#c: seyka

[xolaanii]

HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST: BURNING SHORES [launch trailer]

[drowning-in-webnovel-chapters]

Hello yes 911? I'm calling because I've been murdered.

[anime-grimmy]

Soooo, you've probably noticed Ive been replaying HZD recently so my mind's been stuck on the franchise for a while.

I finally took the time to actually try and experience Burning Shores for the first time, this time with an unbiased opinion.

Bcs, ngl, when it came out, I was very negative towards it for a couple of reasons. It already started out with me not being able to freaking play this DLC, even though I was so excited for it, cos while HFW was on PS4, the DLC wasnt. And Im wasnt going to buy a whole ass PS5 just for a DLC.

(I will get it once I buy a PS5 for MH Wilds though).

And then, ofc, the elephant in the room - Seyka, or rather Aloy's relationship with her.

I'll preface this with, though it should be obvious with my content, I do NOT have a problem with Aloy being in a gay relationship.

What rly irked me, and honestly still irks me, is that Aloy finally gets to experience new feelings IN A FUCKING DLC. AN EXTENSION A LOT OF THE PLAYERBASE WONT PLAY.

The second reason I didnt enjoy this decision was bcs it felt so rushed. I mean, we're talking about Aloy here! Miss "I dont have time for feelings bcs I gotta save the world"! Miss "I barely just learnt to let others in"!

From what Ive heard, the DLC is over the course of a few weeks/months, so it's not like they fell in love just like that, but Ive also heard that while playing you do not get a feel for that passage of time. I'll have to experience that for myself though.

Now that Ive had some distance from the franchise though, my feelings have changed a bit

Im not going to lie and say I now loooove this decision. No, I am still miffed such enourmous character developement for Aloy is stuck IN A DLC. Not to mention that it was such a bold move to try this with a new character, cos this relationship being perceived well hinges on the player liking Seykay and that fast. Imo she's a fine character but also nothing special.

Now, I do have to say, I am really happy that Aloy has finally come so far that she allows such intimate feelings to develop, or rather, that the devs let her be this way. I know a lot of us still perceive Aloy as this single minded protag, that wont let anyone in bcs "the mission is too important", so Im glad Guerilla shows us that Aloy has undergone quite the growth.

Im also pleasantly surprised that Guerilla has the guts to include romance for Aloy, bcs they were one leg in the "strong women need no (wo)men" pit, so it's great to see they dont let Aloy fall into that trope.

Now, for the FUN part.

I actually have a conspiracy theory, ie I am gaslighting myself on why such a big thing is stuck in a DLC.

I think Guerilla is testing the waters to see how players react. I am pretty sure they can gather the data on what dialogue options players used, so Im thinking this:

Guerilla is trying to gauge the player reaction on a) Aloy developing feelings, b) players thinking Aloy is ready/willing for a relationship, c) same sex relationships. They tried killing quite a few birds with one stone.

I have seen quite a few teasing, winky face posts and replies from Guerilla staff about romance options in the third installment, so my guess (delusion) is that the relationship is hidden in the DLC so Guerilla can plan on how much and obvious to include several romance options in the last title.

I know this is all just wishful thinking, but even if Seyka is a good character, I hope to fucking god that they dont just take that relationship decision away from us, esp with a character bound to a DLC.

Guerilla gave us such a wonderful cast of characters over the last two games, and if they want to give Aloy an "end game" in the third title, I hope they do let us choose with who. Or at least I hope they dont force a relationship we cant choose onto us.

Cos as much as Aloy is her own person, it is still US that make the decisions in game. Through our individual playstyles , we give Aloy our own interpretation. Now, we cant change her core values, but still, I hope to GAIA that Guerilla will give us enough wiggle room.

(Guerilla, Im begging you, Ive already waited 8 years, please dont let my ship sink)

[hoot-hoot07]

My thoughts on Romance options in Horizon 3

DISCLAIMER: This isn't me bashing ships or anyone's opinions, if this does come off as such, I apologise as this is genuinely not my intent. It's totally fine to ship Aloy with someone else, and view her however you want, this is just me sharing my thoughts on romance options and why I believe Aloy and Seyka are a good pairing. Also my opinions aren't fact, please don't harass me over anything, you can just not agree and move on with your life. (Also I do like other ships, but Aloy/Seyka are my personal fav)

(Also a note to toxic Seyka fans, I'm not defending you, you can not like a ship, but you shouldn't harass others over it, it's rude and genuinely harmful)

I personally don't think that having romance options for multiple characters in the 3rd Horizon game would be beneficial to the story or fit with Aloy's character. This is because of how flashpoints work and what Burning Shores has set up for the 3rd game. To just get it out of the way, if GG wanted Aloy to be in a romantic relationship with a pre-existing character, they would've showed or implied it already to set it up for the future. If romance options worked similarly or exactly how flashpoints do (choosing what part of Aloy's personality is expressed at that moment, not what she thinks of something), it would feel weird because it would imply that Aloy had developed feelings for all of the romance options. To me, this would make Aloy feel like less of an individual person or character, and more like the player choosing who she likes and what she thinks of characters.

