#Far Harbor dlc

[smugcomputer]

fallout pins are back on preorder status, including two new designs for big mt (old world blues) and sierra madre (dead money) based on suggestions from customers! get them HERE (cheaper) or HERE, ships worldwide from either store!

[europium063]

I drew this a while back.. Enjoy gauys...

[but-a-humble-goon]

It's funny that Far Harbor thinks it's given me literally any reason to want to spare the Children of Atom. They're a cult of murderous lunatics who scheme openly to nuke everyone and blanket the world in radiation. Objectively humanity would be better off with them gone. "But they're still human beings, killing them would be wrooong!" Wish someone would have told me that before I shotgun-decapitated 200,000 bandits on my morning stroll into town today. It's a little too late for me to take a moral stand against mass murder now.

[rad-hound]

You know what would have been more interesting?

Instead of Nick having the daunting realization that his hunt for Eddie Winter was about "justice, and doing what's right" — a trait that was already established in him the moment we meet him,

Betheny could have twisted it, and said, "What if Nick Valentine — despite his identity crisis, his attempts to come to grips with the fact that he's no more than a mechanical copy of a dead pre-war detective, and despite the majority of his haughty sense of justice being because of that — WANTS revenge? And thus is required to come to terms with the fact that he, too, is not immune to the harsh effects the Wasteland has on the average person."

Letting Nick experience conscious human vices and errors in decision-making despite his predisposed 'goody-two-shoes' mentality would have been such an interesting take on his character. To not only permit him to discover his own identity, but to better establish that he, because of his conscience, suffers lapses in his better judgment, thus making him more 'human,' at least from a psychological perspective.

And yes, I'm aware that the "Far Harbor" DLC expands upon the concept of his identity, and has many a metaphor about the dilemma between feeling comfortable finding / accepting oneself vs. masking one's identity to keep oneself safe... but damn. Damn it, Nick.

[nucleargirls]

[sirmanmister]

“They look so angry. Does everyone always look at you that way?”

Eileen betrays the entire Commonwealth for the sake of her daughter, whom she believes is the Director of the Institute. She carries out executions, sabotages, rips apart families, and as a result loses every single friend she had made along the way.

When it’s revealed that the Director is NOT Eliza, her daughter, and is instead an entirely unrelated woman, the Institute attempts to subdue Eileen by giving her a synth replica of the four year old girl they had accidentally murdered sixty years ago.

Eileen doesn’t accept their apology. She sets off the reactor and evacuates nobody but the synthetic girl at her arm. Eileen refuses to care for the synth and leaves her at the gates of Sanctuary, where Eileen had once been welcomed with open arms, now met with nothing but contempt and weaponry.

Nick Valentine takes Eliza under his wing while Eileen fucks off Northeast to fish broodily :)

[lovecorecatboy]

view from Acadia [Far Harbor dlc, Fallout 4]

open img for hq

[spoonhead]

favorite fallout faction is the children of atom no contest

like idk. they just have vibes that go undefeated. fallout 4 really killed it with all the cool make up and the far harbor dlc (which i really need to replay btw)

they're not right in the head they're just a little bit strange they place their faith in the very thing that destroyed the world good for them 👍

[simplegenius042]

Fallout Casting for Ryomen Sukuna Matata for Jujutsu Kaisen Abridged react fic

"Fuck school! Be crime! Do gay!" - Ryomen Sukuna, Episode 2 JJK Abridged (by the Schmuck Squad).

Reasons To Why I Believe These Characters Should Be Casted listed below the cut:

Richard Grey/The Master (the leader of the Super Mutant Army and the main antagonist of Fallout (1997), seeking to evolve humanity into super mutants with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), however, is stopped by the Vault Dweller, Elrand Brandt, and his companions via the power of persuasion) -> Mostly the grotesque way his body is morphed and stuff, but you can imagine his mouth opening on Ryder's body like Sukuna does on Itadori's body.

Sulik (a tribal looking to save his sister in Fallout 2, was saved by the Chosen One, Finidy Mona, and joined her as a companion to find the GECK, while she also helps him save his sister from slavers) -> It's mostly his tattoos that got me to choose him as a potential candidate.

Stanislaus Braun (the Overseer of Vault 112 in Fallout 3, Braun is a sadistic old man who regularly tortures his captives in a world of virtual reality, but had known the location and use of the GECK, which lead James Dolen to seek him out (only to be transformed into a dog), but was later outwitted by Alph inside the VR world and Amata from within Vault 112) -> Evil for the sake of being evil? Hates a kid for no reason? Would definitely take over somebody's body if given the chance? Sukuna candidate.

Yes Man (a securitron Benny had tampered with to help him overthrow House, is key to the Independent Vegas ending of Fallout New Vegas. Courier Six, aka Ryder, finds him in Benny's penthouse, and teams up with the securitron to save Benny from Caesar and overthrow House together) -> Listen he's too cheery for his own good. And sarcastic too. Like Abridged Sukuna.

DiMA (the synth co-leader of Acadia in Fallout 4 Far Harbor DLC. He is also the "brother" of Nick Valentine, the person who gets the Sole Survivor, Nate, to admit that he's likely a synth himself and has been involved in the sketchy shit around Far Harbor) -> Though the least potent candidate, what cannot be denied is that DiMA disregards everything about morality when it comes to doing what he thinks is the ways things should be.

