#Victor as Alice's ghoul shares in some of this

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Some “Fallout of Darkness” Shitposting

Victor: [putting on a polished metal helmet, welding goggles, a scavenged raider chest piece, some leather arm armor, and one metal leg piece over his Vault 111 jumpsuit] All right! Time to show those raiders harassing Ten Pines Bluff what for! They won’t know what hit them!

Victor: [catches sight of himself in a reflective surface]

Victor: . . .alternatively they’ll take one look at me and laugh themselves to death.

---

Victor: [post-taking out the Raiders and reporting back to Preston] I’d be happy to join the Minutemen! Makes me feel good, making a little difference in this new world.

Preston: Great! Welcome aboard! And don’t worry, I’ll be right beside you all the way -- General.

Victor: [laughing at what he thinks is a silly nickname] You’re calling me “General” now?

Preston: Well, the leader of the Minutemen has always held the rank of “General.”

Victor: [suddenly realizing he’s serious] Wait, what? I thought -- don’t you --

Preston: That's not who I am. I can get my men through a firefight. I can defend a perimeter against all odds. We need someone who can bring the whole Commonwealth together in a common cause. And I think you've got it in you to be that leader. 

Victor: . . .

Victor: [with CHARISMA: 2 practically flashing above his head in neon] Y-you’re sure about that?

---

Piper: [pen and pad out, approaching Alice] So, Fangs --

Alice: [blinking] What?

Piper: You know, because you’re -- [mimes fangs with her fingers]

Alice: [raising an eyebrow] Seriously. Victor’s “Blue” because of his jumpsuit, and I’m “Fangs” because of my teeth. Piper, you are horrible with nicknames.

Piper: I am not.

Preston: What’s going on?

Alice: I think Hat here was trying to get my opinion for an article.

Piper: HAT?!

---

Strong: [after having defended a settlement from raiders] Strong learn new word today. Strong learn “respect.”

Victor: Respect? You -- respect me, Strong?

Strong: Yes. Strong respect human. Human fight good. Human help Strong. Super Mutants are brothers. Brothers share all. Not own things like humans. Human share like brother. Super Mutants fight. Kill not talk. Human kill not talk. Human would be good Super Mutant.

Victor: [sweating, fake smile] Why, ah, t-thank you, Strong. I -- I r-respect you too. [to himself] Oh God how many people have I killed around just him damn it Victor --

---

Bullet: [seeing Victor and Alice traveling with Billy Peabody] Hey. Nice ghoul kid. He for sale?

Victor: . . .what?

Alice: How dare you?!

Bullet: Hey, a ghoul kid like him is worth a fair --

Victor: [shoots Bullet without a second thought]

Affinity message: [Alice loves you]

Affinity message, five seconds later, as Alice furiously blushes despite being technically dead: [THAT. Alice loved THAT.]

---

Victor: [having a small breakdown post-having it out with Father after Bunker Hill in the Railroad HQ] He said he wanted to name me his successor! Director of the Institute! I -- I am General of the Minutemen, Overseer of Vault 88, I was Overboss of fucking Nuka-World -- despite the guy who set me up for the position knowing I was with the Minutemen -- and now this! Why do people keep wanting to shove me into positions of power?

Deacon: Because you’re just so gosh-darn lovable!

Victor: Fuck you, Deacon.

Deacon: You can’t, I’m not romanceable.

Victor: I’m not in the mood for fourth wall breaks Deacon

---

Victor: [in the middle of Nuka-World] You ready Alice? [in response to her nod] Here we go!

Victor + Alice: [driving out of Nuka-World in the vintage Corvega from Bradburton’s hidden chamber, wearing novelty Nuka-Cola sunglasses, “Boss Ass Bitch” playing on the radio]

Alice: [looking out the window, lifting her sunglasses] Is that the remains of a drive-through Slocum Joe’s?

Victor: [looks as well with a smile]

Victor + Alice: [drive and song continues as they sip drinks -- Victor’s what is clearly a homemade “latte” probably made with mutfruit or something, Alice’s just straight up blood]

---

Random Settler: Wait, both of you are from before the bombs fell?

Victor: Yup -- cryonic freezing in my case, thanks to Vault-Tec.

Alice: Staked and left under a pile of rubble for over two centuries, somehow.

Random Settler: Wow. I haven’t gotten a chance to really talk to any pre-War ghouls, so -- what was the world like? Before?

Victor + Alice: [in unison] Shit.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Tell Me Where To Find Shelter -- Weird And Complicated Video Game Crossover AUs Strike Again

Okay, so last week I offered you all an updated rewrite on my old Fallout 4 Sole Survivor!Victor AU, Tell Me Where To Find Shelter. And at the very end of said update, I let you know that I had an idea for fitting Alice into the AU --

Specifically, my Malkavian Alice from Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines.

Look, the fact of the matter is, Fallout 4 and Bloodlines have been rather closely connected in my head from day one of my purchasing them -- hell, I got them during the same Steam sale! (Along with the BioShock series entire, which is why I had a couple of posts about Tell Me Where to Find Shelter back in 2016, then it dropped off the face of the earth -- I played Bloodlines first, and followed up with that series.) And my “Londerland Bloodlines” playthrough of Bloodlines was done concurrently with my starting up Fallout 4, so -- yeah. Me wanting to figure out how to cross the two over was probably inevitable.

I know what you’re all thinking, of course -- “how the hell do you make this sort of crossover work?” Well, I have had a few ideas:

-->This version of Malkavian Alice and her adventures in 2004 Los Angeles would be much more like the standard fledgling’s, given that the Corpse Bride characters are now born in the future. So the person she saves in the hospital is Heather (who she does manage to send away in time to save her life), and the Giovanni party goes down without dragging an undead version of Lizzie into the mix. Obviously the story and setting would have to be tweaked to fit better into Fallout’s alternate history (though given what the computers in the original game are like, maybe that’s easier than expected). She still goes Independent, and escapes from Los Angeles in the wake of LaCroix’s explosive death, making her way slowly but surely to the East Coast because she has had enough of California and everyone there.

-->She manages to get on with her unlife, watching the growing tensions with China and the Resource Wars with unease, but keeping to herself and doing her best not to let her humanity slip as she gets older. When the bombs fall, she’s sleeping the day away in a basement bunker she set up in Boston -- but the destruction from the explosion ends up collapsing part of the ceiling, burying her in rubble -- with a chunk of timber piercing her heart. She ends up in a staked torpor. . .

-->Until Victor shows up at her location at night to clear out a few raiders who are taking over the place as a base. One of the raiders yanks out the stake to use as a weapon, has three seconds to wonder why it’s got fresh blood on it -- then Alice explodes from her centuries-long hiding place and drinks him dry. Victor is too stunned at first to actually shoot her, and once Alice’s blood thirst has been quest, she immediately puts her hands up and does her best to show she means him no harm. They talk, Alice explains what happened (and goes ahead and admits she’s a vampire when Victor explains about the nuclear apocalypse -- who gives a shit about the Masquerade when the world has ended?), she offers to help with the remaining raiders to prove her good intentions, Victor accepts, and they take down the assholes together.

