#and snapmaws too

[hzdtrees]

Forgotten Marvels, Pt. 3

[duckyploprs]

Horizontober nr1: favourite machine

My beloved small robo dino friend, the Watcher. the first machines you ever personally encounter. I love these forever curious little guys that live in the vibe and the moment.

Welcome read more pressers, WELCOME to my totally normal appriciations for the other machines too! So, in a way, if you squint hard enough every HEPHAESTUS/gaia machine is one of these puppies!

Snapmaw? NO! Flat watcher

longleg? sometimes you just need to scream, watchers do too

Scrapper? Nay i say, this is a hangry watcher

Thunderjaw? Nope, they're just the tallbois with funny frisbee launchers. ideal for fun on the beach :D

burrower? SEA OTTER watcher

slitherfang? just a long watcher! watcher rope of nope

[thessalian]

Thess vs Pouch Upgrades

Because that is effectively how I spent my morning. I had the best of intentions, I swear!

Right. First thing to do is clear those Clawstriders out of the way, then see if I can get a few campfires down the coast to prep for doing AETHER later tonight or--

Ooh, lobster. Right. Got the lobster tail I need, for now. Lemme just-- Oop. Snapmaws.

Acid Snapmaws.

APEX Acid Snapmaws.

Which means if I hit that---

BOOM. Stealth Kill, Weak Spot Kill, Corroding Kill. WOO!

Right. This close to the water, I could swim a bit and-- That's a moonfish. I don't even need to scan it; I KNOW WHAT A MOONFISH LOOKS LIKE I NEED THOSE.

Oof. I can apparently only fight the current for so long. Interesting way of doing the invisible wall. Guess I'll have to stick closer to shore, but--

Wait. The area near the building where I can find DEMETER has a little cove and that's bound to be protected from the worst of the currents. Let's go!

Much bett-- THERE ARE BASS HERE TOO! SCOOOOOOORE!

Oh for-- WILL YOU HOLD STILL, YOU FINNED GREMLIN?!?

Okay, you'll have to turn back to-- Wait. Where'd it go? It just ... disappeared. Despawned when it got too close to the shoreline. ...That is not fair.

You know, of all the games that cram in a fishing mini-game, this one is at least useful. But I still miss shooting the fish. I guess you'd have a problem doing that when the water's that deep.

Right. I should get moving in a shelter-ward direction as work-time is approaching but I wanna see what fifteen minutes of swimming after fish got me.

...Aaaaaaand that's a fully upgraded Precision Arrow pouch! That makes this morning entirely worth it. Later, I have to swim after more bass and shoot more lobsters. But it's not urgent because FULLY UPGRADED PRECISION ARROW POUCH YAY!

So that was my morning. Now, work. Boo. But later, main quest stuff!

[rebeccathornewrites]

Ways to Woo - Aloy x Seyka fanfiction (ch 4)

“Aloy,” Alva’s bright voice echoed through her focus. “Is now a good time?”

Aloy was knee-deep in mud, swallowing a grunt as the snapmaw’s jaw gears creaked against the metal pole she’d wedged in its mouth. It still pressed against her, razor teeth dangerously close to flesh, driving her deeper into the lake. Not good—she didn’t like her chances in the water with this thing.

“Ah—” Her voice was strained. “Just a little busy.”

“I’ll be fast.”

Sure, why not, Aloy thought, but she didn’t voice it.

After all, Alva rarely called these days. The Diviner was spending every free second in the ruins of San Francisco, reuniting the two halves of the Quen fleet. They’ve begun construction on a new set of ships to return home, but there were ridiculous arguments cropping up in the meantime. Arguments that required a Diviner’s guidance to solve.

It sounded exhausting. Aloy found any reason to steer clear.

But that meant she hadn’t spoken to Alva in weeks. Even just hearing her friend’s voice perked Aloy’s mood.

The pole in the snapmaw’s mouth was bending.

“There’s a party tonight, to celebrate the first boat’s completion. Fireworks, floating lanterns, wine.”

Aloy repositioned her grip on the snapmaw’s jaw, fumbling for her spear. “O-kay.” The second half of the word came out as a wheeze, lost with the air in her lungs as she slipped in mud. It gave the snapmaw a window.

The machine snarled—then bent the pole in half with one vicious chomp.

“So, I was thinking you might like to come. Well, everyone. But especially you.”

The snapmaw lunged. Aloy twisted in the mud and it sailed over her, crashing into the water, which was both good and very bad. It recognized its element and lazily spun, testing its newly-freed jaw… and fatal biting power.

Sopping wet, covered in mud, Aloy scrambled to her feet. She unhooked her spear, her words breathless. “Cheating on Federa, huh? I’m flattered.”

“Ancestors, no,” Alva snorted. “She might sic Compliance on you out of spite. For your safety, it’s best we remain friends.”

“Noted,” Aloy said drily, a hint of a smile on her face.

The snapmaw sailed towards her. She counted seconds, facing off with her spear at the ready.

Three.

“Although… the lantern lighting is typically done with a partner.”

Two.

“It leans towards romantic.”

One.

“I think Seyka will be there, is all.”

Seyka?

Aloy missed her shot. The snapmaw was inches from her face before her instincts kicked in. She barely catapulted out of the way. Fuck. That was sloppy. She gasped, twisting into a roll just as the snapmaw’s massive claws slammed the mud where she’d landed.

Enough of this. Aloy pivoted on her heel, leapt into the air, and buried her spear into the machine’s thick skull. The wicked point cut into it with ease, but she held it there until the vital circuits severed, until the light in its eyes dimmed and vanished.

The creature went limp, sinking into the mud.

Finally.

“Aloy? You there?”

“Ah—” Aloy muted her focus, heaving for breath. She pressed a boot to the skull and wrenched her spear free, watching in mild satisfaction as the snapmaw’s metal carcass slid back towards the lake. Slightly more composed, she unmuted and said, “Sorry. I’m here. Seyka wants me there? Did she say that?”

She sounded like a lovesick kid inside the Embrace. Embarrassment made her cheeks flush, her body hot. She couldn’t find the energy to mind.