This leads into why I believe that Aloy and Seyka work as a pairing in canon. (again, just my own opinion, you are totally allowed to disagree). To me, the reason that Aloy likes Seyka is because of how similar they are, but the key difference being that Seyka cares for her people, regardless of how they think of her. Before breaking Quen law, Seyka fully belonged in the tribe, this is clear when walking around Fleet's end in many scenes with her, and when exploring Heaven C's location and Heaven's Rest. Everyone in fleets end knows Seyka, and they no longer fully respect her after breaking the law, despite her good intentions. She still cares about them and her missing people, even if they didn't want to be saved. This dedication and care for those who are ungrateful for it is why Aloy likes Seyka, because Aloy wouldn't have put up with the Quen's bullshit like Seyka did, and she admires her for that. Another reason that Aloy likes Seyka is because Seyka doesn't have any preconceived view of Aloy. She doesn't know Aloy is a clone of Elisabet (She doesn't even know who Elisabet is, unlike Alva), or the Savior of Meridian, Tenakth Champion, Anointed of the Nora, etc. She just knows Aloy as Aloy, with no pre-existing image or knowledge of how many tribes value her.

I won't yap on for longer since this is already a lot, just to summarise: I don't think romance options would work outside of Seyka, they would feel unnatural for Aloy's character and wouldn't benefit the story. I also believe that Seyka's ability to put up with her tribe's bs about her breaking the law to help them, as well as not knowing about Aloy's list of titles and preconceived images of her are two of the reasons why Aloy likes Seyka. Again, you are totally allowed to disagree with me on anything, I do not intend on invalidating ships, just please don't harass me.

[horizoncountdown]

Character Dossier: Aloy (Countdown ‘verse)

Aloy

Culture:

Nora (raised)

Mixed (adopted)

Birth:

April 4th, 3021 (age c. 19)

ELEUTHIA-9, All-Mother Mountain, The Sacred Lands

Gender:

Female

Eye Colour:

Green

Hair Colour:

Red

Affiliation(s):

Talanah Khane Padish

Carja Hunter’s Lodge

Avad

Carja Royal family

Vanguard

Petra Forgewoman

Vanasha

Uthid

Sylens

Aratak

Aratak’s Werak

CYAN

GAIA

GAIA Gang

Beta

Hekarro

Tenakth Marshals

Jurassic Pack (Blue, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Lil’ Beta and Vicki)

Solarflare

Tidebreaker

Seyka

Gerrit

Seyka’s family

Khita

Khita’s family

Profession:

Huntress

Machine Hunter

Position:

Outcast (formerly)

Brave (before appointed Seeker)

Seeker

Anointed of All-Mother

Thrush of Sunhawk Talanah Khane Padish (shared with Milu)

Banuk Werak Chieftain (temporarily)

Alpha Prime of Project Zero Dawn (joint)

Leader of the GAIA Gang

Hekarro’s Champion

Family:

Elisabet Sobeck (genetic blueprint)

Rost (Guardian/father)

Beta (Genetic twin)

Seyka (Partner)

Kina (adopted sister)

Khita (adopted aunt)

Aliases:

#LK1A1-4510

Aloy of the Nora

Aloy, Despite the Nora (Nickname for herself and used by Talanah)

Aloy Machinehunter (Nickname for herself with Petra)

Flame-Hair (Nickname by Petra)

Little Spark (by Gera)

Little Huntress (by Vanasha)

Anointed of the Nora (by the Nora)

The Saviour of Meridian (by the Carja)

Red (Nickname by Salma and Delah & Boomer)

Troublesome Redundant Copy (by Gerard)

Commander (by Kotallo)

Hekarro’s Champion (by the Tenakth)

Blood Hair (by the Tenakth)

Desert Flame (by Drakka)

Wall-Breaker (by the Sky Clan)

Living Ancestor (by the Quen)

She Who Flies on the Wings of the Ten (by the Tenakth)

Ginger Avenger (by Walter Londra)

Sunwing (Petname by Seyka)

Darling (Petname by Seyka)

Aloy, Daughter of Rost (Quen familial name)

Sis (by Beta)

Arms and Armour:

Armour/Outfits:

Main;

Nora Thunder Warrior - Main battle armour. Made by Aloy.