-->Obviously, Alice isn’t immediately “unlockable” as a companion -- she’s still got her sunlight thing, after all! She and Victor chat about it, and Victor, feeling bad, offers his assistance. Alice accepts -- she misses the sun -- and says that she’ll stay where she is for the moment (after finding a non-partially-collapsed basement to stay in) and keep raiders and monsters out while he searches for information. And so the “Here Comes The Sun” quest begins, with Victor searching for a way to counteract the sunlight curse! I’m thinking this would end up interacting with the Cabot family stuff, because I don’t think it would be hard at all to change the source of their immortality, and the artifact upon Lorenzo’s head, from something alien to something vampiric. Maybe Lorenzo’s partially possessed by the spirit of an Antediluvian, and it’s turned his blood into something close enough to vitae it can make ghouls? At any rate, Jack manages to whip something up after examining some of Alice’s blood (which, naturally, she’s kind of nervous about, but what choice does she have?), and it successfully stops her from burning up in sunlight (though she is weaker in it). A grateful Alice thanks Victor (and Jack) and agrees to travel with him to experience the Commonwealth.

-->As they go on together, they end up getting closer -- Alice likes that Victor is generally a good guy and sympathizes with the story of his lost family; Victor likes Alice’s snarky wit and strong sense of justice. As they share more details of their lives, help out the settlements, and battle monsters together, they realize they’re growing feelings for each other, and eventually get together, facing off against the Institute as a couple and parenting Synth Shaun/Chester together afterwards. (Alice jokes a lot that it took both her dying and the end of the world in general to finally get a domestic happy ending.)

-->Alice’s starting clothes would be a simple blue dress and apron with black buckled boots (the dress would naturally have a big bloody hole right over her heart when she first wakes up; she patches this after you leave her to her own devices for a bit), and she’d have the Tal’Mahe’Ra Blade (her prize from her storming of the Hallowbrook Hotel, taken from Andrei’s lair) as her standard weapon. She has a unique bite attack, being a vampire, and can still use Obfuscate (turning invisible to sneak past/sneak attack enemies) and Dementation (inflict debuffs on enemies so they’re confused and can’t shoot straight, or kill a single enemy from fear alone), though both have a cooldown so Victor can’t rely on her just spamming that to take care of every raider for him! XD Her perk would allow you to drain blood from enemy corpses (which other companions would find less disturbing than outright cannibalism, but still fairly creepy) and/or increase the healing capabilities of blood packs. I’m thinking, once romanced, she’d also have a unique variation of the “Lover’s Embrace” temporary perk, “Love Bite” -- Victor wakes up with HP not fully restored, but the XP boost is greater than “Lover’s Embrace” (+20% vs +15%).

-->Other vampiric elements of the Commonwealth would include:

A) That blood bank you can find? Those bags of blood are warm and fresh because there’s a Tremere there who has built up their power and knows some rituals for preserving the stuff. Unfortunately, they’re also very low humanity by this point, so they end up being a nasty surprise fight.

B) There’s a secret settlement of vampires that is made up of all the various fledglings you could pick from in Bloodlines, having learned to live together after the destruction of vampire society along with human when the bombs fell. The local Tremeres managed some blood sorcery that infused a mutfruit tree with human blood, so plasma fruit, a la The Sims 4, is a thing for them, and allows them to live in relative peace with their human neighbors (though they’ll happily drain anyone who attacks them). They’d probably have a quest revolving around either talking down or killing some vampire hunters who have been eying their base, and they could be persuaded to allow Jack Cabot and family to study them in exchange for vitae to help them stay in their immortal states. Also, the Malkavians openly call Victor the “Sole Survivor” and offer roundabout tips on his quests -- if he can decipher them. XD

C) This is just one that amuses me -- this universe’s Mysterious Stranger is none other than good old Caine! He’s trying to be a little more helpful to mortal and Kindred alike in the post-apocalypse, and has decided this means “showing up randomly to help people out of tight spots before vanishing again.” Alice, upon seeing him, jokes that the cabdriver thing didn’t work out, huh?

D) I’d kind of like to make stimpacks developed from vampire or ghoul blood to explain just how it is they can heal crippled limbs so fast -- the wiki didn’t provide much of an answer there! Which means anyone who uses them is at least slightly a ghoul. . .which might explain a few things about carry weight and why some enemies are so tough. (Legendaries have more vitae in their system, prompting the power-up, maybe?)

So yeah -- that’s how I’d get Bloodlines and Fallout to work together, and thus have my Malkavian!Alice and Sole Survivor!Victor be a couple in the wasteland. Because why make a crossover simple when I could make it way more complicated than it needs to be? XD Look, I just like the mental images I have of them together -- and of Alice taking out a whole army of baddies by hitting them with Voice of Bedlam to throw them into absolute chaos.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- Prophetic Nightmare, Take 2!

Hey everyone -- remember the fic snippet Prophetic Nightmare from my Londerland Bloodlines AU? I do because I was looking at it recently, thanks to being back into said AU because of the recent sequel announcement. And while I was looking at it, I thought, “I really ought to edit this now that I’ve changed the AU around so Bonejangles, aka Sam Thatcher, is part of the group after the Giovannni raid.”

So I did! What’s the point of being a writer if you can’t improve your old fics? So today I present to you the updated version of “Prophetic Nightmare,” where Victor has a pretty intense dream about the possible fate of his World of Darkness family. As per the first version of the fic, I’m going to warn for blood, gore, dismemberment, and eye trauma. I’m not lying when I say it’s fairly intense -- there is a LOT of horror in the beginning. Fortunately, it also keeps the trip to Victor’s happy place at the end if you need a breather after all the gore. Hope you like this new, “canon-compliant” version of the fic!

"I'm home, everyone! Who wants – hello?"

Victor shifted his grocery bags, peering between them into the apartment. To his surprise, the living room was empty, as was the attached kitchen. "Emily? Lizzie? Sam? Wasn't there anything good on TV?"

No response. Victor frowned. It wasn't like them to just vanish like this. . .had they gone out for some reason after he'd left? But he couldn't see a note anywhere. . .he glanced up toward the loft. "Alice? Are you up?"

Silence. Now thoroughly puzzled, he set the bags on the counter bar, then headed upstairs. The bedroom door was closed, and the little office nook was empty. Victor bent over the computer and wiggled the mouse. The screen came to life, showing the six of them lined up on the couch – Lizzie and Sam each perched atop an arm, and him, Emily, Victoria, and Alice crammed into the middle. He grinned as he took in Emily's enthusiastic wave to the camera, Victoria's shy, almost embarrassed smile, and Alice's sparkling eyes as she hooked her arm around his shoulders. Just knowing a single one of these lovely ladies was a privilege. And here he was, the boyfriend of all three. With an honorary older sister and brother in the bargain. And to think I once thought moving here was a mistake. I really am the luckiest man in the world.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just stand here and stare at his favorite ladies all night – he had a mystery to solve. He opened up the "LaCroix Foundation Secure Intranet" application. "15 e-mails – 3 unread" appeared under the title bar, in all their DOS-y green glory. So Alice, at least, had to be here – she never left the haven without reading her e-mails. Perhaps she hadn't yet risen? But the sun had been sinking below the horizon when he'd arrived back. . .surely she'd be up by now, driven to seek out her first drink of the night? Frowning, Victor put the computer back to sleep and went over to the bedroom door. "Alice?" he called, knocking. "Everything all right?"

Still nothing. Victor opened the door, now thoroughly concerned. "Alice?" he repeated, flicking on the light switch. "Al – ALICE!"

