#TALANAH DIED FOR THIS..........!!!!!!!!

[dany36]

I'M SORRY WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WITNESS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE "HIS AMUSEMENT" QUEST HELLO???

HELLO HELLO HELLO?????? GAYLOY IS REAL????????? ALOY GETTING FLUSTERED?? HOLDING HER HAND OUT TO SEYKA AND THE WAY SHE LOOKED AT HER AFTERWARDS???? I'M SORRY WHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHATWHAT!!!! "SEYKA SEEMS BETTER. GOOD. WE'RE GOOD. OKAY. CAN'T GET DISTRACTED FROM THE TASK AT HAND"!?!?!?! THE WOMAN CAN'T STOP SMILING!!!!!!

i apologize for all this yelling but HOLY SHIT!!!!! are they really doing it?!?!

[theartofloss]

I really love all the little parallels and similarities between Talanah and Aloy's stories

Losing a father (/figure) during an event where he fought to keep them safe

Living up to the legacy of their dead family, wheb all of them died courageous and selfless deaths

Fighting to make a change and serve a greater purpose

Feeling the weight of stereotypes placed on them by society

Training devoutly for years in order to achieve an almost impossible goal they set for themselves, trying to right a wrong that was done

[rebeccathornewrites]

I have an MFA in writing, 5 years of therapy, and far too much time. buckle up for my analysis of Gayloy from burning shores

Ok the MFA is coming in 3 weeks, but WHOO BOY i have thoughts.

Click below for spoilers. DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU FINISH.

As a bi woman who writes lesbians professionally, I want it known that I was 1000% on board with them as a couple, and cleared literal days of my schedule to play it and confirm.

And I still don't think Aloy is ready for romance. I think The Kiss is the least plausible, and least enjoyable, of the three endings.

Let's dive into why.

It starts at childhood, as always.

Aloy has grown up an outcast. She relied on herself and Rost--and then Rost died, and it was just her. Every single chance she's had, she's rebuked romance. She wrote it off as "I'm saving the world" or "I just don't know how people work yet," but the reality is that she doesn't know HOW to rely on people.

Vulnerability is a learned skill.

I'll say it again. VULNERABILITY is a LEARNED skill.

Some people, those with healthy households, learn this skill early on, and practice it often. Those are the people we see giving everything of themselves to someone they love. They feel deeply, empathize well, and have happy relationships.

And then there's people like Aloy. Someone who was shown love from one person--and a whole lotta hate from the rest of them. Someone who grew up being told that she couldn't rely on a tribe--because if she failed the Proving, there wouldn't BE a tribe to rely on. Rost hoped for the best... and prepared her for the worst.

Then she dove into the world at large, and was presented time and time again with romance opportunities. The Sun King is the biggest one--obviously his infatuation ran deep, but of course it would, finding the one person in a whole kingdom who'd challenge him. She turned him down, and in her mind, she probably reasoned it away in a neat little box.

"I'm not like the other suitors he's met. He only likes me because I'm different."

This can be true.

"But he doesn't know who I really am."

This can be true--but it's also a defense mechanism. A barrier Aloy placed to protect herself from rejection. Because if she convinces herself these people don't really know her, it's easy for her to keep them at arm's length.

Easy to be the lone warrior.

We see the same kind of thing with Varl, hoping to follow her into the wilds. With Erend, so excited to see her, so irritated she doesn't reciprocate. Kotollo viewed her admirably, although I think his personality is a bit too subservient to truly challenge Aloy (essentially his commander) into the growth she needs.

Man after man demonstrated their affection, and she held them all at arm's length. For the good of the world, right?

So, okay. She's a lesbian--or at the very least, bi or pan. We can reason away the men, certainly, but she uses the same techniques with the women. Talanah, our fan favorite, was truly a perfect match for Aloy. Strong, resilient, excellent fighter. They progressed in the same way Seyka did--and yet, Talanah was deep in the throes of another man.

Which was probably a huge fucking relief to Aloy. Because if Talanah was after a guy... then she wasn't an option for Aloy.

Which means Aloy didn't have to do any intensive introspection to discover why they might be a good match.

She could wave Talanah away, and feel absolutely no remorse or grief when Talanah returned home. In fact, Aloy might have even left that experience feeling satisfied that she helped a friend--and be utterly oblivious to the chemistry they could have had.

This is how avoidant people--those who haven't learned to trust, to rely on others, to show vulnerability--experience the world.

And this is somewhat devastating, because Talanah's quest came at the exact time that Varl was teaching Aloy how to empathize, lean on people, be vulnerable for the first time in her life. Aloy didn't have to do it alone--and if Talanah had been in a position to receive it, I think they could have had a spectacular romance.

But it didn't happen.

So, we move on.

Aloy loses Varl, learns to lean on her friends, learns to let people in. This alone is spectacular character growth--but it's easy to have friends. Humans crave it. We need companionship, so once Varl laid the groundwork, Aloy was able to embrace this.

We don't see her embracing romance.

Until Seyka.

This is where the potential had me--and the execution lost me.

Because Seyka is presented as this fantastic option for Aloy--and the starving, desperate fanbase standing behind her. From the first interaction, I had high hopes. When Aloy says, "you must be confused," and Seyka basically responds with "confused about why you'd FLY towards that TOWER OF DEATH, maybe," I was ready for someone who challenges Aloy.

I wanted a love interest who was more competent than Aloy in some ways. I actually liked Varl in that way, before he found Zo: the fact that he challenged Aloy to push her own comfort level in order to embrace others was a great complement to Aloy's abrasive nature.

Seyka, while fantastic, almost feels like an Aloy clone.

They're both competent, capable, and closed-off. They're both hiding secrets to spare the others' feelings--when in reality, they're sparing themselves from tough conversations.

Because that's what Aloy, at least, has been trained to do. Bear the burden alone to spare the others. Fight the machine alone to keep the others safe. She protects fiercely, which means that she never has to be the one experiencing loss.

How convenient. >.>

I love the idea of Seyka. I can't wait to see where fanon takes her personality. But right now, with just the DLC content, it feels like she's the caricature of a romantic interest for Aloy. The perfect girl--in theory. But not when you consider psychology.

There was a huge missed opportunity when Aloy finally revealed Nemesis's existence, in my opinion. Aloy protected Seyka from this Big, Dangerous News to help her morale--and to keep from ruining what they've developed with something possibly devastating.

She finally told Seyka... and Seyka responded by literally fleeing the room in horror.

I get that everyone needs time to process these things. But in my mind, all that reaffirmed for Aloy is, "My instincts were right. I can't rely on others with this Big, Dangerous News. They can't handle it. So, I have to handle it for them."

There was SUCH an opportunity there. A chance for Aloy to tell her, and for Seyka to contemplate it for a moment, smile, and say, "I'm glad you told me. Let's tackle it together."

Something to show Aloy, in that concrete moment, that this is a person she can rely on.

That is what would have made Seyka great, to me.

Everything that followed after is a series of insta-love, in my opinion. Aloy looks at Seyka with near-literal hearts in her eyes, but it didn't feel earned. By the end, I don't feel like Seyka did anything unique that Aloy's friends in Forbidden West hadn't already done to her at some point: rescue her, adventure with her, stop a massive scheme with her.

Seyka, in my mind, doesn't currently have enough personality of her own to stand out. She's just another soldier in Aloy's army.

