#bootycall of steelverse

[theggning]

The Human Thing to Do - Chapter 2

Fallout 4

Pairing: Paladin Danse/Piper Wright

Rating: M (angst, imagined body horror, canon references to suicide)

Piper would be perfectly happy to never think about the stupid Brotherhood of Steel ever again, and especially not the stupid paladin she stupidly fell in love with. But when an earth-shattering discovery exposes Danse's true identity, the Commonwealth's number one reporter finds herself back on the Brotherhood beat, racing against time and a knight she once called a friend.

In the aftermath, Danse takes stock of all the pieces of his life he's lost-- and the one he may have left.

Before and after Blind Betrayal hits the Bootyverse. Slight deviation from canon events. Awkward tension, intense verbal debates, and more hurt/comfort than you can shake a synth at.

LATEST CHAPTER: Danse throws an existential crisis and the gooey hurt/comfort stuff happens.

COMPLETE.

[theggning]

Hello! Just popping by to say that I love your writing so much. Your conception of Paladin Danse is practically canonical in my mind. I check in on your AO3 periodically, but I was wondering if you're still planning on continuing the next section in The Human Thing to Do? I will wait as long as it takes if you are!

Omg, what a lovely compliment. Thank you so much! <3

I am absolutely still working on The Human Thing to Do part 2! I took a little break after that last chapter for irl social obligations and other things, but I'm now back to plunking away at it. I don't want to make a promise I end up not keeping, but it *should* be ready within the next few weeks. (Before the holidays, certainly.)

[theggning]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Fallout 4, Fallout (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Paladin Danse/Piper Wright

Series: Part 5 of Bootycall of Steel

Piper would be perfectly happy to never think about the stupid Brotherhood of Steel ever again, and especially not the stupid paladin she stupidly fell in love with. But when an earth-shattering discovery exposes Danse's true identity, the Commonwealth's number one reporter finds herself back on the Brotherhood beat, racing against time and a knight she once called a friend.

In the aftermath, Danse takes stock of all the pieces of his life he's lost-- and the one he may have left.

Before and after Blind Betrayal hits the Bootyverse. Slight deviation from canon events. Awkward tension, intense verbal debates, and then I break out the gooey fluffy hurt/comfort stuff.

[theggning]

I had an idea for a scene in How to Break a Fall (Bootyverse 4) in which Piper, trying to prove to herself that she wasn’t hung up on Danse, goes out to the Dugout and nearly has a flirt with another man. They end up making out and it looks like they’re going to take it somewhere private, but Piper ends up backing off and realizes she just can’t be casual with someone when she has true feelings for someone else. The guy is very sweet and understanding about this, accepting the rejection and telling her she should do what her heart wants (you know, like any decent person should do.) 

My first thought was it should be Danny Sullivan. Piper and Danny are clearly already friendly with each other (in the sense that he seems used to/tolerant of her antics) and we can see she cares about him during In Sheep’s Clothing. But then I decided it felt kind of cruel with Danny? I wouldn’t say he has a real crush on her, or even headcanon it, but I don’t know... it just felt a little callous on her part when they already have that friendly connection. Just didn’t sit right with me.

So then I had a better idea: Hawthorne! (The merc guy you meet in the Dugout Inn, whose sole purpose in the game is to give you a couple map markers.) He’s young, he’s hot, he’s friendly, I could totally see him being down for a casual fling, if it was obvious Piper was too. And I could also see him being a nice enough guy not to be a dick about her backing off at the last minute.

In the end, though, I couldn’t really fit the scene in with the story the way it was paced. It felt kind of jarring and I worried it might muddy things a bit, like readers might get mad at Piper or think she was “cheating” on Danse (though she wouldn’t be... the entire conceit of the Bootyverse thus far is that they firmly believe they’re just Friends With Benefits and can’t admit to more than that for complicated reasons.)

Anyway, just a little behind the scenes tidbit that’s been on my mind. Also, yeah, Hawthorne is great, Piper should totally smooch him in other fics if she’s not already occupied with someone else.

[theggning]

Six Sentence Smonday

Tagged by the beautiful and talented @memaidraws!

About time for some of this fic to see the light of day... y’know, prove its existence and all...