The Scorchbeast Queen (the motherfucking progenitor of the Scorched disease and the final boss of Fallout 76 (if players nuke her nest at Fissure Site Prime). The Resident, Vega, only survives her encounter with the Scorchbeast Queen because of the FEV that had partly transformed her) -> She looks as ugly as Sukuna's fingers.

John Henry Eden (the President who runs the Enclave in Fallout 3, has all the personalities of the past presidents copied and downloaded into his A.I. He intended to use the water purifier to release a modified FEV into the water to kill anyone with a trace of radiation in them. He attempted to get Amata onboard with this plan, but since it would technically kill Alph, Amata convinced the president to give her the virus to "use" and tricked Eden into self-destructing and run like hell while Raven Rock fell down around her, towards Alph and his companions who were fighting outside trying to get to her inside) -> Eden and Sukuna are all aboard the murder express.

Dean Domino (one of Ryder's temporary companions in Fallout New Vegas Dead Money DLC. He was friends with Frederick Sinclair and had used Vera Keyes to get him one step closer to the Sierra Madre vault, however America being nuked interrupted this heist and lead him to being ghoulified, and while trying to get into the Sierra Madre, had been forced by Father Elijah to help him get into the resort. Dean eventually betrays Ryder inside the Sierra Madre, having been unable to comprehend someone could be as smart as him, which leads to him getting filled with lead) -> Dean Domino is a selfish bastard, Ryomen Sukuna is a selfish bastard.

Dr Klein (a brain apart of the Think Tank in Fallout New Vegas Old World Blues DLC, he was the director of the Big MT. His speakers are set on a loud volume and he is quite an arrogant punk. Klein and the rest of the Think Tank had vivisected Ryder, taking her heart and spine (and losing her brain to Dr. Mobius) and would only allow her to leave if she dealt with Mobius and gave them the resources to explore the Mojave from the safety of Big MT) -> As loud as Abridged Sukuna is.

Ishmael Ashur (the leader of the Pitt in Fallout 3 The Pitt DLC, though he is the big boss of slavers and raiders, Ashur is trying to humanely find a cure for the Trog which his daughter Marie seems to be immune to. However, the Lone Wanderer, Alph's appearance in the Pitt shakes things up) -> If Ashur just lost his benevolent intentions behind his actions and was doing things for the evils, he could be a lot like Sukuna.

God (the alter who acts as the "conscience" to a nightkin called Dog in Fallout New Vegas Dead Money DLC, he looks out for Dog and wants to kill Father Elijah so badly. Ryder helps both Dog and God make peace with each other and merge them both into a new personality) -> God is the voice in Dog's head, and his voice is quite menacing. Like Sukuna, though Sukuna is more malevolent than God.

Remember, for the alternative option, REBLOG and put in the tags WHO else from the Fallout franchise should be Abridged!Megumi and WHY you think they'd better suit the role. Also if there is a tie, then a repost will be made with only the tied candidates, and you'd have to pick from them.

I've also created and will continue to update (until the polling is done) a Master List for the poll results of the casted winners. You can find it right here.

You can find my Fallout OC profiles Master List right here, which also includes a link to the original post where I pitched my react fic idea. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, chow!

[dazzlerazz]

Far Harbor: The fog.... it's dangerous.... so full of rads you're practically dead... it's not safe...

Also Far Harbor:

[europium063]

Okay new headcanon DiMA has to sit and hunch down to even get at semi eyelevel w Faraday

[pain-of-redemption]

Real talk about DiMA tho

(Some spoilers about Nick Valentine and Far Harbor ahead)

I love DiMA, he gives me massive kid brother energy and just adds so much good stuff to Nick’s character but GOD do I feel bad for him. Not only did he help his brother escape the institute and have to leave him behind but he was thrown into a world where you kill to survive. No freaking wonder he killed Captain Avery and replaced her. He probably saw a bunch of people get kidnapped by synths and replaced some time after. We can’t forget that DiMA CREATED his personality through new memories and not premade like Nick. He probably thought that that was normal at the time or even a necessary action if he wanted to create peace.

I obviously don’t condone what he did, murder is not good and neither is replacing someone and lying. But DiMA had no good influence to teach him right from wrong as he “grew up” in the wasteland. Later he understands that what he did was horrible and if the sole survivor convinces him, DiMA turns himself in to be executed. I never chose to execute him because Nick would want to lose his brother. Sure if DiMA tells far harbor you receive a [Nick loved that] because he’s always been a guy who fights for the truth. DiMA thought that what he did was for the greater good, even if the repercussions where terrible, he just wanted to keep Acadia safe. And I feel that Nick might respect that to some regard aside from his brother killing and replacing someone. And don’t forget about the fact that even Nick himself wants to accept him as his brother even without the sole survivor’s guidance. He WANTS to get to know DiMA and think of him as family because there is truly no one else like him.

[callmewisteria]

watch me end up getting an outfit like the mariner because i love her character

[stymshots]

Doctor Synthesizer.

[wander-over-the-words]

Make Like An Atom

Summary: In which Nick’s “brother” is having his partner join a cult, and Nick might just have one or two grievances about that.

Characters: Nick Valentine, [Male] Sole Survivor (Nathan “Nate” West), Grand Zealot Richter; mentions of DiMA, Kasumi Nakano, Brian Virgil, Old Longfellow, High Confessor Tektus, Ellie Perkins, Father/Shaun, Paladin Danse, original Nick Valentine, Kenji Nakano, Eddie Winter, Piper Wright, Nat Wright, Dogmeat, Codsworth, Synth Shaun, John Hancock, Skinny Malone, Jennifer Lands.