His hand clamped itself over his mouth, holding in a surge of horrified bile. The bedroom was painted in blood and gore, red dripping off the walls and body parts flung carelessly every which way. A leg, dangling over the edge of the bed. A hand, saluting him from the top of the dresser. An arm, lying right at his feet. . .and, sitting on the pillow, a very familiar head, watching him as he struggled to keep down his lunch. No. . .no no nonono –

Dark sister, not dark mistress!

Victor blinked, then forced himself to step over the arm for a closer look at the head. It gaped up at him, an expression of agonized horror on its beautiful features. But – the hair was a different shade of brown, with a fringe of bangs falling across the forehead. The lips were a trifle fuller than the ones he was used to kissing, the nose turned up slightly more. And the eyes were a clear blue instead of a bright green, the sky on a summer's day instead of the grass. The voice was right – not his dearest beloved. Yet someone almost as bad. "Oh no. . .Lizzie. . ."

Tears welled up in his eyes as his fingers traced the contours of her cheek. "Oh Lizzie. . .who did this to you?" he whispered. "I thought. . .didn't we get rid of all the local Giovanni? Who else would – would want this?" He sniffled, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. . .oh, Sam's going to be heartbroken. . .and Alice too. . ."

If they're still alive.

Victor's blood went icy. The whole apartment was silent as a tomb. And just because it wasn't Alice here didn't mean – he tore open the door to the master bathroom, hoping against hope there wasn't a similar scene inside.

There was – but again, it wasn't Alice's face that greeted him. Instead, Emily's broken and bloody visage stared up at him from under the toilet, the rest of her body scattered across the floor. Looking into those dulled blue eyes, seeing them stare sightlessly back at him – dead in a way she'd never been, even during her time in the Underworld – it was more than he could bear. He dropped to his knees, one hand tangled in her freshly-dyed locks, the other gathering up one of her discarded arms – the left, the one he'd first seen as a skeletal "branch" back in Burtonsville, the one that had accepted his ring and his hand and pulled him into this mad, wonderful world beyond human understanding – and cradling it to his chest, weeping openly. "No. . .no. . .Emily. . ."

SLAM!

Victor jumped, head whipping around toward the noise. What – was that the front door? Did I leave it open? I don't think I did. . .and I don't think it would close on its own either. Oh God, is Victoria here? No, I can't let her see this. . . Carefully setting Emily's abused parts on the floor, he hurried out onto the balcony. "Vi – VICTORIA!"

It was indeed Victoria downstairs – or, rather, what was left of her. His living love was lying on the floor of the apartment, skin even paler than his, throat torn open almost to her spine. Victor stumbled his way to the stairs –

And promptly tripped over Sam, flopped across the steps like a rag doll. His legs stuck out at odd angles, and the back of his head was caved in. One arm reached toward Victor in a pathetic postmortem plea for help. Victor turned away, pressing a hand against his heaving stomach. All gone. . .all of them, gone. . .he forced himself past Sam's still corpse, to where Victoria lay. Her bright blue eyes stared past him, full of fossilized terror. He collapsed next to her, sobbing. Why? he mentally screamed. Why? We made it past the Giovanni! We hid ourselves from the Prince! We were happy! We were – we – I – I had so little time with them. . .

Dark mistress still lives, the voice in his head whispered, tone urgent. You must find dark mistress!

Victor lifted his head, touching his chest. Yes. . .Alice still lived. He could still feel her in his veins – weak, faded, but – there. Not broken, not gone. He still wasn't entirely alone. Not yet. But where was she? There was no way she was responsible for this chaos, and no way she would have let it come to pass if she'd been at home. . .he scrambled upright, flinging himself at the front door and throwing it open so hard he broke it off its hinges.

An alleyway stretched out before him, longer than any he'd ever seen. He blinked, then groaned. Oh no. . .not now! he scolded the voice in his head. I thought I'd lucked out just hearing you!

Not me, the voice replied, sounding distinctly confused. Not my luck.

Victor blinked again, staring at the impossible concrete below him. What? But – but if it's not you, then why –

Dark mistress! the voice cried, and Victor snapped his head up to see a figure dressed in blue, long dark hair streaming out behind her, running down the other end of the alley. In pursuit of whoever had inflicted such carnage on those they loved? Fleeing same? Victor didn't know and didn't care. All that mattered was that she was there, she was alive –

and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He took off down the street, sorrow and confusion subsumed under a gush of rage. You took my loves, he hissed mentally at the invisible culprit behind the slaughter. You took my family. You took almost everything I had that made life worth living here. But you will not get her. You will not get the one I have left. I am going to find you, and I'm going to tear your heart out and feast on your sweet blood. I'm going to commit as close to diablerie as a human can! I am going to hunt you down and suck you – "Ooof!"

Something leapt on him from behind, dragging him to the pavement like a wolf taking down a deer. Victor fought against its grip, arms and legs flying, but its strength was ten times his, and it easily pinned him to the concrete. "Let me go!" he screamed, reaching toward the far-away figure of his beloved. "Alice! Alice!!"

But she was already gone, almost as if she'd never been. Moments later, so was the light. Panic gnawed at Victor's mind as the alley plunged into deep shadow, leaving naught but the vague suggestion of walls and floor. No. . .please no. . .I-I don't like the dark. . .

Claws caressed his face, a painful parody of Alice's hand against his cheek. "What a yummy little bloodbag," a voice rasped in his ear. "We might keep you a while." Fangs raked his neck, leaving stinging welts in their wake. Victor elbowed the creature, but it didn't even notice. "Let's make you a proper drink, why don't we?"

Victor had exactly one second to wonder what the hell that meant. Then suddenly his eyes were on fire as the claws dug into them, and the darkness deepened to an endless impenetrable void, and there was wetness on his cheeks but it wasn't tears and he couldn't see he couldn't see he couldn't see no no no no no no – "NOOOOOOO!"

He jerked bolt upright, eyes flying open – and thank God, they were there to open, he could see the little lamp glowing in the corner of Alice's bedroom, but his sockets still hurt his neck still hurt everything still hurt and he was afraid to move, afraid that if he got up and switched on the light he'd find himself staring at another disembodied head and no no no he couldn't go through that again once was enough –

"Victor?"

A hand touched his knee, and he looked down. Alice was peering up muzzily beside him, her expression sluggishly concerned. "What–"

"Victor!"

The door banged open, leaving him and Alice blinking as the light beyond intruded on their darkness. Moments later, it was shrouded again as Emily, Lizzie, Sam, and Victoria crowded the threshold, each trying to be the first get inside. "We heard a scream – what happened?" Emily asked, finally making it to the front.

"Are you both all right?" Victoria added, twisting her hands together.

"I think you woke the whole building with that cry," Lizzie said, glancing behind her.

"Yeah – Jesus, Victor, didn't know you could reach those high notes!" Sam agreed, scratching under his hat. "Seriously, you okay?"

Victor opened and closed his mouth, unable to do much more than stare. They were here. Everyone was here. Everyone was here, and whole, and alive, and – and – and –

The tears were pouring down his face before he even realized he was crying. He curled up on himself, pressing his face into his knees as he sobbed. He couldn't help it. He was so, so glad to see them all okay. . .but the images of Emily and Lizzie's torn-apart bodies, Sam's mutilated corpse, Victoria's violated throat, Alice's back vanishing into the black danced before his mind's eye, tormenting him with the possibility that it could all still be true. . .can't let it happen can't let it happen I can't lose them can't lose them. . . .

