#i'm reasonably certain this is the plot of hollow knight | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dandelion-wings · 9 months

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Trying to shake a little rust off after a writing hiatus, which means some random scenes as warmups! This is, in theory, from the latter half of the "Jean marries the prince of Khaenri'ah" AU, if I go with a particular thread I'm still debating--whether or not to go with multiple false identities and have Diluc be, at first, in disguise himself. I like identity porn, okay. >> I'm just not sure if it has a plot function. But since I haven't written the main story yet, I can play about freely!

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When Maram steps out of her private chambers, her son is in her receiving-room, pacing back and forth across the floor. His head jerks up at her entry; there's a brief flash of light in his eyes, the cold pale-blue gleam of Cryo, clear in the left, fractured and flickering in the right. Her heart seizes, as it always does, at that sight.

But he masters himself, reins in the shadow of the Abyss creeping up through him, drawing himself straight in a gesture so reminiscent of his father that Maram almost smiles. Almost, because the stiffness that has become natural in her husband is a warning-sign in her son. His shoulders are held with a rigidity that comes from more than the armor, a tension that's all defensiveness, little as he'd like to know she sees it there.

"What troubles you?" she asks him, beckoning him to join her as she steps up onto the low dais at the center of the room. The benches at the sides are more intimate, but when he's this tense, she doubts that she could make him sit down.

"Diluc," he says, following her up. He takes a formal pose, standing at attention before her like any other knight, but she can still see the tension humming through him in his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, the samll shifts of his weight. "Jean's bodyguard, her Dark Knight- he was there when I went to visit the horses this morning. He didn't tell me, but I remember how he was with horses. Mother, I would swear that it's him."

Maram's hands tighten on the arms of her chair, and she leans forward, nearly as tense as he is. "Is that so?"

"I'm almost certain. It would explain quite a bit. But if he is Diluc…." Below the hollow crackling that the armor gives his voice, Maram can hear the raw edge of distress. "How could I have missed it for so long?"

She can hear the other questions beneath that. Has Diluc changed so much, or has he? Is his memory failing him, or worse yet, his love for the boy he knew? The last shivers through his tone in unspoken terror.

"I have long suspected that mask he wears of holding some enchantment," Maram says firmly, to banish those fears. Her son's mind may go, someday, but never his heart. She trusts in that. "It must be one of concealment. He said he took it from the Fatui, and their spying would benefit from that sort of tool."

He breathes out a sigh that isn't quite relief, but his voice shakes less when he answers, and his chuckle is almost real. "That would explain why he insists on wearing something so hideous. Even Diluc wouldn't sport such an unfashionable trophy without a good reason."

Maram relaxes a bit herself. But not entirely. "Now that you know, love, would you like me to kill him for you? If I do it myself, you don't have to lie to your wife. Formidable as he seems to be, my Wind Glede and I are his equal, and I know how to take a man by surprise."

"No!" He rocks back on his heels in shock and horror, armor grating on itself. "Why would you do that? That's the last thing- that's hardly necessary."

Because she wants to kill him, Maram doesn't say, and had hoped he might allow it, though she'd already known that would be his answer. Her son's heart is his greatest strength, but also his greatest weakness.

"Your father would have ordered it. He's hurt you once, and we'll take no more chances with you if we can avoid it."

"No," he says again, more firmly, regaining his composure. "He's here to guard Jean. Our court is enough of a threat to her without taking away one of her protectors. He has no idea who I am, and I intend to keep it that way."

"And how will you do that when your curse comes to an end?"

"I'll handle that when it happens." He chuckles, and Maram feels her heart ache anew at the false blitheness of it.

As his Queen, she could overrule him; as his mother, she dares not to. Her heart has always been her greatest weakness, as well. If she does lose him to his people's curse, as he's so certain that she will, she doesn't want him to go still angry at her for her actions.

If she does lose him to that curse, to the darkness that first gathered in that wounded eye, she can always wait until he's gone to kill Diluc Ragnvindr for his betrayal.

