#they're playing tears of the kingdom

[sambuuck]

(7/8)

i just think they should get to be cozy 👉👈

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[Beginning]

[peevishpants]

gamer snacks

[quarklynx]

With the advent of the printing press in Hyrule it's only a matter of time until magazines are invented too

[amethyst-halo]

ive been kinda zelda brained so i made some more ocs! siblings that research things

[stealthnoodle]

Friends in Low Places: Let's Play Tears of the Kingdom

No plot, only hole.

I have finally sucked all the marrow from the bones of Hateno Village's quest scene, so I guess I'll move on, reluctantly but very fashionably.

Not to the main quest, though. I found a funky little cave nearby that led me to the beach and some handy boats parts, so it's a pirate's life for me now.

I hope at least one NPC just watched Link smack his motor to a halt in the middle of the sea and throw himself into the water grab handfuls of colorful fish, then barely make it back to his vessel before drowning. The Hero of Hyrule, everyone

My strategy for clearing the monster strongholds on PIRATE ISLAND involves a lot of hiding and hurling bombs and confusion flowers, like the noble swordsman I am.

I can clear out a pirate cove but clearing the pirates out of the nearby fishing village keeps resulting in their using my ass to swab their metaphorical deck, so I'll wander elsewhere for a bit.

This thing will kick my ass, right? Just absolutely demolish me without breaking a sweat? Let's find out:

Called it!

Gonna throw myself into Charybdis over here instead of at Scylla again, on the grounds it can't possibly go worse for me.

…Huh, finally a stupid thing I've done is both survivable AND in fact a thing I was intended to do:

Speaking of stupid things, here I am solving a "we took all your equipment, good luck" combat challenge:

Anyway I just remembered I paid ten Poes for directions to an underground Poe-buying statue, so down I go!

This thing will not be my friend even if I ask it very nicely. See, I am capable of learning!

However, I remain incapable of learning that when I talk to random researchers in the chasms, they will turn into assassins and come after me. Every time I come up like, hello new friend! Lovely day here in the depths, isn't it? I say, what a remarkably swift change of clothes! Are you asking me to admire your sharp knives? I'd be more than happy to, but it's difficult for me to see them clearly when they're moving so quickly at my vital organs, my good chum!

OH my GOD I can magically autobuild from blueprints??? I am WEEPING with joy. Best power. BEST POWER.

AUTOBUILD MY BELOVED

Why, how lovely to make your acquaintance in this dark corner of the chasm, my good fellow! Please do regale me with tales of your research! Researching the sharpness of swords, are you? Splendid! I don't mind telling you that the one you're swinging about now is exceedingly sharp!

MISSION ABORT:

Hail and well met, my studious fellow! Why yes, I would be most eager to hear about your dissertation! On the topic of stabbing, is it? Of course I'd be delighted to participate in your research!

Call me Spider-Man's ill-fated Broadway debut because I sure am turning off the dark:

Okay let's remember the world above for a bit. I'm too beautiful to hide myself away forever:

I enjoyed getting the musicians across a river because they complain a lot about being jostled but I still got to swing them dangerously around quite a bit before they put their fancy feet down. Idk why I'm bothering with Great Fairies, though, because they never want to let me enhance the only clothing I care about.

Another thing I enjoy: abruptly realizing I have been misinterpreting the eye parts of the steward constructs. Pretty sure the game wants me to see the image on the left, rather what I've been seeing on the right:

[tinker-13]

Tears of the Kingdom Spoilers Below.

Immortal Light

[axewchao]

What if someone were to gift you Tears of the Kingdom?

I would insist that they keep it in their possession for at least a few months before even considering giving it to me.

[beth-and-bands]

I've just realised that Tears Of The Kingdom will be the first Zelda game I've ever actually played on release day! Nintendo using zelda to sell new consoles usually means I have to wait until Christmas😭

[scarecrowshindig]

who at nintendo played outer wilds and was like okay but long-lost ancient goat-people civilization!!

[junie-p-crossing]

MY LUST FOR BATTLE SHALL ONLY BE QUENCHED BY THE CALL OF OF THE ANNOUNCERS "GAME"

[impdog]

AAAAAAAAAAAGHGAHGAGHAGHGHRHRGRHG NINTENDO

[badaxefamily]

Reasons to play Palia:

Cozy, gentle farming/village sim a bit like a combination of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, but online.