Pairing: [Male] Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine.

Warnings: cult-related business, use of derogatory language toward the mentally ill (nothing people don’t call the Children of Atom in canon), radiation poisoning, description of vomiting; mentions of death, murder, execution, firearm usage.

Disclaimer: The Sole Survivor in this is based off how I played him - personality, looks, choices and all.

Notes: First Fallout 4 fic. Takes place during Far Harbor, and after the main story. I’ve always thought it was really sweet how genuinely worried Nick sounds when the Sole Survivor has to join the Children of Atom (he sounds like he’s trying to talk them out of it when it comes to going into the Nucleus), so here’s a fic about Nick being concerned about his bf joining a cult that worships something that could potentially kill him. Cause y’know you probably would be too. And let’s be real: that scene where the SS has to drink the irradiated water must look worrying as hell from Nick’s point of view.

Extra notes: This fic has literally been sitting around for about a year and I’m sick of having it hanging over me, mocking me, so I’m using the excuse of the “obligatory posting Nick Valentine content on Valentine’s Day” to finally get the damn thing posted.

All material belongs to Bethesda.

Fic available on AO3.

…

This is going too far. To hell with it - it’s already gone too far.

Nick honestly - shamefully - hadn’t thought much of it when DiMA wanted Nate to pose as a new recruit for the Children of Atom in order to gain access to their base. His mind had been so clogged with the recent revelations: the possibility of DiMA being family, this supposed information that his own head is failing to store all of his memories, Kasumi’s worries that DiMA is up to mischief, the fact that this case is proving to be a bigger doozy than just leaving the familiarity of the Commonwealth to find one lost girl.

And besides - the Children haven’t seemed like that big a threat until this point, at least in Nick’s experience. There’d been those who had attacked when people had trespassed upon their property (but, hey, who doesn’t do that in the Commonwealth?), but the bunch he and Nate had encountered in the Glowing Sea had been friendly, if just weary. Friendly enough, at least, to give them directions to Virgil’s cave, and to do no more than that.

Turns out, the folks back in Far Harbor had been right when they said everything on this island was bred nastier than that of the Commonwealth. Even extends to the people.

Stumbling upon the Children’s little ‘test of faith’ was not only proof of that, but a pretty fine wake-up call.

It’d been an even bigger wake-up call when the Grand Zealot told Nate what he’d need to do, to see if ‘Atom’ wanted Nate in their beloved group: go and drink irradiated water from the spring nearby and see what ‘Atom’ showed him.

Of course - Nate being Nate - he’d headed off without hesitation, and once they’d gotten to the spring and their geiger counters had started going haywire, Nick had had to speak up. He’d tried to suggest they just lie and say they did it.

Nate had brought up the prospect of them saying the wrong thing and losing the chance to get into the submarine base; joining up and thus doing what the Children asked of him was the only way to get in through non-violent means, like DiMA had wanted (not that non-violent means wouldn’t have been the plan anyway, as Nick’s proud to say he and his guy are on the same page about unnecessary violence).

Nick knows Nate well enough to know that he was going to go through with drinking the damn water, no matter what Nick said, so Nick had told him to at least take a Rad-X before doing this, but Nate had frustratingly turned that down too by ‘reminding’ him that the Children were obviously hoping the rads would do something to him, and the Rad-X might stop that from happening. Assured him he’d be fine, he’s gotten dosed with rads before, they have RadAway handy, everything will be fine.

Then he’d cupped his hands under the trickling water, brought it to his lips and swallowed it down.

Nick can’t begin to describe the panic that’d shot through him when Nate had choked, spraying water from between his teeth as he fought not to spit it out, and collapsed against the rocks, violently coughing, gasping for air; Nick had raced to grab the RadAway from their supplies immediately when he’d heard Nate gasp like he was shocked, and he’d looked up to find Nate staring, staring, up at the rocks above them, at…at something. When Nick had looked, he’d seen nothing - there’d been nobody there, his detection programming wasn’t picking up anything, but Nate had obviously been so sure, for he’d tracked it with his eyes as he’d stumbled away from the rocks, out of the spring, following this…thing he was seeing.

And then he’d taken off, staggering into Fog so thick, he’d almost immediately become a silhouette, and Nick had torn after him, calling for him and asking him what was wrong, what was he seeing.

He hadn’t gotten any answers at the time; Nate was muttering to himself, looking around like the world was unfamiliar to him, and Nick had turned up his auditory receptors to hear him. Occasionally, Nate would stop and say something to somebody - a confused “E-Excuse me,” or “Hello?” - or tell himself this couldn’t be real, and a couple of times, Nick had nearly jumped out of his synthetic skin when Nate had cried out in alarm and stopped suddenly like he was avoiding something, nearly making Nick crash into him.

Nick’s just glad he’d been coherent enough to take down the ferals waiting for them at the shrine Nate’s delusions had led them to. The second Nate had stopped talking nonsense and seemed to come back to reality - when Nick could hear him trying to work out the password to the terminal in the shrine - Nick had been pulling his sleeve up to find a vein to pump RadAway into, ushering Nate to sit down outside while he recovered.

Frighteningly, Nate’s face had been grey, he’d been bleeding from his nose and from the scrapes on his forehead and cheeks from where he’d crashed into the rocks back at the spring, and Nick had spotted a few loose strands of hair on the shoulders of Nate’s coat. Before Nick could get a needle into his arm, Nate had swatted his hands away, grunted out a request for him not to look, and had promptly vomited onto the ground beside them, which brought perhaps a small amount of relief that the poisoned water was officially out of Nate’s system (alongside some of that mirelurk jerky Longfellow had given him).