But how does a machine like that get built? How does a mere human manage to piece together cells, nerves, bones, ligaments, muscles, blood, and organs in such a perfect mimicry of nature? How do you choose the build, the bone structure, the face, the skin? How do you make the heart start beating, push breath into the lungs, start up a life like firing up a pull start engine? And how do you then look into those eyes– rich brown, tinged with amber, too lifelike and intricate to possibly be designed– and call him a machine?

Three more miles. Only three more miles.

I tag @anonymouscosmos, @effervescible and anyone else who wants to play. :3

[theggning]

How to Break a Fall - Chapter 3

As the Brotherhood gears up for war against the Institute, Danse juggles his medical orders with his responsibilities and his sponsorship of a certain knight. Piper fights the "Good Fight" and escalates her feud with city hall. Meanwhile, their relationship is a welcome distraction, turning from a friendly arrangement to something more intense.

Too bad the last thing either can do is admit the truth. Because as their feelings grow more obvious, so, too, does the fact they're heading for an inevitable fall.

Humor and banter, shameless fluff, light smut, character interactions, and other short vignettes building into a larger narrative. Pining, angst, and agonizing foreshadowing on the horizon.

LATEST CHAPTER: July 2288. Before, and after the Poseidon substation incident. The Wright sisters endure some growing pains. The Paladin shares his greatest treasure. Danse and Piper mutually ponder, and mutually pine.

BONUS:

Danse's contraband holotape mix

[theggning]

How to Break a Fall - Chapter 5 (FIC COMPLETE)

As the Brotherhood gears up for war against the Institute, Danse juggles his medical orders with his responsibilities and his sponsorship of a certain knight. Piper fights the "Good Fight" and escalates her feud with city hall. Meanwhile, their relationship is a welcome distraction, turning from a friendly arrangement to something more intense. Too bad the last thing either can do is admit the truth. Because as their feelings grow more obvious, so, too, does the fact they're heading for an inevitable fall. Humor and banter, shameless fluff, light smut, character interactions, and other short vignettes building into a larger narrative. Pining, angst, and foreshadowing on the horizon. LATEST CHAPTER:

Danse comes to a decision. Friends make amends. Piper gets more trouble than she bargained for. And too soon, the fall arrives.

GG will later be put on trial for fanfiction crimes.

[theggning]

How to Break a Fall - Chapter 2

As the Brotherhood gears up for war against the Institute, Danse juggles his medical orders with his responsibilities and his sponsorship of a certain knight. Piper fights the "Good Fight" and escalates her feud with city hall. Meanwhile, their relationship is a welcome distraction, turning from a friendly arrangement to something more intense.

Too bad the last thing either can do is admit the truth. Because as their feelings grow more obvious, so, too, does the fact they're heading for an inevitable fall.

Humor and banter, shameless fluff, light smut, character interactions, and other short vignettes building into a larger narrative. Pining, angst, and agonizing foreshadowing on the horizon.

LATEST CHAPTER: June 2288. Friends offer warnings and advice. Danse considers what he's fighting for, and the merits of bedtime stories. Piper laughs in the face of danger, even when she almost definitely shouldn't.

[theggning]

What made you think Piper and Danse would be a good couple? Also do you think Nat looks to Danse like a father figure to her?

It honest to god started as a joke. Specifically, that scene in Stories From the Front where Piper wakes up hungover and does the "oh god, we didn't" thing and Danse confirms "no, we didn't, you were drunk and that would have been immoral." I joked about in a Discord convo with a friend, and then was like "oh they'd be hot" and then...

I mean, I set up a few scenarios to make them interact more than they do in game, but on a fundamental level, Danse and Piper are actually quite compatible re: values and deeply-held beliefs. They both believe in helping others and serving a higher good than selfish desires. They have similar approvals on almost all of the quests. And though Danse's opinions are guided by the Brotherhood, his personal morals are quite a bit more noble and good than his role allows him to be. The Brotherhood itself is basically their main, major point of disagreement and fortunately, that problem conveniently removes itself from the equation after a certain secret comes out. That same arc also makes Danse start to soften on the few remaining points of contention between them (read: his bigoted opinions about non-humans) So I challenged myself to make the pairing work while keeping them both in character and true to themselves, which was mostly a matter of getting them over their initial hostility in-game.

