#hfw crossover

[i-lavabean]

We're in this strange and wonderful period where the beans want to watch Winnie the Pooh and then go pretend to be Aloy, I'm enjoying it for as long as it lasts

[nerd-artist]

The first of my crossover drawings: Loy’zel (A6)

Who should I combine next?

[han-ban-bam]

More HADES!Aloy bc of course there is. Also, in this lil sand pit I’m in I have boons/offerings that she’d offer up for Zagreus’ journey up

- OVERRIDE; Hit an enemy to make it fight alongside Zagreus for X amount of time (Depending on boon level).

- OVERSHIELD; Zagreus has a full body shield, it dispels after X amount of hits before it has a cooldown before resetting. (Times depend on boon level).

- SALVAGER; Chamber rewards provide an additional smaller reward. E.g. Pom reward comes with a Pom slice, A God’s boon comes with an additional random level up.

[meg-noel-art]

Carja style Asami for @bookmancer-legendarium !! This was so fun thank you! ❤️

[zanazirafanfic]

Charles and Kotallo

Been getting into Horizon a bit lately, and of course Kotallo became my favorite almost immediately. (Who's surprised? No one.) I couldn't resist asking @noshirdalal what he thought would happen if Charles and Kotallo were ever able to meet, since I see a lot of parallels between them and their personal journeys. I asked what they might discuss, and what they could teach one another.

This was his answer (transcription under the vid below the cut). I did have to chop off a couple of seconds from each end to make it fit in the under-10-minute limit, and have noted those lines in brackets in the transcript, but none of the answer itself is missing, only the intro.

As always, very insightful, and thought-provoking.

I have some years of martial arts experience myself in the past, and I agree that you do learn different things about a person sparring with them versus speaking to them. I can definitely imagine Charles and Kotallo needing to lock horns and test each other before they can let their guards down enough to have any kind of meaningful conversation.

I personally like to think there would be an unspoken but strong mutual respect between them pretty early on, an understanding of how it feels to be judged and labeled an outcast among your peers for things entirely beyond your control. Both have to constantly fight to prove - to themselves and everyone else - that they're more than the labels placed on them by society, and try to stay kind and levelheaded despite the myriad reasons it's easier to be callous and cruel. I think each would recognize and empathize with that struggle in the other. Of course it's helpful having friends like Arthur and Aloy who see and accept Charles and Kotallo for the flawed people they are (and likewise, it's helpful for Arthur and Aloy in return). But I think knowing, as Noshir said, that there's "a similar soul on the journey with them" would have made such a difference, especially for Charles. Even though they're roughly the same age, Charles seems a lot "younger" in terms of his search for inner peace and belonging. When I think about his line at the campfire, "Other human beings seem to understand why they were born but, for me... it seems like I was born to hurt and suffer myself..." I think knowing how Kotallo's story turns out would've given him so much hope, especially in the years between losing Arthur and reuniting with John.

Anyway, just rambling now. I love these characters so much, and I'm so thankful to be able to hear headcanons from the man who gave them life.

Thank you again, Noshir, it means the world!

Transcript (cut lines due to upload time constraints are bracketed):

[Hey, Zana. Oh man, I love your question, especially 'cause Kotallo and Charles are just two characters that I love so much.]

They do have a lot of similarities, huh? They both, I think - my headcanon, I suppose - they've both been betrayed by their fathers. They both have, at some point feel like they've lost their purpose. I think they're both incredibly proficient at combat, but struggle because they don't want to be defined purely through their ability to destroy other people. And I think they're both seeking redemption, of sorts. 

Yeah, that's really interesting. That's really interesting. 

So, if Kotallo and Charles were to meet [laughing], what would they do? Honestly, I think they would fight. Not fight because they're being adversarial. They're both men of action, and I think both of them carry a lot of suspicion, at best, for people who do a lot of wordsmithing, you know?