Once he’d successfully started to get RadAway into Nate’s system and collected a purified water from their supplies to wash his mouth out, Nick had wrenched Nate’s road goggles up into his shaggy hair to see the dazed and fatigued look in his bloodshot eyes, and he’d asked Nate how many fingers he was holding up to check how well the RadAway was flushing the so-called vision from Nate’s system. Even treated him to a stimpak for the wounds on his face, once the radiation allowed for proper healing again.

That’d been another little wake-up call: the rads. Maybe he’d thought too little of it before. There’s no way the Nucleus is as bad as the Glowing Sea, but if it’s enough to keep these fanatics happy…Well, they might be out of their depth here.

Or, at least…Nate is.

There’d been some icon…thing in the shrine, and the Grand Zealot is so pleasantly shocked when Nate shows it to him (because, of course, even to these crazies, Nate would turn out to be something special), and then comes the point of no return.

“I am ready to follow His path,” Nate says.

“Then it will be so,” the Grand Zealot replies.

Nick can’t help himself; he speaks up without even really thinking about it.

“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” he says. “We barely know these people.”

He catches the slight twitch of Nate’s head as he just barely stops himself from turning around and looking at Nick, and the Grand Zealot looks at him with disdain but says nothing to him. He sees the way Richter looks at Nate, as if expecting Nate to say something in his place, probably tell ‘his’ synth to pipe down, but Nate doesn’t acknowledge it, so Richter goes on like Nick isn’t even there.

He gives a nod to the icon in Nate’s hand. “Head inside and present the icon to the High Confessor once his sermon is done. He’ll be interested in seeing that. Once you’ve spoken with him, you should come see me. Have a task I think you’d be useful for.”

Nick doesn’t like the way he says that.

“And here.”

Richter reaches back and holds a hand out to the guard standing behind him, who hands him a mass of dark fabric and a pair of boots, and Richter gives these to Nate.

“Some more…appropriate attire.” His already-serious expression turns into a harsh frown. “But know this: we are all devoted servants to Atom here. Messenger or no, actions against the Family will not be tolerated.”

Glancing at the body still strewn on the ground nearby, Nick thinks back to the ‘test of faith’ and his coolant turns to ice.

The frown lets up; does this man ever smile?

“Welcome, brother.”

Icon tucked under his arm, Nate looks the outfit over, then smiles with a nod and tells Richter he’s just going to change into this, he’ll meet him inside.

Richter gives him a nod, and Nate and Nick are left outside as Richter disappears into the Nucleus.

Nate gives a huff of a chuckle as he turns around, carrying the bundle of fabric, the boots and the icon as he leads the way back in the direction they’d come.

“You’re gonna blow my cover with talk like that, Nick,” he says quietly over his shoulder as Nick follows him.

“Can’t say I’d be sorry to,” Nick says honestly and just as quietly. “I’m tellin’ ya, doll, I’ve got a bad feeling about all this, and my ‘bad feelings’ are rarely wrong. Come on. Maybe we should just focus on getting Kasumi home - make like DiMA and forget about all this.”

“What, and lose the chance to find out what’s in DiMA’s memories, even though it could end up affecting this whole island?” Nate says with a hint of dramatics, then gives a small snort as he adds, more seriously, “Doesn’t sound like the Nick I know…”

He disappears behind one of the junk fences lining the Children of Atom’s land; Nick stays on the other side to give Nate his privacy, trying to look nonchalant as he feels the eyes of the man at the door on him.

“Yeah, well, the Nick you know didn’t have to watch you poison yourself with rads and go running off into dangerous Fog whilst prattling on about some figure you were seeing. This Nick did, so he’s starting to think this whole ‘joining the Children of Atom’ thing might’ve been a step too far.”

“No turning back now,” Nate says, and Nick can hear the shrug.

Nick frowns softly and opens his mouth to reply, only to stop when the collar of Nate’s coat (the one Ellie had given him as part of the detective outfit he’d received along with the offer of being Nick’s new partner, old clothes of Nick’s) falls into view as it hits the ground, and another shot of ice goes through Nick’s coolant.

That coat has been fitted with ballistic weave, so Nate is shedding his armour for the sake of this charade - meaning he’ll have no protection if someone tries to hurt him.

God knows Nate’s been through some dangerous stuff, and he’s done amazing things since clambering out of Vault 111. He’s already played double agent before, in both the Institute and the Brotherhood (triple agent? Quadruple?), and those had had their own fair share of risks too, but this is…this is different. The Institute were overzealous boogeymen, and Nate had had his son’s good word to protect him, and the Brotherhood were high and mighty zealots who just liked to hear Nate say ‘Ad victoriam’, and they’d trusted Danse’s vouching for him, but these people?

Well, they’re just plain off their rockers, and there’s nobody this time around to make sure Nate is left unbothered in this irradiated hell of unpredictable cultists. And he wishes Nate wouldn’t just…dive head-in and play the hero so recklessly.

(He’s being a huge hypocrite, of course, and Ellie would laugh at his claim about having ‘feelings’ at all about cases, but this isn’t about him, it’s Nate who’s in danger here.)

“Sure there is,” Nick replies. “We just don’t go in an’ let these people try and indoctrinate us.”