There will be [straight] people angry at the LGBT+ rep here, and I don't even feel that our community can argue it. As far as lesbian rep goes, that was not a great example of a natural romance. It felt forced for most of that DLC.

But that romance could be great. And that's where I love that the developers added options other than the kiss. As much as I loved the idea of them kissing, I still don't buy it with the scenes we were given.

Seyka latched onto Aloy because Aloy treated her with admiration at a time when Seyka's tribe nearly disowned her. Fair. I believe Seyka might truly be in love with Aloy.

But Aloy herself? There's no way in hell she'd be diving into a romantic relationship after one single adventure with this girl--even one as sweeping as this. Aloy doesn't know who Seyka is. Aloy hasn't seen Seyka in a relaxed setting--only one where she's panicking for her tribe, her sister, and the future. And Aloy's brain will be too logic-entrenched to succumb to emotional impulse alone.

Because that's the interesting thing about avoidant people. They rely on themselves, and their logic. That's what's kept them alive until this point. If Aloy showed vulnerability in the past, she put herself at risk in every sense of the word.

Even Seyka wouldn't be enough to break that barrier right away.

But I do think she could try in the sequel, and that's why I'm thrilled for this character. Someone the developers can truly use to force Aloy to grow emotionally.

To do that, though, the developers will have to dive into Seyka, and show me why she's the person for Aloy. What about her history makes her The Candidate? It can't just be that she's "an inspiration." I need more than that. I need to see Seyka in a relationship, coaxing Aloy through the moments of panic and shattering the barriers Aloy erects out of fear, under the guise of "logic."

Show me that, and I'm on board with a kiss.

Until then, I'll go write some fanfiction.

Sincerely,

An avoidant working through her own shit.

Thank you very much for attending my TED Talk.

[polarolds]

Redmaw - Alt. Ending

was thinking… what if Talanah got mortally wounded during that fight? what ifff Aloy was the one to save and patch her up? what if✨feelings✨were realized in the process?? c’mon Guerilla it was right there and you gave it to Am*dis >:(

[xxbloop-meep14]

Alright burning shores my fucking god is it awesome. oh and perhaps some spoilers.

I love that damn dlc so much it is so bloody awesome, I didn't expect anything. like actually I saw nothing coming but i'm dumb so, BUT IT WAS ALL A NICE SURPRISE... well I mean I knew Aloy was simping for women I mean look at Petra, Talanah uh damn cant think of anymore, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IM SAYING. but dude the way Aloy was gay panicking through the whole dam thing dude she's so damn cute, and when you finish the dlc and go talk to seyka and she's just chilling she says "I miss you.. well not now since your here but *sigh* you know what I mean.." dude I was on the floor and she says "its selfish but I kinda want you to stay.." when I say I was crying bro I was crying. I loved the dlc so much it was bloody epic.

and ive shipped a good few people with her but, seyka is truly the best she's so awesome and Aloy seems really happy around her so, HELL YEAH SEYKA AND ALOY FOREVER!!... well I shipped people with Aloy but always kept in mind that, that shit will never happen, Aloy has to save the world as if she has time for a partner so I love seyka and Aloy but, its also hella realistic which im pretty happy about I think having a partner and saving the world damn that's a lot having to think like, what if she doesn't do it what if she cant and she lied to her girlfriend gave her false hope and now there both gonna die because of her. IT WOULD BE VERY SAD. so its cool they kept that in mind.

oh and the battles. bro. the fucking fighting. it was so awesome like so incredibly enjoyable, when I died hate to admit I would get distracted and fucking die BUT. I wouldn't even get mad.. well I would have a slight reaction but I was still excited to do it again, learn from my dumb mistakes stare at that dumb Horus one more time before I destroy it.

and the story was pretty epic loved everything about the dlc.

Bonus thought.

dude Aloy having fun collecting dinosaur figures is so awesome, her doing the quiz game bro I love when game creators give the character small breaks from life, its so awesome!!

[cicadaknight]

tag game (horizon)

tagged by @artekai 💕🤝💖 thanks, pal!

1. ride or die ship: fashav/kotallo straight to my grave. mythological tragedies, those two, i tell you what.

2. most annoying ship: the boat aloy takes to san francisco. can you imagine, never rowing before in your life and making that trek through choppy currents and storms? insufferable.

3. second favorite ship: aloy/kotallo. the parallels of aloy and kotallo being forced into roles they never wanted, being alone and outcast from their tribes, moving through their grief and rage by learning to trust a new found family? being seen by another for more than their physical prowess but their humanity and creativity? excellent shit.

4. favorite platonic relationship: SYLENS AND BETA AND GAIA. Sylens getting taken down a fucking peg or two by a teenage girl and an infinitely compassionate AI. Beta being able to collaborate with someone (and an AI) who sees well beyond her mistakes and faults. GAIA finding consistent, complex companions who remind her fondly of Lis. Sylens making Beta food and teaching her how to cook. HELP ME.

5. Underrated ship: So many. I really love Aloy/Drakka. The idea of him being such a counter to Aloy’s single-minded focus on saving the world by being an absolute goober. But her seeing that he cares so very deeply about doing the right thing and protecting his people. Alva/Beta is sweet. I dig Erend/Talanah.

6. overrated ship: the odyssey. just kidding, i already made a joke about a boat.

7. one thing i would change in canon: the entire last act? specifically varl’s death, that kotallo doesn’t fly to the grove with aloy, that aloy ends the entire tenakth/regalla conflict via single combat duel, and then fights alone twice more with erik and tilda. RIP all the build up to aloy understanding that she’s not alone and all the people in her life are as competent and complex and have just as much stake in the fate of the world as she does. and beyond that, i deeply regret the way they wrote talanah in hfw. she shoulda had that fourth bunk in the base.

8. something canon did right: don’t get me wrong, i wish fashav hadn’t died at barren light, but i love his back story and everything we find out through his journals. added so much nuance to carja and tenakth cultures and characters in just a handful of paragraphs.

9. a thing i’m proud of creating for the fandom: i’ve been in a perpetual state of burnout for yeeeeeears. this kotallo portrait was the first piece i’ve drawn in ages. i’m also working on a bookbinding project and doing art for Kotallo with amazing folks on Focus on the Heart.

10. a character who is perfect to me: Hekarro. I hope the writers, animators, and actor who made him come to life are very proud of their work.

11. character i relate to most and why: uhhh like every other neurodivergent queer with trauma and parental issues, i gotta go with beta.

12. character(s) i hate most and why: tekkoteh. absolute steaming pile of shit. genuinely every time i think i’ve reached peak hatred for that slime, someone writes a beautiful fic where i find myself despising him more. in my interpretation, there’s no world where he didn’t take advantage of, manipulate, and abuse kotallo after his parents died.

13. something i’ve learned from the fandom: awww this is cheesy, but i learned how to take a chance and post things i make again. most people are so curious and so excited to discuss lore or characters in good faith. oh, recently i did discover i missed MANY post-mission dialogues for side quests on my first few playthroughs.

14. three tags i seek out on ao3: i’m guaranteed to get drawn into anything re: kotallo and fashav’s early marshal days, lis character development, aloy/kotallo hurt/comfort (sue me)

15. a song i associate strongly with my otp/favorite character: i made this playlist based off this fic. it’s basicallg my score for fashav and kotallo falling in love during their marshal duties. instants by skúli sverrisson and anything by hermanos gutiérrez sends me into pondering fashav and kotallo’s lives together.

i’m gonna tag @poulticepurse @fogsblue @rowanisawriter @ayaitch @robo-dino-puppy if y’all wanna do this?

