller banner with Design 2 to hang instead. Symbolically, this shows how Lurien’s heart with the kingdom first.

The lack of the Plumage Crests was brought about by Lurien redoing the floors, turning the red floor to purple carpet. As seen before in previous essays, the color red is associated with the nobles and the majority of the Plumage Crests are seen on the noble’s side of the City. Meanwhile, the color purple is primarily seen in Lurien’s Spire AKA Lurien’s color. Just as purple takes from both red and blue to rise to higher wisdom, inspiration, and humility, so Lurien rises above the roots to see a bird’s eye view of the whole culture of Hallownest, not just the nobles who grow (pun intended) from the White Lady.

The open windows has its own symbolism as Team Cherry could have given Lurien’s Office those magnificent Monarch crest windows. Instead, they chose to not just have no seal, but almost no window. Practically, this means Lurien can easily reposition his telescope anywhere so he can see everywhere in the City. But what about symbolism? The answer is that Lurien can see everything CLEARLY and without basis. He sees what is truly there, not what the Pale King wants him to see or expects him to see. Lurien isn’t even plagued by his own personal weakness or anger that could cause the glass to fog up. He can SEE.

Yes, Monomon. You can stop listing all the things wrong with the City. Lurien already has your list and THEN some. 

Here we are at the end of this section and I cannot believe that CAREPT of all things would reveal how Lurien's loyalty is to Hallownest first, not the Pale King.

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: Here

Part 3.25: Lurien's Spire: Windows and Colors: Here

Part 3.5: Even More of Lurien's Spire. Here

Part 3.7: What is WRONG with Lurien's Spire? (You are here)

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

Part 3.9 Watcher Knight Boss Room! Here

Part 4.0 What We Know We Don't Know About the Dreamers' Houses: Click Here

Link to essay on Ao3: Here

If you have thoughts you wish to share, please feel free to comment or reblog! Especially with the above observation!

Me every time I see a Lurien Dad fanfic. Still sad I created the "Hornet & Lurien the Watcher" tag despite not being the first one to write them having a friendship or parent/child relationship.

You ever just browsing a couple you like on AO3 on your phone, and you get excited about the prospect of this soulmate au fic that pops up, only to realize it's your own fic?

Lurien is Hornets cool artsy uncle.

Finally took a minute to put together the art vs artist for the first half of 2024 (everything here is from Jan to June)! I haven't really been able to draw as much this year except class doodles but I'm pretty happy with it.

Didn't draw as many cute pieces or animals as last year but that's alright. But damn, no OCs this time. Sad. :+

I also drew a couple of slightly horror pieces this year, which I hadn't done in a hot minute (I can't do this in class or people will look over my shoulder and think I'm planning murder or something lol).

Also, lately I've been more active on Cara, so if you would like, please support me there! I'm looking for more friends on Cara :D https://cara.app/livyamelarts

Top row: Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment), Razumikhin (Crime and Punishment), Lara Tybur (AoT)

Middle row: T.S. Eliot, me, Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Last row: Armin and Annie (AoT), Dana Scully (the X Files), Yor Forger (Spy x Family)

Thank you for looking!!

More of the Dadmato ending (best ending)