Creators I love you but it's time to wake up
Among rumors about our tumblr user data being sold off to Midjourney/Generative AI, recent Extremely transphobic events (that have been ongoing) coming to a head, another extremely concerning internet censorship bill being pushed in upper levels of government, and a general air of frustration over how the site belongs to and is operated by perhaps the second stupidest CEO (second only to twitters own) of our age, I'm very done with the last few vestiges of what the old internet held for artists.
And if you're reading this, you probably are too.
I know we're tired. We are all tired. It is not always viable to pack up shop and move, again and again and again.
From tumblr to twitter to anywhere else we've ever grown up posting, things no longer work. Our audiences are kneecapped by aggressive and hostile algorithms, our reach is abysmal - if we aren't shadow-banned or silenced for one (transphobic) reason or another, we're thrust into an ever growing pit of hostility where the only thing that drives clicks is fighting and contention.
We're tired. We're so fucking tired. We aren't businesses, we aren't content mills, we cannot keep this pace that modern social media has set for us, to wring every ounce of creativity out of us to profit from and leave us rotting.
The key to staying afloat here, and I cannot stress this enough, is to stay connected to your peers.
Pack up and move as units if you must. Exodus from the sites that are killing us. Push your entire friend group of artists to move from one site to the next that promises you a kinder experience.
Art drives movements, it drives change, it is all that encompasses being human. If you take that away from the shitty places, they will be left with nothing but a cesspit of inhumanity and the people who follow you will be more incentivized than ever to move with you.
Yes, this is terrifying. There are no guarantees. There never was, and never are, and never will be.
But stay connected. Stay human.
Support each other and be willing to hold hands and jump when we all - as a group - need to jump from the flames we're all trying to convince ourselves wont kill us before rescue comes.
Rescue isn't coming, rescue will be found hand in hand with each other. I'm offering you my hand, please take it. There's always a new start, there are always helping hands reaching for you. You have to look up from the doom-scroll long enough to see and take them.
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OHHH I LOVE PALE KING AS A CHARACTER AND I LOVE YOUR TAKE ON HIM, I AM EATING GOOD TONIGHT
If it isn't a spoiler for the comic, does he ever realise he was wrong about the vessels? And what do you think was his reasoning for escaping into the dream realm with his palace?
Thank you! I wanted a different take on his character than what I usually see. And I loved the idea of a god that doesn’t act regal because who’s going to stop him? So it’s great to hear people enjoying this hyper deep-in-denial nerd I have created. Now onto the lore dump!
I won’t say when for story reasons, but yes, he does eventually realize he was wrong about the Hollow Knight being mindless.
For the explanation for him being in the dream realm, it wouldn’t be covered in Progeny Cursed so I can let my chronic can’t-shut-the-fuck-up-itis run wild on this one.
As for why he entered his dream realm, it was his backup plan for catastrophic failure. When he realized the Hollow Knight plan wasn’t going to work, he had to come up with another way to keep his people safe. Since fully ascended higher beings can’t enter another's dream realm without them knowing and allowing it, it was his only option.
His plan was to pull all his still living citizens into his dream realm until it safe to bring them back out. But he needed to research how as he didn’t know enough about the dream realm to do such a feat. He needed time and data. His best source of information was from Unn, but even she wasn’t sure how to pull living mortals into a dream. But it was all he had to go on, so he did test after test to learn how best to do it. He learned no one who was even remotely infected could enter his dream. They had to be untouched. And he would need to pull in physical objects as well so the mortals could actually walk on something.
As the infection was getting worse, he began moving citizen to the palace. Those who had already lost their families, homes, towns were offered a safe place in the palace. Anyone willing to was allowed in as well. As being closer to him lowered the chances of them falling to the Radiance. Many in the city, especially the upper class, decided to stay in their homes.
He decided to run a larger trial on how to get people into his dream before committing to the final pull. When he ran the test, something went wrong. Instead of just the few volunteers, everyone along with the palace, was pulled in. Since it wasn’t his plan at that time to pull the entire palace in, some of it was left behind. Along with anyone or thing just outside it.
Worst of all, he pulled himself in. Without an anchor in the physical world, he couldn’t get anyone out, including himself. They were all stuck inside, and no one else could get in. Most, didn’t even know what had happened. Many thinking he had abandoned them. And all he could do was watch them all fall to Radiance from his dream realm.
But I don’t think this was his only backup plan. >:)
Has anyone ever been confused by the lore tablets in King’s Pass? When I first played the game, I thought higher beings was referring to those who had their minds given to them by the Pale Kings blessing. They became higher than animals. Then I learned that higher beings are the gods.
But then that lead to new problems. Any higher being that came from beyond the borders would know that there was a world beyond. They wouldn’t lose their mind outside of Hallownest. And the tablet about ‘only this kingdom could produce ones such as you’ would just be our right wrong. No foreign higher being would read these and believe them.
Then it clicked for me. The only group all these tablets would cover, is the vessels. They are technically higher beings so they could read these tablets. They are the only beings we have seen that can focus soul to heal. They were made within the Kingdom of Hallownest. And Ghost lost their memories beyond the borders, lost part of their mind. These tablets were made for them. And they were all trying to convince them to enter Hallownest.
Now why would the Pale King want vessels to return to Hallownest? How would he know these vessels would specifically come from the Howling Cliffs into King’s Pass? Why would he not want them to hide themselves? It’s almost like, he knew it was going to happen, and he wanted to lead them to something…
Lore Tablets referring to Higher Beings:
Higher beings these words are for you alone-
-(Kings Pass) Your strength marks you amongst us. Focus your soul and you shall achieve feats which other can only dream
->If you made it this far, you can heal by the way
-(Kings Pass) Within our lands do not hide you true form. Let all bask in you majesty, for only this kingdom could produce ones such as you
->Don’t hide your face or form. As this is the place you came from
-(Kings Pass) Beyond this point you enter that land of king and creator. Step across this threshold and obey our laws. Bear witness to the last and only civilization, the eternal Kingdom. Hallownest.
->Past here, you enter the land of the king that created you. Once you enter, obey the laws
-(Howling Cliffs) These blasted plains stretch never ending. There is no world beyond. Those foolish enough to traverse this void must pay the toll and relinquish the precious mind this kingdom grants
->There is nothing out there, to leave is to lose the mind this land gives you
-(Abyss) Our pure vessel has ascended. Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation. We shall enter that place no longer
->Don’t look what’s past this door.
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no need to be hostile??? jesus. just saying that reading the wiki would be way easier than watching everything for a single commission of sunset shimmer.
no you're right! reading the wiki and picking clips from it to watch is actually my plan, and how I watch the whole MLP series.
"you can pay me to do that" is an ongoing bit I have been doing, while clarifying that I don't think people are being weird for making requests because thats the culture of tumblr. I just have this brash "pay up" personality happening because its funny
The joke im doing right now is that I'm being forced to watch all the EQ content (I am not) because I think its the only way to get information on the character. I am aware of the wiki and plan to use it, but right now you and I live in a much stupider universe
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