Nora Tracker - Main hunting attire/flying attire. Made by Aloy.

Nora Huntress - Main casual outfit. Mede by Teb.

Other;

Tenakth Tactician and the First face-paint (Hekarro’s colours) - Gift from Hekkaro for stopping Regalla

Utaru Protector (Early Autumn) - When in Utaru territory

Carja Blazon (Blood Dusk) - Gift from Talanah. When in the Sundom

Nora Anointed – For official business with the eastern tribes.

Has but doesn’t wear much;

Oseram Artificer – From Salvage Contracts

Weapon(s):

Death-Seeker’s Shadow - Won from the Arena

Iriv’s Downfall - Won from the Arena

Carja’s Bane - Won for winning the Gauntlet races

Legacy’s Reach - A gift of thanks from Legacy’s Landfall.

Brawlbreaker - Made by Petra on commission.

The Tie That Binds - Traded for from Fleet’s End.

Champion’s Spear - Token of Gratitude from Sun-King Avad

Specter Gauntlet - Retrieved from Zeth, and upgraded after killing Pirik

[robo-dino-puppy]

my thoughts on burning shores if anyone was interested (spoilers obvs, also loooooong, so long and rambling, don’t feel like you need to read it lol):

first of all - that final fight with the horus was EPIC. i LOVED the multiple sections that basically take you through all the game mechanics - stealth, ranged, climbing, swimming, platforming - all just really cool. SO AMAZING and FUCKING CREEPY to see a horus crawling/walking around. also props to sam witwer to being a great over-the-top villian lol. the final fight with londra in the head section felt a bit cramped and it took me a few cycles to understand what to do (like it took me too long to realize i could shoot the mines yikes i’m dumb) but once i did i liked the design of it. (although i felt aloy should have been more terrified of the horus waking up? she and seyka seemed pretty chill and jokey throughout the whole thing considering the situation - i feel like she should have been more scared, at least at first?)

second of all, little complaint - the sounds of the waterwing are EXCRUCIATING to me. really, honestly awful. well not from a sound design perspective, they're fine as... sounds... just not sounds i have to listen to frequently. but i'm very sensitive to noise and i have misophonia, so... maybe that's why. i wish it would just stop making noises. so many noises. all the time. in my mind steve (my sunwing) flew off to hang out with some burning shores sunwings and the moment i go back to a sunwing site i will recognize him and override him again and then we will go back to adventuring together and i will abandon the waterwing unless i need one again. also they added a noise to the barrel roll on the sunwing and that is not cool, don't like, i would like steve to be quiet(er) again pls.

third, an issue - i can't complete cauldron theta because every time i kill the bilegut my game crashes. TT-TT i go through the whole fight, aloy says "it's done!" and the game closes and i get an error. i have fought that bastard three times now and i WILL NOT be doing it again until i have reason to believe it’s fixed lol. the rest of the cauldron was pretty cool tho!

other things:

GILDUN! OMG. i loved that whole quest. i felt bad but i listened to all his commentary behind the door before opening it :D i also felt bad because he's so friendly and optimistic and his delving partner was a jerk, and while i didn't want to lie to him i chose the heart option for aloy's response, and i don't think i could choose the others. and he gets a focus and a hug! AHHHHHH it was great. you’re our friend gildun! (i did get him talking on aloy's focus once when i went back to the main game, so i wonder if there will be random comments like that sometimes? v cool)

NORA LOOKOUT ARMOR! holy crap i forgive them for not giving us the banuk sickness eater bc i did not expect to get the lookout. AMAZING. i will have to do a run with her wearing the lookout the whole time. the quen armors are pretty great too (and lots of dyes, but still only four dyes for the oseram armors? like, why? why didn't the oseram armor get the ng+ dye? WHY GUERRILLA)

ZENITH WEAPON! i was ambivalent about this idea before bc i wasn't sure how zenith weapons would work with the others we have, but i honestly love it. i also like the little clinky noise it makes when she puts it on/stows it :D some of the new weapons (like the shredder) in hfw felt kind of ratchet-and-clank-y, which i loved bc i *adored* r&c growing up. the zenith gauntlet also feels a bit like r&c and i’m digging it. now aloy just needs a topiary sprinkler lolololol (just kidding).