RE: Nat, I don't think she's ever going to call Danse her dad, the same way she doesn't call Piper "Mom." She absolutely looks up to him as a role model and someone who can offer guidance, but I don't see Nat establishing any kind of official title for him, nor would he insist on one or try to be an authority over her. He'll end up naturally taking on a parent/older sibling role like Piper does, though even unspoken I think their bond is super cute.

[theggning]

Chapters: 1/5 Fandom: Fallout 4, Fallout (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Paladin Danse/Piper Wright Characters: Paladin Danse (Fallout), Piper Wright, Male Sole Survivor, Diamond City Character(s), Brotherhood of Steel Character(s), Nat Wright, Arthur Maxson Additional Tags: Humor, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Developing Relationship, Doomed Relationship (or is it?), Banter, Whoops We Caught Feelings In Our Explicitly Platonic FWB Arrangement, Fluff and Smut, Pre-Blind Betrayal, Foreshadowing Series: Part 4 of Bootycall of Steel Summary:

As the Brotherhood gears up for war against the Institute, Danse juggles his medical orders with his career and his sponsorship of a certain knight. Piper fights the "Good Fight" with her journalism and escalates her ongoing feud with city hall. Meanwhile, their relationship is a welcome distraction for them both, slowly turning from a friendly arrangement to something much more intense.

Too bad the last thing either can do is admit the truth. Because as their feelings grow more obvious, so, too, does the fact they're heading for an inevitable fall.

Humor and banter, shameless fluff, light smut, character interactions, and other short vignettes building into a larger narrative. Pining, angst, and agonizing foreshadowing on the horizon.

[theggning]

How to Break a Fall - Chapter 4

As the Brotherhood gears up for war against the Institute, Danse juggles his medical orders with his responsibilities and his sponsorship of a certain knight. Piper fights the "Good Fight" and escalates her feud with city hall. Meanwhile, their relationship is a welcome distraction, turning from a friendly arrangement to something more intense.

Too bad the last thing either can do is admit the truth. Because as their feelings grow more obvious, so, too, does the fact they're heading for an inevitable fall.

Humor and banter, shameless fluff, light smut, character interactions, and other short vignettes building into a larger narrative. Pining, angst, and foreshadowing on the horizon.

LATEST CHAPTER: Duty comes between Knight and Paladin. Piper clashes with Mayor McDonough. One easy mission turns into a tender interlude, and another into tragedy. Danse and Piper struggle to find words.

[theggning]

So… how’s the fic going? 😜 I was very intrigued by the little tease snippet you posted recently from the bootyverse, is that top of the pile or are there other things you’re working on? (And if you have more passages to share I’m on pins and needles of course!!)

Hahaha, yes, Bootyverse 4 is on top of the pile!

I took a break from fic for a few months (actually I swapped over to working on an original story) because ngl Bootyerse 3 kicked the hell out of me. I'm really proud of how it turned out but I struggled a LOT with the setup and structure. I was also feeling really stuck in that Bootyverse 4 is going to necessarily involve the Sole Survivor, Nate Herrera, who (idk if this is obvious or not...) I do not give much of a damn about. I invented him FOR the Bootyverse because I wanted a clean slate/not to have to think around Nora (from AATW, my actual "canon" Sole) when I was only planning on writing one little story.

So far I've just been keeping him out of the way. But as Game Plot starts occurring I have to bring the Sole into focus, and I was stressing out because I'm stuck having to write around this character that I don't know or have much attachment to*. For a while, I was mad at myself for inventing Nate in the first place and half-considered going back and swapping Nora in instead.

BUT I've done some more thinking, and come up with some more ideas for him. So actually, Nate is going to give me an opportunity to do some narrative things I could never do with Nora. He's a very different kind of Sole than her, and his relationship with Piper, Danse, and the BoS is very different than hers, which means I get to explore some different storylines around the whole situation. I had some revelations that have given me some direction and kickstarted things again when I was feeling a bit tired and stalled out.