[wildflowerswildhorses]

I just fucking DIED and Talanah had the audacity to quip "now's not the time to die"

LIKE THANKS GIRL BUT TOO DAMN LATE FOR THAT BECAUSE I'M ALREADY DEAD

[foibles-fables]

I got way too excited seeing a Hunt-A-Killer box labeled 'Mystery at the Hunter's Lodge'. It's apparently based on an Agatha Christie short story but I was suddenly struck with an image of Aloy and Talanah solving an elaborate mystery. Maybe a hunter who was sent off on a contract with deliberately crappy gear so they died to a machine; who would have the motive to set up something so elaborate? Detective Sunhawk and Inspector Thrush are on the case! :P

okay now see THIS is an AU I would actually entertain, hahaha. Artists, I'm going to need to see these two depicted in trench coats and fedoras ASAP PLS

[elffees]

It is so hot that Talanah’s sidequest in FW is about a dude searching for information about his Lost Love™️ who he thought to have died, only for it to be revealed she’s completely fine and when they’re reunited she just goes “dude it’s been 5 years, I moved on already. you didn’t? damn that must suck” and then just leaves like that is so funny rip to Amadis but that’s my wife now

[thescientistowl]

Dawn Eases Night

Right, so after a little reworking, I finally finshed writing the first chapter of my first Horizon/Niloy fic! I haven't written ANYTHING in a few years, so I am incredibly rusty at this (and for that, I am sorry).

It is flasback heavy, but they will be clearly laid out with underlined and italised timestamps, so you'll know when we're back in the present... hopefully, anyway. I also haven't had it beta read, and it isn't edited to the best of my already terrible ability. Again, I am so sorry.

I'm posting it here, on our beloved hellsite, because the Horizon and Niloy fanbases here are based. I also don't have an Ao3 account, and I'm sure my old FF.net account has probaly died by now anyway.

The story takes place post HFW, so expect spoilers, and at the minute I have warnings for canon typical violence and occasional strong language. This WILL change down the line as the story is going to visit some dark topics, but I'll update those warnings as I go.

So, the story is under the cut! Please enjoy the first chapter of Dawn Eases Night! If you want to send me any constructive criticism, then please feel free to do so :) .

Chapter 1: The Trail We Leave Behind

     Red. Purple. Screaming. Aloy was surrounded by it all.

     A thick miasma of acrid smoke filled her lungs, stealing her air, choking her from the inside. GAIA was dead. And the world… the world was burning.

     Around her, machines of black and gold and furious purple tore down those that she loved. Beta’s cries were snuffed out as furious Spectres surrounded her. Zo, Kotallo and Alva lay crushed in a Slaughterspine’s wake. Erend, as brave as he was, had tried to handle several machines at once. They shot him dead. Talanah and Petra shot together in unison, but they were set upon by Stalkers, filled with darts and left to bleed. And behind them, a group of Chargers, bearing riders, fought back as best as they could before they too were ripped apart… but the last man standing among them put up the most furious of fights. Even then, Nil fell too.

     Aloy tried to scream, but sound would not come. Movement would not carry her to their sides.

      More familiar faces of her friends - of Carja, Tenakth, Oseram, Nora, Utaru, Quen and Banuk – fell to the machines or the toxic air that stole their breath, and there, in the distance, were Varl and Rost, their skin grey and their eyes cold, beckoning her towards her own demise, promising her that death was the release that she deserved.

     It was never supposed to be like this. She was supposed to fix it! How could she not fix it!?

     There was so much pain. She burned, she sputtered, and above her the red light of a now not so distant enemy loomed over her, mocking her. The screams of the people of the world, innocent people who couldn’t understand what was happening to them, filled her head.

     She had failed. She had failed all of them. It was all her fault…

     Aloy woke with a sharp breath, her lungs aching for the air that had been denied to her in her dreams. With frantic eyes she searched her surroundings; a storage chest sat nearby, shadowed by a set of well used training mannequins and old bookshelves filled with small tokens from her travels. She took stock of her position, her body laid out flat on a comfortable surface and covered with several blankets. Her bed. She was in her bedroom.

     Forcing steady breaths, Aloy slowly counted backwards from ten, feeling her chest rise and fall to the rhythm she had implemented on herself, and deliberately drowned out the sound of her panicked heartbeat. She needed to move. Movement would clear her head.

     Rising slowly and methodically from her mattress of Utaru make, Aloy moved around the desk that hid her bed from the full view of the door, her fingers running along the cool metal to help ground herself. The recycled air around her was cool without the warmth of her blankets but she found that she did not mind it at all – it reminded her of early mornings spent in the wilds, when the world was not yet quite awake, and the sun’s first rays had yet to warm the landscape.

     With no real sense of direction, Aloy followed her feet as her body ran on instinct, leading her towards the common room beyond the door that opened with no command. 

     The Base was awfully quite now that most of her friends had returned to their homes, as free as they possibly could be before their looming fight against an apparently insurmountable threat. The Zeniths may have been defeated by their hands, but they had left them with one last parting shot, albeit an unintended one.

     Nemesis. An angry red lingered in the forefront of her vision, the last vestige of her almost fevered dream, and Aloy fought to shake it away, taking a few unsteady steps into the open space as she did.

     The common room itself was quiet and empty, save for the gentle hum of the holographs and electronics surrounding her, and in the dim light Aloy could see the trinkets and decorations left behind by her friends; Erend had left his Machine Strike board and several kegs of Scrappersap, Zo her many, many plants, and Kotallo’s piece of the Bulwark remained standing proud nearby. Alva had even graced the floors with a few Quen rugs before she had returned to Legacy’s Landfall.  GAIA had taken to humming quietly in the small hours of the morning, her digitised voice a soothing and gradual wake up call to all in the Base, but one that was broken by a soft snore that came from Beta’s new bedroom – the one that had once been shared by Varl and Zo – and Aloy smiled. All of these things served to remind her that her night terrors were wrong: she wasn’t alone.

     So then, why did she feel like the loneliest soul on the face of this planet? 

     With little else more to do than sit, Aloy made her way to the breakfast bar in the centre of the room, her naked feet padding gently across the soft Quen mats (and Aloy really would have to thank Alva for these the next time they spoke – they felt so good under her toes!). She found her perch atop one of the barstools and, with a great sigh of relief, rested her head against the metal of the counter, the contact alone cooling her sweat-soaked forehead. When had she even begun to sweat?

     As her arms came to lay flat next to her head, Aloy felt a small and wooden thing brush against her knuckles. A tingle burned alight in the base of her head, as she looked up and came face to face with the most delicate figurine of a Charger. Her fingers reached out to stroke it, a smile casting across her lips the whole time, and her eyes flicked to another figure next to it, also made of wood, but one that was cast in the shape of a Tallneck. Both figures had been dyed, the blue of calmed lights contrasting with the light grey of the machine’s metal plating. Both were crafted by a pair of hands that could create such miniature wonders, but they could also destroy, killing in the most visceral of ways.