#fleshing out kaeya's mom for this au has been great fun #if hoyo isn't going to give him one then it's free rein to play and i'm taking it #in a windless land #fic bits

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dedicatedfollower467 · 1 year

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while i'm on the subject of ori and the blind forest, one of the biggest differences, for me, between ori and hollow knight, is that ori really doesn't have boss fights.

for the most part, ori isn't really a combat game the way hollow knight is. all of the challenges are really speed and platforming challenges. there are enemies and you do have to kill them, but they're really not the focus of the game - the platforming challenges and puzzles are. there are two characters i would consider "boss-like," in that they are antagonists that you have to defeat to move the story forward, but you never fight either one directly, you just work around the environmental/platforming puzzles they present to you.

whereas hollow knight is like. MOSTLY bosses, mini-bosses, and combat encounters. the only real platforming challenges in hollow knight are all technically optional - they unlock special characters and certain endings and give you achievements/rewards, but they're not necessary to complete the actual main plot of the game.

what's interesting is, i would say this is actually reflected in the visual design of both games!

in hollow knight, the backgrounds and scenery are gorgeous, yes, but they're mostly very muted, dark colors, and it's pretty easy to miss your first time round when you're focused on fighting enemies and trying not to die. each area has a sort of "standard" platform look that's essentially a tile set that gets repeated. certain visual elements from the background, like the round cobble-like texture, crop up in platforms in almost every location. areas that are off-screen or beyond the scope of the room are just pure black.

in comparison, the enemies are all extremely varied and unique, and the solid black outlines in the 2D art style draw a lot of attention to them. they are usually more brightly colored than the backgrounds, and while there are certain reoccurring enemy behaviors (for example, the flying enemies that wind up before shooting rapidly at you, or the patrolling enemies with weapons who take big swings at you) they all have unique designs for the different areas. all the bosses and mini-bosses have unique designs, attacks, and behaviors, each presenting a different kind of challenge to the player.

ori's visual approach to enemies and environment is almost the exact opposite of hollow knights. as far as i can tell, there are maybe a dozen or so basic enemies in the game, who are essentially just re-colored and given a couple of attack and hp upgrades depending on what area they're in. they aren't rendered particularly differently from the background, with about the same color saturation and level of detail, meaning that it's actually fairly easy, imo, to accidentally run into enemies because you just didn't see them. movement is pretty much the only thing that distinguishes them from being part of the background, and some of them don't move very much until they're attacking. ori's camera is also fairly zoomed-out compared to hollow knight's, which means it's harder to see details on the enemy designs.

however, the broader perspective that the camera gives you means that you see much more of the environment and setting at one time. backgrounds in ori are lovingly rendered - as are the platforms and levels themselves! where hollow knight has floating platforms which just grow out of nowhere, almost everything you can walk on or cling to in ori and the blind forest has a logical reason for being there, whether it's a branch or a mushroom or a platform suspended by rope or magic. there aren't many repeated or repetitive elements to the platforms, either, especially when it comes to "natural" platforms like branches. off-screen or inaccessible areas are artistically rendered with texture appropriate to the environment - hidden areas can be found behind background elements that blend seamlessly in with the rest of the scenery. ori and the blind forest feels like you're walking through a painting, not a video game level.

oops this was a very long rant.

TL,DR; i just find it very neat that the visual design of both games tells you what you will be focusing on - hollow knight's emphasis on character design tells you that enemies are going to be your main focus, while ori's loving devotion to the setting lets you know that this is mostly going to be environmental puzzles and platforming.

#ori and the blind forest #hollow knight #def plays ori and the blind forest #def plays hollow knight #game design #video games #visual design #long post #wall of text

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self-loving-vampire · 1 year

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As someone else who kind of struggles to believe their own experiences happened sometimes, I think it's a kind of emotional regression to the mean. It's healthy to forget extreme mental states over time. When I'd just left from a certain situation, I was manipulated into believing I'd be stalked by a Satanic coven that was imminently breaking into my house at night to do Michelle Remembers shit to me; even at the time I didn't buy the satan part but under the (insane) circumstances I thought worrying about home invasion was reasonable. Not to the extent of someone actually, realistically being stalked, but almost as a subliminal from having lived in a place where that was a commonplace thing to worry about for years. Sometimes I'd be playing Hollow Knight at 2AM and think "o right I'm supposed to keep a knife under the bed, for the satanists".