“They’re already expecting me, Nick,” Nate says; his tie is discarded onto his coat. “I found this…icon thing, remember? And I saw the, ah,” he puts on a deeper voice of faux-awe, “‘Mother of the Foooog’!”

(Nick might’ve laughed, in another situation.)

“Besides,” Nate goes on over the sound of rustling fabric, “what would we tell DiMA if we didn’t even get to go into the Nucleus? What would we tell Kasumi?”

Nick arches a brow. “That the plan was nuts and we didn’t wanna go through with it?”

“Nick…” Nate says through a fond chuckle. There’s a beat where Nick only hears the shuffling of fabric again, then Nate adds, “We’ve already committed ourselves to the cause. You really wanna just leave Kasumi’s worries floating in the wind like that?”

No, of course, he doesn’t, but…

“Well, we…don’t hafta do it this way. Found another way into the Institute, we can find another way into this place, even if we just…grab ourselves a couple Stealth Boys and wing it.”

“Ah! Sooo, what you’re saying is: I drank some poisoned water foooor…nothing?”

Of all the times to show his wit…

“Nate…”

“Why the hesitation, Nick?” Nate says. “Kasumi’s counting on us, DiMA’s expecting results and the Children already think I must be some sort of figure the ‘Mother of the Fog’ is speaking through or…something. Besides -”

There’s a beat where Nate doesn’t say anything, just gives a grunt, and then there’s the clicking of metal.

Then comes a soft thud and Nick looks to see that it’s Nate’s shoe that has hit the ground, landing atop his fallen coat and tie, and he realises Nate is changing into those boots - that clicking had been the sound of his prosthetic foot being shimmied out of its shoe.

“ - this is an opportunity, remember? To find out if DiMA was telling the truth about you guys having history. Aren’t you excited about that, at least?”

“Not sure ‘excited’ is the word for it…” Nick mutters, brow furrowed as he casts his gaze to the ground, catching the sight of Nate’s second shoe joining the first out of the corner of his eye.

It’s been an uncomfortable lump in the back of his mind ever since DiMA apparently recognised him, the prospect that DiMA is right and Nick has just…forgotten him.

When he’d awoken in that junk pile, still of half a mind that he was the real Nick Valentine, he’d just assumed he was blending in with that which was around him: trash. The Institute’s trash that they’d - he didn’t know - gotten bored of. Maybe he wasn’t doing what he was told and so the Institute got tired of trying to tie their strings to his wrists and make him dance, maybe they’d just found a new project and decided this dingy old prototype wasn’t fun to poke and prod at anymore.

The idea that someone wanted him out, helped him escape…no. Never been a thought. With the way the Institute treated synths, the very idea of mercy, let alone help, was laughable. But a second prototype…sure, he’s wondered if he was the only one ever made, but the fact that another prototype had not only been made and been with him that whole time, but had assisted him in getting out, is…well, it’s knocking a screw loose.

Another prototype…A ‘sibling’. A ‘brother’. Is that how it works? Are they family because they were on the same assembly line? Because they were…‘raised’ together?

When he thinks of his time in the Institute, he thinks of the single room he was in, the feeling of knowing somebody’s eyes were always on him, the yanking of parts coming loose in his head as they pulled him apart and put him back together, but he never thinks of a face like his own. Of someone…being there, with him, in the room.

Was it DiMA’s eyes that were always on him, or their creator’s, or both?

It’s all so confusing, he’s dangerously close to being overwhelmed - so the fact that they’re getting nearer and nearer to potential proof is causing him all sorts of levels of trepidation. If DiMA is right about them being brothers, then he’s right about everything else: that he really is just forgetting things because he can’t stuff anymore memories into his head. He hadn’t remembered Kenji at first, after all…and if he can’t fit anymore memories in, then…how long will it be before his hardware starts tossing out other things, important things, more recent things? The good times he’s had as of late, the fact that he’d completed his mission to get revenge on Winter, the people he knows and loves? Their motley crew back at Sanctuary, and the likes of Piper, Nat, Codsworth, Dogmeat, Shaun, Ellie…Nate…?

The idea of that, it…it scares him. Badly.

But that isn’t what’s important right now. What is important is the fact that DiMA’s little plan is putting Nate in the heart of an irradiated cult who carelessly gun down their own and want to shove rads down Nate’s throat until he’s as sickly and insane as the rest of them.

“And I appreciate how eager ya are to help me with that,” Nick goes on, “but…”

“But…?” Nate presses him.

Nick hesitates, then comes out with it: “But no answer would be worth it…if it costs you, doll.”

There comes silence then, even the sounds of outfits being changed has stopped, and Nick waits for Nate’s answer to that. No doubt, some other attempt at getting him to agree to this harebrained scheme, knowing Nate. He does love what a do-gooder his guy is, but even he has his limits.

“...Nick, could you…come back here with me for a moment? I, uh…don’t think I’m putting this on right.”

Nick blinks once, surprised.

Not the response he’d expected from putting his heart on his sleeve; Nate’s priorities are getting a little skewed. Besides, he hadn’t thought those robes looked particularly difficult to put on - looked sort of just like a jumper and some trousers to him - but heck, what does he know about the uniforms of these loons?

“Uh…alright,” he says confusedly, putting a hand to the fence as he turns on the spot.

He steps behind the junk wall, and before he can process the sight of Nate before him in full uniform, the lapels of his coat are grabbed and he’s pulled forward so suddenly he nearly falls, and Nate’s body is crushed against his in a hug.

