#THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE AAAAAAAAA THANK YOUUUUU

[artekai]

I've noticed you making more post about your OC, I really wanna hear more about him if you have anything... please ramble about him as much as you want §(*￣▽￣*)§

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING AAAAAAAAAAA

OKAY SO i've been bluescreening all afternoon because I don't know where to start??? This is a P5R x Horizon AU, so do I start with the P5R stuff? Do I start with the Horizon stuff? Do I start with who Artekai actually is as a person?? I was gonna go over the story in chronological order, but when I was midway through my essay I realized it was gonna require me to explain a lot of Horizon stuff I don't really wanna get into, and it was gonna be like 80% Horizon, 10% P5R, and 10% actual Artekai ;-; So I'm gonna try to focus on my boy this time :')

(Just as a heads up, I will be going into major Horizon Zero Dawn spoilers, but I will try to explain so that it makes sense even if you’ve never played it. Also, I'm still brushing up on my knowledge of Horizon lore, so please forgive me if I get the timeline or any other canon details wrong ;-;)

SO. About Artekai. He's a 20 years old (give or take) machine hunter from the Cut (which is what we currently call Yellowstone, except it's frozen over in the future). He's a manwhore, a himbo, an attention whore. He doesn't have the same terms to describe his identity as we do, but, if he did, he'd be a gay trans guy. He's a devout believer of the Banuk tribe's faith and dreams of being a shaman someday, but, deep down, what he truly wants is to be needed. Poor guy feels very disconnected from the world and the people around him ;-;

Artekai, much like his predecessor, is extremely forgiving. Even though the werak that raised him was wiped out during the war with the Carja, he doesn't hold a grudge against any of the other tribes. That is, of course, as long as they don't say anything against Kai's people now, because he can get very defensive very quickly, but, otherwise, he always tends to assumes the best of everyone. He also advocates for diplomacy, migration, and trading between tribes, because he believes that contact with other cultures can only enrich all of their tribes and make them stronger.

Speaking of cultures, you could say that Kai takes a lot of interest in anthropology, haha. He's excited about traveling around and learning all about other tribes, their traditions and their beliefs, showing a child-like wonder when he gets to share his own culture with any outlanders who are willing to keep an open mind.

As protective as he is of his people, however, Kai does find some aspects of Banuk culture stifling, like the emphasis on self reliance or how everything, even survival, is made into a competition. He hopes to be able to get through to the other Banuk and push for a change, but he feels like he needs more authority to be able to actually achieve anything (which ties back to his desire to be a shaman - but it's fine, he'll settle for chieftain if he gets the chance).

On the topic of authority and social change, Artekai isn't very well liked amongst the Banuk, not even within his own werak. They tolerate him because he's a very skilled hunter and explorer, but he's the werak weirdo, who's overly clingy and flirts with the chieftain, who challenges tradition yet somehow believes in the Blue Light more obsessively than anyone else, who thinks he's the second coming of Banukai (an important historical figure in Banuk faith) or something equally insane. And yeah, Artekai's feet aren't exactly grounded on reality. He's a lot more quiet about it now, since he has been shamed for it throughout the years, but the werak he was raised in used to believe he had been born from the Blue Light to heal the world and restore peace to the machines, so he believed it too.

In that sense, I guess he's a bit of an anti-Aloy. And I know that sounds like more of a Carja thing to do, but it's all Azathoth's fault. Let me explain.

Back in the day, about half a century ago, there was this guy called Takuto Maruki (idk, you've probably never heard of him lol) who was part of Project Zero Dawn, because he was the world's leading expert on cognitive psience at the time. What was Project Zero Dawn, you may ask? Well, you see, at the time, a swarm of self replicating machines had gone rogue, so there was nothing humanity could do to save the world they knew. However, Zero Dawn was a project led by Elisabet Sobeck, created with the goal to stop the machines and restore life to Earth even after total extinction.

Azathoth, however, survived. How did he live through humanity's extinction, which would've presumably caused the cognitive world to crumble and be rebuilt later on in completely different ways? I'm not sure. I'm still figuring things out ;-; He's probably an actual deity and not just a cognitive being here. This AU is already very far removed from P5R canon, so that might as well happen, I guess.