She never really did when Seyka was involved.

“Well, originally Seyka asked me for dating ideas, since apparently matchmaking is ‘my hobby.’” Alva’s voice dripped sarcasm. “I’m very busy. A Diviner, for the ancestors’ sake. Just because I set up two couples on the trip out here—”

Aloy had tuned her out, too distracted by the idea of Seyka asking the Diviner for dating advice.

A dark part of Aloy wondered if it was for someone else—but that’d be stupid, with what she and Seyka had. Or… didn’t have. Or had, unspoken? Aloy couldn’t tell anymore, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask for clarification. Not when she herself didn’t have an answer.

She just liked Seyka around.

That’s all.

Alva had shifted to exasperation. “—told Seyka to figure it out, and she spent three hours pacing around camp like she was possessed. People are getting nervous, Aloy. Our lead carpenter heard her muttering about luring a fireclaw into camp. That’s her idea of a date, apparently.”

That could be fun. Well, the fireclaw fight, not the collateral damage. Aloy wiped mud from her face, flicking it onto the ground. “She wouldn’t actually do that.”

Probably.

“We can’t risk it. I talked her down to lighting a lantern tonight. So. Get your ass to our camp before sundown—or any fireclaw injuries are on your hands.” A pause. “Great to talk to you. Miss you lots. Don’t make me ask twice.”

Alva cut the feed before Aloy could reply.

Aloy contemplated her grimy outfit, the machine grease in her hair, the blood on her arms. A quick glance at the sun’s position proved she only had a few hours of flying time left—and that was without changing.

Maybe Seyka would find it attractive.

With a heaving sigh and a fluttering heart, Aloy whistled for her sunwing.

(Read it here on Ao3!)

[singingkestrel]

Horizon Forbidden West machine headshots compilation 5/5.

This is team ragtag. The plucky misfits of the project.

It's not that I didn't try to capture 8x10s of them, it's just that I liked these so much more than all my other attempts. The menace of the snapmaw, the motion of the spikesnout, the colour of the sky behind the bristleback... I just couldn't quite recreate any of it. Maybe I just got too attached?

Either way, I'm not changing them now.

Bristleback

Snapmaw

Spikesnout

Lancehorn

[ryah-wolfe]

Jaytim/HZD

 “Aren’t you kinda small for an Oseram?” 

“And aren’t you far from your land Nora?”  The young man replied without looking up from his workbench.

Jason grimaced when Stephanie’s boney elbow slammed into his stomach. 

“Behave” the blonde Carja hissed at him. “He’s the one I get my upgrades from”

Jason had met Stephanie at one of the Carja’s hunting grounds and shared a few pints of strong Oseram ale while nursing bruises from a sneaky Watcher. He found an unlikely friend in the Carja and asked who built her weapons, looking to upgrade his own. She had looked at him for a long time over their empty ales before telling him to meet her tomorrow morning next to one of the towers in Meridian. Together they had climbed hundreds of steps up the tower, while she ignored all of his questions. 

Now here he was at the top of the tower, looking out the glass windows of the large room he found himself in. The view was so vast he couldn’t help but squint to try and see Mother’s Heart from this height. 

“I brought you a paying customer” Stephanie called out as a greeting to the young man bent over a contraption of wire and steel. 

Jason struggled for a few seconds to pull his gaze from the windows before he turned it to the man Stephanie had brought him to meet. Everything about him screamed Carja but he wore Oseram leathers. He was pretty like the Carja but his hands held the sparking wires like a veteran Oseram Tinker. 

So when he opened his mouth, and Jason’s words came tumbling out, he was pleasantly surprised by how quick the man’s tongue was, before frowning at the blonde.

“You told him about me?” He wondered when she would have the time, he definitely wouldn’t want to climb those stairs with a few pints in him, especially not late at night. 

“Nah, I went home to sleep off the ales last night but Creep over there” Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest “ has ears all over the Sundom” She wiggles her fingers at him, like that was supposed to spook him. 

“I like knowing when I’m talked about and Oracle gave me a heads up I would have visitors today” the man straightened his posture and blue eyes, turned even brighter by the Carja-red feather markings around them, stared at Jason. The man’s eyes dropped to his boots and slowly dragged up his body, the gaze as intense as a hunting Sawtooth, made Jason’s body flush with adrenaline and desire. 

“Good armor,” the man noted once he was done with his slow dragging gaze.

“Made it myself.” 

Jason was not a Stitcher but the years of growing up an outcast made him handy with a needle and wires. 

“But I can make it better” the man smirked as he held out a hand. 

Flushing now in anger, Jason moved to take the man’s arm before his own hand was pushed away.

“I want to look at your armor” the man rolled his eyes like Jason was being willfully ignorant “Strip. I don’t have all day.” He commanded as he started to clear his workbench. Jason’s poor body was flushed with too many hot emotions. 

Glaring at the rude man, Jason ground out between clenched teeth “Maybe I don’t want your work now. You can’t even offer me a name and I’m sure there’s other Tinkers in this city, who won’t be so mouthy.” Or as lovely. 

Bright blue eyes lazily looked at him before a sharp Snapmaw smile spread across his pretty face. “You may call me Tim, and my weapons have no rival.” 

[disdaidal]

Yo, a request inspired by the last post you repblogged: A Gifset of Steve and the spiked bat vs. The demogorgon

Also a holy shit I'm gay reaction Gif from Billy in the end

Now we’re talking. ♥

[loumauve]

more hfw tomorrow.. maybe? not sure what I'll do, might do more side quests (namely the Alva one and maybe Silga if I feel up for going into documentation mode)

still torn between wanting to finally be done with main quest stuff bc spoilers everywhere, but also not wanting to go there just yet. so I might finish up some of the Rebel stuff instead.

