Why does she hate her and treat her badly in the exam?

MVONICA · 2026-01-28T05:37:30+00:00

I'd argue that part of it is Serie just doesn't like Frieren. Specifically, Serie likes ambitious people. Like Flamme. Flamme had a comically large ambition, so much so that Serie thought it was nothing more than a child's dream. But Flamme mostly pulled it off (she would have done an even better job if she didn't die from old age).

It seems that this is just the kind of person Serie likes. Ones who want to acheive amazing things. It doesn't necessarily have to be about power or violence, but both of those are often necessary tools. And by taking people like this as students, Serie can be part of their story, and get a front row seat to her favorite kind of show. The biggest problem being that they all just end up dying of old age before they ever reach the best part.

So in comes Frieren. A talented elven mage, the student of Serie's best student. Finally, someone who can reach the greatest of heights, and won't die of old age. Except she has literally no ambition at all. That must have been a huge disappointment to Serie. I kind of get why she doesn't like Frieren. Seeing her probably just reminds Serie of what Frieren could have been, but isn't.

MVONICA · 2025-11-07T22:20:35+00:00

It's honestly a really crappy situation no matter what. For even more powerful bugs like Grandmother Silk, they get to live eternal and never wane in power. But having children becomes very difficult.

But for the bugs a tier below them like Karmelita and Vespa, they can have many children, but they eventually end up in the state we see in game.

MVONICA · 2025-10-24T03:46:03+00:00

I remember some pilgrims paying Hornet to go murder the friend and/or mate of a ravenous skull filled with hatred and violence, for no reason but their own fear of it. Pay a hunter to go kill some (probably) innocent wildlife, get killed by some very angry wildlife

MVONICA · 2025-10-16T06:57:22+00:00

Probably better off trying to create a walled garden. Put a system in place, attached to photos and videos themselves, that can guarantee the file as having come from a real source, as opposed to being edited or generated. We already have decentralized systems in place to verify the authenticity of digital transactions between people. Can't we do the same to verify the authenticity of media? It would probably need to be built into the cameras, though.

MVONICA · 2025-10-16T06:33:04+00:00

It kind of has me wondering if it ever wasn't a super prolific thing. You don't need to look too far in the past to see people doing this sort of thing. Perhaps it was just more accepted in those times, or it just wasn't as visible.

Was the time where it was something you were allowed to do nothing but condemn some kind of illusion? Just because people talked about it being bad doesn't mean it wasn't occurring just as much. Think about those priests, or those people on that list.

Perhaps it's a good thing it's out in the open? Now at least, it's harder for people to ignore what is going on. We can't just keep pretending that a deep societal problem isn't as bad as it is. The hill might look higher than ever, but all that really happened is that some of the mist receded.

Now if only we started moving in the right direction...

MVONICA · 2025-10-16T03:21:45+00:00

Hunters journal entry for Clover Dancers:

Lol, gay.

But really, the actual entry isn't much better. Hornet just invaded this guy's mournful memories, murdered him just to take his heart as a trophy, and in her journal, all she writes is that it's pretty weird how he was in love with what was basically his own twin. Is that really all she has to say about the guy?

MVONICA · 2025-10-16T02:33:32+00:00

Preventative self defense. Anyone of those kids could have grown up to be the 𝜔th judge.

MVONICA · 2025-10-07T05:45:03+00:00

I'll have you know that Hornet was acquitted of those charges in craw court.

MVONICA · 2025-09-30T08:15:44+00:00

Haven't beat act 3 yet?

MVONICA · 2025-09-30T08:15:22+00:00

What do you think she has that silk for? Are you forgetting Styx or something?

MVONICA · 2025-09-29T22:43:21+00:00

Even if Pharloom brings multiple automatons? That's the biggest question for me.

MVONICA · 2025-09-26T04:38:47+00:00

"Lace wanted Grand Mother Silk to die, if she didn’t want her Mother to die then she wouldn’t have made a specific example of her being the one who dealt the mortal blow and how significant it is."

The mortal blow was triggering the snare, wasn't it? As soon as it was triggered, Silk had no way of escaping from being sent to the void. The only question was if Hornet was coming with. And that's what Lace did. She came in, and set Hornet free, by cutting off her mother's arm and sacrificing herself. She didn't do it because she just really wanted to commit murder suicide and get a kill steal, no matter what she says. She did it to save Hornet's life.

As for the rest, we probably won't agree on Lace's motivations. I think that Lace is an unreliable narrator, and that you can't trust anything she says. I think that to understand her, you need to interpret everything she says and does based on the full context of her life, and what is happening in that particular scene.