Most of the villagers are romanceable if you're into that. Either way they all have backstories that you learn by befriending them.

One time I went fishing and pulled up a charcuterie.

There's robots. One of them is romanceable because the fanbase demanded it in alpha.

You can't pet the dog but you can talk to him:

The fishing and bug catching systems are unique and fun.

When people find a rare/special resource like a Flow tree or palium ore, they'll call over zone chat to tell people where it is because everyone that hits a resource node will get the same reward no matter how many people are on it.

Crabs count as bugs so you can catch them!

Sifuu sent me a brick in the mail.

Cat people come from the moon, allegedly. Which moon? Probably the one that isn't on fire.

Concerned about too many people stripping the resources? The game is instanced and each instance only has a handful of players at a time. Even if they're all mining, or chopping trees, the nodes respawn fast enough to compensate. Plants and other things on the ground are not shared, so grab all those you want.

You can hunt for meat and leather, and there are a variety of animals that require different methods. Some of them teleport or clone themselves.

Speaking of hunting, you do so with a bow, and there's no blood or dead body. Bagged animals literally disappear and leave behind a bag which you loot.

You can climb and glide kind of like Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.

The housing system is pretty robust, almost like WildStar. You start with a tent and then get a house which you can add rooms to. You can find, buy, and craft furnishing and sometimes villagers will gift them to you.

There's no HP and no penalty for falling, so feel free to yeet yourself from high places in order to explore!

[lozeyart]

I drew Link from Tears Of The Kingdom!

I've always been a huge Zelda fan, and I've played both Breath Of The Wild and now Tears Of The Kingdom obsessively, my god they're just so fuckin' good.

Anyway, its about time I sketched some fanart of this guy here

[kandlewick]

i'll dry the villain's tears pt.1

you get reincarnated into a role that became the breaking point of the villain's story and you, be it an unwillingness to cause them harm or a desire to survive, must work hard to make sure they grow into a better (or at least safer) person.

all entries are meant to be read as platonic. All are meant to be taken place in the TWST universe accurate to the game.

When you awaken one morning, you find yourself nursing the worst headache of your life. Your eyes refuse to open as you hear a door open and the sound of shuffling footsteps. You quietly will whoever entered your room to leave but you can't even bring yourself to speak a single word and instead, only a huff of breath escapes your lips.

You can almost feel tears build up in your eyes as you feel a blissfully cold towel be pressed against your forehead and the small fingers that accompany it. Though they shake from nerves, they know what they're doing despite how young they obviously appear to be. With what is last of your strength, you force your eyes to open and quietly watch as the young boy in front of you lowers his hands until they reach his chest, his head tucked far between his shoulders, almost as if he was frightened of you waking up.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, gray eyes nervously swaying, "I thought that - you - you were burning up and the doctor said... I know it's not perfect, but I got worried and..."

His little body hid his shakes well but his voice betrayed him. He wanted to make sure you were ok but he was worried his attempts weren't good enough. For your sake or his own, you weren't entirely sure.

"Thank you..."

He almost didn't hear your soft whisper but when he did, he seemed to bloom. With pride, with happiness, with acceptance. As if that one little sincere word was the nicest thing he's ever heard in his entire existence.

"Get some rest, Mother," the boy spoke softly, his words more firm in their affection, "I'll make sure to wake you for your dinner. As soon as Mr. Bandersnatch heard that you fell ill and, although you said you don't much care for him, he's been causing quite a fuss a.."

Everything after that was lost to you as you faded away into a deep and dreamless sleep, the only thought left on the tip of your tongue was a quiet curse.

You've been reborn as the tyrant Queen of Heart's mother.

You awaken one day with perhaps the largest bump you've ever seen placed nearly perfectly center on your forehead. You don't remember how you got it but the two princes never left your side (Falena would not stop crying and despite his claims of laughter at your expense, you can tell his brother was equally worried), only being dragged away by their tutor as soon as they let their guard down.

You looked down at the hands on your lap and clutched your fists open and closed over and over again. Gone were your long fingers and wide palms, instead you look down at the chubby hands of a child no more then six.