Caught off-guard, Nick takes a moment to fully recognise what’s happening, his body frozen and his hands hovering in the air, then his autonomy comes back to him and he returns Nate’s hug, slowly. His hands go to Nate’s upper back and he holds him as he feels Nate lean his head against his own, shifting his fedora. The man’s got only two inches of height over him, but somehow, he’s one of the few people who have ever made Nick feel…small.

“I’ll be alright, Nick,” Nate says, close to Nick’s ear, warmly but seriously. “I promise. I’m not gonna let them talk me into doing anything that I can’t happily be a part of. We’re just gonna go in there, grab DiMA’s memories and go, and we’ll figure the rest out later.” There’s a beat. “Besides, you…do know this is just an act, right? That I don’t really believe in all this ‘Atom’ junk?”

“Course I know,” Nick says, then sighs through his nose. “It’s just that this meeting with the Children of Atom turned out…a little different than what I expected. The folks we came across in the Glowing Sea didn’t even point a gun at us, but these people…”

He gives another small sigh, then breaks the hug so he can look Nate in the face, transferring his hands to Nate’s waist instead as he remains in Nate’s personal bubble.

Looking him in the face has become slightly more rewarding, since Nate has had the courtesy of moving his road goggles up into his chestnut brown hair, giving Nick the opportunity to have his own yellow eyes lock with Nate’s hazel-blue ones.

“Just…watch what you say in there, will ya? Don’t want you endin’ up like that other guy.”

He glances in the direction of the man who had been killed, and Nate puts a hand to Nick’s cheek and turns his head to bring Nick’s attention back to him.

“I always watch what I say. And if I don’t, well - I got you around to keep me in line, right?” he asks, and when he gets a small smile, he leans forward to kiss it.

Nick gladly returns his kiss, turning it from a simple peck to a deeper smooch, enough that both of them close their eyes and hold it for a few calming seconds before Nate breaks it to smile at him.

Nick still looks concerned, thinking back to the image of Nate, dazed and pale, bleeding from his nose, starting to lose his hair, sitting next to his own puke. Nate’s been hit with rads on their travels before, but Nick had never seen him look so…ill.

“Don’t suppose you…packed your hazmat suit?”

He knows how ridiculous he sounds - if Nate packed his suit, Nick would know it, his bag ain’t that spacious - and such as it is, Nate laughs at the prospect.

“No, I didn’t,” he adjusts Nick’s lapels, straightening them from where he’d grabbed at them, “and we don’t really have the time to head back to Sanctuary to pick it up. I’d…probably be offending them, anyhow.” He gives a hiss of a laugh. “They’d probably accuse me of,” he puts on a deeper, dramatic voice, “blocking Atom’s holy touch! Such blasphemy!”

Nick can’t help the short chuckle that leaves him as he hangs his head.

“Alright…” he says wearily. “I can see when I’m beat.” He lifts his head back up to look Nate in the eye seriously. “But you tell me if you start gettin’ sick, alright? Don’t try and play the tough guy act and muscle through it, not even if one of those Children are around to hear you complaining…I’m not losin’ you to rad poisoning.”

“I could end up as a Ghoul instead.” Nate shrugs a shoulder, looking up like he’s genuinely thinking about this. “Hancock’s always saying I’d make a great Ghoul.”

“Yeah, well, he would.” He gives Nate’s waist a shake. “But I’m bein’ serious here.”

“I know, Nick. I’ve been watching my rad count ever since I realised my Pip-Boy has a geiger counter.” Nate looks at him and smirks. “Since when did you go all Mother Hen?”

“Since my guy decided drinking poisoned water for the sake of a bunch of cultists was a good idea.”

“Leeet’s be honest here, Nick: is it really…the weirdest thing I’ve ever done?”

“I’ll get back to you on that verdict,” Nick says dryly, “depending on what happens next.”

Nate laughs, leaning in to Nick’s embrace, and thusly, Nick brings him in and holds him close.

Best thing to happen to him in perhaps ever, this man; saved him from Skinny Malone, from wrestling with the original Nick Valentine’s past for the rest of his days, had so happily helped him find all those holotapes, stood aside and let him kill Eddie Winter on his own and then stood by him where Jennifer Lands had died and let Nick say his piece. Brought him on this whirlwind of an adventure that culminated in exterminating the boogeyman that had had the Commonwealth running scared for so long - and through it all, went ahead and made Nick fall for him.

How many of Nick’s clients could say they’d done that?

Just the one - this one right here, in Nick’s arms (though he hasn’t been just a client for a long while now).

So if anything happens to Nate while they’re carrying out this plan of DiMA’s, Nick will be taking his grievances straight back to ‘bro’.

Nate pulls back from their hug, and Nick rests his metal hand on Nate’s cheek, thumb brushing tenderly over the sideburn lining his jaw, before Nate takes a step back, removing himself from Nick entirely. He pulls his road goggles back down over his eyes, then ushers Nick over with a quick curl of his fingers.

“Here,” he says, “gimme your hand.”

“Hm?”

Nick watches as Nate stoops to pick up a boot, and only then does Nick realise their hug had interrupted Nate completing his new look: his right foot’s found its way into the new boot the Children have provided, while the left is naked, since Nate doesn’t bother putting a sock on his prosthetic.

“Oh,” Nick says, understanding, and offers a hand for Nate to hold so he can balance himself as he goes to one foot, shimmying the boot over his fake foot.

Once he’s finally managed to get it on, he’s all set. Nate steps back and holds out his hands to put himself on display.