     Memories of campfires and long conversations flooded her vision. Sometimes there were bandit camps on the horizon, and sometimes there were only the wilds, the dunes of the Sundom or the rolling hills of the Nora Sacred Lands. But always there was her, and him; the man that she had first encountered surrounded by corpses as she approached on the back of her newly acquired Strider, who had spoken so softly to her as though he had not just run through several bandits with his blade and bow.

     Her smile grew as she remembered his introduction. ‘Call me Nil’, he had insisted, and though Aloy’s instinct knew this to be a false identity she had, at the time, no desire to push for the truth from this stranger who had offered to help her with the nearby bandit camp – one that threatened the Nora that she was now sworn to protect. He had only been of aid to her then, a temporary companion to help her on what was only one small part of her larger journey… or so that was what she had originally thought.

----------

Several months ago, outside the Gatelands camp…

     “I thought we were partners.”

     “I have my own roads to follow, Nil.”

     Aloy’s stride was unwavering as she walked away from what had been the Gatelands bandit camp. Her once empty packs now sat heavy at her waist, full of the slagshine glass that she had taken from each marauder that she had killed. Hopefully the pieces would fetch a decent price - she was running low on supplies.

     Two heavy footsteps echoed in the open canyon around them, and Nil appeared in the corner of her sight. He easily outpaced her with his long legs, and soon he was leading the way down the path that Aloy had intended to travel alone.

     “And they seem to lead back to bandits.” He countered, looking over his shoulder with a crooked smile. “That works for me, I’m not suggesting a Carja wedding. I’m never lonely when there’s killing to be done.”

     Aloy rolled her eyes. She was beginning to regret engaging with him in the Sacred Lands, because now their meetings were becoming infuriatingly frequent and Aloy was sure that he was following her. Rost had often warned her of the dangers that men like Nil could pose - those who appeared friendly, but who would later appear from nowhere by pure ‘chance’… She would have to put an arrow between his eyes if this continued.

     If only she knew of another route to Meridian. If only she still had her Strider, but the damn thing had sacrificed itself in a fight with a roaming Sawtooth. But Aloy was not worried – she could override several machines now, but any override made on a machine that she could ride seemed to be its own, very unique, override - one that seemed to remember its past lives in the several machines it had inhabited. Perhaps Aloy would have to name this particular piece of override code…  

     As they drew level with the opening landscape, Aloy spotted something huge and bulky in the distance; a large and terrifying bipedal machine that roamed the heights above them. Aloy had never seen a machine so big, save for the Tallneck at Devil’s Thirst, and so she ignored Nil and instead raised her hand to her focus. With a melodic blip a burst of purple light encased her in a large orb, one seemingly made of an ever shifting net, and the machine - and it’s weak points - were highlighted clearly for her to see. As the machine turned towards the path on which they walked, the old-world glyphs formed a name in front of her eyes: Thunderjaw.

     Her pulse quickened in anticipation of a fight, but then the machine turned and moved away, seemingly unaware of their presence.

     A short breath of relief, and Aloy dismissed the web of light around her.

     Nil, meanwhile, had continued talking. He didn’t even seem to notice that Aloy had not been paying attention to him. But as her ears reattuned to his voice she heard only words of violence, of murder, of bloodshed. Of war. She heard how he revelled in it, and something in her core quaked, as it had done, during their assaults on Gatelands and Devil’s Thirst. How could someone enjoy such chaos? There was still so much about the world beyond the Sacred Lands that she did not know, but she was quickly learning more and more about the ‘Red Raids’, and from the sound of his words Aloy wondered if Nil had seen or had been a part of this war.

     Her curiosity was piqued.

     “So, you used to be a soldier?” She interrupted his monologising, not caring for the furrow of Nil’s brows as he frowned. “You fought for the Carja?”

     “For them, against them,” his expression slowly softened as he responded, “an empire always finds its wars. You can’t be picky.”

     The path below them followed the slight slope of a gentle hillside, and Aloy soon found herself keeping an even pace with the strange Carja beside her as he took shorter steps. The sun beat down on them relentlessly, but where Aloy was clearly beginning to suffer and sweat from the heat Nil instead seemed to revel in it, stretching out his arms to the warming rays.

     He looked at her pointedly before he continued.

     “The new king, Avad, saw things differently. Called an investigation into war crimes. Aren’t all wars a crime to someone?”

     Silently, Aloy agreed.

     “Still,” he continued, his voice so casually matter-of-fact, “I raised my hand and volunteered.”

     Aloy stopped, her feet digging into the loose stones and dirt beneath her. “You volunteered? To investigate?”

     Nil also stopped, turning around to face her head on. From his lower position on the path, he was finally on an equal eye level with her.

     “No, I volunteered my confession. No sense wasting time with an investigation.” A small smile played with his lips, and his eyes gleamed in the sunlight. “I was sent to Sunstone Rock for two years. The trade was fair.”

     He turned on his heel then, continuing his descent, and Aloy, now infuriated with his indirect answers, stomped after him.

     “They sent you to a rock for two years?” She demanded, confused. “Is this some kind of Carja ritual?”

     Nil laughed then, his voice echoing from the few surrounding rock faces, and Aloy silently fumed. She didn’t know! How dare he laugh at her.

     “No, no, Sunstone Rock is a prison,” he continued through his dying laughter. “South of Meridian. South of the Raingathers. Our new Sun-King is a believer in rehabilitation - as am I.” He looked once more over his shoulder as Aloy caught up to him. “In the heat of a stone cell, in the dark, I learned to focus on what was truly important to me.”

     Aloy wondered what it was that Nil considered to be ‘truly important’ and then balked at the thought. Maybe she didn’t want to know.

     “What were these things you did, Nil?”

     “Acceptable things, under the circumstances.”

     She frowned. “Acceptable to who?” Perhaps she didn’t want to know the answer to this either.

     He smiled, and Aloy supposed it was a genuine attempt to put her at ease, but the glint of… something… in those cold silver eyes did absolutely nothing to calm the sense of dread that was slowly beginning to claw its way up from her stomach.

     “I don’t make decisions.” He stated with a finality to his tone that was so blunt it sent her mind reeling. “Let’s just say the rules of engagement suited me. But rules are important. A structure.” He paused. “A cage.”

     Aloy was wary as he rounded on her, her fingers instinctively flexing for a weapon.

     Nil’s voice was low as he took one small step towards her, keeping a respectable distance between them as he did. “Otherwise… you know of those places? Lonely places where people once were, now just a hole cut into the world? Chances are, I was there before.”

     He gazed down at her, unblinking, his eyes thinning, and Aloy knew that he was scrutinising her. She wouldn’t back down. Instead, Aloy straightened her back and glared up at him, her entire frame exuding defiance at whatever it was that Nil was examining her for. If he was trying to decide if she was easy prey, then he should already have his answer from their shared time at the bandit camps.

     Seconds passed until Nil’s piercing gaze relaxed. Clearly, he had found what it was that he had been looking for.

     “A brief encounter for us, but the end for them,” he smiled pleasantly, looking back down the hill to where the path forked. One branch was the more direct road to Meridian. The other led away from civilisation and further into the rocky landscape of the Sundom. And now Nil was making his way towards that very path.

     Briefly he paused, turning to her with a smile that was all teeth and violence. “They were squalid lives anyway.”