I still have two tallnecks left, too, but one I don't want to do rn bc water (urgh. I saw those Snapmaws and I turned right back around) and the other one fits better with some other stuff I still have leftover so idk. also got two more cauldrons as well, I think.. but one is on ice until I get over the stealth kelp not working anxiety bc that was a terrible experience

could do more San Francisco stuff but so far I've really just not liked being there at all, idk what it is. maybe the Stormbird I saw flying in when I first arrived, no idea where it is and not keen to find out. (it's funny how the game has thrown three surprise Stormbird fights at me so far, one after a Thunderjaw ambush, and I always did fine, and still - I hate and want to avoid them, idk why that is)

[h0riz0nstuff]

HORIZON ZERO DAWN’s ASSHOLE BEARD AGENDA … An essay with a lot of words.

Come, dear reader, let me take you on a short trip around hzd’s Gallery of the Bearded Asses. Let us start with the Astoundingly Terrible Very Bad.

Mad Sun King Jiran : I guess no explanations are necessary, here. I had a theory about those beards, but it was only complete when I saw in the comics that Jiran also had it. xD

Ahsis : The highest ranking assho… I mean member ! of the Lodge (quote Talanah xD) So many studs ! Can you bet he liked that style so much on Jiran that he decided to emulate it ? Or just to suck up. That’s possible too ! Who next is in the Beard Team ? A healer with dubious ethics, that’s who ! Ah Ghaliv, your beard is salty, but not as salty as you, you exploitative piece of trash.

Next in line… Oh look, it’s history’s dumbest murderer, Ranaman ! … I bet he doesn’t have as many studs because he had to sell some of them to pay his gambling debts. (Did you know you can fail/finish that quest by not freeing his sister and he gets off scot-free ?? That’s unacceptable, Guerrilla. I do not accept this.)

Moving on, there’s this guy, Vashad, who really lets you know he doesn’t care who his snapmaw hunting business kills as long as he gets his shards. Sure you can make a deal with him. But you can also kill him, and when you do, Talanah tells you she approves !

And then there’s this rando named Bashad at the Hunter’s Lodge, who hogs the bar and insults you if you address him. Charming. (I’m not entirely sure, but for a while i thought he was one of the hunters who went after Talanah later on ? I’m probably wrong, but I wouldn’t put it past him.) EDIT : I’ve found one more !! In the first comics, there’s Gediah Kho Veriv, the asshole General who Amadis served under (and killed, ultimately) ! He’s sporting a variant with just two studded prongs on the front ! (VARIETY xD) Alas, I have reached the limit of pictures on this post so you’ll just have to trust me on that. So far so good. Who else among the Carja features a face full of stupid beard ? NOBLES, that’s who ! Eat the rich ! And Marad does tell you that the ones queuing to see Avad are all a bunch of whiny babies. Literally a third of them or so feature The Beard xD (They’re always a bit different each time, but there seems to always be the same ratio of Stupid Beard). I found one of them at the Carja camp in The Cut, and like, they’re all asses there, so… (have you looked at the trophies on their tents ? They’re all watchers heads. They come to the Cut to hunt WATCHERS. Outstanding xD) So, here we are. But I hear you telling me “yeah, but I’m sure some  random NPCs also feature the beard, you know how these things work”, and to that I answer : Yes ! they do (not much, tho). And I’m sure they’re all some cousin twice removed of Ahsis and fully deserve to be identified as being Part of The Terrible Team xD In short, here is my conclusion. The beard exists solely on asshole characters, even if not ALL terrible characters feature the beard. … I need you all to know that I worked very hard on this ! I did a lot of research and I had to look at despicable faces. I suffered for science ! ಠ.ಠ FOR SCIENCE ! … look, it’s 10 days to Forbidden West and I just finished a huge piece of work and I just had to blow out steam xD And if I suffered in my boredom/steam outing, you must suffer too !

[artemissoteira]

anyway, I only actually died from fucking up in two of those fights I'm pretty sure. the double team felt bad bc I had been doing really well with the first machine including systematically getting components, but the death was earned by my panicking lmao so I don't really hold it against them & I did get all the components the second time too albeit more messily. however it heralded much worse things to come.

the shellsnapper I deliberately allowed to kill me bc I kept trying to use the shredder, as the dialogue insistently told me to, and kept having a really really bad time and had used all my potions and berries that I wouldn't have otherwise and felt awful and angry and frustrated. so I let the turtle beat me to death so that I could start over and ignore the shredder, and then I did ok. I realize I'm so mad about it bc I am categorically awful at the shredder and don't understand it and I don't like being bad at things in a way that feels like I can't improve. and part of that's on me, but I also do want to know who on earth thought a boss fight was an acceptable way to introduce the mechanic. at least have the decency to give me something without ranged attacks to try and learn on.

the rockbreaker I fought I think was the stronger version so I'll give myself some credit on how rough a fight it was. altho in retrospect I don't think that was part of a quest I think I was just nearby and decided to punish myself bc my hubris knows no bounds and I thought it would be fun to do well at. but those fuckers LOVE to pop their heads up and spit rocks at you and then disappear. I did not do very well, but I did get there finally and then I opted out of a rebel camp encounter bc I do love myself.

I also almost died to snapmaws TWICE, also from hubris, bc I was like well I survived five bosses today so I can handle this no problem. reader, I was wrong. two of them pinned me in a hallway and it felt SO bad bc it was entirely my fault and I was so upset. this was shortly after almost getting murdered by three burrowers (literally the most basic enemy in the game) bc I was like oh melee will be fine here. almost immediately afterward I died from fall damage in a way that mostly not even my fault - I was impatient from all the frustration and made a jump that was clearly in range but didn't proc the auto target, and still let me jump, and then didn't let me recover at all on the way down despite passing fully dozens of grips + trying to hit the shieldwing. thankfully my last quest step autosave was after the snapmaws or I would fully have quit.

my current path has me headed for stalkers next. I might need to reevaluate and maybe go do some ruins instead lmao now I don't trust any of my quests even the low level ones. this is a fun game I swear

[hzdtrees]

Snapmaw

... because taking Snapmaw pics is now a thing I regularly do, it seems. Thanks @system-threat-detected.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Spectres

So I finally got through that whole little chunk of main quest. And the only real reason I'm stopping now is a) hungry and b) frustrated and stuck.

Well, before I do anything, there's a rebel camp over there. Might as well clear it out.

DAMN I'm good. No one so much as saw me ONCE.