“So,” he says, “how do I look?”

Nick looks him up and down, taking in the sight of Nate in the baggy, dark robes, and he replies exasperatedly, “Like a fanatic.”

“Hm - that’s great,” Nate replies, ducking to collect the coat, tie and shoes of his discarded outfit (he’s wearing the robes over his shirt and trousers, evidently), “then I’ll fit right in.”

Nick can’t help the small scoff of a chuckle that leaves him as Nate stuffs his clothes into his bag. Before he can pick the bag up, Nick ducks down and retrieves a bottle of Rad-X from one of its front pockets, waving it at him.

“I’ll slip ya these when you start lookin’ pale,” Nick says. He pops open the bottle, shakes out a pill onto his palm, then holds it out. “Best to take one now, before we head in there.”

Nate hesitates, then stands up to look at Nick properly.

“Are you sure you wanna come in there with me?” he asks. “DiMA said these people accept synths, but…the looks they were giving you when we showed up…”

“Tryin’ to get rid of me, huh?” Nick asks teasingly. “Didn’t think I was being that much of a wet blanket. But you can forget it - you’re not going in there without me, no matter how these people feel. Remember: DiMA said there was some Pre-War security keepin’ the Children of Atom from getting their paws on those memories of his. Could be anything in there, and I’d feel a whole lot better about all this if I was there to watch your back.”

“Are you sure?” Nate winces and adds hesitantly, “I mean…you do look a lot like DiMA. If anyone in there has a problem with him…they could have a problem with you too.”

Nick shrugs. “Half the Commonwealth has a problem with me. Hasn’t stopped me yet.”

Nate gives him a small smile. “Alright. It’s your call. But you may have to hold me back if anybody in there says anything about you.”

“Hey, now,” Nick cracks a smile (he doesn’t approve of Nate’s wish to pummel anybody who gives him lip, but it is sweet), “DiMA wants us doin’ this without violence, remember?”

“Sure, but,” Nate stoops to collect a can of purified water from his bag, “I feel like DiMA would understand if I told him I punched a guy in your honour.”

Nate stands up and plucks the pill from Nick’s palm, sits it on his tongue, then gulps down some water. He gives a hard swallow as the pill goes down, then nods once and drinks the rest of the water from the can. He drops the can to the ground, squashes it with his prosthetic foot, then returns the metal to his bag, most likely to convert it into raw materials for building projects later; funny, what one can make with junk.

Nate picks up his bag and rolls his shoulders, clapping his hands once in preparation.

“Alright,” Nate says, “let’s do this.”

He passes by Nick to walk around the fence, and Nick sighs wearily as he watches him go.

“Yeah,” he mumbles. “Let’s.”

He follows Nate, gaining the attention of the guard by the door, who watches them closely as they approach. For a moment, Nick thinks he might be suspicious, but then the man just tells Nate that the High Confessor is in the middle of his sermon still, and that Nate should listen in.

Nate gives an obedient nod and raises a triumphant, excited fist as he slaps on a grin and exclaims, “Glory to Atom!”

As Nate disappears into the Nucleus, Nick casts the guard a deadpanned look and half-heartedly raises his own fist.

“What he said,” Nick adds dryly, and follows Nate inside.

[assassins-wasteland]

Fallout Haunted Wasteland 2023 - Oct 2

Fog

So this ended up being a lot longer than I was expecting. Original prompts from @falloutfandomeventhub. Link to prompts here.

Word count: 1.6K

~

The crisis in Far Harbor was dealt with. The Harbormen on the docks returned home to their settlements, the Children of Atom were pacified, and the synths in Acadia were safe and free. The island was at peace. A peaceful resolution was a rarity in the Wasteland. Even if that resolution was built on a foundation of lies. She tried not to think about how long the fragile state of peace would last. Especially now.

Today Jadis was supposed to return home to the Commonwealth. She couldn’t. There was one last matter for her to attend to and she needed to do it alone. So she left Nick on the dock with nothing but the promise that she’d come back later and disappeared into the island fog that seemed to swallow her whole with only her rifle and a gallon of gasoline.

The fog was thick. So thick she could barely see past her outstretched hand. Jadis’ only tools she had to guide her were blurry memories from her childhood, the cracked, overgrown pavement that crunched beneath her feet, and an outdated map on her pip-boy that didn’t account for collapsed buildings and rubble and Wasteland critters blocking her path as she hiked blindly through the island. Her island. Her home. The Harbormen may call it Far Harbor but this island will always be Bar Harbor.

In the fog around her memories played. Memories of a time before the bombs. A time when the island was truly alive and thick fog didn’t drive you mad or burn your lungs. Jadis remembers being small, long before her sister was born, sitting in the backseat of a motionless car while her parents complained about the summer traffic clogging up the island. Right here there was the general store where Dad always stopped to get bait for his boat. Here’s where the ice cream shop used to stand that Mom took her to every Friday. This road was the one she took to go to school. That field was where she played soccer every spring. The fog shielded her from seeing the worst of the rot and decay that became of all these spots.

Finally, she stops. The silhouette of the familiar cabin stands before her. For a moment she just stares at it. It felt like she was returning to a family member. In a way, she was. Jadis readjusts her gas mask and continues forward.

When Jadis was born the cabin was gifted to her parents by her grandparents so they could raise her. After her father was drafted to Anchorage and relocated her family to Massachusetts her grandparents held on to the cabin. In her mother’s words, it was in case they ever needed to come home.