From what your handmaiden had told you, the three of you had been playing spelldrive together and Leona, in his eagerness to best his brother, had shot the disk perhaps a bit too strong and instead of flying in to the goal, it had changed course and struck you hard enough to knock you unconscious for the rest of the early hours of the morning.

You remembered this event. It's what led to Falena's betrothed sticking closer to him and farther from Leona. What once was a well balanced trio had become a teeter totter with Falena and her on one side and Leona alone, unable to change anything with what little weight he had to offer.

Falena's betrothed; that was you. From the story you had read, the two were deeply in love and ruled the kingdom hand in hand towards a brighter future... all while unknowingly leaving the youngest brother in the shadows, forgotten and alone and desperate. You couldn't afford for that to happen.

You don't see the two of them until late that evening. Falena looked exhausted, like the tutoring had beaten any last bit of energy he could spare and with a loud yawn, had eagerly hopped into the cot next to you on your right. Leona was slow to join but settled himself to your left, his shoulder bumping yours.

"You look ridiculous," he spoke aloud, glancing at your bruised forehead. You just gave him your most unimpressed stare you could manage.

"Aaah! They're bleeding!"

"Ahahaha!"

"Ow!! They're biting me!! Get a teacher!!"

You couldn't see anything past the arms and tails flailing around you as you reached out and clawed and bit at anything that dared get too close to you, lashing out with everything your new and tiny body would allow. Your teeth were currently sunk deep in the tail flesh of a mermaid boy, his fists digging into your hair as he tried to pull you off of him.

Blinking past the shock, you could only bite harder, unwilling to let go of your prey. Despite the danger you were posing, you couldn't remember why you were biting this hard. Why this particular mermaid? What had he done that was worthy of your bite? It all didn't matter much as you were quickly hoisted up by the back of your neck and away from the shrieking mass of children. You could taste blood and flesh between your sharp teeth and you loudly spit it out, earning an even bigger wave of a response from the students.

"This is why we can't have piranhamer with the other students!" Cried an adult, "They only cause trouble!" They looked towards the source of the problem. Away from the other children and the source of your outuburst lied cowering octomer, spluttering and crying.

"What happened?" Your teacher seethed, eyes abruptly turning to you.

"I-I," you were taken aback that no one seemed to be comforting the child who stood alone and in a fit of rage unknown to you, you kicked and clawed at the hand holding you, your tiny fists barely making them flinch "They were bullying him!! I hate it!! I'll bite them over and over until they apologize!!"

"He's weird!" One mermaid child cried, her arms crossed, "And he made us lose in our swimming game because he's so slow and f-"

The teacher quickly reaffirmed their grip on you as you lunged towards her, your jaw snapping loudly causing her to shriek and dart behind the others, her tail barely peaking out from the crowd of mer.

Two eels watched in mild curiosity as you continued gnawing on your teachers arm, one with his arms crossed and another with an almost devilish grin on his face.

"Eheheh~ I like that one, Azul! Neh neh, Jade~ We should keep the little bitey one!"

"Fufufu~"

"Snff... snff......"

[bitterchocoo]

Who is He..?

Wriothesley | M. Reader

SPOILERS FOR WRIOTHESLEY'S STORY QUEST

----------

"A haunting face..... Is he a lost embrace..?"

----------

The sound of the children laughing and playing together echoes throughout the place. Such a lovely and cheerful place. The children's joy is contagious as one couldn't help but smile as they feel the joy that radiates from them.

On this particular day, the children circles around a boy--their older brother--as he reads them a book they begged him to read. He read it to them with a warm smile on his face. The sight of his younger siblings being happy and serene faces makes him the happiest. They may not be related by blood but the bond they made, the memories they've created. That what makes them family.

The teen read the book with passion as he gave different voices for the characters, bringing out laughter from the children.

Suddenly the teen felt something or rather--someone--hugging him from the back. Turning his head to the side the teen glance behind him and saw a younger boy with short black hair.

The boy didn't look up, instead he just buried his on the other's back the teen saw the opportunity and took it to tease the younger. "The Knight, badly wounded from his battle goes to the Alchemist for help." He continues to read the book for the children with a little twist to tease the boy. "Seeing the Knight in such a bad state the Alchemist immediately got to work and start making a potion that could help the Knight get back on his feet."