     Aloy could only stand, stunned, as he slowly vanished. Yes, the bandit’s lives were forfeit for their crimes, she agreed with him on that, but his love for bloodshed, his obvious pride in the unnamed crimes he had committed during the war… he was no better than the bandits he deemed below him.

Hopefully, said bandits would simply wise up and leave. Hopefully she would never have to see or hear from Nil again.

----------

A month later, in the jungles of The Jewel…

     To say Aloy was frustrated would be an understatement. Between the bloody gash on her thigh and the clumsy loss of her tripcaster and medical supplies, Aloy wasn’t sure if today was just a bad day, or if her lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll. But there was so much that she had to do, and now that her new ‘friend’ Sylens was there to constantly remind her of the perpetual march of time, Aloy had very little in the way of calm moments where she could simply rest. Sleep… She had forgotten what that felt like. She had learned, however, that power naps were not an acceptable substitute.

     Blackwing Snag lay behind her, now bereft of any trace of bandit life. Each of her shots had been quick and clean, until the leader of the crew, a woman from another tribe, the Tenakth, had found her. It had quickly become messy, and at some point the woman, Ullia, had angled her blade so precisely that it had cleanly cut through the leg of Aloy’s leather leggings and into the flesh of her thigh. It wasn’t a life-threatening injury, but it was a painfully persistent one.

     At least Janeva would be pleased; Ullia had been Aloy’s final contract from the warden at Sunstone Rock.

     “I was sent to Sunstone Rock for two years…”

     Aloy had asked about Nil during her initial meeting with Janeva, curious to see if she could learn more about the hunter who had, somehow, crossed paths with her twice since their combined assault at the Gatelands camp.

     “He was born under a long and dark shadow, but he wasn’t a knife without a thought behind it,” they had said. “He had honour. Old-fashioned. His time here… boiled it to the surface.”

     Aloy had wanted to ask just what Janeva had meant, but the warden had ushered her away with three contracts in hand. Three contracts. Three dangerous criminals. She had never wanted to be a killer of men, but Aloy supposed that had all changed with the attack on the Proving. With Rost’s death. The Eclipse. Helis.

     Her breath left her in a shudder at the memories; of Helis’s hand around her throat, his knife against the skin of her neck. Rost… oh, Rost…

     Clamping her eyes shut, Aloy moved away from the camp, limping as she did so. She needed to concentrate on returning to Sunstone Rock. She needed to let Janeva know that the job was done, and hopefully she could find something to bandage her leg with whilst she was there.

     Her trek across the humid jungle was slow, thanks to the biting pain in her leg and, Aloy thought with bitter resentment, a lack of energy. Her severe lack of rest was really beginning to rear its ugly head. Perhaps, if she had not been as exhausted as she was, Ullia would never have landed a hit on her in the first place.

     At least now, this close to a clearing, she could just about see the prison through the heat haze.

     An almost silent rustle broke her train of thought. As she had done so many times before, Aloy whipped around to face the sound, bow pulled from her shoulders and knocked with an arrow at lightning speed. Beyond the tip of her arrow there was nothing but deep jungle.

     Perhaps she was hearing things. Exhaustion did do strange things to people…

     A crack of twigs underneath feet. The sound was closer this time.

     “Where..?”

     Something shimmered in the air, lunging at her, something long and lithe, before Aloy could even think to react to it. It leapt into the air, where suddenly all pretence of stealth was gone, and a vicious looking machine of black armour and yellow armaments blinked into existence.

     Aloy dove aside, missing its attack by mere inches. Not that it made much difference. With a dangerous growl the machine moved fast, turning on her and ramming Aloy into the ground. Sharp metal claws tore at her armour, and Aloy had to kick the thing in its centre to escape from it.

     With no other thought than to escape, to hide, and hunt the damn thing from the shadows, Aloy turned and ran as best as her bloody leg would allow her, heading across the nearby stream and into the thicker body of the jungle, wild turkeys fleeing from her as she did.

     A dart flew passed her, burying itself so deep in a nearby tree that the tip could be clearly seen on the other side of the trunk. It could shoot too? Why? Wasn’t it bad enough that it could turn invisible?

     With her heart pounding in her head Aloy continued to run, weaving through trees and thick grasses in an attempt to lose it. She could no longer see it, but… was she safe? Was the damn thing hiding?

     Something hard collided with her side, then her stomach, and all air escaped her. There was the briefest sensation of uncontrolled flight before Aloy landed painfully with the ground, her head slamming into rough dirt, sending sparks exploding behind her eyes. She rolled, faster and faster until she suddenly stopped, her body crashing against a thick tree, hidden in some deep and tangled red grass, blanketed in shadow and darkness.

     The world spun, with the constant pounding of metal and high-pitched beeping echoing in her skull. A small, pathetic whimper escaped her lips as she dared to open her eyes. The sun, which had been high in the sky mere moments ago, was gone. The jungle floor was dark and calm with the sounds of night, save for the constant metal pounding and that wretched beeping. In the near distance she could see a red thrumming light. Aloy made another whimper as the light burned at her eyes.

     Then bright blue, clear behind her eyelids, before quickly turning yellow and then vanishing, leaving her in the dark once more. The pounding of metal grew unbearably close.

     Aloy just wanted silence. Peace.

     Something grazed her shoulder in the dark, but Aloy had no energy to move away from it. The touch moved from her shoulder and to her neck, and visions of knives against throats flooded her mind’s eye. Some kind of small noise escaped her and the touch, though it lingered, vanished.  

     Then, running footsteps, moving quickly away from her. Not a machine. A shrill shriek as red erupted behind her eyelids, and the howling of that invisible monstrosity. No, more than one. The metal pounding moved away at speed, leaving her to the dark and silence, and Aloy welcomed both like the old friends that they were.

     She woke to the warmth of the sun bearing down on her and birds chirping out their morning tunes. She could hear water nearby, some calm, and some crashing against rocks somewhere not too distantly. She had moved herself then, or someone else had.

     Aloy opened her eyes against the light to find herself laying out in the open, on a rock outcropping next to a river, and the Jewel spread out like a blanket on the opposite bank.

     She lay on an unfamiliar bedroll that someone had laid out for her, and just a few of her travelling packs rested by her head. As she moved to take in more of her surroundings, leaning up on her elbow for purchase and grunting with the pain and effort it took, she realised that her leg had been expertly bandaged around the large gash in her leggings, and most of her armour was missing.

     No. No, no, no, she could not be this exposed in the wilds!

     “Just relax girl,” a voice, laced with amusement, sounded somewhere behind her. “You’re safe here.”

     She knew that voice. Nil.

     Aloy fell back to the bedroll with a groan. Of all the people who could have found her, it had to be him?

     “I have to say, the colour of blood suits you.” There was a clear smile to Nil’s voice as he spoke - she could see it all too clearly in her head. “But I do believe that the idea is to wear the blood of others, and not your own.”

     “Could you please stop talking?” Aloy snapped, curling in on herself as she suddenly became all too aware of her light state of dress in his presence; her tunic and leggings were not enough protection if he decided he wanted to slide his blade between her ribs.

     She heard a slap of hands on thighs behind her, and instead of speaking Nil simply hummed to himself. It was a quiet and unfamiliar tune, but it was a pleasing little thing all the same. In fact, Aloy was quite surprised that it was at all pleasant to listen to, coming from Nil.

     But she needed to move. With a push that took more effort than it should have, Aloy forced herself to sit up straight.