Everything about the cabin felt so foreign and yet so familiar at the same time. Somehow, despite everything, despite two centuries of neglect and being picked over by scavengers and pests, the cabin still stood. The wood was rotted and the windows were shattered, but it still stood. Jadis steps through the doorway, the actual door having long since rusted off its hinges. The fog leaks inside the home making everything hazy, like she was walking through a dream. This place seemed so much bigger when she was little.

She paces through it, drifting through each and every room like a ghost. The living room, the kitchen, the laundry room, the storage closet, and everything downstairs had been picked apart for scraps by needy Wastelanders. Jadis climbs the stairs and the wood creaks under her weight. She walks slowly through the hall, taking in every little detail and trying to remember where everything used to be.

She enters her parent’s old room. She used to sleep in their bed every night until she was seven because she was so scared to sleep alone. Now that very bed is collapsed onto the floor, the mattress is rotted and moldy, blankets a pillows gone with whatever poor soul needed them to keep warm. She opens the drawer of the only remaining end table and finds her mother's compact mirror. Her mother would use it to check her makeup before going anywhere. Besides it was her father’s cologne bottle, his favorite from that time that once smelled of musky pine. The mirror is broken and faded and the cologne is empty and has no more smell. Jadis takes the two little treasures and holds them in her hand.

The next room she enters is her sister’s nursery. All that remained of the crib was the wheels. Metal letters that were once pink and spelled out her name ‘CARTER’ once hung on the wall, now only the paint chipped and rusted C and T remained. In a firm grip, Jadis pries the C off the wall and takes it with her too.

Her final stop is her room. The ceiling in this room, though damaged, still mostly holds, but holes have begun to form in the rotting wood. The old polka-dot wallpaper has peeled off over the years exposing the crumbling plaster beneath. The hardwood floor beneath her feet had warped with age becoming uneven. Her old bed was long gone and the shelves that once housed books and toys were empty. Jadis lingered in this room the longest, mulling over foggy memories that don’t feel two hundred years old and yet are two centuries decayed.

In the window, something catches her eye. Her teddy bear sits on the windowsill, threadbare and slouched and it’s color faded, but looks like it’s been waiting for her to find it. Careful not to cause any more damage she carefully picks it up and looks into its button eyes. Jadis remembers forgetting it when they moved to Boston. She cried for hours and begged for days for her parents to find some way to get it back. They never did. She was ten years old after all; far too old to be crying over a missing stuffed animal. And here it was. Like it was waiting for her to find it again.

In her hands, Jadis holds the four little trinkets. A broken compact mirror, an empty cologne bottle, a rusty letter C, and a teddy bear that’s one loose thread away from falling apart. Objects the people of the wasteland deemed little more than trash. She would have too at one point, but now these little trinkets are the only remnants she has from the short time her family was whole that she can take with her. The Wasteland can’t have what little is left of it. She won’t let it.

She shoves the items into her pack, uncaps the gas can, and douses her childhood bedroom in the noxious liquid. Gasoline drips down the walls, soaks the tattered curtains, and puddles on the floor. Then she moves to Carter’s nursery and repeats the process. Then in her parent’s room. Once again, Jadis moves through the house but she is no longer an aimless ghost. Now she’s firm, splattering the gasoline with fury and determination over what remains of her past. She moves through the hall, down the stairs, through the laundry room, the kitchen, and the living room, there was no space in the cabin untouched.

With was few little treasures she was able to save Jadis left the cabin and returned to the fog outside pouring the rest of the gasoline out behind her until she reached the end of what used to be the driveway. The gas can is tossed away. From her pocket, she takes out a lighter and flicks the wheel. It sparks but no flame comes. Again and again, she flicks the wheel but there are still only sparks. Tears sting at the corners of her eyes as her frustration grows.

“Need a light?” Nick’s voice sounds from the fog. He emerges from its tendrils with a warm smile on his face and hands in his pockets. Nick had followed her through the fog. He approaches her casually as if he didn’t see a thing but Jadis knows he saw enough.

She looks at the puddle of gasoline at her feet to avoid his gaze and doesn’t say a word. Her busted lighter stays firmly in her white-knuckled grip. Jadis expects him to ask questions but… he doesn’t. He fishes his own lighter out and with a single flick it holds the flame, and then he offers it to her, a look of understanding on his face. Slowly, she takes it and for a moment she just looks into the tiny flame as if it held the answer to every question she could ever ask.

She lowers the lighter to the ground and touches it to gasoline. In an instant, the flame grew and spread down the path she had left for it and sped into the cabin. One by one each room ignited in a burst of light she could see through the windows. In only minutes the whole cabin was consumed by fire. Black smoke billowed out, merging with the white fog in a dance while the flames licked at the sky.

As she watched her childhood home burn tears began to roll down her cheeks and pool at the rubber seal of her mask. Nick took off his coat and wrapped it around her then pulled her in, hugging her tightly while she sobbed. Her own arms found their way around his waist and gripped the back of his shirt in her fists. He held her the whole time while they watched the fire devour the cabin and the fog carry away the ashes until only smoldering cinders remained.

“Nicky…” she croaks.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Thank you…”

Nick just smiles again and pats her hair with his good hand. “Anytime.”

“I think I’m ready to go home now.”

“Sounds good to me.” He tucks Jadis under his arm and guides her back to the road to begin the hike back to the docks. She spares one last look over her shoulder at the glowing coals and watches as the cinders of her past disappear in the fog.