#you know she's thinking of kotallo there

[polarolds]

tfw the nerdy Quen girl is really cute

[maeve-99]

Don't mind me, just thinking about Kotallo deciding to join Aloy. He literally said to his chief: "You know what, Hekarro, I'm just leaving with Aloy. I know I am one of your best Marshals and you have a growing rebellion at your doorstep, but I gotta go."

Of course, he was really impressed by Aloy and also probably curious about her mission. But then, again...he had no idea about the details of her mission, whether she had friends, a base etc. He knew nothing about what joining her would entail. What did he expect to happen? Did he think he would be able to just follow her around as her side-kick? And then, he was surprised at Aloy mentioning Zo/a friend who was going to meet him and lead him to the base. He was like: "Aloy has friends?"

You can't tell me he hadn't fallen for her just a little bit at that point. That woman just turned his world upside down, and then, on top of that, he said: "I'm giving you what's left of my life" Who says something like that??

[cylonalyna]

I’ve just finished Burning Shores and it was an amazing experience. Great setting, cool new machines and the Horus fight was awesome. And Elon Musk guy was so totally fun to obliterate, although I hated final fight with him, because it was dumb and tedious.

But the whole Seyka-Aloy relationship was really something truly awesome. I loved the chemistry between them and the fact that for the first time Aloy opened up to the idea of being attracted to someone.

And I think it’s because of a few factors

1. She listened to Tilda’s story and realized Elisabet pushed away the only person that truly loved her, because she was so focused on her work she couldn’t be bothered with a relationship. And it was a crack in Elisabet’s character and Aloy realized she is becoming Lis when she’s in fact her own person. And a lot of bad things could be said about Tilda, but she’s genuine when she says she loved Elisabet the most in the entire world and she regrets how things ended.

2. Secondly, she saw everyone move on to create relationships or wanting to. Alva has someone she loves waiting for her at home. Talanah found a man, who made a mistake, but she doesn’t dismiss him right away and is willing to work on that relationship. Varl found a beautiful woman who loved him dearly, Erend decided to be just friends. Kotallo is a great friend, but they’re from two different worlds. And I think that moment Aloy sees Zo kissing Varl she realizes that maybe she could have someone like that too.

3. She learned that having friends, people to care about and people who care about you isn’t a sign of weakness, but it’s actually the opposite. It’s strength, it’s friendship and love. Having family is a good thing not an obstacle.

4. She realized she doesn’t have to push everything and everyone away just because she’s the only person who can fix this world.

She knows people are naturally drawn to her and when she felt being drawn to somebody she decided to just try and be honest not only to Seyka, but to herself, because she doesn’t want to be Elisabet. Sure, she wants to fullfil her wish to make the world a better place, but that doesn’t mean she has to be alone. And she understands it’s gonna be hard but it’s a start.

And holy crap I cried so hard at the end because I am so happy for Aloy. I’m happy she’s opening up and giving herself a chance to have someone close, who could be more than just a friend.

GG did such a great job in portraying the relationship between Aloy and Seyka. Both are totally into each other, but we don’t get fireworks, we get a simple „wow” and it’s the most powerful „wow” I’ve ever seen.

I love that DLC, and although it broke my console to the point I had to hard reset it, it was an incredible experience. GG proves they respect their story and character, but also fans to give us the best experience.

[tjerra14]

[chinhands] Hey so. If you could put Ikrie into Forbidden West, what would she be doing?

Oh buddy, I am SO glad you asked! The short answer to this would probably be "chase her down and then glue herself to Aloy's side because her spear needs company and what else is she gonna do" but since I'm slightly (pathologically) passionate about all That, I'll put a longer one under the cut (and buckle up because it will likely be overly long)

It's no secret that I'm an ardent believer in "Ikrie would not stay in the Cut" because there's just too much in the game's text to suggest otherwise. She categorically excludes going back to the White Teeth, and quite possibly the other werak(s) she's known since then at the end of her quest on the foundation of her beliefs not aligning with theirs, brings up the possibility of maybe forming her own werak further down the line; and when you meet her again at Snowchants, she expresses a certain uncertainty about what she wants to do with her future. Will she go back to Ban-Ur, after a little time to heal? Will she build Hunting Grounds of her own? "Fate's a long climb on a high cliff for people like you and me," she tells Aloy, and who knows where fate will lead her?