     The view that met her was astonishing. A tall cliff side skirted alongside them, leading to a large waterfall - one larger than she had ever seen - and to an outcropping where a Carja tower sat proudly against the deep blue of the sky. Birds gently flew above the tower, and the few clouds that dappled sky were calm.

     “There’s another waterfall on the other side of the tower,” Nil began, obviously following the movement of her eyes. “It is quite impressive, isn’t it?”

     Aloy frowned, slowing turning toward his voice. “I thought I’d asked you to keep quiet?”

    And the world suddenly stopped.

     Nil was sat by one of the few trees that surrounded them, hidden partially in some ferns, but his armoured jacket, pauldrons, vambraces and scarf were gone, as was his ridiculous feathered headdress, the clothing all set aside with his own things. The only cover he had on his top half were wrappings that were tightly wound around both of his forearms.

     His hair was as jet black as his beard and shaved at the sides, with longer hair at his crown. Currently, said hair was sticking out in all sorts of uncontrolled directions, but even from here it looked so invitingly soft.

     Nil’s chest was another magnificent sight. Yes, the parts that Aloy had already been able to see were quite beautiful to look at (she had to give him that much credit, at least) and once or twice she had needed to stop herself from staring. But now the full musculature of his torso was laid bare to her, as was the sheer strength of his arms.

     It was with some shame that Aloy only found his severe lack of chest hair to be Nil’s singular physical let down, but she had noticed on her travels that a lack of body hair seemed to be the style among the Carja.

     Even as an outcast, when Aloy had come of the age where hormones and physical attractiveness played a big part of her life, Aloy had discovered that she did like a healthy smattering of hair on a man’s chest. A rare sight in the Sacred Lands, yes, but when the summer sun had belted down upon them, some of the Nora men had chosen to shed enough of their armour and clothing to stave off the heat, and Aloy, watching from the side-lines and away from tribal life, had found those few moments to be very informative and refreshing… until Rost had caught her ogling a young brave one day, when instead she should have been training. He had admonished her severely for that, and she had never gone searching for such sights again.

     But now here she was, gawking again like some lovestruck child, until she heard Nil chuckle darkly to himself and her eyes snapped back to his face. His silver eyes, usually so cold and calculating, were now filled with an unfamiliar warmth, not unlike the one that was threatening to burn her cheeks.

     “Like what you see, girl?”

     Aloy looked away quickly. What could she possibly say to that? Better to say nothing, then to open her mouth and sound like a fool.

     Uncomfortable minutes passed, and Aloy itched to leave. She had never felt so awkward in her life. And so she took a mental stock of her things, to prepare and distract herself. She was missing a few packs, her bedroll, and from the pile of folded armour she could see that most of her leathers and hides were torn. Teb had worked so hard to make that armour for her, and one lousy machine had ruined it all.

     Her hands reached for her hide top, thumbs caressing over the damage.

     “You’ve never come across a Stalker before, have you?”

     Aloy turned to look up at Nil, deliberately ignoring his state of undress. She raised an eyebrow.

     “Those… things…” she began, thumbs still running along the damage. “Stalkers?”

     Nil nodded.

     Aloy huffed. “Appropriately named, I guess. I can’t believe one of them took me down.” The shame she felt was like a gut punch. What would Rost have said?

     “Three.”

     “What?”

     Nil stood and straightened, stretching his back and his arms. In his hands was a small knife and a chunk of wood, and Aloy was curious as to what they were for; the wood was much too short and thick to be turned into arrows.

     He made his way to her side, the silk of his purple pants sashaying as he moved, and knelt not too far away from her, once again keeping a respectful distance. Always a respectful distance.

     “There were three Stalkers, Nora. Only one of them showed itself to you.” Nil looked at the fabric in her hands, his lips curling downwards.

     “How do you know that?” Aloy’s eyes thinned. “You are following me, aren’t you?”

     Nil chuckled. “No, I am not following you. By chance or fate, girl, our paths inevitably lead us together.” He looked into her eyes then, the warmth still there. “If I were a man of stronger faith then it would be of my belief that the Sun himself was leading me back to you. You are, after all, the best possible partner this soldier could ask for.”

     Aloy rolled her eyes at his words, uttering a small and sardonic ‘thanks’ in return, but she felt the small and fleeting smile on her lips none the less. And judging from the look on Nil’s face, he had seen it too.

     “So how did you know about them?” She asked, quickly changing the subject. “And how did you find me?”

     Nil shifted, making himself comfortable, and placed the knife and the wood by his feet. There was something etched into the wood, the shape of something, but what it was Aloy could not quite tell.

     “I was hunting the Stalkers, actually. I know, I know, I do not care for hunting them, but I do care for their echo shells.”

     “And what do you need echo shells for? They’re only really used by machine hunters.”

     Nil’s lips pursed, and it looked for a moment as though he was going to say no more on the subject. But then he exhaled slowly through his nose and continued. “There’s a trader that specialises in rare herbs. I have use for some of those herbs, and he only deals in echo shells.”

     Aloy cocked an eyebrow at him. What kind of trader only accepted echo shells? And what herbs did Nil have an interest in? A feeling in her stomach stayed the questions on her tongue; he probably wouldn’t have answered them anyway.

     “As for how I found you, I saw you in the distance, running through the trees. I could see one of the Stalkers on your tail, and another, well, it whipped you with its own tail. I watched as you flew and vanished down a steep embankment. It was actually quite impressive.”

     “Nil.”

     He smirked at her before continuing. “I saw the three of them then. They had to follow the long path down to find you, but you were apparently too well hidden in your landing place for them to find. It did take me a while to find you, after all.”  

     “And then you drew them away.” Aloy interjected, her mind replaying small snippets of what it had caught that night: the touches to her shoulder and neck, the rushing footsteps, the enraged machines…

     Nil nodded.

     “Why did you come looking for me? You could have just left me.”

     “I didn’t want to lose my hunting partner, girl.” He replied with a non-comital shrug.   

     She scoffed. “You would have found some other idiot to help you.”

     She watched as one of the corners of his lips quirked, before his face became infuriatingly neutral. “You may find it hard to believe, but there are many who find my charming disposition too much to handle.”

     “No…” Aloy smirked, rolling her eyes. “You are a cuddly ray of sunshine. How could anyone find that too much?”

     His lips quirked again, splitting enough for Aloy to see a quick flash of teeth, though whether it was in a smile or a snarl she could not know.

     Nil reached for the knife and wood at his feet and examined the chunk of what had once been a proud tree. With a small hum he put the knife to it, gently whittling away at small chunks and slithers of bark. Aloy sat mesmerised as she watched the wood give way to his hands and the blade edge, with form slowly being gifted upon that which was once formless. Aloy still was not sure what it was going to be, but she was certain that she would see soon enough.

     “Rest, girl,” Nil said, not looking up form his work. “I’ll make us a meal soon.”

     But Aloy couldn’t rest. Her thoughts were too preoccupied with watching his work. It was… fascinating.

     Nil stayed his hands, his eyes catching hers, and he smiled a genuine smile. It was not one of his snide or smug grins, nor the smile that was all teeth and death. Aloy’s heart skipped and shuddered beneath it – the gentle curve of his lips broke into small dimples in his cheeks and… wait, how had she never noticed that adorable little gap between his front teeth? Or the few, scattered freckles on his cheeks and nose? Or how the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, silver irises sparkling. And the tattoos under them, what did they mean?

