#TPTB insisting they had to be able to see an actor's performance through heavy makeup = a decent sign

[reachexceedinggrasp]

Yes the Twelve/Clara stuff I specifically heard is that there's the travelling together/personal enmeshment/the presence of a third love interest representing the mortal world she tries to balance with the new world type of thing, but there's not (yet) the burn-down-the-world investment you have with that pairing, which as I can glean from your posts is very necessary to understanding Twelve/Clara hahaha.

But yeah, I, too, have been trying to resist it, Because I Don't Trust Like That Anymore, and I'm still preoccupied with another pairing eating up all of my fandom energy, but I would never turn my nose up hearing more from people with good taste. I also played New Vegas when I was a teenager, which is considered the best of the Fallout games, and I think it's probably more hopeful than the others? It's also going to be most relevant for the next season, so there's that. You probably know that it needs fan-made patches to run properly without crashes (actually one of the developers released his own patches for it as mods, but they're obsolete now).

It's really funny to see all the fantasy romance enjoyers now being lured into the post-post-apocalyptic setting, lol. When there's a will (a Beauty and the Beast ship) there's a way.

I was initially very hesitant about the show because of the established media property mill, and having watched Westworld, the bad man/nice lady ship was straight-up dark, and after the second season descended into total nonsense. My hope is that the different writer for Fallout doesn't let Jonathan Nolan ever do that again. But it's pretty faithful to the games and one of the original creators, Tim Cain, gave it a pretty glowing review, and that's actually nice to hear. I watch his videos on the YouTubes (they're no frills and actually pretty good) and it's so funny that he doesn't like romance in RPG's because he feels like they're never done very well. Now we put romance in your television show, how do you like that

I'm personally extremely ambivalent about the likelihood of the Fallout pairing evolving beyond flirtation with evil, but who knows? I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you get around to it!

I thought it might be something like that. Yeah, I wouldn't say they were really comparable because the dynamic is very different, but there is the immortal/mortal aspect and him as the knowledgable and hyper-competent native of the larger world versus her more sheltered and ordinary experience. There's the inherent B&tB conflict over power dynamics and emotional vulnerability. But yes lol, part of the essence of Twelve and Clara is us-against-the-universe, being all things to one another, deeply entwined in each other down to the foundations of their identities. Unconditional and unhinged devotion. Which isn't where Ghoulcy is (yet? :D? one can dream).

Oh yeah, just to get further than the menu and actually start a game for Fallout 3 I had to install a mod lmao. My brother was also telling me stop playing that, play New Vegas, it's the best one. But I didn't have NV sitting free in my gog.com library. I got a PS3 version from ebay coming. Hilariously, it's easiest to play the original game, the oldest one. I had zero problems with that on a modern PC.

I know, man. So many times I've sworn off getting invested in anything with such high likelihood of going south or otherwise being disappointing, but the temptation is real. I mean if the second season drops and it goes in a direction I don't like, I would just not watch it, but if they set up something super interesting and squander the potential that's always so frustrating. At least there will be a lot of fic before anyone can rain on the parade.

People are calling attention to the parallels between the characters, but I think we can take for granted they will have a significant relationship going forward, the question is more if it having a redemptive, healing, and/or romantic component is something the writers have considered. If it doesn't hit the first two, I wouldn't want to continue with the show, because that's what's appealing to me about it. If there's a flat token romance with another character for Lucy while her most important and transformative relationship is with Cooper, whom her influence helps reclaim his humanity/decency/hope, that'll annoy me as a missed opportunity but won't make me as sad as if he just stays the same or dies getting revenge or something.

I, too, would have dismissed it as unlikely to be canon (even in a foyay way that doesn't go anywhere) except for how much the creators have emphasised that they wanted him to be attractive and how he's framed very romantically, even heroically by the cinematography (I've seen gifs). That isn't, like, hugely compelling evidence the ship will happen, but it does make it seem like a possibility. It makes me (perhaps foolishly) hope his arc is going in an optimistic direction. If he's literally still wearing a white hat, it's just dirty? I'd honestly put a lot of stock in that.

And maybe I'm basic, but I want my ships to be canon. They don't have to be, I have some that aren't even close, but I do prefer it lol. I like the relationship to be a formative part of the character arcs. If it seems like a good/interesting/satisfying place for the narrative to go, I want it to go there.