Anyhow, Azathoth had to watch Takuto die. He lost his master, his role model, his only friend, his partner in crime... and, as if that wasn't enough, he had to watch the rest of humanity die as well. He watched as plants and animals disappeared, as the world was taken over by machines, and he couldn't do anything about it...

Azzie had a lot of time to sleep while he waited for the world to be repopulated. He might've even unlocked a new whole range of emotions while he processed what was happening around him. But, even when the wait was over and humans came back, he still felt... horribly empty. He needed his master, his chosen human, his friend. Even if humans came back, there'd never be another one as perfect as Takuto, who'd be able to give Azathoth a sense of purpose like he had, who'd help him feel complete again...

(unless...)

Azzie impulsively ordered a Takuto clone to be made. How???? No idea. Did he even have access to GAIA or ELEUTHIA??? I dunno. But Azzie is a deity, nothing was gonna stop him. He was gonna learn how to actualize an AI if necessary, dammit.

As you can see, I'm trying to connect the two things that don't make sense in this AU (The existence of a Takuto clone + Azathoth's survival) to try to fit everything in... but, on the other hand, this was self indulgent from the start, so maybe I can allow myself a few plot holes?

In any case, that's how Artekai was born! It was only then that Azathoth realized what he had done. He really had just made a whole ass baby just because he was sad and lonely... He could practically hear Takuto panicking and banging his head against a wall in the afterlife. Azathoth didn't know the first thing about taking care of a human child, so, for the baby's sake, he scouted the area and chose to hand him over to the Banuk. Why the Banuk, specifically? He probably thought their way of life suited Takuto or something. After all, wasn't Takuto self-reliant and resilient to a fault? Surely his clone would fare well in a society that valued those two traits above all else, right?

But Azathoth either didn't account or didn't care for the way the Banuk would react to his presence (he is the blind idiot god, so I'm leaning towards "didn't account"). This was around the time of the Derangement, which meant the machines that had once been peaceful were turning aggressive towards people without explanation. So, imagine you're a Banuk shaman and, during that period of change and uncertainty, a machine unlike any other (taller than any human, body bathed in gold and hovering over the ground, cables in place of limbs, bright blue light flowing through its tendrils and shining in his eyes) shows up at your werak and places a baby in your arms. For all you know, this baby has no human parents. This machine also seems a lot friendlier than all other machines, even before the Derangement. Are you supposed to not interpret that as some kind of divine sign?

So yeah. If Artekai's name sounds similar to Banukai, that was a deliberate choice. He was loved and uplifted by his original werak, which he misses dearly, but he was also pushed even harder than usual because they believed that the duty of saving the world rested on his shoulders. So that's why he's always so thirsty for validation.

Of course, someday, Artekai is gonna meet Azathoth and find out that he never was some sort of savior, because he's just the clone of some random dude from the old world (whereas his traveling partner Aloy really is the clone of the Scientist that Saved the World) and that he was made just because Azzie got lonely :/ That's not gonna be fun for anyone involved, haha. But hey, Kai still sticks with Aloy and helps save the world for real, so maybe his wish still came true somewhat! ^^

(I must say, though, I find it amusing that Azathoth single-handedly gave both Takuto and his son god complexes to match. King shit)

#ask tag #woolmasterleel #horizon au #p5r horizon au #deni's stuff #oc tag #oc: artekai #horizon oc #THANK YOU #omg i rambled so much #BUT AAAAAAAAAAAAAA #i just hope that gave you a good well rounded idea of who artekai is :3 #I LOVE HIM SO MUCH #AAAAAAAA THERE'S JUST SO MUCH. SO MUCH #HE'S JUST A LITTLE GUY #SORRY I TOOK THIS LONG TO ANSWER I WAS VIBRATING #i really hope i managed to explain the horizon stuff well too ;-; #THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE AAAAAAAAA THANK YOUUUUU #please..... if there's anything more you wanna know about kai or this AU in general please feel free to ask ^^ #i've been obsessed with it since i finished playing hzd #you know how much i love to see takuto suffer so putting him in zero dawn is delicious! #and kai.... my precious artekai.... i love him <3 #i hope to finish drawing him soon so you can see him :3 #THANK YOU <3

[pikashadow]

Hii!!

I legit screamed when the new sky series chapter came out!! Its been a while and I thought "maybe they might pause it bc of work or the new library job they mentioned" but then i saw the notification that you released another chapter!! Also, don't lose hope about a job, you'll find one soon!