     ‘Stop. He’s a killer. Stop it!’

     Aloy turned quickly, looking out across the river to where a group of Chargers grazed. Useful; the unique override code favoured those machines, she had noticed. She still needed a name for it though.

     The soft swick of wood giving way to metal continued, and Aloy inclined her head so that she could see. Was it going to be a machine, or a person?

     “You really should rest,” Nil’s voice was soft, “the Stalkers did throw you down a steep climb, after all.”

     Aloy shuddered, looking back towards the Chargers. Were those machines still out there?

     “Speaking of which,” she began, trying to block out the images of shimmering air that transformed into fangs and teeth. “Did you kill them?”

     “Sadly, I did not. I drew them away long enough for me to get you to safety.”

     “But your echo shells!”

     “I’ll find some,” his eyes briefly flicked to her before returning themselves to his work. “Don’t concern yourself with that.”

     They fell silent once again, Aloy sharing her time between watching Nil work and observing the behaviour of the Chargers. Her body didn’t ache as much now, and Nil’s bandages had stopped the bleeding from her leg.

     Just how far were they from Sunstone Rock now?

     And on that subject…

     “I saw Sunstone Rock for myself.”

     Nil seemed taken off guard by that admission, as his shoulders hunched and his hands stilled. Slowly, he relaxed and returned to his carving.

     “Only visiting, I hope?” He asked, turning the wood with deft fingers. “Carja justice has become so complicated.”

     Aloy nodded, and Nil caught it from the corner of his eye.

     “Is Janeva still shackled there?”

     “Janeva is the warden, if that’s what you mean.”

     Nil chuckled, stopping his work to instead turn towards her.

     “Such a waste of an intoxicating ferocity. We fought together, and each other!” His face softened as he clearly reminisced on old memories. “Ah, but don’t let me get sentimental.”  

     “Uh huh.”

     “But why were you there? I thought the woman who saved the Sun-King could do no wrong?” The tease to his voice was as clear as the day above them.

     Ah. He had heard about her defeat of Dervahl, and the subsequent rescue of Avad, Marad and Erend. Of course he had. Half of the Sundom seemed to know by now.

     “I was exploring the area, and found the place being attacked by machines. One of the former inmates had a bone to pick with Janeva and the guards, it seemed. So, Janeva asked me to hunt him down, along with two other escaped prisoners.”

     “Former inmate? Am I right in assuming that they are no longer with us?” His eyes twinkled.

     “I didn’t kill him, Nil. Rasgrund was pretty good at doing that job for himself.”

     “Ah, yes, the Oseram. I remember him. He enjoyed trying to make his deadly little traps out of any scraps that he could find.”

     “Yeah, well, in the end he decided that he wanted to die to one of his ‘little traps’.”

     “His is no great loss.”

     The day passed by slowly, but Aloy found that the break from her usual hectic pace was a welcome one. Sylens was not particularly happy about her lack of progress, and he made no secret of it as he uttered very one-sided rebuttals through her Focus. Tired of his whining and enjoying the rest that her body and mind had clearly needed, she simply removed her Focus and stashed it safely in the nearest pack that she had.  Aloy was more than happy to enjoy just one day off, and it came as a shock to her, as quickly as a bolt of lightning struck the tallest of peaks, that she was enjoying Nil’s company. He was… charming. Murderous, yes, but pleasant. Fascinating.

     As promised, he later cooked the two of them a meal of small boar and mixed greens that he foraged from the jungle floor. He was a surprisingly good cook, she discovered, as she bit down into the seasoned meat and vegetables and her mouth was flooded with delicious flavours. What other skills was this man hiding beneath his vicious outer shell?

     As the day passed to evening, and the evening to night, Nil finished carving the piece and held it gently in his hands. It was a small Watcher, its head held aloft as it kept vigil over the machines it helped to protect. It was, in a word, beautiful, and sculpted with a surprising amount of detail.

     Putting the knife carefully back into his boot, Nil instead turned to one of his small packs and from inside he produced a small bottle of what looked to be grey ink or paint. A small brush followed, and Aloy moved closer to watch as he began to coat the bristles in the pigment.

     She was rewarded with that same warm smile for her curiosity.

     Nil had finished coating the wood before the last of the sun’s light vanished, and he placed it on a nearby rock, claiming that it had to dry before he could give it another layer of colour.

     The fire he had started to cook their meal was still going strong, and as darkness descended upon them Aloy found herself closing the gap between them as they sat together, Nil pointing out the constellations that the Carja had for the stars that they all shared. Unsurprisinlgly, there were a lot of avian based constellations (the Carja did love their bird imagery), but there were also machines and figures from the tribe’s past. Aloy explained that the Nora believed the stars to be flecks of flame from a fire that All Mother had lit to guide them through the night. Nil remarked that it was quite a beautiful tale.  

     Aloy wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, only that she woke curled up in the place where she had been sat the night before. Nil gently snored beside her. He too had fallen asleep where she had last seen him.

     She could leave. She should leave. But one look at his face, soft with sleep, and her resolve to do so vanished. Besides, it would be rude to do so after he had helped her. He could have potentially saved her life, for if he hadn’t found her before the Stalkers did… Aloy shook her head. No, no she wouldn’t think about the ‘what if’.   

     Nil woke a little while later, with obvious surprise on his face when his eyes found hers. Had he expected her to leave? Aloy simply greeted him in return and went about emptying the only pouch of food that she now owned, sharing what was left of her jerky and dried fruits with him.

     “It’s not quite as good as what you cooked last night,” Aloy sheepishly admitted, “but it’ll get the day started before we have to part ways.”

     Nil’s only reply was a slow but altogether large smile, one that made his eyes light up and her heart miss a beat.

     Aloy could easily become accustomed to that smile.

----------

      Aloy took the small figures into her hands, holding them both so fondly. Each nick in the wood, each stroke of paint, was all Nil.

     The pair of machines had originally sat in her own room, guarding both Elisabet’s pendant and the necklace that Rost had gifted to her so long ago now, but with each subsequent visit to her room, her friends remarked on just how much they liked them too. And so Aloy had made the difficult decision to move them to the common area, where they could be enjoyed by all.

     She just hoped that Nil wouldn’t mind. He had made them specifically for her, after all, but she supposed that perhaps he would feel a surge of pride that others enjoyed his handiwork just as much as she did.

     It had been a few weeks since she had last seen him, and even then it had been fleeting as she had needed to stop at Hidden Ember to collect some special supplies that Abadund had promised to find for her.

     Nil had worn his mask, his moniker of Red Teeth, the whole time, with the forced change in his voice that came with it, one that made him seem more Tenakth than the Carja that he was. Their conversation had been cut short as both Beta and Sylens had contacted her, asking her to joint them as they believed they had found a breakthrough in recapturing Hephaestus. And so Aloy had stupidly left, with one last apology to Nil as she did so. When she had returned to the base, it was revealed that it was a mere blip in the data that they had been reviewing. No breakthrough. There had been no need to leave Nil so quickly.

     Damn it all, she missed him!

     Well, she had recently promised both Zo and GAIA that she would take regular breaks. Perhaps a race with a certain Tenakth-spirited Carja soldier was exactly what she needed.