If you're a little deluded, like me, the answer to that would be "Aloy's side". She certainly is overjoyed to see her again at Snowchants, and when you tell her that you'll do her challenge another time, one of her possible replies is "Then I'll stay a little longer." For her. (cue me chewing through concrete again) But then Aloy leaves for the West, and isn't exactly subtle about it considering she just disappears after the Spire affair. Even if you don't stick with my personal headcanon (which sees Aloy asking Ikrie to come with her), I still think that word of what happened at the Spire (or is going to happen, depending on the timeline you prefer to follow) would reach the Cut, and eventually Snowchants, and Ikrie; and I can't imagine her sitting on her hands knowing the one person who helped her when she was at her lowest could use some help now (plus we all know Ikrie isn't all that good at boundaries and letting things and people go). (There's also a whole bunch about her and Inatut teaming up as Gildun's bodyguards and ending up in the West that way in my head.) So, if we then just skip to the "what would she be doing" instead of the "how did she get there", I always thought she would be a) a much needed addition to the gang (there is no real Banuk representative, as Sylens doesn't really count. Granted, with Talanah's bigger role having been scrapped, the Carja are also amiss, but I've always felt that to really drive home the point of the game, having members of all tribes as Aloy's companions would've been crucial, and they failed to deliver on that) and b) nicely tie into the Utaru arc. I really like Varl, so nothing against him, but I've always felt his role during the Dying Lands cauldron dive would've been better given to another character. He was there kinda just to hold Zo's hand, and while he did a good job at that, to me it also felt it didn't add all that much to the plot and character development, and was frankly a little underutilised. He was just Kinda There. The only stake he had in this was accompanying his friend and girlfriend, and while you can make the argument that alone was enough, he didn't really have as much connection to what was going on main plot-wise as the others (Zo, Kotallo, Alva) had with their respective sections of the subfunction collection quest. So here's where I'm fully going off the rails: I would've thrown Ikrie into that mix. She's from the Cut. She knows a thing or three about machines, be it fighting them or how they work and normally behave ("In thin air, [Scrappers] can smell metal for miles"), and she knows how Hephaestus affects them. Sure, Apex machines are a step up from Daemonic ones, but the pattern persists, and I'm pretty sure that upon seeing them roaming Utaru lands she would be able to make the connection similar to Aloy. And knowing what they have done to her people, she would have ample motivation to prevent the same happening to the Utaru. Not to mention it would've been fascinating to see her interact with Utaru culture and their approach to the Land-Gods, as I see a lot of overlap but also plenty of differences between Utaru and Banuk mindsets, and well. She seems an interesting character to explore some of that. After that, there's the Base. From then on, I'd just think she'd be part of the team. Maybe disassembling machine parts. Kissing Aloy. Hogging the work bench where you have to collect millions of parts to get a corrupted override working. Not that I necessarily think that she would be particularly good at that at first, but she'd likely be interested to learn. After all, if everything she sees turns Banuk belief and tradition on its head, why not figure out how things work in a different way? Also causing some havoc with Kotallo, because why not.

ANYWAY. This has gotten overly long, but the gist of it is. Ikrie in HFW. Yes.

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 31 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

Document.Letter.odt

Created: 23 days ago

Edited: 87 times

Last edited: 5 minutes ago

To Mother

To War-Chief Sona

To Mother [stick with the more personal tone]

I found The Anointed Aloy [she knows Aloy doesn't like being called that] deep in the Forbidden West. She believes that the secret to stopping the Red Blight, and perhaps even ending the Derangement, is here. We have settled into an Old Ones base [even with our Seeker blessings, that will make her uncomfortable] a permanent camp in the mountains. It is safe here. We have numerous allies, including Erend, the Oseram Vanguard. Sun-King Avad has implied his support. [that's confusing, and she wouldn't care anyway]

You're going to be a grandmother! [too light]

I met a girl. [too flippant]

One of those allies is an Utaru woman named Zo, who defied her leaders to fight the Red Raids. [don't bring up defying elders] She is intelligent and compassionate. [mother won't care] I am going to bring her back to the Embrace eventually. I think you'll like her.

[should this be part of the previous part?] There is also a Tenakth soldier named Kotallo who seems interested in our tales of battle against the Carja, and a woman from a new tribe, from across the sea [too confusing] and a lorekeeper named Alva from a distant tribe. Alva is very interested in our stories and customs, but is careful to ask me how to ask for permission to enter our holy sites [sounds bad] and I'm sure she will have much to speak to the Matriarchs about.

These new enemies we're facing, mother, these Zeniths... it's hard to describe them. They are immortal [she won't believe it] They bear the sins of the Old Ones [too fanciful] They have new machines that obey their commands, worse than the Eclipse cultists and their dark corruptors. Sometimes I'm not sure how we are surviving against one or two at a time, and they have hundreds. Aloy is a terror in combat. We have a plan, but it's all so beyond me. I'm not sure it will actually work. Not because I doubt Aloy or the others, just because it relies so much on things I am only now learning. GAIA [don't try to explain GAIA] The All-Mother says [makes me sound like a prophet] Our allies believe this will work, and I have to trust them.

Aloy has a sister [too flippant] The Zeniths made their own Anointed [confusing and blasphemy] The Zeniths had a captive. We managed to rescue her, and I've managed to get through to her, but she's scared and she's been alone her entire life. She reminds me of Aloy, but not in the good ways. She's smarter than the rest of us put together, but she doesn't know what to do with it and has no practical skills. She can't even sew up her own clothes. She hides in her room most of the time. Aloy has been talking to her, and sometimes it helps but sometimes it makes things worse. It's like watching someone yell at their reflection. [don't reference clones] They're too alike. I'm trying to get her to step out of the Base camp to see the sunrise, but it's hard. I think she's scared of not having a ceiling over her head. She always sleeps in, too.

There's a lot to see, outside the Embrace. New people, new machines I couldn't have even imagined. It's not like the Matriarchs say, all cursed heathens. [too aggressive, don't contradict the Matriarchs] It's beautiful, but frightening too. I wish you could see it, even though you'd hate it. [probably too much]

I hope this letter finds you well.

Your son, Varl.

[GAIA said she can print this out, but I think I should copy it out by hand]

[maybe I should just delete this, I'm probably going to be the one going to Nora lands anyway]

Chapter 31 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[kotaloyelysiumevents]

July '24 - Kotaloy Celebration Week and Mini-Bang 2024

🎇Mini-Bang Entries🎆

Surrounded by Such Beauty, But All I See is You (T) - @mayalli and @quiche-draws (art) Prompts: 🌈 Paints/Inks/Colors, 🌲 Natural wonders/World around them Kotallo is ordered to take a much needed leave, but when he heads to the Base he finds Aloy too has been ordered to take a break. Thinking quickly, he suggests a place for them to relax together.

I'm looking for you in reality to forget the nightmares (T) - @iammythmaker and @picksleydust (art) Prompt: 💤 Dreams / Nightmares The nightmares wouldn't be so scary if they didn't include his commander. Kotallo knows that he almost lost her during the battle with Nemesis. Now he needs to know that she's okay. Aloy wants to help. Both find what they have been looking for for so long.