This chapter was very interesting to see it from Mei's perspective most of the time, but i really love seeing Eijun notice Mei's expressions and pointing them out. The dynamic you've built for their relationship is quite amazing ngl. Mei is prideful (i mean even canon Mei is quite prideful) but i love seeing his walls get teared down by the ball of sunshine that Eijun is.

Don't get me started on the part where Mei gets angry on Eijuns behalf, that scene was living but also adorable and to have Eijun point it out really shows the Seido team what kind of relationship the two have.

Speaking of, HA! They deserved the threatening from Ryousuke because like, how dare they make Eijun sad and cry. If it were me, I would have smacked them and made them Eijuns servants for a day or two. I mean, Eijun is a precious bean. Also, the alumni (that feels weird to type, they will always be the third years in my heart) how they confront Mei about his relationship with Eijun. I love how at first they were on Mei's ass but then soon saw his intentions kinda and respectfully backed off (as thr other seido idiots should have but its okay, they learnt and will continue to learn its not their business).

The last thing i want to say is that I hope you are doing well! The releases to the sky series even just fluffy stuff between MeiSawa makes my heart swoon and lets me take a much needed break from reality. I hope you also, have a way to take a break and relax, and I hope you get that library job!! I'll be waiting for the next chapter<3

- :]

Hi~

Asdfjslkfdsdf, you're so sweet!! Mhm, thank you so much for waiting patiently. Nono, even if I get a job, I plan on continuing to work on my series. Updates might be slower than usual, but I won't pause it or stop working on it. Aaaaaaaaa, seriously, you're so sweet!! Thank youuuuu so much!

I'm glad you think so! I thought that would be the best way to write this fic, and I had a lot of fun writing from Mei's point of view. I'm super happy you mentioned Eijun noticing Mei's expressions and pointing them out!! I mentioned it before, but they've been together for a while now. Eijun pays a lot of attention to Mei and knows him really well, so I thought he might see through him. It won't happen all the time, but y'all will see more of it in some of my future fics. Asdfkjlksdfsd, I'm super happy you think so!! I've thought a lot about their relationship and their dynamic. It feels like you're recognizing all that hard work. Yepyep, I wanted to keep Mei (and everyone else for that matter) as close to their canon personalities as possible, but Mei also has a soft side he reserves for Eijun. Y'all will see Eijun tearing more of his walls down in some of my future fics 😉😉😉

I'm so happy you enjoyed that scene! I thought Mei would do something like that. He cares about Eijun so much, and as a pitcher (and someone who's annoyed with Seidou), he wanted to stick up for Eijun and let them have it for not responding sooner to Eijun's pitching. Mhm, it really spoke volumes about their relationship.

I probably shouldn't feel bad for them after they made Eijun cry, but I do. I totally understand your feelings, though. I'm sure a lot of people will agree with you and not feel bad for them. Violence isn't the answer, but I know I can't tell you what to do. I understand what you're saying, but Eijun wouldn't have wanted that. If it was something really bad, I can see Eijun wanting them to make it up to him somehow. I agree that Eijun is a precious bean. Yeah, it feels weird typing that. Mhm, they all heard about the rumors surrounding Mei, so even though they saw Eijun and Mei interact with each other in front of them, they still wanted to talk to (and warn) Mei. I feel like the former third years respect Tetsu's animal instincts, and they talked about the Meisawa relationship before talking to Mei so that's why they respectfully backed off somewhat quickly. (Yepyep, Eijun and Mei's relationship is none of their business.)

Aaaaaaaaaa, you're so sweet!! I'm doing well! I hope you're doing well with all your assignments and in real life stuff! Asdfkjlksdfsd, I'm super happy and honored to hear that!! It makes my chest warm that my fics do that for you. Thank youuuuu so much for the concern! Don't worry. I make sure to take breaks and relax as much as possible. !!!!! That's so sweet!! Thank youuuuu so much for the well wishes!! I'm so happy you'll be waiting for the next one!!

Thank youuuuuu so much for the ask, Anon!! This made me super happy!! I hope you have a wonderful morning/afternoon/night~ ❤️❤️❤️

#diamond no ace #daiya no ace #meisawa #narusawa #sawamei #that sky series anon