[sylvanas-girlkisser]

I thought about Horizon zero dawn and now I'm annoyed again.

Talanah being given a boyfriend is obviously part of a pattern of HFW aggressively sidelining non-white potential love interest for Aloy. The most egregious of which is definitely how Varl is set up as the like Hollywood boyfriend in HZD only to get a girlfriend off screen in HFW (Zo is great and if you say mean things about her i will kill you), and then dies at the end.

However Talanah falling for a FORMER SLAVE TRADER also feels like a slap in the face and complete misunderstanding of her character. Talanah's entire ethos is "if given the choice between doing evil, or dying, then you go out swinging"; her family used to be one of the most powerful in Meridian and they lost everything fighting to stop the slave trade, including most of her family members!

How am i supposed to accept that Talanah not only thinks hunting slave traders for sport is an objectionable idea, but also that she would have any sort of sympathy for his "boo hoo i was peer pressured and also just following orders."

Like she should have glowered through his whole "what was i supposed to do" spiel and told him he should have died like her brothers and her dad.

[lesbiotic-auror]

I need to post about my horizon forbidden west feelings SOMEWHERE

Just finished Ted’s Tomb and FJSKFHAKDJKAHDKAHDKAHDKAHXKA

What a fucking deluded power hungry mother fucker. In the end he became on the outside what he was on the inside, an inhuman beast (:

I have so many angry Tod Fucko feelings. This dude really ended all life on earth, wiped out the lovingly collected vastness of human history, and murdered everyone who worked to restore what was lost, BECAUSE OF HIM. AAAAAAAAA. I’m honestly really glad Elisabet died the way she lived, giving the future a hope of a chance, and not at all by Ted’s hand (directly at least). I think she would have murdered him with her bare hands if she ever knew what he had planned.

I love this game a lot and I don’t really have all that much to complain about, EXCEPT-

Are you telling me that Talanah Khane Padish is NOT a base member?? Erend is the captain of the Sun-King’s vanguard but he gets to fuck off to the forbidden west but Talanah can’t?? Granted I haven’t yet met up with her in Barren Light so maybe she has a good reason but um Talanah was up at the Spire with Erend and Varl who were both at the base immediately. It just feels like a weird choice that can only be justified in my eyes if they directly address it in the game.

Feels like I’m nearing the climax and like with most games I love I’m excited and so sad for it to end 😭 paying $500 for a PS5 was so worth this game

Please come and talk to me about it if you want 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

[ao3feed-ereloy]

The Fox and The Boy

by ThreeGlinthawksInATrenchcoat

Erend is 7 the first time he meets Aloy. He's also 7 the first time a fox with a strange behavior follows him home after school and stays with him until he falls asleep. It will be years before he realizes the two aren't unrelated.

Words: 47298, Chapters: 6/6, Language: English

Fandoms: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn), GAIA (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Elisabet Sobeck, Rost (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Ersa (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Avad (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Erend's mom, Teersa (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Varl (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Vala (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Nakoa (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Talanah Khane Padish, Yan (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Alva (mentioned), Beta (Horizon: Forbidden West), Miriam Sobeck

Relationships: Aloy/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Aloy/Yan (temporary), Erend/Nakoa (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Gaia/Elisabet/Rost, Avad/Ersa (Horizon: Zero Dawn)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Shapeshifting, tw mentions of domestic abuse, Mentions of alcoholism, Friends to Lovers, idiots to lovers, Anything but Ereloy and Lis/Gaia/Rost is temporary, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Human, Fanart, Horizon Big Bang 2022, Demisexual Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Aloy Is Bad at Feelings (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Erend isn't much better

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/42549849

[aloysarrow]

*big deep breath*

If they straight-ify Aloy (meaning that she's highly hinted at in game to be very bisexual or to be in the future outright lesbian or she's dead on arospec/acespec or a combination of these identities like lesbian ace or aro bi, etc) I'm going to cancel my subscription to Netflix lmao

There's A LOT of other things they can screw up

OR FUCKING FIX (like for Christ's sake, don't kill Vala or Varl!!!! Seriously Erend could have died in HFW instead of Varl),

But I'm going to be kinda chill, just kinda, about those possibilities. For now.

But if they make Aloy straight, having no flirtationships with Petra or Talanah or the not-hetero bonding she had with Ikrie. And hypersexualize her.

I will flat out remove Netflix from my life lmao

Actually the only thing that would change my mind if if Vala and Varl are handled better. Like especially Varl because he's such a huge character in the second game, if the Netflix adaptation saves him, I'd forgive anything else and just bitch and grumble. But I guarantee that if they straight-ify Aloy, they'll still kill off two black characters.

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Rot

Did a quick thing this morning, and now am taking a break from the mess that is the typing to type about it.

Okay. I should have time to get Talanah's quest done. Let's finally get this done.

Hi, Talanah. Sorry; I keep forgetting that not everyone has run of Tenakth lands. You're probably okay if you're with me, though. Let's go find your--

Ah. 'Friend'. Who ... is himself ... searching for someone at the expense of his own life. This is going to get triangle messy, isn't it.

Well, none of it's going to be an issue if he gets burned alive by that Fireclaw, so let's keep your crush alive, shall we?

Yeah. Loving the time-slow. Will never be without it again.

...Yeah, this is going to get triangle messy. Or would if Talanah wasn't keeping a lid on things. Poor Talanah. Though I am so much reminded of high school.

Oooooooooooh, so this is that ruin I passed that was full of Tenakth rebels! And inaccessible from the land. Lemme just swim out there--

No, no; you two stay there. I could sneak through the camp and open the gate for you ... or I could just kill everyone from stealth-- oop.

One thing I have got way better at doing is dealing with those assholes with the shields. Dodge-roll behind them and hit them with whatever's handy.

YES I KNOW YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET OUT BUT LEMME MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S DEAD FIRST. AMADIS WOULD BE PISSED IF YOU DIED WITHOUT TELLING HIM THINGS.

Okay ... I ... don't entirely like this and this whole area looks like an approach for something large and aquatic. So I'mma put an elite shock trap riiiiiiiiiiight ... there.

Yep. COME AT ME, BRO.

Huh. Better disarm its ranged so it has to come at me. POONK. POONK. POONK.

Aaaaaaand gone. C'MON, YOU AQUATIC PAIN IN MY ASS!

Heeeee. ZAPPY.

So Nessa isn't anymore, and Amadis is all pissed off and sad and thwarted love, and Talanah ... thank you, Talanah, for having the self-respect to "not be a second choice". But I am sorry. He's cute. And loyal. Ultimately, that's kind of the problem. I'll check on you at Barren Light later, okay?

One last thing and then I gotta go to work - lemme actually get the Thornmarsh settlement.

...There's a stitcher and I CANNOT FIND THEM. I'll look later. Just gimme a campfire already.

NO I DO NOT WANT TO ENTER THE MELEE PIT FUCK OFF I GOTTA GO TO WORK.

So that was my morning. And yeah, everything falls apart at the office when I'm away so I gotta get back to it. Lemme just grab some food.

[banukaihelpme]

so for fic purposes i went down a rabbit hole about different khmer and siamese dynasties and landed on an article about queen suriyothai who died in battle. there's a movie based on her life called, the legend of suriyothai. ANYWAY, i was looking at pictures and gifs of it and well, well, well, if it isn't talanah's chin strap.