yooooo thanks for the tag @singingkestrel!
1. ride or die ship (your otp): I'm actually not really a shipper in Horizon - I saw a lot of myself (ace and uninterested in romantic relationships) in Aloy and never felt the need to ship her with anyone, but the one ship that stuck out to me from acting/dialogue choices when I was playing HZD was Ereloy. so if I had to pick, it’d be that one :)
2. most annoying ship: nah, I don't play that game. I do have to say @finrays' answer to this is perfection.
3. second favourite ship: it's probably a tie between Aloy/Talanah and Aloy/Ikrie. I really loved the interaction between Aloy and Talanah in HZD, and Talanah’s story in HFW was... unsatisfying, to say the least. there was so much possibility there and we just *zhooop* right past it to... what we got. and I adore Ikrie to bits. I want more of her (and everyone else from the frozen wilds)!!!
4. favourite platonic relationship: Varl and Aloy TT_TT but. well. we won't go there. (at least for another few questions)
5. underrated ship: hmmm, since I don't so much get into the shipping side of fandom myself I'm not sure what's underrated... but I really wanted to know more about Ikkotah and Chekkata!
6. overrated ship: see no. 2. <- left that there from @singingkestrel :D
7. one thing i would change in canon: one thing? hahahahaha. ok ok no if I had to pick only one thing, it would be Varl's death. because as far as I can see it had no narrative purpose. it wasn't an Agent Coulson moment. it changed nothing. it wasn't for anything other than the shock of seeing a character die, and that's... lazy and terrible. you can do so much better, Horizon writers! so either 1) he's severely injured, maybe sidelined for the rest of the game, but doesn't die (obvs my choice) or 2) he dies but it actually has some hefty narrative impact. not just a single conversation after the fact. something that requires other characters to make some drastic changes.
8. something canon did right: I could just copy @singingkestrel's answer here too lol but I'll say that I feel the best story moments are when Aloy & co. are discovering the horrors or beauty of the Old World. because so many things in Horizon's past are frighteningly close to/already real in our own current world, and to see that from a future, post-apocalyptic perspective is... humbling. (and terrifying, because I'm not sure we as a species are equipped to pull ourselves back from the path we're on.) POSEIDON and Las Vegas in HFW, the aerial captures, the datapoints in Ron's bunker in burning shores, the vantage points in HZD, MONTANA RECREATIONS! and Enjuk, Concrete Beach Party in the frozen wilds... these all really hit right in the feels for me.
9. a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: as far as Horizon is concerned I'm just a virtual photographer, but I probably put the most work into my face(paint)s series. and the armor gallery!
10. a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): Gildun. sorry lol that's probably an easy answer, but I just love his quests. they're perfect. I love how Aloy interacts with him. I love his optimism, even if it's to the point of self-delusion. I love that he talks with GAIA now. he's a perfect cinnamon roll. protect at all costs.
11. the character i relate to the most and why: ooof this is a hard one. I love all the characters but I'm not sure I'd say I relate to many of them. except maybe... hahaha I think I'll have to say Teb. washed out as a brave and now he sews things. I could see that being me XD
12. character(-s) i hate the most and why: well. there are a lot of easy answers here (fucking Ted. Londra - whose VA does such a good job with over-the-top villians it’s fun to hate him. the CEO. and then not quite the same level of hate but definitely a level of ew - Resh, Lansra, Rheng, Tekotteh...) but I kind of hate that we didn't get to hate Regalla. How can you hire Angela Bassett and then not use her incredible talent for so much of the game!?!? I shudder to think how many players never talked to her before the final battle, either because they didn't spare her or because she was easy to miss, being stuck in the basement and all. I wouldn’t say I actually want to hate her, but it’s criminal that we got so little of her.
13. something i've learned from the fandom: hmmm - how to use discord? lol. I've always been more of a lurker, but there are so many extraordinarily kind, talented people in this fandom that it inspired me to actually *gasp* reach out and ask to join a group (quite the rarity for me). thank you @foibles-fables and the Everybody Loves Aloy server! (and before that, Em with virtual photography!) I feel like I'm still pretty lurk-y but I definitely enjoy my time there :D (link to Foibs’ post about the server if you haven’t seen it!)
14. three tags i seek out on ao3: it seems like I really have to be in the right headspace for fic, and apparently Horizon does not inspire that headspace for me. *hides* I'm sorry fic-writers, I know so many of you are incredible!
15. a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: it's extremely rare for this to happen to me in any fandom - I just don't really connect with music the way other people seem to (which is funny, considering I was in band all throughout my non-university schooling). but Horizon has a lot of excellent music, so I'll tell you my favorite track: white falls from the frozen wilds. specifically the flute motif. my god. it gives me chills.
tagging: I know I've seen this around a few times, so sorry if I tag you and you've already done it! and obvs no pressure if you don't wanna! @inomakani @forbiddenwestern @melikochan @kiddraws12 @little-box-of-wonders @ma-i-d @pinetreetea (and if anyone else wants to join in I think you should!)