Putting a hand on his head the elder ruffled the younger's hair with a grin. "Now fully healed, the Alchemist decided to help the Knight defeat the dragon and together they were victorious, saving their kingdom!"

The children cheered at the story. Overjoyed at the conclusion of the story.

After the others left to play, the two is left alone and now that they're alone, the teen let out a sigh as he run his hand through the other's hair who's still hugging him from the back. "Did mother make you clean the windows again?" He asked with a soft and gentle voice.

He waited for a reply only to be met by silence. He was about to ask again before he felt the other nod and with that the elder turns around to face the boy and hugged him, he knew for a fact that he was at the verge of tears, after all this isn't the first time he goes to the elder for comfort as he cries his eyes out. He comforts the younger as he cries on his shoulder. Holding him close, running his hand though his hair, rubbing circles on his back. After a while he decided to break the ice and asked the boy.

"What happen this time?" There's no malice or annoyance in his voice, instead his voice his soft and gentle, he's not mad--no--not even the slightest.

"I lost my temper..."

"I know that your friends and siblings can be annoying but please.. be more patient, okay? They mean well."

"And remember... but on a happy face. A smile is always a joy to see, especially yours." The teen added with a smile of his own as he put both of his hands on the younger's cheeks and making him look up. The tear streaks were obvious on his cheeks as the teen use his thumbs to wipe them.

The black haired boy sniffed as he gave the other a small nod in response as he could feel his face becoming flustered by the affection and the underline meaning behind the other's words.

"Thank you..."

"Your welcome, W--"

.

.

"Your Grace!"

Wriothesley snapped out of his thoughts as he heard someone calling for him. Turning his head to the sound he was met by Sigewinne, the girl look at him with a concern expression. "You've spaced out for a really long time and you didn't respond when I called you, is something on your mind, Your Grace?"

Letting out a sigh Wriothesley gave her a smile and said. "I'm alright, Sigewinne, there's nothing to worry about. Just... reminiscing about the past.." Sigewinne continues to look at him with a concern expression before giving him a nod as she sees it as a sign to drop the subject.

My... how time flies...

Before they knew it they've grown up to be adults and as time passes, his memory began to blur.

Shaking his head Wriothesley look at the file on his desk, a file regarding the newest prisoner in the Fortress, a file he was supposed to be reading instead of reminiscing about the past. Taking the file he opens it and is immediately stun by the photo attached to the documents.

A man with [H. Color] hair and [E. Color] eyes with a neutral expression. He looks empty almost emotionless. One could tell him that it's a photo of a statue and he would believe them. But the question now is...

Who... who is he..? He felt like.. he saw him before..

He's a misty memory. A haunting face.

The cold and indifferent expression he has doesn't ring any bells and yet..

He felt that...

The expression didn't suit him. A smile would be more fitting. It would suit him best.

After all... 'A smile is always a joy to see, especially yours.'

That too, he felt as if someone had taught him that.. but who..?

Who was that person..? And most importantly... who is the man in the photo? Who is he?

.

.

It's been a few days since the new prisoner and every time Wriothesley see him from the corner of his eye. It's almost as if a fog entered his mind as he sees a teenager instead of the indifferent, dead-like man. It's strange.. almost bizarre..

Just... who is he..? Or rather..

Who is the teenager he sees?

Wriothesley also began to hear something... a voice. A voice that echoes the words of what others said to him.

"You look stress." "Are you alright?" "Have you try drinking tea? It usually helps." "Here, I made tea for you, it usually helps calm your mind."

"Your Grace, you don't have to do this, really it's just a trivial thing!" "You don't have to act like the "Hero" every time... they may still be children but please... you don't have to exhaust yourself like this.. have more faith in them."

"The Duke, huh?"

The voice is disoriented but he could make out the care, gentle, and softness of the voice. Almost as if he heard it before. As if... someone had once told him.

.

.

"Who would have thought.... you who would come running to me.. crying whenever mother was being "too harsh.""

"Is the very same child who killed his adoptive "parents"...."

"Did you lose your temper again?"

"Hopefully you have learned how to control them now... after all you've become the most respected man in this Fortress, no?"