ZENITH FACEPAINTS! ok i would not wear these full time but they are honestly beautiful with the gold. also didn't expect these. and some new quen ones and the new valor surge one and the pangaea one. (are there more? i haven’t finished the delver’s trinkets or the aerial vantage points) i have my work cut out for me for my facepaint series!

i'm... not sure how i feel about aloy and seyka. as an ace girl who was hoping (however foolishly and vainly) for at least the choice of ace girl rep in aloy, it didn’t hit for me the way i’m sure they wanted it to. (i realize she still could be ace, just not aro, but to me it didn’t feel like they were telling an ace story, if that makes sense.) and i like seyka but she wasn't as immediately endearing to me as many of the other side characters - altho maybe my opinion will change on a second playthrough.

but i *am* glad that aloy is 1) letting herself be emotional/vulnerable around others 2) is more relaxed and happy after hfw’s whole story and 3) actually voiced aloud how her early life as an outcast impacted her ability to form friendships. (or wait... was that only in the brain flashpoint dialogue, which is the one i picked? idk) so anyway not mad about it even if i wasn’t really feeling it, and i’m happy for the ppl who wanted aloy to be canonically into the ladies. (which imo it always seemed like she was)

the map is beautiful and the clouds are too. the sky in the new map omg!!! the color of the sky/clouds is definitely unique from any of the other areas. it does feel a biiiiiit too bright in places tho. several times the environment or aloy was completely blown out, highlights-wise. i didn’t change any settings on my game or tv from before, so i don’t feel like it’s on my end, but maybe i need to check.

speaking of sky have you flown up into the cloud layer? like it's a small thing i guess but it is BEAUTIFUL, it literally looks like one of the luminist paintings they said they were inspired by, but it's 3d. so, so pretty.

i did feel it was a bit short/fast especially compared to how the frozen wilds felt, but i may have just rushed it bc i was able to sit down and binge and i wanted to avoid spoilers.

why no tallneck? :( the frozen wilds tallneck was so great...

the jurassic park references made me laugh :D

the whole thing londra was doing to the quen, and the conversation with nova, was extra gross and creepy. also i thought we'd get nova as an AI ally like CYAN but oh well.

again the horus fight was amazing 10/10 boss fight v cool. the only thing i would have added was somehow shooting from the waterwing before gliding down to the ground. with two riders one can shoot and one can steer right?

but the side quest with the three waterwings on the island? HHHHHOLY fuck that was annoying. i used practically all my resources to kill those bastards. "weak to fire" my ass. they have like mile-wide aoe attacks and they are FAST and i kept missing their bodies while my ammo was going through their wings... super, super annoying, did not like, 0/10.

i hope they un-mirror the ammo selection, i was constantly picking the wrong arrows lol.

i walked up on some sandpipers on a beach and i scared them off and it was so REAL i just stood there and watched them fly away. and then they landed further down and started doing their little sandpiper-y thing again. SO COOL.

LEGENDARY SPIKE THROWER WITH DRILL SPIKES! thank u gildun i love it and will cherish it forever.

i'm not sure about the aerial vantage points (whatever they're called) bc i haven't finished them yet but the ones i have done are more emotionally along the lines of the original vantage points, so that's cool.

i did the stormbird in the cloud before i had the waterwing override and the stormbird KILLED STEVE so i reloaded a previous save where steve was alive and waited to do that until i was riding a (super-noisy and annoying) waterwing lol.

i am SAD that all our companions have left the main map. :( i mean they didn't do anything besides stand there in the same spots but... they were there...

sylens, ahhhhhh. that final convo made me tear up a little. i wish aloy had said something before she walked away, even a sarcastic "thanks" would have felt better imo. he didn't see her smile and he didn't hear the comment she made later. just considering the real-world stuff with lance reddick, oof.

also, visiting varl’s grave T_T

aaaaaaanyway i personally felt it was *well* worth $20 and i’m sooooooo excited to see what guerrilla does in the future!