I'm a martial artist myself, and it's interesting when you... When you cross hands with someone you get a better understanding of who they are, in a way that in the normal everyday you just don't. You learn how they deal with pressure, you learn how they deal with pain, how they deal with adversity, how they see the world. How much control they have over themselves, how disciplined they are, how proud they are. Does their ego run the show? Are they easy to manipulate? And just kind of at the core of who they are, like, how quickly do they break? And I think that would be a test of mettle that they just couldn't pass up.

And while I think the victor would show mercy, I think they'd be out to kill each other. To see how far it can go. 'Cause that's really where you learn about a person. But then after that I think they'd be great friends. [laughs]

As far as like the things they would talk about and what they would teach each other, well that's really interesting, because, um... Y'know I think Charles comes from a land where all of both predator and prey are organics, right? Whereas for Kotallo, the vast majority of both predator and prey for him is mechanical. And they're very different.

So I guess it would depend on what world they're living in, right? If they're living in Charles's world, then I think... I mean what a magical place that would be for Kotallo. Like, tracking by spoor and all these other traits that, like, animals have that you don't have with machines. And then for - vice versa, if it was in Kotallo's world, Charles would have to learn very very quickly that even with the sawed-off, he can't just go in blasting. These things require tactics and precision, that he'd be very capable of because of his work with the bow.

But y'know, you shoot a deer with a bow, and if your skill is poor, I mean at worst you'd miss completely, right? But I guess the next worst thing would be to injure the animal and cause it to suffer without actually killing it. And then it runs off, and now you have to track it, and all this other stuff. Whereas in the world of Horizon, I mean if you don't severely injure or kill that - that robot, there's a good chance it turns on you, and all of its peers turn on you, and you're dead. So... [laughs] a very different circumstance. 

I wonder how long, if ever, it would take for them to open up about the redemption that they're each seeking. Y'know, Charles from his darker past, when he was really, you know, driven by fury. And then Kotallo - this is my headcanon, but - I think he's scarred by the things he did at Barren Light. That would be really interesting. And to hear, like, y'know, Charles try to talk to Kotallo about his best friend Arthur and what he's like and stuff, and Kotallo trying to talk about his best friend Aloy and what she's like. Oh man, that'd be a trip. [laughs] I think there'd be a lot of fun conversations to be had. Yeah...

As far as things that they could teach one another, besides the things we talked about with like tracking and - and the killing of the inhabitants of either world... It's funny, I think they'd actually learn a lot by watching the way the other one interacts with the people in that world. Both what to do, but I think a lot of also what not to do.

I think they're both very socially awkward, and really struggle with that. And I wonder if they each wouldn't have more courage to kind of put themselves out there a little bit knowing that there is kind of a - a similar soul on the journey with them. I think Kotallo would teach Charles a lot about visual art, sculpture, painting, color. And Charles would teach Kotallo a lot about music. Harmonica, song. I think they'd complement each other really well. 

[I love that question. Thanks so much for that.]

[sparring-spirals]

belatedly finding out that noshir dalal voiced kotallo in forbidden west and am now blessed with the mental image of kotallo gingerly peeking out of a crate labelled "APPLES".

[moonvoidpng]

Elisabet was one of the main developers of a new AI agricultural system for Biotechnica called Gaia. However, the company felt that her breakthrough might not be profitable, they couldn't let her go, this technology could save the earth but destroy the corrupt economy of the current world, Elisabet was killed.

Aloy, one of her daughters managed to steal the technology and escape to night city, the other, Beta was kidnapped by Arasaka to try and learn about the technology.

Aloy is now in the city to deepen her information about her sister's whereabouts and rescue her.

This thing is still wip, but i wanna make a couple more exploration sketches for her, later tho

[beyondbendingsky]

May the 4th be with you Soldier 🫡

[irononyx32]

A Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West and Puss in Boots crossover!

When your new friend also had an encounter and fought with a powerful immortal who likes to whistle but forced to escape from via waterways.

I've been wanting to draw this ever since the comparison had been made apparent to me, lol!

If I had a nickel!

[sparklewrites1]

Imagine the crows getting stuck in the world of horizon zero dawn/forbidden west (We’ll do hzd for now cause both games have two different maps.)

HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT imagine Elisabet had tried something before project zero dawn, a project for interdimensional travel to save humanity and go to another dimension or reality essentially, but no matter how much she tried she just couldn’t get the machine right, so she goes on to create project zero dawn, which is successful.

ANYWAYSSS centuries later the machine (we’ll call it project HERMES for now i feel like Elisabet would’ve named it that.) starts up again and basically malfunctions and pulls the crows from their world into HZD (DON’T ask me to explain the science.)

Anyways the crows gain consciousness and are hella confused as to why they are in some lush ass forest. I feel like Jesper would be the first to speak up and be like “Where the hell are we?” and of course no one has an answer to that question. Kaz is gonna be the one asking questions like “What do you all remember before you lost consciousness?” to try and connect the dots n shit, he probably thinks they’ve been kidnapped and somehow dumped in a forest. Wylan is already up and about examining the foreign plants, berries, and flowers and whatnot.

Now I think Inej would be the first one to hear the metallic thumping coming from within the forest, then Wylan would hear it next, and the rest of the group would follow. “What the hell is that?” Nina would say, she’d also realize she can’t feel a heartbeat so whatever is coming at them isn’t human.

Just then a watcher leaps out of the bushes. Now imagine their surprise when a yellow light quickly washes over them as the watcher scans them. The light aka the watchers eye turns red and it jumps at them. I feel like it would jump at Wylan first cause he’s probably the closest to it seeing that he's messing around in the bushes n stuff. Anyways Jesper of course jumps into action with his guns and shoots at the machine, (The body not the eye yet) but to no avail. Matthias jumps onto the action next and tries to subdue the watcher and he’d be somewhat successful, by that I mean he's got it in some kind of headlock for about a minute or so. During that minute Jesper would make one more attempt to shoot at the watcher, but this time he’d aim straight for the eye. And finally after a short but stressful battle. The watcher would be down.

Now EVERYONES freaking out cause wtf was that???

“What in saints name was that?!” Jesper would shout, Inej would be helping Wylan while simultaneously freaking out. Nina would be checking on matthias, and Kaz would be by the machine's body, examining it. They don’t know what to call it, so Jesper would cleverly name it a ‘Metal Devil’ (HEHEHHE DO YOU GET THE CORRELATION?)

So now the group is tryna figure out what they should do and they pretty much decide to explore since there's literally nothing else to do.

Anyways they’re now trekking through a foreign land that they are completely unfamiliar with, Wylan is picking up plants and berries that he’d like to save for examining later. Inej is on high alert watching for more strange metal creatures. Nina is checking on Matthias, Jesper, and Wylan every once in a while for injuries and whatnot.

All is relatively okay until they hear the thumping again when they are nearing a clearing. But this time it's louder and the ground shakes with every thump.

Now they’re really freaked, because how big is the monstrosity coming towards them now?

That's when they hear a voice in the bushes. “Get down!” A red head whisper-yells “Now!” They hurry to the bushes, not wanting to meet the wrath of this new creature “Why are you out here with no weapons?!” The red headed woman yells. Kaz is the first to take notice of her strange attire and the triangular shaped piece of what he assumes is jewelry on her temple.

“We have weapons!” Jesper raises his guns to show them to her, she would only give them a confused look, being unfamiliar to that type of weapon. The red headed woman also takes notice of the knives being held in Inej’s hands, but that would be useless against the machine. Especially the one entering the clearing.

The entire group made sure to get lower into the bushes as the monstrosity made its way across the land.

“Thunderjaw…” The red head mutters.

“What?” Jesper would say.

“A Thunderjaw.”

“Is that what you call it?” Inej asks. Aloy nods, taking out her bow and arrow and getting in position to shoot.

She shoots. And the arrow lands on the side of the Thunderjaw, but that's not it, a blast emits from the arrow, tearing off a few parts of the machine and exposing the heart. The machine is now unfortunately on high alert.

“You,” She turns to Jesper. “Do those shoot?”

“Of course.” He would say.

“You see that glowing core? Shoot it- Wait, you a good shot?”