"Mad? No.. I'm not mad... I'm not mad that you killed them.. Why should I? We're both sinners."

"Both you and I have blood on our hands."

"You have paid the price.. and I haven't.."

"It's time for me to pay the price...."

.

.

.

.

.

"[Name] [L. Name] has been found guilty and is sentenced to death."

[tonythr]

The Watcher's telescope view is a social commentary and here's why

Ok so let's set some things right first. City of Tears is amazing.

(Yes, Pale Court is also an amazing mod)

I've played Hollow Knight many times, and City of Tears is probably the one location I never get tired of. The scenery, the lore, the room layout, the music, the atmosphere - it's all perfect. It's the culmination of Halllownest's beauty, the peak of the game's art style, and the narrative's most essential location. City of Tears is the heart of Hollow Knight.

This game is a story about a Kingdom and its death, a tragedy of a society that was built on dreams of light but ultimately was consumed by the light so much that darkness became its only hope. And City of Tears stands at the center of this story. So it's fitting that the themes of corrupted dreams, society flaws, and dark hopes are what shape the lore and atmosphere of this beautiful, gorgeous location.

Did you ever notice that the tears of this Kingdom are dark despite them originating in a glowing blue lake, and the waters that flood the streets are almost as dark as the void in the Abyss? Do you ever think about how the vibrant blue color of the City is basically a culmination of how the color blue is presented in other locations (Howling Cliffs, Forgotten Crossroads, and later Royal Waterways being more of a remix of it), and how it's tied to the very essence of Hallownest (and how Resting Grounds, the location that contains Blue Lake and also uses a bright blue color, represent the very foundation of Hallownest's history, that being Seer's story about the Moth Tribe's betrayal that started the war between Pale King and the Radiance)? Do you feel like Soul Master basically represents the thunder and the lightning in this never-ending rain? Do you get it????

Anyway yeah, there are many things that can be said about City of Tears, and this is hopefully not the last time I make a post about it. What I want to talk about here is the City's society.

Basically, Monomon said it better than anyone could:

It's a very complicated topic. The narrative basically explores the inner mechanisms of a free mind, how its primary need is finding a purpose, and how its purpose turns out to be a constant need of... something. Anything. As long as there is something to want, a free mind will want it. As long as there is something to yearn for, something to enjoy, something to dream about, our minds are going to move in its direction, never wanting to stop. Because a stasis is worse than death. Because a world without dreams is an empty world.

But then again, isn't constant yearning another instance of, well, constance? If dreams never end but also never evolve, doesn't that create another kind of stasis?

Like I said, it's very complicated. Let's go back to what I was getting at in the first place. What I actually wanted to say is this:

Theese guys fucking fucked up as a society.

It's classic dystopian shit (or maybe I'm using the wrong word, but you get the point). Rich people are living in luxury while the rest are suffering. They're making gold a fucking religion and are seeing it as the only beauty in the world. The corrupt upper class are using heavy gatekeeping on the lower class.

Literally.

What's interesting is that, at first, we barely see any lower class bugs in the City. There's suspiciously few regular husks in this location, compared to how many rich guys are on the eastern side. But then we get to Soul Sanctum and it all starts to make sense.

There are no red cloaks in those corpse piles. Only the poor were killed for those experiments. It can't be a coincidence. It's straight-up elitism-based genocide (again, I don't know if I'm using the right terms, correct me if there's a better way to say that, but the point is clear).

Also, see how many streets are flooded on the western side in comparison to the eastern side.

Point is, the bugs that ruined the kingdom by always wanting more (what Monomon wrote about) are most likely theese rich ones. It's a very fitting thing for this dystopian narrative: neverending greed that leads to the downfall of a civilization.

There's a note in the Hunter's Journal that describes it in the best way possible:

For every location in the game, there is a place that functions as the center of its essence, its narrative heart, the culmination of its themes. For Queen's Gardens it's the White Lady's cocoon, for Greenpath it's the Lake of Unn, and for City of Tears (or at least its eastern part, the one with the upper class) it's the Watcher's Spire. The tallest building of the great capital. The home of (evidently) the most rich and influential bug of the City's high society. Literally the top of this social hierarchy.