We call them Nightlights (G) - @Fallen2TheVirus and @charger-lens (gifset) Prompt:🌲 Natural wonders/World around them »Do you think there is a place for people like us? A place where we can heal?«, she asked him. Some questions are hard to answer. But just as there may not be a specific place needed for healing, sometimes many words aren’t necessary either. Perhaps a particular person is the key. And a gesture.

Held Together (T)- @theartseekwinks and @eclectus (art) Prompt:💤 Dreams / Nightmares At night, dreams play. Memories as they were and also changed. For someone who'd witnessed horrors, it can be torment to face it all again. And again. And again. Enough to break. A Tenakth Marshal faces demons in the darkness of his mind. Demons that wear the faces of his friends. When he wakes, he is not alone.

Marks in Time and Colour (T)- @fosblue and @apricity-writes (art) Prompt: 🌈 Paints/Inks/Colors The passage of time and paint between Aloy and Kotallo and the moments they share, in paint and colour.

Something Old, Something New (Something Shattered, Paint of Blue) (G) - @agoodPage and @i-lavabean (art) Prompt: 🌈 Paints/Inks/Colors His plan of action is clear- he must gain intel on what has occurred and from there, he can come up with a plan on how to help Aloy. Varl meets his gaze steadily as he approaches. The words catch in his mouth, and again he can feel his heart hammering anxiously within the cavern of his chest. “How can I help?” A curious expression falls across Varl’s face as he glances from Kotallo to the space where Aloy had stood. Then he breaks into a smile, and that’s where Kotallo’s newest mission starts.

Ascendance (G) - @cotanerd and @tonys-art-n-stuff (art) Prompt: 🌈 Paints/Inks/Colors, 🌲 Natural wonders/World around them The call had come from GAIA. A tip off about a strange thing seen in the distance of survey drone 739, the one flitting around the Sheersides. A polite request that Aloy investigate. “You will recognise the anomaly when you find it.” With those vague instructions, Aloy headed off.

As you see yourself. As he sees you. - @amenax and @sigvos (art) Prompt: 🌈 Paints/Inks/Colors, 🌲 Natural wonders/World around them A little 3-day adventure to the Cut. The babies get inspired by the world around them and discover the artists inside of them.

**Stay tuned as we are still awaiting a couple more entries!

OTHER WORKS:

"Shape of You" - @kakko-jp (NSFW) Prompt: 4️⃣Foreplay/Touch

Prompt: 🌈 Paints / Inks / Colors (in the server) - @setavvo

"The marks left by Catloy" - @kakko-jp (NSFW) Prompt: Leaving marks

---

We had a lot of amazing stuff last month! Many thanks to our participants who collaborated and even just made work on their own based on the prompts!

You may also check out their works over at our collections for Kotaloy Celebration Week 2024 and Kotaloy Mini-bang 2024!

If you are interested in joining our server, please feel free to send us an ask!

[greybackpack]

Kotallo leans on his remaining arm as he considers the battle map projected on the metal table. He'd planned to map out both Zenith and Regalla's activities in order to gain insight in their next move. Normally, Kotallo loves the stretch of strategy, the way clues fall together so that he may prime his attack to kill.

Not today.

His mind does not seem to want to cooperate with his plans for the day. Instead, it wanders onto the subject of his commander. Commanders. Both commanders.

He’d been at Chief Hekarro’s side since almost the beginning of the Chief's glory. Out of the current Marshals, he had the most seniority. Even before the ambush, Kotallo was the one who knew Hekarro-the-Chief best. From the first Kulrut until now, Kotallo’s learned many things about his role as a Marshal… and about his commanding officer’s role as a leader.

Kotallo admired the man, then and now, both for his gift for combat and his goal of peace despite of the glory he could have had. Or, perhaps his goal of peace is because he knows what combat and conflict brings. Glory... and suffering.

Though, Kotallo supposes the position of Chief and Guardian of the Grove is glorious enough.

What Kotallo truly admires, however, is the way his commander handled the weight of leadership.

Far from prying eyes, Kotallo watched as Hekarro allowed himself to bend under the weight of handling the clans. Kotallo does not judge. If it was him handling Tekotteh, let alone the rest of the clans and the Carja, the clans would most likely have been decimated. Yet, Hekarro leads with both strength and patience, yielding and standing firm when necessary. Then, in his private moments, with or without his Marshals, he allows himself a small moment of weakness, of rest. Of bending beneath the weight of responsibility.

But Hekarro did not- does not- allow it to break him. He bends. He hangs his head, heavy and aching from his crown, and slumps against the plant covered walls of the Grove. And then he gets back up.

When Hekarro has had his time to process, Kotallo watched him pull back his shoulders and settle back into the mantle of leader. Kotallo watched as Hekarro lined his spine once more of machine metal and rouse strength to his posture in order to keep going. To keep moving, to stand up when all is weighing you down is true strength. To deny the temptation of rest in order to protect and fight is something everyone struggles with. It is a hard lesson, to learn with grace. Kotallo has learned and learned well. It is a strength that Chief Hekarro possesses. It is the kind of true strength that the Ten were known for.

And that is the driving force of Kotallo's loyalty. Yes, Hekarro took him in when his clan casted him out- exile hidden behind a veneer of honor- and that had netted Kotallo's service. Yet it is the kindness, the solid sight of the back of his chief as he protected the clans from enemies and themselves, and the steel that lines his spine as he cuts enemies down is what secures Kotallo's unwavering loyalty. It is what secures his return, it is why he allowed himself once more to be a spear to be pointed.