A cool arm wrapped itself around his shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's all right," Alice said, voice still a little foggy. "It's all right. We're all here. You just had a nightmare, okay? You're all right."

"Please don't cry, Victor," Emily added, settling down beside him with a squeak of the bedsprings. The others crowded around them, hands rubbing his back or stroking his hair or just laying comfortingly on his arm or leg. "Everything's okay. It was just a dream."

Just a dream. . .he managed a nod, sniffling and gulping down air. He knew that. Knew that the hell he'd just gone through was blessedly unreal. But the biting, gaping sorrow of seeing his friends – his family, his loves – torn apart before him, and the sheer, unadulterated terror of the monster in the dark clawing at his face held him tight, refusing to let him wiggle free. Just a dream, he told himself. Just a dream. . .but God, it felt so real. . .

"Victor." Suddenly Alice's voice was all command. "Look at me a moment."

Victor raised his head. His vision was cloudy with tears, but Alice's green gaze pierced him straight through, holding him still. "Is it all right if I – make you calm down a bit?"

Victor's brow furrowed. Make him. . .then he remembered Santa Monica, pain forgotten in a rush of sweet elixir, and an examination cubicle transforming into his childhood bedroom. "L-like in the clinic?" She nodded. "Y-yes, please." Anything to stop this agony.

Her hand cradled the back of his head. "You're in a safe place, Victor," she said, voice echoing across his skull and blocking out all other sound. "A place where you feel completely comfortable. A place that makes you happy, makes you calm. A place where nothing can hurt you. You're safe there, Victor. You can relax."

The world flashed purple – and just like that, the walls around him were gone, replaced by trees. Victor wiped his eyes and looked around. The six of them were now sitting on a mossy log in the middle of a forest, pines and oaks and birches stretching up to a bright blue sky. Beneath their feet was a layer of needles and old leaves, interspersed here and there with patches of stubby grass and little clumps of bluebells, growing in the dappled light that reached the ground. A stream gurgled away happily nearby, winding its way through the wood, and a robin sang a cheery song on some high branch. Victor sighed deeply, shoulders slumping as as the tension drained out of him. Yes. . .he was safe here. This place, this world – this was all his own. Not even the horrors of his own dreaming mind could reach him while he sat on this log. Especially not while surrounded by the people he loved. He cuddled into Alice, smiling. "Thanks."

She stroked his hair, smiling back. "My pleasure."

Sam looked between them with a puzzled frown. "Okay, guessin' that was one of your party tricks, Alice. . ."

"Is this the same power you used to make Augustus see centipedes all over him?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, though obviously Victor got something rather nicer," Alice said with a tiny smirk. "What are you seeing? I'm not actually privy to what's going on in your head when I use this."

"A forest," Victor told her. "Kind of like the one near Burtonsville, but less – gray." He glanced up at the sky. "It's daytime, but don't worry, we're sitting in the shade."

Alice snorted. "Good. I think me bursting into flames would be against the purpose of this little mental trip."

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- With This Blood. . .

Happy Independence Day! Let's have a fic from the Londerland Bloodlines world about Alice giving Victor another drink from her veins and thus binding him to her all the more! XD More seriously, after last week's chat with Mercurio -- well, Alice still doesn't particularly like the blood bond, but she likes the idea of losing Victor, even to old age, a lot less. (Plus, Mercurio brought up a good point that Victor is "hot property" among vampires as a ghoul -- I'd still like to fit in something earlier about both the Giovanni and LaCroix wanting him as a personal slave to add to their own power. And maybe the Anarchs wanting to beat the shit out of him because of who his father is.) So she heads home, ready to make a commitment -- though, of course, not without talking to Victor first. . .

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"Alice!" Victor grinned at her, trying and failing to conceal his puzzlement. "I didn't expect you back so soon. . .is everything all right?"

"Yes," Alice assured him, kissing his cheek. "Better than it has been for a while, in fact." She slipped past him to plop herself on the couch, patting the cushion beside her. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Er – of course," Victor said, sinking down beside her. "What about?"

"Us. And our relationship."

"Oh." Victor worried his lower lip. "Are – a-are you asking to be e-exclusive? Because I. . .w-we should probably wait for Victoria and Emily if that's the c-case–"

"Oh, no, no," Alice assured him, holding up a hand. "I am perfectly happy with the set-up we have right now. Victoria and Emily are wonderful women, and I am delighted to be able to share you with them."

Victor visibly brightened, sitting up a little straighter. "Oh, good. N-not that I don't love being with you, of course, I just – I love being with them too. With all of you together. You're all so amazing, and I'm–" He sighed, one of those sweet, dreamy smiles passing across his face. "I'm just so lucky."

"So am I." Alice twisted her fingers together in her lap. "Which is why. . .I want to keep you, Victor."

Victor's brow furrowed. "Keep me?"

"Yes. Keep you with me. Forever."

Victor's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair – though, given how little forehead he had, that was a fairly easy feat. "What – you – w-wait, I don't understand. You – you d-don't even want to blood bond me. S-suddenly you want to Embrace me?" His face filled with suspicion. "Did one of those other vampires do something to your head?"

"No!" Alice cried, waving her hands. Oh damn it, she should have known this would happen, given what she'd been like their entire time together. "Victor, I swear, this is all me. And I'm not talking about the Embrace. I would never drag you into the eternal night. You deserve better than that."

Victor stared hard at her – then his face softened. "My friend's saying you're telling the truth," he said, tapping his temple. "And I've learned to trust him. . .but – the only other way of k-keeping me is the blood bond. And you said – why would you change your mind?"

"Because I went to Mercurio tonight," Alice explained, leaning forward to take his hands. "To ask him his opinion on being a long-time bonded ghoul. And he said that, after years of service, he would do anything to make LaCroix happy. But he also still considers him – in his own words – a 'prissy bitch.'"

Victor snorted. "Really? LaCroix's best ghoul said that?"

"Yup – which should tell you everything you need to know about LaCroix, frankly." Alice smirked briefly, then turned serious again. "But that was his point – even through a loyalty written into his very veins, he can hold an unflattering opinion of his master. Which means his mind, his soul, isn't completely gone. He was clear that he was still not truly his own man, but . . .he's not a toy either. Or, at least, he's less of one than I thought."

Victor nodded slowly, a terrible growing hope on his face. "So – what does that mean for – us?"

"It means – I might be willing. To make you mine." She took his chin, looking deep into those dark brown eyes. "But I won't let you walk into this blind, Victor. Everything I said before still applies. The blood bond is not true love – it's slavery. If you drink twice more – you are going to be devoted beyond mortal reasoning. You will do anything to please me, even things you would otherwise find distasteful. Even if things go wrong between us, you will still be magically bound to me. Still want my blood more than anything else in the world. There will be no way to break free except by mustering up the willpower to flee into the night and never see me again, or by my Final Death. I'm only willing to risk this because–" She swallowed on outdated instinct. "Because I love you. And I can't bear the thought of you dying, even of old age. Or being used up by some other vampire. And I believe you love me beyond that taste you got of my vitae. I believe we can somehow make this work, around that twisted horrible core. But – you have to know the risks. You have to be sure."

