stones of farspeech, november 7

[sealedvessel]

[It's been like two weeks since pumpkin carving happened. A cute and fun event that probably doesn't seem that important to most.

The Hollow Knight begs to differ.

The voice on the network is non-descript. The default for those with no voice of their own. You might've assumed that, with how little they communicate even considering their muteness, the Hollow Knight just doesn't have a lot to say.

You would be wrong.]

The purpose of surrounding oneself with the hue of death willingly still escapes me, even as time passes. It still remains, like a mockery, and no one understands the danger of it. Do they just not care?

I swear these virulent spheres are up to something and no one here will be safe until they're gone!

Even a trace of the light's influence should be destroyed, not simply carved into a decoration. It's inviting doom on us all. Just how much more of it is present here? How far does it reach?

Why does it have to be so orange?!

[...they're ranting about a color.]

Comments

ac..tion?? but still using the stone anyway bc whatever its right there

[lightlessfuture]

[ They were taking a nap in the sun when this happened so hearing a nondescript voice come out of the stone was...surprising, at first? Then they actually paid attention and looked at the name, and... ]

OK

[ They move slowly to get up but honestly, if their sibling is yelling about orange, then they're probably fine...?

They probably didn't go far, anyway. So they're wandering into the house, into the room they share with their big sibling, to see what's up. ]

[yourattention]

Because orange is the new black.

[Listen, he gets that he should probably take this seriously but also it's such a good set-up.]

[sealedvessel]

[Honestly, this is the part where there would be upset bug hissing noises, but the stone isn't picking that up as valid speech. Funny, that. Although at the same time, the Hollow Knight is... confused. How did that happen. They were just thinking, as close as they could get to thinking aloud, and suddenly the stone was reacting?] What. Is this. [Now, THAT. That goes through on the stone.]

[sealedvessel]

[They didn't intend for this to happen, they don't even know how this is working, but they forget all about this at that response.] WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.

[antepone]

[ ... there's a lot going on here. ]

Are you talking about pumpkins?

[scourgingstars]

[Well golly if that wasn't just several interesting points in a complaint about pumpkins.]

Well, I certainly can't speak much to why one might not wearing the trappings of death and its symbolism. But I can say I don't much care for the decoration myself.

[sealedvessel]

The abhorrent round flora. Yes.

[lightlessfuture]

STONE-GIVES-VOICE
IF-LACKING-ONE

[ The Knight's speech, and the voice produced, is significantly different from their sibling's. More stilted, much harsher, with none of the flow or eloquence or vocabulary that the Hollow Knight was equipped with.

The Hollow Knight was taught. Their younger sibling taught themselves. Therein lies the key difference. ]

DID-NOT-KNOW-ACCIDENTAL-ALSO-WORKS

[sealedvessel]

No one should. Far worse than merely death. Traces of Radiance... infection... No one should trust it.

[antepone]

[ you're doing her a concern. ]

Have you... had bad experiences with them?

[sealedvessel]

[They're quiet, distracted from their ranting however briefly, as they look at the stone.]

I was thinking very loudly.

[But now that they're not mid-rant, now that the implication of what they're doing is sinking in, they... stop.

And they drop the stone, as if it's burning their hand.]

[yourattention]

Most people who want to be edgy and goth go to Hot Topic to get black clothes the color of our soul, but you know. Now you can be a pastel goth or a pumpkin goth: orange is the new black.

[Pumpkin goth is not a thing, but if you say words with enough confidence you can spread all fucking kinds of misinformation that is definitely going to bite him in the ass someday but is really funny right now.]

[sealedvessel]

It's the color. Her color. It means sickness, infection, control, light, death. It is not safe.

[sealedvessel]

What do any of those words mean?! [WHAT IS A GOTH. WHY IS THE TOPIC HOT.]

[lightlessfuture]

YES

[ ...They may not know their sibling very well (there is so much they don't know about them), but it doesn't take a genius to understand what they're thinking, right at that moment.

They pick it up, holding it out to them once more.

They don't push it into the Hollow Knight's hand, though. They just...hold it there, arm outstretched, patient.

It's yet another choice. ]

[scourgingstars]

[...oh boy he's loving this already]

My, what a terrible fate that sounds like.

[sealedvessel]

[They freeze, as their sibling offers it. And they don't know if... they should. Or not.

It feels as if they shouldn't, but they're not sure if this is wrong or not. This had not been possible. So it hadn't come up.

But maybe the technicalities don't even matter. The spirit makes it clear this is... wrong.

They're breaking a rule.

And they don't know what to do.]

[antepone]

Oh-- well...

Whoever she is, I don't think her influence can reach here... if that helps at all.

[tokenflavortownie]

[Listens to this.

Looks down at the pumpkin she's currently carving out.]

Well, it is the season. Is there anyway that things can be made more comfortable for you?

[sealedvessel]

Yes.

Blinding light from the inside, just a puppet of her will, dawn shall break. No longer living, just an empty shell. Nothing but light.

[Remembering is painful, but that's alright. They're always remembering.]

[sealedvessel]

That's what others have said. But she is a higher being. I would not be so sure.

[yourattention]

Most is like when you have a lot of pumpkins and they're all orange except for the white ones. People is like, generic catchall term for everyone on this island. Edgy is like when you think you're super cool but actually your mom still irons your underwear. Goth is when you love dying and being dead, but in an Aesthetic™ [Yes. He says Aesthetic™.] way instead of a sad, depressed way.

[Please stop him. Please interrupt him, he will literally keep going.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ They don't move. They can't -

Well, they could. They could, easily. They could make the choice for them, keep making choices for them, the same way it has been for the Hollow Knight all their life. Telling them what to do, what they should do, shaping them into something else and someone else.

Not letting them shape themselves.

So they can't. They can't tell them you should have this.

They clutch their own stone in their hand like a lifeline. ]

NOTHING-TO-CONTAIN
YOU-CAN-SPEAK

[ You can be a person. You can be free.

But do either of them really know what it's like to be that way? Defined only in what they are or what they are not, for so long. Defined by their purpose, or defying it.

The Knight doesn't say you can be free because armor and chains that trap a heart inside go so much further than a simple physical encumbrance, and they are the same, still, in that way. ]

[sealedvessel]

I do not know.

What is a season?

[antepone]

Have you asked the Storyteller? They may be able to put your mind at ease.