So... it's IN PROGRESS. I don't have any more snippets just yet but I'm happy to tease you a bit. >:3

* I've decided that Nate Herrera is the husband of Nora Casey, so the Bootyverse, in my own dumb GG Fallout Ficciverse Extended Universe**, is the "what if" of what would happen if their roles were swapped.

** For the record there are three "AUs" in the GG Ficciverse: 1. Canon Compliant (AATW, Danse/Nora endgame.)

2. Bootycall of Steel (Nate instead of Nora, Danse/Piper endgame)

3. My OTPs, Everything is Perfect and Nothing Hurts (Nick/Nora, Danse/Piper endgame.)

[theggning]

Six S(Paragraph) Saturday

Chuggin' along on Bootyverse 4. And have the opportunity to include one of my favorite ever topics!

With a deep breath, Piper steeled herself and turned back to the mayor. “Must be pretty serious, if you’re bringing half the day shift guards to visit little old me.”

“My office entitles me to a security detail, Miss Wright.” The pleasantry in McDonough’s voice was already fading.

“How else could our poor, defenseless mayor face the big, scary reporter? Ooooooh~” Piper wiggled her fingers menacingly.

“Piper,” Danny interrupted. “It’s standard procedure.”

“That crazy Piper! You never know when she’ll go rabid and attack! Waaagh!”

“For god’s sake, Piper, for once, could you not make this into a thing?”

“Indeed not. This is a friendly conversation, that’s all,” said McDonough. “Here, in fact, why don’t we have this discussion somewhere more comfortable? Let’s head up to my office.”

“Let’s not,” she replied. “I’m comfortable right here.”

“Piper-”

“Anything you have to say to me you can say out here in public.” She pulled a cigarette and her lighter out of her coat pocket. “Right?”

Now, McDonough’s smile was completely gone. He looked over his shoulder at the street around them, then sighed through his teeth. “I just finished reading the latest issue of the paper. Loath as I am to support the exaggerated drivel you call ‘news,’ I felt I had to give a fair assessment after it caused such a ruckus in my office.”

Piper lit her cigarette and took a drag. “Geneva didn’t like her horoscope, huh?”

“Quite a few people were very upset,” McDonough said sternly. “I had a meeting with two caravan heads, concerned about safety. Merchants, delaying their shipments, trying to reroute carefully-planned inroads to the city. Private citizens, terrified that synths are going to climb over the walls and murder them in their beds. All because of an article alleging the Institute sent synths to a power station in Natick.”

[theggning]

What are your Piper and Danse headcanons when they become an established relationship? Any activities they do together? Music that would fit their relationship?

Not to leave you hanging, anon, but I want to save most of the good juicy deets and stuff for fic purposes.

But for a little amuse bouche, I can tell you that Piper gets herself an enthusiastic bodyguard for her more dangerous investigations. They do both like a little exploration and action now and again. There's also loads of adorable domestic bullshit because it's my catnip and poor Danse has never known the joys of sharing a comfortable civilian life with someone else.

I have an entire Panse playlist I use for inspo because I love that kind of crap, but I'll share with you

a few

choice

tracks

for your

enjoyment.

[theggning]

I love this. I must know about your Bootyverse series, but "Bootyverse 6: Oh No" intrigues me, like a monster flick that refuses to reveal its monster.

>:3

I think the "Big Storm Comin'" in the next installment is easily guessable at this point. That was originally going to be where I concluded the series, but in true Bootyverse tradition, I then got ideas for further Plot, that begins with an escalating series of "Oh No."

So Bootyverse 6 covers the end of the main game plot, from "In Sheep's Clothing" through... things at the Institute. Nate will have a somewhat different role, and Danse and Piper are VERY personally involved in events and serve pivotal roles in the outcome for the Commonwealth (and the Brotherhood.) Quite a few interesting twists and turns from canon, but still grounded and plausible... just some cool shit I want them both to do so they can get their Happily Ever After (this is a romance series, after all.)

[theggning]

What are you looking forward in the continuation of Bootycall of Steel Part 4?

Pain. >:3

And a rather different structure than I've done so far. A lot more disconnected vignette-style snapshots that create a plot, less traditional plot structure. It's new and exciting and I'll no doubt struggle with it, but it's good to stretch your wings on different structures from time to time.

Also, pain!