Victor was silent for a long moment. Then he reached out and cupped her cheek. "I'm sure," he whispered. "I – I know it's not – ideal, w-what we have to do to be together. But I don't want to leave you. I love you. I love when you come out of your bedroom in the evenings and give me that little smile, so – genuinely happy to see me. I love when we're sitting on the couch together during a quiet moment, your hand in mine, even if it's cold. I love going out to the movies with you and – well, I don't get to have all the popcorn to myself anymore, do I?" he corrected himself with a laugh. "But it's still so much fun, going out with you and Victoria and Emily and Lizzie and Sam and just – enjoying a night out. Like we're all normal." He took a deep breath. "And – and I don't want to belong to just any old vampire either. I've talked with Mercurio too – and Knox, and Romero. I know how most vampires treat their ghouls. You have been nothing but kind to me ever since we met, and – I want to be with you. As long as you'll have me. I trust you."

That was what did it, Alice decided later on. The fact that Victor knew what she did sometimes to survive as a Kindred, knew how dangerous it was to be a ghoul – and still trusted her. Still loved her, glowing so brightly with sanguine energy for a moment she was sure she'd accidentally popped on Auspex. Deep down, she knew the "right" thing was to push him away, let him go. . .but she also knew she simply couldn't force herself to do it. He was already hers, in a small but significant way – and judging by the way her withered guts cried out at the thought of him leaving? She was his. And if she couldn't save him from Kindred society altogether. . .she could at least save him from other Kindred. "All right."

The Vorpal Blade was in her hand in a moment, hissing with delight as she drew it from its sheath. One quick slash, and her wrist was laid open. Victor's eyes locked onto the blood, oozing from the wound. She offered it to him, and he grabbed it firmly in both hands, licking his lips in anticipation –

Then, an inch from drinking, he paused. His eyes flicked back up to her face. "You're – y-you're really sure?" he asked, voice aching with longing – but also worry.

"He'll refuse if you refuse," Cheshire informed her, smile hanging by her side. "Rescind your permission and he'll pull himself away. Addiction is a strong vice, but his desire not to harm your feelings is stronger still. He'd give up eternity if he thought you would drown in the guilt."

I probably will, Alice thought back. But I'd drown too if I refused and tomorrow night LaCroix dragged him to his tower, or some gang-banger shot him down. At least this way he can throw me a life preserver. She nodded, with a bittersweet turn of her lips. "Go ahead."

Victor needed no further coaxing – he pressed his lips to the cut, sucking down the vitae with the same desperate eagerness she'd seen in the clinic. Alice allowed him a couple minutes to get his fill, then gave her arm a gentle tug. "That said, I can't really let you drink me dry. . ."

Victor lifted his head, breathing hard. His face was utterly transported, almost like he'd just finished making love to her instead of feeding on her vital fluids. He licked the red stain from his mouth with his eyes closed, shuddering. "Sorry," he breathed, not sounding it at all. "Just – oh, Alice. Drinking from you. . .it's like. . .like a big, warm hug." He wrapped his arms around himself, rocking gently back and forth. "Your love for me is right in my veins, and it's wonderful."

"That, I think, is the blood bond talking," Alice commented, pressing on her wrist. The cut sealed over, flesh carefully knitting itself back together. "Or possibly a dose of Malkavian madness. I've heard we can be flowery."

"Maybe a little," Victor allowed, blushing as he opened his eyes. "But – it truly is amazing, Alice. You're amazing." He leaned in and kissed her, mouth delightfully warm against hers. "Thank you."

Alice wrapped him in a tight embrace, returning the kiss with eager passion. "You're welcome."

They stayed like that for a moment, floating in a happy tide of gushy feelings. Then Victor pulled away, his ardor cooling into concern. "Alice? What – what about Victoria?"

Ah yes – this awkward moment. There wasn't just one mortal in this relationship, after all. Alice ran her thumb over her recently-abused wrist. "I want to have a talk with her first," she said. "Explain in exacting detail what this all means. But – I'm going to make her the offer. Same as you."

Victor's face lit up. "Really? You are?"

"Well, yes, of course! Do you think I want to watch her grow old and die while the rest of us continue on eternally?" Alice shook her head. "I love her as much as you do!"

. . .oh. Oh crap. She'd said that out loud. Victor's eyes widened – then crinkled up with sudden mirth. "Do you now?"

Ugh, why did being a vampire mean that she could still blush?! Granted, it took a little more effort, but her body seemed annoyingly willing to make it. "I – I think that's a conversation that should wait until she and Emily come back," she said, refusing to look at him.

"Of course," Victor agreed, and she could tell just from his tone that he was grinning like Christmas had come early. "Should I text them?"

". . .if you would."

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: A Dusting of Baking Headcanons

To go with yesterday’s theme, and because Forgotten Vows Victor is kind of the one who started off my more general “Victor enjoys baking stuff once he learns how” headcanon:

-->Victor learned how to bake from June, natch. Being a nice guy, he often helped out in the kitchen at Houndsditch, and June taught him and Alice some recipes. To his own surprise, he found himself taking pretty well to the baking side of things, and just sort of continued on once he and Alice got their own house.

-->Victor’s favorite things to make are biscuits (cookies to the Americans) and cakes, although he does try pies from time to time. He loves a good chocolate cake or cookie, although he’s perfected a recipe for strawberry cake just for Alice as that’s her favorite flavor. He bakes it for her every year on her birthday. :)

-->Alice isn’t as into baking as Victor is, but she’s got some talent. She specializes in cakes of all sizes (she makes a lot of cupcakes of varying flavors for teas, and has a special chocolate cake recipe she breaks out for Victor’s birthday) and pies (both savory and sweet -- Victor considers her meat pie divine).

-->Victor considered making his and Alice’s wedding cake -- June immediately shot him down, saying his job that day was to get married and she’d make the cake. Alice was deeply amused by the whole thing and talked June into at least sharing the recipe so they could recreate it on their anniversary. Just like the birthday cakes they make each other, it quickly becomes a tradition.

-->Other important baking days in the Van Dort-Liddell household include Halloween (Alice makes pumpkin pie and decorates the top with pastry ghosts and ghouls. She also once made a cake and managed to hide a marzipan nose in it -- Victor was not as amused as she was) and Christmas (Victor bakes a big thing of gingerbread and a Yule Log cake. He and Alice work together to make it look as much like a log from the Vale of Tears as possible -- Alice gets very good at making various Wonderland mushrooms out of marzipan!).

[victorluvsalice]

Rezz - Taste of You (Official Video) ft. Dove Cameron by REZZ

Okay, this is one I stumbled upon a little while back after encountering Rezz for the first time on someone’s Smiler playlist (I’ll have to share that video eventually too) and listening to some more of her discography late at night. I was just curious because I recognized Dove Cameron’s name from her song “Boyfriend,” the only one of hers I’ve heard on the radio, and wanted to see what it was about --

Londerland Bloodlines!Valice, that’s what it’s about. Like, holy CRAP do the vibes remind me of this somewhat-more-fucked-up version of my OTP. And not just the obvious, “ghoul!Victor is addicted to and loves the taste of Alice’s blood” way either -- need I remind you, to Alice, Victor tastes like the best thing she’s ever fucking drunk. And the fact that she is so reluctant to let him go, despite that arguably probably being the best thing she could do for him? Yeah, I’d argue there’s a bit of an addiction on BOTH sides of this relationship. And a song with lyrics like “And I don’t care if I’m a bitch if I’m not getting my addiction fed/I’ll end up dead” and “What I am supposed to do/but sink my teeth in you/I’d starve without you on my lips/I’d die without the taste of it?” Oh yeah, that’s definitely a perfect song to highlight the darker side of their love. Great stuff.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- An Obvious Merit

Me: Oh nice, my friend Squid shared their copy of the Companions book from V5 VTM with me on Google -- lets take a quick poke in it and see what’s what, shall we?