Aloy, too, has the same grit and sheer will behind her every move. The same ability to bend the world to her commands, to her beliefs. Her battle seems never ending. Kotallo respects that. She fights like she's been taught nothing else in her life. She, as Erend would say, kicks ass. She kicks everyone's ass, the enemy's, his own, machine ass. She even, Kotallo thinks as he tips his head upwards to hide his smirk, kicks her own ass.

But... She fights like Tenakth. Something he did not expect to find in the reclusive Nora. Soft, he had thought those from the east.

Aloy had proved him, and everyone else who had ever doubted her, wrong. She proved a whole clan wrong, when she tore the Bulwark down with the ease of someone who's pulled off the impossible so many times that 'impossible' only means 'harder'. Hair like fire, heart like hearth, fight like a blaze. Firestorm. Aloy, who is easy-going (not that he can say much, Kotallo knows he's anti-social even amongst other Tenakth) until she isn't. Calm, unsuspecting, until she isn't. People tend to underestimate her. They see the colors of the Nora, the soft, deer-like pelts she wears, and think that is everything she is and will ever be. Until she slits their throat with a skilled hand and a sharp blade. Until she destroys the wall his clan had believed unbreachable for centuries and essentially slapped Tekkoteh's face with... a boulder. Multiple boulders. Aloy spat in the face of doubt and took out its knees with her spear.

His new commander has a penchant for the impossible.

Then again, people had said uniting the Tenakth was impossible and Hekarro pulled that off too.

Kotallo glances away from the map, eyes still adjusting to the focus hub of information. He looks at the schematics for an arm, a strange mixture reluctance and hope swirling at the pit of his gut.

Perhaps Aloy would be amenable to performing another minor miracle...?

[marshsano]

Here’s a crazy idea I came up with; what if in Horizon you could cook and eat the machines? The Nora are the only tribe who knows this and one day Aloy offers to make dinner for her friends, they think she’s joking and laugh it off until she’s butchering an entire trampler in the kitchen. She and Varl don’t understand the problem, wait, you guys DON’T eat machines? The meat looks like burnt glowing blue steak, but Erend and the others swears it was the best meal they ever had together.

just because i liked this prompt so much, i spent like the last week drawing a comic for this! here you go! (as someone who is NOT very experienced in comic making.)

[read right to left!]

granted i’m a little out of practice with drawing horizon characters, so bear with me! first post of the new year too.

the idea of eating machines is both morally questionable AND hilarious to me. aloy takes down a tremor-tusk with kotallo, and as he takes the gun away, he turns to see her prepping it to eat later? or aloy and alva take down a slitherfang and aloy keeps shouting for alva to not hit too hard so that they can use the food later??? everyone would lose their minds.

also varl and aloy being in on some big cool thing together is just so cute to me.

aloy is such an oddball to other people too, so i think it’d be really funny to see other people react to her. hope i did this justice!

[robinpixels]

Have you ever thought about how much worse the dynamic between Beta and the Zeniths are, when you do up the timeline and realize she could be as young as fourteen/fifteen? In no way a developed socially adept child because she grew up with freaking holograms and had no positive physical contact?

If you ignore the age bit. Beta probably only knows physical touch through the Specters and maybe some robotics around the ship. The first time she has physical contact that’s nice isn’t even from Aloy. It’s from Varl. And then he gets brutalized and she has no one to hug her or pull her close because Aloy is also socially inept (and possibly 19/20). Zo is trying to deal with the loss of not only the guy she liked but her baby’s dad. The others aren’t even sure how to connect. Though Erend might cause he’s a sibling.

But just. Does anyone else realize how traumatized Beta actually is and how much worse it is for her?

Opinion or your own thoughts? Cause this has me very concerned for how Beta could be mentally for the next game.

oh hello!! haha, god its been so long since i've put my hzd/hfw thinking cap on but i love chattin' shop and opinions and i've a few to toss around

to start around my thoughts personally i've always interpreted beta from the time we know her to be about 18! not from any hard concrete evidence, so this is definitely not a correction, i just gleaned so from initial impressions and from a personal bias in my head how its quite poetic to me if Aloy were staring back at someone that could resemble a version of herself back when she first started her journey. Then lending to her personal frustration when said mirror doesn't in actuality resemble her (or Lis, in her view) at all. its even more devastating to me in this sense too 'cuz what she could have had as a 'childhood' is essentially already all gone. but yeah, long story short - while if i'm honest i don't think she's a child anymore, she is definitely very much so floundering and struggling in her young adulthood (i still stand by how she's depicted in False Negative, like that's just Her to me, Tessa u absolute wonder u).

god, ur probably right about her not having positive physical contact all this time - either violence or nothing up until the point she meets the GAIA squad. the concept of the bond beta and varl could have had always makes me SO sad to think about, it could have been so good, and personally it does frustrate me how they never leaned more into it to the detriment of both varl and beta. they could've had such a beautiful meaningful friendship (please pardon 'Ro is Annoyed at How Varl was Treated as a Character In-Story, Part Infinity, but this does touch upon it). It's undeniable she's been through a whole hell of a lot in that brief span of time she was on Earth and away from the Zeniths - the whole crew has, and as trauma does it's definitely gonna leave them all scrambling.