Okay okay okay, I know I know I know, Fate Of The World, etc etc. I'm going already.

I figure I can skip that cutscene; I have already seen it.

Well, at least I'm not doing all of the searching when I have companions. Just ... most of it.

Nora go down the hoooooooole...

Seriously, Zenith are assholes.

And code aaaaaaaand ... Beta. Cryogenically preserved Beta?

Wait. Wait did she have that thing in her skull? That thing is way too big to be an implant. What the fuck?

Good for you, Beta! Good for us, too!

ofuck.

Traps. Traps. What's this thing weak to? Acid. I'll try acid.

I AM TRYING TO SCAN IT, ALOY; IT JUST WON'T STAY STILL-- Theeeeeere we go.

And it didn't matter anyway because advanced acid traps are awesome, thanks.

Oshit Erend; hold on! ...Wait, why are you not scanning for weak spots and--? Oh, right, because you refuse to use a ranged weapons and your only combat strategy is "get out there and twat it one with warhammer".

Oh. Also because forcefield. Which is only in the front. Good thing you've got a sneaky bitch on side, Erend!

Okay, that's done. And now we can look at that weapon-- Fuck.

Right. Back to base. And everyone's freaking out about Beta. But at least they ask me how I'm holding up. ...Or assuming I'm fine. THANKS, EREND. I know you think I can do anything, but...

Oh, and Beta's not coping either. Okay. Vat-made humans, unite!

Yeah. Yeah, I knew they were still the original Far Zenith assholes. I just wasn't sure whether it was cloned bodies and data uploads a la Altered Carbon or ... well, this.

Look, you bought us time, Beta; we'll go after them as soon as we can. CHILL, already! But then again, you know how equipped they are and we don't, but still, never underestimate the ingenuity of someone who isn't an entitled asshole who never knew real hurt a day in their lives.

Right. Get this thing to GAIA to see if it can help us at all-- SYLENS YOU SHITBAG!

Fine. Okay. GAIA's working on it, Erend and Varl are going to help Beta cope ... oh. Hi Zo. Wait. You have a way to fix your land-gods? COUNT ME THE FUCK IN!

Hunting tiiiiiiiiiime! Whee!

Okay, that'll take some fixing. Lemme just go to Hidden Ember, as they're calling it now, and see what-- Oh. Hi Delah. Ah, Boomer gone missing. Okay, we'll go search.

I bet the Far Zenith assholes want to strip all life on earth because the people who designed Zero Dawn weren't eugenics-y assholes. I like that we still got people on the autism spectrum when humanity was reborn. I mean, I gather it's at least partly genetic. And it's a nice statement about how, no, vaccines don't cause that shit because none of these people know what a vaccine is.

Anyway. What is this thing you're now getting me to use? ...Oh. Okay, I will try this thing.

OKAY I HAVE TRIED THIS THING AND I DON'T LIKE IT CAN I HAVE MY BOW BACK PLEASE?!?

Right. I have used the shredder gauntlet whatever thing. I will never ever use it again. But thanks. That's sweet of you two.

Back to Hidden Ember, and ... okay, where the fuck is Stemmur?

Ah, there he is. And you want another 'gizmo'. I went with 'doohickey' myself, but you do you.

Down into the ruins I go-- Oh, come on, how did the machines come back?!? Well, at least it wasn't the Tideripper. Just Snapmaws, a Burrower ... and two Spinesnouts I didn't see shit shit shit.

And apparently I just accidentally tripped over the hardest vista in the game to find. Now, where's good?

There. There's good. That'll stop bugging me. Onward to the doohickey.

...Okay, I am clearly supposed to get to the grapple point and then jump onto that bit to the left but it is not letting me jump.

Lemme see if Google has any ideas-- And apparently not. Fuck.

Maybe I'll shut down for now and see if a restart actually lets me do what I need to do here. I need food anyway.

Also my mother will be turning up any time now with some treats she brought me back from Canada. Yay! And later I will try again, but how the fuck do I jump when the damn thing won't let me go in that direction because there is no climbing point there? Maybe I need to do a left-control press pointed in a different direction? Maybe? I dunno; this is a pain in the arse but apparently I can't give my stupid doohickeys to Stemmur if I don't get this one! Why can I not just tell him, "I have a sack full of the fucking things; I can get you that one later"?!?

[in-crow-nito]

For my snapmaw loving friend, @system-threat-detected

Ersa hadn't expected that her life would turn out this way when she charged headfirst into a trap with a madman at the helm of the plan. She hadn't expected to live at all, she would have been content if Avad, the Carja in general, and especially her brother all made it out alive.

She especially hadn't expected a scrappy young Nora with mommy issues to find her and help her home. Nor finding a misprinted Sawtooth who seemed permanently overriden and content on calling Ersa it's mother.

If you asked her, her life had only gotten stranger since the Liberation and she wouldn't change a damn minute of it. Especially when Aloy overrode the tiniest fucking Snapmaw she'd ever seen and it contently waddled up to Ersa, seeking attention, exactly like Mittens did when they overrode it so long ago.

She picked it up, uncaring about the chillsac or the blaze components, it's docile blue eyes peering up at her. "By the Forge! Look how small this little thing is!" It wiggled loosely in her grip, not aiming to get out but flattening it's small panels on it's back in order to get some Sun while she held it so high.

"Gonna keep this one too?" Aloy asked, as if she didn't have a tiny Watcher as her companion. Socks was sitting on Mittens head, happily chirping away as Ersa and Aloy hunted for scrap when they saw the little Snapmaw all by itself on the shore.

"Abso-fucking-lutely!" Ersa cradled the Snapmaw upside down, the tiny machine now officially sunning without a complaint in her arms. "Thinking of naming it like how we named Socks and Mittens."

"Old Ones Clothing?"

Ersa contemplated the tiny machine, noting it's little black feet that looked like an old article of clothing that she'd seen both in Old Ones fashion and Carja fashion especially. "I'm gonna name you Slipper." She said with a finality that meant it was law and Slipper merely kept sunning, content with being carted away to its new life.