Companions: [opens up at the end of the book, for some reason]

Me: Huh -- well, okay, might as well scroll up -- oh, wait, I’m actually in the ghoul-specific merits section! One of the things I was most curious about anyway. Anything good?

Companions: [has the following merit] “oo Blood Empathy (Ghoul Merit): You share a closer bond to your domitor than most ghouls, able to sense their emotional and psychological state, even when not physically in their presence. An astute ghoul can “feel” if their current domitor is in peril or needs their presence immediately, but it does not allow for direct telepathic communication. You feel Blood Empathy at a distance of one mile or less from your domitor, and the domitor to whom you feel Blood Empathy is the one whose blood you have most recently consumed. Note that this does not require a Blood Bond, though the effect feels stronger if one is present.”

Me: [pause] Okay, as this is how I saw Victor and Alice’s bond working anyway, I guess Victor’s got that!

[later, after Squid gets a copy of Mage: The Ascension (Revised) to stat up their Dragonborn as a WOD mage and tells me about Euthantos tradition, which is tied to death, rebirth, and how all members, when initiated, take a brief trip to the Underworld]

Me: [after some banter about me pretending this makes Victor, who still does visit the Land of the Dead in his LB backstory, a Mage and Squid saying ‘I ain’t making him a Mage character sheet’] . . .Actually, this could help explain how he got that Blood Empathy merit. . .

So yeah -- bottom line is that Victor has Blood Empathy for Alice, and while both of them just think this is a normal ghoul thing (until one of them asks one of the other ghouls they know -- probably Mercurio -- and said ghoul is like “. . .no?”), it’s actually a result of Victor’s trip to the Land of the Dead. While it didn’t full-on Awaken him, it did make him more supernaturally sensitive -- particularly to creatures like vampires, since they are dead. I’ve actually got two scenes where it’ll come into play, in fact:

1. Alice coming back to her downtown haven after the Grout mess -- Victor flings open the door before she can even insert her card, already worried sick because he’s been feeling her anger and terror growing stronger as she got closer to him

2. Alice after the fight with the Chang brothers in the Giovanni crypts-- she’s right on the edge of a hunger frenzy, having drained herself of blood to defeat them. . .and then, suddenly, Victor shows up, and calmly and carefully rolls up his sleeve to offer her his arm (which she takes after a mental reassurance from the Queen that SHE won’t let her kill Victor). When asked where the hell he came from (he and the others having hung back while she looked for the sarcophagus), he said he could TELL she needed him

Which is kinda romantic, actually, isn’t it? I mean, this is my OTP -- of course I’m gonna give one of them the trait that makes them supernaturally sensitive to the other’s moods. XD

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- AUs of the AU

Because, if you've learned one thing about me, it's that I'm never content with just ONE AU of a particular scenario. Just look at all the spinoffs I've made for the Forgotten Vows verse. Londerland Bloodlines -- my "Alice as a Malkavian PC in the Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines game, with Victor taking Heather's place as her ghoul" -- might not have as many variations on the concept as that one, but I do have three major "branches" from the original AU that I may as well share for those curious:

LaCroix's Puppet: In my original AU, after Alice retrieves the sarcophagus from the Giovanni, LaCroix comments on her ghoul "posing" as Victor Van Dort (unaware she's picked up the real deal) to help them get inside, and mentions he's actually looking for Victor so he can ghoul him -- he's interested in William's fish company, and figures having Victor under his control would be a good in. Alice is horrified, and thanks her lucky stars that she found Victor first.

Naturally, I have an AU where LaCroix got to him first -- I haven't decided if one of his agents spots Victor before the car accident, or if he learns Victor's in the clinic after the accident and has someone spirit him away before Alice finds him there. Either way, when Alice goes to see LaCroix in his office, Victor is there as well, having been ghouled by him. Most of Alice's interactions with Victor in this verse are seeing him being mistreated by LaCroix -- namely, being Dominated a LOT into saying what LaCroix wants him to say in conversations with his father regarding the company. Alice feels bad for the guy, and tries to keep his spirits up, which leads to them becoming friends. Maybe she even convinces LaCroix to let her take Victor out on the town or on less-dangerous missions occasionally, figuring he could use the break from his master.

Which means Alice and Victor still manage to bump into Victoria in Hollywood. LaCroix forces Victor to tell her about him, and he decides -- in a spirit of "goodwill" after Alice informs him of what Gary told her about the Giovanni having his sarcophagus -- that he'll give Victoria to them as a "present," escorted by Alice and Victor. Alice and Victor of course take a third option, and instead slaughter the Giovanni, discovering Emily and Lizzie in the basement. Victor begs Victoria and Emily to leave LA before LaCroix makes him do anything else that might hurt them -- they do so reluctantly. LaCroix, fortunately, isn't too angry about the whole mess, figuring either way he got what he wanted.

What he is angry about is Alice staying inconveniently alive when he's wanted her to die for quite a while now. After she survives both a werewolf attack and going up against Ming Xiao, he decides to hit her where it really hurts -- and while she's assaulting his tower headquarters, forces Victor to meet her outfitted in an explosive vest. (This sort of happens in the game too, only it's a random security guard.) Alice is horrified, but manages to use Dementation to reduce Victor to hysterically laughing too hard to set the vest off, and gets it off him before it can do him any harm. And then she soothes him with a drink of her own blood, which (thanks to their developing bond) counteracts some of LaCroix's influence -- they confront him together and Victor's the one who stabs him with the letter opener, instead of Alice as normal. They escape the tower before it explodes, collect Lizzie, and leave LA for Hill Valley, finding Victoria and Emily there. Once they're all set up, Victor pleads with Alice to blood-bond him to her -- and Alice, while still a little iffy on the whole thing, agrees that it's a lot better that he be hers than risking another master like LaCroix.

Double Kill: In my original AU, Alice ends up a vampire when she's tricked by local Malkavian Fish into coming by his place under the ruse that he's offering the apartment for sale. He attacks her and manages to Embrace her despite her fighting back. In this AU, however, there's another person there when this happens -- Victor! Here, Victor and Alice ended up seatmates on the plane to LA, got to talking, and developed a quick friendly bond. They get rooms in the same hotel -- and when Alice decides to check out Fish's place, she asks Victor to come along, since he's the closest person she has to a trusted friend or relative.

Unfortunately, Victor is unable to help her much when Fish decides to Embrace her -- he gets in one good shot with a lamp before Fish renders him helpless with laughter via Dementation. Then, pissed Victor tried to stop his masterwork, he basically throws him to the recently-vamped Alice with an "eat up!" Alice, starving, promptly drains her friend -- but then, horrified and not quite thinking clearly with all that's happened, tries to put the blood back in him by feeding it to him.

Result? Victor's now a vampire too! All three are apprehended shortly after his Embrace and brought before LaCroix. LaCroix's incredulous of Fish's claim that Alice Embraced Victor, until she admits she did so by accident. Fish is executed like normal, and Nines protests on behalf of both Victor and Alice, so LaCroix lets them both live.