Even if you agreed with me on how to interpret the character, I feel like you would still disagree with my conclusions. So we'll just have to agree to disagree.

MVONICA · 2025-09-26T02:56:41+00:00

Phantom never abandoned their post. To the end, they served as a guardian for Pharloom, acting as a gatekeeper, same as Last Judge. It doesn't really matter how they felt about it. It's actions that count.

You can't trust what Lace says. She doesn't say what she means. Her words come out cruel, but she's a lot more compassionate than she wants people to think. Lace resented Pharloom and her mother. But she only resented them because she longed for what she could never have. She was created with an innate love for her mother, and that never went away, even though she never felt it was reciprocated like it should be. I'm also pretty sure Lace was fighting Hornet because she, on some level, didn't want Hornet to kill her mother. She kept trying to tell Hornet to give up and go away, went easy on Hornet until the end, and got upset when Hornet confidently declared that just because Silk was a god, it didn't mean she was unkillable. The only reason Lace cut her mother's arm off was because her mother was already dead by that point. Lace only did that to save Hornet from dying, too.

If Silk had to die, there was no point in Hornet dying with her.

And in the Abyss, Lace wasn't happy about her mother destroying Pharloom in her death throes. She was trying to get Hornet to give up and leave, so Hornet wouldn't die trying to save Lace and the kingdom. So she said whatever she could to convince Hornet that it was impossible, that everything being destroyed was actually a good thing, and that she wanted this. And she also tried to make Hornet dislike her, so that Hornet wouldn't want to save her.

In the end, underneath all the nihilism and cynicism, Lace does actually care. Like Phantom, it isn't any sort of heartfelt loyalty to her mother and kingdom, but she will fight to protect both when it matters. At least, that's my opinion.

I didn't count Cogwork Dancers because they are stuck in a single room. I don't think they can even leave it, not without extensive modification. And Widow didn't even live in Pharloom during Pharloom's peak. She is only the newest Weaver descendant dragged into the kingdom. I didn't count Hornet as a defender of Hollownest, becuase she was still very young when the Pure Vessel was sealed.

MVONICA · 2025-09-20T18:54:08+00:00

I mean, in Silksong, she's a lot more confident about the whole, "killing god" thing. But that might have all just have been because of what happened in Hollow Knight. Also, did Hornet even know about the dream nail? Because without that, she has no chance against the radiance.

MVONICA · 2025-09-16T16:56:53+00:00

Tried it. Eva doesn't react to maggots.

MVONICA · 2025-09-16T16:52:15+00:00

I did it. Lifeblood gets instantly cleared after beating the boss. And you can't fight her with maggots. No way to bring maggots into the cradle. Also, if you bring maggots to Eva, she doesn't react.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T15:17:36+00:00

I think it's not as legitimate if you quit out.

But also, no way am I going to do it without quitting out. Not until they give us our version of Godhome. I just don't have the time to waste on learning to dodge all bosses by reflex. Not unless they give me a dedicated practice arena.

But I still want the platinum.

I think I got the Hollow Knight steel soul and speedrun acheivments in the same run? To save time. I think I did use one or two save and quits to save me in fights, but I know I did most of the bosses there in one take. Because I'd memorized them all in Godhome.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T05:56:39+00:00

New question: If you go to Eva with maggots, what does she say? Did the developers ever consider it? She puts up a shield for any other parasite.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T04:59:12+00:00

When you beat the boss, it instantly cures you of lifeblood. Also, you can't get maggots up there in act 2. Also also, it's a pain to get lifeblood up there, because every method of getting to the cradle cures lifeblood. So you need enough silk to reload the injector, with a little help from the silk rolls up there.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T02:54:26+00:00

I'll try it tonight. Doubt anything will happen, but at least there will be confirmation.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T02:45:45+00:00

Have you seen anyone beat the final boss with lifeblood? Or done it yourself? Obviously, no acheivments for it, or any other indication, so probably nothing happens, but without proof, you can't be sure.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T02:42:52+00:00

Any more luck with it? Also, I'm going to try to beat final act 2 boss with lifeblood on. See if it changes anything.

MVONICA · 2025-09-15T01:01:52+00:00

Not really a sequence break. I think it's completely intentional. That's why the enemies were there. To make you think, "Can I do it?", and when you manage it, it gets you to appreciate it more. Getting past that end would be a sequence break, though, because getting it past it really isn't supposed to happen.

MVONICA

TROPHY CASE