[leviiackrman]

🎃 + A L L of your kids xoxo

ahhhhhhhhh okay haha I'm gonna pick all of them bar the self inserts and most da ones cus there's A LOT but here we go!! alphabetical? fuck it - 23 oc Halloween costumes coming up!

SEND 🎃 TO KNOW WHAT MY OC WOULD DRESS UP AS FOR HALLOWEEN

Asami Enatsu - My Hero Academia:

probably as her mum so full costume and everything. she hasn't had the opportunity to do Halloween properly with friends so she's had her costume ready for YEARS

Bubbles Finley - Days Gone:

she doesn't have enough confidence to dress up in public so johnny would always make sure they had a little night together at home. he'd help her do her makeup and they'd have their own little Halloween where she could be whatever she wanted to be!

Darcy Morgan - Red Dead Redemption:

when she was a kid she loved being either dutch or Arthur. after she was orphaned, she didn't do anything for Halloween again. isla always wanted her to do a 'mini me' act but darcy was not about that life

Essa Meeko - Star Wars:

a tie-fighter mechanic. does she know how to fix a tie-fighter? god no. did she steal their uniform for her costume? very much yes. she had no other ideas and needed something last minute

Fumiko Enatsu - My Hero Academia:

her favourite pro hero changed a lot when she was younger so she would be whoever her fave was that year. when she's older (and a villain) in the back of her mind, she always wants to go dressed as her former - hero - self, but that would cause too many issues

Isaac Wattleseed - The Witcher:

normally gets roped into a double act costume with Una but some years she teams up with Ciri instead so he'll just wear a literal bag on his head with a smiley face on or a stock-standard mast. The person/character/name he gives when anyone asks him who he is always changes too. one minute he's ted the drunk, the next he's prince emmanuel, the list is endless

Isla Walsh - Red Dead Redemption:

she loved using it as an occasion to dress up real fancy for the day/night. so not necessarily a costume

Jody Morse - Marvel:

as a sexy molecule/atom. picture ross from friends when he was spudnick - so the full circular/3D costume. but to make it sexy, she's just butt naked underneath

Johnny Finley - Days Gone:

whatever bubbles wanted! but some years she couldn't think of anything so he'd pick her favourite tv show and some characters from that where they could dress up together! he'd make/borrow (*cough* steal..) some costumes too depending on how intricate it needed to be

Jordan Parker - Until Dawn:

ozzy osbourn. but she went a bit OTT at the last party because she got too in character so she's now banned from being him again

Lyna Mahariel - Dragon Age:

wrapped up in furs as a mabari!!! then she would drink too much and fall asleep in lester's bed next to him

Margot Durand - Attack on Titan:

depending on when, if before the fall of wall maria, then she's probably gonna be a flower (ie covered head to toe in legit flowers). if after, then as levi. takes his real clothes and all

Natalie Drake - Uncharted:

evelyn from the mummy!!!! sometimes they do a family pirate party so she's been a mini anne bonny before too

Nymira Lanu - Horizon Zero Dawn:

not really something they celebrate in meridian tbh but one time she defeated a snapmaw and used its hollowed out head as a helmet/costume but because she used it to scare people she was sent to isolate for a while to think about what she'd done lmao

Ophelia Dandythorn - Dungeons and Dragons:

her crew always ALWAYS all dress up as ophelia - but all versions of her. some would be her cheerful self, others would be angry ophelia - you get the idea. but she refuses to dress up with them just so they all are "ophelia"s and go out in public to confuse people. she loves the humour from doing that more than anything

Rob Young - Uncharted:

refuses to dress up unless it's to do a team up with one of the kids. that being said, tobin is always already sorted so if natty asks - he can't help but say yes to whatever she wants

Shen - Avatar: The Last Airbender:

well first off hayami LOVES being a turtle duck (much to zuko's emusment) and shen doesn't really know what Halloween is, but if the others have a plan/idea for her or them as a group then shes up for anything!

Theo Bainbridge - Gossip Girl:

she doesn't need to be anyone in particular, she's the type of person to show up in the skimpiest outfit because "its the one time of year where you can be your most slutty" after all

Tobin Drake - Uncharted:

the same. damn. costume. every. year. he's the thomas tew to sam's henry avery. and he regrets none of it. costume needs to be re-bought each year tho because he's a growing lad!!

Una Wattleseed - The Witcher:

one year she went as yennefer but too many people confused the pair of them so she got told off. after that she made it her goal to imitate people she knows and does it REALLY well to the point if someone doesn't accidentally mistake her for the actual person, she'll be upset. this means Isaac is always in on the plan but never puts as much effort into the act as her

Willow Hawke - Dragon Age:

varric. every time. one time she showed up as Merrill and everyone was so happy she was someone different for once but at the end of the night she revealed the costume had a hidden varric one underneath so they left her in the bar absolutely shit faced. lesson learnt when she woke up to her coin bag gone

Yavanna Trevelyan - Dragon Age:

isn't the biggest fan of dress up. if she has to she'd be someone/thing completely unrecognisable to hide her embarrassment

Ziri - The Legend of Korra:

is the QUEEN of Halloween!!! her impressions/costumes as *chefs kiss* LEGENDARY and so spot on, so everyone is always so excited to see who next year will be. her best was sokka - the soldiers loved that one

[fan-clan-fun]

Heres one of my Clans, ShoreClan! I put definitions to the roles that are non-warrior cat standard, as the rest are pretty much the same. I'd send more details for them but I didnt wanna bother you to much!

Lovely! Im excited to see what you have!

-Leader -

CoyoteStar - wirey pale brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

-Deputy -

SnapMaw - Brown and white tabby she cat with a white under belly and blue eyes.

I love this name, not traditional, but dang if it doesnt sound awesome.

-ShoreSpeaker -

*Highly respected figures. There is only one ShoreSpeaker at a time unless there is a Apprentice they have taken on. They speak to the spirits of the ocean and foretell prophecy sent by the ancient ones. Instead of leaders appointing apprentices, they do. Although they do not name warriors.*

Oh this is cool! It’s always interesting to see how the spiritual rank takes from its environment, and I like that they appoint apprentices too, although it does make me wonder how much info they get prophecy on each cat and their path. Does this clan believe in set destiny?