...and that's where this one kind of stalls in the water, as I'm not sure what Victor's Malkavian mental illness would be. I'd like it to be related to his experiences in the Land of the Dead, but I can't come up with any good ideas. *wonders if Alice is deliberately blocking my creative impulses here because she doesn't want Victor to suffer as a vampire*

The Dark Goddess: In the original AU, Alice, at the end, realizes who the cab driver who seems to have been stalking her all across LA truly is -- Caine, the First Vampire. They have a short conversation, and Alice impresses on him her desire to just live with her little family of ghouls and sort-of-zombies, and then he takes her to suit up and kick ass, so to speak. In this AU, however, Alice makes an extra joke -- "You know, I could probably diablerize you right now and no one would know."

Caine's response? "What's stopping you?"

A stunned Alice quickly realizes he's serious -- if she drank him dry, he'd LET her. He admits he's tired of being alive and she's as good a successor to his nonsense as anybody. Alice debates with herself, but ultimately decides that if he really wants to hand the mantle over to her. . .

Cue a SHOCKWAVE going through the vampire community at large as their "God" is replaced by a "Goddess." Alice gains all of Caine's power and abilities, which includes access to EVERY discipline. She proceeds to happily WRECK Ming, the Sheriff, and LaCroix before calling a meeting of the LA Kindred and telling them to get their goddamn acts together. And then, still as sick of the politics as she was as an ordinary vampire, she goes to meet with her family in Hill Valley. Victor's gotten a heads-up as to her new state thanks to the voices that came along as a side-effect of drinking her Malkavian blood (they started calling her "Dark Goddess" instead of the usual "Dark Mistress") -- Alice reassures him and the others she's still Alice on the inside, and that she still loves them dearly. And the next time she visits Wonderland properly, instead of having it painted on the world around her, there's Caine, delighting in the fact that he can FINALLY enjoy the sunlight again. Sort of a best end there, I guess -- though I imagine Alice would also inherit Caine's curse of never being able to stay in one place too long, so they'd probably be moving on from Hill Valley sooner than in canon. Maybe they could do a world tour? :P

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Tell Me Where To Find Shelter -- The Reboot

Okay, so -- this past Saturday, I brought back the Pentatonix/Lindsey Stirling cover of Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive,” and commented that part of the reason the song was on my mind was because I’ve been really getting into Fallout 4, which I’m playing with Victor as my Sole Survivor. This mean that, of course, I have a Valice AU for the game -- “Tell Me Where To Find Shelter.” I originally came up with a rather simplistic version of the AU aaaalll the way back in 2016, based on what little I knew about the game (and the series in general) from getting into the Fallout Shelter mobile game and seeing a friend’s posts about her Sole Survivor. That original version could be summed up as basically “the prologue sequence, only Victor and Victoria are secretly in a poly relationship with Emily, who dies too when their kid is stolen, and Victor discovers Alice alive in the Vault as the only other one who made it -- they go out into the Wasteland together to discover what happened to Victor’s kid.” Pretty simple, right?

Yeah, you can throw all that out. Now, I have actually played the game, spoiled myself on the main quest and a lot of the side quests because I don’t give a damn, and have done a bit of research on the history of the Fallout verse as a whole. (Short version: It sucks. It sucks a lot.) So I have a lot of new ideas, meaning it’s time to reboot this verse! I wouldn’t expect a full-fledged story to come out of this (you’ve seen me panicking over the size of “Londerland Bloodlines,” right? Which is based off an action RPG that is reasonably linear and has a timeline of a month? Fallout 4 is open world and while the main quest is linear, the fact that I’ve been able to ignore it for MONTHS in-game because I can’t say no to Preston Garvey is -- eeep), but I may at least do a few snippets and whatnot.

So! Let me share what I’ve got regarding Victor’s history as the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 -- I’m gonna try to keep it to more general thoughts as I’m not totally up on the history of the Fallout world, and things may have to be adjusted if I later discover that something in the canon strongly contradicts it:

-->I have got his birth date: June 9th, 2050. This makes him 27 at the start of Fallout 4, which I felt was reasonable based on the Fallout Wiki stating both Sole Survivors were likely born between the early 2040s and the mid 2050s.

-->I still want him to be born in England, and have his family move to America a little later in his life -- though when is complicated by the whole Euro-Middle Eastern War and the New Plague putting America under quarantine for a while. The latest I can imagine is them making it over in his early teens or so, having left the broken-down wreck of the U.K. to rebuild fortunes in America.

-->They do indeed rebuild fortunes in America -- Boston, Massachusetts, to be precise. William sets up an extremely lucrative fish-canning business and makes sure to support the military extensively. (The Four Leaf fishpacking plant is almost certainly one of his in this timeline.)

-->The Victor/Victoria/Emily poly thing still happens, kicked off by Victor’s parents pressuring him into dating Victoria (whom he likes), Victor making friends with Emily (whom he also likes) -- and Victor accidentally asking Emily to prom via trying to rehearse his lines to ask Victoria to prom. Feeling bad as Emily is coming off a really bad breakup with an ass named Barkis (who stole a lot of money from her in a long con), he clears it with both girls to take Emily, and later they help defend Victoria when Barkis returns during the party and try to rob her. This leads to a close friendship, which eventually becomes something more.

-->Victor ends up being pulled into the Sino-American war straight out of high school -- William attempts to buy his way out, but for once his money doesn’t work, and Victor ends up fighting in Anchorage, Alaska.

-->This version of Victor, while still into butterflies and moths, is also a tinkerer, and quickly becomes known among his fellow soldiers in Fox Company (108th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion) as “that guy who can fix anything with duct tape and Wonderglue.” (I do enjoy my armor and gun mods -- everything must be deep pocketed!)

-->I’m not sure what Victor does to earn his “decorated war hero” status yet (probably saved the lives of a lot of men with some quick repairs and shooting), but it’s enough to finally get him discharged around 2076. Victoria and Emily had gotten together while he was stuck fighting, but are only too happy to let him into their relationship. Victor officially marries Victoria to keep his parents happy, and they move into Sanctuary Hills with Emily pretending to be their “eventual live-in babysitter” to avoid scrutiny from the parents.

-->And then, during a park escapade, Victoria ends up pregnant. Baby Shaun is welcomed to the world July 31st, 2077. Everyone is thrilled, and Victor picks up a Mr. Handy soon afterward to help with baby care.

-->And then, of course, the bombs drop on October 23rd, 2077. Victor, Victoria, Emily, and Shaun just barely make it into Vault 111, and end up in cryonic suspension -- Victoria is later shot when her and Victor’s pods are reactivated during the kidnapping, and Emily dies quietly when the life support is cut to all but Victor’s pod. Victor is absolutely devastated by their deaths, and takes Victoria’s wedding ring and Emily’s favorite butterfly hair clip as mementos to remember them by before leaving Vault 111.

-->As for the actual game stuff:

Victor’s starting SPECIAL stats were Strength 4, Perception 3, Endurance 7, Charisma 2, Intelligence 8, Agility 3, Luck 3. I’ve been mainly improving Strength for carry weight, though I recently started working seriously on bumping up Charisma because I have realized making it a dump stat was probably not the greatest idea.

I can’t list all his current perks off the top of my head, but Armorer and Gun Nut are up there -- he’s very much a shooty-bang-bang kind of guy, and I believe I mentioned loving deep pockets?

Victor hasn’t met all the factions yet, but -- he’s definitely a Minuteman. I am so easily distracted by those quests, it’s not even funny. ...Well, it’s a little funny. XD He was only too happy to help Preston Garvey’s group set up in Sanctuary Hills, and he and Preston are best friends now -- aka, Preston’s the first companion who idolizes me and whose perk I got. He’s a LITTLE awkward about the whole “General” thing (”Preston, you’re the one always telling ME what to do”) but he’ll grow into it.

