Hk White Lady - Blog Posts
The White Lady - The Goddess of Fertility
Aight, so this might be just a random midnight headcanon that crossed my mind, but I had to share it because the White Lady is refusing to leave my mind:
The White Lady was the Goddess of Fertility within Hallownest. While yes, bugs have been able to reproduce long before she appeared, her presence had an influence not on bugs' capabilities to reproduce, but she inadvertently also had an influence on societal norms surrounding romance/intimacy.
Before the White Lady had appeared, it was an unspoken societal rule that bugs did not mingle with other species. Though it had initially sprung up as a "you can't reproduce with someone outside of your species" mindset, it evolved into bugs being ostracized if they were to fall in love with one outside of their species. Those who did intermingle were oftentimes alienated by other bugs as a result. This also left many interspecies couples to struggle with starting families, as many would not allow them to adopt as it would "damage the mental health of the child."
When the White Lady appeared, she was saddened by all of these societal rules. As the goddess of fertility, she wanted everyone to know the joy that offspring could bring. So, as her gift to Hallownest, she blessed the kingdom's denizens by giving bugs the ability to bear children with others outside of their species.
However, her gift was not accepted as swiftly as she hoped. Many were still convinced that those interspecies children would grow up damaged, and those that had interspecies families felt as though they had to hide their families to avoid scrutiny as well as potential physical and mental danger that coming out would cause.
Because of this (and with the Pale King's permission) she made it very public about the children that they bore. She hoped that she could lead by example and help to change the mindset of the bugs of Hallownest. However, the bugs saw these two as an exception, as the Pale King and her were both higher beings, and as a result were exempt from the rules of society.
It wasn't until Hornet was born that the true shift began. While the bargain between the Pale King and Herrah was merely for political reasons, those outside who did not know of the deal began believing that the Pale King had bore a child with the Spider Queen because so many were rejecting his wife's gift. They believed he wanted to show the world that it was no longer taboo, and because he was so revered by people, the shift in mentality began happening much quicker. They were even more convinced after Hornet grew up, as she had grown up to be a normal girl--or as normal as she could being a princess and daughter of the Pale King.
(side note: It was also because of the White Lady that the Pale King and Herrah were able to bear a child together. She hoped that the child born between them would help bugs to accept one another no matter who they loved.)
As time passed, it became much more common to see interspecies couples. By the present time, it became a cultural norm in Hallownest, though many had forgotten by then that it was the White Lady's influence that allowed such things (as they'd forgotten about her and the Pale King by that time).
By the time the Kingdom began to crumble at the hands of the Radiance, the dwindling population made the White Lady start to lose control and become overcome by her more basic instincts. As the Goddess of Fertility, her body began to respond to the dwindling population by an uncontrollable urge to repopulate herself. However, knowing that she would not be able to care for those offspring and that they would become more fodder for the Radiance, she bound herself within her gardens. She prays that soon her urges will subside and that she may one day be able to return to the Kingdom she once knew...
Pale King and White Lady Hollow Knight
I love this couple so much
It's that time of a year when I rewatch a playthrough. A game where every frame could be an art by itself.
hollow knight if it was WOKE
hhey remember this video:
well I decided hollow knight needed one too
i present to you my magnum opus:
A fragment of an animatic I'm working on
I can't stop looking at it, I'm excited to finish this project aaaa
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!
Lurien does not like to cross paths with the Pale King, because he demands work reports from him (reports that he makes the night before the scheduled delivery of these reports, obviously)
Lurien avoids meetings with the Pale King
Expected reasons: The King is so handsome and inaccessible… Next to him, my heart stops, my thoughts get confused, it's so hard to breathe… I hope he doesn't notice how much I want to kiss him…
The real reasons: Oh no, he's going to ask me about work and how the monthly report is going. I just got out of a drawing binge yesterday, I need an alcoholic binge because of the number of unopened mail, and somehow all the ink ran out in the tower, and the personnel department forgot to buy a new batch of envelopes to send, and I don't know what's going on in the city right now
To hell with Lurien, who is in love with the Pale King, for him he is the boss who makes him work X)
I have been looking for pictures like this. Someone needs mama cuddles.
Yearning for the mother's embrace
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
Celebration (canon be damned)
Marble gods
Tango circles in space
'Round the already dead
Sibling shenanigans
posting these in segments because i did a big page of these and i don’t want to commit violence upon anyone’s scrollbar
sketchdump for @thethrillof [1/3]
“An idea instilled”
Someone please help this poor baby
Figuring out how to draw the Pale King and it just quickly devolved into memes