IceMask - ancient black she cat with a white face and and cold blue eyes.

-Healer -

*A Medicine Cat with a different name. They handle all injuries and illnesses in the clan. There are usually more than one healer, but in recent years with the corruption in the ocean, many of the healers have died from sickness.*

This is pretty cool too, and it does make mention of what I assume to be one of the major conflicts in the story what with the  corruption in the ocean. I would love to hear more!

SpringLeaf - Pale brown and white tom

-*-*-WaveRiders -*-*-

*These cats are warriors that handle all off land business. They are excellent swimmers with a exceptional love for the ocean; over the generations "pure" Wave cats have grown webbed feet, this is a characteristic purely known to WaveRiders.*

Okay, its kind of cool to have a group of cats which are specifically known as the swimmers and such of the clan, although I imagine all the cats need to at least know how to swim. 

- StormBird - black tom with yellow eyes

- ChillWater - silvery blue tabby she cat with blue eyes

- SeaSnow - white she cat with green eyes

- TidePool - brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

- CoralHeart - tortoishell she cat with blue eyes

-*-*-SandTrotters -*-*-

*A average warrior that does all land duties. They are usually a broad and muscular cat with a brown or sandy pelt.*

- ThunderJaw - Large gray and white she cat with yellow eyes

- GlintHawk - silvery tom with grey eyes

- ShellSpeckle - dappled grey tom with green eyes

- BrineStripe - tawny she cat with brown eyes

- SilverSplash - silvery and black tom.

I do find it amusing that only one of the current sand trotters is brown like the expectation, but they all seem cool.

*-Queens-*

LightningStrike - black she cat with a white flash down her face, kits: Finkit and WindKit.

DriftWood - Brown and white tabby she cat, kits: CrayKit, LongKit, and Lobsterkit

-Apprentices -

*Apprentices have no set mentor, but instead are trained by both SandTrotter and WaverRider cats to see which job suits them best. Healer and ShoreSpeaker apprentices are chosen at birth.*

Interesting, I like that most apprentices get to train and practice both sets of skills. I am curious about why the special apprentices are chosen at birth, and how. Is the Shorespeaker given signs about which kits to choose?

- PebblePaw - speckled grey she cat with blue eyes

- SandPaw - sandy brown tabby she cat with mossy green eyes.

-Elders -

- SharkScale - scares grey tom with a white belly and grey eyes.

- SaltFreckle - black she cat with white speckles.

- LightEyes - blind she cat with a grey fur.

Decided to put this at the end because I kept seeing more and more names I liked. I really like a lot of your names, they just have a really good sound and rhythm to them, and they seem to all fit really well together, even if they don’t have a discernible ruleset or pattern. They are just really nice lyrical names.

Anyway, thanks so much for sharing! Can’t wait to see more.

[xtolovers]

The Anvil

Pairing: Aloy x Erend Rating: M ( albeit in later chapters) Warnings: Graphic Mentions of Violence, slight mentions of alcoholism

AO3 / Fanfiction.net

Chapter 2: Fire And Fury

The sun perches in the middle of the sky, burning the red clay beneath his heavy boots. There are no shadows to hide in, but that matters little to him.

Usually.

In the two years he had been living in Meridian, Erend had grown accustomed, even fond of the heat. Today however, was a particular bad day to sit in the desert, waiting for a clever girl that could see the unseen.

She will come. She will find them. I will kill them.

He repeats the words in his head, like a mantra, trying to block out everything, because otherwise, he will go insane.

Two days ago he had thought that the closest he would ever come to avenging his sister would be by smashing the head of every Shadow Carja he’d ever meet. He’d been stranded with a sister-shaped hole in his heart, his body, his whole being, and a legacy he was not at all prepared to handle. The only thing to fill the hole had been alcohol, and with it, promised equilibrium, even if only for a few hours.

Of course, that hadn’t worked. On the bottom of every tankart had been her face, sometimes looking the way it had when she was alive, sometimes smashed in and cold, the way she was lying in a chamber somewhere beneath the palace right now. Somehow, she’d managed to look disappointed even then, and his nausea had had only so much to do with the alcohol ravaging in his system.

But there had been nothing he could do.

Nothing, until he’d heard his name at the gates through his drunken stupor, and suddenly she was there, miraculously alive, still brazen, still striking, and not at all impressed with his drunken appearance.

I need you to pull yourself together.

Back in the Embrace he had told her that she reminded him of his sister, and now her words felt like they came straight from Ersas cold, dead lips. Pull yourself together. Shame had rushed over him, and he had fumbled to pull Aloy aside and himself together.

The shame still lingers now, because while he can’t remember every detail of what they’d talked about at first, his head distracted with the daze of his drunkenness, with her questions, with the redness of her hair, he can remember the way he’d made a bung out of himself.

Aloy was all questions and business, and he’d tried to pull it together, but most of this conversation had been lost to him. What he does remember is the way her face changed from fierce and demanding to an almost shy compassion, as she offered her condolences. She’d told him she’d lost someone too, and in his grief, because he’d just heard it too fucking often in the last days, he’d snapped at her.

He wondered if that was the reason why she’d refused to come here at first. If so, he’d deserve nothing less for being an idiot, but he couldn’t imagine Aloy being that hard-hearted. No, if she didn’t show, it was because she couldn’t. The part of him that wasn’t a grief-stricken, selfish bastard recognized that she had as much avenging to do as he did.

But it was hard being reasonable when it took her all of fifteen minutes to find enough evidence in Olin’s basement to confirm her theories. He hadn’t understood all the details, but he had understood that Olin had betrayed them, even if he did so to save his family. What else he had understood though, was that Aloy is the key he needed to find the people who had taken Ersa.

Red Ridge Pass?… I’ll see what I can do.

He hopes she’d meant it.

When they departed in the street, each of them busy with preparations and eager to get on the road- the same road, hopefully- she’d turned around to him, her jaw firm as always, her eyes apprehensive, but not unkind.

If we do this, I need you to be there. Fully.