[spacedlexi]

and what the more nuanced opinions about s*yloy?

censoring the ship name 💀 ive been trying to avoid all the post-burning shores drama that seems to be happening in the horizon fandom... ive seen some Nasty stuff getting thrown around and im not just talking about the usual gamer-homophobes (those im unfortunately used to by now)

i think overall theyre cute!! their relationship in this dlc is about how aloy is Truly evolving to accept people into her life on a Deep and Personal level. and i am NOT saying that she doesnt also care deeply for her current cast of friends (i think she might even have Feelings for some of them shes not letting herself be aware of (and im talking since ZD)). but its established in forbidden west that aloy has trouble connecting to people on that deep level, and she more often slips off into the night on her own than choosing to stick by them long term. she cares for them, she'll always help them, but something seems to keep scaring her off

the end of the dlc has aloy saying the idea of a home and tribe has always scared her since she grew up so disconnected from the nora. her development throughout FW (although i had issues with the writing and pacing of it) is about her putting down those walls and Truly letting people into her life. and seyka, being so similar to herself in so many ways yet having a positive relationship with her tribe, is kind of the perfect storm for this new aloy. her feelings are new and clumsy and she stumbles over herself. she doesnt always seem as cool and collected as she usually is and it sometimes seems to even throw her off. its cute!

i dont necessarily have any problem with Them. my problems more so were related to the execution of the writing and pacing of the dlc as a whole. and those problems stem back to the writing and pacing problems ive had since forbidden west... they just kinda got caught in the crossfire a bit (as did some of the FW companions when i first played through but have since warmed up to more). i went back and rewatched my friends stream of it and i found myself less frustrated than i was when we first went through it, but there were still a few moments here and there (between them and in the overarching plot in general) that just made me go 🤨 the execution was messy or weak or strange at times but again thats not just a dlc problem for me. i can at least appreciate the intention of what they were Trying to do with aloy and seyka. and as a plus they hit a number of tropes i really like

i think what bothered me more was the way guerrilla marketed her? its weird because they boasted about how "special and unique" she was when i feel she shares a lot of qualities that aloys other companions also have (down to c-cast characters like ikrie and nakoa). like.. i LIKE all of these characters for these similar qualities! it was just weirdly disrespectful to their own cast? i dont think that was their intention but it was... interesting

especially since i believe this experience with seyka is Massively important for aloy moving forward in regards to her relationships. aloy at the end of the dlc after her time with seyka is Completely Ready to accept what her idea of "home" is, and she realizes thats the connections shes made with the people around her. i really hope seyka gets to escape the dlc and join up with the cast in Horizon 3 (i was already disappointed when ikrie didnt make a reappearance). but since the dlc ended in flashpoints where you could accept or reject her, i Definitely believe this implementation will return in Horizon 3 with our cast of companions (not every aloy chose to kiss seyka so some aloys are returning to base single (but seemingly ready to mingle)). in the past when these flashpoints have come up (like with avad in both ZD and FW) aloy always seems resistant in some way even if you Do choose the heart option. but seyka is evidence that aloy really IS ready for that level of commitment post-BS. and since these are still choices tied to flashpoints, your aloy can do whatever she wants! the point is that regardless of any romance, shes ready to accept her friends as her Tribe

[warpaiint]

WHERE SHOULD YOU BE KISSED?

k n u c k l e s

it feels as though you have fought every day of your life. sometimes, you cannot even tell how much of the blood on your hands is your own... and how much comes from those who've tried to hurt those you defend. you deserve the gentleness of a kiss to your bruised knuckles and broken skin, a reminder that you are not only made of violence.

tagged by @ofspvrta tagging: @austerulous (Doric/soma?), @thecs (Randvi), @singofus (Kyra), @ofvoidx, @torntruth (Seyka), and anyone else who wants to.

[horizoncountdown]

Character Dossier: Seyka (Countdown ‘verse)

Seyka

Culture:

Quen

Birth:

January 27th, 3017 (age c. 23)

Springtide, The Great Delta

Gender:

Female

Eye Colour:

Dark Brown

Hair Colour:

Black

Affiliation(s):

Quen Navy

Alpha squad, Beta Company (aka Siren Squadron)

Kina

Seyka’s family

Khita

Khita’s family

Aloy

Aloy’s family

Solarflare

Tidebreaker

GAIA Gang

Position:

Petty Officer

Member of Alpha squad, Beta Company, aka Siren Squadron (formerly)

Member of the GAIA Gang

Quen Alpha of Zero Dawn (joint)

Profession:

Marine

Family:

Kenji (father)

Sakura (mother)

Kina (sister)

Artor (adopted uncle)

Khita (adopted aunt)

Nero and Noemi (adopted cousins)

Aloy (Partner)

Beta (adopted sister)

Aliases:

Seyka, Daughter of Kenji (Quen familial name)

Seyka of the Quen

Lil’ Sey (by Nero)

Waterwing (Petname by Aloy)

Arms and Armour:

Armour: Seyka’s Marine armour

Weapon(s):

The Emperor's Reign,

Delta Sharpshot Bow,

Kenji’s sword,

Delta Ropecaster,

Seyka’s Seax,