He is also arguably the most mysterious dreamer out of all three. I mean, why does he have only one eye? What type of bug is he? How did he get this much power? Does he really have some kind of connection with the Collector? Is he a motherfucking fluke? Why does he seem to have an obsession with serving the King?

That last question is kinda answered by the cut content though.

That last sentence is kinda confusing. Is it regret? Is it humility? Is it pride in his sacrifice? In any case, here we see that Lurien actually knew that the Pale King was literally a god, and desired to worship him, like any other bug yearns to worship some kind of deity. So while other bugs of Hallownest worshiped PK because he was a monarch, albeit a godlike one (for all they knew he could be just an extraordinary bug, but a bug nonetheless), Lurien worshiped him as an actual god. And the intricacies of worshiping a god are one of the central themes of the game. From the moth tribe's betrayal of Radiance leading to the birth of the Infection to the Godseeker's shenanigans leading to the birth of the Shade Lord - the game makes multiple statements about gods, religious devotion and the semantics of divine power. Just that one idea that a god takes its power from the ones that worship it deserves its own post - heck, it deserves its own book.

So yeah, Lurien's devotion to the King is an important part of the story. He sure is an important character in this narrative. He also got a cool house. Being able to observe the entirety of the Hallownest's capital is badass.

But there's one thing I find odd about all that, and it's the moment we get to actually look through his legendary telescope.

Is it just me, or does this feel kinda... Underwhelming? Almost disappointing? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love this view, it's beautiful, and I would certainly love to be able to see something like this with my own eyes irl, but, looking at this picture, I can't help but wonder...

Did he actually see anything from up there?

In cut dialogue, Lurien talks about how he loves the City's streets, and his hidden lore tablet contains words about his love for bugkind, but... I see neither any streets on this image, nor any bugs (that are not vengeflies). Only spiked rooftops and rainy fog, clouding the view of the actual City.

And sure, the Spire has many windows and even had multiple watchers who were helping Lurien with overseeing the capital...

But his own spot was always this one.

His telescope was sealed in one place, letting him see only a small portion of the City and its life. Almost like his own worldview was stuck in one perspective.

Notice the wording here. It's not "The Seals must remain". It's "Bonds must remain". He's not thinking just about the Seals containing the Infection. He's thinking about the whole Kingdom needing to stay unchanged. His dream is the stasis that the Knight (and also Monomon, Hornet and, in a sense, even Radiance) want to end. The stasis that the Pale King wanted to create in order for his Kingdom (and therefore himself) to be eternal. The stasis that would allow for both Pale King and Lurien's worship of him to remain forever.

But there is always a cost to ascending higher than others, and it's that you can no longer see what's going on below or who's suffering down there. I think Lurien, sitting atop the tallest tower, was actually detached from the struggles of regular bugs. He and his Spire are the culmination of the City's upper class' ignorance towards the ones who were below them on the social hierarchy. A dreamer who dreamt of watching over the very heart of the holy civilization lived so high up he could no longer see his beloved world in its complicated, detailed entirety – and the tears of the stasis created by those like him only blinded him more.

All those flooded streets, those broken buildings, those empty halls, those starving bugs, those sealed doors - even though he watched over them, he couldn't see them.

I'm pretty sure Lurien didn't even know about the Soul Master's experiments, despite the fact that the Soul Sanctum was located right next to his Spire.

Or maybe he knew but chose to turn a blind eye to it (pun intended).

But it's kind of poetic, isn't it? It's the beauty of the tragedy of this game's characters. A Beast who had to surrender everything to the opposing civilization. A Teacher who could no longer teach. A Watcher who couldn't see the truth.

And all that makes me wonder... How much suffering could the Pale King see, standing on that platform at the top of the Abyss, facing away from the pit where his children died?

TL;DR: Lurien's point of view was too high up to actually see what was truly going on down there, both literally and metaphorically. His desire to worship the Pale King made him ignorant of the struggles of regular bugs. Similarly, the extreme elitism of the high society of Hallownest lead to ignorance, discrimination and greed, which ultimately caused the sprawl of the Infection. This side of Lurien's story might also parallel the Pale King's with his ignorance towards the discarded vessels.

TL;DR²: Eat the rich