#the utaru

[bloomingdead]

i can't stop thinking about Zo from hfw, and how underrated she is. she barely knew Varl for like, what? a week? before she was willing to riskitall for him and his best friend. took care of an injured Aloy for two days just for this bitch to wake up and disrespect her beliefs. and still took it in stride, no, took it SERIOUSLY! she "betrayed" her community and her spirituality in order to find out how to protect both. it wasn't arrogance that drove her to disobey the Chorus and to want to find out what happened to Re, Fa, and the other landgods. it was compassion, for her people and her gods.

Zo was a healer in the Red Raids. she tended to wounded soldiers and buried the seeds of those who fell. she lost her whole family while contributing, finding her village to be massacred when she returned. the smell of burning flesh she said, had stained her mind. she sought out vengeance and lived to regret it when the attack on Barren Light brought the memory back to her. and yet these experiences did not scare her away from becoming a gravesinger, basically a hospice worker.

when faced with the truth of her people's gods, she cries. not because they had to kill one, but because the idea of her gods not being gods at all is incredibly upsetting. Zo grew up in this culture, and it all turns out to be a comforting lie. except, as Zo explains, it doesn't change the importance of the grimhorns to the Utaru. because even if they aren't spiritual beings, they are still the reason for their harvests and the cultivation of their society. the Utaru still would not exist as they do without the landgods of Plainsong.

i love love loooove this detail about her personality; her willingness to find inspiration in tragedy, to seek truth and justice regardless of what the people around her or even she herself, believes. she's willing to challenge herself no matter how difficult in order to overcome her fears or ignorance. even when she's being BULLIED by Erend, she never raises her voice or throws insults back at him. she only challenges him (to some sparring) in order to prove to him that she is in fact a worthy opponent, and by association so are her people. she's a vegetarian, which is never treated by the narrative as weakness or softness. just a fact of her society; they eat plants, grow plants, live in homes and adorn themselves in clothes all made of plants. she's gentle and soft-spoken but also tough and vengeful. these traits coexist within her without ever appearing hypocritical. she's so real, and so smart. and she's going to be an amazing parent, i hope she doesn't get written out of the story of the next game bc of how hard it is to animate 3d babies. but she does deserve some fuckin peace and rest lmfao

[felrend]

How can you not be mesmerized by the Land Gods singing?

[nimthirielrinon]

Being raised as an outcast gave Aloy an… unusual sense of humour.

[nerd-artist]

Varl in Utaru outfit 🌱

[hartlesshart]

beta probably gets sick a lot

she is not used to earth germs

[h0riz0nstuff]

Healing hands

[fantasy-girl974]

🌸 Kotaloy Days : Spring in my Heart 2024 🌸 - DAY 1 - ▷ Flower crown

For the @marshal-huntress Spring event

[tare-otome]

Out of the Base and Into the West

This moment when the West really opened up...So many memorable moments in this game...

[singingkestrel]

Small.

Cute, right?

[thicity-dicity]

Horizon inspired makeup !! (Utaru specifically)

[tinybelieverflower]

Aloy despite the Nora

[felrend]

Don’t underestimate the Utaru

[anaugust]

Afternoon nap

[nerd-artist]

Zo as Demeter/ Ceres - based on a Bouguereau painting.

[elliott6669]

Zo 5/?

Sweetheart Zo

[h0riz0nstuff]

Ah yes. The tallnecks. So tall so gracefull, so majestic, so cute, so tiny so… wait. what are you doing, oh no, the indignity

xD