but in my wholesale opinion i gently pat ur head and assure you she will probably be alright at the end of the day! while FW was imo incredibly garbled in its delivery in places it does make clear that coming together to form a community to withhold against adversity is the goal here, and one everybody at Base recognizes and I feel are making great strides to get there! i have faith in this motley crew - Alva is Alva, bubbly and cooperative as ever; Kotallo's stoic but incredibly warm and well-meaning; Erend is Erend, he's always been good to his friends; Zo as an Utaru probably knows better than anyone the importance of community support and cooperation. as for Aloy i think she's taken that good bopping to the head in regards to learning to depend on people and letting people depend on her - she's got a lot of solitude issues herself as is to be expected but it really did warm me seeing how she's trying to get over them for the sake of everyone around her, and is enjoying finally leaning on that community too. my most precious babygirl. i'm very proud of her

i'm absolutely positive beta is in astoundingly good hands - they're all in astoundingly good hands w one another! it's been so cute to me how post game you can tell she's starting to heal and engage with others, just how the team had done before and after her. While absolutely I think they're all going to have their missteps and stresses and maybe a falling out here or there as they try and adjust, I honestly think the horizon series is at its core all about having compassion and care for your fellow man (albeit taking no shit from them at the same time) and the world you live in, so I doubt any of them will even accidentally leave Beta behind. she's got a sister, a mom, and a wholeass family now!! i adore how all the post-game content has been beta shyly but slowly but surely getting better, determined as she is to contribute the ways she can now.

hahaskdaflj; you were probably expecting an angstier response out of me and oh believe me i love the angst!! but i also have such a soft spot for when horizon goes all Indomitable Human Spirit on us it makes me go all gooey. i think the kids will be alright <3

on a funnier note to an extent i believe in beta precisely BECAUSE she's already a little unhinged. girl came in with the box already banged up and inherently fucked up. yeah miss beta 'let me just knock myself out cold and tear this implant directly out of my head that'll thwart em' sobeck will fit right alongside that hall of madness now known as Base GAIA she'll do just fine and dandy. i've gotten such a taste for unhinged sapphics lately and when horizon delivers it DELIVERS

[amageish]

Attempting to predict the Lego Horizon Adventures roster

So, Horizon is getting a LEGO game! Certainly a pleasent surprise

Let's talk about the roster.

When it was first announced, my assumption was it would be a LEGO game with a typical LEGO game giant roster... but all the promo material has focused on Aloy and Varl specifically, with the main customization appearing to come in the form of multiple costumes they can put on - not all-new characters.

From the previews, we know there's even the option to play as Aloy and Varl wearing costumes based on other Horizon characters. Some of these seem very cute and it will be quite funny when Aloy puts on a fake beard. Take that, people complaining about her having peach fuzz!

That said, we also do know multiple player characters are coming. All the press material mention "Aloy and friends" in a broad sense and previews mention Varl as just being the first ally we unlock... So who else is coming?

Here's my prediction...

I think it'll be a small batch of fully-voiced characters with unique interactions between them - like we saw between Aloy and Varl in the trailer. I picked these 10 as they are all characters from Zero Dawn who appear in the final sequence (some depending upon the actions of the player), come back in some way in the sequel, and/or were included as playable in the board game adaptation.

This would give us ten main characters: Aloy, Varl, Erend, Sona, Sylens, Vanasha, Uthid, Aratak, Nil, and Talanah. We also know there's some side-content said to increase replayability that hasn't been announced in detail yet, so I could see Talanah having a Hunter's Lodge challenge that unlocks her as playable, paralleling how she is a full-on AI ally of Aloy in the final boss if you complete her side quests.

If we get more ZD characters, then I think Rost, Vala, and Teb would all make sense... I could also see Ikrie and Janeva making it in too - they're not super important to the game itself, but are big in the fandom. Lots of other options exist as well - perhaps some characters, like Petra and Avad, will be both available as cosplays for other character and as well as as their own playable characters? We'll see.

I personally would like Forbidden West characters too - especially Kotallo and Seyka - but I imagine they will be DLC if anything, given how Zero-Dawn-focused the game appears to be thus far... Hopefully they are in the base game though!

[elialys]

Intro Post

Hi! I'm Eli (or Ambre, really, outside the internet). I'm 36, French, and generally speaking, a hot mess, with an ND brain and a cat--very relevant information. Some more facts about me: I lived in the US for 8 years, got a teaching degree there, taught in England for 4 years (science, not French, because I'm complicated like that). Now I'm back in France following a burnout, currently studying to start a new career in social work.

My main fandoms include Fringe, The Newsreader, Doctor Who, Horizon (Zero Dawn/Forbidden West), The Last of Us, Mass Effect, and brief hyperfixations in between. For the most part, I tend to post about Anna Torv and her many characters, a lot. I've been a fan of hers since I discovered her on Fringe in 2010. She's an incredible artist, and I love that she's the ultimate ninja when it comes to hiding from her own stardom.

I just think she's neat, you know 🥹

Some of you might be here because of my fics. I do write a lot when my brain allows it. All of it can be found on AO3. At this point, I've been a fic writer for over 20 years, so I've written quite a lot of things. I truly appreciate any type of support & encouragement; being an anxious, insecure human blob (aka a writer), I am extremely partial to comments on my stories ❤️ If you'd like to check out my writing, here are a few suggestions:

Gravity (Peter x Olivia, s2 AU)

Shivered Bones (Peter x Olivia, post Marionette AU)

These Lines Etched In Sand (TLOU AU, Tess & Ellie, Tess lives instead of Joel)

Calluses (Tentoo x Rose, post Journey's End)

Chasing the Aurora (Ten x Rose x Tentoo, post Journey's End)

Splintered (Helen x Dale, post s2)

On the Wings of the Ten (Aloy x Kotallo, post HFW)

Messages in my hug!box are always appreciated, too!

More recently, I've also gotten into gif making (under this tag). Nothing fancy, mostly Anna's face, but here are a couple of specific tags:

Olivia Dunham - One gifset per episode

The Newsreader (mostly Helen x Dale)

Wendy Carr

[gaiagangoffical]

do y'all have a fav song from the old ones?

you BETTER appreciate this because i am about to run around the base passing the focus along to everyone !!!