As for the other factions -- he’s met Paladin Danse and helped him out at Arcjet, but refused the offer to join the Brotherhood. . .he might go back and do some missions with them, but I don’t think he’s going to like Elder Maxson’s views on synths and ghouls (Super Mutants -- okay, Super Mutants are assholes). He hasn’t met the Railroad yet, but I think he’ll like them and join up to help, even if he thinks some of their methods need tweaking. The Institute -- I think he’ll be of the mind that their discoveries are good, but they’re using them for such evil purposes, and -- ugh.

That being said, I’d like to go for the Minutemen ending that does not require warring with the Brotherhood of Steel, simply because there are kids on that airship and I’d feel bad shooting it down. If there was a way to just get rid of Maxson and maybe yank the Brotherhood closer to its Fallout 3 views. . .and if not blowing up the Institute was an option, Victor would be for it. Getting rid of the top brass who have completely written off the Commonwealth is one thing -- but the building, with all its advances? That could be useful.

Oh, and yes, he is adopting Synth Shaun -- but he is letting the kid know who and what he is, to help him forge his own path in life. (Synth Shaun also correctly guesses his new Dad feels awkward calling him by his predecessor’s name, and they decide on “Chester” instead.)

As for companions he’s currently met -- mentioned already that Preston’s his best friend, and he’s a solid supporter of the Minutemen. He adores Dogmeat and has made him a doghouse to live in at the Red Rocket near Sanctuary. He likes Piper Wright and her desire to spread the news quite a lot (and finds her attractive too). Danse he admires for his commitment to his men and his cause, but doesn’t really know him beyond that due to not joining the BoS. He IS very thankful for the gun, though -- Righteous Authority is useful! Codsworth and he had some rough moments at the beginning (I gave Mama Murphy some Jet for a vision, and poor guy got in the way of some friendly fire on an early trip), but seeing Victor get his modding on has improved their relationship quite a bit (Codsworth sees it as Victor getting back to his old helpful self). He’s encountered Ada and has grown quite fond of the little robot, wanting to help her avenge her slaughtered caravan family (WHY CAN I NOT HUG THE ROBOT). And he’s rescued Strong from Trinity Tower. . .and ended up getting sick of the Super Mutant’s constant negative comments toward humanity and inability to figure out stealth. He was helpful in taking back The Castle, but currently Victor’s got him living with a couple of settlers as a “guard” of sorts, in the hopes it’ll keep him busy and out of Victor’s hair.

And now you may notice there’s a strange lack in this longer-than-I-anticipated write-up. . .namely, where the hell is Alice? Well, that question has three answers:

-->For the purposes of my playthrough, I’m designating Piper as Alice -- she’s going to be Victor’s romance option in this game. (Me turning my attention to boosting Charisma may have been inspired by being unable to flirt with her during an affinity conversation no matter how many times I reloaded.)

-->An idea I had recently to put Alice in the verse was have her as a native-born Wastelander/escapee from a Vault (latter would probably be best to keep her history -- oh cripes, maybe she was from a Vault where BUMBY was OVERSEER, imagine THAT horror) who discovers the history of the “Order of Mysteries” (a group of women, lead by the old voice actress of the Mistress of Mysteries, who turned herself into a legit superhero post-Great War -- unfortunately betrayal led to the group dying out) and decides to take up the mantle, much like the Sole Survivor can become the Silver Shroud. She’d show up not long after Victor starts Shrouding around, asking to meet -- they’d have a little spar, end up fighting another enemy together, and she’d join up as a companion, leading to eventual romance.

-->But the first idea I had to get Alice into the story was. . .well. . .

Let me put it this way -- for quite a while, I was playing both Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Fallout 4 at the same time.

. . .yeah, I think this is going to need another post.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- More AUs of the AU (Vampires and Dragons)

Yup, I'm back on my bullshit with making AUs of AUs before I even really finish the first one. Who's surprised? :p I actually talked about this once before in regards to Londerland Bloodlines, which outlined three alternate ideas I had:

1. LaCroix's Puppet: Victor ending up LaCroix's ghoul instead of Alice's thanks to being found by his agents first, and their relationship working around that (with him successfully breaking the Blood Bond at the end of the game in favor of his love for Alice -- a rare feat, but I think it can canonically happen!)

2. The Double Kill: Victor meeting Alice early, going with her to the "apartment viewing" where she got Embraced by Fish, and having Alice accidentally Embrace him when he ends up her first meal (she's not thinking clearly and tries to put the blood back in him by feeding it to him at Wonderland's suggestion -- I never got far with this idea, due to not really seeing Victor as a Malkavian)

3. The Dark Goddess: Alice draining Caine during the fateful cab ride near the end of the game (with Caine's blessing, which is the only way she could ever pull it off), and becoming the new top vampire, happily wrecking LaCroix and Ming Xiao, telling the rest of the Kindred of L.A. to clean up their act, and then swanning off to get her family and start traveling the world being an awesome badass (everyone’s favorite power fantasy!)

Since that original post, I've had two more ideas for AUs of the AU, which I would like to share here. Let's start with the simpler one first this week:

4. Vampires and Dragons: This one is a little weird in that it's an AU that would happen after the main story is finished. It's -- well, remember that one post I made about putting fire lizards in Londerland Bloodlines? Yeah, this is that. ^^; What can I say, I really like Pernese fire lizards! I don't know yet if they'd be a native species to Earth in this AU, or if dimensional-shifting shenanigans are in play, but either way, there's a small fair or two of them (again, using Nest O'Flitt's noncanon colors because I like the variety) in Hill Valley when our gang arrives. Victor is the first to encounter them on a trip to Hill Valley's mysterious lake once they've settled in, and is astonished and thrilled by the little creatures, recognizing them from the Pern books (I have him as a fan of Dragonsong, much like myself -- he relates a lot to Menolly!). He reports his find to the others, and they end up sneaking up to the lake at night a few times, watching the little flitts live their lives and making tentative friends with them.

And then, one night, they get there just in time for a late hatching. And, as must happen in these situations, they each feed and claim a baby fire lizard:

-->Victor of course would get his standard silver, Moonlight

-->Alice would get a white, Snowflake, like in my Pern Crash AU

-->Victoria would get a brass, Mary, also like in my Pern Crash AU

-->Emily would get a blue, Skyfall (as per the name I came up for the blue Victor ends up with in the Pern Crash AU -- yes, I'm mining that for ideas, what of it?)

-->Lizzie would get a red, Spitfire

-->Bonejangles/Sam would get a green, Leafy

Shenanigans would then ensue as the group raised their fire lizards and tried to keep them a secret from the population of Hill Valley at large. I -- don't know how successful they would actually be. XD At the very least, I think Doc and his family would find out, and end up with some of their own at the next hatching that happens. Beckett might end up with one too, if he happens to come by for a visit after this happens. (He'd probably be fascinated by the damn things, honestly -- especially their utility for fetching and carrying!)

I don't have much plot beyond that -- this is mostly a result of me just liking to give my characters conveniently-small dragons. But hey -- if I decide "Londerland Bloodlines" needs a sequel, and that the plot of the actual game's sequel isn't up to snuff. . . (Or, hell, even if it is -- this would be happening in the 15-year gap between games, after all!)