The shame was back then, and burned enough through him to give space to reason. So he had pulled himself together. He’d packed his things and had forgone the ale, but steel to his bones, it had been hard.

So here he is, two days later, smoldering in the forge-like heat of Red Ridge Pass, wondering what is drier: the sparse patches of grass or his tongue. The hangover had passed yesterday, literally sweated out of his system as he’d made his way north, but now the withdrawal is creeping through his veins, giving him a different kind of headache. His whole body’s hot, sweaty, tingling from inaction. His head throbbing from the heat, from the non-existing alcohol his body craved, from all the thoughts and  pictures he desperately tries not to let into his mind.

Erend looks up, but the sun hasn’t moved.

A day. I’ll give her one more day to show up.

That is all he could give before he’ll  collapse, sleep had been steadily evading or meeting him with nightmares.

A fly lands on his head and he brushes it away with poorly suppressed frustration. He feels like a bow drawn taunt, ready to spring.

Ready to break.

His mouth has never been this dry, he’s sure. Before his head can start imagining the taste of cool ale, he grabs his canteen, swallowing the last bits of water. It doesn’t worry him, there’s a stream just down the ridge, but it’s crawling with Snapmaws. It’s a testimony to his condition that suddenly the thought of six Snapmaws seems like a blessing to him. They’re something to hit, they’re filled with ice, it is something to do.

Without further thought, his hammer is in his hands and his feet are moving down the ridge. Stealth has never been Erend’s strenght- he doesn’t have the build for it- but now, he isn’t even trying. Which is promptly proven by a loud, resounding screech that makes his right ear go numb.

It’s a matter of seconds, but he dives to the side just as the Longleg jumps to where he stood a moment ago, the vents in its body releasing a blast of fire into the air. Erend staggers and draws himself up just in time to see the red lenses of two Watchers appear out of the underbrush. Next to him, the Longleg fills its air sac for  another attack, and Erend decides to go for the Watchers first. He sprints forward just as the first runs towards him, dodging out of its way in the last moment, towards the second one that is just gathering energy in its eye to shoot at him. Three fast steps, and he throws himself forward, the weight of his hammer dragging him, and the sharp end of it digs itself into the Watchers lens. The energy dissipates with a sputtering sound as the machine falls over. A twist and a short pull, and he’s turning around. The second Watcher is aiming towards him while the Longleg is throwing its head back, ready to daze. He knows he’s too close, but-

Something whizzes past him, and then there’s sparks and metal screeching, and the watcher falls limp. Another whiz, impossibly fast, a loud burst and then something knocks him in the chest and sends him staggering back like he took a hammer to the chest. With a cough he looks up, and the Longleg has no air sac any longer. It turns to the left, screeching and flaring red, and Erend sees his opening. Breathless he raises his hammer and brings it down with all the force he can muster. A loud crash resounds through the canyon as he breaks the blaze canister and several metal plates, and the Longleg goes down with sparks.

He turns to the right and feels hope for the first time in the last two days as he sees Aloy dismount a Broadhead, stowing her bow on her back. A quick look over his shoulder reassures him that while the snapmaws are spooked, they haven’t started their pursuit.

“Glad that’s over with. Thanks for the help,” he coughs out, still not fully recovered from the blast. She saunters over to him, hair a ruddy gold halo in the setting sun, and by the forge, he isn’t too sure that hope is the only thing swelling in his chest. He pushes it down as he sees her look.

Aloy frowns as she takes him in. “What are you doing out here all alone? Where are your men?”

A part of him wants to respond that she’s out here alone as well, but she probably just saved his ass, so he won’t be one.

“I’m not gonna risk their lives. I don’t mind putting my worthless ass on the line. But not theirs.” He swallows against his dry throat, and a little against is pride. “ Sorry… I had to drag you into it.”

Her scowl is replaced by a small smile, and she shrugs good-naturedly. “Don’t worry. This is just an average day for me. You know, take down some machines, track down some killers…” she ends with a small grin.

He plays it serious, but his lip twitches the slightest amount. “ Right. I’d hate to see a busy morning for you.” The adrenaline from the battle is wearing off, but now that she’s here, he feels venegance close.  “Ready to get started?”

She nods, but looks him over.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

He can’t see judgment in her face, but the question pinches nonetheless.

“Well, I’m sober, so…no.” It’s the truth, accompanied with a shrug and a laugh, and Aloy’s eyebrows are drawn together again.

“ Well, at least you’re thinking straight,” she replies, not the slightest smile in sight.

“Don’t get used to it.” He quips, trying to make the guilt sting less.

The effort is fruitless however, when Aloy asks him to tell her about Ersa’s disappearance and why he wasn’t with her. It’s a worse blow to his chest than the exploding air sac, but Erend knows it’s a blows he deserves. She didn’t take him because he was a useless drunk. He can’t bring himself to watch Aloy’s face as he admits it, studying the ground. Because he is a coward, he follows it up with a recounting of what they did to his sisters body. Because he is broken, his voice hitches on the word face.

He hears her breathe deeply, her voice soft and full of understanding. “ I’m so sorry, Erend.”

It helps, and it makes it worse. It hurts, worse than talking to anyone else about it, maybe because she demands the truth but doesn’t shy away from it.

It’s not the first time he has to tell this story. He was the one who had to tell the rest of the Vanguard- his legacy- and none of them had asked aloud why Ersa had left him behind. Nobody needed to ask, because Erend was so drunk he could barely get the words out. Nobody had judged him for it either, and maybe that was the worst of it.

Aloy ends her interrogation and they make their way over to the ambush site. Bile collects in his mouth and he breathes through his nose as Aloy sinks into her trance. He hears her mutter under her breath.

“Arrows scattered…. Drag marks…. Never fired…”

She jumps up, eyebrows raised with excitement.

“What did you find?”

Aloy moves across the battlefield, pointing out bloodlines and groves in the dirt.

“I think somebody moved the bodies here and scattered them,” she concludes.

“Why would the Shadow Carja do that?”

“At this point, I don’t think the Shadow Carja are responsible.”

“Of course they are!” Erend bellows. He saw them in his nightmares. It has to be them.