Aloy - Oh. Um. I don’t exactly listen to their music a lot, I generally prefer what we have today. Although, GAIA gave me this playlist once called “Phonk”, and I guess it was ok, so I guess that? Sorry, that’s not really a song..

Erend - HEAVY METAL BANDS, I THINK METALLICA OR SLIPKNOT IS MY FAVOURITE. I ENJOY MASTER OF PUPPETS A LOT, THOUGH. ITS EIGHT MINUTES LONG, SO I GET TO ENJOY IT FOR AGES.

(ooc: i know nothing about heavy metal bands all i have is a friend with a metallica bag whom we call emo all the time)

Varl - i actually quite enjoy the pop genre! i think there was a heavy split between the old ones between people who did and didn’t, but i think they sound cool and upbeat. my favourite has to be this one song called shake it off by this girl called taylor swift!!! i don’t know if she’s still relevant with you guys but i enjoy a lot of her music :) also i listen to classical sometimes from zo!!!

Zo - Generally I listen to calmer music, classical like Varl said. I enjoy Beethoven, but I also switch over to more 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2020s music sometimes because of Varl. I like Adele - my favourite from her has to be Chasing Pavements, or Easy On Me :) Alva got me into The Lumineers too.

Kotallo - i don’t have a lot of time to listen to music. all i know is mr. sandman. bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam oh mr sandman. that one. i think it’s old so i don’t know if you all still know it.

Alva - MY TURN!!!!! i enjoy this one band called the lumineers a LOT. my favourite is ophelia because it reminds me of federa and sometimes it makes me cry. also!! taylor swift!! she was 2000s to 2020s i think so like varl said i’m not sure if you all know her.. but i heard her fans called themselves “swifties” so that’s pretty cool!! me and varl listen to music together a lot we share similar tastes :3 i like the pop genre too!!

Beta - i really enjoy the crane wives i really like the moon will sing or the well also there was this song called lovely and i think billie something was her name and all i can do is see myself in the lyrics so it makes me cry but it also makes me feel really comforted also alva showed me this song called rises the moon and it makes me really calm

Sylens - Classical.

GAIA - My likes are what Elisabet liked. Sometimes, when she was feeling a bit happier, she’d listen to 70s, 80s, 90s, but when she needed to focus or needed something calmer in a solemn mood, she’d put on some classical or generally calm music. I believe her favourite was “Keep On Movin’” by a band called Five. Although, I do enjoy the songs everyone plays around the base, too.

sorry guys sylens was grumpy… it took me like 5 minutes of pestering him to get him to write ONE word!!!!

now i am going to look at some data. sitting down. i’ve been running around the base i need a break.

[candyfloss5000]

Being Zo and Varl's child headcanons

A/n: SPOILERS FOR HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST

Zo is the best mother in the world.

She teaches you how to respect Earth and all of its living organisms, she also tells what to fight for (your home, friends, innocent lives etc.)

Zo spends less of her time at "The Base" and in Plainsong after the Zeniths are defeated so she can focus more on you

Oh and you're 100% babysat by Aloy, Beta, Alva, Erend, Kotallo and Sona

Because of Aloy, Beta, Alva, Erend and Kotalla babysitting you since you were a toddler, calling them you're aunts and uncles has become a second nature to you.

Oh my god my poor baby Sona when she first met you :,(

My girl was in tears when she first saw you because of how much you resembled Varl when he was a baby

Zo first introduces you to "The Base" when you're thirteen she also gives you you're own Focus then aswell because she thinks your a responsible young person and deserve to know the knowledge of your ancestors

Aloy definitely teaches you how to hunt (with Zo's permission of course) whether it's the wildlife or machines. Moments when you use your Focus to identify machines weakspots with Aloy's guidance, make her realise how much you reminder her of her younger self and how much she reminds herself of Rost.

Beta does what she does with everyone else - she explains the knowledge of the Old Ones to you in simple terms to get you to comprehend it

Alva teaches you about all sorts of information from data cores whether its agriculture or astrology or hydrophysics just anything she finds fascinating or thinks you'll find fascinating

Erend is a big father figure to you. Aside from Aloy he was one of your father's dearest friends. Erend tells you stories of your father, how loyal he was to his friends, how selfless. Not a day goes by when he doesn't tell you how proud Varl would be of her

Kotalla doesn't visually show affection, as he shows it in different ways. To you his form of affection is teaching you how to be a warrior and teaching you how to perfect everything he's taught you. You might not visibly see it, but Kotalla does adore you and would fight for you anywhere, anyday

Sona takes you East for months at a time to show you where Varl grew up - the Nora, the Carja and the Oseram lands. She teaches you their cultures, beliefs and history.

Growing up without a father was rough for you. Yes, you had more than you could ask for, but there still is that one piece that's missing from your life. You're family has picked up on this, by how you zone out sometimes or go through periods of silence. Aloy found a slight coping mechanism for you because she uses the mechanism herself. Whenever you feel detached or conflicted you can activate a hologram of your father with your Focus to talk to. Aloy does this with a hologram of Rost and it helps her get through her long journeys.

Oh and don't think for one second that your family of warriors won't be there for you.

You've got an important arena trial? Auntie Alva is cheering you along all the way no matter what.

Bullies at school? Uncle Kotalla will send them a death stare that could stop their small pathetic hearts.

Kidnapped by bandits? Don't panic, your badass grandmother Sona will destroy them and come to your aid.

Threatened to be an Outcast by The Chorus because you're part Nora? Sit back and watch mother Zo talk some godamn sense into them.

Questioned on your intelligence? Auntie Beta will argue agaisnt them and pull up your progress on your knowledge of the Old Ones with her focus to prove them wrong

Allies turn on you? Uncle Erend won't hesitant to smash them apart with his hammer.