Yeah, the kind of thing that was going on with the anti-family escape plan alone was wild enough that I knew some people were following like some kind of soap opera or something, and the setup and context to that was already kind of crazy.

I used to keep a machete under my bed back when I lived in El Salvador as well, by the way! It wasn't really because of any concrete plot against me though, it's just an effect of living in this kind of place:

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knightsheart-if · 2 years

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I enjoyed reading every second on the demo! It was so well written. Before the demo drop I had plans on romancing Rianna and Dahlia (in separate saves, of course) but both of them have been disappointing tbh. Rianna is just too good at following orders instead of standing up for what she thinks is right while Dahlia is the very embodiment of selfishness. I hope they get better as the story progresses lol or I'm gonna finish the entire game without romancing anyone. Both the princes are the best bros though ❤️

sdfsd I'm glad you enjoyed! Here are my thoughts:

With Dahlia, she is very selfish and that was my intention with her from the start. She's not someone you are supposed to like from the get go, but someone who you warm up to in time. Indeed, none of the characters like her when they first meet her, like, I assume, the player. However, she isn't...entirely selfish, there is a reason for her selfishness and I hope to show that in short stories and through out her route. Don't worry, she can get better! Or she can get worse...she doesn't start out as selfish as she is at the beginning of the prologue; it does take place in the future after all.

As for Rionna (pls don't misspell her name 🥺), she's not really like that. It's just that in that particular circumstance, she was forced into obeying by certain things. Her arc is actually about doing what she really wants to do in life other than being a knight. It's about progressing forward with what she wants to do next. She's also one to question her prince a lot more than it seems and while she is lawful good, she isn't lawful stupid. If she doesn't agree with an order, she doesn't do it. Again, she had to be coerced in the prologue so. Yeah.

The characters in the first half of the prologue are intentionally not developed in any way shape or form. They are at their most bare bones self because no one has taken the time to help them with their problems. They haven't had the chance to develop. So Dahlia is...kinda at her worst self and Rionna is kinda bare bones and hollow but they will get better if you take the time to get to know these characters and become their friend. Hope this clears things up!

As for the no romance, that is a very valid way to play! I actually encourage that in my game because I know a lot of people like to play through a story without romance and while this is a relationship based game, it is not romance focused. There is romance, but it's not central to the plot.

#i really hope this cleared things up #i'm not good at explaining things sometimes sdfghfld #but i try #also oran and oscar are best bois #but even best bois have their faults

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aquilaaktuk · 3 years

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Guys I turned Hollow Knight characters into warrior cats as an excuse to over-indulge in things I like too much for someone of my age!!

Next batch will be ye Higher Beings, because honestly I'm still a bit lost on how to make PK small and not look like a fucking kit.

First we have Lurien, he's a med cat (I was gonna make him deputy first but ultimately decided against it so I have an excuse to have him be more in the plot thanks to starclan fuckery or whatever). His name is Rainwatch. Creative I know

Next is Monomon (or as the file says, Bill Nye), she was trained as a warrior but everyone mostly just leaves her to do her own thing. Once she discovered a twoleg camp that had an open campfire and she grabbed a stick with some on there and ran off to show everyone how useful it could be. No major forest fires were started. Her name is Fogmist. I know another creative banger.

And lastly of the dreamers we have Herrah! Shes a city cat, she has her own people, they're all extremely badass. Her dirty secret is that she has twolegs that she sometimes visits, just for the food when rations are low, and to ruin the sofa. Her name is Spider's Fang, or just Fang.

The small!! Tiny hornet is next, and thanks to Herrah's dirty little secret she got a bow. Everyone thought it was tacky at first and also kinda cringe but she liked it and eventually everyone collectively agreed that yeah, it is kinda cute. Name's Hornet's Sting, or just Hornet. Look at that. My brain big.

Now we just have Hornet but bigger, and she fucking hates the clans for certain plot reasons. Also I completely forgot to colour tiny Hornet's feets in and that's my only excuse for the inconsistency.

Lastly we have PV! They're still real, they still do things! Their folder name says everything you need to know about them: Pairs nicely with fkn depressed. Also they kinda look like they're wearing a black onesie. Their name is Shadowsong. (Song is such a nice suffix)

Any and all descendants of the pale king have built in eyeliner as a divine biological bonus.

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