Aloy looks doubtfull and leads them up a trail towards the Dimmed Bones, huge metal ruins resting on top of the nearest cliff.

They step over the edge, no one in sight, when Aloy suddenly freezes, her head faced towards one of the higher beams. Erend can see silhouettes up there- three, five, ten, shadows against the setting sun. But their armor doesn’t look like it should, and as he squeezes his eyes, his heart drops to his stomach and his body freezes.

“These aren’t Shadow Carja- they’re my people, they’re Oseram,” he tells her, and Aloy looks between him and them, drawing her bow a second later.

“Do you always greet each other this way?” she asks as the Oseram on the walls start shouting commands to kill them.

They dodge apart as a fire arrow lands between them, and then there’s chaos. Erend has a bow, but he’s not a great shot, not nearly as good as Aloy, so he rips his hammer from its strap and sprints over to her.

“You take the ones on top, I’ll keep them from you on the ground!” He bellows, and a second later the first Oseram screams and falls from the beams.

“On it!” Aloy shouts back, and then he does his best to shield her. Three Oseram run towards them and there is a fire and a fury in his blood that drives him onward. It’s a red rush, and the next thing he sees are three bodies in front of his feet, their faces caved in like they had done with Ersa. There’s a rightful fire blazing in his chest, but he feels like it’s eating him up more than it is cauterizing the wound.

The fight his over as quick as it started, but there’s a strange sound ebbing through the air, and he turns to Aloy who is already ducking back into the tall grass.

“They’re calling in machines!”

In that instant he can feel the thunder on the ground as something big approaches fast, and a second later two Ravagers and two Scrappers round the corner. They see him and start charging, and he knows that he can’t roll away from two fucking Ravagers. But Aloy’s arrows are faster, again, and he watches as both Ravagers are thrown down mid-air by two of Aloy’s tearblast arrows.

Erend sees his opening and rushes through, hammer lifted and a furious scream on his lips. Behind him he can hear metal clanging as he makes quick work of the two Scrappers.

As he turns he sees a flash of red hair in the distance and hears his name, and then a giant shadow and a force that feels like someone threw him of a cliff as the Ravanger lunges and jumps on him. It rears it’s claw to strike, and Erend knows it’s over. He was so close, and now it’s over.

That’s when a blue blast explodes behind the machine and it roars, lunging away from him. By sheer dumb look Erend rolls to the side just before he gets trampled to death. Another blue explosion and the Ravanger is staggering next to him. He tries to sit up as a third explosion hits the beast in the head, taking it down.

The dust takes a moment to settle, and there he can see her, red hair furiously whipping in the wind, the canon of a Ravanger hoisted on her hip, a determined look on her face, and something else drops in his stomach.

Behind her, the second Ravanger is tied to the ground, a ropecaster lying next to her feet. She turns and fires two more blasts out of the canon, her body shaking with each shot. Then she throws the canon away, and takes her spear. Without any hesitation she runs forward and rams it into the machine’s torso. The blue light fades as sparks erupt from its body.

With a grunt, Aloy stands up from the machine’s corpse, and quickly surveys their surroundings. She looks feral and deadly, ready to spring into action, but the battlefield has grown quiet.

The fight leaves her as soon as she senses it’s over. The feral look on her face is replaced with worry as she jogs over to him.

“Are you alright?”

Erend is still on the ground, unsure of what he just witnessed there, but nods and pushes himself up.

There’s a body lying next to him, and the fury is back in an instant. With a kick he turns the corpse over, but- thankfully- it’s nobody he recognizes.

“Oseram, not Shadow Carja. Looks like I was wrong about everything. As usual.”

The only reaction she shows is tapping her focus and setting to work.

She darts from here to there, kneeling, investigating, mumbling. After a few steps his foot hits something. A stab shoots through him as he recognizes what it is, and he kneels down, fingers trembling. All Erend can focus on his the blood rushing in his ears, his heart racing, his blood pumping.

“Erend!” Aloy calls and he sees her jumping from a nearby building, jogging over to where he’s crouched.

“This is Ersa’s helmet,” he chokes out kneeling on the ground.” I thought she died in the field below, but it must’ve been here.” He rises to his feet, and looks about the battlefield. “ All this trickery. For what? Feels like it’s just to torture me.”

“I have a theory. But it takes a little imagination,” Aloy says.

“So far your theories are better than other people’s facts.”

With a nod she turns around and starts talking, the first sentences only slowly making their way through the haze in his brain. Aloy points to a tripod, to shattered stones,tells him that she thinks they managed to paralyze his friends with a new weapon.

“No blood on their weapons, no fight,” she points to the clean Vanguard weapons on the ground.

“Then why paralize them if you’re only going to move them and gut them?”

“They were trying to hide something,” she replies and hurries over to a bloodied boulder resting in a puddle of dried and cracked blood.

“The boulder they used to bash Ersa’s face in.”

“Or someone elses,” Aloy replies, careful excitement on her face. Erend’s stomach drops, and he’s unable to reply. She staggers a few feet back and points to leather straps lying a few feet behind the bloodied rock.

“These leather straps have been cut, as if they took the armor of someone…”

Erend knows what she’s trying to say, but his brain barricades itself against the idea.

“That can’t be. Her body is lying in state in Meridian. I saw it!”

“You said that she was unrecognizable. Maybe they switched another body into her armor, someone around the same size… and mutilated it enough, so it could be anyone, even Ersa.”

He stares at her, throat choked, and Aloy’s eyebrows rise in silent conviction as she steps closer to him.

“Go back to Meridian. Take another look at that body. If it’s really Ersa… of course, I’m wrong. But if I’m right…” she trails off, and the hope in her face is enough to stop his brain. She was right about Olin. She was right about the Shadow Carja not being responsible. Somehow, she can see the unseen and connect the dots, and he can see in her face that she believes what she says. His stomach sinks, his heart hammers.

“Then my sister could be alive! I’m going. Meet me back there when you can!”

Aloy nods. “I’m going to look around some more, I’ll see you there.”

There’s a another fire burning in his chest now and it’s a wild hope.