Mocked for being fatherless? Aunt Aloy will convince you to challenge them in the arena so you can beat their ass.

Got a lead on something big? They're with you all the way.

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 23 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

Zo: Alva, I have questions about your empire's agriculture.

DIVINER: Well, I'm not an agriculturalist or a biologist, but I'll answer what questions I can!

Zo: Do you have land-gods? Machines that tend your fields?

DIVINER: No, we had to learn to do everything ourselves! Much of it was discovered in the labs belonging to Eileen Sasaki, which is why she's one of our most revered Ancestors. The Empire wouldn't exist if we couldn't expand our fields!

Zo: I suppose our reliance on our land-gods has limited our expansion.

DIVINER: Um, this might be an awkward question...

Zo: That's fine.

DIVINER: And by awkward, I mean insulting.

BoyNextDoor: Apologizing before the insult. Erend, you can learn a thing or two here.

HIMBO: IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU'RE ALL TOO SENSITIVE!

Zo: Yes it is.

HIMBO: OH REALLY? GRANOLA GIRL?

Zo: …

Zo: So what was your question, Alva?

DIVINER: Do you um, know how to farm?? Without your land-gods, I mean!

DIVINER: Sorry!!

Zo: Oh, that. Yes, we do. Not all our villages are directly in the paths of the land-gods. We haven't expanded much, but we have some.

HIMBO: SHARING A BORDER WITH THE TENAKTH PROBABLY HELPED KEEP YOU GUYS FROM PUSHING OUT.

MARSHAL Kotallo: The Tenakth have always had fine relations with the Utaru.

HIMBO: YEAH, AND I'M GUESSING THAT ANY TIME ANYONE SUGGESTED EXPANDING, SOMEONE BROUGHT THAT UP.

Zo: One of the biggest problems my people have is that we are passive. The land-gods provide more than enough for what we need. Even in our outer villages, we rarely actually need to farm. It is always easier to just sit by and let nature take its course.

FlameHairSavior: In my experience, the people in power generally want things to stay the same.

Zo: True, the Chorus is the worst, but this is a problem common among the Utaru. As much as I wish otherwise, the Chorus are not forcing their own passivity on anyone. This is simply the way we are.

BoyNextDoor: Except for a few brave members of the tribe who will charge into a Cauldron with a couple of strangers.

Zo: You say the sweetest things.

HIMBO: EW, THEY'RE KISSING.

BoyNextDoor: How old are you, twelve?

β: flirt on your own time its science now

DIVINER: Right! Zo, did you have a reason you were asking about the Empire??

Zo: I found a story of the Old Ones about an empire making a colony. It just got me wondering if your people had the expertise to do something like that.

β: what story was it

Zo: Terra Nova.

β: i dont know that one

DIVINER: I don't either! But I'm guessing it's sci-fi?

Zo: What's sci-fi?

DIVINER: ...oh, wow, I just realized how much cultural context you're all missing.

FlameHairSavior: We are not having a movie night. At least not until I can go two consecutive days without having to put out literal fires.

DIVINER: I'm sorry to say, I don't think this is something that can be solved with a movie night!!

β: sure it can there are documentaries on film making or whatever

DIVINER: Oh, documentaries!! Those would be so useful!

DIVINER: I don't have any on my Focus, though!

β: nether do i

β: neither

HIMBO: WHAT'S A DOCUMENTARY?

DIVINER: It's a movie for teaching you about something!

HIMBO: SOUNDS HORRIFYING.

FlameHairSavior: I've changed my mind; we can watch one.

HIMBO: HEY!

FlameHairSavior: Though I do seriously need to find a day without an emergency.

FlameHairSavior: I found a Tenakth town in the desert that is flooded, and still doesn't have any drinking water.

BoyNextDoor: What were you doing back in the dessert?

FlameHairSavior: Okay, this was a while ago. Back when I was traveling to Vegas.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Many of our villages are suffering from such problems.

HIMBO: I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT SORT OF SLAG. DON'T YOU GET MOST OF YOUR FOOD FROM THE UTARU?

MARSHAL Kotallo: We still live off the land where possible, one way or the other. We don't just steal everything from our neighbors. We are not savages.

β: also raiding is not a sustainable long term economic practice

β: pirate nations never last long and aloy said all the bandits are always starving

FlameHairSavior: Yeah. That was back in the Sundom and the Sacred Lands, though. The rebels seem to have things a little more thought-out.

MARSHAL Kotallo: They are attempting to wrest control of Tenakth society. There is more to them than mindless raiding for supplies.

DIVINER: So! I've looked over the archive, and there aren't really any documentaries??

DIVINER: Well, there's one on the history of sourdough bread, but that's probably not going to be interesting to anyone??

MARSHAL Kotallo: What in the name of the Ten is sourdough bread? That sounds like something that has been fouled and is unsuitable for consumption.

DIVINER: I don't know! I haven't watched it!

β: aloy we have a new mission for you

FlameHairSavior: I don't know what sourdough bread is either, and I'm not finding any.

β: no not that you need to find the documentary on film making

FlameHairSavior: And where would I find that?

β: youre supposed to be the anointed chosen baby or whatever thats your job

FlameHairSavior: If there's an undamaged library or something out there, no one has told me about it.

DIVINER: There's one in the Quen lands! Well, not UNDAMAGED, but much less damaged! It's where we obtained much of the Legacy we still have today!

β: see there you go

FlameHairSavior: I'm not going to the Quen lands.

HIMBO: AND HERE I EXPECTED YOU TO SWIM ACROSS THE OCEAN.

FlameHairSavior: No, but I can come back to the base to smack you.

HIMBO: OW!