“The best.” He’d cockily reply. Jesper aims his gun toward the machine but before he pulls the trigger she says something.

“You might wanna shoot twice.” The redhead says. “Those things don’t go down too easily.”

“Alright…” Jesper had both of his guns raised, and BOOM he shoots it straight in the core with two bullets and its body goes crashing down. “Doesn’t go down easy you say?” Jesper brags as he stands up from the bush but is quickly shushed and pulled back down.

The redhead is already sprinting across the field in the direction of the thunderjaw. That's when he notices that it's still “breathing”.

The redhead is on top of the Thunderjaw within seconds and plunging her spear into the core, making sure to twist it as well for extra measure. Now it's surely dead. She turns towards the group and gestures for them to come over. And they do so, but cautiously.

“Relax, the coast is clear.” She says as she taps the jewelry on her temple. “So, who are you guys?”

“Jesper Fahey, at your service.” He winks.

“Nina Zenik.”

“Wylan.”

Inej, Kaz, and Matthias stay silent.

“I see your friends aren’t the talkative type. I’m Aloy.”

“No surname?” Kaz finally speaks.

“Uh. No. Not really.” She replies. “Where are you guys from? Meridian? Your accents sound a bit different from most Carja if so.”

“Carja?’ Inej would query, giving Aloy a curious look.

“You’re not Carja?” confusion strikes Aloy, “Oseram?”

“Is she speaking Kerch?” Jesper would confusedly ask his friends.

“Kerch?” Aloy would say, not familiar with the word.

“Kerch. As in Ketterdam.” Jesper would say.

“Ketter…dam? Is that somewhere in the west?” Aloy would ask.

“West of what?” Jesper would ask.

“The east…?" Aloy would respond confusedly.

(THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW LEMME KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE IK THIS IS NOT A COMMON CROSSOVER IDEA BUT GOODNESS I LOVE ITTTT)

[that-one-i-think]

So one of my favorite game series is Horizon Zero Dawn, a post robot apocalypse tribal tech franchise where you have to fight robots and other people. It has so much goddamn lore but I know that absolutely no one in this fandom knows what it is. But I am going to ask this anyway

[i-lavabean]

Kotaloy Elysium AUgust: Mandotallo

I think the Tenakth and the Mandalorians have a lot in common

[nerd-artist]

The second crossover drawing: F5 Varlsin

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I really appreciate them and I’d love to know your ideas for the next one 💖

(I know most of you wanted Kotallo or Erend + Halsin, but I needed an excuse to give Varl those ears 😉)

[alabyte]

Remember when I said "I'm done with concepts for Horizon!AU"? Well uh

I guess I'm not.

[etoiline]

From the fic affectionately known as "spotallo" (Bode is Space Kotallo, get it?):

Cal slices at one last trooper, and then there's no one between him and the very clearly not-a-purge-trooper. Cal holds his blade at half-guard, unsure, taking in the dark beaded hair, the jagged armor, the tattoos, the paint...it takes him a second, and their eyes meet, and even though Cal knows this person isn't Bode—of course his brain takes a detour and wonders how Bode could have gotten himself into such a getup—the dark eyes are the same, and Cal can't help whispering, "Bode?"

This week’s word is…

✨ SECOND ✨

Find the word in any WIP and share the sentence containing it. Reply, reblog, stick it in the tags, tag us in a new post, or keep it private. All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome.

[viperchick47]

Ok hear me out:

Crossover of The Avengers and Horizon Forbidden West, Bucky and Kotallo would be secret best pals.

Bonding over war trauma? ✅

Shared experiences (they both lost the same arm for crying out loud) ✅

Always having to pull a hot headed idiot out of messes? ✅

Can drink a shit-ton without feeling it?✅

Like, one day they both had to back up Steve and Aloy (also best buds because idiots doing idiot things) and got their asses beat. Kotallo's already drank a keg of Erend's beer and Bucky just comes over and drops off a mug of Asgardian mead mumbling "This'll do the trick, trust me". Next thing everyone knows they're three sheets to the wind, swapping arms and suddenly there's a goat in the compound.