DIVINER: ...did Aloy somehow get all the way back to the base in seconds to smack Erend??

DIVINER: Oh, never mind, I see.

FlameHairSavior: What?

HIMBO: VARL SMACKED ME!

Zo: How WOULD you go about finding specific data, Aloy? Surely this has happened to you before.

FlameHairSavior: Usually, if it's important, I at least have a lead. I knew Faro was at the center of everything, so I went to Faro HQ. Then I found out about other bunkers and labs. That sort of thing.

DIVINER: All right! Then that just means you have to go to Hollywood!

FlameHairSavior: [Sigh.gif]

FlameHairSavior: Fine. Where is it?

ADMIN [GAIA]: The location of the former Hollywood Boulevard is approximately three hundred and thirty-six miles south-west of this facility. Assuming constant use of striders, and not accounting for detours or sleeping, it would be wise to budget at least forty hours for the outgoing trip.

FlameHairSavior: …

FlameHairSavior: I'm not riding forty hours straight to get you a movie.

DIVINER: Aw.

β: erend what are your plans for the weekend

HIMBO: HAHAHA NO.

Chapter 23 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[pikapeppa]

In Becoming Whole, Aloy seemed much more willing to let Kotallo in. Sure, it wasn’t easy for her but she seemed so ready to trust him…

With Drakka though, she just seems so angry and so often shuts down when things get too real.

I can see that both versions of Aloy have the same concerns, insecurities, and trauma… but with Kotallo she seemed to want what she could have with him, and pushed herself to honestly share herself with him, even if it scared her or felt like a betrayal to her divine mission etc.

And with Drakka she just seems so much more tortured and haunted. I know that you fleshed out her reactions/feelings to Drakka a fair bit during his base visit, but it seems at odds with Kotallo’s version of Aloy.

Was there any particularly reason you’ve made Desert Bloom’s Aloy more reserved?

I know you’ve been winging a lot of this but do you have any thoughts on whether it’s a personality thing… a trust thing… anything? 😂

In my mind Drakka is the home she’s always wanted and is desperate to protect it… but I’d much prefer your pov lol

Sorry for the essay! Love your work x

Ah yes, the comparison of Aloy-with-Kotallo vs. Aloy-with-Drakka… This is what I bring on myself when writing two concurrent ships with Aloy (technically three including Avad LOL).

The way I see it, I haven’t made Aloy a different person in Desert Blooms compared to Becoming Whole. She was the same person with the same trauma/concerns/insecurities when she met Kotallo and when she met Drakka. It’s that Kotallo and Drakka are very different people, and the quality+amount of time she spent with each of them was VERY different, so her dynamics with each of them have resulted in relationships that look quite different. 

More below the cut!

One of the things I love so much about Aloy as a protag is that she’s so multifaceted: she can be gentle and empathetic, she can be sassy and lighthearted, and she can be downright rude/sharp (in the best way sometimes, e.g. with Studious Vuadis LMAO), and all of those mannerisms for her are in-character — and this is also reflective of how people are IRL. I know for sure that I act differently with my husband vs. with my closest girlfriends vs. with colleagues at work, but all of the ways I act are still “me”. Similarly, the “me” I was with my high school boyfriend is different from the “me” I am now with my husband. Part of that is time/age/experience, for sure, but it’s also a function of the man I was with/am with — but both versions of me are still “me”. Maybe this sounds stupid and self-explanatory, but we are changed and affected by the people we have relationships with, and this is why Aloy “seems” so different with Kotallo vs. Drakka. 

With Kotallo in Becoming Whole, there are so many reasons that Aloy opened up more quickly. I made a table to make it easier to compare these reasons side-by-side and because I’m a fucking nerd LOL. Please do tap to enlarge if you're so inclined, I'm sorry for the small font -- blame technical issues on my side for this 😂😭💀:

(Note that the above is based on headcanons unless otherwise stated.)

There’s probably more I could add to this table, but I think this is enough for now without me looking like Charlie Day in that meme LOL.

In any case, this reply might come a little late since some of your questions might get addressed in the chapter of Desert Blooms that I just posted 😂 but in any case, I hope this was an interesting response! 

-- love from your friendly neighbourhood Pika! xoxo

[fogsblue]

Kotaloy monthly prompts - July '23

💘 Matchmaking / Friends know best / Outside Interference 💘

(is this very late? yes, sorry about that, you know, life and all that)

What friends are for (T) by RadiateLove Sometimes, all it takes is a nudge in the right direction

Make Me A Match (T) by TheArtseeWinks Aloy was going to punch the next person who suggested a mate for Kotallo. Kotallo was going to introduce someone's face to his metal arm if they kept getting so close to Aloy. People keep trying to set Aloy and Kotallo up for romantic dalliances and neither are real keen on seeing the other accept.

Beta Asks: Interviews with the GAIA Gang (T) by @setavvo A conversation with Erend makes Beta wonder how Aloy and Kotallo became a couple. She thinks her sister won't give her a straight answer, and she's still a bit nervous around the Tenakth marshal. So Beta asks their friends, instead.

The Next Step (E) by @setavvo Aloy and Kotallo try to take the next step in their relationship, but something or someone keeps getting in the way. OR 5 times Aloy and Kotallo try to have sex and the 1 time they finally do. A companion fic to Beta Asks: Interviews with the GAIA Gang

Hear the Words (G) by @koteevna Aloy and Kotallo are independent personalities. But when it comes to their own feelings, their mind doesn't work quite right. It's good that they have family and friends.

AO3 Collection - Kotaloy Elysium Prompts

if you'd like to join in, feel free to ask for a server invite, or just tag me here. September is 🏹 Hunting / Hunted / Thrill of the chase 🏹